Robert's Blog

Yes, we have beaches and pools, but we are always looking for another way to cool off on The Jersey Shore.

If hitting the pool or the beach is already on your itinerary, consider adding the New Jersey State Ice Cream Festival in Toms River. The month of July is officially National Ice Cream Month, giving you a great excuse to enjoy a couple of scoops during bathing suit season. And Toms River, will again, host the New Jersey State Ice Cream Festival, which will be held on Saturday July 16th from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Downtown Toms River on Washington Street. 

With free admission and parking, visitors can enjoy a day filled with ice cream, inflatable rides, a balloon artist, stilt walker, a special appearance by the Trenton Devils mascot "Scorch" and a full day of music including performances by The Kootz Band, Showplace Waitri, Kayla Calabrese, Oceanaires, among others.

There will be a children's ice cream eating contest at 12:15 and 2:15 and one for adults at 1:15 and 3:30. Tasting kits are available online for $6 until the day before the event.

Did you know? Ice cream was introduced to the United States by Quaker colonists who brought their ice cream recipes with them (from Great Britain). Confectioners sold ice cream at their shops in New York and other cities during the colonial era. Ben Franklin, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson were known to have regularly eaten and served ice cream. First Lady Dolley Madison is also closely associated with the early history of ice cream in the United States. One respected history of ice cream states that, as the wife of U.S. President James Madison, she served ice cream at her husband's Inaugural Ball in 1813.

 

Six steps to having a successful open house

Many decades ago, when the Texas oil boom was going bust, I was a real estate agent. When the bust finally reached bottom, I went into the flipping business full-time with a couple of partners. That meant that in addition to buying houses and fixing them up, we also had to sell them.

Flipping properties for profit means that one usually doesn't want to use a real estate agent and pay that commission. I took advantage of my past real estate experience to be the one out of our trio who would handle all the paperwork for buying and selling.

I won't discuss here how we found properites, just how we got them off our inventory, and our most successful method was open houses. Based on feedback from my real estate agent clients, my methods still work, except that they probably work better because fewer people seem to be doing open houses.

First, you have to define what you consider to be a successful open house. Finding a Buyer? Getting contacts for your database? Spending three hours of quiet time with yourself? Proving to your Sellers that you had an open house?

I'm not saying that any of those are wrong, but perhaps some of them are not the most efficient use of time. Now if you can multitask and do all of them, you might be on to something.

If all you do with your open houses is put on good clothes, leave an hour before the open starts, and spend that time putting out open house signs, I can virtually guarantee you that you WILL NOT have a successful open house, unless you're just wanting some quiet time.

My #1 purpose was always to find a Buyer, and rarely was I not successful, even in the bad oil bust economy in Houston in the early to mid-1980s. Here are my keys to getting the property sold, keys that my Clients still use:

1. Price the property right — Isn't this always the most important item for getting a home sold? This is critical because most people hold open houses immediately after taking a listing. That also happens to be the time when the property is usually overpriced. Doesn't work. All you'll get are the looky-loos who walk away wondering why you priced the property so high. After 30 days of that, you'll be convinced that open houses don't work.
   
   It's tempting to overprice the property because your Seller will be happier and you'll get a higher commission. That's if the home sells. After it has sat there for 60 days, neither of you are happy.
   
   You have to be honest with yourself and your Sellers. In my case, I had to be honest with myself and my partners. Trust me. We wanted the most money we could get, too!
   
   
2. Know your demographics — This is critical. If you're holding an open house in a neighborhood of original owners who bought their homes in 1965, you need to know that! Upward moving Yuppies? Sinks? Dinks? Renting college students?
   
   This is not easy to do, which is why people don't do it. In my farming area in Houston, I had all the addresses with the owners' names and when they bought their homes. That was in the pre-Internet days, so I spent a lot of time at the courthouse going through public records. It's much easier today because you can get access to those public records through the MLS or through Realist, DataQuick, and others.
   
