realtor: Helping others...it warms the heart!
- 03/07/10 05:02 AM
Helping others...it warms the heart! Yesterday I had a wonderful opportunity to be a guest speaker at the SAAREB Housing Fair in San Antonio Texas. My friend a fellow broker Bill Price invited me to speak and I wasn't sure what my topic would be...even though I had given him my speech title two weeks ago...From House to Home... Well there are certainly a lot of directions to take with that one... But the night before the presentation it hit me. This is likely to be first time home buyers or inexperienced home buyers, so why not educate them on something … (5 comments)
realtor: Never too old to learn.
- 10/27/09 03:05 AM
Never too old to learn... I am a big believer in giving back to others. Giving back to my community, giving back to my friends, giving back to my family and giving back to my industry. As a certified MCE Instructor, I get paid to teach, but the truth is I love teaching and training and feel most at home doing so. So once a month I volunteer at my local board of REALTORS to conduct the MLS training. Never too old to learn... The class is geared toward and generally attended by new agents, not necessarily young agents, but … (0 comments)
realtor: Basic Features Appeal to First-Time Buyers
- 08/07/09 09:00 AM
Basic Features Appeal to First-Time Buyers According to an article from REALTOR Magazine online first-time homebuyers are not opting for the popular upgrades of days gone by. It seems that first-time homebuyers are forcing home builders to think frugal by penny-pinching on upgrades. Nearly 50 percent of new homes sold in the first six months of 2009 cost less than $200,000., the largest share for the first six months of a year in five years. Is the pursuit of the "McMansion" over for the first-timers? The article went on to say that the average size of new homes fell to … (2 comments)
realtor: REALTOR + iPhone = LOVE
- 08/06/09 08:44 AM
REALTOR + iPhone = LOVE! Recently I blogged about ordering my iPhone and went on the express the beginning of a wonderful love affair with my new technology! It has been over a week and the honeymoon is showing NO signs of ending. To say that I like my iPhone would be the biggest understatement of the year...I absolutely love it! I am sitting here wondering why I didn't do this sooner. I transferred my TREO 750 to my son's phone number and he is loving having a smart phone...and did I mention how much I love my iPhone??? I … (5 comments)
realtor: Domain Name Extravaganza...But I Still Remember My First...
- 07/16/09 10:57 AM
I am now officially the proud owner of 20 domain names...but I still remember my first...so many years ago when I took the plunge and bought that first website...when the internet was new. It went something like this: A "Doogie Houser" type techno-geek kid trying desparately to sell a rural country REALTOR her first website. What he didn't know what that I was already committed to buying his product and he didn't really have to work so hard. As fate would have it, I hadn't even thought about what my domain name would be and what I didn't know was … (33 comments)
My Dad was an engineer and what that equated to was the company moved us from coast to coast, but I came into the picture in during our first stint in Texas and being a Texan is something I am most proud of. Dad's career took us to California in the 70's and when we got the opportunity to come home to Texas in 1976, we jumped at it. Dad's career move brought him to San Antonio and we settled in Boerne, a small town west of the city. I had fallen in love with horses and … (4 comments)
realtor: 2 dogs, 3 cats, 2 roosters, 6 chickens and a herd of deer!
- 05/01/09 12:06 PM
NO I DIDN'T TAKE THE KIDS TO THE ZOO TODAY... This is the actual menagerie that greeted me at my mom's new listing that I went to video and photograph today. 23 acres with a house and drum roll please...a chicken coop! This place is really cool...you have to drive for over a mile on a winding driveway back into the hill country to get to the house. When you finally see something that looks like civilization, you get to a circle drive with extra paved parking and a custom home sitting on a hillside. The surroundings are beautiful, peaceful, … (6 comments)
realtor: Get up, Get out and Exercise...Your right to Vote that is!
- 04/30/09 01:20 AM
IF REAL ESTATE IS YOUR PROFESSION...THEN POLITICS IS YOUR BUSINESS! That is a mantra that was taught to me early in my real estate career. Tis the season...currently there are elections going on in different places regarding different issues...locally for us there are issues about emergency services districts and home rule charters among others. Many a REALTOR has buried their head in the sand and waved the white flag of "Hey, I just sell houses, I don't care about all that political stuff!" I HAVE A NEWS FLASH FOR THE REAL ESTATE HEADS BURIED IN THE SAND OUT THERE... These … (2 comments)
realtor: Just for the record...kicking a cactus is a bad idea!
- 04/25/09 08:45 AM
I did something totally stupid this week... I live, work and play in a rural area north of San Antonio, Texas, it's called the Texas Hill Country. This is a marvelous region of the state that I love and adore. I feel hugely blessed to call this great place home. In light of my geographic locale, I deal with a lot of land sales. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE selling land, always have and always will. In fact recently I bought another domain name and I am starting a new website dedicated to the marketing of my land listings called www.TexasLandChick.com! … (7 comments)
realtor: and then a State Trooper said "ladies, come with me!"
- 04/01/09 01:10 PM
Yesterday was an awesome day in Austin, the state capital of Texas! It was officially proclaimed by the Texas Senate "REALTOR Day" at the capitol. The Texas REALTORS did not disappoint and showed up in full force to let our legislators know exactly where we stand on key issues affecting our industry and the precious private property rights of our fellow Texans. I have not heard a final count, but the number 1800 was floating around yesterday. Can you imagine 1800 REALTORS in one place? Mayhem...Chaos...or perhaps just good old Unity! It was an amazing day and as you can see … (5 comments)
realtor: Nothin' like fresh air and sunshine to sooth the soul...
