valuelist real estate services: The Devil That You Know
- 06/02/07 04:37 AM
Several years ago I started recommending to my sellers that they have a building inspection done prior to putting their house on the market. When I suggest this about 1/2 of the people balk, asking why they should have to put up the money for an inspection, when the buyer is going to probably pay for one themselves. My response to these folks is that the devil that you know is better than the devil that you don't! If they find something wrong with your home, most times it's easier and cheaper to fix without the pressures of having a contract working. … (5 comments)
valuelist real estate services: Thank You Active Rain! My SEO Journey Update.
- 06/01/07 02:47 AM
Thank you to the folks who have put AR together and work to keep it going. Thank you to all of you who have written about and taught me about SEO. Special thank yous go out to Karen George, Lenn Harly here on AR and to a host of other folks who have given their time and expertise to help me get my web site up to speed. As some of you know (which really surprised me that there were so many people following my series of posts on how my optimization of my web site has been going) about 2 … (4 comments)
valuelist real estate services: The 3 Secrets To Being Succcessful In Selling
- 05/29/07 05:48 AM
Everybody thinks that success is spelled with only two "c's" in it. The truth of the matter is that it really should be spelled with 3 "c's". The reason for this is that in order to truly be successful in selling that you have to practice three things, which all happen to start with the letter "C". These three "C's" stands for; "Commitment". In order to be successful selling something, you have to be committed to selling it. If you approach it from a hap hazard, devil may care attitude, it's going to be difficult to maintain any level of success … (2 comments)
valuelist real estate services: Buying In St. Louis Vs. Renting In St. Louis
- 05/25/07 04:23 AM
Rent vs buy? Which one is better for you. When considering buying St. Louis real estate, you need to take into account six considerations.1) How long do I plan on living in the St. Louis area? 2) How secure is my employment and/or income? 3) How's my credit? 4) What is my current tax situation? 5) Is my domestic situation likely to change anytime soon? 6) Am I ready for the responsibilities of ownership?Notice that I didn't ask how much money you had saved up. The reason that I didn't ask that question is because other than number 6 above, being ready for the responsibilities of … (1 comments)
valuelist real estate services: Loyalty
- 05/23/07 03:41 AM
Loyalty. When can you expect it? From a client? From an employee? From a friend or family member? Is it something that we even have a right to expect any more in these times? What got me to thinking about this topic was that my girlfriend started a new job a couple of weeks ago. With the new gig she had to go through all of the orientation stuff that big corporations put their people through. Every day for a week she had a set of meetings to go to that went into just about every imaginable facet of working for this … (5 comments)
Just north of St. Louis on the Illinois side of the Mississippi river is Alton, Illinois. Alton is an old river town built into the side of a hill over-looking the Mississippi river just upstream from the Robert Young Lock and Damn. From St. Louis there are two ways that you can get to Alton. The first is to take Interstate 270 to Missouri State Highway 367. Follow 367 north until you cross over the Mississippi river bridge at Alton. The other way is my favorite, cross over the Popular Street Bridge or … (0 comments)
valuelist real estate services: How's The SEO Coming?
- 05/20/07 03:48 AM
I actually got an email the other day that asked me how my SEO was coming on my website, valuelistre.com. I was surprised that anybody was really following my little internet saga. I wrote the guy back and he told me that he was thinking about doing something similar to what I have been describing that I have done to my site. Up until I received his email, I had thought of just blowing off writing about my progress because I wasn't feeling the love for the story. I kind of reminded me of a joke; This traveling preacher arrived outside of town … (2 comments)
There has been a lot of talk on here about how terrible foreclosures are and how rotten the sub prime lending market has been for our industry. I've read a few posts from people who have pointed out that statistically foreclosures aren't really that bad and one post that stated that the sub prime mortgage market is actually performing better than it was anticipated that it would when a lot of these programs were being structured. I'd say that the chicken little crowd is winning over the rosy picture people about 4 to 1. So, which is … (2 comments)
valuelist real estate services: The Partisan Versions Of The Ant and Th Grasshopper
- 05/17/07 04:49 AM
I recently received an email that retold the famous fable of the ant and the grasshopper in a modern light from a Republican point of view. It was cute, but I felt that it need to be responded to, so I wrote a Democratic version as a reply. First the Republican version, then below it, my reply. Let me know what you think!
OLD VERSION:The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building hishouse and laying up supplies for the winter.The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and playsthe summer away. Come winter, the … (6 comments)
This home features: * New Mohawk Brand Carpet * Pergo Rustic Red Oak Flooring in the kitchen * Opened up floor plan * Fresh Paint * Six panel doors * French doors on the finished walkout lower level that backs to common ground * New 220 amp electric service * 1 car garage * Updated kitchen * Updated baths with ceramic tile floors and top of the line fixtures. * Attic Fan * Maintenance free exterior with vinyl siding … (0 comments)
valuelist real estate services: Barnhart Missouri Home - 1955 Birchwood
- 05/16/07 06:23 AM
Barnhart Missouri Homes 1955 Birchwood is a 3 bedroom/2 bath ranch home in the Bayberry Subdivision in Barnhart Missouri. I've actually sold this home twice now at $178,000 and $177,000 but neither party could close and we've got to move it. The home has been completely updated with a 29oz. Stainmaster Brand carpet throughout and Pergo brand rustic red oak flooring in the kitchen. Both of the bathroom feature ceramic tile floors with decorative tile inlays. Most of the light fixtures have been replaced with upgraded fixtures. The home features: * Vaulted ceilings * An oversized 2 car garage * A huge lot that backs … (0 comments)
valuelist real estate services: 60 Minutes Is The Least Of Our Problems!
