Stormy day today, and the temps are dropping.  Supposed to have near freezing temps for the next several nights.  What a change...I wanted to share some information about a situation that occured on the Tholozan property last week.  It's a two-family, with one side rented.  The listing agent several times told me that everything was going fine with the occupancy permits.  As closing day loomed and I wasn't getting copies of the permits, I called the City of St Louis Housing Conservation District.  They informed me that there was an active permit on the vacant side, but the certificate had expired on the rented side.  I decided to run downtown to the office and see the paperwork for myself.  It was as they had said, and I confirmed what I knew to be correct.  Any time a property changes ... 04/03/2007

   Lately I've been working on my website to try and get it search engine optimized and on that note, a special thanks to Karen George, the Arizona Mortgage Lady.  She's gone out of her way to provide some very valuable insight into how the search engines work and the importance of content and having your site properly structured in order to appear relevant to the most popular search terms.One of the things that I've learned about the SEO thing is that the search engines give a lot of credence to size.  That is the bigger a site is, the more relevant the search engines tend to think that it is.  This also works on sites that are linked to yours.  i.e. the bigger the site that links to yours, the more important the search engines tend to think that your site is.  That said, I've been loo... 04/03/2007

     As I'm writing this post I'm looking up at a photograph of a Bi-State Bus (the St. Louis area's local bus company) that has a giant banner on the side of it with my company's logo.  I actually had two buses that were supposed to travel a certain route (though an area of St. Louis real estate that I was focusing on).  I honestly don't remember how much that ad campaign cost me, but I do remember how many calls I got off of it.  That answer is ZERO!The same thing when I advertised on the two St. Louis radio stations.  The first lesson that I learned was not to listen to the sales person, especially if you don't have a lot of money to spend.  Their motivations and yours are not the same.  They are looking to sell vacant air and you're looking to generate telephone calls.  The two don'... 04/02/2007

Another beautiful day in St Louis.  My thermometer reads 82 degrees.  We're told it's not going to last, though, with a rapid cool-down towards the end of the week.The Cardinals lost 6-1 to the Mets last night on their opening night start.  This makes the third lost home opener in the past 11 years.  St Louis had won its past two season openers.  For more information, visit http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=stlThis past week's market report for St Louis City (areas 1,2,3).  Stats are gathered from the local Multiple Listing Service:There were 154 Active listings - Prices ranged from $14,900 to $689,500.There were 46 Contingent/Option listings - Prices ranged from $47,500 to $1,495,000.There were 81 Pending listings - Prices ranged from $16,900 to $$465,000.There were 69 So... 04/02/2007

April Fool's Day - And Cardinals' Opening Day at Busch Stadium.  The 2006 World Series Champions will take the field against the Mets this evening.  This Opening Day is a much anticipated holiday for many in the St Louis area.After the storms yesterday, the weather should be pleasant for the pre-game festivities and the game.The Opening Day Pep Rally starts at 3:00 pm to 5:30 at Kiener Plaza.  Other rallies will also take place during the afternoon.  In the ballpark, the gates will open at 4:00 pm.  The Budweiser Clydesdales will open the pre-game ceremonies at 6;00 pm, and then the motorcade of convertibles will follow, introducing the 2007 team.  The 2006 World Champion flag will be raised.  This ceremony will also feature members from the last two World Series winners from 1982 and '... 04/01/2007

   Something For Nothing!  Just read the post from a lender offering a .05% credit towards closing costs.  This lender says that they are the "ONLY LENDER OFFERING THIS".  NOT ANY MORE!Announcing Today!  The ValueList .05% credit towards closing costs!  As a matter of fact, I'll bump your offer to .06% towards closing costs!Actually, does your borrower need help with their closing costs?  Many do and it's nothing new for a lender to offer a credit.  I've done it hundreds of times over the years and I'll do it again if need be.  The important thing to remember is that there is no thing such as a free lunch!  If I'm going to credit your buyer a percentage back, I'm making it up somewhere else.  Generally it's in the rate.For example, if I'm making 1.5% back on the mortgage when I sell it ... 03/30/2007

Closed my last two properties for the month today.  The Pinetree Lane deal closed first and then the Tholozan property closed at 11:30 am.  The earlier closing went very smoothly; the Tholozan closing had last minute glitches.  It was an FHA deal, and this one just required so much more documentation and hoops to jump through.  We did get it closed and funded, though...I wanted to share some points from this past Tuesday's office meeting.  I know I'm a few days behind...We watched the last part of "The Art of Selling."  This presentation covered "making the close."  Some main points were:- Closing should be a natural progression from a great presentation.- Use "Tie Down" questions (trial close).  Turn the client's statement into a question.  They can say yes or no.  Some examples are:  ... 03/29/2007

