Milton, MA Open Houses 10/29 - 10/31 Are you ready to buy? If you are looking for a great community with a high-quality real estate market, consider Milton.  There are 12 open houses for single-family homes this weekend in Milton.  Why not spend Halloween weekend looking at houses? Milton is located in Norfolk County and is only 8 miles from downtown Boston, a commuter's dream. These homes range in price from $294,900 to $999,000, which means there is a great variety of homes, many affordable for the area. In 2009, Money magazine listed Milton 5th in its annual "Best Places To Live" list. If you are a potential home buyer and you are interested in Milton, please contact me to start receiving listings and open house schedules.  Let's connect today and we can begin visiting open houses to... 10/29/2010

To me it seems like most real estate marketing falls all over itself trying to be the same, only better.  Similar look and feel to the ads and the ad copy, similar approach to the postcards and the mailings and very little innovation of any sort.  If we are to look at other financial services industries we will find the players falling over themselves to be differentiated from their competition.  Underlying all financial services advertising is the need to communicate trust and competency.  When you are doing the same thing, only different, from your competition where is the trust?  I say only different for all of those of you who think your drip program is different than the other companies drip campaign. If I never receive another calendar from some agent who makes no effort to actua... 10/28/2010

Long before tweeting changed our language to shorter characters, Real Estate had shortened the descriptions of their wares.  3/2/2 spoke of rooms, OH, new constr, hrdwds,FP, renov, 2fp…need I go on.  You need an acronym translator to get it.  Where is the story, where is the emotion.  I call this boiler plate.  I think it is a huge and consistent problem in this industry and an unbelievable opportunity for the first agency or agent that thinks differently. I came to real estate through marketing.  I think everyone comes to real estate from some other discipline, but I haven’t done an exhaustive study of this belief.  The best marketing is the engagement of your client in the story of your product.  Do acronyms do that?  Does the puffery that is used constantly do that?  Charming stands ... 10/27/2010

This weekend my wife, Kathy, and I visited my son who is in school in Saratoga Springs, NY. Skidmore is a small, academic, liberal arts school that plays it’s sports in the Liberty League. My son is a lacrosse player on their varsity team. During the weekend I was away from the computer, from the news about real estate and the economy. We didn’t turn on a tv to hear any political barking. (Where have all the real leaders gone? Why can’t any of our major political parties take off the boxing gloves and put on the work gloves and get some things done?) This morning I took stock of my goals and where I am specifically along the path towards meeting and exceeding them. In almost every category but two I have exceeded the goals set last year beginning around this time. But this is not enoug... 10/26/2010

There are 21 open houses for single-family homes this weekend in Milton, MA.  Milton is located in Norfolk County and is only 8 miles from downtown Boston, a commuter's dream. These homes range in price from $294,900 to $999,000, which means there is a great variety of homes, many affordable for the area. In 2009, Money magazine listed Milton 5th in its annual "Best Places To Live" list. If you are a potential home buyer and you are interested in Milton, please contact me to start receiving listings and open house schedules.  Let's connect today and we can begin visiting open houses tomorrow.  I can answer any other questions you may have regarding Milton including schools, public transportation, houses of worship, parks, local government, market conditions, etc.  I look forward to hear... 10/23/2010

Being a life long learner brings opportunity, joy and financial rewards.  It is as simple as that. A Realtor® who is not learning is a person who will not succeed.  Yep, I have seen this every day.  I have a well worn copy of Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill that I read a chapter every day.  This book, for the few of you who are not familiar with it, was written around the time of the Great Depression.  Napoleon Hill was asked by Andrew Carnegie to study how people create great wealth.  Similarities were found among those wealthy people, but not the similarities you might expect.  Education was not a determining factor, neither was access to cash, nor was a pedigree–these characteristics that so many people use as excuses for their not attaining what they want have nothing to do wi... 10/22/2010

The 12th Annual Milton Monster Dash, a 5K race to raise money for science education in the public schools, takes place on October 31, 2010, Halloween.  Runners are encouraged to "dress-up" for Halloween and in years past there have been some interesting costumes.  The event, which is held at 75 Edge Hill Road, also includes children's games, face painting, a kids' run, and pumpkin decorating.  Entry for the 5K is $20 by Oct. 20, and $25 after that date. Tickets for the children's activities are $7, with a $15 maximum charge per family. More information and registration is available at: www.miltonfoundationforeducation.org/MonsterDash   10/22/2010

