Feb. 21, 2008 - NAR's Building Wealth Television Ads

I happened upon one of the National Association of Realtor's consumer advertisments the other evening and after watching it, I couldn't believe the source for the ad. 

At the very end, there is a board that states "60% of the Average Homeowner's Wealth is from their Home's Equity" . Okay, I can't argue with the statement because I don't know if it's accurate or not. But is the finer print at the very bottom of the screen is "HUD "Ownership and it's Benefits * Urban Policy Brief No.2 1995 Markets may vary"

1995 - Holy Dated Material Batman

Couldn't they find something older upon which to base a campaign costing millions, maybe Federalist Papers or the Magna Carta?

Here is a link to the video Look at the bottom of the screen when the 60% is at the top.

Give it a few seconds to load

Nov. 18, 2007 - The e-Pro Get Together at NAR 2007

The e-Pro Advanced Networking Meeting (better known as the cocktail hour) was held on Wednesday November 14 at the V BAR in the Venetian Casino in Las Vegas. After a great deal of planning by Tom and Linda Pulsifer and our wonderful hosts, John Reilly, Saul Kline and Mike Barnett of Internet Crusade, all that attended had a wonderful experience.

As promised, I have posted some photos below that my wife or I took during the evening. By the way, if you are in a photo and your name is not in the caption, shoot me an email and I'll be sure to add it. I didn't have everyone's name or business card and if I couldn't read your name badge in the photo, I might have missed it.

e-Pro Frances Flynn Thorsen, e-Pro Trainer Joanne Fosland and our host, John Reilly of Internet Crusade

The early crowd at the bar

e-Pro Art Greene from Maryland

e-Pro trainer Kerry Kidwell and e-Pro Evelyn Pickard

e-Pro's Mike Neilsen from Kansas and Linda Philpott from Colorado

One Smiling Happy Group

e-Pro Richard Shevchik from Pennsylvania

e-Pro's Linda Palmer from South Carolina and Linda Runyan from Georgia

Judy Von Loew, Art Greene, Laura Walsh and Elizabeth Muscare (from Illinois)

e-Pro's Joy Carter (from Florida), Pam Pulisfer and Linda Runyan (both from Georgia)

e-Pro Jose Fernandez from Florida and Real Estate educator Kerry Kidwell from Illinois

e-Pro Karl and Judy von Loew (from New Jersey) with e-Pro Tom Pulsifer from Georgia

Kerry Kidwell with the Internet Crusade Events Group- Sydell, Christi and Monica

The Three Amigos (Mike, Saul and John) with Beth Keithley

Advanced Networking as the Crowd Grows

Even More Advanced Networking

Nov. 15, 2007 - Technology Forum at 2007 NAR Convention

For those of you that were unable to attend this week's NAR Convention and Expo in Las Vegas, I have included a few pictures from the SOLD OUT - STANDING ROOM ONLY Teachnology Forum moderated by Saul Kline on Wednesday.

Participating were Rich Barton of Zillow and Justin McCarthy of Google. I know Saul will be posting an update of the highlights as well as his powerpoint, but I wanted everyone to know that it was fast paced, very informative and a eye-opener for many.

Saul finishing up a powerpoint slide before the start of the presentation.

The start of the presentation

It was Standing Room Only. People were not allowed in after a few minutes due to lack of seating

Sep. 10, 2007 - Al Napier Visits Central Pennsylvania

On Saturday I finally got to meet Al Napier (and family) at Maple Grove Raceway near Reading. On one of the hottest days of the year, AL drove down from Connecticut so he and his partners could race their car.

I've posted a few pictures for all to meet Al

 Al (and Wifey Poo) trying to cool off in the shade

Al and younger daughter posing at race car.

Always a marketer, Al is a sponsor for this team.

