Owner: My Active Rain Blog on Real Estate URL:http://www.activerain.com/blogs/stevehomer Join Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2008 08:37:41 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: The rantings and ravings of a full-time real estate broker who specializes in investment real estate. I service the communities of Round Rock, Georgetown, Cedar Park & Pflugerville, Texas. Site statistics:Click here
Sharing Your Library... 2008-04-26 10:06:27 Another cool widget that you can add to your BLOG or your websites is the Library
Thing.com thing. You click on the picture below to be swept away to the site as seen below. Click on the Join Now hyper-link on the right side and create your account. Create a user name, password and add your email address if you like. Once your account is created and you have logged in, Click the "Add Books" tab at the top of the page and search for the favorite books in your library. Add them one-by-one to create your virtual library at the site. Next click the "Tools" tab at the top and select which type of widget that you wish to add to your blog or website (they have many from chiclets to full-size, graphical types. If Read more:Sharing
Are You A LinkedIn.com Member? 2008-04-26 09:41:12 Would you like to show your LinkedIn
.com profile here on Your AR blog? Here is a cool widget that is easy to install on your Blog Description area. Click on the picture below to jump to LinkedInABox.com and fill in the grey area on the right side of the webpage. You enter your email address and login for Linked in here and then uou can customize the look of your widget by changing colors, selecting which of your LinkedIn attributes to display, etc. Once you complete the information for customization, click on the "GO" button... Next you jump to a page that has a javascript code box that has all the code you will copy and past into your Blog Description box on the "My Settings" page in Active Rain. When you click the update b Read more:Member
Superstars are all around us! 2008-04-25 10:20:06 My inspirational post for today involves a car phone salesman from the UK who has become a world class opera singer. Even if you don't love opera, please take a moment and watch the video below. Every one of us has a God-given talent to develop. Paul Potts has found his! Have you? Will you make it through to the next round? Who is the Simon Cowell in your life? Are you prepared for the ultimate talent challenge?
All questions that we need to ponder daily! Thanks! Steve
I hope these pointers can help you in your business and personal life as well. Feel free to comment and add more techniques that you have learned in negotiating! This information is brought to you as a public service of the The HBH Group Realty Team with Keller Williams Realty. You may learn more about us at our w Read more:Superstars
Negotiations: How to Survive! 2008-04-25 08:09:52 Often people in the real estate business find the negotiationing involved to be one of the most difficult parts of the job. Personally, I love that part and wanted to give you, my colleagues, some ideas to make this an easier process for you.We are negotiating all the time in life. Where to eat dinner, whether or not to have a family pet, when the trash will be taken out, etc. The trick is to realize this and study the art of negotiating so that as these daily opportunities to negotiate come along, you can use them to practice your technique, making you a master negotiator over time.Become a student of negotiation techniques. There are plenty of great books on the topic and even some courses that you can take. Learn all you can about technique a
Amber Alert! Go Wireless! 2008-04-25 07:29:11 CLICK HERE to sign up for wireless AmberAlert
s to be sent directly to your cell phone so you can be on the look out for missing/exploited children as soon as the event happens! I am sure that you feel as I do, that we all need to be engaged and assisting to protect children anytime we can. This is just one more way we can do that using the technology that we already emply in our business and personal lives. Join me in being a champion for children! Thanks in advance! Read more:Wireless
I Refuse to Pay 7 Percent for a Mortgage! 2008-04-23 08:39:02 This is a common issue for buyers in a market where interest rates are climbing as our market is today. Here is a typical conversation between a buyer and their agent in this sort of situation:Agent: What interest rate would you be willing to pay for a house?Buyer: No more than 6%.Agent: There are ways for you to obtain a fixed rate loan one percent below the going rate. First, you could make an offer on a house and ask the seller to reduce your interest rate by paying 4% of the purchase price out of their sale proceeds to your loan company. This would result in a permanent reduction of your interest rate by one percent over the life of the loan.Buyer: A seller can effect my interest rate? Really?Agent: Yes, most lenders have buydown programs such as this but if the Read more:Refuse
, Percent
, Mortgage
8 Steps to Better Health in Your Business and Personal Life 2008-04-23 08:03:29 We all know that the real estate industry creates a stressful world in which to work and live. In my first four years in this world as a full timer, I nearly destroyed my health through some very bad habits. I have since reformed and have re-created myself in a more healthy, happy manner. I would like to give you 8 tips here of areas that you should be addressing EVERY DAY to survive the real estate business. If you will craft these tips into habits for yourself, I can promise you that your business and personal lives will flourish and your life will move back towards balance: a thing we all seek to achieve! Here goes:RINSE YOUR SPONGE - The average person is about 70% water by weight! So you might think that you could easily drop 70% of your weight just Read more:Health
