There’s always something to howl about.
Realtor, Newlywed
On this day of celebration of our nations independence I think it is only right that we take a few moments to think of our own personal independence. Today is the day we should take off the yokes that we allow to harness us and become independent of our own masters. If not now when?
For a little musical enjoyment today I am including a older Dave Alvin song I hope you enjoy! The video is a recent live performance in Atlanta.
Initial observations about the iPad
Admittedly, I am a fan of electronic gadgets that promise to either make my life easier or make my life more fun. That being said I was very skeptical about the iPad when it was announced. I had made up my mind that the Microsoft Courier was going to be the device that was going to rock my world. Well Apple shipped and Microsoft slipped and I was left clutching at the vapor.
Flash forward to May 2011 since I live in the shadow of Redmond I had to make sure that the Great Eye of Gates did not see me enter the Temple of Jobs. I put on my disguise and I slipped into the Apple Store in the Tacoma Mall. I was greeted by a freshly scrubbed face wearing white tennis shoes. I was so surprised by the neat, clean and very well stocked store that almost dropped the Dixie Cup of Kool Aid that was offered to me.
I was allowed to quietly browse the products offered and was quite impressed with the offerings. I was looking for a 16 gig Wi-Fi iPad and I was politely told that they were out of that model. The salesperson offered to take my name and contact information and would notify me when they received one in stock. Terrified that my contact information would somehow slip into the wrong hands I quickly made my exit from the store. Two days later the draw was too strong. I slipped back into the store and quickly exited with a 16-gig 3g model. That moment might just be the transcendent moment in my real estate career.
Taking the iPad home closing the blinds and turning off all computers running any Microsoft products so that my actions could not be traced to the mother ship in Redmond I opened the box and removed the glowing (ok the screen glows not the actual device) iPad. We have been inseparable since.
Currently I am using my iPad for the following real estate activities:
• Email: my Exchange email account was quickly and efficiently configured and setup Read more
Could this be a movie for Bloodhounds everywhere?
I know that just about everyone who reads here at BHB has read Ayn Rand and has their opinions on whether she was a brilliant author. I personally find her works Anthem, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged to be some of the most enjoyable reading that I get to partake of. I seem to always be reading one of these at any given time.
For many years there have been discussions of how to best bring Atlas Shrugged to the big screen. On April 15th. 2011 the first installment of the book will be released for all of us to watch. Could this be a movie that will inspire everyone? I know that it is a very tall order to bring a work of such magnitude to the masses. I for one will be watching it on opening night. Right after I have mailed my annual documentation to the looters who are taking more and more from me and always wanting more. I love the fact that the movie is opening on Tax Day. The only other day I can think that might have been more fitting was Independence Day.
Here is the trailer to the movie. I am interested in hearing what you think. Will this be something you will be going to see in the theater in April?
I do not contribute much mostly due to my fears of my writing not holding up well next to so many of the great writers here. However, the only way my writing can improve is by writing and submitting so with that in mind.
I sell real estate. Those four words do a great job of describing me as a professional. Of course there are other things I do with my life but the engine that powers the other areas is selling real estate. I have been on a path to living more consciously for the past few years. One of the take aways from living consciously is that I need to be focused on whatever task I am working on when I am working on it. I cannot be thinking or worrying about anything else but the task at hand. I have found putting this into practice to be more challenging than I would have ever thought. It is a constant effort to be present in the moment and not be thinking about something completely different. While this has been a struggle it has had success too. When I find myself in the moment I often do not realize it until later when I realize that I just knocked several things off my to-do list and I did not even realize it. It is in that moment that I know I am growing and beginning to master being conscious.
Taking this concept and applying it to sales and prospecting is currently on the top of my to-do list daily. Learning how to sell consciously will allow me to grow my business and my professional abilities to levels that in months past I had only dreamed/wished of. When I committed publicly to prospecting six or more hours a day for the next 120 days I was really pulling out the last of the excuses I had so carefully crafted to keep myself from succeeding at levels that frightened me. Now I have nowhere to hide. I have opened myself up to accountability and critique if I do not do what it is that Read more
I stumbled across an article today from Inman News about the NAR allowing the use of the Realtor Logo on headstones. Turns out the news was shared on Twitter!
If you would like to read the article you can find the story here.