  Who Do You Market To When You Don't Belong To Any One Group!  I've been reading through some of the profiles here on Activerain and I've noticed something.  Actually, I've noticed it before, but didn't give it a whole bunch of thought until now.  The thing that I've noticed is that I don't belong to any specific group that I can market to.Here in St. Louis there are Realtors who are Gay and who market to the Gay community or Bosnian Agents who market primarily to Bosnians.  I haven't bounced into her lately, but there is also a deaf agent who pretty much only works with other deaf people.Well, I'm not Gay or Bosnian or Deaf.  I'm Straight.  I'm Irish, Polish and probably a few other ethnicities mixed in, but don't speak any other language other than English (which I've been told that ... 03/29/2007

Closed on the McDonald house today.  It was a smooth closing.  Had the walk-through at 9:00 am and the closing at 10:00.  I was happy for the buyer and the seller on this one.  I had this home listed last year for 6 months.  I really loved the seller, an elderly lady in her 80's.  She was such a nice woman.  She had three children who were handling everything for her, and they couldn't seem to agree on anything.  We listed too high for conditon.  The house has great bones, but I call it my "Grandma's" house.  It was immaculate, but needs updating.  We dropped the price once, and then I couldn't get them to drop anymore.  After 6 months, they did not want to renew with me.  I even considered purchasing the home myself (I could see the potential), but just didn't have the means at the tim... 03/28/2007

  Real Estate Bubble Bursting? I heard on the news the other day that existing real estate sales are down this past month after having been up a bit the previous month.  I'd have to say that based upon the number of times that my phone rang for showings and for property calls, that those figures were just about right.  That there was a bit of a spark last month, then "poof" it was gone.That said, how long is the current lull going to last?  One of the featured blogs today asked if we thought that buying real estate was a "buy", a "sell" or a "hold"?  My answer is that it's a "buy"!I based this answer upon demographic trends.  The population of the US just topped 300,000,00 and while population increases are slowing as the population ages, the total population of the country will continu... 03/28/2007

Busy day today.  Office meeting this morning.  Errands after that.  This afternoon, I applied the second coat of varnish on four doors of the Miami properties.  Two coats will have to be enough.  They will be protected by storm doors, so the finish should last longer.  Dennis has been painting door trim, thresholds, and the porch floor.  It's coming together.  Then I applied the third coat of poly/varnish on the porch bench at our house.  I am going to apply one more coat.  It was really in bad shape - alot of water damage.  Hopefully, this will protect it for a few years.This evening, I worked on the waterfall on the pond in the back yard.  I haven't been satisfied with the waterfall since we installed it.  It looks too artificial.  I had a beautiful large flat rock I was going to use ... 03/27/2007

I've been reading the book titled, " The Dream Cycle," by Steve Moore.  I wanted to share some exerpts that I am finding helpful.  This is pretty powerful stuff, I believe...."Every one of us is on a journey toward who we want to be, who we were meant to be, and what we will achieve with our lives.  Making progress on that dream-inspire journey will require us to grow.""In order to realize your dreams, you must grow.  And growth demands change.  Therefore the Dream Cycle will never be complete in your life until you experience personal change.  I cannot stress this point too much:  you must change in order to realize your dreams.""The good news is change is possible.  You have the capacity to change because you have the ability to grow.  This is something you can do.  The bad news is th... 03/26/2007

Two owls hooting at the moon.Warm gusts of wind whipping across the deck.Smell of barbecue wafting on the wind.Cold can of beer for me, glass of chardonnay for my gal.It's the first taste of Spring and I'm as happy as a clam, what could be better than Sweet Baby Rays lathered on thick. Pork Steaks and Potato Salad, Yeah, that's the trick!  Check Out Sweet Baby Rays website What does this post have to do with real estate?   It's happening on my deck overlooking wooded common ground less than 15 miles from the Arch at my three bedroom/two bath ranch in Oakville, Missouri that's on the market at $159,900.  Special financing available!~4251 MartyridgeSt. Louis, MO 63129Bob www.valuelist.org   03/24/2007