, Business
, Personal
Another COOL Widget for your BLOG! 2008-04-22 08:29:17 Feedjit is a cool widget that comes in one of four flavors:A Live Feed widget that shows visitors to your BLOG where your last 10 visitors came from by locale and by what page they left to come see yours. This is a real time feed - I use this one on my BLOG. A Map widget that shows where in the world your readers come from.A Widget that shows other pages that your visitors like to read. I don't necessarily like using these sorts of widgets since I think it encourages your readers to leave your BLOG and go elsewhere. Once we attract them, we want our content to be "sticky" right?A popular pages widget - Again I think this encourages readers to go elsewhere so I would not use this one.Here is the look of the Map Widget (see right):My widget post yesterda
Gas Prices ARE KILLING OUR BUSINESSES! 2008-04-22 07:51:05 I had this letter sent to me via the Internet recently and I have been using the suggestions within it. Now as to whether or not it is actually saving me money, who knows? The prices at the pump are climbing at such an alarming rate that in Texas we are seeing 5-10% inflation per week, but saving ANYWHERE helps so I thought I would share this with you all in the hopes that you might retain all the change you can with these horrid prices! I just read another BLOG entry from Steve Harless that is rather disconcerting about the purported gas shortage being a huge hoax. Irregardless as consumers that demand a heavier use of vehicles than many other professions, the following may be of benefit to you. Here is the aforementioned letter:"I don't know what yo Read more:Prices
, Gas Prices
Speak Any Language You Like In Your BLOG! 2008-04-21 07:47:39 Google offers a cool tool that you can add to your BLOG to make is multi-lingual. The Google translator button can be added to your BLOG and will allow readers to translate your BLOG into any of a dozen or so languages. This is easy to install, simply CLICK HERE to go to the translator page. A box appears in the middle of that page that contains some Java Script code. Highlight and copy that code, then go back to your "My Settings" page at Active Rain. Click the Update button and the view your BLOG. In the area on the right and directly below your "About Me" section, the Google Translate widget will now appear. Cool, Huh? Now you speak a dozen or so new languages!
Real Property Vs. Non-Real Property 2008-04-21 07:03:27 Often when buyers are preparing to make an offer on a home they would like to request that the seller leave the major appliances (Refrigerator, Washer/Dryer, etc.) to be sold with the home. According to common real estate law, when real property is sold, it is defined as the land described by legal description and/or survey and everything physically attached to it. This would include the home's structure, window coverings, fences, etc. - Anything affixed to the land and/or the structure. Non-built in appliances would not be considered real property since most are mobile (unless we are talking about a built-in dishwasher or cooktop).So to properly convey the non-real property items, your REALTOR should be using a Non-Realty Items Addendum form along with your offe
Help for Home Owner's in Foreclosure Trouble... 2008-04-20 14:33:55 As Real estate professionals, we encounter clients and customers frequently who are have difficulties paying their mortgages and as a result are in jeopardy of losing their homes to foreclosure proceedings. I present the following collection of websites that we should share with the general public to better inform them about the foreclosure process and how to avoid it. If you have other sites that you share with your clients, perhaps you could post comments with those links here to share with our AR community. Thanks! SteveDepartment of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)Housing Counseling Agencies How to Avoid Foreclosure
(82 KB PDF) Tips for Avoiding Foreclosure Department of JusticeCredit Counseling Agencies Approved Pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 111 Federal Housing Administr Read more:Owner
, Trouble
Keep Your Chin Up... 2008-04-20 07:19:00 When I was graduating from High School, my father (a minister) gave me a book for graduation (a copy of "In His Steps" by Charles M. Sheldon). I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and have several copies still on my bookshelf; however, the most life-impacting thing about this gift was that my father autographed the book for me and transcripted a poem entitled "Don't Quit" in the cover pages to the book. I memorized this poem and it has become a theme for my life through all the difficulties that each of us face from time to time. With the slow condition of the real estate business in many areas of the country presently, I thought it appropriate to share with my colleagues here, so here goes:Don't QuitAuthor Unknown When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,When the road your tr
$429000 * * * 6 ACRE TRACT ON FM 407 + + + OWNER FINANCING * * * (ARGYLE) 2008-04-19 18:12:54 Nearly 6 acre tract located directly on FM 407 in Argyle. Great home site, or could be subdivided into 3 home sites. Owner financing with 20% down. Simply call my agent at 817-845-3601 (Owner/Agent).
