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Flower Mound, TX Real Estate News

By Gary Woltal, Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth
(Keller Williams Realty)
In visiting a lake front project under development this past weekend it occurred to me how orderly everything was. Ground was leveled, roads took shape with paving, lots were surveyed, marketing signs promoted the new area, and eventually over time you could see a new wonderful living area being fashioned from the ground up. In all our plans in life we have to     FOCUS ON THE BIG PICTURE. Begin with the end in mind. Like in chess, you don't get to the end game with a checkmate without seeing multiple steps out. Why is this important? By having a vision, of knowing as best possible what the end state looks like, you can plot a roadmap with timelines and steps to get where you want to go. You can prioritize. You can sequence the steps in proper order. I bring this up because many people ...
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By Gary Woltal, Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth
(Keller Williams Realty)
On a recent mini-vacation to the Florida wilderness I had the pleasure of riding through the marsh and swamp with my driver, Captain Mike. A great time, I would recommend you all doing it some time. Cap'n Mike was a retired corporate type that took us through open water and into shallow boggy quiet coves full of Cypress trees and calm water loaded with alligators and snakes. Along the way Cap'n Mike imparted his world wisdom to me, or at least I took from him what I thought he was trying to tell me. I thought I would share it with you all.   This ride will last about an hour. Life is short, realize that, and make the most of it. Don't mind those grasshoppers hitting you in the face. Accept sorrow and difficulty are part of the journey. It's a great day today, even if it rains later on. ...
Comments 49
By Gary Woltal, Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth
(Keller Williams Realty)
Imagine you are a Realtor or a Stager at the top of your game. Life is good. Money is flowing in. You've purchased your brand new Hummer and have taken it out to the desert environment and are jumping the sand dunes. Surely it doesn't get much grander than this with you rewarding yourself for your level of business success. Having worked hard to get to this point in your life you are definitely experiencing "abundance." But really, Abundance is a mind set. So is scarcity. Many think of abundance as just money or prosperity. It really is not. ABUNDANCE STARTS BETWEEN YOUR EARS. There are many who have lots of money but live in a state of poverty consciousness. They can pay all their bills but lack in having good friends, they lack confidence in themselves or are not competent in what the...
Comments 39
By Gary Woltal, Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth
(Keller Williams Realty)
Coming out of the late August and into the September and later months, one's thoughts turn to the winding down of the summer days and heading into the future cooler months of the Fall. One unique thing about summer evenings I always remember from earlier days living in New York and also visiting western North Carolina in the mountains, was the appearance of fireflies in the evening. I have always heard that God surely must want us to laugh. With the creation of these little guys with their pulsating on again off again little lights on their tail end, surely we must need to marvel at creation. I think if any of us ever went to capture fireflies as little kids, you'd see them, then they would disappear into the darkness again and you had to pay attention till they lit up again to grab the...
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By Gary Woltal, Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth
(Keller Williams Realty)
"Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions." Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Very similar to the physical world like if you took a stretching class, stretching your mind in business and in your personal life, yields HUGE benefits. I so often think as we move through life we become a prisoner of our mind. Limiting beliefs. Holding on to what didn't work in the past. Thinking scarcity instead of abundance. You need to break the rules. Make up new rules. For example if wanted to take six weeks vacation each year, can you make that happen? If you want to take your business to a new level, can your mind envision it? If you are moving to a new field like law or becoming a broker, what does that look like, and what steps get you there? Pose questions to yoursel...
Comments 42
By Leigh Bates, The Trinity Group
(Atlantic & Pacific Real Estate)
Saturday 9/13 8AM-10AM Pancake Breakfast at Applebee's (FM 407 near Wal-Mart).  Tickets are $8.00 per person.  The proceeds go to the Marcus High School Orchestra department.  Advanced Ticket order form or can be purchased at the door - CASH ONLY. Please come out and show your support for The Marcus High School Orchestra! posted by Leigh Bates
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By Gary Woltal, Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth
(Keller Williams Realty)
Sellers in Real Estate are always teaching me about life. They are relocating, they are changing family mixes. They are starting somewhere fresh with a new road to travel. Changes in life are like drawing on a whiteboard.     THE GREAT WHITEBOARD OF LIFE. Just think of it as a marker version or electronic version. You leave your teenage years and start drawing. You configure your life one way or another. From your tools menu you select people, you select places, you select your work or multiple different careers as you go along. You color in some unforeseen circumstances. Some people you X out along the way, voluntary or involuntary. Your life may get compartmentalized with some doors absolutely shut to the past with new doors open in front of you. Many will tell me where they are at NO...
