Mourning the loss of a great man.

Many of you may remember me talking about Clint Miller here or on Twitter and Facebook. A good friend, who I know through social media, Clint passed away on December 11, 2011 after a hard fought battle with cancer. Clint never once seemed daunted by the fight and even hopped on line last week during some of his toughest moments to chat on Facebook and update his friends. Clint meant a lot of things to a lot of people, and to me, he was a giant among men. His passion for life, his family, his friends, and helping and mentoring real estate agents was gigantic.

I met Clint online and we never had a chance to cross paths in person. His love of social media as a means of connecting was second to none. I commented to a friend last night that I loved the way “Clint humanized social media.” Clint, who worked for an internet lead generation company, made waves with his way of connecting and assisting real estate agents with their business. He never gave the hard sell to push his product. In fact, he never asked me once about it…but after getting to know him, I wound up being a client because I trusted him. Friends first, business later. It was always intriguing to me to see how he gave first…and received business later because of it. If there were a Social Media Hall of Fame, I’d certainly vote for him.

Clint used to call me randomly to check in on me, to ask how I was. He knew lots of details of my life, sometimes knowing things I don’t tell most people. He’d ask how I was, he’d tell me a funny story he heard, ask me to read his latest blog post, or just shoot the shit about life. We shared a lot of time on the phone and via blogs, email, and social media. We talked about music a lot.

It’s terrible to know that his family is now coping with a major loss, but they have been amazingly strong. His wife, Angela, has been on Facebook updating all of us whenever she could find a second, which can’t be easy to find, when you’re caring for a family as your husband fights cancer. She’s incredibly strong and I’ve come to have a great love and respect for her too. She’s become family to many in the real estate industry, as have Clint’s kids.

I could ramble for a long time about my memories of Clint, but there’s so much in my head right now it’s hard to make sense of it all. I’m sad and angry and happy and frustrated and relieved. It can’t be easy to go through all of it, so I’m happy he’ll finally get some peace and comfort, but I hate that cancer has removed someone like him from the world. No one deserves the pain of cancer yet we all seem to know someone who’s affected by it. It angers me that cancer is not yet curable. I pray that it will be in my lifetime.

Jay Thompson wrote (and filmed) a beautiful piece about our friend and he’s great at making lists of blog posts that relate to a topic…his list of Clint Miller posts is wonderful to read through as everyone shares their thoughts and feelings. I recommend you read through some and then go tell you family how much you love them.

Many have asked where and how to donate, so I include the information below. Even if it’s just a few dollars, every bit helps. Many of us are working to gather as much as we can for the family and to help them through this incredibly trying time.

Mail checks, money orders, cashiers checks (payable to: Christina Ethridge -she is coordinating the collections and 100% goes directly to the Millers) to
Christina Ethridge
110 S. Riverwood Court
Post Falls, ID 83854

Please text Christina at (208) 819-2965 when you mail a check, so that she can watch out for it and make sure it arrives.

If you prefer online payments, Nikki Beauchamp is collecting those via PayPal. Simply log in to your account and send a payment to email hidden; JavaScript is required. If you have any questions, you can contact her via Facebook.

REbarcamp San Antonio is here!

It’s been a long time coming, but REbarcamp San Antonio is finally a reality. I’ve been dreaming of the day when San Antonio would host it’s first REbarcamp, but when I spoke to Philip Becker (my broker) about it, he instantly began thinking it through and helping put together the plan. As “Head Nerd” at Becker Properties, the building of a website fell on me and I’ve been working away at it. With most of it finally in place and where I want it to be, I can now begin working on some other web projects that I’ve had in mind. First up, is a complete redesign of the Becker Properties website.

REbarcamp San Antonio is going to be an amazing event and the hope is to build a great group of agents and industry professionals to learn and share together. We’re hoping the event will be such a success that we can make it an annual event for San Antonio. Of course, that success depends largely on the involvement of the San Antonio real estate community, as REbarcamp is a volunteer organization, with all the profits going to charity. Spread the word and we’ll see you there!

Website: www.REbarcampSA.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/REbarcampSA

Twitter: @REbarcampSA

Twitter Hashtag: #REBCSA

logo courtesy of Something Clever Productions (contains photo courtesy of Beau B)

Kickbacks are illegal. Period.

In recent real estate industry news, there have been several settlements with large companies over alleged kickback deals. Both Fidelity National Financial and Prospect Mortgage have settled with The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to the tune of about $7.6 million combined. I find myself shocked and dismayed that our industry is still doing anything that could remotely be called a kickback. While both companies may not see them as kickbacks, it’s shameful to think that anyone wants to even toy with the definitions of what a kickback is or is not.

