Let me just come right out and say it: Things happen in life and you feel (spell it) v-i-o-l-a-t-e-d ~ “violated.” Dictionary.com defines violated as: “to break in upon or disturb rudely; interfere thoughtlessly with.” That’s what happened to me when I had my wallet stolen. (Yes, I left it in the glove compartment of my car like I shouldn’t have, but that’s beside the point.) And I can remember myself thinking, “If they would have just taken the money and left my driver’s license.” I learned from this past “violation” (and others). Some of my thoughts are included in the following list… 7 Things to Keep in Mind When You Feel “Violated”: 1. It’s a natural response to a wrong done 2. Allow time for emotions to cool 3. Be careful to not accuse the wrong person 4. Lock doors, change comput... 04/18/2012

(click image to enlarge, then in new browser tab or window click again) 10 Mistakes People Make When Buying a Home: 1. Wait too long to make an offer. 2. Purchase a high priced item (car, etc) right before close. 3. Settle for less than the best real estate agent. 4. Aren't honest about their money situation with their loan officer. 5. Think they know better than the professional representing them. 6. Nitpick the process. 7. Seek information from another agent without revealing they're working with someone else. 8. Think they can go it alone without a licensed REALTOR®. 9. Forget that there are no stupid questions. 10. Don't realize their real estate agent is a person, too. BONUS: Masquerade as serious buyers when they are really just lookie loos. 04/16/2012

I wonder if we've forgotten the good things? In our rush to "progress" and leave behind the so-called "old / bad," could it be we've thrown out the baby with the bath water, too? Is there something that you need to start doing that you stopped doing? The following list will hopefully help get your wheels turning (should they need to turn in this area)... 35 Things People Need to Start Doing: 1. Seeing the best in people. 2. Keeping their promises. 3. Telling the truth. 4. Smiling. 5. Being polite. 6. Spending time with their kids. 7. Cherishing their spouse. 8. Forgiving. 9. Saving for a rainy day. 10. Making a will. 11. Listening. 12. Calling people back. 13. Staying married. 14. Putting others ahead of themselves. 15. Taking a break during the day. 16. Giving their very best at work.... 04/12/2012

(The original, world-famous awareness test from Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris.) (If you can't see this video, click here.) 04/11/2012

You ever wake up on Monday and not feel like going to work? (A sign you're human.) I remember a Professor in college who said to us (something to the effect), "I wake up at 6 a.m. every morning and resign. But I'm at school two hours later ready to go." And I want to take my Professor's statement one step further. Because it's true (we all know it is) that, yeah, we can "show up" anywhere, but that doesn't mean we're there, not "all there." A lot of people are just putting in time. (Know anybody like that?) They're just going through the motions, working nine to five, earning a paycheck, but they're not really investing themselves, not really giving their complete energy to making their business better. What could you be if you really gave your all? What could your company be if you di... 04/09/2012

We took tests on Thanksgiving and Christmas (click both links to view). Do you remember? So why not one for Easter? Are you pretty up on things surrounding this celebrated day? Let's find out (answers below and page links to where answers were gained)... 1. Each Easter Americans buy the following amount of Marshmallow Peeps shaped like chicks, bunnies and eggs (of which yellow is the #1 color chosen): (a) 7 million; (b) 70 million; (c) 700 million; (d) 80 million. 2. The day of Easter varies from year to year. How is the date determined? (a) mark 12 weeks from Christmas, multiply that by 3, then divide by 2; (b) 7 possible dates are taped to a wall. The Pope then plays pin the tail on the donkey; (c) it is always celebrated on the first Sunday after the blue moon that takes place on or... 04/06/2012

We're turning a corner in the real estate market (it seems). Sales are up. (Yay.) It's a kind of a sigh of relief for an industry that's been suffering for quite a while. And I can remember at the downturn how many found themselves in the place where they were wishing they'd saved more for a "rainy day." And of those that were wishing that, I guess a larger percentage of them are no longer in the real estate business any more. (Maybe? Probably?) They're missing the turnaround. And I guess the challenge is, when you have more money (due to the sales of homes or whatever it happens to be that's your product), you tend to just spend it. Right? (Is that your tendency?) And who needs a rainy day fund anyway, when the sun's out and shining and there's not a cloud in the sky? (sarcasm) Bottom... 04/04/2012

(click image to enlarge, then in new browser tab or window click again) Provided by Mint.com 04/02/2012

The day of the prankster is upon us again. I'm talking about April Fool's Day in particular. Sometimes we play along with things from childhood on up without any knowledge of why we're doing what we're doing. Let that end here for you for this first day in April. Do you know much about April Fool's Day? Find out with the following questions (you can check your answers below)... 1. Not much more than just theories exist as to the origin of April Fool's Day. Which of the following is the most popular theory? (a) It was an annual tradition for the Queen of England to invite court jesters to entertain her family on this day; (b) It started when French countrymen in the 1500s continued to recognize the New Year as starting in late March/early April after the calendar was changed ~ these bec... 03/30/2012