Weekly statistics for residential properties in the city of St Louis.  Figures were gathered from the local multiple listing service.New Listings - 159; list prices between $22,500 to $1,775,000.Contingent/Option Listings - 43 - priced between $49,900 and $299,900.Pending Listings - 62 - priced between $16,900 and $795,000.Sold Listings - 58 - priced between $25,000 and $335,000.Expired Listings - 46 - priced between $35,000 and $464,900.Withdrawn Listings - 16 - priced between $85,000 and $294,000.Weather was fantastic today.  We actually pulled the bicycles out of the garage and biked around Tower Grove Park.  Kim and Gary, our best friends, purchased bikes this week.  So we all went together.  Great exercise, although I'm already feeling sore tonight.  Last year, we biked the park on... 03/24/2007

Closed on both the Chippewa property and Bancroft properties today.  Everything went very smooth, as I had hoped.  I do try very hard to stay on top of things during the deals, so the closings usually are very smooth.  There sometimes are some last minute glitches, but they're minor, and can be worked out.  For those who love Basketball, this is the weekend to be in St Louis!  St Louis is hosting the 2007 NCAA Division 1 Men's Basketball Championship Midwest Regional, March 23 - March 25 at the Edward Jones Dome.Two regional semifinal games will be on March 23, the with regional final on Sunday, March 25.  The winner of Sunday's game will move on to the Final Four (Atlanta - March 31 - April 2).On Friday, it's the Butler Bulldogs against the Florida Gators, and the Las Vegas Rebels agai... 03/22/2007

    Things To Do In St. Louis Things To Do In St. Louis Welcome to St. Louis! Whether you are a St. Louis native or are thinking about visiting or even moving to Saint Louis, I hope that you find this guide and review of things to do in St. Louis helpful, informative and most of all fun! As in any big city, you can spend an entire life time here and still not take advantage of all of the things that St. Louis has to offer. And while we have taken care to be as comprehensive as possible, there is no way that we can include everything that there is to do in St. Louis. That said, if you would like to make a suggestion, please feel free to write us a note. Roughly speaking, this guide is going to move from east to west, starting at the St. Louis riverfront and ending with the wineries loca... 03/22/2007

Spring is here.  The daffodils are blooming.  It was in the 70's today!  I love it!Got through my last inspection notice resolution for the month today.  Had a walk-through this evening with my buyers on the Chippewa property.  It went fine.  The buyer also had his walk-through on my Bancroft listing at the same time.  Haven't heard from that agent, so I guess all is well...I facilitated a class today at the office.  It was the Camp 4:4:3 class, Power Session 17: Making, Receiving, and Negotiating Offers.  It's a great class, and I do enjoy presenting it.  I don't feel I'm much of a teacher, but after 10 years as a realtor, I feel I have some information to offer these newer agents.  Keller Williams Realty has some wonderful training for the new agent, and experienced ones as well.  We ... 03/21/2007

I have been blessed to work with some great realtors this month.  I'm closing five deals this month, more than I have ever closed in a month, and on each deal, so far, the agents have been terrific.  They have been friendly, helpful, and it's really been a pleasure working with them.  I realize we are all representing our clients and trying to get the best for them, but these agents seem to understand about one of Keller Williams' main points of our belief system:  "win - win, or no deal."  Actually, it could be a mantra for any company.  If everyone does not work together, we won't get anything accomplished.  We want the best terms and price for our clients, but our responsibility is also to get them through the deal.  If we "bulldoze" our way over the other parties to the deal, and ki... 03/20/2007

I've been reading the book by Robert Kiyosaki, titled:  Retire Young, Retire Rich.  I've read his other books:  Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Cash Flow Quadrant, Rich Dad Poor Dad.  I do love his books, and find them very eduational and motivational.  Here's a passage that I have found applies to me.  I've printed it and posted it above my desk, where I see it all the time.  I think it's pretty powerful.  It applies, I feel, not just to work, but everything in life..."The biggest challenge you have is to challenge your own self-doubt and your laziness.  It is your self-doubt and your laziness that define and limit who you are.  If you want to change what you are you must take on your self-doubt and your laziness.  It is your self-doubt and laziness that keep you small.  It is your self-doubt and ... 03/19/2007

Resolved another Inspection Notice today.  Have one more to resolve this week.  Pretty sure we'll get all parties to come together on that one, too.We had a great time yesterday at the St Patrick's Day Parade in Dogtown.  It was chilly, and it snowed the entire time, but that didn't hinder the crowd.  The parade lasted at least two hours, and we counted at least 105 entrants.  It seemed like every Irish name in the city had an entrant.  Beads were flying... Enclosed are some pics. Last night, we attended the 10th Anniversary Concert of BandTogether.  It was held at the Desmond Lee Concert Hall at the University City Loop.  Our good friend, John Langham, had a number of flute and piccolo solos.  It was a great concert, as always.  It's also free.  They play for donations.  During the fir... 03/18/2007