The idea of kickbacks have existed forever in our world and I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but with all the training I go through as a Realtor®, the idea of accepting money for something like this has been pounded into my head as illegal, unethical, and just plain stupid. Even without all the training, I would know this. How is it that it continues to this day?

What makes me most upset is that events like this tarnish the reputation of the industry as a whole, so that when someone does need a recommendation of a service provider, they view them with distrust or skepticism. My policy on recommendations is simple. First, I base them on my own personal trust and experience with that person or company. Second, I base it off of other industry member’s thoughts (for instance, if I’m considering adding a new lender to my list, I will call several people in the industry that I trust and ask what they know – those opinions are worth their weight in gold to me). Third, if I do add someone to my list of trusted service providers, they know that one mistake and they’re done. It’s not just my reputation on the line (I referred them, so it reflects on me), but it’s bad for my clients. Why would I want to refer someone who does bad work? That’s a no brainer.

So in the course of working with me, know that if I recommend someone to you, it is because I place a high amount of trust in them to get the job done right…and they’re not slipping me cash in unmarked envelopes either.

photo courtesy of stevendepolo

Why do we do what we do?

As I make my transition to my new role at Becker Properties, I’ve been encouraging agents to spend more time thinking about blogging (and social media). Asking them the question, “what do you want to get out of it?” As with all things, this set me on my own path of thinking – why do real estate agents blog?

Blogging can be a rather time consuming effort and there are days when you feel like there is nothing left to write about. It’s not always easy and the words don’t always flow as easy as the post before. Sometimes, when you’re finished with a post that you thought would be spectacular, you reread it and decide you’re the worst writer on the planet and that fact seems confirmed by the lack of hits on that particular post. At times, you feel like you might as well just accept that while waiting for your table at the internet, you’re eventually going to hear them call out, “Blogger, party of one.”

Regardless, we real estate agents soldier on and continue generating content, fixing widgets, changing formats and layouts – toying, perfecting, and testing. We want ours to be the greatest real estate blog ever written. We’re driven to find the best combinations of words to help our local areas, generate business, and make new friends.

I think most real estate agent-bloggers would agree that one of the strongest pulls is the desire to educate. To help people understand the purchase (or sale) they are about to make and give them comfort that they’re not alone with all the questions bouncing around their heads. Most of the blog posts come from questions and real life experiences we agents have with our own clients. So we share those thoughts in order to help alleviate the stress from the next buyer or seller’s minds.

Of course the age old question, “what’s in it for me?,” inevitably comes up. Very few people in this world enjoy doing something for free (or without some sort of benefit to themselves). We blog to bring real estate related traffic, so that people will search for homes and pick up the phone and call us. We do it so that someone will see our latest listing and say “that’s the one.” We work tirelessly on SEO and worry about Google rankings so that we can be found in the sea of sites that exist. We want to be found and hired.

We also blog to connect – to make friends and meet new people. While that can lead to business, there is something about most real estate bloggers that I know that is a bit more than that. A desire for camaraderie; whether that of fellow real estate agents or that of locals in our town. I know I’ve made some great friends through blogging and the interest in those people and their lives can be quite a strong pull, regardless of where in their personal buying and selling cycle they may be.

All of these thoughts lead me to one more question – why do you read blogs like this one? Are you thinking of buying a new home in San Antonio or are you just curious? Do you enjoy my writing style or are you my mom? Each person will have a different reason, but each one is important enough to consider.

So what is it that compels you to bookmark this site and come back to read each and every day/week/month?

photo of Jay Thompson courtesy of Dru Bloomfield – At Home in Scottsdale

Celebrate America

Growing up in Philadelphia, the Fourth of July always seemed to have a special significance to me. Maybe it was the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, maybe it was the backyard BBQs and fireworks, but it really is one of my favorite holidays. Summer time in full swing and always something going on – the Fourth of July is always a busy day of fun and laughter. Whatever your take on the holiday, have a great one and be safe.

Of course, thanks to the drought, there won’t be much gazing skyward this evening, but as with every year, regardless of the ban, I’m sure there will be a few out there that light a few fireworks off. If you do choose to ignore the ban, please be careful. Don’t light them and shoot them toward that grassy field next door or your neighbor’s house. We all think we can get that little fire under control, but wildfires have always told us otherwise. Just try to not burn anything down…please.