   
3. Know what churches, schools, and parks are nearby — Put this on your marketing materials. It's important!
   
   
4. Market to your demographics — This doesn't mean you have to discriminate. However, since you have a finite amount of money, you need to choose where to spend it. As an example, San Diego County is a very large county of 4,525 square miles comprising a city of 1.3 million on the big end and rural areas that are unincorporated on the small end. There are specific neighborhoods comprising specific demographics — Vietnamese, military, condo owners, renters, college students, gay, etc.
   
   San Diego's most prominent gay neighborhoods are the older neighborhoods of Hillcrest and Azalea Park. El Cajon and Lakeside, in East County, are considered homophobic, at best. Why market your Hillcrest or Azalea Park property in El Cajon or Lakeside? It's not logical. Instead, find out where that demographic hangs out. Put an open house notice in the gay rags, the Seagull (Mormon, for when there's a Mormon church nearby), The Jewish Times (for when there's a synagogue nearby), etc.
   
   
5. Use the Super Bowl approach to marketing — What I mean here is that you should resist running a full-page ad in a magazine or newspaper. If a full-page ad costs $1,000, and a quarter-page ad costs $250, run four quarter-page ads on four different pages.
   
   If you're putting postcard-sized ads on community bulletin boards at the grocery store, restaurant, and laundry, resist putting just one, or several under one thumb tack. Instead, put one in each corner of the bulletin board. Just like inundating the Internet with your name, you want to inundate your community with open house notices.
   
   
6. Give the address on your open house sign — Very few people actually try to follow all those street signs pointing the way, especially when the first one starts at the real estate agent's house. Instead, on each open house sign, give the address! That allows people to write it down, and if they don't have time to visit the house right now, they just might make a special appointment to see it. I have hundreds of feedback stories from people who never made it to an open house but said, "I saw your open house sign last weekend" while their agent was handing me the purchase offer.
   
   It takes time to put the address on each sign, but instead of putting out twelve signs with no address on them, spend your time putting the address on six signs and then putting them at strategic — i.e., busy — locations.

Next post will be:

Pay It Forward

Twenty most recent posts

1. ActiveRain — Please welcome Peter Russell to our ActiveRain community
2. Business & Marketing — I've succumbed to QR codes, as ugly as they may be
3. Business & Marketing — Make your ActiveRain blog equivalent to your web site
4. Business & Marketing — How to invite hundreds, thousands, millions, even billions of people to ActiveRain
5. Unlocking the secrets of your home — Another child dies needlessly
6. Business & Marketing — Business & Marketing - Guilty as charged
7. Fun with Russel Ray — Zoey the Cool Cat's new playmates
8. ActiveRain — How I define my ActiveRain success
9. Business & Marketing — Don't wait for them to come to you!
10. Unlocking the secrets of your home — What the home inspector SAYS can be significant, too!
11. Flower Fiesta — Thank you, New York! Flowers for everyone!
12. ActiveRain — Feature worthy and rebloggable, #2
13. Pay It Forward — "Can I buy another one?"
14. Business & Marketing — The police won't mind if you expose yourself
15. Picture of the Moment — Safari Park's six-day-old gorilla
16. Unlocking the secrets of your home — Protecting your home from wind-driven wildland fires using landscaping, vegetation, and home maintenance
17. Video of the Moment — 0-60 mph in four seconds, and it's not a car!
18. Business & Marketing — "I didn't get your email"
19. Picture of the Moment — I'm a superb star, (dar)ling
20. Unlocking the secrets of your home — YOUR home inspector is on YOUR side!

If you need a home inspection to make your day,
make sure it's one by Russel Ray!

Member since 2003 of

 
The world’s largest and best trade association for home inspectors!

