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I love making the photos and slide shows and videos for listings.  Maybe THAT should be my whole career, hmmmmm...

So, I do not know how to make YouTube show my main info text screen shot, it always seems to show a thumbnail of some random shot in the middle of my video.  Anyone else dealt with this, any YouTube pros out there with advice?

here is a link to my video on YouTube, I could ALWAYS use more YouTube friends and subcribers too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywpY3wSwLaM

One more thing, if you are a Realtor marketing today, do you have a YouTube account? ..... if not, go get one, it is FREE and such great exposure for listings and to push more traffic to your web sites.

Jessica

Due to recent developments in the default real estate industry, we (as default professionals) have seen an explosion of real estate schools offering default courses in specific niches like, Short Sale, REO and Loan Modification.

Of course, I am sure we all can agree, a quality education can be expensive but, well worth it however, why would someone pay a premium for a quality education? For many of us, this question is mute simply because know the benefits of such an education.

The problem I see in the default industry with these real estate schools is that many of them are over promising, under delivering or plain negligent and in some cases, possibly even fraudulent with their claims. We know this to be the case due to the increased number of professionals adding their voice to the chorus of complaints, negative blogs and outright hostility towards many of these real estate schools.

So, if I was in the market looking for an education, what would I look for to make sure, I am getting a quality education. Below is my list of requirements any school would have to offer to get me to write them a check.

1. Books: If I am going to pay for a class, I want more than just a handout or screen shots of the slide presentation, I want a book. I want a book because, this lets me know that someone within in the school’s organization sat down and committed his knowledge and experience to paper. This is important to me because it commits the writer and instructor to a process of improvement and refinement. To be more specific, when students have a book, they are likely to go through, read it, question it and pose those question to their instructors and get answers. This Q & A process allows the instructor to refine the material, make changes to improve the material and becomes the single authority the class is built around. A book is very important.
2. Experienced Instructors: An experienced instructor is invaluable and very well worth their weight in gold. The experience of the instructor, coupled with the knowledgebase of an actual training manual / book, creates an environment where learning is maximized. Experienced instructors give the book and class a level of integrity that can’t be and shouldn’t be discounted. As a student, I expect that if I were to ask a question about a particular subject matter being taught in class, my instructor should be able to answer my question or, at the very least, have a resource from his experience to get that answer with no difficulty.
3. Uncompromised Integrity: The days of testing a students’ knowledgebase with an open book test are gone! If I am going to pay good money for a course, I expect that when I am done and it’s time to test my retained knowledge that I can’t just go and grab my book, open it up and look up the answer. I have never understood the purpose of these types of test. As a student, I took the course not to just get the “certification or designation” but, to actually better myself and increase my knowledgebase and likewise, I expect to be tested in such a way that evaluates my level of retention honestly so I may strive for success. Too many times I have seen agents walk into a training class with computers, IPads, mobile devices and the such because, the class was secondary to whatever else was going on. The class expectation was lowered because they knew the test was open book and all they had to do was be a warm body in a seat for a couple of days. This isn’t a class I want to be a part of.
4. Certification / Designation: If I spend the time, money and energy to truly learn and become a subject matter expert in my niche, I better get a designation or at least a certification. For many of you, this may not be important because, many of you carry certification and designations that came from open book test. I am looking for a certification or designation that isn’t achieved by just paying my $499.99 onetime fee and my annual $99.99. Give us a certification, designation that means something, that was something I worked hard for and people know I worked hard for.
5. Open Doors: People go to Harvard or Stanford not simply because they are good schools but, because they also know that those names on a resume will open a door. In other words, students know that paying $100,000.00(+) for a education will pay off as a long term investment, 10 (+) fold. Too many real estate schools are charging premiums for education yet, not a single door is ever opened with that education. Granted, I am sure that the majority of the time, the student can hold a good portion of the blame, when it comes to not making their education work for themselves but, I have never met a poor Harvard graduate. My point is, students expect that if they are going to pay a premium, it better be returned in business. I don’t think this is too much to ask, hell….I would expect it myself if I were looking for a default course to take. The reason many of these real estate courses out there today don’t open doors is because, they aren’t built around traditional education philosophies and instead are nothing more than money grabbers who make empty promises but, what is worse, the industry knows it and therefore, they do not open doors.
6. Mentoring: After I pay my premium, take my test, graduate the program, I want to know that I have a forum, a site, somewhere to go to find advice or provide advice to others who follow. Mentoring is key to a quality education because it’s a part of the process to open doors. People who have made it and can contribute a portion of their success to their education can then turn around and bring others up behind them through a quality mentoring program. Granted, I don’t necessarily need a one on one mentor but, at the very least, I need a library of sorts that I can go to, look things up, chat with other members and further my learning by staying on the cutting edge of what is happening real time in the real world.
7. No Annual Fees: I shouldn’t have to continually pay for my education, certification or designation. A education isn’t a service, it’s a product and therefore, should be priced around the idea that I will only pay once. I don’t got to the grocery store, buy a box of Macaroni and Cheese and then pay for it every week so, why would I do that with an education, I wouldn’t! Annual fees are nothing more than a education provider to milk his current students out of their hard earned cash because that provider knows it’s harder to obtain new students than it is to simply get current students to agree to give you annual fees when they sign up for your course in the first place. Annual fees allows education providers to become stagnate and lazy and I don’t want to pay them.