I also saw a lot of police out there last night. Pulled up behind a car, red lights flashing, as they investigated whatever it was they pulled them over for. Please think before you grab your keys. If you need to think about it, it’s probably not a good idea. Call a friend, call a cab, call someone – don’t make this a holiday you’ll never forget for all the wrong reasons. As a side note, it’s also a no-refusal weekend so if the cops pull you over, more than likely they’re going to check you, so play it safe and don’t take the risk.

Have a terrific Fourth of July San Antonio!

photo courtesy of MarkScottAustinTX

New home, new role.

As you may know by now, I recently joined forces with Becker Properties. I’m really excited about the energy and ambitious nature of the office and I think you’ll be hearing a lot about what we’re doing in San Antonio and how we’re looking at real estate from some new perspectives. The process of real estate is still the same, but how we work with our clients and how we utilize the tools and technology will be what sets Becker Properties apart from other companies.

As part of Becker Properties, I’ve taken on a new role as well. We’ve tossed around a thousand names from Head Nerd to Chief Technology Officer to Lead Web-Geek to King of All Geekery. Basically, I’ll be handling the company’s web, tech, and social media needs – plotting a course for the company as well as building and maintaining the various platforms.

What does this mean for you, the home buyer and seller? For buyers, you will have access to many of the tools that I make available here through the various Becker Properties websites, plus we will consistently be searching out new technologies that can make your purchase better – from educational ideas to providing you with better search and market data tools. For sellers, this will mean an increase in the exposure your property sees on the internet and a unified approach to getting your home sold. This is something I’ve been dreaming up for sometime now and Philip Becker saw the vision and had the desire and ambition to allow me to team up with his company to bring some of these ideas to fruition.

Becker Properties is taking a different approach by providing their agents with more tools than your average real estate office. It started with an in-house video production unit (have you seen the Becker Properties videos?) and is now expanding to include my work and knowledge of web and social media technologies.

Watch for big changes on the various Becker Properties websites and social media accounts (like the Becker Properties Facebook page) and stop by and say hello.

A few thousand words of explanation.

The short version of the story: I no longer work for RE/MAX Access and fabulous broker, Sheila Moran. As I was on Facebook tonight, I corrected my profile to reflect this change and a few people noticed and had questions. Instead of answering each one individually, I thought I’d do what I do best and write a long-winded blog about it. You may want to go grab some popcorn and a cold beverage.

First, let me start by saying that there is no crazy drama, no wacky “take this job and shove it” type speech, or anything remotely bad about my departure from RE/MAX Access. The decision was made by Sheila and I after several conversations and I leave with nothing but love and respect for Sheila, her sister Kristin, Pat O’Brien, and all the agents and staff in the office. I loved RE/MAX Access and I still love them. I think they’re a great bunch and will dominate real estate for many years to come. So if you were looking for some sort of crazy story about something dark and disastrous, you may want to look elsewhere.

With my departure, my real estate license has been put into inactive status as I search for a new broker and decide what I want to do. Please note, this is not an open call for brokers to send me their pitch. I’m not interested in blind emails telling me how great you are. This is how Texas real estate works. As an agent, I must work under a broker – no ifs, ands, or buts about it. As I do not have one, all my real estate activity must be suspended until I go to work under a new broker.

I truly loved worked for RE/MAX Access and I will talk Sheila and company up until the cows come home, so how did it come to pass that I am not working for someone I admire and respect so much? Plain and simple it comes down to numbers. My last year in real estate was not great. As a broker, Sheila needs me (and the other agents) to produce (ie, sell houses) in order for the company to make money. Although the clients I worked with had a great time and everything went well, I didn’t have enough clients. I was costing the company money. In addition, RE/MAX (the franchise) charges certain fees to be an agent and I was having trouble keeping up with those fees. In the end, Sheila had to make a business decision and let me go. We talked about it and she didn’t spring it on me suddenly, in fact she really pushed me to succeed so that she didn’t have to make such a decision. She was great to me and I don’t think (she told me as much) that it was easy for her. Sheila put a lot of faith and work into making me a great agent. She was always there for me, both professionally and personally, and I know that always makes something like this hard.

As for me, I could blame my bad year on a million things, but it came down to me just struggling with a lot of things at once. Being a real estate agent isn’t as easy as it looks and with that and my own personal life, I wasn’t managing to bring in new clients. I’m frustrated by this fact and can see a million things I would have done differently, but that’s the past now. There is little more I can do other than to forge on. This week has been an interesting week already and after a few meetings, I am starting to sort things out and get ready to make my next move. I will be moving my license to a new brokerage and there will be a few other surprises for people along the way. Who knows, perhaps my world will look completely different by the time I am done. One thing is certain, I do hope you’ll continue to keep up with me and follow along. I hope no one will read this as a goodbye message – as that is not what it is. It’s simply a change and a retooling, both good things in my eyes.

