Leo's Blog

I do my best to maintain customer layalty by doing my best to follow these steps:

1. Personalized treatment – Each customers has particular needs. It’s in my best interest to make them feel special and respected. They will certainly stay with me in the long run.

2. Reliable – I keep my promises and deliver on time to build trust.

3. Flexible – I am ready to make changes to my schedule and business approach to accommodate my customers.

5. Getting personal – I make my customer my friend. I ask about their family, important events in their lives and follow up on this information.

6. Here for the long run – I tell them I intend to be of service after the sale has been made if they need me, whenever they need me. I treat them like people, not like deals.

Good Selling,

Leo

Our office has a once a month training meeting. Yesterday someone from American Title came up from Tampa to talk about focusing our advertizing money. That's probably not what the meeting was called.

I learned that Hispanic and African American people are increasing by a large amount in our area. It appears Caucasion are not populating. Less than two children per household. Spend advertising money in an ethnic area.

Canadian money is equal to US currency for the first time since the 1970's. Thank you Bush... The euro has done very well and is worth more than US currency... What does that mean to a Realtor®? Concentrate of those two areas.

I guess if an agent has enough advertising money they can pull from any group.

After the meeting we saw three very nice homes. Each one had something very nice to eat for lunch. I wish I had some buyers for them.

Good selling,

Leo

I tried looking for some good news for my sellers in residential real estate but I did not have any luck. This will not help the buyers who are sitting on the fence either. The following is from an excerpt from a meeting last week in DC about new construction in the US.

Highlights of the 2008 Construction Outlook include:

– Single-family housing will weaken further, given the large inventory of
unsold homes and diminished loan availability to home buyers. A 3% drop
in dollar volume is expected, corresponding to another 6% decline in
the number of units.

– Multifamily housing will slide 8% in dollars and 11% in units,
following steeper declines in 2007. Condominium development is being
dampened by greater scrutiny from lenders as well as reduced home buyer
demand.

 I am going to be in the movie Recount. That is, unless they cut me out but that will be hard to do. I just got home from 14 hours at the shoot sight. I'm probably in about 1 hour of shooting and was in the background in almost all of it. I was counting ballots. Now I have some small idea of what the ballot counters went through in the 2000 aftermath. What a fiasco. It will be shown on HBO.

Here's some info on the cast and show:

Spacey to star in HBO's 'Recount'

Leary, Dern, Hurt also join election drama

Kevin Spacey, Laura Dern, Denis Leary, John Hurt, Tom Wilkinson, Ed Begley Jr. and Bob Balaban will star in HBO Films' "Recount," the drama about the Florida results in the 2000 presidential election.

Jay Roach is directing a script written by Danny Strong.

"Recount," which will begin shooting next month in Florida, will air during the heat of the presidential campaign in 2008.

Spacey stars as Ron Klain, former chief of staff to vice president Al Gore and one of the lead attorneys who challenged the voting results in Florida.

Dern plays Katherine Harris, the secretary of state of Florida who became the center of controversy when she certified that George W. Bush had won the state.

Begley plays David Boies, the lawyer who appealed the results and argued for the Democrats in court. Leary plays Michael Whouley, a pollster on the Democrat side, and Hurt plays Warren Christopher, a key player in the Gore camp.

Wilkinson plays James Baker, brought in by the Republicans to see that the disputed results held up. Balaban plays Ben Ginsberg, the lead attorney for Bush and Dick Cheney.

It's been a very long day.

Good selling,

Leo

Real Estate news is slow but Papillon 911 Rescue is always busy. I'm going to put some excerpts from our newsletter in my blog.

Unfortunately, Mopsy started to slip into renal failure in the beginning of July, and we also found two mammary tumors that we couldn't’t address because of her inability to gain weight. She was able to go on vacation to Michigan, though, and we walked with her in a front pack so that she could see and smell all of the different sights. As she started to decline, we started to feed her by hand several times a day trying to get her to eat. As July went into August, I needed to give her subcutaneous fluids to keep her hydrated. After the initial few times, she never complained-she seemed to know that we were doing everything we could for her. Finally her blood work reflected her kidney failure and we went to the nephrologist. At this point she picked up again for a few weeks on the renal medications combined with the fluids and the acupuncture that she was still receiving.

