June 24th, 2010
Don’t we always hear “the weekend is almost here”… “Have a Good Weekend”…
Thinking about that last weekend while sitting on the porch in North Carolina – I realized that a good weekend for a realtor is working, really. (I should say “Selling”). Not to say I don’t enjoy a weekend with my husband and family, but we should consider planning our weekends just as we do the time off weekends.
Right?
How to do this? Do you have a prospect list, prospects who are perhaps long term? Give them a call, tell them you know they are not quite ready to buy but you want to preview some homes and realized that these homes might be some they would enjoy seeing – and maybe they also know someone else who would like to look in that price range – area…whatever…
Or perhaps an open house, planned and organized, to “pick up” some buyers. Most Realtors have great personalities – which is why we are in real estate – so what better way to meet people that are somehow interested in property than in an open house!
How do you plan an open house? Well, on short notice – I put up signs early in the day on major intersections or nearby traffic areas that say Open Today 1-4 …put them up early with an address or just the street name…or community name…bold bright and attention getting signs. Even posterboard…homemade looks even more intriguing and perhaps less threatening. Bring a list of listings to hand out with your card…say a line list of a picture, address, price and sf…or perhaps no address just the rest of the info. I also group the list by price…say 20% below the asking price of the home you are in… another group 10%…etc…
I don’t know about you but most visitors to open houses seem to be below the price of the one they are visiting. Do you find that true?
Of course, a lap top…so you can find out what someone really might be interested in and encourage them to…”lets just check MLS and see what there is…”…while walking over to the computer and just doing it…
After all, the goal of the open house is to find buyers to work with. Its great to find someone interested in the property but that would be rare – Open houses are the best of all vehicles to find people that want to buy.
Anyway…more for another day on Open Houses…but today would be a good day to plan your real work week…. the weekend!
E
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June 23rd, 2010
Monday, the 28th at 10:30…Join us for HUD training.
RSVP – space is limited
Call Monique at 821 3083
A HUD trainer will be here!
We would love to have you!
Magnolia Properties
9086 Cypress Green Drive
Jax, Fl 32256
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June 23rd, 2010
Welcome to my world…
My son, Matthew is Magnolia Properties “IT Specialist” and he said, Mom – if you write some Notes on your Facebook page, it will blog on the Magnolia site. Thank you, Matthew. Everyone should have a Matthew both at work and at home!
If the tv doesn’t cooperate…I call Matthew. If I can’t program my something, connect to something…etc.. Matt always rescues me.
Anytime one of our team members has a computer glitch…Matt to the rescue!
We are very fortunate to have him.
Can you tell, I am so proud of him!
E
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June 14th, 2010
There are also several things, that Jeff Jarvis fails to take into account when he refers to real estate agents, is the fact that most real estate companies, actually take a large cut of the agent’s commission, so they don’t make nearly as much as he claims, and honestly the 6% he refers to is nothing, if you take into account, that the company that holds the agent’s license takes a large cut of that.
He also does not take into account, the various fees that an agent also has to pay, to the association, to insurance companies for Errors and Omissions insurance, plus a lot of companies even charge them for desk space and their use of office resources. So in the end, the agent does not get nearly as much as Jeff Jarvis claims for doing “little work”.
I’d like proof Mr. Jarvis, that my mother working from dawn to dusk everyday, is doing “little work”.
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June 13th, 2010
The last day or so I have been listening to, yes that’s right Leo Laporte, I said LISTENING TO, because you do not READ audio, the audiobook version of Jeff Jarvis’ book “What Would Google Do?”. Even though I have yet to listen to the entire thing, I would still highly recommend this book, It’s an interesting look at the changes companies like Google have brought to the world, thanks to the Internet, like Dell and Starbucks putting up sites for their customers to voice ideas.
Now, compared to Jeff Jarvis, who also blogs on his own site BuzzMachine I am pretty much a nobody blogger, who rarely gets any real comments left on the blog. That said, I have had companies like Belkin actually put two and two together with an issue I had with an iPod case breaking when I fell down the stairs, and made good on it by calling me and offering to send a replacement case as long as I edited my post. Wow, me nobody blogger me, people from Comcast have reached out to me too, once when I had a problem with my wifi and my Xbox 360 due to bad weather though I had not explained that the wifi router was actually above the garage detached from the house. I don’t live there anymore, I live in a condo now.