PS The blog will probably be a little quiet over the next few days as I work on my plans (head on over to Facebook if you want to see what’s on my mind). Some of you may have noticed it’s been a little quiet in general and you’d be correct. I’ve had the worst case of writer’s block and it all comes back to what was going on with me leaving and the things in my personal life. Don’t worry, I’m not done blogging either. You should know by now, I have a lot to say.

PPS Thanks again to Sheila Moran, Kristin Moran, Pat O’Brien, and the agents and staff of RE/MAX Access. I’ll see you around and I hope you all have an excellent year!

According to WordPress, this post is actually 864 words long. Sorry I didn’t hit the thousands.

I’m not talking about me.

I had this is my drafts folder and thought I had already posted it – oops. You’ll see why that’s an important fact in the next post.

Recently I’ve been working on a transaction with some clients and the process has been a little rough at times. Unfortunately, we’ve been using a special loan program that is frustrating and painfully slow at times. In the end, it will be a giant coup for my clients, but let’s just say we’ve jumped through more hoops than a circus performer to make things happen. But this isn’t about me, or them. It’s about the listing agent and his hard, diligent work through the process.

I’ve always been fond of saying “I’m not here to make friends,” in reference to relationships with other agents during a transaction. They have a job to do and a client to protect. I have the same. I’m not afraid to pick up the phone and tell someone what’s on my mind when necessary. Of course, I don’t approach the transaction with an adversarial tone and I’m all for two agents working together for a common goal – the sale of a home. I don’t want to fight or argue, but…if push comes to shove, my clients will always come first.

Some agents though are agents I’d love to work with again. In this case, Rick Shumake of Masterworks Real Estate Services, is that guy. When we ran into a delay caused by the lender, we immediately worked it out and came to an agreement for the clients, when we hit a second delay, it was the same friendly conversation with both of us looking out for our clients’ best interests. Problem solved. Quickly and efficiently.

Working with a good agent can mean the difference between success or failure when there are delays or any unexpected hiccups in a transaction (and despite all our best efforts, they do happen from time to time). No matter who you choose as your real estate agent, choose wisely. It can make all the difference to your sanity at the end of the day.

photo courtesy of stevendepolo

Hockey Rules!

Our good friends at Freetail Brewing have always been good to us, but after Game One of the Stanley Cup 2011 Finals (Boston Bruins vs. Vancouver Canucks) we have decided to salute them once again for their tireless efforts at being one of San Antonio’s best places to relax and have a cold one. Great food, excellent beer, and one of the friendliest staffs this side of Friendlyville, Freetail Brewing is definitely the place to go for “Hockey Night in San Antonio.” We’ll be working with them to continue the fun through the rest of the Stanly Cup Final (Go Bruins!). You can also follow the San Antonio Hockey Crew on Twitter at #sahockeycrew. Don’t know much about hockey? That’s fine, we’ll help you learn the game and teach you the finer points of the fastest game in sports. Game time tonight is 7PM.

photo courtesy of Giovanni Spina

Is it hot in here?

Showing some houses recently, my clients and I came across a few homes that they really liked, but there was one problem: we were dying from the heat inside the homes. As the temperatures climb, homes heat up fast and that hot, sticky, stuffy air can destroy your home’s potential. In real estate we talk about a lot about smells, curb appeal, eliminating clutter, and depersonalizing your home when you list it for sale, but one thing we should be talking about here in San Antonio is the indoor temperature.

If you’re home is on the market, you need to keep the home at a comfortable temperature. It may cost a few extra dollars on your electricity bill, but remember, people’s immediate perceptions of a home often determine whether they buy the home or move onto the next house on their list. Can you afford to take that risk? Interestingly, I have also noticed that when I walk into a nice cool home with my clients, they often comment things such as “well, the A/C certainly works well, that’s a plus.” Already, they’re setting themselves in the home and feeling comfortable because a major system is functioning well. Now they can get down to business and because they’re not pouring sweat from every pore, they can stay longer and truly get a feel for your home.

So what’s it going to be? A steam bath and no sale or a larger electric bill and comfortable buyers who might just make you an offer?

photo courtesy of Orin Zebest