- 03/29/09 06:29 AM
It is a gorgeous day in the Texas Hill Country! Yesterday I blogged about licking my wounds after being told I basically wasn't good enough to handle a listing. Ouch...that kind of feedback hurts! I generally handle negative feedback well, I have learned to let it roll off my back as my Mom and business partner has taught me to do. I thought a lot about why that call bothered me so much yesterday because I am one of those people who is compelled to analyze where things went wrong and how I can learn, grow and get better from each … (3 comments)
realtor: I am really diggin' this gig!
- 03/24/09 02:49 PM
I am an only child and they tell me that means that I am a combination of the first born, the middle child and the baby of the family all rolled into one package. I am the mom of an only child and the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Jordan is a great kid and since he was 11lbs 2oz at birth, he will always be an only child! Where is this going you ask? Well I have heard it said through the years that having one child is easy and having two children is easier...I always thought that … (3 comments)
realtor: Laundry, dirty dishes, raised toilet seats, pets and sick kids...not in your listing photos please!
- 03/22/09 07:11 AM
Ahhhhh....ugly listing photos! We have all seen them, heck you may be one of the guilty agents who has taken them and worse yet...actually had the audacity to publish them for the world to see. Let's face it, the days of being able to take a crummy photo of your latest listing (notice I said "A" crummy photo) and just have other agents who take equally crummy photos see it,are long gone. Now you take a photo and it better not be just one, it better be a plethora, and whammo your photographic skills or lack thereof is plastered all over … (7 comments)
realtor: "brush your teeth, don't take dorky pictures and don't buy truckstop curios!"
- 03/21/09 09:00 AM
Some say that the definition of "mixed emotions" is watching your mother-in-law drive off a cliff in your new Mercedes...I am facing a new breed of mixed emotions this spring break...the parental kind. My son started middle school this year which was a big change and to make matters more challenging he went from a small Christian private school to a larger public school. I have had some adjustments to make and I think all in all, Jordan is adjusting better than I am. I have never been an overbearing or overprotective parent because as my friends and family tell me, … (3 comments)
realtor: Negative vs. Positive isn't just for batteries...
- 03/20/09 02:14 AM
it's for people too! We are surrounded by positive and negative in every aspect of our daily lives, yet much like the power housed in a little double A battery, we often fail to realize the power that we possess with respect to these two energies. My Dad used to tell me that every day is a series of choices: good ones, bad ones, right ones, wrong ones, happy ones, sad ones, and yes, positive ones and negative ones. The anomily seems to lie in the fact that so many choose bad, wrong, sad and negative choices everyday...day after day. … (2 comments)
realtor: The benefits of good communication.
- 03/14/09 03:34 PM
Have you ever heard of Toastmasters International? It's funny...you only get one of two responses when you ask that question. One is "What do they do, toast bread?" and the other is "I've heard of that, been a member or would like to try it." I learned about Toastmasters early in my life, in fact it was in middle school, because my parents were both Toastmasters. They belonged to a club in San Antonio that met at lunchtime, so in the summer when I was out of school, they would take me with them to the meetings. This was my first … (2 comments)
realtor: My "WHY" inspires me!
- 03/13/09 02:23 PM
I was taught a long time ago that when you set out to do something, you have to determine your "WHY" that thing or person that motivates you at your core to succeed at what you are setting out to accomplish. For the past 12 years my "WHY" has been my son Jordan. He is a true gift from God and inspires me every day with his great attitude, his sense of humor and his heart for people. He is compassion in the form of a young boy who is part Boy Scout, part trombone player, part golfer, part photographer, part … (6 comments)
realtor: RECESSION??? This Texas REALTOR refuses to participate!!!
- 03/13/09 12:24 AM
Am I the only American who is sick to death of having the doom and gloom, the sky is falling, we are all gonna die and the earth is gonna blow up message of the media crammed down their throat every day? I seriously doubt that I am. Why is it that every time a "recession" hits our country...which, by the way, we usually bring upon ourselves...everyone reacts like it is the first time this has ever happened and that the great depression part deux is upon us and that we need to start hoarding string, used tin foil and rubber … (2 comments)
realtor: Agents should read real estate forms...no, really, they should!
- 03/11/09 03:07 AM
One of the first lessons my late father ever taught me was to always read something and make sure you understand it before you sign it. The first result of this lesson came as a major frustration for a finance manager at 9:00pm on a weeknight at the local Hyundai dealership in 1987. My then husband and I were buying our first brand new car together and after selecting the car we entered the den of iniquity also known as the finance manager's office. The place were they judge you, frighten you and then make you sign mountains of paperwork much … (5 comments)
realtor: What is your mindset?
- 03/05/09 01:22 PM
I had the honor of spending the day in the presence of Steve Morris, the founder and CEO of EXIT Realty International today. About 150 broker/owners and agents gathered to spend a day with Mr. Morris who provoked us to rethink our profession, rethink our market and rethink our approach to both. If you have never heard Mr. Morris speak, he gives a less than typical presentation and if you have spent time with him you know what I am talking about. It is more like casual conversation and wise counsel than someone speaking at you. I found myself engaged in … (3 comments)
Helping others...it warms the heart!
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