All pictures are copyright

 

Community Fundraiser: Seaside Rotary Waiter Night at LUNA ROSA Trattoria, Sunday Jan. 30, 2011

 

The Seaside Rotary is sponsoring Waiter Night at the Luna Rosa restaurant on Sunday, January 30, 2011.  The Rotary is donating a portion of the ticket proceeds and pooled tips to the Big Brothers and Big Sisters Program at Hugh J. Boyd School, Seaside Heights NJ.

 

There will be 2 seatings on Sunday, Jan. 30., one at 4:00 p.m. and one at 7:00 p.m. Cost for adults is $22.00; a child's menu is available for $12.00.  Remember that your participation will benefit the Seaside Rotary and the Big Brothers & Big Sisters Program. 

 

Seaside Rotary members will be serving your 3-course Luna Rosa meal. The entrees they may drop you may choose are:

• Penne Vodka
• Roast Pork loin;
• Chicken Francese
• Chicken Parmigiana;
• Tilapia Francaise.

 

According to the Luna Rosa website, its new name is Luna Derosa. In any case, the address is 401 Boulevard, Seaside Heights NJ.

 

 

To purchase your tickets or to make a donation to this Seaside Rotary community fundraiser, please call Veronica at 732-996-2102.

Ten Things Home Buyers Will Simply Not Tolerate Right Now 

Anyone who can open a newspaper knows that we are currently in a buyer's market.  If your home is for sale now there are some realities that you need to accept.

With the amount of inventory available and the fact that prices have dropped significantly, buyers are being very discerning about what they will put up with.  The number choices in front of them will lead them to greener pastures if a property does not click immediately.  

In this environment buyers do not have much patience with any of the following: 

1. Cigarette smoke - Since so many areas are smoke free these days people have become much more sensitive to the smell of it. 
2. Clutter or mess - It takes a special person to be able to see past piles of magazines, books, knick-knacks and too much furniture. Those buyers are usually accompanied by a construction crew. 
3. Outdated décor - flowered wallpaper, shag carpeting and dark paneling.  These specialty items were great in their time but not many want to live with them right now. 
4. Property that is in need of repair - I showed a home that had a huge hole in the ceiling of the garage. That was all they needed to see before moving on. Buyers worry about just what something like this may be potentially leading to. 
5. Dark interiors - Upon entering a house the first thing I do is open all heavy drapes and let the sun in. It may be considered a person's castle, but no one wants to live in a dark home. 
6. Overpowering colors - Paint is a small investment to make if your home has loud colors in every room.  Those colors may be your unique style but a neutral palette is something more people can work their imagination around. 
7. Pet or cooking odors - One of the problems with odors is that the owner is usually accustomed to them. If you have any doubt, get an independent opinion.  When someone walks into a home they expect it to have a pleasant smell.   
8. Overgrown landscaping and a poor entrance - These items will often prevent someone from ever getting through the door.  Buyers may just cross it off their list just from the drive-by. 
9. Inflexibility with showings - If agents have a difficult time showing your home you need to know how much this can impair its potential sale.  With so many other properties available, they just may not bother to try for a second time.
10. Dirt of any kind - Above everything, your home needs to be as immaculate as possible. People will look in closets, cupboards and in the basement. Go through every room in the house.  Hire a crew if you must.  

Now, more than ever, your home needs to shine - because you will never have another chance to make a good first impression. 

 

"Ten Things Home Buyers Will Simply Not Tolerate Right Now"

This post was written by 

Claudette Millette, Broker, Owner, The Buyers' Counsel - (508) 881-6230

An Exclusive Buyer Brokerage serving the Greater Metrowest area

MLS Property Search With No Registration Required 

         

 

If you aren't at least a little bit frustrated with ActiveRain by now, then God bless you! You must have one of those personalities where it takes forever to upset you......but once you get there, there's no going back?

Of anybody out there reading this, I promise you I have threatened my computer with being tossed out the window at least twice as many times as you have. I've cussed (nope, not proud of it, but I have), pounded the table, gritted my teeth and furrowed my brow (and you can ask anyone, I have prominant eyebrows, so they furrow with purpose) and sometimes just thrown up my hands and walked away. With the exception of Brad Andersohn, I don't know if there is anyone who spends more time on the site than I do.

