Sincere apologies to those who have been looking here for the results of the Sellsius 101 Challenge Match. I assumed everyone picked up the results on the various blogs that both started the match and were monitoring the results. Truth is when the 24 hours was up I was back to business as usual. I have a way of putting yesterday in its place...behind me.
See links at end of the post for the full scoop on the event as it was taking place.
Results? Greg whooped me by a mile...except he stopped at 99 and waited for me. We both made it, but I only had 14 minutes or so to spare at midnight on Tuesday. I was such a die hard about maintaining a good photo ratio that I almost didn't make it. At post 93, I literally forgot how to post an entry! Around 42 to 50 I just started cranking them out because I refused to take a brake before getting to 50! So I pretty much went from midnight on Monday through to 50 posts, 14 hours or so, without a break.
Would I do it again? Yes. But I'd train ahead of time, physical training for stamina. I'd take lots of vitamins during training. I will not disregard photos, but Real Town promised to work on that so it is easier by next year, well before that actually. Real Town's support was tremendous during the event. They beefed up and modified the comment feature. They turned my header into a "Go Home" link. Anytime I was spotting difficulty both during and after the event, Hector and the gang over at Real Town Blogs came running to make software changes as needed.
One of Greg's posts talked about my platform being...well I'm not going to repeat it. Others have tried to persuade me to leave Real Town from time to time as well. But as RCG saw when they recently had to change hosts and were being treated badly, having a great and responsive team behind you is priceless!! And, in fact, Real Town is priceless...it's free. But I use them because they are good friends, I've known them a very long time and I wouldn't be blogging without them.
Would I shame myself by showing I'm disloyal to get a new little button or a fancy dancy whatever! NO! The grass is always greener, as they say. Sticking by people who stick by you is just how it is. I'm from an age and culture where loyalty is primo and this world today where everyone races to the next hot place is shameful! Shameful, I say :-) I also plugged Grow A Brain for the same reason.
Real Town is not just a "blog platform". Those guys are like family to me, and have been since 1998 when I joined their real estate form "Real Talk". They host my email and my company email. They are the kind of guys you want watching your back. They host the e-Pro Program for all Realtors to get their technology designation. They serve the real estate industry well. And most importantly, they didn't treat me like dirt when I decided to drop the Realtor designation for awhile during the DOJ suit and in memory of Lois Hekker who died while fighting the good fight.
Here are some links to the news that traveled before, during and after the contest.
Jon over at Property Monger's blow by blow was hysterical I think his workout was harder than ours because he was reading both and commenting on each and every post! His being in a different time zone, he had to take a break after Round 3 oops, I mean after Round 4 and came back with an Ode to Ardell the next morning. I was so in awe of Jon's work, back in the beginning when I was physically and mentally capable of watching the goings on, that I dedicated post 25, 50, 75 and 100 to John with some spicy broads.
In the beginning, I was following Greg and smiled at his griping where I think he was cursing me for talking him into doing this, and followed him up to his happy babble. But then I started losing it before the post 50 break. Joe over at Sellsius commented on everyone one of my and Greg's posts, so he got his workout for starting this whole thing :-) Rudy and Joe put up this music video for me while Greg was waiting for me to either croak or finish, but I didn't see it until the dust settled. I didn't have time to peek around at anything from 80 on. Poor Dustin Luther was writing at home to relieve me, not knowing the rules had changed to one blogger only. He utilized them on RCG the next day. There were several posts like Marlow's that dubbed Greg and I the King and Queen of blogging. There are several follow up pieces and Greg is still going back and reading his own LOL and editing them. I'm leaving mine as is so people can see the stress building. And OH, I didn't know I had a spell checker until post 53 or so. Yup, all my blogging to date and on Rain City Guide is sans spellchecker for the most part.
Only one crabby dissenter in the whole bunch, and a fellow Real Town Blogger at that. But then Maureen never seems to miss an opportunity to kick me in the shins :-) She even titled the post "not a fan" and dragged poor Greg into the doghouse with me. But she seems to like the Sellsius guys. Oh well, you can't please all of the people all of the time. The Blogging Community is a great place...for the most part.
I think that's enough from me on this topic until next year. You can see lots on the Sellsius Blog and Bloodhound blog beyond what I've linked to, and other sites as well. It was a well covered even and I look forward to doing it again next year.
A lot of people want to know how I can blog so much and be so busy at real estate at the same time. Many hours are spent waiting for someone to make a decision. I showed them houses last night. I'm supposed to be somewhere else right now. But I can't leave in case they are going to call in ten minutes and say, "OK! We WANT it! Let's write it up right now and be the first offer!
