New Website and Host I started in RE in April 1999 when I moved to Westcliffe, Colorado. In April 2001, I opened my own company:  Custer and Fremont Real Estate, LLC.  I hired 5 good agents and we went to work.  After a couple of years I realized I preferred to work alone.  It took about 6 months for the agents to find work elsewhere and I wasn't going to run off anyone.  I gravitated more and more to becoming an Exclusive Buyer's Agent.  I did in 2004 and by 2005 I realized again that using the name Custer and Fremont created a lot of phone calls for Mr. Custer or Mr. Fremont.  (Custer and Fremont are the 2 counties where I concentrate my work.) Working alone I thought it better to use my name.  I mirrored my other web addresses into www.JohnGJohnston.com. For 12 years I have used iHou... 03/23/2013

A Day in the Life of a Realtor! Got up a little after 6am.  Turned on the computers, coffee machine (Italian coffee maker, fresh ground by the cup), built a fire (Colorado), fed the stray cats (fixed), started emails, websites, weather station (online)...usual routine. One BIG pleasure I enjoy is we live at work.  We own a bed and breakfast on Main Street.  Our office includes the B & B office.  My wife's desk is the B & B; my desk, real estate.  Time commuting...20 seconds! Open the office by 7:30am.  Most offices open at 9:00am.  By the time other offices have opened I have answered a couple of emails asking about properties in the area.  I get the usual response "Thanks for getting back to me so fast!"  Translate:  CLIENT! 10:00am Put up the sign back at 11:30 and posted phone number... 03/22/2013

The Jones Theater Presents Lincoln Friday and Saturday March 22nd and 23rd  Showtime:  7:30pm Enjoy dinner and a movie this weekend in  beautiful Westcliffe, CO   Westcliffe Center for the Performing Arts 719 783-3004 www.WestcliffeCenter.org Let me work for you because the agent with the sign in the yard works for the seller. 03/21/2013

  A Blast from the Past    I remember back in 1957, as an eight-year old, reading on the front page of the Ft. Worth Star Telegram an article that has influenced me ever since.  It was a short blurb about a study done around the world of communities, villages, small towns, regions that lived beyond the normal life expectancy.   At a time when life expectancy was somewhere around 67.something, those people were living to be in their 90's, even over 100 years old!  Now, as an 8 year old who thought living forever was pretty neat...I actually read the whole article, about 8 paragraphs!   The study was what they had in common.  The communities were scattered around the world; Russia, South America, Asia, India...the U.S., not a chance.  What did they have in common?   1:  They worked with t... 03/20/2013

Foreclosures Are Sold as-is-where-is-why-because-is Problem Solving My spiel to clients guarantees after I sell you vacant land to build your dream home I will sell you an existing home in a few years.  After a buyer researches the cost of excavating a driveway and foundation, drilling a well, installing septic...none of this money is recovered when you sale your dream home.   And so the story goes.  Their rational for buying an existing home was to have a place to live while they built their dream.  We found a nice existing 'foreclosure'.  The price was good...WAIT...they just dropped the price another $12,000...TODAY.  OK, OK, but I'm still a buyer's agent and we don't have to pay asking price.  So, we negotiate a good GREAT deal.   CONTRACT!    Inspection time!  This was winter time... 03/19/2013

  Fun Story about Finding a Client    A few of years ago I had a couple from out of state contact me.  They recently sold property in another part of Colorado. They had fallen in love with this area.  They were both a couple of years from retirement (a story I hear a lot).  The plan was to buy vacant land to build their dream home before they retired.   The 1st trip was a couple of days to look at properties.  They returned home and made plans for a return visit the next month.  The 2nd visit worked.  They found 35 acres with great views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, rock outcroppings and trees.  They stayed long enough to make an offer, and then returned home.  A few days later...CONTRACT!   One provision in the contract was a 1031 Exchange.  He had bought vacant land years ago. S... 03/18/2013

"and darkness was under his feet" stories of a family Annie Dawid Winner of The Litchfield Review Short Fiction Prize for 2007 I was given this book by the author as a gift for helping find her new home. She wrote "with great appreciation for your help in finding a great home - for the 2nd time!" On the back cover are the words; "Annie Dawid writes and photographs from her cabin at 9,100 feet in the Wet Mountain Valley of South-Central Colorado, where she lives with her son, Isaiah Max, and her dogs, Fanny and Rafe.  AND DARKNESS WAS UNDER HER FEET re-imagines the stories told by her paternal relations at home and abroad.  Dawid's last book was LILY IN THE DESERT: STORIES (Carnegie-Mellon U. Press).  Her first book was YORK FERRY: A NOVEL (Cane Hill Press). 03/17/2013

  A Changing Market and Marketing Strategies   Thanks for the challenge AR.   Question 1:  How will this shift affect buyer agent's vs. seller agents?   Answer:  I live in a 2nd home/vacation/retirement community.  Our county has around 4,000 people and little industry.  Ranching, tourism and real estate make up the local economy.  I have been here 14 years and it has always been a buyer's market.  We routinely have 700-800 properties on the market with 200+ sales a year.   Question 2:  What marketing strategies will you need to change?   Answer:  I have started to list properties and still maintain my Exclusive Buyer's Agent status since many properties have been on the market for a long time and sellers are frustrated through no fault of the listing agent.  I have the seller sign a di... 03/16/2013

A good day!!  Up at 6:00am.  Left at 9:45am for Canon City for a closing at 11:00am.  (This one has been under contract since 08/2012!)  Closed by 11:40am.  Back home by 1:00pm.  Clients come for showings at 1:30pm.  Clients had previously bought vacant land and now looking at existing homes! Toured 5 properties by 6:00pm.  They liked the last one and should write an offer tomorrow morning.  (Dinner out with wife at 8:00pm!)  Ah, a good day!  Enjoy yours! 03/14/2013