I'd like to think I'm in a similar position to many of you. When ActiveRain doesn't work right, and the challenges of accessing it are beyond ones ability to deal with those challenges, we both lose clients. We lose our members as a client. You lose your next potential prospect as a client. This is BY FAR the most frustrating part of this issue.

At the same time, I believe that ActiveRain has added tremendous value to the businesses and the lives of our members. I read the posts every day. I see the personal and professional successes that people have as a result of their participation. I see the amount of knowledge shared on a daily basis. I see the stories shared by our members of new clients finding them and wanting to work with them because their post showed up at the top of the search engines. I see the support our members offer one and other when someone reaches out for help. These are all reasons that I'm still extremely proud of what ActiveRain has become and the community that has developed here.

This is me asking you to hang in there with us. Hang in there so that when these proxy errors are fixed soon, we can once again focus on providing tools that allow you to reach your next client in new and exciting ways. Hang in there so we can once again focus on sharing with each other the tools and tricks that make us a community of forward thinking real estate professionals. Hang in there so we can share in the sweet joys of success and the tear-jerking challenges of life that we so freely exchange in the Rain.

These are the reasons that you first fell in love with ActiveRain. These are the reasons that we ask you to stand by an old friend as he struggles to mature and handle his new found success (traffic).

Our developers are currently coding the new servers that recently went online. We expect to begin testing the new servers soon and begin the integration process. The team we have working on this is the best in the field and I have no question, when it's finished, we will again be able to enjoy our time together and we will all (me included) have a newfound appreciation for the reasons we choose to participate here. And believe me, we know you have a choice and we are extremey humbled that you have made the choice to include ActiveRain in your life, and your business.

 

 

 

 

  Friends, followers, and connections are the way of the future. 

 Make sure you check out some of our Facebook Fan Pages Too!

We recently brought on 3 new servers to handle the rash of proxy errors that have been occurring on the site. We are very aware of the issues that these errors present and the challenges associated with having to deal with them.

No one is more concerned by the errors than our team, as we highly value the time our members invest to utilize ActiveRain. It is our goal to deliver a tool that is reliable, in addition to providing value to your business by helping you reach potential clients.

We do have a resolution in sight as our development resources are focused on bringing these new servers online and relieving the obvious strain that our current servers are facing.

Please accept our sincere apologies and know that we are 100% focused on resolving the issue as swiftly and succinctly as we can. Feel free to use the comment space below to berate, ridicule, and vent. However, future consideration (you know, like they do with baseball trades) will be given to those that are gracious to our growing pains.

(But I'm a big boy, and these errors are just as aggravating to me as they are to anyone so I completely expect to be berated, ridiculed and vented upon.......or is it vented on?)

 

If you would like to know what I'm up to, follow me. But don't be offended if I say something colorful. I'm human!

  Friends, followers, and connections are the way of the future. 

 Make sure you check out some of our Facebook Fan Pages Too!

Your listing agreement is signed and you're heading out to install the lockbox and yard sign for your fabulous new listing! By this afternoon, the property will be entered into the MLS, and hopefully your fancy-schmantzy home brochures will be delivered by the end of the week.

Whew! You're done, right? Time to move onto the next listing prospect!

Well, that's up to you, but I don't recommend it.

Those first two weeks of a new listing provide a beautiful window of opportunity to knock the sox off your seller and cement your position as his or her all-time favorite real estate agent. Oh, and by knocking the sox off your new seller out of the gate, you'll buy yourself a little grace if, down the road, you unintentionally drop the ball (it happens)!

When you put a new listing on the market, strive to have contact with my seller every single day for the first week; and into the second week if possible. Remember, while listing another home may be just another day at the office for us, it's a monumental event for most home-sellers. They are watching your every move (or lack of movement) very closely - AND - commenting on those moves (or lack thereof) to their peers.

