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Saint Louis, MO Real Estate News

By Tim Tanz, St Louis Real Estate
(Platinum Realty)
It's been a long weekend.  Friday evening, my lower back began to hurt. By late in the evening, I could hardly move.  Saturday, I was bed-ridden for most of the day.  When I was able to pull myself out of bed, walking was horrible, and I had to crawl up and down the steps.  I alternated from submerging myelf in the bathtub to ice packs on my back.  Yesterday was somewhat better; I could at least walk slowly.  Any jolt was unbearable, though.  I did ride along down to Bayer's Greenhouses with Kim, Gary and Dennis.  I just couldn't stay inside any longer.  The weather was too nice, and you can lie in bed for only so long.  It was the annual plant shopping trip, and I wasn't going to miss it.  I didn't enjoy it, though.  I went to the doctor this morning.  He thinks it's just a pulled musc...
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By Tim Tanz, St Louis Real Estate
(Platinum Realty)
It's chilly again.  We had rainshowers today, and a cold front came through.  The attic fan will not run tonight....We are in a three-day seminar, today being the first day.  We also go tomorrow and all day Saturday.  This seminar is just the teaser; they want you to take the specialized classes later.  Regardless, I'm getting a lot of information.  Some of the points I wanted to share:The acronym - GREATG-getR-reallyE-excited A-aboutT-today-The number one rule in creating wealth is financial independence.-There are three type of income:  1. Earned Income - you have to work to get money - job  2. Passive Residual Income - do the work once, and then get paid over and over  3. Portfolio Income - use your assets to make you more money - your money makes money-Stop taking advice from people...
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By Tim Tanz, St Louis Real Estate
(Platinum Realty)
Just got a call from an agent telling me he is going to get together with his clients around 10:00 pm tonight to write an offer on my Alberta listing.  I'm in classes all day tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday, so I will have to present it in the evening.  Not too bad for being on the market for only a week....I spent this past Thursday, Friday and Saturday showing condos and lofts in the Central West End and Downtown St Louis.  I hadn't done very much in the condo market last year, so this was a treat to see what is out there right now.  The lofts blew me away.  St Louis has some great developments under way, both in the Central West End and Downtown.  I was especially impressed with the Crown Loft Condominiums at Boyle and Laclede in the Central West End.  This building houses 36 units, m...
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By Tim Tanz, St Louis Real Estate
(Platinum Realty)
We had our bi-weekly office meeting today.  Usually, our meetings are followed by a presentation on various topics related to sales or real estate.  Today, the topic was Negotiating for Realtors. I wanted to share some hightlights:1. Keep your emotions out of it.  Always be the steady and stable one for your clients.2. Don't lose sight of the goal - the goal is a signed contract.3. Use technology to your advantage.  Negotiate via fax and phone.  Don't negotiate through email.4. Control what you say.  There is no room for drama and emotion.5. Keep your commission out of it.6. Continually refer back to the client's motivation.  This is an important point.  What's most important to them?7. Win-Win or No Deal.8. Don't be afraid to ask.9. Don't burn bridges.  A very important point.  You wan...
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By R. B. "Bob" Mitchell - Loan Officer Raleigh/Durham, Bob Mitchell (NMLS#1046286)
(Bank of England (NMLS#418481))
Last night I went to one of my best friend's father's 73rd birthday party (A shout out to Big Jay Hudson!  Happy Birthday!).  Anyway, I've been buddies with "Little" Jay Hudson since I was in 2nd grade and over the years have gotten to know their family very well.  From the yearly birthday parties and from other events I have had the privilege of getting to know the aunts and uncles and cousins almost as if they were my own kin.So, last night my girlfriend and I drove up to North St. Louis city from our home in suburban Oakville to attend the party.  We were greeted with hugs and welcomes that were no different that the hugs that were given out to any of the cousins.  We hooped and hollered and caught up what all had transpired since the last time that we had seen one another.  Grandma ...
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By R. B. "Bob" Mitchell - Loan Officer Raleigh/Durham, Bob Mitchell (NMLS#1046286)
(Bank of England (NMLS#418481))
My search for an eclecical restaurant in St. Louis is coming along well enough that I thought that I would try another one to get St. Louisians to comment on.  In this post, I'm asking you what was the "Weirdest" thing that you've ever seen in St. Louis?In order to start things off I'll list a couple of things that I have seen.1)  A full-grown man dressed in a majorette costume high stepping down the middle of a street in the Central West End.2)  A burning hulk of a jet airliner in the middle of a downtown intersection at about 3 AM (it was a set for the movie Escape From New York)3)  A cow standing in the grass eating peacefully along North Broadway just north of downtown. There's a start....what have you guys seen? R.B. "Bob" MitchellValueList Real Estate Services, Inc. 