Some publicity material for the race team. Al told me he had these made at Express copy. Front (above) and Back (below

May. 18, 2007 - Exit Realty at NAR MidYear

Since I'm an Exit Realty broker, I have posted a few pictures from MidYear below:

Larry Carver from Exit Corporate ready to face the crowd

Part of the Exit Realty trade show presentation

Alex Szinegh and Evelyn Pickard - Notice Alex blinking left ear

May. 18, 2007 - NAR Mid Year in Washington

I've added some photos from the NAR mid year this week:

This is a cake in the shape of the capitol in the Marriot lobby

The entry to the trade show

Kristi and Sydell from IC with some lost Realtor

Saul praying that the business technology forum he is moderating doesn't turn into fisticuffs

A smiling Saul after the Business technology forum when he realized nobody beat on on the guys from Trulia and Zillow

The start of the Gen Next Marketing forum on Friday morning

Saul speaking at gen next forum

At the e-pro gathering - Frances Flynn-Thorson, Kristi and Sydell from IC and JoAnne Fossland aka the Hat lady

At the e-pro gathering from right to left -

John Reilly, Mrs. Reilly, a friend of the Reilly's, Dave (The Old House Man) Johnson, Dorte Engle

Hey, it's been a long day

Jim lee and Mike Barnett

Gary David Hall and Karl van Loewe

Apr. 8, 2007 - I've added technorati to this blog

Here is a link to Technorati

Technorati Profile

Jan. 19, 2007 - Where have I been

I've kind of let this blog linger for a few weeks, and I know who's to blame:

Maureen McCabe.

Maureen invited me on to active rain a few weeks ago and I've become almost an Active Rain junkie.

To see what's going on on Hershey look at:

http://activerain.com/blogsview/36306/The-Hershey-Partnership

http://activerain.com/blogsview/34765/A-One-Hundred-Year

http://activerain.com/blogsview/34763/Elvis-is-coming-to

And Maureen, you know I'm only kidding.

Dec. 28, 2006 - Watch the Ball Drop

I can remember many years ago sitting up until midnight on New Years Eve to watch the ball drop in Times Square at midnight. I've been to a few parties over the years where it had to be on television for all of the partiers to know it was midnight.

Last year, I went to a B-52's concert in Boca Raton and listened to Fred Schneider count down the last minute for the audience. No ball drop or anything similar.

Around here, they have some similar "traditions" to Times Square. Here in Hershey they actually "raise" a          simulated Hershey Kiss on a pole. In Dillsburg, they drop a pickle (get it, Dill Pickle), in Mechanicsburg, they use a wrench (mechanics, wrench) and in Lebanon they have a 10 foot Lebanon Bologna.

They do something down on "restaurant row" in Harrisburg, probably raise the first drunk or something. I know imitation is supposed to be the sincerest form of flattery, but sometimes it gets a little wacky.

Dec. 26, 2006 - Cost versus Value

Nov. 16, 2006 - NARDI GRAS 2006

It's been a busy 2 weeks but we got back late Tuesday afternoon from the 2006 NAR Convention in New Orleans. The convention with it's educational opportunities was great, as usual. I got to meet several people who I had only communicated with via the internet as well as renew acquaintances with many "old friends" from the real estate industry.

Two things impressed me about New Orleans. One, there is still so much work to do to bring the city back to it's prior glory. At least 1/3, and maybe a one half of the businesses in the "tourist" areas are still closed. Walking down Bourbon Street it seemed that every block had a few vacant or unopened business sites. Over in the Downtown Business District, where we stayed, it seemed like it was more than half were not open.

The second thing was the people. Several local folks asked if we were there for the convention, and when we said yes, wanted to let us know how much they appreciated that NAR brought all of these folks to town and what a boost it was for the economy.

New Orleans will come back, but it will take a lot of time and a lot of work.