Mospy had a second chance in life, although brief, to enjoy being part of a family and to be loved and cared for. Every night I brushed and petted her, talked to her, told her I loved her, and slept with her right next to my side. She loved to sit in our laps and cuddle in the evenings. She was a gentle little girl, but had a little spark once in a while that made us know that she had a healthy spirit, even if her body was declining. I’m sure she appreciated all that PAP911 did for her, as do we. Mopsy may not have had the best start to her life, but she had a very good ending thanks to PAP911.

The future looks grim. I have to put this in the blog. The filings are up 316% over last year.

No quick fixes in the future.

Leo

Jacksonville Business Journal - October 24, 2007 http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2007/10/22/daily13.html

Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 11:45 AM EDT

Report: Duval foreclosures nearly double

Jacksonville Business Journal

September foreclosures in Duval County have nearly doubled from a year ago, but are still well behind South Florida, according to numbers from Default Research Inc.

The report listed 392 Duval County foreclosures in September, up from 208 a year earlier. Clay County's foreclosures went from 14 a year ago to 48, while St. Johns County went from 14 to 29.

Broward County had 1,141, the most in the state.

Overall, 4,872 foreclosures were filed in Florida, up from 1,541 in September 2006, the report says.

Default Research bases its numbers on lis pendens filed against properties.

"Of the Florida foreclosures, over 13 percent were condominiums," Default Research President Serdar Bankaci said in a news release. "Many of these were speculators trying to buy properties and turn a profit, but they got trapped in the market. Foreclosures will likely continue to escalate at least for 12 more months, as the market and mortgages adjust."

Based in Mt. Pleasant, Pa., Default Research tracks residential, commercial and industrial foreclosures in select markets.

Last week, Foreclosure.com released its own numbers assessing the state's real estate market. However, it said there were 3,612 foreclosures completed in September and that the number of properties repossessed fell, but Florida remained among the nation's leaders in preforeclosures with 16,246 filings in September.

Earlier this month, RealtyTrac released a report saying Florida had the second-highest number of foreclosures in the country in September and was No. 2 in the frequency of foreclosures.

RealtyTrac counts properties that are in some stage of foreclosure, and said there were 33,354 Florida properties going through the process in September.

RealtyTrac's numbers were down 2 percent from the previous month, but up 157 percent from September 2006.

All contents of this site © American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.

This is a recent true account of a Puppymill auction by a fellow Pap911 Rescue member. www.pap911rescue.org