(Don't worry. This is safe to watch. You can click to view the slow motion version at end.) (If you can't see this video, click here.) 03/28/2012

It's becoming harder and harder (it seems) to separate fact from fiction. You watch the network news and they tell you one thing. You listen to talk radio and they tell you another (the opposite). The bottom line is there can't be two truths. So who do you believe? Well, aside from giving a lie detector (polygraph test), I have come to the conclusion that if we really want to protect ourselves (and our families) from being fooled, we need to do our own research. (It's as simple and hard as that.) We need to not just buy (hook, line and sinker) what others are telling us and find out things and know the truth ourselves. We can become pretty good at separating fact from fiction through practice. (We can!) That said, here's a list of... 15 Famous American Fibs: 1. The check is in the mail... 03/26/2012

(click image to enlarge, then in new browser tab or window click again) You might also be interested in: A Week in a Blogger's Life How to Create a Simple Infographic and Give That Old Blog Post New Life 03/23/2012

As resident blogger / social media specialist for Sugar Pine Realty in Sonora, California for the past five years (I just passed my anniversary), I thought I might share what I spend my week doing. (Of course, I have other "duties," too, that time won't allow me to mention.) My thinking is this might be a helpful template to one or two of you out there who are either new to the social media in business thing or you've been doing it for a while and wonder how somebody else approaches it (who isn't one of the "gurus"). Just a couple of quick things at the start so you know my social media mission / philosophy... MY GOAL The goal of all that I do (my job description) is to drive traffic to our main real estate web site: sugarpinerealty.com and keep our company's brand in front of as many ... 03/21/2012

(If you can't see this video, click here.) 03/19/2012

I was talking with a friend the other day about management styles. And it was just so funny how we came up with a list (mostly he did). See if you can relate to any of the following "types" of managers. Maybe you've had one (or all) managing you in your job experience lifetime... 7 Types of Managers: 1. Sea gull manager. They fly in. They do something (the thing that sea gulls do). They fly out. 2. Crisis manager. Doesn't do anything until a crisis happens. Why take steps to avoid it ahead of time? 3. Managle-ment manager. He / she messes up everything. (Similar to sea gull.) 4. MIA manager. Just like in the military: Missing in action. 'Nuff said. 5. Nitpicker manager. Worried about the insignificant. Enforces a bunch of rules and regulations that have nothing to do with enhancing pro... 03/16/2012

I've got a little bit of Irish in me. (Don't we all?) 1/8th to be exact. And with my mother having the name Patricia (Pat) since she was born close to Saint Patrick's Day, I think it's authority enough to offer you a quiz on the subject. So what do you know about the holiday and its surrounding folklore? Find out with the following questions (you can check your answers below)... 1. Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated each year on March 17. The date is significant because: (a) It's the day in the 5th century Ireland was recognized as a country; (b) It's the day Saint Patrick was born; (c) It's the day Saint Patrick died; (d) It's the day Saint Patrick was declared a saint by the Pope. 2. Which of the following is true of Saint Patrick? (a) He banished all the snakes from Ireland; (b) He w... 03/14/2012

(If you can't see this video, click here.) 03/14/2012

So you've written a blog post, have you? Sure you have. And you've really put all your heart, mind, soul and strength into it? (Don't we do that with everything we write?) And you've hit publish. (Click.) And you've sent it out to Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, etc. (Share. Tweet. Share.) And now you're waiting for everybody to read it. Right? The problem is nobody does (or very few). But it was so good (the blog post was). So what could have gone wrong? I'd like to suggest a simple answer. And if you correct this one thing, it will get people to read (click on) your blog post every time. Well, maybe not every time, but a lot more times than if you didn't correct it! Here's my answer. Are you ready? Maybe it's your (spell it) ~ t-i-t-l-e ~ TITLE that needs fixing? :) I don't espouse t... 03/08/2012

I've got the latest Mother Lode market numbers for you to look at today. To begin with, you'll notice the overall sales picture including all sales classes. CLICK HERE to view February 2012 compared to February 2011. CLICK HERE to view January-February 2012 compared to January-February 2011. You'll also want to notice the graphs including the Mother Lode Residential Unit Sales through February 2012 graph versus the previous five years (clickable picture 1 on above left) along with the Mother Lode Residential Volume Sales graph versus the previous five years (clickable picture 2 on the right) and the Mother Lode Residential Average Sales Price graph versus the previous five years (clickable picture 3 on the left below), respectively. (The data used comes from the Tuolumne Multiple Listi... 03/08/2012

(click image to enlarge, then in new browser tab or window click again) You might also be interested in: 12 Ways You Can Tell You Have The Right Real Estate Agent [infographic] 10 Mistakes People Make with Twitter [infographic] 03/01/2012