Oct. 22, 2006 - What A Week

I was able to spend Tuesday through Sunday this past week at the Exit Realty Tenth Anniversary Convention in Orlando. With over 30,000 agents and about 1000 (985 ten days ago) offices, Exit has become the fastest growing real estate franchise ever. The big guy (Re/max) had less than 500 offices and about 12,000 agents at the end of their tenth year. The convention was a great educational and motivational event. Steve Morris, the founder, is an incredible person. His belief system and down to earth attitude has driven the company to the point it is today. And Steve doesn't hide behind the curtain and wait to be introduced. Wednesday morning at breakfast we were able to sit down with Steve and discuss a few issues and ask a few questions one on one. Friday evening, Steve and his wife stopped by our table to chat for a few minutes, not about business, but about our new houses. Both of us moved in the past year. And Steve's excitement was that he purchased a historic house on ten acres and his children will have plenty of room to pursue their activities. The executive staff at Exit is first rate. Each and every one is focused on helping to fuel the growth of each and every office and agent. The keynote speaker (Dr. John Maxwell) spoke for 2 and a half hours, but everyone in attendance would have allowed him to speak for 15 hours if he could.

I can't wait for the 2007 convention in Colorado Springs. There is a big prize raffle on the last night every year. The past few years it has been a BMW. In 2007, it'll be $100,000 cash (try bringing that back on an airplane).

Exit has been in the US about six years, but every state has been sold and a few markets are basically sold out. I think 2007 will be the year we make the biggest impact yet in Pennsylvania, as we're starting to fill in the voids. One or two solid franchises in western PA will drive the entire state's business to new levels. After less than 3 years we have over 20 offices and are filling in the Philly metro area. I'm sure the A-B-E and Lancaster markets are next. Central PA is pretty well covered. On to the the Steel City

Oct. 13, 2006 - Living in the Country

Well, I don't really live "out in the country", it just seems that way. After ten years in crowded South Florida, Lebanon County seems like the middle of nowhere. And even though I live in a subdivision, it's almost surrounded by farmland. There's even a corn field in my back yard. And even though we really are ten minutes to a Wal Mart Supercenter, Lowes Home center and other stores, and only about 20 minutes to the state capital, it still feels like country.

In the early Summer, every morning when I went to my deck to have a cup of coffee, two rabbits would come out of the cornfield, stand at the top of the small hill and just stare at me and jump up and down. In the Spring, we had hundreds of migrating ducks stop by for a few days as the headed north. Now we have hundreds of geese stopping in when they head south. I stopped at a stop sing the other day and took a picture of an albino squirrel. I guess it's a gray squirrel that never turned gray. The photo's a little fuzzy, but I had never seen one.

Anyway, time to go back to country living

Oct. 9, 2006 - Bears and Bars and B'ars

It's October 9 and hockey season already started. I guess the 70° temperatures don't matter.

Central Pennsylvania has it's own hockey tradition, the Hershey Bears have been a part of the American Hockey League since 1936 have earned eight Calder Cup trophies in the last 70 years, including the 2005-2006 season. They play now in the new Giant center, but played for almost 70 years in the venerable HersheyPark Arena built in 1936. That has been the site of lot of memories, including Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point performance for the Philadelphia Warriors back in the 60's. While the place seated about 7500 or 8000 for basketball, hundreds of thousands of locals claim they were there that night.

Oh, the title above? Originally the team was named the B'ars (Hershey Bars, get it?) but that was considered too commercial for use in newspapers so it was changed to Bears at the start of the 1936 season.

See Hershey Bears for the history of the Hershey Bears.

Oct. 2, 2006 - A Quiet Sunday Afternoon

Remember the old ads on the radio from the drag races "Saturday.. Saturday .. Saturday" - it's hard to write with an echo.

Anyway, we spent Sunday at Maple Grove Raceway for the NHRA Toyo Tire Nationals. And it's an incredible way to spend the day.

Access to everything is real easy, the pit area is open to all and the drivers seem real interested in meeting and greeting the fans.

And the sound, just overpowering. Imagine standing next to a jet on takeoff, and you can understand the sound of two nitro class cars blasting away from the line. It really feels like the earth is moving.