Leo

As I watch the sun come up with rays of light peaking through the trees I wonder `why such a beautiful day when I know it will be filled with doom & despair'. You see it's Saturday morning September 22, the day of the 4th Horst dog auction in Thorp, WI. Yes, I've done this before, but it's not something I ever want to get used to.
As I drink my coffee my lover Papillon Jonah is licking my feet in his everyday attempt to keep everyone, 2 legged and 4 legged, in the house groomed. I'm distracted wondering what the fate of these 245 dogs going up for sale to the highest bidder will be. Some of them will be freshly bathed, which I can only imagine how traumatic this would be for them after years of being caged with little human handling. Others will be dirty, matted, stinky, and in dire need of medical attention. I've tried for weeks now to keep my anger at this
atrocity in check. But I think of the suffering and it surfaces yet again.
I've still got a little piece of my heart missing from Hurley's leaving at this same time last week. Hurley was my last foster dog, a 3 year old black & white Pap who came from an abusive home. I feel I've failed him, but a young boy abused him physically & mentally and we couldn't help him since we have a small son of our own who brings out Hurley's fear biting even when he treated him gently. Hurley at this moment is being transported to his new foster home near Tallahassee, FL. We'd dreamed of making him our first foster flunky.
That was a nice sidetrack thought but back to the business of the day.The kennels are cleaned & set up. There are 5 crates packed in the truck and 3 more waiting by the door to be loaded. See there are 5 Paps, 2 males & 3 females, ages 3-5 on the auction list that we are going to try to save. Why take 8 crates you ask? Well past auction experience tells me there will be more dogs added at the last minute. The last auction in June there were no Papillons listed on the catalog, so I didn't attend. Instead I scheduled myself to work at the humane society where I am employed to keep myself from going and torturing myself unnecessarily. An hour into my shift I got a call from a fellow rescue person that 7 young Paps were added at the last minute. By the time I got another employee to cover my shift & make the 2 hour trip to Thorp, in 1-1/2 hours (without a speeding ticket miraculously) I was too late. The Paps had already been sold. Luckily 3 went to a humane society & 1 to a private buyer.
But the heartache comes from knowing that 3 went to other puppy millers. Side note, the one who went to the private buyer ended up with the humane society after 2 months because he had too many socialization issues. He was still under 9 months old. So if people think that only older mill dogs have "issues" I beg to differ.
Professionals say that the prime socialization time for puppies is between 8-16 weeks. I've found that even at 8 weeks if a pup has had no human contact the going is still difficult and that's the situation these young ones are in.
We're on our way now and I'm thinking about what kind of person can keep going to these auctions time and time again. Friends and fellow escuers say, "You must be stronger than me" because I can go. Well, honestly I'm no stronger, tougher or hardened to this than they would be. I get the same sick feeling now as I did the 1st time, only now it starts weeks before the day instead of just the day of. I'll never ever understand how people can treat these dogs like livestock. Most of these "breeders" are Amish or Mennonite and I live in a very small community with a high concentration of Pennsylvania Dutch Amish. The family who lives across the road from me is Amish. In a way I envy their simple way of life & high regard for family. My neighbors are very nice people who are always friendly and helpful andthankfully do not breed for profit. But I can see why some do, not that I understand how they morally do it, but why. There are a lot of fine craftsmen & hard workers in the Amish community but far too little work & of course they have bills to pay too. My neighbor works as a mason doing concrete work and also operates a small lumber mill to provide for his family of 8. So to breed dogs is a high profit business with little overhead and little work. A reputable breeder will tell you that it's a lot of work, which I can attest to since we've raised a couple litters.
It's a 24 hour a day job and there isn't much profit in it if the dogs and puppies are properly vetted and raised. But when milling caged animals like livestock and selling to pet store buyers I'm sure it is quite lucrative.
I've made a few trips past local puppy mills and have taken pictures. These people have large, new houses with nicely kept yards & outbuilding so from the outside they look normal. One thing I've noticed is that there are NO dogs in sight, no outdoor kennels, no sign of what is going on inside these pole sheds and barns. I can't bring myself to even try to get inside. I've been inside a few of the small mills around here but to go into a large scale commercial breeding place I know would send me over the edge.
It's 9:45 now and I know my fellow humane society and rescue people are meeting at the high school in Thorp preparing to protest/picket the auction today. Part of me would rather be joining them. I'm torn between putting a stop to these sales & rescuing what dogs we can. The logical part of me says that by paying for these dogs it's financially supporting these "breeders" but my heart tells me that if I can save only one from the vicious and cruel circle of the mill life that it's worth it. And as for the financial gain by the puppy millers?? They're going to get their money whether it comes from me or not.
I also feel that protesting these auctions is not going to stop them from happening. The protests and publicity will most likely only send them underground. I know of "backwoods swaps" that happen in the tri-county area where I live. I've been working for 2 years to try to get into this group of breeders and find out when and where these swaps/sales are held. Most are held in a remote farm field or wooded area and cages/crated dogs are sold from the back of pick-ups. I have a rescue contact that has been to one of these who feels that the auctions are actually a better situation, if you can image that.
The laws here in Wisconsin do not protect these dogs, their only management and protection is by the USDA and those regulations are lax and not intended for dogs in the first place, but are for livestock. So our efforts must go into making our congressman and senators aware that we need laws to regulate commercial breeders of companion animals.
We're 10 minutes away now and I feel horrible. I have a headache, tears welling up & feel like I'll throw up at any time. Time to get my game face on…..