2118 Jester Farms Road, Round Rock, 3/2.5/2 $150,000 2008-04-19 17:29:55 Listed by The HBH Group Realty Team with Keller Williams Realty of Round Rock, welcome home to 2118 Jester Farms
RD - Round Rock, TX - 3 bedroom, 21.5 bath and 2 Car Garage home in a great location (Jester Farms Subdivision). This is a perfect home for a growing family or for an investor looking for a great lease property investment.There is easy access to IH-35, a family sized loft and yard, bay window in the breakfast area, a walk-in pantry, a large master closet, pergula and back patio, just a short walk to large wooded park and children's playspace - Too many amenities to list here. Well-maintained neighborhood with a good sized yard for pets, just a short walk to a community pond, the area pool and a children's play space. The home also includes a good sized dining space with a bay
.6 acre commercial tract in Hutto, TX - $220,000 2008-04-19 16:12:06 0.60 acres with road frontage on Front Street and Jim Cage Lane. Zoned B-1 (Local Business). Retail developments 1 block away. Faces SH 79 side where retail and auto lots are located. From IH-35 in Round Rock, take SH 79 East to Hutto, Turn RT on Jim Cage Lane (Opposite 1660 on North side of SH 79), LT on Front Street, Lots on Right side (Corner of Jim Cage Lane and E. Front St.).
CLICK HERE to see the listing on Loopnet.
Tribute to a Jazz Icon... 2008-04-18 08:46:00 On August 23, 2006 the music world lost an absolute icon of a trumpet player in Maynard Ferguson. From Montreal, Canada, Maynard made his American debut in 1948 with Boyd Raeburn's progressive band. He also played with Jimmy Dorsey and Charlie Barnet, and performed on woodwind and brass as a one-man act in New York's cafe society. From 1950 to 1953 his amazing high-wire trumpet antics were the cornerstone of Stan Kenton's enormous brass section. He become the idol of high school and college trumpet players all through the 60's and 70's and continued to create and re-create big band and small group jazz until his unexpected death in 2006. I have seen Maynard live MANY times since first in 1976 and he was the ultimate showman and the most amazing trumpeteer of our time in my opinion.