Try It, You'll Like It

Sep. 29, 2006 - The Quicker Picker Upper

I know, the title of the entry doesn't really fit the post. It's just that the Bounty Paper Towel folks used that as an ad slogan because it absorbed better and this is about absorbtion rates.

Absorbtion rate in real estate is effectively how many homes sold versus how many are listed for sale and is expressed in terms of Months of Inventory.

The numbers for Lebanon County have been pretty steady for the past 24 months. Except for January 2006 when there was over eight months of inventory for sale, the absorbtion rate has been between 3 and 5 months for every other reporting period. Active listings for the county have hoivered around 415 every month and sold listings have hovered around 115 per month consistently for two years.  What has made this consistent is that a number of unsold homes are dropped from the market every month because new listings have exceed sold listings every month except one. So some people either withdraw from the market or allow their listings to expire and stay put.

How do you prevent yourself from being in the dreaded "Withdrawn-Expired" category. Easy:

1. Be sure your property is in tip top condition.

2. Be sure that everything that is supposed to work really does work.

3. Price your property based current sold comparable properties. Don't look at real estate for sale websites, this is what sellers "think" their house is worth. Don't look at Zillow and expect to find the perfect price.  Realtors are trained to evaluate property and compile a complete analysis to aid you in pricing decisions.

Good luck and good selling

Sep. 27, 2006 - Is 6.5% Too High

People look at the current mortgage interest rates and compare them to rates the past few years and say: "Gee, they took a big jump" or maybe something not as nice.

Those of us who have been a round a while remember that a good rate ten years ago was 8 or 9% and in the late 1980's reached 17 or 18%.

For a trip down memory lane, click on this link to Lenn Harley's Homefinders.com historic interest rate chart:

http://www.homefinders.com/historical-interest-rates/

Sep. 26, 2006 - Antique Autos Everywhere

Next weekend, one of the biggest annual Hershey events takes place, the Antique Automobile Club of America Eastern Region show. It starts on October 4 and ends on the 7th. They have over 1500 antique autos on display, a car corral of about 1000 cars for sale and space for up to 9000 vendors of auto related "stuff".

This show uses all of the paved parking for both Hershey Park and the Giant Center, plus the old Hershey Airstrip, parts of the former Hershey Parkview Gold Club and some vacant fields off Route 39 and Hershey Park Drive. Well over 100,000 people attend from all over the world.

The Antique Automobile Club of America is headquartered here in Hershey and you can get more information at http://www.aaca.org

Sep. 25, 2006 - Football - The Local Drug

Seem as though 90% of the population locally is football crazy. Now, I enjoy watching a good football game as well as the next guy.  But I don't dwell on it, I don't live and die with some team and I definitely don't bet any money on football (or anything else for that matter).

The sports section of the Harrisburg Patriot News seems to be filled with football news, Penn State, the Eagles, Steelers, Ravens and Redskins (all four have local fan clubs) and the email and letters to the sports editor is full of football (why Notre Dame is better than PSU, why the Eagles needs a new QB, WR, MLB etc. etc. etc).

Kind of make you wonder if these people do anything else all Fall.  They have fantasy leagues (my son is in four of them), they check college recruiting sites year round to see what 17 year old has committed to what school and they spend days doing mock NFL drafts like they really had some financial stake in what happens.

I wonder if some of these folks would be better off just watching a game and enjoying it for the sport of it. And then maybe devoting their energy to more pressing issues, like crime reduction or homelessness or even spending a weekend day with their family.

Sep. 22, 2006 - Alphabet Soup

Ever notice some real estate agents have a bunch of letters after their name.

Something like John Brown, Realtor, PhD, ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, WB

Well many of these letters stand for some kind of designation or certification program that the Realtor has earned during their career.

For instance, I have earned the CRS, CRB, GRI and e-Pro designation or certification

I have also been awarded the KOMD, BB#43, GORT and the SIFC by some friends.

To see a complete list of of all real and imagined designations and certifications go to:

http://theplayground.internetcrusade.com/ and click on designations.