St. Patrick's Day Dinner March 17, 2013 5:30 - 7:30 AAW Interpretive Center 110 Rosita Ave. Westcliffe, CO Entertainment by Barb St. Amour, Jack Naaf, George Watson Adults $18.00 - Children 6-12 $9.00 - Children under 6:  FREE Dinner will consist of:                                     Door Prizes Corned Beef & Cabbage                            2 Prints of the Award with Irish Potatoes                                      Winning Painting Lime with Pineapple Salad                     "Early Spring in the Valley" Rolls, Dessert, Drink                             by Taos Artist Don Brackett 03/13/2013

The Life of a Sale OK, let's make some assumptions or this could be a long blog. 1: The client is a walk-in so there aren't any long drawn-out exchanges of likes and dislikes. 2: They know what they are looking for(how often does that happen?). Most likely we are going to spend all the time it takes to introduce ourselves and get comfortable working with each other. That said, we start determining what they want. Our expertise determines how fast we get from office to the field. Our knowledge of the local market is what makes us successful. Showing time can be an afternoon or days. Just to schedule showings requires a couple of hours to get a confirmation time from the listing agent, receive showing instructions and plan a route. Repeat this step for every day they want to tour properti... 03/12/2013

Buying a Home, Home Buyers Buyer's Agent:  A buyer's agent works solely on behalf of the buyer to promote the interests of the buyer with the utmost good faith, loyalty and fidelity.  The agent negotiates on behalf of and acts as an advocate for the buyer.  The buyer's agent must disclose to potential sellers all adverse material facts actually known by the buyer's agent including the buyer's financial ability to perform the terms of the transaction and, if a residential property, whether the buyer intends to occupy the property.  A separate written buyer agency agreement is required which sets forth the duties and obligations of the broker and the buyer. The Colorado Real Estate Commission requires an agent to disclose a Definition of Working Relationships to a potential client prior t... 03/11/2013

Contract states the seller will have the home professionally cleaned!    Joyce Kelley commented on one of my blogs:  "We always have a lady go over to tidy up the day of the walk through, if it is not decent we put off the closing we also have put in our contracts that the seller will have the home professional cleaned with a limit of 150.  that way they just pay it at closing and we clean it" What a great idea!   Who is doing something similar to this and what are you doing?  Who determines what is "clean"?  What language are you using in the contract to buy? Contract states the seller will have the home professionally cleaned! 03/10/2013

Mo & I request the pleasure of your company and a favor. We just started a Facebook page for our bed and breakfast in Westcliffe, CO;  Courtyard Country Inn B & B. We have uploaded a ton of pics; local businesses, the community, flowers and birds at the Courtyard and a couple pics of us. We ask a favor: PLEASE stop by our page and click LIKE!  Your check is in the mail. Click here: http://www.facebook.com/JohnGJohnton#!/WestcliffeCo 03/09/2013

The Jones Theater Presents   Life of Pi March 8th Friday March 9th Saturday 7:30pm 719 783-3004 www.WestcliffeCenter.org Compliment your movie with wine and dinner Westcliffe Wine Mine Open Fridays 3-9:pm Saturdays 11:30-9:00pm 719 783-2490 109 N. 3rd Street Westcliffe     03/06/2013

Appraisal, Market Analysis & Listing Price are challenging numbers in our profession. An appraisal is someone's judgment as to the worth of a property based on comparable sales within a recent time period. A market analysis is someone's opinion as to the worth of a property based on the current market.  To arrive at that analysis someone determines the local market conditions and relates that to a value of that property.  Most CMS's or Market Analysis are done by licensed real estate agents. This is where there can be a fundamental difference between the two opinions.  An appraiser will consider variables but base the final decision as to the value based on recent sales prices.  A market analysis can be a very different story.  I read a lot of blogs from around the country and the stori... 03/04/2013

Do your clients just show up at closing or do you teach them how they got there?    Today was an eye opening experience with a new client. He is highly intelligent and a CEO for a medium sized international company and doing very well. He is outgoing and we discussed several subjects.   What I learned is he knew nothing about buying or selling real estate. Oh, he knew the jargon and was approved for a loan up to a $$$ amount. But, he knew nothing about how to list his house or find an agent. Nothing about a listing contract. No clue how to negotiate. Nothing about getting to closing. An example, he asked if you could write an offer the day his goes under contract? And, he has bought and sold before. Maybe an agent held his hand from listing to closing!   What else I learned is we assum... 03/03/2013

    This blog was inspired by Richard Iarossi...your check is in the mail. He blogged about receiving an invitation from a competing company to attend a wine and cheese get together in appreciation of his helping their company achieve success. Think about it. I don't care what company you work for or how successful you or the company claim to be. I am an Exclusive Buyer's Agent. If you have a listing and I have a buyer...let's do business. Most agents are easy to work with and if I ask a question they generally provide me with an acceptable answer. There are a select few agents that I can take their word to the bank. And then there are agents I don't bother asking because they have no intention of providing accurate information. But, this is to those exceptional agents that make my life... 03/02/2013

The Jones Theater  Presents Les Miserables Friday and Saturday, March 1st & 2nd 7:30pm Enjoy dinner a one of our outstanding restaurants before the movie. Jones Theater  719 783-3004 www.WestcliffeCenter.org 03/01/2013

Moon over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains on the morning of February 26, 2013.  This pic is from downtown Westclffe, CO. Oh, what a beautiful morning!  Enjoy your day, my friends. 02/25/2013