Adventure

From time to time I get to help people that are making a big move. Sometimes it is their job relocating them to another state. Sometimes it is family. Sometimes it is just a need for change or some other attraction to another location. Whatever it is, I always have a slight tinge of jealousy.

I like trying new places. We moved to Atlanta for one year and I loved the challenge of learning a new place,  making new friends, exploring, etc. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE where I live and, especially now with family, don't intend on moving somewhere else. Even so, I would love to try some different places, if only for a short-long term (like 6 months or something). I would love to live in a big city like New York or Chicago. I would love to live somewhere "paradisey" like in the Caribbean. I would love to live somewhere super historic like Rome or London. I would love to live somewhere totally laid back too like Northern California. I would also love to try somewhere totally remote--Montana or in the desert in New Mexico or Arizona. I know it will likely not ever happen that I get to actually live in all these places but it is nice to dream.

What about you? You may love where you live (I know I do) but where else, if given the opportunity, would you want to live or at least "try out" on a semi-long term basis?

Under 200K in Smyrna

Hello Everyone! I have been searching for homes in Smyrna under $200,000 and though they are going quickly I found a couple of great ones left! Take a look at what I found!

106 Springfield Dr
$194,900
2,156 sq ft
3 bed, 2.5 bath

722 Williamsburg Dr

$189,000
1,939 sq ft
3 bed, 2 bath

5026 Mary Ellen Cir

$199,900

2,381 sq ft

3 bed, 2.5 bath

Encouragement

Got a little note from someone at church today that saw something good I was doing that I did not expect anyone to see. The note basically said, "thanks for all you do, you are valuable and I noticed." Nothing terribly flowery or overly poetic. Nothing too mushy. Nothing long winded. It was short and to the point and the point was, I saw you doing something great and wanted to thank you for it. It was one of the nicest notes I've received in a long time.

Now don't misunderstand, I am not fishing for a compliment or wanting people to see how great I am or anything like that. I am commenting more on the person that A) noticed someone doing something great behind the scenes and then B) took the time to tell them about it. It's rare. I want to be that person. I want to notice people when they don't necessarily want to be noticed and I want to be the person that takes the time to tell them. But, of course, like so many of us, I have excuses. I am too busy, I am too tired. I don't know that person. Blah, blah, blah. Bottom line, I am too selfish. If I want to do that, it is a noble cause--one worth undertaking. I should do it. You should too.

It doesn't have to be something as complicated as a note. Try noticing the checkout person at Kroger. Try noticing the bank teller. Try noticing the person at Hardee's. Tell them thank you and mean it. They can tell. Try noticing your kids. Try noticing the neighbor kids or the church kids. When they are well behaved, tell them so. If they say something intelligent, tell them you are impressed. Take the time to be an encourager. You never know when people will truly need it.

Disconnecting

Last week Cindy and the kids and I went to Canada with another family from church and 6 college kids. We went up to a lovely place called Vineland, Ontario to help some other friends of ours with their church's VBS (they call it Bible Day Camp). It was a fantastic trip. I was able to unplug from work a bit (I only worked about 10 hours last week instead of my normal 70-80).

One thing that happened though, that I did not expect, was the difficulty I had staying connected. I knew that my cell carrier would charge extra for service but I did not expect to have a tough time getting to a WiFi hotspot that was reliable. The dorm we stayed in did not have it. The church we spent a lot of time at had WiFi but it was SLOW. There was one cafe that had a reliable connection but we could only get there super early in the morning or later at night. I am used to being connected constantly. When I first realized the situation, I was pretty freaked out--"What am I going to do? The world is going to melt down!! All my clients are going to fire me!!"

Then I took a deep breath and realized Taylore is competent and will be able to handle most things. Not to mention that a lot of the "emergencies" in my life can wait a few hours. I started to calm down. Then I started to have fun. It was so relieving to unplug and disconnect for a while.