Now on to the meat of this post, which is my beef with Mr. Jeff Jarvis. A few times on This Week in Google and in his own book, he has stated that real estate agents make commission for doing little work. I challenge you Jeff Jarvis, to come down to Florida and spend a day with my own mother, or one of the 200 some odd Magnolia Properties agents, who work every single day, from the minute they wake up to the minute they go to bed. I am the IT department for that company, my paycheck was made possible by that company, and so therefore the thing you seem to state as fact, when it’s not, has even made it possible for me to buy your book. All you’ve done is ride around in the car with an agent, you do not see the work they do when you are not around. My mother is what we call a “working broker” not only does she have her own company, but she also has to sell houses herself in order to pay the bills and put food on the table, but she can’t do it all herself, and because she also runs the business, she has office staff that sometimes make appointments for her. My mother has not had a single day off of work for years. She has no real weekends! When she’s in the car, watching TV, eating dinner, doing anything else, she’s working.
Sorry, but I am going to tell you that from experience, of being around the industry as long as I have, living in it, but being slightly separate from it because I am not an agent myself, that you are wrong. I am sorry to even say this to you because I respect your views on the changing economy, and I love how things have changed this day and age.
Also, when you say that discount brokerages now having access to MLS is a good thing, I disagree with you there as well, because they take business away from the hard working agent. I yell at my TV every time a Buy Owner commercial is on. It is not a good thing at all.
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December 29th, 2009
Hey, I am Matt, Magnolia’s friendly neighborhood IT guy. Also the one responsible for making sure my mom’s blog posts get up on the site. She’s a very busy person and doesn’t always have time to write anything, so she asked me to write too. I’m a somewhat experienced blogger, so I figured why not.
I hope everyone’s holidays were great, regardless of which one you celebrate, Christmas,
Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, whatever it happens to be. Also New Years Eve is just around the corner, I got a new frier so I am going to probably fry pickles, that’s one of my favorite things to do is fry pickles.
Anyway, more from me later, gotta get back to work!
Matt
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December 1st, 2009
Jacksonville Florida news from a real estate broker
I am blessed to live a block and a half from our fabulous Jacksonville beach! This morning, on a very early bike ride, watching the sun come up, I felt so thankful to be standing there watching such a masterpiece of sky, color, clouds and ocean. Thankful.
It is the perfect time to be Thankful as we begin the week following Thanksgiving and begin our quick and fast weeks before Christmas. My resolution is to savor the moment with the constant presence and thought of the reason we celebrate. The birth of Our Lord.
Yes, I am Christian. Yes, this season is very special to me for that reason. I am blessed that I have been given that knowledge. But,I also know that God is beyond my comprehension and that He touches his children in many, many ways, with many special beliefs and knowledge that are as varied as He is magnificent. I am honored to share, learn and appreciate all those beliefs. My prayer is that all people learn to appreciate and enjoy the differences that we are blessed with.
This is the perfect season for those of us in this challenging real estate market to remember to be thankful for all those who have entrusted their business to us this past year. It is also a wonderful time to begin afresh… a new year, a new commitment to service, education, professionalism and above all – an appreciation of those that will offer us an opportunity to do business in the coming year.
I can feel the excitement of a new year building. I am optimistic that confidence in our economy will begin to grow. This is not necessarily for any other reason than the human spirit and believe that any challenge can be overcome. Many of our Magnolia Properties agents have been very successful in 2009 – but they are consistently working, improving themselves, making contacts and realizing that every single customer is precious, valuable and worth 100% dedication. Real estate is the main foundation of our lives, our economy, our environment. It is home: where we begin and where we end and all the events that happen in our lives revolve around “home”. The value of home has no price tag. As the advertisement that is so popular says “Priceless”.
God Bless, I am thankful for all that have chosen Magnolia Properties, as clients, customers and agents. I am thankful for all the other companies who provide us with listings to show and customers to buy our listings. I am thankful for a new day and a new year.
