I just read a post, Take A Client For Granted about an agent who was busy with other business and couldn't get to show a valued customer a particular house.  The agent attempted to call and left a message telling the client that he would not be available until the next morning to show the house to him.The next morning he called the client to show the house and the client informed him that he had gone ahead and set up a showing with another Realtor.  The apparent point of the post was that he, the agent, had screwed up and was taking the client for granted because he had not been able to show this property that day.To This I say, "Hooey!"  I don't mean to be critical of the agent who wrote this post, but I think that this attitude that we have to be super people and available to our clie... 04/21/2007

Hello up there as you fly over the great mid-west!  I recently wrote an article on an ezine called YoJayHudson.com on how the media discounts anything that doesn't happen on the east coast or the west coast.  The article was basically about the power outage that we experienced here in St. Louis last summer where millions of St. Louisians were left without power after a severe series of thunderstorms rolled through the area.Being without power for a week, my only source of news was my cell phone's internet connection.  I scanned all of the news sites for coverage of our plight and for the first couple of days there wasn't anything.  Then I saw the head line, "Thousands lose power in New York City".  I'm like, "What?!!!"  Thousands lose power in New York City trumps millions lose power in... 04/19/2007

  A few years back I listed a glorious old home in the Soulard area of St. Louis.  This home had originally been a doctors residence when it was built back in the 1880's??.  To say that it was a solid house was an understatement .  Legend had it that a tornado had hit it and bounced off.  The foundation on this thing was something like 36 inches wide!Over the years the house had been "remodeled" several times in the various styles du jour that were popular.  These "remodels" included putting in a suspended ceiling, painting the wood work, bricking up windows and a red and the biggest shag carpet that I had ever seen.We got a contract on the home fairly quickly and that freed up the sellers to go look for another home.  After having owned a home that was over 100 years old and huge, they... 04/18/2007

Dennis and I went to a seminar on 1031 Tax Exchanges this evening.  It was sponsored by the Des Peres Keller Williams office.  The material was presented by Coleen Howell, a Vice President with LandAmerica-Commonwealth Title Company.  As we are considering moving up from our two-families to larger investment properties in the future, I thought it would be a good idea to attend.  The class was pretty general, for beginners, which was fine with me; I don't know that much about the exchanges.  I also wanted to educate myself so I could better assist my investment property clients.  Some notes I took tonight are as follows: Straight Deferred Exchange:  Your relinquished property begins the 1031 Tax Exchange.The property(s) you purchase ends your 1031 Tax Exchange. A qualified intermediary (... 04/17/2007

I wanted to share an exerpt from a speech given by Nelson Mandela at his inaguration in 1994.  It was originally attributed to Marianne Williamson.  This is so profound, and it is another clipping I keep posted on the board above my desk:Our Deeped FearOur deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us.We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talente, fabulous?Actually, who are you NOT to be?You are a child of God.Your playing small does not serve the world.There is nothing enlightening about shrinkingSo that other people won't feel unsure around you.We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.As w... 04/16/2007

I'm about to pull my hair out!  As I sit here at my desk working on my web page, answering emails and doing my blogging (all things that I try to get done before my day gets started in earnest) my phone rings and it's my daughter.  It's cold in Columbus and she doesn't feel like going to class.  She will, she just wanted to complain to someone and she knew that I would answer my phone!  I no sooner get off the phone with her when my buddy Bear calls, his truck is acting up and can I follow him over to the shop in case it doesn't make it?  Of course I can, what else can a buddy say.  I love my daughter and of course I'll help my buddy out, but how and where do you draw the line.  My daughter didn't call her Mom because she knows that her Mom is at WORK!  My buddy didn't call one of his o... 04/16/2007

Beautiful day today compared with the past two days.  It was so dreary and rainy yesterday I did not want to leave the house... Today is partly sunny with temperatures in the fifties - still chilly compared with what it was, but at least it's not raining...Following are the market statistics for single family residential homes in the city of St Louis for the past week.  These stats are gathered from the local multiple listing service:There were 176 Active listings on the market, priced between $9,900 (foreclosure) and $1,495,000 (wow!).There were 40 Contingent listings, priced between $79,900 and $1,179,000 (wow!).There were 73 Pending listings, priced between $19,900 and $1,495,000 (double wow!).There were 49 Sold listings, priced between $27,500 and $1,150,000.There were 47 listings t... 04/15/2007