So here I am...blogging...instead of being where I am supposed to be. Priorities change. Being ready to write an offer instead of bringing flyers somewhere, for instance.
Being there when the client needs you often involves a lot of waiting in between, while they are deciding what to do next.
Another example might be when I have an offer in and there are three offers "on the table". Sometimes the buyer whose agent is immediately available, is the one who gets the house. So if I have an offer in and the seller is going to look at it at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, I have to be ready between 6 and 8 in case the seller has a question about the buyer before accepting the offer.
Being busy in real estate, being effective in real estate, involves a lot of being ready and avialable at crucial moments which are often unpredicatable. So lots of waiting and lots of time to blog :-)
Our first house was "my" house. Near my Mom. Just the right size. In a cul'de sac In a neighborhood I knew, where I could walk around and even walk to my Mom's if I was feeling energetic. Down the street from the church. Around the corner from the hospital. I thought I'd live there forever.
On our first vacation we were sitting on the beach, and my husband started talking about our first single home (vs. a "twin") and I was amazed that he was already thinking about moving. The house was just getting to be "our" home with the changes we were making.
Our second house was "his" house. I was panicked at the price and payment. I even went to the minister and said "I think I'd rather have a divorce than a $100,000 mortgage!" It was across the bridge in NJ from everyone I knew. It was gorgeous and big on a half acre, but too much for me to handle with three little ones and a full time job. I finally freaked out and we sold it. (I switched to real estate then, before I sold it)
Our third house was a transition house that wasn't really suited to us, but the kids really liked it. I insisted we qualify on his income only as I had a 4 year old, a 2 year old and a 6 mo. old.
Our fourth house everyone liked and was in the same neighborhood as the third house...
It's why I never forget that when I am working with a married couple, I have two clients and not one. Best for everyone to like it. OK if one likes it more than the other. But not OK if one compromises too much and isn't comfortable in their home.
Sep. 27, 2006 - A Lofty Goal - Transparency with Confidentiality
I am starting a new category today titled, "1st Time Homebuyer".
As with many of my posts, this is written for a specific client, whom I hereby rename Adrianna.
Adrianna and her husband have a business in Seattle. They have two children in elementary school, one is a boy and the other is a girl, so minimum 3 bedrooms and 1 3/4 bath with a yard.
Consumers should never have to tell the agent the parameters. An agent should know that 2 parents + one boy + one girl equals a minimum of 3 bedrooms and 1.75 bath minimum. Elementary school at lower grade level means a lot with regard to area, as geographic parameters are most restrictive at the elementary school level and least restrictive at the high school level. I figure this out for the clients, so they don't have to understand all of the relationships between housing and schools geographically. this is MOST important for 1st time buyers with children, as they may need to move up by the time the children reach middle school and high school to upgrade the schools, but for now...best elementary and maybe decent middle school should be enough until they can afford more in terms of housing payment.
All of the key elements that I will factor into my advices, will be set in bold, so you can see how an agent extracts housing criteria from an everyday conversation. Notice that the parameters are not in bold, just the tiny little details from which parameters are formed.
Rather than filling out forms and giving people the third degree, an agent should be able to extract the needed information in a comfortable conversation thread, preferable by email, to record the info for future reference. By blogging the key details as they come in via email, I can keep the info in one source-pile and by tagging by pseudo-client name, I can pull up each client's string separately adding client manager to the many other purposes of my blog. By using pseudo-client names, the client can also pull up the same history of advices by tag name. All while preserving the confidential client relationship.
Adrianna and her husband have 10% down plus money for Closing Costs and Prepaids in hand. For beginners, monthly payment of around $2,000.
Key question will be home or townhome. My gut says townhome, theirs says single family. We'll see as the story unfolds.
Once the client is given their new name, in this case Adrianna, they have a growing resource at their fingertips. By blogging, they have on online expanding resource, and other first time buyers in the same situation can follow along and pick up some times at the same time.
Transparency while preserving confidentiality. Online educational resource for both the individual at hand and those who are readers from near and far. A lofty goal, a new day...let us begin.
Jon over at Property Monger was looking into buying one of those condos on Lake Washington Blvd. here in Kirkland that hang out over and stick up from the water.
We had heard that the pilings might be in need of repair, so Jon, I found you this home inspector who will go down into the water in her wetsuit and examine those pilings for you. But she isn't cheap.
ARDELL
DellaLoggia
On Seattle Real Estate including Kirkland, Bellevue, Redmond, Green Lake and most areas around Lake Washington North of Downtown Seattle.
Phone: 206-910-1000 - Mailto:Ardell@RainCityGuide.com
RSS Blog Feed