If this was not so crazy I would not believe it. I know that many of you will be rushing out to take advantage of this change of policy =)
I have been selling real estate for a while now. Not as long as many of you who are frequent contributors or readers here, though. When I got started in real estate, it was the outcome of my last falling out with Corporate America. What my last experience with working for someone else finally taught me is that I am unemployable. I am a great worker; I have a constant flow of ideas that would be of potential value to a business. I simply do not play well with others who are in positions of responsibility and who insist on being a choke point either for my career or for the flow of good ideas to benefit the company. I experience many of the same frustrations in real estate, but at least in real estate I am free to move myself into alignment with others of like mind. I find the choke points to be less restrictive and the potential for personal growth and development to be unlimited.
When I earned my real estate salespersons license (what the State of Washington calls me) I thought that the business would be simple. Just tell people that I am selling real estate and they would say “well, we need to have you help us.” What I found out very quickly was that EVERYBODY knew a Realtor. I was constantly being told “Oh, that’s great but <Insert name here> is selling real estate too.” That response stopped me dead in my tracks. I know that many of you will respond to me that this response should have never stopped me. You are right it; it no longer does, but it did then. I was terrified of rejection or so I thought. What I found out was that I was terrified of everything but the word “Maybe.” No meant that I was being rejected and my self esteem took another blow beneath the belt (I was also going through the long slow decline of a marriage and self esteem was in short supply). Yes meant that I had to deliver value, and frankly I did not Read more
In effort to stem public outcry the government today announced that they were limiting the salaries of the top 175 executives for companies that have received federal bailout money.
Will this be the event that causes the best and brightest our country has to stop being exactly what we need in this time of economic strife? Will the best and brightest stay with the companies that so need their talents for a fraction of what they could earn on the free market OR will they do what capitalists have done previously? Will they leave for bigger paydays and more options to earn what the market will bear? I am betting that the majority will follow the opportunities that present themselves in the form of job offers from companies that are in better financial shape and can offer a better financial package. Perhaps one without government run healthcare too. The companies that are in trouble will be forced to struggle with 2nd tier talent to help guide them through the upcoming months. I also predict that we might see a company fail as a direct result of this short sighted action.
This to me seems like the first step towards the very thing that Ayn Rand described in Atlas Shrugged. The thought that this might actually become something other than a work of fiction scares me. What will be next? Will I have to share my commissions with agents who are not working because I am making too much money (A guy can dream now right?) Will our countries talent be wooed by other countries that need our intellectual capital to continue to grow?
While it is disheartening to see reports that the bailout money was used on executive pay and bonuses it is even more troubling to see that our government has decided to step in and force businesses to act and think like government agencies.
Today is a very sad day for the cornerstone of America our capitalistic system.
I was passed along an article today from the WSJ discussing the cost to extend the $8,000 tax credit and to open it to all people purchasing a home would cost $16.7 Billion according to congressional analysts.
The article goes on to state that this is less than expected and could help generate momentum to continue the credit and extend it until June 30th 2010. Wow! That’s only $78,773,585 dollar a day (give or take a million) for the 212 days the extension would be in place. Additionally this would extend the offer to anyone who wants to buy a home even if it is not their first home. Income limits would be raised to $150,000 for an individual and $300,000 for couples. The senators who are behind this are hoping to attach this to a bill for extending unemployment benefits.
I’m confused here. How on earth can we have a bill in place to extend both unemployment benefits AND a tax credit for anyone to buy a home?
I will admit that I was excited when Washington State was trying to work out a plan to loan the $8,000 tax credit to be used as a down payment. I rushed out and registered a domain name and had visions of more business than I could possibly handle. What happened though really has changed the way I look at the tax credit. First Washington State was not able to find a way to lend the money for use as a down payment. Second the people that found my site on the tax credit advance were not qualified to buy with or without a tax credit. AND they were upset that it was only $8,000 and had to be repaid. Not a single person I spoke with was in a position to buy a house. Every person was looking for a hand out not a hand up.