So, what can you do to knock some sox those precious first two weeks of a new listing?

• Send the sellers a copy of the MLS listing and ask for their blessing
• Send the sellers a draft of the home brochure and ask for their blessing
• Schedule the first open house
• Create and deliver your first State of the Market report
• Deliver feedback from showings, if any
• Send links to your online advertising (Your Virtual Tour, Craigslist, Postlets, Realtor.com, your blog, etc.).
• Ask seller to distribute the virtual tour to his social network.
• Drop off brochures
• Do your Open House
• Deliver feedback from Open House
• Ask sellers how they feel the process is going so far
• Preview any new competition and share your feedback
• Call to check on brochures - do we need more yet?
• Prepare a market report with the number of showings and virtual tour hits, along with an update on the status of the competition.

After the first two weeks, you can slow down your attention a bit, although of course, do continue to provide showing feedback and check on brochures and such. Every 2-3 weeks, send an updated market activity report, and at six weeks, prepare a full CMA and schedule a meeting with the sellers to discuss it.

If your seller feels you're being TOO attentive, he'll probably let you know, but I really doubt that will be a problem!

Any other ideas of reasons to contact a seller? Please share!

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The earthquake that hit Haiti 6 days ago left behind it a path of destruction.  According to official estimates, there are 330,000 Orphans in Haiti right now.   Some of these kids are in the process of being adopted by parents from the United States and other countries.  

Many of these orphanages are in dire need of food and water.  Some of these babies are dying from dehydration as I’m writing these lines.  The situation is desperate.   These kids are dying while their adoptive parents are doing all they can to rescue them. 

After several days of pleas, the US has finally granted Humanitarian Parole to some of these kids, but to my knowledge, only seven of them have made it out of Haiti so far.  Soledad O’Brien has been sending out distress Tweets all day today.  She is at orphanages with babies who are dying, many of whom are in the process of being adopted by American parents, but so far the airlift seems like a fantasy. 

We need to get these kids out as soon as possible.  We also need to get the rest of the orphans out before they perish.  Please help!

With tears in my eyes, but hope in my heart, I humbly ask for your assistance.  Please spread the word and contact your US Representatives about this crisis!  Every hour counts…

Mirela

 

Here is an organization you can connnect with.  They have specifics on what you can do to help:

http://www.HumanitarianParole.com

Here is information about Operation Pierre Pan.

Here is the Latest White House update on this issue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I SO wish I could take credit for this idea... But alas... someone else beat me to it and I suppose it's the soulful thing to do to acknowledge her brilliance...

I read an article in one of my local neighborhood newspapers (the North Denver News) written by a Denver wedding officiant named Maureen Thomson (www.memorableceremonies.com). 

Here's the introduction to the article:

"Several years ago, I eschewed the traditional New Year's Resolution (which I failed to maintain 100% of the time anyway) in favor of a theme for the year. As opposed to a list of "will do's" that the resolutions stipulated, the theme was a gentler way of turning my attention toward the areas in my life that were most in need of attention.

I had no idea what I was in for when I started this tradition. My themes have turned into manifestations that are beyond coincidence. My theme for 2005 was "Unthinkably Good Things Can Happen" and that was the year that I met my future husband, Jeremy. This was followed by my 2006 theme of "Build the Dream" which was the year my business took off, growing into a multi-state operation. And we mustn't forget 2007's theme of "Do the Never" whereby I did all kinds of things I swore I'd never do - not the least of which was to marry again.

But nothing prepared me for the events surrounding my theme of this year: "Simplicity." Even its one-word title was a deviation for me. Back the beginning of the year, I had no idea how much this theme would change me..." Read the Rest...

I love this idea of identifying a big picture goal for your year and letting nature takes its course. I'm tossing around ideas for my 2009... and I keep coming back to "The Year I Found Peace." Whaddya' think?

How ‘bout you? What might your theme be for 2009? Please share...

 

 

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