Realty World Northern California & Nevada

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I always get a little frustrated at the end of the year because it seems like resolutions are all about reminding you what you’ve done wrong the last 365 days. “I ate too much so I need to lose weight.” “I spent too much so I need to save.” And on and on it goes… reminding us of what we’ve done wrong and how we could, no, SHOULD, be doing better.

Well I’m sick of it. I’d like to celebrate some of the stuff people have done right and I’d love an agent or broker that did it too. Here are some ways you can help home buyers and sellers feel good about starting the year.

• Congratulate all the people that bought a home on achieving their piece of the American Dream. Remind them that they have already accomplished a huge milestone!
• Give a hi-five to those that managed to sell their homes with you this year – letting them know that selling a home in this market was no small feat!
• Reach out to those that have contacted you this year and congratulate them on taking the first step toward one of the biggest purchases of their life and give them kudos for making home ownership a priority.
• Send thank you’s and a pat on the back to your family and friends for sticking with you through a rough economy and for being a big part of your life.

Give these reaffirmations a try when you’re pondering those resolutions. You’ll start the year off with a smile.

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I’m sitting in Raleigh-Durham Airport after my first Christmas at home in three years. Having my first few moments of peace and quiet in over a week I can reflect on the time I got to spend with my wacky yet normal family. It occurs to me that there are a lot of practices we use in our personal life that translate well to the business world, and certainly to social media. Here are a couple things I took note of:

• Greet everyone with a hearty handshake, a smile and ask them how they’re doing – and care about the answer. Nothing warms people up like some sincerity, a little laughter and a personal anecdote or two.
• Be yourself, your regular wacky self. People like people that are genuine – even if they don’t agree with you. It makes you more trustworthy (because you never know if you can believe someone that seems to be trying to please everyone) and gives you a unique personality.
• Offer people refreshments. Too often when I get to a business engagement I’m hustled into a room where I’m immediately inundated with questions, put on a podium or asked to start a PowerPoint. I typically am much more at ease with my surroundings when I get the chance to have a glass of water and a short chat with the person I’m doing business with first.
• Write “thank you” notes – on paper. Then mail them – in the actual mail with a stamp. It shows people you appreciate their time, gift, donation, whatever. I write thank you notes for job interviews, donations to charities, dinner parties, etc. and they have done more for my relationships with people than a million emails ever could.
• Remember names. I know, I know – this is a tough one. That’s what your phone is for though – in the contact section that you save the business contacts, right after you have left someone’s office, home or wherever you were meeting – put their spouse, children, dog, etc. names in there under the notes area. People are really happy when you ask how little Sarah is doing with gymnastics or if Fido is doing well, plus it’s a great conversation starter when you need more to talk about than the weather.

I hope you enjoyed your holidays and learned a few things from your families as well – feel free to share them here!

I guess you could call them resolutions, if you’re into that sort of thing. I’m not, I don’t really like the word resolution – I like having a to do list, it implies that I can check stuff off and should keep at it til it’s been done. Whatever you want to call it, below is a list of some things I’m going to try to get done during 2010 in my online life.

1. I will cleanse my Facebook page of people I don’t know. There is no reason to have 1,000 “friends” on Facebook if you only really know or like 150 of them. If I haven’t met you in real life or have a good reason to know you otherwise then I’m deleting you to reduce virtual clutter.
2. I will pay attention to what’s happening in people’s real lives. I will not, however, comment on your Farmville status, give you a vampire bite, throw an online snowball at you or participate in your Sorority Life toga party. I will, instead, care about your actual job, family, and attend actual parties so we can have a real conversation.
3. I will not Tweet out of obligation. I will only use Twitter when I have something I think the twittersphere might benefit from hearing or care about. I will help clean up my follower’s Twitter feeds by not posting every time I get coffee, take a shower or change the channel.
4. I will respect your privacy. If we go out and have a good time at an event, I will not post the photos of you with your head over the toilet, you giving your boss the finger when he turned his back, etc. I will not post that I’m sorry you and Bobby broke up or anything else about your personal life – that’s up to you. (It’d be a really happy year if everyone else would do the same.)
5. I will not censor you. I will not delete comments that I disagree with (unless they contain racial slurs or excessive profanity) just because I may not like your opinion. I’m a believer in free speech and that Facebook and Twitter are places that those things are not just tolerated but encouraged – so go ahead and be Republican, Democrat, push for legalized marijuana, healthcare changes, whatever… I may not like it – but I won’t delete that you do.
6. I will be less available. I will turn off my computer and cell phone for a couple of hours every day and for at least one day on the weekends so that I can have a real life and be an interesting person (and to ensure my dogs and significant other get the attention they deserve). This way, when we connect on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or – oh my goodness – in REAL LIFE, I’ll have interesting things to talk about besides Joe’s most recent Facebook update.

Got some to do items of your own? Let’s hear them!