Since this awakening I have been slowly building more and more momentum to suggest to my fellow Realtors that the $8,000 tax credit should be allowed to end at midnight November 30th 2009. Any extension is so expensive that Read more
I attended the recent Seattle version 2.0 of RE BarCamp earlier this week. Also attending was fellow BHB contributor Al Lorenz. Held at the Armory on Lake Union, it would be hard to find a location that was more beautiful to hold an event. And yet, I did not come to the event looking for beauty. I came to the event to learn more about techniques that we discuss all the time about marketing and salesmanship. What I discovered was a trade show masquerading as a grass roots event. The main hall of the Armory was lined with various vendor booths fully stocked with the obligatory vendor salespeople. Guys wearing crisp white button-down shirts standing in front of a large tradeshow booth. Bored looking salespeople just hoping that someone with a pulse would stop by their table and inquire about what shiny silver bullet they were selling. To entice agents to stop by and visit, there were all manner of free pens, flashlights, discount coupons, and much, much more…. I don’t know how much business any vendor did. I did pick up one flyer which has already found the way into the recycling after I looked that the product in greater detail online.
The attendance of the event was outstanding. There were over 600 RSVP’s for the event. The Armory easily held the crowd. The challenge of noise was something that everyone struggled with throughout the event. The PA system was difficult to understand simply because the hall was a gymnasium in previous years. The Keynote was by Ian Watt from Vancouver BC. It would have been a very entertaining and enjoyable speech had we been able to see the slides that he brought. The sheet hanging from the balcony was not really the best way to show off all that is glorious about PowerPoint. Ian is a very entertaining person and his presentation was the highlight of the event for me (even with the technical challenges).
The number of real estate professionals that had glazed over looks was disconcerting to me. I overhead a number of people mention that they did not Read more
I have been following the $8,000 Federal Tax Credit with great interest this year. Currently it is the most talked about topic that I am discussing with potential home buyers. There is a lot of interest in receiving $8,000 when a first time buyer files their taxes for 2009. Now that many states (Washington being one of them) are discussing ways to use the $8,000 tax credit as a way to help first time home buyers get into their homes through bridge loans the discussions have really become spirited. When HUD announced that they would allow the $8,000 tax credit as collateral for “bridge loans” to cover the down payment on FHA insured mortgages the pot literally boiled over with opinions.
Currently it seems on a daily basis that the $8,000 tax credit advance is in the news for one thing or another. Yesterday the Arizona Republic announced that the tax credit would be ineligible for down payment. Later in the afternoon the Seattle Post Intelligencer announced that the Feds still plan to allow use of tax credit for down payments. Today the Arizona Republic reports the HUD bridge loan program hasn’t been killed. So what exactly is going on with the $8,000 tax credit advance? It would appear that nobody even HUD and FHA really know. I am sure that by the time I actually publish this post there will be something new to report.
What I want to know is what the readers of Bloodhound Blog think of the $8,000 tax credit and in particular what you think of allowing the tax credit to be used towards a buyer’s down payment?
I will go on record that I feel that this makes sense in some particular situations and with some additional requirements on the borrowers.
John McGraw and Connie Mack were talking Baseball a while back.
“I’m looking to add some new talent” McGraw told Mack.
“There’s lots of talent around these days” Mack replied.
“Yeah, but none of them have passion for the game anymore. They’re all just Nancy boys,” John said.
“Well, have you looked at that Cowan kid up in the Northwest league?” Connie said.
“Yeah, he looks promising but I wonder if he has the moxie to make it here in the bigs?”
“Why don’t you bring him down here for spring training and see if he can hit the breaking ball?”
McGraw telegraphed Seattle asking to have Cowan sent down to Phoenix for spring training. When he got to Phoenix, Cowan was as wide-eyed as they come. He sure looked out of place down in the valley of the sun. “I’ve never been to big leagues spring training before” he stammered.
“Well, just keep your eyes open and learn” McGraw said. McGraw and Mack put the entire team through their paces. The practices were hard and they were long. The spring sun was a warm and welcome change from the dreary gray skies up in Seattle. Everyone at spring training worked hard and did everything the coaches had them do.
There were some really talented folks. Many veterans were in camp, and they led the way. Years of experience made the veterans both savvy and polished. The rookies listened, and learned from the veterans. Soon it was obvious that McGraw and Mack had built another winner of a team.
McGraw and Mack called for Cowan after practice late one afternoon. “Kid, we like your style. Welcome to the show,” and then they walked away.
Well, that’s not really what happened but it sure would have been cool if it had. While down in Phoenix for Bloodhound Blog Unchained, McGraw I mean Greg, asked me to contribute here at Bloodhound Blog. I feel like a rookie who just got the call up to the ’27 Yankees. The murderers’ row of writing talent here is without equal. I only hope that I can carry the water for the team. What I Read more