SCAM ALERT on AR - - - 2008-04-17 10:07:49 The following was sent to me as a direct contact a few moments ago on AR... The scams never stop do they? Just be aware and spread the word that the scammers are alive and well and now active on Active Rain! In the immortal words of Charlie Brown: "ARGH!"Name:THOMAS ALLENEmail Address:thomallen26@yahoo.comSubject:Can I trust you?IP:64.136.27.231Message:Dear Friend, Good day to you,My name is Thomas H. Allen I am an American soldier, serving in the military with the Third infantry Division in Iraq. I and my superior moved funds belonging to Saddam Hussein, the total is $25,000,000.00 (Twenty Five million US dollars) this money is being kept safe in a secured location. You can go to this web link to read about events that took place here: since we are worki
Add FREE Music to Your Blog, Profile or Website... 2008-04-17 07:45:13 Hey all:Here is a cool addition to your website, BLOG or profile - add music of your choosing. Head over to and build a play list of up to 100 songs of your favorite artists. You can built code that can be added to an HTML version of your page and you will get a widget added like below. This way you can share your music tastes with your readers and give them a little background entertainment as they read all your great blog entries. You can also create multiple playlists and target your music to your content type! Cool, huh! Spread the word - this is GREAT! Thanks! SteveThis information is brought to you as a public service of the The HBH Group Realty Team with Keller Williams Realty. You may learn more about us at our websites located at: and or contact our offices at (51 Read more:Music
Are Your Seller's Like an Ostrich? 2008-04-16 16:57:51 In my market, we have not seen the dramatic shift that many others have and real estate is still selling here pretty strong; however, make no mistake, we ARE in a buyer's market. Austin has had such a long run of having sellers in control that they are having a HARD TIME accepting the fact that they no longer are! They want to overprice, dreaming that there is a STUPID buyer out there somewhere and my job as the listing agent is to find them. If I can't then I must be a bad REALTOR® which we all know is HOGWASH. Here are a few tricks that I use to get the sellers in this market to price right and get their head out of the sand:Lead with good comps. Show them the numbers and let them answer questions about those numbers. At least this way you can help them get the truth for the Read more:Seller
, Ostrich
Masterminds this month in Austin - Will I see you there? 2008-04-16 09:52:24 Well this is the big month for KW Masterminds and we will see agents invading Austin
from all over the US and Canada! Masterminds is a the brainchild of Gary Keller after ruminating over the concept of experts getting together to form think tanks. This idea was originally presented in Napoleon Hill's "Thing and Grow Rich" and for years now Keller Williams has been using this concept to make agents the best that they can be!I love these sessions! Will I see you there this month? Chime in if you are coming! Thanks! Steve
Genius on Tax Day (April 15th)... 2008-04-15 12:01:58 I came across this use of YouTube.com to promote tax services in a fun and interesting way. I thought I would share this with the community and get your comments on it. The firm is The Roni Deutch Tax Center™ and they used a creative idea with "The Twelve Days of Taxes" to get and hold your attention re: a subject that most consumers hate! You can see all twelve days worth of videos by clicking to the website in the previous hyperlink.This information is brought to you as a public service of the The HBH Group Realty Team with Keller Williams Realty. You may learn more about us at our websites located at: and or contact our offices at (512) 439-3772 or toll-free at (877) 268-1877.
Want more GREAT INFORMATION LIKE THIS? Just CLICK HERE: Read more:April
America - What a Country! Don't Watch This If You Don't Like Crying! 2008-04-15 09:16:09 To All: I picked up this video off of YouTube.com and remembered watching this rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" at the 1991 Super Bowl between the Giants and the Bills. It brought a tear to my eye then, and it still does today. If this don't light your fire, your wood's wet! Enjoy! Thanks! Steve This information is brought to you as a public service of the The HBH Group Realty Team with Keller Williams Realty. You may learn more about us at our websites located at: and or contact our offices at (512) 439-3772 or toll-free at (877) 268-1877.Want more GREAT INFORMATION LIKE THIS? Just CLICK HERE: Read more:America
, Country
FREE Buyers/Sellers info from NAR... 2008-04-14 08:42:04 Texas REALTORS:For years now I have used the National Association of REALTORS Profile of Buyers
and Sellers
to help set goals and direction for my business. Were you aware that you need not buy this information if you pay you NAR dues? The Texas Association of REALTORS has NAR create a Texas-only version of the stats for you for FREE and you can see the 2007 edition HERE with your TAR login. I think you will find this very useful information to spot trends and niches in the business where you might be most successful! Hope this helps! Thanks! Steve