How do you define a dream vacation?  I spent some time yesterday looking into this and not surprisingly different people use different criteria.  Some want action, some want rest, some want family, some want none it is just like that.  But on closer scrutiny most people when their vacation is over will speak of the same emotions.  They feel rested and rejuvenated.  They feel connected to themselves, the people they shared their vacation with, the people they are going to share the memories and pictures with all this is common. 7 Palms Villa in Anguilla, BWI is a startling home which sits overlooking a very blue ocean.  Anguilla is one of the ten top places in the world to vacation.  Celebrities, jet setters, and the wealthy love this island because of its seclusion and its great restaur... 10/21/2010

My friend Gerry Hailer, the greatest appraiser in Eastern Massachusetts, and I had lunch together last Friday.  He has been dragging his feet for years on social media, blogging and promotion of his incredible skills in any way.  What is really interesting about this is that he spent a career as an advertising writer before deciding he wanted a more sane life with fewer brown liquids to drink.  (That is another story for another day).  I have been talking to him about how to communicate out here on the web for a long time.  He wrote me this note yesterday and I want to share it because he seems to be getting what I am talking about.  I think it is a good read for its content and the way Gerry puts his words together. Lar--   Hanging with you is always good for the mind and soul, if not ... 10/20/2010

So it’s a tough market, right?  You and your Realtor® friends get together and commiserate.  You feel good in this group knowing it is bad for everyone.  In this thinking of no one is doing anything, so it is ok for me to not be doing anything.  WRONG!  With this type of thinking, just take off your pin, turn in your jacket and get another job.  You are right, you can’t do anything and this will create a do nothing action plan and that will create another dark hole in the industry. The fact is houses are being sold.  The new housing start numbers released yesterday showed an uptick.  I know of one agent here in MA who has already sold sixty eight million dollars of real estate this year to date.  So what is your problem?  Houses are selling, why aren’t you? I know the answer to this que... 10/20/2010

Whether you are looking for a modification, or a short sale the bank is going to require a letter from you explaining in detail the hardship you have encountered which is causing you to be unable to pay your mortgage in a timely fashion.  These letters are business letters and not the time to complain about any political party or bank procedure.  Explain why you can not meet the commitment you agreed to when you first signed for your house.  Loss of job, death or divorce, long term illness are all legitimate reasons that the bank will listen to. Sharing a sad story unrelated to your financial situation no matter how well written will not get you passed go. The fact that your cat is used to seven meals a day and provides you a reason for being late is no excuse that the bank will accept ... 10/19/2010

  We are all entrepreneurs. We are sales people. We work on our own even when we work within the comfy confines of our national brand.  It is the individual who needs to know, so how do you get that knowledge.  We are licensed and we can acquire advanced training in specific areas of interest, but who do you talk to when you have a question?  I faced this very issue many years ago when I went to a business meeting about building a board of directors and a board of advisers for business. Since my company was not publicly traded, far from it, the board of directors was not an answer.  When it was explained to me how a board of advisers can assist me in making crucial decisions on my business I was all over it.  As a self employed person I was used to staying on top of trends and changes i... 10/15/2010

The Milton Fruit Center is having a pumpkin painting session Saturday, October 16. There will be painting and food for sale. The best part is that with every pumpkin you buy to paint, $1.00 will be donated to the Cradles-to-Crayon organization. Cradles-to-Crayon is an organization that provides clothing, school supplies and toys to children in need. The fun starts at 11 a.m. so be sure to bring your children and grandchildren. This is truly a great way to give back and meet your fellow neighbors!   10/14/2010

I have wondered throughout my career what to do with all the cards I collect in a week. Best practices tell us that we should load them into our database and begin to stay in touch with the people. The ability to grow your sphere of influence day in and day out is dependent on this process. Well, I decided this week to make a video that let’s people remember who I was and to also let them know what I do. I have worked in and on video for the web since 2001. Since most people will first click on a video it makes sense that we use the technology as often as we can. I have written thousands of notes to the people I have met through the years. In most instances I am using boilerplate information about me and my services to have it puncutated with something specific about the person. I have ... 10/14/2010