My point is, these 7 bullets are my concerns about what is happening in the real estate education industry. If I can’t get a majority of these 7 items filled, I don’t buy the class. Sad to say, really because, why can’t we have a choice where we aren’t looking to purchase based on these 7 points so much we are looking at the actual quality of education.

Saving Money When Designing And Building Your Dream Log Home


Consider log home design options:
You have a wide variety of log home design options to consider.
At the top is a handcrafted log home or a timber frame log home. From there youcan go with a milled log home and even a conventionally framed home with logsiding and log accents for those on tighter budgets.

The savings start with the design of your log home. - The best way to beginyour design is to find a floor plan that is close to what you are looking for,mark it with your changes and send it to one or more log home companies of yourchoice. Most log home companies will gladly advise you on your custom log homedesign, where to save money, and then quote a kit price. Don't be reluctant tobegin a design with your unique requirements. Rarely (and I do mean rarely)does a company ship the same log home kit twice. If you are having difficultyfinding a plan that fits your life style, go to a search engine (e.g., www.google.com, www.yahoo.com, etc.) and search on “log home plans.” You will find many loghome companies listed; most of which have extensive libraries of standard floorplans. Another option would be to search on “house plans” where you will find amind boggling number of companies that sell conventional house plans, includinga few also offering log home plans. Remember, most log home companies willgladly convert a conventional house plan to a log home plan. Remember, the morecorners in the foundation, the more complex the roof system, the more windowscalled for, the more exposed rafters called for (as opposed to locallymanufactured roof trusses), the more the home will cost.

Do the log home labor yourself. - This is the opportunity for thegreatest saving. Of course, most of us work full time at other jobs and do nothave the time for such an undertaking. However, if your heart is set onresearching this option, visit any of the online book sellers, search on “loghomes” and order one or more books that focus on the construction of log homes.But perhaps the wisest choice would be to contact a nearby log builder andnegotiate an hourly rate for consultation or have them give you a proposal tobe a construction manager for you for a fixed fee or percentage on the costs.This method allows any savings to be passed back to you. It is best to spendtime and money up front to get the job done right, rather than deal withproblems later that never seem to go away.

Act as your own builder. - This is your option for the second greatestsaving. Many log home buyers decide to be their own general contractor.However, be aware, this choice is not without its headaches. That is why yousave all those bucks! Local building officials can be difficult to work with;subcontractors will be late or never show up; deliveries will be late or thewrong materials will be delivered; the weather is unpredictable; subcontractorsand suppliers may take advantage of your inexperience. And the list goes on.Regardless of the pitfalls and stress, acting as your own general contractorwill still save you about 15% - and that is big bucks. If you elect thisoption, again visit online book sellers, search on “log homes” and purchase oneor more books that deal with log home construction. Contracting with anexperienced builder to serve as an advisor or construction manager is highlyrecommended.

Shop for financing the same as you shop for building materials, appliances,etc. – If there is no local lender experienced in the financing of log homes,go to the search engines and search on “log home loans” or “log homemortgages.” Lenders will not charge you when you apply for a loan. Fileapplications with two or more lenders and then select the best deal. Sometimesit’s good to look at a national log home lender with log home experience.

Select your building lot with caution. - How long will the driveway be?If you must install a septic system, a health permit is a prerequisite, andthen, will it be necessary to pump to the drain field? Will it be necessary tocross a creek? How much grading will be involved? Is tree and stump removalgoing to be a problem? Will there be a rock problem when the foundation isexcavated? In other words, a "cheap" lot can quickly become anexpensive lot. If you are having difficulty finding a lot, contact a local realestate agent. Give the realtor your lot selection criteria (price range,location, size, etc.) and tell him/her to search the Multiple Listing Servicedata base. There is no charge for this service. The true price of the lotshould include all those things necessary to have it ready to build onincluding driveway, sewer, water, & power systems on-site.