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By R. B. "Bob" Mitchell - Loan Officer Raleigh/Durham, Bob Mitchell (NMLS#1046286)
(Bank of England (NMLS#418481))
I just read a post, Take A Client For Granted about an agent who was busy with other business and couldn't get to show a valued customer a particular house.  The agent attempted to call and left a message telling the client that he would not be available until the next morning to show the house to him.The next morning he called the client to show the house and the client informed him that he had gone ahead and set up a showing with another Realtor.  The apparent point of the post was that he, the agent, had screwed up and was taking the client for granted because he had not been able to show this property that day.To This I say, "Hooey!"  I don't mean to be critical of the agent who wrote this post, but I think that this attitude that we have to be super people and available to our clie...
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By R. B. "Bob" Mitchell - Loan Officer Raleigh/Durham, Bob Mitchell (NMLS#1046286)
(Bank of England (NMLS#418481))
Hello up there as you fly over the great mid-west!  I recently wrote an article on an ezine called YoJayHudson.com on how the media discounts anything that doesn't happen on the east coast or the west coast.  The article was basically about the power outage that we experienced here in St. Louis last summer where millions of St. Louisians were left without power after a severe series of thunderstorms rolled through the area.Being without power for a week, my only source of news was my cell phone's internet connection.  I scanned all of the news sites for coverage of our plight and for the first couple of days there wasn't anything.  Then I saw the head line, "Thousands lose power in New York City".  I'm like, "What?!!!"  Thousands lose power in New York City trumps millions lose power in...
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By R. B. "Bob" Mitchell - Loan Officer Raleigh/Durham, Bob Mitchell (NMLS#1046286)
(Bank of England (NMLS#418481))
  A few years back I listed a glorious old home in the Soulard area of St. Louis.  This home had originally been a doctors residence when it was built back in the 1880's??.  To say that it was a solid house was an understatement .  Legend had it that a tornado had hit it and bounced off.  The foundation on this thing was something like 36 inches wide!Over the years the house had been "remodeled" several times in the various styles du jour that were popular.  These "remodels" included putting in a suspended ceiling, painting the wood work, bricking up windows and a red and the biggest shag carpet that I had ever seen.We got a contract on the home fairly quickly and that freed up the sellers to go look for another home.  After having owned a home that was over 100 years old and huge, they...
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By Tim Tanz, St Louis Real Estate
(Platinum Realty)
Dennis and I went to a seminar on 1031 Tax Exchanges this evening.  It was sponsored by the Des Peres Keller Williams office.  The material was presented by Coleen Howell, a Vice President with LandAmerica-Commonwealth Title Company.  As we are considering moving up from our two-families to larger investment properties in the future, I thought it would be a good idea to attend.  The class was pretty general, for beginners, which was fine with me; I don't know that much about the exchanges.  I also wanted to educate myself so I could better assist my investment property clients.  Some notes I took tonight are as follows: Straight Deferred Exchange:  Your relinquished property begins the 1031 Tax Exchange.The property(s) you purchase ends your 1031 Tax Exchange. A qualified intermediary (...
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By Tim Tanz, St Louis Real Estate
(Platinum Realty)
I wanted to share an exerpt from a speech given by Nelson Mandela at his inaguration in 1994.  It was originally attributed to Marianne Williamson.  This is so profound, and it is another clipping I keep posted on the board above my desk:Our Deeped FearOur deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us.We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talente, fabulous?Actually, who are you NOT to be?You are a child of God.Your playing small does not serve the world.There is nothing enlightening about shrinkingSo that other people won't feel unsure around you.We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.As w...
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By R. B. "Bob" Mitchell - Loan Officer Raleigh/Durham, Bob Mitchell (NMLS#1046286)
(Bank of England (NMLS#418481))
I'm about to pull my hair out!  As I sit here at my desk working on my web page, answering emails and doing my blogging (all things that I try to get done before my day gets started in earnest) my phone rings and it's my daughter.  It's cold in Columbus and she doesn't feel like going to class.  She will, she just wanted to complain to someone and she knew that I would answer my phone!  I no sooner get off the phone with her when my buddy Bear calls, his truck is acting up and can I follow him over to the shop in case it doesn't make it?  Of course I can, what else can a buddy say.  I love my daughter and of course I'll help my buddy out, but how and where do you draw the line.  My daughter didn't call her Mom because she knows that her Mom is at WORK!  My buddy didn't call one of his o...
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By Tim Tanz, St Louis Real Estate
(Platinum Realty)
Beautiful day today compared with the past two days.  It was so dreary and rainy yesterday I did not want to leave the house... Today is partly sunny with temperatures in the fifties - still chilly compared with what it was, but at least it's not raining...Following are the market statistics for single family residential homes in the city of St Louis for the past week.  These stats are gathered from the local multiple listing service:There were 176 Active listings on the market, priced between $9,900 (foreclosure) and $1,495,000 (wow!).There were 40 Contingent listings, priced between $79,900 and $1,179,000 (wow!).There were 73 Pending listings, priced between $19,900 and $1,495,000 (double wow!).There were 49 Sold listings, priced between $27,500 and $1,150,000.There were 47 listings t...