Comments 75
By Gary Woltal, Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth
(Keller Williams Realty)
Having grown up in Florida and visiting there this week sandwiched between two hurricanes, and also having been in Texas a long time I know a thing or two about storms. With tornadoes they drop out of the sky and the only preventative thing you can do is watch the sky as it turns bad and find shelter at the last minute. Hurricanes are different. While you can't 100% figure out their track you know they are coming at you. So remember in life SOME STORMS YOU CAN SEE COMING. Think of business problems. Sometimes the writing is on the wall. Expenses can be out of control relative to income. The number of closed transactions per month is way down. Analyze trends and prepare for the inevitable 140 mph winds to hit. Think of relationships. Communication dwindles. The candle burns out. There is...
Comments 47
By Gary Woltal, Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth
(Keller Williams Realty)
In attracting people and opportunities into your real estate business or for that matter your personal life be aware of the bait you are using, the lure. Because, WHICH LURE YOU SELECT DETERMINES HOW FANTASTIC A LIFE YOU GET. In business, act professional, polite, respectful, courteous, knowledgeable, friendly, organized, and you know what? More often than not your clients will most of the time mirror that behavior.   Think of it as a song you are putting out to the world. Whether a bird in the deep forested woods of Pennsylvania or a screech monkey in the thick Amazon, you are putting out a song each and every day with your words, your appearance, who you choose to associate with, your temperament. Let's face it, in the world, like attracts like. If you are a jerk, your friends will be...
Comments 42
By Gary Woltal, Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth
(Keller Williams Realty)
One of my keys to serenity in my world is recognizing when to let go of things. I believe in being ok with things that have gone haywire for whatever reason. Take the Realtor-Client relationship. Clients screen Realtors but you know Realtors and Stagers for example should screen ALSO their clients. ALL MATCHES ARE NOT MADE IN HEAVEN. There are ideal, optimum, and way off the mark matches for you and us all. A geographically distant, across the city client is not a match. An unfamiliar area or specialty product like farm and ranch, luxury, or short sale that you are clueless about is not a match. Most importantly, let's talk chemistry. Say you have a relo buyer who is highly demanding. A seller who calls you up five times a day wondering why the house hasn't sold yet. Life is too short t...
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By Gary Woltal, Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth
(Keller Williams Realty)
Years ago it seems somebody, I don't know who, hired this Welcome Wagon company to stop by newly moved in residents in neighborhoods. The idea was to give them an introductory basket of many useful goodies to get them going in the new house. I don't know if times have changed or we're moving just faster nowadays but you don't hear about this as often. The concept is a good one though. We should all practice to BE A WELCOME WAGON TO THE WORLD. Being friendly to others. Newcomers and strangers alike. Showing appreciation for what others do and for just who they are. Saying thank you will make you happy. Did you know that? Try taking a little of the Welcome Wagon in you out into the world each day. You may not be able to change the WHOLE world. But you sure can change the part that's right...
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By Gary Woltal, Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth
(Keller Williams Realty)
In popular movies of yesteryear one of the fun ones out there was the 1994 epic Speed. It had popular actress Sandra Bullock in it and launched the career of athletically built or what most women on this forum would call "hottie" Keanu Reeves. He later went on to star in cyberadventures like the Matrix. But in this movie Sandra plays the damsel in distress driving the bus that this mad bomber plans to blow up if the "Speed" ever drops below 50 mph. Young cop Keanu has to work with her on this. In our own jobs daily we are called upon to act with "Speed." Especially in today's day and age of instant communication. Whether we like it or not it seems everyone wants instant gratification. This is not all that hard to accomodate these days with the tools at our disposal. Cell phone, email, l...
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By Gary Woltal, Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth
(Keller Williams Realty)
As REALTORS or whatever we decide to excel at in our lives, know that we don't "arrive" at the best in our craft without some work. So     Grow Into The Pro You Were Destined To Be 1. Unconscious Incompetent - at first you don't even know how bad you are. This could be considered pathetic at this talent level, but since you are unconscious you feel great. 2. Conscious Incompetent - now you've wised up and are wondering if this field is for you or you should bail. If you stick it out, with practice and education you may head toward being competent. 3. Conscious Competent - Now you know what you are doing. People somewhat expect that you sort of know what you are doing. But you are really going through the motions and can improve much more. 4. Unconscious Competent - You have become the m...