3:30 p.m. – The auction is over. I've made it through another & I finally feel like I can breathe again. It was a fairly good day. I won 3 of the 5 butterflies up for bid and a fellow Papillon rescuer got 1 other female for me. The 5th Pap auctioned today was a male just under 4 years old who was won by a private owner, not a miller.
The bid on him went high very quickly and being on a budget if I had to let one slip it had to be him. He was the most social of the 5 during the viewing time, at the front of his cage trying to get everyone to notice him & pet him.
I don't know what the difference was this time but it seemed cleaner and more civil to me. God forbid I'm getting used to this. Of the people in attendance there were more English (as the Amish & Mennonites call us) there than usual. Lots of people and families looking for pets are starting to show up. The dogs were also selling for a lot lower price than the past 3 auctions. Some went for as low as $20 and I believe the highest price paid today was $800 for a French Bull Dog.
The peaceful protest started with picketing along County Road M in front of the auction barn. After the first 100 dogs were sold the sweatshirts & jackets came off of 30-40 people in the crowd to reveal orange "No Wisconsin Puppy Mill" t-shirts and the chant of `No More Puppy Mills" started. The auction continued without so much as a pause. Some people protesting, mainly the ones taking photos, were asked to leave and one shouting/shoving match broke out & was quickly broken up.
I said it was a fairly good day because not only did the 4 butterflies coming home with me get saved but also at least 40 other dogs were purchased by rescues or humane societies that I know of, hopefully even more than that.
We're 5 miles from home now & here's where my real work begins….

All 4 dogs have been given a quick look over and none have any serious problems that I can see. They've all gotten a drink of cool fresh water (I spiked it with Bach's) and are picking at the kibble in between investigating.
The female named Lucy is the biggest of the 4 & also the most scared. She was listed as tan & white but looks more tri-color to me & she has a very unique colored face.
The most friendly of the 4 is a female named Lady, she is a tiny little tri-color with the cutest black muzzle. Lady competes with Cheyanne to get the most human attention. Cheyanne is another tiny girl, sable & white that almost has Chihuahua looking ears but the rest of her looks full Papillon.
She's going to be our crybaby, the minute we're out of her sight she yips & howls.
Then there's Olie the 5 year old male. He's pretty sociable, but hesitant, another tri-color with a black muzzle. The seller told me that Lady has been bred by him but they don't know if it "took" or not, we'll have to wait & see. But he said they've had some nice puppies in the past.
Tomorrow will be more socialization & possibly baths, they smell very much bad.

I decided to leave out the description of the actual previewing of the dogs & the auction description and conditions itself. It's just too hard to describe.

I'm going to do an open house in conjunction with other Realtors® in Sweetwater by Del Webb on November 4. The odds of any of us selling off of an open house is low. I will take any advantage I can to sell my listings. Some Realtors® won't do open houses saying that it is only done to get buyers. I'll be glad to take buyers. The ones who say this usually bring it up during a listing presentation.

I was hoping to find something in writing by the National Association of Realtors or Florida Association of Realtors as far as a percent. I remember seing some statistics at one time that said three out of one hundred properties were sold because of an open house on that property.

Good selling,

Leo

I set up some appointments to show for Realtors® calling in. Another responsibility is to forward calls within the office. I messed up on one and accidently cut the person off. Linda, who is at the front desk after 1 PM was able to pull up the number and call the person back.

No leads for me yesterday but you never know. All it takes is one good lead.

I'm going in today. Teresa said that they have a manual for the showing desk program we use when we are on floor time. I'm going to see if I can bring it home and study it. The program will allow me to do more than simple showings.

The big news this morning is the California wildfires and the fact the the Stock Market rebounded slightly. The bad news for the wild fires is the winds will keep coming from the same direction through the end of the week. The bad news for the Stock Market is that the fall of the housing market has not caught up to the Stock Market yet. They are looking at retailers for a sign of stability or weakness.

