Realty World Northern California & Nevada

Two times per month (sometimes three) we schedule and conduct our staff meetings; each department makes their presentation on current projects and updates everyone on where we are and where we’re going. Sometimes the meeting is not too much different than what we all talk about in weekly emails, but it is still good to get to the table and get some belly-to-belly time in.

We have fancy grids and graphs that show a myriad of information from accounting reports to newsletter statistics to who just received the most recent lead from our online system. During this morning’s meeting I couldn’t help but hear some of the staff talk about how certain agents receive more leads than others based upon, not only listing inventory, but article inventory. Basically, blogging more is what they were saying.

Think of it like this… the more you blog or post an article to your webpage, the more search engines seem to like you. Your online information becomes “more relevant” to searches because of the frequency of date/time stamping in conjunction with the words you use in your article and information you post. Hence, the more you do this, the more search engines pick up on you and the propensity to attract more consumers is increased.

The concept can be likened to the use of one’s toothbrush. You’re not going to get the results of good oral hygiene without some elbow grease on the business end of your toothbrush. Likewise, blogs in this world need to be used daily and, sometimes two or three times per day, to achieve the desired whiteness, so to speak.

I’m pretty sure you know this by now. So my message to you today is just a friendly reminder.
 

Scott LeForce
President
Scott.LeForce@rwnc.net

Since last 4th of July to now, there certainly have been a tremendous amount of changes, sacrifices and new challenges in this country, in our businesses and our personal lives. And, there are certainly going to be many more before things turn around. However, on this 4th of July, we must remember to put all of our own personal issues aside and celebrate the accomplishments of all Americans throughout history, and even now, who have helped create this great country. We need to remind ourselves of the 56 men who signed the “Declaration of Independence” and gave us this incredible freedom we have today.  We must commemorate all servicemen and servicewomen who have paid the ultimate sacrifice and continue to so we can sleep at night without fear; so that we can continue to be entrepreneurial and prosper; and more importantly, enjoy the freedoms in making our own decisions in life. Remember this as you celebrate Independence Day with family and friends!
 
I’ll leave you with this quote:  “Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom.” – Albert Einstein

Enjoy Your 4th of July Weekend!

James Dwiggins
Chief Strategy Officer
James.Dwiggins@rwnc.net

I was recently on a camping trip with several families and their children. Many of the kids are approaching their high school graduation in a year or two and, naturally, the subject of their futures popped up now and then while talking around the campfire. 

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that a couple of the older kids were interested in retirement and saving money. Wow! These are teenagers? I was excited to talk with them about saving money and the benefits that grow from starting the practice early. I told them (true story) that I bought my first home before my 21st birthday from savings I had tucked away. I have to thank my parents for making me save ten percent of my lawn mowing, stable shoveling, and busboy jobs. Admittedly, I really didn’t understand how important it was when I was a young teen, so I was fortunate. 

Anyway, if you have kids or grandkids, yesterday is the best time to start instilling the discipline of saving and teaching the power of compounding. Every kid should have a Roth individual retirement account (IRA). Don’t question the wisdom of starting to early as your kids might… the earlier the better. To open one, a child must have some type of earned income, however. The annual contribution is limited to the amount they earn during the year or $5,000 in 2009 (whichever is less).  

Children of real estate brokers and agents can have good jobs too! My daughter helps her mother with mailers, wrapping client gifts, gathering information, filing, and the like. As she became a little older, she answers the phone and makes appointments, and even helps out at open houses.

With summer job season here, now is certainly the best time to teach these valuable life lessons.   

Scott LeForce
President
Scott.LeForce@rwnc.net

I’ve had the blessings of great mentors and teachers in my life. A very wise gentleman I have the utmost respect for once told me during a tough time that “Nothing very bad or very good lasts for very long.” I have reflected on this lesson quite often over the years and even more so lately. I think many of us have had a tough go of it over the last year or so and it’s very easy to think that when times are tough, you’ll never see the end. But history repeatedly tells us that this just isn’t so.

I remember, as some of you might, that the early 80’s were real tough times, especially for those of us in the real estate profession. Prime lending rates were 21%, nothing was selling, and the only mortgage products available were 30-year fixed rate mortgages at 18% or “creative financing.” Adjustable/variable rate mortgages came later as a result of that difficult market. Many of us who went through that period thought it would never end, but it did! Actually, the end took only a couple of years and then the good times started to roll and continued for almost 2 ½ decades, with a few bumps in the middle.

See … nothing bad lasts for very long and, therefore, you and I should find great comfort in this valuable lesson.

So what about the flip side? Nothing GOOD lasts for very long. That’s not very reassuring, is it? This lesson, in my opinion, is more important than the former. When times are good, as they will be again soon (some say it’s starting now), we should be acutely aware that they won’t last forever. Many of us get caught up in the good times which is extremely easy to do. Then euphoria kicks in and we wind up making some pretty dumb mistakes due to arrogance or ego.

So what should we do when times are good?

1. Take advantage of all the opportunities presented before you.
2. Be positive and aware.
3. Be prudent in business and personal decisions.
4. Be grateful for the good times when they’re here.
5. Most importantly, be prepared for the next correction.

If we prepare, plan, and carefully keep our egos in check during the good times, the inevitable down cycle indeed will not be that bad at all! Make this year your “good” year!

Scott Gill
Senior Vice President
Scott.Gill@rwnc.net

Since the original release on June 29, 2007, the iPhone was arguably one of the best phones on the market selling over 21.4 million iPhones to date. Apple has released the latest of its operating systems (version 3.0) on June 17, 2009, bringing a variety of new (and much needed) upgrades.

Although the list of updates for the new OS is lengthy, and I am certainly one to appreciate updates, I can’t help but feel that the majority of the new features were so greatly needed that I am left saying to myself, “Ahh… finally! So, what’s next? And when?”

Don’t get me wrong, I love my iPhone. It’s almost to the point where I don’t know how I could survive without it. But with a list of updates containing “features” like cut/copy & paste, landscape keyboard in SMS and mail, and Safari autofill usernames and passwords, I am continually reminded with the thought that these “features” should have been on the phone years ago.

And let’s not forget about MMS and Internet tethering. Oh wait… I have AT&T so I can’t even get those features for another few months. Those who have AT&T service will sympathize with me when I say AT&T’s new ad campaign should be “More Bars in Less Places” with all of the dropped calls I get.

Maybe I’m being too harsh and I need to take a second look at my expectations with technology in today’s world.

What do you think?

Tei Baishiki
Chief Technology Officer
Tei.Baishiki@rwnc.net