Eileen
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October 22nd, 2009
Real estate news..well at least well estate oriented news or maybe news from a realtor anyway in Jacksonville florida
I haven’t written as much this week as was my goal. I haven’t done as much of any thing of my goals as I had planned this week. It was one of those weeks that seems to have gone by in quite more of a blurr than most though the older I get the “blurrier” the weeks get…time goes by more and more quickly.
I think that is because when we are children, one month is one twelve of our year…that year may be only l/5 of our life at that time….then one tenth then one twentieth. Now it is one 54th. One 54th of something is much smaller relative to the same thing at a one fifth size…does that make sense?
Well anyway, as my mother turns 82 this week, I have been thinking about this. The average us life span is 78.3. or so I have read. In other parts of the world the age span is much longer. I have also read that genetics have already determined about 25% of why we life as long as we do, but that there is a much great er reason to impact our own life span with our choices.
Well, it seems that the biggest impact we can have on our life spans is control our stress and choose activity, not necessarily exercise. Exercise should be moderate and 30 to 60 minutes (more toward 60 of cardio a day is the new AMA suggested amount of time) but that above that several hours a day should be spent walking, gardening, house work, physical activity….and lowering our stress.
Well, stressfully speaking, just thinking about 60 minutes of cardio is pretty stressful not to mention finding the time to do that….and several hours of gardening and biking…well after work, dishes, laundry, phone calls, a blog…well maybe the middle of the night but then I would be stressed about not sleeping…
Or then when do we work…or get our work done…
The article says in Sardinia, 208 per 100,000 live to be 100. Many work has shepherds and hike miles a day. In Okinawa they also live long lives because they spend hours in the garden –(no stressful closing problems there that s for sure!)….
Now I have to add more stress to my life in realizing that I am cutting it short because of this life style I am living if I cant figure out several hours of exercise, gardening and sheephearding type activity every day….
I wonder what a realtor’s life span is…?
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October 20th, 2009
Jacksonville Florida good News for Real Estate…
Can you believe it! It looks as though it is in print…a little here and a little there…economists are saying that we are on the way out of this recession! Today I read that 80% of economists are saying that the recession is on its way “over”. How nice it is to start seeing some good news in print. I truly believe so much of our economy is based on the way we believe the future looks, how we secure we feel about our future….
The stock market seems to be going up The “Realtor” in me, you notice, says “seems”. Someone recently told me: “I wish you would give me a straight answer!”..with an annoyed tone of voice…
I was taken aback…straight answer…??? She went on to say..”You always say, as far as I know, in my opinion today….the last time I researched it – the info at my disposal indicated…”…
I guess those of us in our industry are very cautious about the information we give our customers, friends, clients, anyone who may depend on that information – or at least we should be…so, as I was saying…..
It appears that many articles I have seen lately seem to indicate that there are some experts who believe that we may be experiencing some encouraging signs in our overall economy – whew, this cautiously describing information can be exhausting, cant it?…
Anyway… I think it is “Good News”…possibly.
Eileen Blocker Milam, Broker – that I know for certain.
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October 13th, 2009
New from Jacksonville for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Brokers
I do believe “things’ are looking up in Jacksonville, Florida. We have record numbers of closings the last two weeks. Record numbers of closings for the last two years would be the clarification. Of course, the tax credit helps that and the time frame of that is drawing to a close BUT…and the But is a big one, new contracts seem to be keeping the same pace regardless of the near ending of the ability to obtain the tax credit.
THAT IS A GOOD SIGN – NO THAT COULD BE A GREAT SIGN. I think I will take that at face value – A GREAT SIGN!
I decided some time ago, that I would stop reading bad news, stop listing to bad news…stop allowing myself to process bad news. Well, that certainly has freed up some time…but it has helped me look for the good in everything.
Tell someone something good. Today. I mean it. They have a great hairdo. The weather is lovely. Your friend has lost weight! You admire the job they did. You liked that particular flyer, listing, handling of a problem.
Stay Happy and that is a job….stay healthy. Ride your bike, walk, take the stairs. Cut back on sugar, fat and bad things. When you feel good you look good. You become more positive and it shows. “Show up” every day.
Lets all get going. And believe that good things are happening. I am and I will. By the way, I love your new “do”…and gee… I think you look a little thinner….
God Bless You! And me! And all we do business with…
Eileen
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