Good selling,

Leo

We have known that the residential real estate market has been slow, now commercial real estate is being affected according to CoStar Group. First, two definitions:

bull market

Definition

A prolonged period in which investment prices rise faster than their historical average. Bull markets can happen as a result of an economic recovery, an economic boom, or investor psychology. The longest and most famous bull market is the one that began in the early 1990s in which the U.S. equity markets grew at their fastest pace ever. opposite of bear market.

bear market

Definition

A prolonged period in which investment prices fall, accompanied by widespread pessimism. If the period of falling stock prices is short and immediately follows a period of rising stock prices, it is instead called a correction. Bear markets usually occur when the economy is in a recession and unemployment is high, or when inflation is rising quickly. The most famous bear market in U.S. history was the Great Depression of the 1930s. The term "bear" has been used in a financial context since at least the early 18th century. While its origins are unclear, the term may have originated from traders who sold bear skins with the expectations that prices would fall in the future. opposite of bull market.

Long story short. The commercial market is shifting from a Bull market to a Bear market. CoStar Group headline

Bring On the Bears: Optimism Fades in Latest Real Estate Exec Survey

DLA Piper Survey Shows More than Two-Thirds of Real Estate Executives Now Pessimistic in Outlook For Next Year; Other Reports Echo Market Woes While Offering Hope

It use to be that if a Realtor® had a listing that person had a sale.  Now it's not so. As a Realtor® you can do everything right. You can put the listing in MLS, have a virtual tour done, do open houses, pass the word around the office and to other offices, makes sure the house shows well when someone does see it and you still don't get any bites.

There's just too much inventory out there. I need buyers.

Good selling,

Leo

Okay, it's not going up real fast. I think it is getting a bit better. Today we had a little more activity on the phone. I got a sign call and I have a showing tomorrow.

I think we will see is a little roller coaster affect. It will be nice when it starts going up on a regular basis but not as fast as it was three years ago. I like a win win situation and a good economy. When the market drops as fast as it did a lot of homeowners got hurt. So did anyone connected to real estate; Realtors®, sales agents, brokers, mortgage brokers, title company's, builders and the list keeps going.

I have heard some scuttlebutt about a down market for another 12 months. I think they are wrong. It's beginning to turn ever so slightly now.

Now may be the best time to puck up some good buys.

Good selling,

Leo

No one likes to hear that their monthly maintenance is going up but it's a reality. If you want the same quality jobs being done you have to pay for it. If you want to have the same services; gated, gate attendant, call from gate system, insurance on the property, termite protection and there's lots more, you have to pay for it.

I was at a meeting yesterday about Sandpiper's monthly maintenance. The turn out was poor. Their was about 1/8 of our community their. I'm sure that made the Board members a little more relaxed. There is usually someone who wants to keep the maintenance fee the same by cutting something out or changing something. I was involved in a discussion about another part of the complex called the Tides. This person wants to reduce costs by changing the type of termite control that is being used. We are using Centricom which I am familiar with and I like.

None of our services can be changed at this time even if we wanted. The builder, Pulte, is in charge of the management company, Sterling Management, until the Sandpiper is 90% occupied. That may not be a bad thing. Our section will be the last to be under Pulte's control because the rest of Sweetwater is being built and filled up faster.

You may be wondering how much our monthly maintenance is going up. It's only increasing by $11 a month. Not bad, in my opinion.

Good selling,

Leo

I would say the most important thing to do when selling your house is to price the house right in the beginning. People loose freshness of a new listing after a few weeks.

Pricing is all about supply and demand. It's part art and part science. No two Realtors® will give you the same price. They should not be very far off from each other though.

Now, it's a buyers market. There is a lot of invintory out there. Let's say that there are 4 houses with simular square footage in your neighborhood for sale. You had better price your's below theirs... Think of it this way. Only one of those 5 houses will sell in the next six months. Will it be your's?...

Everyone thinks there house is worth more. Things like crown molding, granit counter tops, upgraded appliances, wood floors are a plus. Those nice appealing additions will help sell your house but don't try to increase the price of the house because you had these features installed. At least not in this market.