SRRRRRRRCCCCCCHHHHH!!  That's the sound of screaming breaks as I slam on them in regards to my SEO.  My last post (http://activerain.com/blogsview/72206/Realtor-St-Louis-optimizes)on this topic talked about what I was doing to get my web site to show up on the search engines.  On it I complained that it was hard not to get confused with contrasting information from different sources.Well, after spending hours working on linking my site to other sites and exchanging reciprocal links (a SEO approach that was recommended by several people) I found out from some other very reputable people that not only will it not help, that it might hurt!So, bad to the drawing board.  I erased all of those links and redid my front page so that it look a lot better and cleaner and am concentrating on addin... 04/14/2007

Yesterday on NPR I heard a story about a housing advocacy group in Ohio who was dedicating a large amount of money to help bailout people facing foreclosure.  In that report a lady cried that her "Mortgage Broker" lied to her and that was why she was in trouble.Well, I wasn't there and I can't tell you if what she is saying is true, but I can tell you that it's federal law that she was disclosed to.  She should have received a truth in lending statement which she would have had to sign and a Good Faith Estimate, which she also would have hand to sign, from the broker (if it was indeed a mortgage broker who originated this mortgage - more on this in a sec). If the loan had an adjustable feature, she should have also received an "Adjustable Rate Disclosure" form as well.  The Truth In Len... 04/13/2007

I have a clipping of an article tacked to the bulletin board above my desk.  I believe it's from the Missouri Realtor Magazine that came out right before the MAR Convention &  Expo.  It told about the feature presentation that would be presented by Mike Schlappi.  Mr Schlappi, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a childhood accident, went on to become a two-time Gold Medalist, World Champion, author, businseeman, husband and father of five.  He earned an MBA, authored two successful books - about success - was a member of the Board of Trustees for the 2002 Olympic Games, and was honored in Utah at a Top 50 Athlete of the Century.  What's amazing is that he accomplished all of this sitting down.  Mr Schlappi understands the need for constant energy and consistent focus.  His persona... 04/12/2007

  You probably have read on line or seen on television the stories about how the internet is doing away with the need for real estate agents.  I know that I have.  I'm seriously thinking about finding out who it is that does FSBO.com's pr work and hiring them!  They seem to be the Johnny Cash of the real estate world, they've been everywhere man!That said, I've been working on my web site as some of you know from my posts and one thing that I've noticed is that, while it is easier to look for homes online now and people are doing that more and more, that the FSBO market is extremely fragmented.  I bet that there are at least 1000 sites out there dedicated to advertising FSBOs.  Hell, I'm putting my listings on at least a dozen sites other than the MLS and Realtor.com (which is basically... 04/12/2007

Yesterday, I shared some outside shots I took with my new Kodak EasyShare V705 Camera.  Today, I wanted to share some interior shots I took to demonstrate how well I feel the camera performs on interior shoots.  I used my own home as the example.  Just so you know, I am not a decorator, so my home will not compare to all the fancy homes out there.  It was clean, and organized, for a change...  It should give you an idea of how the wide angle lense performs.  With my old camera, I could only get sections of a room.  With the V705, it captures practically the entire room.  It was also a rainy, overcast day yesterday, and the only additional lighting I used was the overhead room lights.  The pics have not been modified (they have not been brightened).  This is the way they came from the ca... 04/11/2007

I earned my GRI Designation in August 2000.  This is another designation I recommend other Realtors work toward earning.  Following is information on the GRI Designation (compiled from the NAR website). The GRI symbol is the mark of a real estate professional who has made the commitment to provide a high level of professional services by securing a strong educational foundation. REALTORS® with the GRI designation are highly trained in many areas of real estate to better serve and protect their clients.Developed for members of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and offered through State REALTOR® Associations, the GRI program includes 90 hours of coursework on topics from marketing and servicing listed properties to real estate law.Buying property is a complex and stressful task. In fa... 04/11/2007