Select your log home builders with caution. - When talking to buildersask for references and visit log homes he/she has built and talk to the homeowners.

Select carpet as your floor covering rather than hardwood floors. - Yes,hardwood floors are a "natural" in log homes. But we are looking foropportunities to save money. Perhaps you can compromise. Put hardwood in thegreat room and carpet elsewhere. Remember, at a later date (after you havereceived a job promotion or two) you can always replace carpet with hardwood.

Use Cultural Stone for wall accents and fireplaces attached to plywood andstuds in lieu of a full masonry or stone. - Don't tell your friends. It'simpossible to see the low cost plywood and studs thru the cultural stone. RealStone also weighs a lot and can require additional structural support. Thisdecision can save you a lot of money

Consider an efficient wood stove over an inefficient and more expensivefireplace. - Select black flue pipe instead of a masonry chimney. The blackflue pipe looks great in a log home.

Build your log home on a crawl space rather than a basement. - Again, weare looking for opportunities to save money. Sure, a basement is cheap floorspace and many buyers opt for the extra storage, shop and/or recreation roomspace; never-the-less, eliminating the basement will save $15,000 - $30,000 ina typical home.

Have your custom fixed glass manufactured locally. - Yes, your windowsupplier will want to order your fixed glass from the factory. While he/she isgetting a quote from the factory, visit a local glass shop. You may bepleasantly surprised. Locally manufactured fixed glass windows are availablewith double glass and/or tinted glass.

Select your windows and doors with care. - This is a major opportunity forsavings. Compare the quality and cost of several manufacturers before making adecision. If you expect to have a large number of windows and exterior doors,ask the suppliers if you qualify for a truck load discount.

Select your plumbing fixtures, electrical fixtures and kitchen cabinets withcare. - These are also major opportunities for controlling your costs.

Start shopping early. - Whether you hire a builder to do a "turnkey" job or act as the general contractor, you can save money onindividual items in the house - for example, appliances, floor coverings,windows, doors, plumbing fixtures, kitchen cabinets, counter tops, etc., etc.The earlier you start shopping the more likely you are to find items on sale.Just let your "turn key" builder know in advance that you plan toshop for sale items and BE AWARE, if you slow down or inconvenience the builder,you will quickly lose what you saved and probably much more.

Best wishes as you embark on an exciting journey.

Check out our Log Homes, Log Cabins, Luxury Log Homes, new log floor plans,client photo galleries, new articles, and videos at http://www.avalonloghomes.com/

Ivan Choi said there were over 400 in attendance last night at the annual REOMAC dinner meeting at the Marriott. There was a commerical short sale and note sales workshop at 3:00pm to start things off. I heard really good comments from the first speaker, one comment was out of the 200+ commercial short sales he has done, the longest was only 90 days! Huh, kinda makes me start to re-think some things.

I didn't know these REOMAC speakers personaly on stage but the second presenter was more on the financial side of the commercial default/ distress part of the business and I have to be honest it was very informative and interesting. That stuff would normally put me to sleep but to see how the inner workings of this high end commercial financing and syndicated loans with the wall street people making money of the margins was new to me. Thank you REOMAC, any day I can learn about my craft and put into use is a good day.

Then the opening reception at the REOMACdinner meeting was a meet and mingle with other industry folks was interesting as well. I took along my flip video camera and will post on you tube under  REOMACDinner Meeting Dec 2010 or San-Diego-REO.com . This was my 3rd dinner meeting with REOMACand as always I saw some old friends and some of my new friends as well.

The after dinner discussion was on a differerent level and I agreed with some of the comment and did not agree with others. Everybody has an opinion and maybe one of those will really help us out of this mess.

See ya...Cheers :)   This space is reserved for the video.  I am editing as REOMAC speakers are NOT to be on video.

Has this happened to you?!?

Lately I have had clients make offers on Freddie Mac REOs with the local Freddie Mac REO listing companies. In Boise, as in many communities around the country, local brokerages have a virtual monopoly on listing properties for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The overwhelming number of REOs dumped onto our market has completely overwhelmed these listing agents. Of course, some of these REO agents are really great. Others agents though.... Just try getting a response from them within a week or two! We have one offer in on a Freddie Mac property and have not had a response from the listing agent for over three weeks! Turns out they recently received approximately 50 new Freddie Mac REO listings. Seems to me that this will merely reduce their poor service and slow responsiveness to non-existent!

