The first thing that grabbed my attention this morning on my MSN home page (and unfortunately, before a cup of coffee) was the headline Deal breaker 6 signs of a crummy real estate agent. Turns out I agreed with 5 of the 6, but just can't go along wholeheartedly with #4:

 4. Part-time gig. Just because a real-estate agent has a license doesn't mean it's his or her full-time job. And while some part-time agents are certainly capable, "when you put food on the table for your family selling real estate, you approach things differently," says Mike Sannes of Keller Williams-Big Bear Real Estate in Big Bear Lake, Calif. "If your real-estate agent is actually a waiter, waitress or [another profession], then you are probably not going to be happy with where their priorities are."

The author acknowledges that some part-timers can be capable, but pretty much lumps the majority together as not having their priorities in order. Priorities is the key word for me. I am a part-time agent and the top priority in my real estate business is to not take on more business than I can handle comfortably, so that I can give each client full value of my time.

I do have the luxury of an established software support business that I handle strictly over the phone and internet. I'm on call 40 hrs per week, but most projects are scheduled so I can block out my time accordingly. The "hotline" calls generally last no more than 15 minutes; many days I get no calls. So this business gave me the opportunity to find something new to do that I find interesting and satisfying - real estate fit the bill and offered self control over hours spent working.

I have 9 listings right now; 4 of them are vacant land so they often "get shown" without me ever knowing about it. I'm actively working with 4 buyers, but they're all from out of the area, so when they plan to look at places, I'm warned well in advance for scheduling. I have a good number of clients/customers getting automatic notifications from my MLS database when listings pop up meeting their criteria. Most of my clients are aware of my other business; I usually mention it sometime in getting to know one another process. So I have a part-time income from part-time hours and that's just fine for now. My clients are pretty happy, based on the feedback and referrals I've gotten!

The author of the article claims an agent approaches business differently when "putting food on the table." Perhaps so, but the question that popped into my mind when I first read it was what kind of service is provided to clients if an agent is worried about putting food on the table? As a buyer or seller, do I get a feeling of panic from my agent, a sense of worry over the commission, the impression of being pushed to make a decision to "settle?" If I am that buyer or seller, then I'd choose to have a part-time agent dedicated to helping only a few clients than a full-time agent scrambing to to make ends meet.  

Just a quick Blog to let you know I'm taking a class regarding Blogging! I'm a real estate agent with a "techie" background so anything I can do to reach more out-of-town buyers via the internet the more I'm interested in learning about it.

I've done simple web site development for a number of years and try to use all the (free) tricks available to make sure my web site gets decent placement in the search engines and adding a blog is one way to do that. I started this blog last winter, mostly writing about infrastructure improvements in Ironwood and about Snow Country Real Estate and the "state of real estate" right now in the Upper Peninsula. I've kept it pretty impersonal, only did one personal blog about my frozen pipes in January.

The class I'm taking (4 weeks down and 4 to go) offers a lot of helpful hints on creating a blog, making it interesting, finding your "writing voice" and gearing it towards your readers. Hopefully, by the time the course is done, I'll be starting to write more entertaining information about Ironwood, Hurley and the surrounding area. My goal is to provide as much info as possible to people looking to retire here, relocate, or buy a vacation place, but I also want my blog to be a quick resource for local people to use to get info about area activities or web links and most certainly, for real estate needs!

We've only passed the 2nd month of 2008 and Snow Country Real Estate is up over 30% in sales during the 1st quarter of 2007! Our average per transaction is $119000 for '08 vs. $46000 for '07.

On top of that encouraging news, 4 out of our 6 agents are in the Top 10 for sales volume. Sad to say that I'm not one of those 4, but I do have several transactions "in the works" and I plan to join the ranks of my top producing associates as soon as possible!

A very positive piece of real estate news is that our entire Western Upper Peninsula MLS board has sold over $6 million dollars in the first 2 months of the year. Last year, the first 2 months saw only $2.5 million in sales. Some of the large increase can be attributed to commercial sales this year, which just means more jobs in our area and that brings the potential for more residential sales.

In talking to the various out of town buyers I've worked with in the past several months and in reading lots of publications and blogs, I understand that real estate does seem to be depressed in many areas of the country. However, Gogebic County, MI and Iron County, WI do seem to be holding their own, if not outright picking up speed.

I plan to analyze our sales statistics - for our company and for our entire board - on a monthly basis and will post what I find early each month.