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By Gary Woltal, Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth
(Keller Williams Realty)
In all our busy lives whether that means working transactions as Realtors, presenting a home as a Stager, buying a home, selling a home, commuting into the office, fixing the broken printer, dealing with our children's problems, handling a health issue, there is more stress out there it seems these days than we know what to do with. I do believe you can find peace amidst all the chaos. Some days it is not easy for sure. Sometimes you think you have consecutive black cloud days hovering over your head. So I've served up today some reminders for you. That it doesn't have to overwhelm you. We all want calm. We want restfulness. Here then are tips for a:                                                                                                    Pathway to Serenity 1. Solve the proble...
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By Gary Woltal, Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth
(Keller Williams Realty)
During this my "500th blog" post I got to thinking what this real estate blog posting was really all about. Yes, it is about writing. For all of us it is about reading. But then again it was some more about writing and "commenting" on what was just read. I thought, FASCINATING. Kind of like an ongoing chat from many voices talking to you and your one voice talking to them. How cool is that? More importantly it was about people. Now I love people. So I think I am in heaven with this form of communication. It is most importantly about sharing. It is about community. Across the Internet we go. We share about technology, new dogs in our family, short sales, the latest joke, experiences in our daily real estate or personal lives, deaths of colleagues, laughter, love, lost loves, political op...
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By Gary Woltal, Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth
(Keller Williams Realty)
Buyers in real estate look at dreams as finding that perfect new place to live. Sellers have dreams of pocketing as much on the sale of a house and moving on to the next phase of their life. But for all of us we need to not allow our dreams to be "deferred." Life and time moves swiftly along. We know at some point if we are lucky to get to old age what is waiting for us with diminished physical energy and mental faculty may be an old age home. Think of it as a lovely scene however you are greeted somehow to resting on a park bench. I think your dream of visiting the Taj Mahal may have passed you by. So don't wait with your dreams. We really just need a little boost to not let life pass us by. Be proactive in working with your dreams. Re-juvenate them. Why? Because everyone deserves drea...
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By Gary Woltal, Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth
(Keller Williams Realty)
With stress in the real estate world an ever present force I thought I would send out a reminder that there are definite effective ways to cope daily with this stress. I think the clue is given to us in nature and also in our bodies. Look at the surface of the earth, our little blue planet. It is covered almost 75% with water. Our own bodies are comprised of something like 60% of water. The air? Lots and lots of water vapor up there along with the nitrogen and oxygen as gases. What does this have to do with stress? Water is cleansing. Cleansing reduces stress. Let's look at THE FOUR WATERS TO CLEANSE YOUR SOUL.       Physical Water - Nothing like cold, fresh, clean water. It quenches thirst, aids digestion, assists with removing impurities from the body, and raises metabolism. Drink ple...
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By Gary Woltal, Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth
(Keller Williams Realty)
One out of a my thousand commenters recently chastised me that I wasn't writing enough hard core real estate material lately. I asked if he read the first hundred posts as I close in on the number 500? I think I must have hit critical mass since I know you can't please everyone all the time. I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing. This is another one of those fun type posts. As a REALTOR, Stager, loan officer, Title Company worker, appraiser, inspector, or Feng Shui Consultant, what did you want to be when you grew up? Ideally you get one answer and think between kindergarten and eighth grade, your formative years. I want to see if there is any correlation between helping professions, being a socializer, or someone who is good with feelings or analytical and good with numbers and today....
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By Gary Woltal, Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth
(Keller Williams Realty)
I have always been a big fan of Abraham Lincoln and studied his biography and collected many of his quotations. Abraham Lincoln Is Who You Need To Buy Your House. A great reader. With Abe as your buyer nothing funny would slip by in your contract. We are not enemies, but friends. At the closing table there would be no hiccups. No slavery. There would be no such thing as accepting a subprime loan for your house. Common looking people are the best. Your home would be bought by the masses of types of buyers. A house divided against itself cannot stand. Harmonious with all parties. Four score and seven. If you wanted to rent it out, only 87 yr old little ladies who paid on time. Leave nothing for tomorrow. No fence sitters but decision makers only.   And finally a dreamer and a believer wit...
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By Gary Woltal, Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth
(Keller Williams Realty)
In life, so much is about your perception of things. I for one have observed myself that I seem to be like one of those undiagnosed Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit with Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) kind of people. I have always had lots of energy and short attention spans. I've also had a million interests not one. I think of myself as a multipreneur, involved in many entrepreneurial activities. As a REALTOR I prefer to delegate the details when they get too intense. Other REALTORS are specialists at details but can completely miss the big picture (a strength of mine) or are not as good at negotating a deal or have weaker communication skills. I thrive on those last two. The more chaotic, the more I dive in to solve the problem. But it got me to thinking that what...
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