After getting back home, I realized just how important it is to do that from time to time. Part of the problem is ego, I had to realize that I am not important enough that people would miss me during a 24 hour stint. Another part is that I started telling people about it a few weeks before so the expectation was set that I may not be overly reachable. Finally, I had someone to back me up (thanks Taylore). It was a healthy reminder for me and was very good for me to exercise letting go for a week. I really need to do it more often. If you are in a high stress, high demand job, I highly encourage you to unplug, disconnect from time to time. It's good for the soul.

It Takes A Team

Real estate is an interesting gig. Most Realtors go get their license, they hang it at the first office they find and they expect to start selling houses. They forget about lots of the other parts. The prospecting, the continual learning, the let downs, the fact that almost everyone already knows at least one Realtor. They also forget to build a team around them.

Now I'm not talking about the "team" concept that some Realtors use where there is one "superstar" Realtor and a bunch of other Realtors under that person all using his or her name. I mean a team of professionals that support the transaction in a variety of roles. A good real estate team should consist, at a MINIMUM, of a great lender or 3, a great title company or 2, an excellent home inspector, a small army of contractors in multiple fields--including at least 3 or 4 reliable "handy men" and an insurance expert.

Realtors have to have their "go to" people in all these areas. They need to be able to trust the service providers to ALWAYS deliver to at least the same standard as they would themselves. When the Realtor refers that service provider, the provider is, essentially, an extension of the Realtor. If that provider messes up, it absolutely looks bad on the Realtor.

Does your Realtor have a team? Can your Realtor get anything done? Does your Realtor get stuff done? Is your Realtor the person to call when you need a great referral for some type of service? If the answer to any of these questions is "no", then you should reconsider sticking with your Realtor.

Starter Homes in Murfreesboro

Hey guys!

Today I wanted to do a search on starter homes in the Blackman area of Murfreesboro- check out what I found!



3144 Wellington Pl
1,605 sq ft
3 bed, 2 bath, 1 half
$167,500

1533 Quantum Ct
2,190 sq ft
4 bed, 3 bath
$167,900

1817 Saint Andrews Dr
1,799 sq ft
3 bed, 3 bath
$168,000

What is Justice?

2 years ago a mother in my town of Smyrna fell asleep and let her 3 year old and 2 year old get out of the house and into a broken down car. They shut the door and died because of the heat. These poor kids died a horrible, painful, excruciating death because of their mother's exceptionally gross negligence. She was sentenced yesterday. She plead guilty and received 16 years. Of that 16, she will serve 8 but can actually serve less based on "good behavior" or whatever they do for parole. 

The Facebook jury was outraged and is still speaking. Let me tell you, some of the comments far exceed the measure of decorum one would expect from civilized people. Now, before you jump all over me for "being on her side", hear me (or should I say, "read me") out. 

Is it really possible for justice to be served in this case? 

If the mother had been given the electric chair and killed the next day, would that be justice? Some would say no she did not have the opportunity to experience enough grief or be haunted long enough.

If she had been given a life sentence, would that be justice? Some would say no because she gets to live on our dime for the rest of her life. 

If she would have been sentenced to die the same way her kids died, would that be justice? Some would say no because there were two of them and she can't die twice. Plus, that doesn't bring the babies back.

I read several comments that say she has no remorse. We can't know that. I read some comments that alluded to vigilante justice, that just puts blood on someone else's hands. I read some that called this woman all kinds of names from "crackhead" to "hooker". None of that is substantiated nor is it constructive. Of course the woman's mother was in the interview and did not help matters with her idiotic comment that it wouldn't have happened if it was cool outside. 

Bottom line is this, there is no way for justice to be served--period. It doesn't matter what you do to this woman, the babies are gone and they died way more horribly than I would wish upon anyone else. It is a tragedy, an avoidable tragedy. 

The best thing for the community to do is to remember that it happened and educate people so that it never, ever happens again. In the meantime, let our "justice" system work, broken though it may be, and pray for this woman, her family and anyone that knew the babies. Pray for them all to heal, to repent, to gain perspective and to perhaps, somehow, redeem this situation. Maybe she can go on to share her story with expectant mothers as a means of communicating the need for vigilance and responsibility. I know that is far-fetched but you never know. Either way, stop trying to make sense of it and exact justice. It can't be done.