It was high time to get a new digital camera, but I didn't know where to begin.  I was using an old Sony digital camera that used a floppy disk.  For outside, the pics were alright, but for inside and low light situations, it was not cutting the mustard.  I checked out the Photography Group on Active Rain and read Jeff Turner's post about the Kodak EasyShare V705.  After doing some checking around (at department and camera stores) to see what was available for the price, I decided to purchase the V705 from Amazon.  Total with shipping was $209.90, and I since I applied for and charged the camera to the Amazon.com credit card, they are refunding me $30 for the purchase.  At Office Depot, the same camera was priced at over $300.  I think I got a pretty good deal.  The camera arrived in le... 04/10/2007

  Too Risque For Activerain? I posted a blog yesterday   http://activerain.com/blogsview/72632/St-Louis-Realtor-Confused on how to get comments on my posts.  The post featured a somewhat disturbing photo of an extremely large woman laying on top of an apparently skinny man (you can only see the bottom of his legs under the woman).  The woman is clothed in her underwear and the photo, while admittedly disconcerting, is in no way obscene.  The post actually generated a few comments, none of which were critical of my use of that photo.  I then got an email from a person who I assume is connected with Activerain, asking me to remove the offending photograph.I responded that I would if AR insisted, but that I felt that the use of that photograph was appropriate because I was making a politic... 04/10/2007

    Recently I started working on getting my website geared up to be more than just an electronic brochure.  In that process I started reading a lot about website optimization.  That is, getting your website to turn up higher in the results when people search for it on the web using a search engine such as yahoo.com, MSN or Google.  The one thing that I can tell you is that it's damn confusing.  Nobody truely seems to know what the rules are and every once in while, the search engines change the rules without telling anybody.Anyway, there are other sources on the web that can do a better job than I can explaining to you the ends and outs of SEO, Search Engine Optimization, but I wanted to bring to your attention the importance of it.  With more and more people utilizing the web to make ... 04/08/2007

  Mortgage Broker Vs Mortgage Banker Vs Bank.  Which should you use for your real estate financing?  Is one better than another?The answer to the first question above, "Which should you use for your real estate financing" is, "It depends!"  The answer to the second question, Is one better than the other?, is, "yes".Does that clear things up?  If it doesn't you're not alone. A lot of people, including a good number of real estate professionals don't actually have a firm grasp on exactly how the mortgage banking industry is structured.This and some comments on various blogs that were disparaging to mortgage brokers are the reasons I chose this topic to write on today.    The truth of the matter is that each of these types of mortgage lenders has strengths and weaknesses and the more you k... 04/07/2007

I updated my CRS website this morning, and I added the link from my CRS page to the links at the right on this page.I feel the general public does not understand what these designations mean.  Following is a description of the CRS designation, from the CRS website:What's a CRS?The Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) is the highest Designation awarded to sales associates in the residential sales field. The CRS Designation recognizes professional accomplishments in both experience and education.  Only 5% of Realtors nationwide earn this designation. Since 1977 the Council of Residential Specialists has been conferring the CRS Designation on agents who meet its stringent requirements. Why Use a CRS? Today, home buying and selling is faster, more complex, and more competitive in every wa... 04/06/2007

I admit, I'm still pretty much a newbie here.  That said, I've been working pretty hard to participate on a daily basis if possible.  I try to read at least 5 or 6 blogs per day and to comment on most that I read.  When I write a post, I attempt to put some work into it and research what I have to say and sight my sources, etc.  I also attempt to be at least a little bit witty (maybe that's why I'm not getting that many comments???? hmmm???).Anyway, I noticed something.  Some of these posts are poorly written, some are pretty inane and some our downright solicitous.  Yet they get comments.  While other posts that are well written, etc. go by without comment.  What's up with this?And not to be rude here because I'm very excited about being able to blog on here, but what's up with how the... 04/05/2007

Dennis, Kim & I went to a seminar this evening.  It was a seminar on the foreclosure market.  Following are some notes from the discussion.  We have signed up to take the three-day class - $199 for two people did not sound bad at all.  We shall see... If we just learn a couple of things, it will be well worth it.98% of millionaires are made from dealing in real estate.250,000 homes nationwide went into foreclosure in 2006.3.5 trillion dollars are going to be readjusted in 2007.One million homeowners will see their payments double this year.There are three times to buy:1.  Before - pre-foreclosure2.  During - at the auction3.  After - REO - bank ownedYou can live in a state of lack or a state of abundance.Mindset is a choice.Have the occupancy inspection on the downstairs unit on the Mia... 04/05/2007