- 05/16/07 03:30 AM
Yesterday I posted "10 Reasons That Leslie Stahl Might Have Been Right" to respond to all of the posts that were written about how unfair her report was. I honestly don't know if the report was fair or not because I didn't watch it and have no plans to watch it. I was writing more about the response by the real estate community than the 60 minutes segment. I used that particular title because I figured that it would fan the flames a bit and I honestly think that the flames need to be fanned on this issue. What? Bob Mitchell being … (4 comments)
valuelist real estate services: 10 Reasons Leslie Stahl Might Have Been Right!
- 05/15/07 06:04 AM
Apparently from the posts that I've read today there was a 60 minutes segment aired the other day that has a lot of agents in a tizzy. I can't really speak to the segment itself because I haven't seen it, but I can speak to the issue of discount real estate companies in general because I own one the country's oldest ones. I started ValueList in 1995 as a St. Louis discount real estate company. The reason that I developed my concept was because of my experience at a mid-sized mortgage company that I worked at. Part of my job was to … (5 comments)
valuelist real estate services: You Don't Always Get What You Want, But If You Try Sometimes
- 05/13/07 04:58 AM
I read a two posts today that were about totally different topics, but who if you think about it, were really about the same thing. The first post which I can't find to link to was about an agent who was having trouble getting potential buyers to sign a buyer's agency agreement with her and the second one was about Radical Professionalism. In my comment to the lady's post I mentioned my method of working with new buyers and how I tell them that I will show them property for two days without them agreeing to be loyal to me. I … (6 comments)
valuelist real estate services: Another Call Out For Folks Interested In Exchanging Links
- 05/12/07 05:12 AM
If you've been following Karen Georges Great Link Experiment you'll know that of the 21 participants in her experiment that 12 have recognized some significant improvements in their search engine rankings. Some of them have some basic flaws on their pages that need to be corrected and there are a few mysteries. Still, 12 out of 21 is enough to show me the power of linking. Last week I wrote a post on here asking for linking partners and got a big ZERO in response. To say that I was disappointed would be an understatement. NOBODY wants to link to me? I … (3 comments)
valuelist real estate services: Kids Say The Darnest Things!
- 05/11/07 03:30 AM
Last night I was talking with my daughter and she told me something that made my day! She was relaying the story about how she had helped her friend clean her apartment and how her friend had helped her clean hers. It turns out that the friend wasn't all that motivated to help Whitney clean her apartment after having worked on her own for most of the afternoon. My daughter told me about how frustrated she became when her friend would only do a half axsed job. She said she couldn't believe that she was becoming me when she told her friend, … (3 comments)
valuelist real estate services: A Tale Of Two College Towns
- 05/11/07 03:15 AM
My daughter goes to The Ohio State University and my son goes to Auburn University and we rent apartments in both cities from management company's that specialize in managing college apartments. The two companies couldn't be further apart from one another in customer service if they tried. My daughter's apartment in Columbus is held together by spit and glue and the building is infested with mice and roaches. The landlord, Jason Rowland - ReMax City Centre is non responsive and does a terrible job of managing the properties. It's obvious that he knows that due to the buildings close proximity to the … (2 comments)
valuelist real estate services: An Open Challenge To MSN.Com - Can YOU Help Me?
- 05/10/07 05:17 AM
The other day I read an article on MSN.Com's Money Section called, "Why Rent? To Get Richer". The article was well written, but was full of inaccuracies and errors by omission. I called Microsoft to find out how I could write an article rebutting this article on a point by point basis and was told that they couldn't transfer me to anybody who would even know about how to go about submitting an article. On their web site there are message boards and I again left a message offering to write an article. I even challenged them! No response. Other than the … (0 comments)
valuelist real estate services: Broker Bryant Dishes Out The Dirt!
- 05/09/07 06:21 AM
The gloves are coming off! Broker Bryant, I'm calling you out! I realize that you are the Oscar De La Hola of Active Rain but with great power comes great responsibility. In your post "Another One Bites The Dust" you tell mortgage brokers to bite you, "Now, let's see what I can come up with for a learning experience...hmmm.... OK, I've got one......Bite me you *&%#$ and %^&*!# Mortgage Brokers!!! Oops, sorry, that just slipped out." That is simply not responsible! You are making the same mistake that a lot of the national media and our law makers are making in using … (20 comments)
valuelist real estate services: We've All Been Doing It Axx Backwards!
- 05/09/07 05:15 AM
Yep! You can take all those things that you've ever been taught about "prioritizing" and toss it all out the window! What you have been taught throughout your business careers is dead wrong! I can only assume that you've had similar speakers come to your offer and talk about time management and how to prioritize, etc. I know that starting way back in 1984, when I got into real estate, my sales manager would bring these guys and gals in. They seemed to have it all together. Starched white shirt and tie for the men and attractive business suit with a … (0 comments)
A Blog about real estate and real estate finance by Bob Mitchell who has been in the business since 1984 and who comes at the business from a different angle.
Several years ago I started recommending to my sellers that they have a building inspection done prior to putting their house on the market. When I suggest this about 1/2 of the people balk, asking why they should have to put up the money for an inspection, when the buyer is going to probably pay for one themselves.
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