Good Selling,

Leo

To me a puppymill is a place designed to produces a large amount of puppys. The breeders, I use the term loosly, don't take care of the breeding dogs. The dogs get minimal care. No grooming, dental and in most cases shots.

Do not buy a dog from a pet store. The odds are extreemely high that a dog in a pet store came from a puppymill. If you only have time to look at one link see Prisoners of Greed.

There are many web sights:

Prisoners of Greed

Puppymill Awareness

AWA Watchdog

Stop Puppy Mills

Leo

I am an animal lover and have two Papillon, Chloe (aka Sally) and Bertie (Alberta). They are both rescue dogs.

My first Pap was Chloe. She was in a puppymill somewhere in mid US. I know that she was flown to Atlanta from Texas. She was hand shy, ears down, tail down and did not make a sound. She did not bark. It took about 40 days before I knew she could bark. When I first heard her, I laughed. The sound was so tinny sounding. I was use to large dogs and their barks were deep and meant "I'm big and stay away". This sound was tiny sounding and she was trying to tell me she was big and stay away. I just had to laugh out loud. By the end of the second month her ears and tail were up. She wagged her tail and she was beginning to trust us more.

I was happy with one Pap. Brenda and I always had one dog at a time. True, they were large dogs and we had them till they passed away of old age. I told you at the beginning of the blog that I have two. How did that happen? I read a very sad bio about a Papillon by the name of Alberta and forwarded it to Brenda. That was two years ago. I looked for the original bio but could not find it. I will use the opening paragraph from a term paper that mentioned Bertie:

Have you ever heard a dog scream? Have you ever seen a dog that was so terrified that the scream was silent? Meet Bertie, a purebred Papillon from a puppy mill. When Papillon 911 Rescue and Adoption rescued Bertie, she was so emotionally damaged that when any human approached her, she would cower in the back of her crate and silently scream. She had spent six long years in a puppy mill.

That is my Bertie. Brenda said that we had to have her. I went on line and put an application in for her. I was not sure we would be approved. We weren't approved for Chloe yet. The home visit was scheduled for the next day for Chloe. You already know we have the two girls now so everything went well.

Bertie's teeth were in very bad shape. The owners of Puppymills don't spend money on dogs they use for breeding. It cuts into their profit. Bertie had an abscised tooth that went into the bone and out of 36 teeth, only six could be saved. She would freeze if you picked her up. I mean stiff as a board with her mouth open and tong straight and turning blue. This poor girl must have been through some kind of hell... She was use to walking on chicken wire. When she walked on grass, she had a goose step. She did not know how to jump and trust humans. It's been two years and she still does not believe that most humans love her. She will begrudgingly come to me when I call her. If I hold her, she wants to get down as soon as possible. She puts up with me petting her.

I hope no one expects me to talk about real estate on every blog. It's not going to happen.

Good selling,

Leo

Everything went well. The weather was beautiful. The food and people were great. By the end, I was exhausted.

My mother and sister were up from the Tampa Bay area. Mom was able to flutter around and meet new people. Brenda and I were busy organizing the food. There was a small problem when the sterno caught the paper tablecloth on fire. There were only a couple of us who saw it and we put it out quickly.

Mom told me that someone in Building 3 has a place in Orange Park that they are trying to sell themselves. That is a really bad idea in this market. Some people have to learn a lesson before they realize why Realtors® get paid so much. The good Realtors® make it seem easy to the Sellers.

The hardest thing for the Seller to do is to do what the Realtor® tells you. If he/she says the price needs to come down and shows you why, reduce the price. If you are on lock box, the house needs to be clean and lights left on at all times. These are basics. I'll talk more about that in another blog.

Great selling,

Leo

Sandpiper is the name of the group of condo's I live in. There are 32 units per Building. Right now we have three buildings and Pulte is building a fourth.

I have been working on a Picnic at the Pavilion for the past month. It is all coming together today. There are about a dozen people involved.