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By R. B. "Bob" Mitchell - Loan Officer Raleigh/Durham, Bob Mitchell (NMLS#1046286)
(Bank of England (NMLS#418481))
SRRRRRRRCCCCCCHHHHH!!  That's the sound of screaming breaks as I slam on them in regards to my SEO.  My last post (http://activerain.com/blogsview/72206/Realtor-St-Louis-optimizes)on this topic talked about what I was doing to get my web site to show up on the search engines.  On it I complained that it was hard not to get confused with contrasting information from different sources.Well, after spending hours working on linking my site to other sites and exchanging reciprocal links (a SEO approach that was recommended by several people) I found out from some other very reputable people that not only will it not help, that it might hurt!So, bad to the drawing board.  I erased all of those links and redid my front page so that it look a lot better and cleaner and am concentrating on addin...
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By R. B. "Bob" Mitchell - Loan Officer Raleigh/Durham, Bob Mitchell (NMLS#1046286)
(Bank of England (NMLS#418481))
Yesterday on NPR I heard a story about a housing advocacy group in Ohio who was dedicating a large amount of money to help bailout people facing foreclosure.  In that report a lady cried that her "Mortgage Broker" lied to her and that was why she was in trouble.Well, I wasn't there and I can't tell you if what she is saying is true, but I can tell you that it's federal law that she was disclosed to.  She should have received a truth in lending statement which she would have had to sign and a Good Faith Estimate, which she also would have hand to sign, from the broker (if it was indeed a mortgage broker who originated this mortgage - more on this in a sec). If the loan had an adjustable feature, she should have also received an "Adjustable Rate Disclosure" form as well.  The Truth In Len...
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By Tim Tanz, St Louis Real Estate
(Platinum Realty)
I have a clipping of an article tacked to the bulletin board above my desk.  I believe it's from the Missouri Realtor Magazine that came out right before the MAR Convention &  Expo.  It told about the feature presentation that would be presented by Mike Schlappi.  Mr Schlappi, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a childhood accident, went on to become a two-time Gold Medalist, World Champion, author, businseeman, husband and father of five.  He earned an MBA, authored two successful books - about success - was a member of the Board of Trustees for the 2002 Olympic Games, and was honored in Utah at a Top 50 Athlete of the Century.  What's amazing is that he accomplished all of this sitting down.  Mr Schlappi understands the need for constant energy and consistent focus.  His persona...
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By R. B. "Bob" Mitchell - Loan Officer Raleigh/Durham, Bob Mitchell (NMLS#1046286)
(Bank of England (NMLS#418481))
  You probably have read on line or seen on television the stories about how the internet is doing away with the need for real estate agents.  I know that I have.  I'm seriously thinking about finding out who it is that does FSBO.com's pr work and hiring them!  They seem to be the Johnny Cash of the real estate world, they've been everywhere man!That said, I've been working on my web site as some of you know from my posts and one thing that I've noticed is that, while it is easier to look for homes online now and people are doing that more and more, that the FSBO market is extremely fragmented.  I bet that there are at least 1000 sites out there dedicated to advertising FSBOs.  Hell, I'm putting my listings on at least a dozen sites other than the MLS and Realtor.com (which is basically...
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By Tim Tanz, St Louis Real Estate
(Platinum Realty)
Yesterday, I shared some outside shots I took with my new Kodak EasyShare V705 Camera.  Today, I wanted to share some interior shots I took to demonstrate how well I feel the camera performs on interior shoots.  I used my own home as the example.  Just so you know, I am not a decorator, so my home will not compare to all the fancy homes out there.  It was clean, and organized, for a change...  It should give you an idea of how the wide angle lense performs.  With my old camera, I could only get sections of a room.  With the V705, it captures practically the entire room.  It was also a rainy, overcast day yesterday, and the only additional lighting I used was the overhead room lights.  The pics have not been modified (they have not been brightened).  This is the way they came from the ca...
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By Tim Tanz, St Louis Real Estate
(Platinum Realty)
I earned my GRI Designation in August 2000.  This is another designation I recommend other Realtors work toward earning.  Following is information on the GRI Designation (compiled from the NAR website). The GRI symbol is the mark of a real estate professional who has made the commitment to provide a high level of professional services by securing a strong educational foundation. REALTORS® with the GRI designation are highly trained in many areas of real estate to better serve and protect their clients.Developed for members of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and offered through State REALTOR® Associations, the GRI program includes 90 hours of coursework on topics from marketing and servicing listed properties to real estate law.Buying property is a complex and stressful task. In fa...
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By Tim Tanz, St Louis Real Estate
(Platinum Realty)
It was high time to get a new digital camera, but I didn't know where to begin.  I was using an old Sony digital camera that used a floppy disk.  For outside, the pics were alright, but for inside and low light situations, it was not cutting the mustard.  I checked out the Photography Group on Active Rain and read Jeff Turner's post about the Kodak EasyShare V705.  After doing some checking around (at department and camera stores) to see what was available for the price, I decided to purchase the V705 from Amazon.  Total with shipping was $209.90, and I since I applied for and charged the camera to the Amazon.com credit card, they are refunding me $30 for the purchase.  At Office Depot, the same camera was priced at over $300.  I think I got a pretty good deal.  The camera arrived in le...
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