1/2/10--Alright so this is my attempt at keeping a blog. I probably won't write in it every day and I only hope that I have enough interesting stuff to keep people coming back. I will mostly keep it real estate focused but will, undoubtedly venture into the rest of my life as well. I do hope to keep it away from a "dear diary, blah blah blah type format but I make no promises.

So, to begin, I am fairly new to the real estate industry. I received my license in September, listed a house and sold it in the first 40 days. Now I have 2 listings that are not receiving much traffic. The listings are good and I think correctly priced. I am torn though. Is it a result of listing in the winter? Am I wrong about the price? Is there something conditional that I am just missing? Very frustrating!

I also have a buyer client that has the worst luck! We have looked at so many different properties and even put in 2 offers. We keep running into snags though. Stuff will be under contract, sellers are unwilling (or unable) to pick up costs (looking at some short sales and foreclosures so there are weird rules sometimes). I know she is frustrated. I only hope she knows that I am really trying and really trying to get her a good deal on a great home.

As for growing the business, I have a few prospects for the next couple of months. Some folks that will be listing and buying. Its just a matter of timing. It is an interesting time right now with this tax credit. I don't know that sellers realize that they need to get listing if they want to use the tax credit as an incentive to sell their particular house. You have to have a contract by the end of April and have it closed by the end of June. That is closer than people think, especially in real estate time!!!

In the personal life, things are good. Jonas is really starting to become fun. He is so imaginative and intelligent! I know he gets it from me. Cindy is going strong at her job. She has really come home with some fun stories of the people she talks to. I am contemplating some side jobs right now. I put an ad in Craigs List to be a computer tutor for adults ( I called it computer literacy training). Haven't heard anything yet but I will continue to work that angle. I do have a colleague at Weichert that wants me to help him out. We start on Tuesday with an Excel pretest. Should be pretty exciting.

Joke of the day: What do you call a clairvoyant midget that escapes from prison?

Fun holidays of the week:
January 2-9 is "Someday We'll Laugh About This" Week.
January 7 is "I'm Not Going to Take It Anymore" Day
January 9 is National Fruitcake Toss Day. I ask, is fruitcake really that bad?

PS-I answered one of those "random questions" on the profile and my answer was too long. I liked my answer so here it is. The question was "How is an ankle unlike a consequence?"--can you believe they only allow 400 words!!

In order to answer the question "how are ankles unlike consequences" one must first consider how they are alike. First, consequences and ankles are often attached to the body. Neither has to be, but they usually are. Second, they are both jointed, they move and can be a weak spot in someone's performance. Finally, they are alike because they both make people think twice about actions. You might not rob a bank because you have weak ankles and that could lead to consequences. You might not eat way too much all the time because the consequence might be a set of "cankles" which directly relates to ankles.

Ok, now that we know how they are the same, lets focus on how they are different. The obvious, they are spelled differently, they have fewer syllables and they have different properties in time/space. The not-so-obvious differences abound as well. It is good to strengthen your ankles. It is not so good to strenghthen your consequences, unless you are the one handing them down. It would not be wise to hand down your ankles. Another difference is the tape factor. It is common to tape ankles. Applying tape to consequences may not always be a good idea. Lastly, many people are ok with showing their ankles in public. Many are not ok with showing the consequences of their actions.