I just came back from walking my dogs... My dogs are a whole story in themselves.. The Pavilion floor was painted yesterday and looks great.  We could not ask for better weather, low this morning 58, high 80. Gota love it:)

We have chicken from a local warehoue store BJ's, maccaroni and cheese, potato salad, cole slaw, fresh fruit, barbecued backed beans, paper goods, cake mix, frosting, aluminum goods (foil, pans, rack for the pans), condiments and more from a combination of BJ's, Cosco and Publix. Good fixins.

I'll let you know how it went tomorrow.

Good selling,

Leo

Sweetwater is a 55+ active lifestyle community with great amenities. Our Club House is called Summerland Hall. It's grand.... I am going to borrow information from their web sight. http://www.delwebb.com/Homefinder/Community.aspx?ID=100491

Summerland Hall: What do you want to do with your day? On your own with your friends and family, enjoy the Fitness Center, Business Center, Lap Swimming, Relaxing in the pool or jacuzzi, Billiards Room for pool, chess, board games, or darts and the library for relaxing, reading or socializing. The listing I have featured has some great pictures of the hall. Go back to the home page to see.

Condominium Homes: Our four-story condominium homes, featuring two elevators in each building and enclosed breezeways are the ultimate in luxury, carefree living. Decorated model homes are now available for tour. Visit today!

Carriage Homes: Decorated models are now open! The first carriage home residents have begun moving into Sweetwater. Carriage homes combine the best of both condominium and townhome living such as an attached garage, oversized screened lanai, and single level living.

Single Family Homes: Phase III, Sweetwater’s latest single family home release features an amazing selection of premium homesites with outstanding preserve locations.

I'm in the condos. Sandpiper. Building 2. We have a great time. Our building has been labeled as the party building. We have had several parties in the building this year.

The Carriage Homes and Single Family Homes have block parties. All of us organize barbecues. I organized a Picnic at the Pavilion for this Saturday. This is the second event that all three building will attend. We have about 65 people signed up. Lots of fun to be had by all.

Good Selling,

Leo

I have never done this but I had a Buyer ask me about it recently. Can I share commission? The answer is from the Florida Association of Realtors.

Advertising/Promotion
Q I recently opened my own brokerage. In an effort to attract new business, I’d like to place an advertisement offering buyers and sellers who use my services a $200 rebate. Is this legal?
A Yes. The Florida Real Estate Commission (FREC) Rule 61J2-10.028(2) provides that a licensee may share brokerage compensation with a party to a transaction as long as full disclosure is given to all interested parties. Furthermore, since you’ll be advertising this rebate, you also need to comply with FREC Rule 61J2-10.025, which provides, in part, that real estate advertisements must not be false, fraudulent, deceptive or misleading.  The ad should clarify any conditions or limitations that apply.

Good Selling,

Leo

Everyone knows that it is a Buyers market right now. Low Balling can work in certain instances. A Realtor® should be able to justify his/her customers offer. The more facts and relevant information you include with your bid, the less the seller will assume you are just low-balling for the sake of getting a steal. No one wants to feel like they’ve been cheated—especially when it comes to major investments like property—so it’s important for a Realtor® to do the leg work and build up a case.

It’s vital to take into account the local market conditions, in addition to the motivation of your specific seller. To investigate whether the houses in the area are selling and find out what comparable homes are selling for. I can also figure out how long the seller’s property has been on the market and whether the price is consistent with similar houses in the area. Has the listing price been reduced and if so, by how much? Why is the seller trying to unload the property? Many people have to relocate for a job and need to sell their existing place. Perhaps they’ve already purchased another home somewhere else, in which case the motivation is probably even higher. With answers to all these questions I’ll assist you in piecing together a profile on which to base your bid.

Good selling,

Leo

I met a gentleman a few weeks ago and welcomed him to Sweetwater, a subdivision I live in. He was looking at some waterfront condos and told the agent showing him that he is working with a Realtor®. Me... That was very nice of him. He is going to give me the details later.

My wife and I met with a couple of friend from Treasure Island, FL yesterday. Gloria is a real estate agent formally from Michigan. Eric, her boyfriend, is also from Michigan. Her father use to grow prize winning day lilies. They came to Orange Park to check out an Orchid show.