Whatever your goals for the upcoming year may be, even if it’s to not have any goals, I wish you a safe and happy close to 2009 and hope to hear from you in 2010.

Everyone knows what surge protectors are… but are they really necessary?

The simple answer to this question is “Yes, absolutely.”

Power spikes are quick, short duration overvoltages of electricity and are typically caused by lightning strikes, power outages, tripped circuit breakers, short circuits, and malfunctions caused by the power company. These overvoltages do not occur often but they can occur and you should protect your electronic investments with a surge protector.

Surge protectors range in price and quality. How “good” of a surge protector do you need?

Unfortunately, the answer to this question is not as simple.

The main factor to consider when purchasing a surge protector is to look at what will be plugged into it. For example, when protecting your computer, big screen TV, or home theatre equipment, you wouldn’t want to spend five dollars on a basic surge protector. Conversely, you also wouldn’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on a battery backup unit for your alarm clock. (Some people may argue differently on that one but I think you get the picture)

A basic surge protector, or power strip, offers minimal protection to sensitive electronic equipment and typically provides an easy way to plug in multiple devices into a power outlet. This is not recommended to be used for sensitive electronic equipment. (Ie. computers, TVs, or home theatre equipment)

The next step up resembles a basic surge protector, or power strip, but is intended for sensitive electronic equipment. You can easily find a quality APC brand surge protector in the mid twenty dollar range at a local Best Buy.

Another jump up in protection is called a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply), also known as a battery backup, which provides emergency power to your electronic device (Ie. computer and monitor) in cases where there is power interruption. Typically, there is enough emergency power available to save any unsaved documents as well as safely shutdown the computer. A quality APC brand UPS can be found in the sub one hundred dollar range at a local Best Buy.

It’s the holiday time of year and no matter where you are or what you do (or don’t) celebrate – you can’t avoid some sort of season’s greetings. So what happens when you’re inundated with invitations, hammered with “ho, ho, ho’s” or pummeled with pictures of relatives, friends and coworkers? Time to take seasonal overload by the hand and make merry. Here are some helpful hints to make your spirits bright and your inbox less intimidating!

If you haven’t sent out holiday cards to loved ones near and far, check out the tools at Shutterfly and MailChimp.

• Shutterfly is great for family, friends and coworkers and will create fun cards from your fave photos.
• MailChimp is a perfect choice for business relationships, as you can import your contacts from Outlook, Excel, etc. and create slick and savvy greetings that will arrive in HTML style!

Be sure to use your social networking sites to determine which greeting you should use, whether it’s Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah or Kwanzaa Greetings – you can often tell which is the most appropriate from Facebook, LinkedIn or other profile pages.

Don’t forget repeat customers, loyal colleagues and others who make the rest of the year bearable! Here are some great ways to make people feel appreciated without breaking the bank:

• Make a charitable donation in their name – bonus points for making it a charity that is tailored to them. (The SPCA for animal lovers, American Cancer Society for those affected by the disease, etc.) These donations can be made in any denomination which can be kept discreet.
• Socialize without the media – have a coffee, eggnog or beverage of their choice but nothing says caring like sharing your time with someone.
• Share something special – whether it’s a favorite family recipe, a memorable quote or other idea, sending along something that means a lot to you is a gift that will last long after store bought somethings.

From me, Steve and our dogs, Bogart and Brando – we wish you a safe and happy holiday season!

Video is the fastest growing segment online, yet the real estate industry continues to be the slowest to adopt these changes. The question every Realtor should be asking now is why? Our verdict: cost and real estate companies not providing Realtors the resources to do it! Its a fact that consumers have moved to the internet for pretty much everything, with 87% of homebuyers using the Internet for information when purchasing a home. Its also a fact that video is the fastest growing segment on the internet right now with 77% of U.S. Internet users viewing online videos. These are staggering numbers. So where is the real estate industry in all of this?

Real estate website giants Trulia and Zillow continue to dominate online real estate as they tap consumers desire for information online. Will video be the next move for them? Most likely, as Realtors who are adopting this new medium are already seeing the results:

“I recently sold a listing and believe the video walkthrough was instrumental in it selling so quickly – it was on the market only 6 days! People at my open house commented on seeing the video online and said it made it stand out from other listings. The sellers showed it to neighbors and friends who were all impressed! Thank you for making this service available to Realty World agents. It gives us an edge in this competitive market by providing an additional marketing channel that delivers more potential buyers and differentiates us from competing agents. The buyers liked it so much they asked for a copy of the video on DVD!”

– Michael Valentine, Broker/Owner, Realty World Acclaim

Realtors must accept that static websites and virtual tours are no longer enough. Consumers expect online interaction with real estate agents, images and videos available on their website – or they’ll go where they can get it. Our video initiative shows that agents advertising with videos win listings, sell homes faster, and take business from those who don’t.