Very Interesting Loan Program for Flipping... 2008-04-14 07:01:47 To all my investor friends: This is an interesting loan program that I came across this morning. Call me for more information. Here are the basics:PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTSGUARANTEE: Personal guarantee required; close in name of business entity.QUICK FUNDING: Once a borrower has been approved, funding of individual transactions is typically in two weeks. No borrower re-qualification is required for subsequent transactions.PROPERTY TYPE: Residential 1 - 4 Family, non-owner occupied . Small apartment and condo conversions on a case-by-case basis.LIEN POSITION: First mortgage only.RENOVATION FUNDS: 100% of renovation funds are typically advanced in 1 to 4 draws. Once inspector certifies work is done, funds are wired within 24 hours directly to the investor's account. No p Read more:Program
, Flipping
The Market is The Market... 2008-04-28 15:11:01 ...and the truth is that there is not much we can do about it regardless except stand our ground, continue to do what we do best and as always, offer world class customer service. I for one will stick this market out, because I realize that there is market share to be had during this time - Now is the time to advance so when the market does snap back, I will be on the crest of the wave riding up. So here are all of your marching orders should you decide to accept them:Reduce and control your expenses - gas, equipment, salaries, etc. Do everything you can to operate with less in the expense catagory, the market requires it!Find places to expand with little or no added capital expense. Make yourself the best at what you do and lead generate like never before in your business.Understa Read more:Market
101 E. Front Street - Hutto - Zoned B-1 (Local Business) 2008-04-28 14:33:35 .6 acres for sale near downtown Hutto on the corner of Jim Cage Lane and FrontStreet
. Just 1 block from a recent retail strip center development. Zoned by City of Hutto as B-1 (LocalBusiness
). Contact the city best and highest use. Visible from Highway 79 with corner frontage.View VISUAL TOUR here. This information is brought to you as a public service of the The HBH Group Realty Team with Keller Williams Realty. You may learn more about us at our websites located at: and or contact our offices at (512) 439-3772 or toll-free at (877) 268-1877. Want more GREAT INFORMATION LIKE THIS? Just CLICK HERE: Read more:Local Business
Whoo Hoo - Plugoo! 2008-04-28 14:01:51 If you have not tried the Plugoo Widget yet, you should! It is way cool! It connects a widget in your BLOG or WEBSITE to most instant messenger tools (MSN Messenger, GoogleTalk, Yahoo! Messenger, AOL AIM, ICQ, Jabber...). This will allow your Website and Blog visitors to IM you instantly to ask questions and get your assistance! As I mentioned, WAY COOL!Just go to plugoo.com and create a user account there. Follow the instructions to activate the account through email. As soon as you activate, the Plugoo server sends you an IM and asks to be added as a friend to your IM account. Once that is done you are ready to go!You next need to add the Plugoo widget to your Blog Description (under "My Settings" in AR). Once you
6 Common Mistakes of a Buyer in a Real Estate Transaction... 2008-04-29 12:22:13 6 Common
Mistakes Buyer
s Make - if you are considering a home purchase in the near future here are a few pointers for you...Buyers misinterpret the role of an agent -- Be sure you clearly understand the roles and duties of everyone involved in the transaction, especially who represents whom. Know the difference between a buyer's agent, a listing agent, intermediary and dual agency. Buyers share personal information -- Don't discuss any confidential information about your housing preferences, financial situation or negotiating strategies until you understand agency (and have chosen an agent to represent you). Buyers underestimate the effect of a competing offer -- When a seller has multiple offers, he's in a better position than you are. Many buyers don't put in their best o Read more:Estate
, Transaction
, Real Estate
Homestead Could Be Abolished for Seniors Soon! VOTE!!! 2008-04-29 12:15:10 You must vote in May to keep the Homestead tax cap for 65 and over, even if you are not 65 yet. If you are a Texas homeowner then this is VERY important to you. If not, I am sure this will be important to all your friends. If you agree, please pass along to all on your email lists. I am sending this email to everyone on my email address list who lives in Texas. I want to be sure you are aware of a constitutional amendment that will be on the ballot at the May election. It is an amendment to correct an error made by the lawmakers when they voted for a reduction in school property taxes in 2005. When the lawmakers voted for a one-third reduction in school property taxes beginning in 2006 and to be completed this year, they forgot about the homestea Read more:Seniors
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