As the New Year begins I align myself with the company's goals, the cities plans and my team's plans.  The company wants to go back to basics.  I thought I never left them until I started reviewing old training sessions and manuals.  I was surprised how far from the basics we actually strayed.  If you are successful, it is easy to fall into the trap of feeling you are doing everything right.  The good news it is not hard to make adjustments, it just takes time & effort.

The city plans are to win the Malcolm Baldrige award for superior customer service.  Since they were a two time winner and the first city ever to win the Governors Sterling Award for Excellence in performance, I'd say they are a shoe-in.  Coral Springs leadership is very focused on customer service.  I like how the city government is run and how my taxes stay lower than other nearby cities.  I don't always agree with their decisions, but overall it is a good working plan.  Probably the best part is that if there is a problem, be it with the youth, traffic or retail, they do not stick there heads in the sand.  They are proactive in fixing whatever is wrong.  One of the best and recent examples was Hurricane Wilma.  When other cities were struggling to come back to life, Coral Springs was operating strong.  They had the resources such as portable traffic lights and were able to pay for the trash hauling of the amazing amount of debris.  Once all was repaired they re-gained their costs by loaning their portable traffic lights to other cities.  Now that is good business.

My team plans......While other Realtors cried from the decline in sales last year, there were those of us that knew a correction would come and we would be ready.  It is a painful process to go from a major jump in income and production to a major decline.  To understand that it was necessary in order for housing to remain affordable makes it a little easier to take.  The issue still remains that our property insurance rates and homeowners insurance rates are out of control.  I believe that Lori Parrish and her Tax Assessor Team is also proactive and hard at work on a solution, such as "portability" (more on that later).  The new Governor, Charlie Crist has called for a special session to get the insurance problem under control.  I have not decided how I feel about what is being done yet, but at least something is being done.

Back to the basics.....For us one thing never changes and that is the way we serve our clients real estate needs with the best in customer service and follow up.  We can not be all things to all people.  DARN!  That won't stop us from trying to be the best at what we do.  Serving people's real estate needs in Broward and Palm Beach Counties.

Life is full of adventure and trying new things.  An adrenaline rush into the unknown until it becomes comfortable.  Welcome to my first attempt at blogging.

We can approach life as, "this is good and I am not changing", or "I'm all in for something new ", and jump in with both feet.  I prefer the latter.  For those that choose the first choice, they are probably still driving a horse and buggy (figuratively speaking).

Coral Springs, the place I call home has a little more than 130,000 people living here in it's approximately 24 square miles that abuts the Everglades.  It is bordered by the city of Parkland on the north, the city of Tamarac on its south border and the city of Margate for its eastern border, each with a different persona.  I moved here in 1985 and started work with the major developer of the city who also built the Galt Ocean Mile and Coral Ridge Country Club in the 60's and 70's in Fort Lauderdale.  Coral Springs and Parkland were both chartered in 1963. 

Working for Coral Ridge Properties (now WCI Communities), was quite the experience.  Having never sold real estate before, let alone dirt, it was a challenge.  The man that allowed me to jump in with both feet, was a tyrant of a leader, but he got results from us.  His name was Richard Stevens.  He did not want to hire me, but I was relentless so he gave me a chance.  He was right, for the first 6 months I was a miserable failure.  With the help of other strong leaders like Jerry Simon and Tom Ryan, plus my own determination I figured it out and I made it as a salesperson, one of 5 women on a sales force of 65 people.  We always had 8 subdivisions at a time that we represented, covering all price ranges for the 52 builders that we represented.  It was exciting, building cities.  That went on for 11 years until corporate downsizing took place and lay-offs were abundant.  I was a producer so I knew that I would be kept on, but the discomfort of watching my friends lose their jobs (25 of them a day), was too much, so I left and ventured out onto my own into what is called, "general real estate".   it meant I could sell anything, anywhere for anyone.  I liked that!  So much that I tripled my income the first year.  WOW!  I wish I left sooner to start this new adventure.

So here I am another 11 years later.  22 years in the real estate business with a great partner these last 10 years, my younger brother, Jeff.  I have enjoyed working and living in my community and have had the opportunity to give back in multiple areas.  Chair of the Chamber of Commerce and other leadership positions to name a few.  (I'm sure those discussions will pop up later).

I became a Realtor because of one bad experience my family had.  Determined to fix the situation, I became a licensed REALTOR, to show people that Realtors are good, honest, caring people.  It has been a very profitable mission that leaves you with the greatest feeling of satisfaction when you help people get what they want.  A place to call their own, HOME!