We had dinner at Carrabba's, our favorite chain of restaurants, in Orange Park on Wells Rd. The food was poor. Glorias scallops were cold. She had to send it back. My chicken parmesan had no sauce on it and we have had better waiters.... Brenda, my wife, and I have always had excellent food and service at the Carrabba's off of Baymeadows Rd in Jacksonville. Go to that one. If you're in the St Petersburg area, the one on Tyrone Blvd and another on Fourth Street are excellent.

Good selling,

Leo

In order to allow my viewers to do a good search (IDX) has to be implimented. My broker knew exactly what I needed and has a copy of the paperwork ready to go. I had to fill out some paperwork as well. The 10 pages came from my local Board of Realtors®. Once that was done I had to fax the documents to XSites. They have some documents to read and sign. When that is completed I'm hoping that XSites emails me the info to install or they do it for me.... We'll see.

I had a few things to do around the complex yesterday. There are three condo's with 32 units in each. I am in Building two. Building three has recently been completed and Pulte is building number four. This is my first experiance with a brand new home. I guess with new homes, they can't get everything right the first time. Many of the units blower for the dryer vents were not working. Mine was hooked up right. Pulte had a group of workers check very one from the outside. Some were not connected electricly at all. Some, when they were hooked up, started running without the dryer going and because no one was home, let it continue to run. No one notifyed the owner. In some cases the owner heard a different sound than what they were use to hearing but thought nothing of it.... Now for the remainder of them that are not working.... There is a device that sences air pressure to activate the fan motor. Some of these scensors are not working. I've emailed everyone to check but some dont know what to look for or listen for. I helped one person check hers out and sure enough, the fan was not kicking on.

I am on two committees. The property & grounds committee and communication. It keeps me pretty busy. I also enjoy putting together a party for the buildings. Building 2 has our own party once in a while but it's nice to get everyone together to meet each other. It's going to be especially nice to have the new people from Building 3 join in the mix. The next one is October 13th. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Good selling,

Leo

I had floor time today from 3 to 6. This is the fourth time I have had floor time. I think I have the program that we use for appointments down pretty good now.

It's different from what I am use to. With Century 21 Real Estate Champions we had an office manager who answered the phone. With Magnolia Properties we (Realtors®) answer the phone. Any calls that come in are ours unless an agent is asked for by name. At Century 21 Real Estate Champions if someone called off a sign, the lead would belong to the listing agent. Not so at Magnolia Properties.

I have asked our Manager, Teresa a number of questions over the past two days and she had the right answer each time. She is very helpful. I am impressed. The agents are like family. Our Broker, Eileen, told me this during our interview. It's easy to say things you don't mean during an interview but it looks like she told me the truth.... If you read this, I'm sorry I doubted you Eileen.

Great Selling,

Leo

It's Leo again.

I made a couple of misspellings in the first blog. I'll have to figure out how to correct them. In the mean time I had better use spell check before I send.

I put a testimonial on my web sight today. It is suppose to have video but all I get is audio. I'll have to work it out later. The web sight I have is not fully functional. For $400 it can be:)... When Real Estate picks up, I'll get it.

It rained almost all day today. The snakes are crawling closer to homes. A pygmy rattler bit a dog in our subdivision yesterday. Luckily, the owner took it to the vet right a way. Water moccasins have been sighted and at least one was killed. We are building in their habitat and there is no place for them to go.

A friend of mine in Pinellas County has a son who just passed his Real Estate exam. He lives here in Jacksonville and has a full time job with the county. My Real Estate office is going to let him hang his license with us and he will give me referrals for a percentage. This will work out very well for everyone.

Well enough for now. Time for spell check.

Good selling,

Leo

I have close ties with many Real Estate Agents in Pinellas County (west of Tampa). One being my Mother. It is slow all over. Duval is no exception.

The listings have gone up about 5 times what they were two years ago. If everything remains constant, we have enough inventory to last over one and a half years.

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Home sales subject to new laws

Today, October 01, 2007, 5 hours ago