My blog about Abraham Lincoln this week lit up my phone and emails with responses.  One such response was from a friend of mine, Gerry Hailer. Gerry is an appraiser working in MA.  He is also a husband, dad and rocking guitar player.  Here is what he shared with me about his favorite achiever. When I want to feel like a slacker, all I have to do is think of, I hate to admit it, but, my one of my life heroes, Neil Young.   Here's a guy everyone thinks has everything.  The Hippie Millionaire.  The non-sell-out done good.  And all he had to do was play a few simple chords on guitar, do some unique minimalist electric guitar solo work, and sing in a falsetto in a curious way.  That ain't working that's the way you do it.  Play the guitar on the MTV.  Get your money for nothing and your chic... 10/13/2010

  At the age of 23 he had failed in business and was declared bankrupt.  This was the same year he was not elected for legislature.  He failed again in business over the next two years and was bankrupt a second time. (The laws were different then and that is another story.) The next year his fiance died.  This lead to him having a nervous breakdown the following year.  This does not sound like an achiever’s story as we imagine them for ourselves. He wanted to serve, he wanted to achieve so he kept at it. At 29 he was defeated in an election.  He was defeated for U. S. Congress at 34.  He was again defeated for the U. S. Congress at the age of 39.  When he was 46 he was defeated for the U. S. Senate.  He was defeated for the Vice President at 47 and at 49 was defeated for the U. S. Senat... 10/13/2010

With a smile more like a smirk than anything like joy I opened up my blog today to see I have close to a million hits.  You would think I the smile would be broad, but you would be wrong.  More than two thirds of the hits are from Spam sites.  Yeah, I got that going for me.  The smirk is because I know I am doing something right, spammers know where I am.  So now the question is, how do I better reach the people I work with in my real estate career? Mario Jannatpour, author of the Spoken Books audio CD, Must See Inside feels as though community meetings like the Chamber of Commerce and business networking groups are a complete waste of time.  No one from these groups is going to work with you based on an encounter at these meetings, he feels.  I am sure many of you feel as I do that thi... 10/12/2010

BE OUT THERE TODAY!  I just posted this phrase above my desk.  I feel great!  Today I am shooting some video, and editing some email promotional videos.  I have a new story to tell and can't wait.  But wait.  First things first. I finished my review work of Mario Jannatpour’s Talking Books Audio CD Must See Inside today and dedicate the rest of today’s blog to his work. Mario is not trying to be a guru, that is left to you to decide.  He isn’t promising you a million dollars of income if you follow his system.  You won’t see him at some community business event like the Chamber of Commerce, Mario is a professional real estate salesman who works hard at it, and is good and successful because of his efforts and approach.  His audio book is short money good information.  (I am not an affil... 10/11/2010

As a young athlete it was always suggested to me to play with people who are better than you are, and you will get better.  I found that to be good advice then and good advice now in business.  Sadly I find the opposite to be true as well.  If you are in an office that is not doing much in sales, is not doing much in showings, is not doing anything in marketing, RUN!  A bad office, a bad agent who bends your ear everyday will bring you down to their level.  Not that you will be as bad as they are, but the will take you off you game.  They will diminish your drive and focus and that is deadly to your career. If you happen to be in an office like this and you can’t extract yourself for a number of reasons, then you best tactic is to spend as little time there as possible and plug yourself... 10/09/2010

We are challenged every single day aren’t we?  Whether it is the media screaming that the economy is horrible, the single family housing sales are down from last year, the mythical shadow inventory, or in your office where you hear moaning and groaning we are challenged.  Your personal ability to stay above or away from these kinds of negative influences will mean the difference between a good day and a bad one.  Many of us have lived through bad offices where there was no support, no training and filled with people who closely guarded any information for fear you might take from them.  It is not easy to quiet the screaming in your own head, or is it. What would happen today if you decided, just for today to not listen to those voices? What would happen if you arrived at your office, o... 10/08/2010