It stands to reason that if Fannie and Freddie really do want to liquidate their massive inventory, then they need to spread these listings out over many more agents so that no one individual is overwhelmed. If you have had similar frustrations please comment so we can raise awareness of this issue and help facilitate positive changes in this industry!

I found the following graphic at REOInsider.com

For many of us, we have heard commentators talking about the slow housing recovery however, if you believe a slow housing recovery is what is happening, I beg to differ.

I have been preaching now….for at least 6 months or so, hyperinflation could be coming and after what happened last week with the Federal Reserve, I am not just speculating anymore but, predicting we will enter an era of hyperinflation. Granted, several factors need to come into play but, make no mistake, the stage has been set and the players have been cast.

Last week, the Federal Reserve decided to print almost a Trillion dollars in order to buy, almost a Trillion dollars worth of Federal Debt. This is just like you, using your Brother Multi-function printer, scanner, copier to print out some money and use it to buy your own debt back from one of your creditors. Obviously, the money you printed is absolutely no good and therefore, you end up being unable to pay off your debt and in return, go bankrupt. The problem is, it’s not that easy when we are talking about national financial planning, or lack thereof.

Ultimately, when a country, like the USA, buys back our own debt we cause inflation but, that isn’t all we do. We also deflate the dollar or cause the dollar to decline against foreign currencies. In other words, inflations skyrockets and the value of your dollar drops. It’s exactly like what happened to Germany in the Weimar Republic, see wiki link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weimar_Republic

So, how does this impact real estate, you may be asking….well, let me elaborate a bit more.

You need to keep in the back of your head, the real estate bubble still hasn’t stopped bursting. We still have hundreds of thousands of homeowners on ARMs or other high risk lending packages that will be resetting for up to the next 2-4 years. If we go through a time of hyperinflation, these people will be priced out of their homes, days…..not years. We will flood the market with an unbelieveable amount of inventory or banks will be required to hold the inventory, similarly to what they are doing now voluntarily….so we are told.

Either way, the realestate market is doomed. If banks keep these toxic assets on their books and don’t have the necessary liquidity to fulfill the demands of withdrawals because all their money is tied up or even worse, they don’t have any money because they made so many bad loans…..we have a “Great” Depression…..like this country has never seen. Not to mention, since the US Dollar is the World’s reserve currency, we potentially could….and most likely will, take down most all of the World with us.

If you believe what I say is crazy talk or I have lost my mind, listen to what China and Germany have already said. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6A12IA20101108

I am not trying to scare any of you….I am hoping and praying that you will research this for yourself and make your own conclusions and prepare yourself and families for what could happen. Yes, my family does have a “disaster” plan…….I know that may sound a bit spooky but, I have tried to live my life with a couple quotes in my mind and one of those is, “Luck favors the prepared” and, in this economy, luck can go a long way.

My point is, if the Fed continues with their Quantative Easement or Debt Monetization, this country will enter a time like none we have ever seen. The worse part of all this is, what if the people I listen to, the people I know who know much more about this stuff than I do…….what if they are right?

Regardless of which side of the isle you subscribe to, last night was a nail biter for all of us. With Republican control over the House and a narrowing of the gap in the Senate, what can we, as Real Estate Professionals expects to see in the upcoming 2 years?

As most of us all can agree, the new Speaker of the House, John Boehener has pledged that jobs will be his primary focus. As a conservative, I would expect he would fight for reducing taxes and reducing the size of government in order to create those jobs, he has said as much more or less. So, does this plan bode well for real estate?

My first impression is absolutely. We know from history that a reduction of taxes frees up private sector capital and in return, that capital is used to grow private sector jobs. My only problem is, freeing up capital hasn’t been the problem with this economy, it’s been confidence. We here every talking head on television tell us that big business is setting on large amounts of cash but won’t invest, they won’t spend it and, most of the time it’s because they don’t know what the will be specifically, their taxes. Now, with a normal Republican, I couldn’t say I would believe taxes would be reduced however, in many of the races last night, we saw Tea Party Republicans win and I do believe these men and woman will staunchly work towards a reduction in taxes and a restriction if not a drawback of government. If the Tea Party Republicans can move an agenda of lower taxes, restricted or drawnback government, I really do believe we will see jobs start to recover however, will it be enough?

The truth about jobs is, at no time, in this country’s history (that I am aware of) were we ever able to recover millions of jobs in less than 2, 4 or 6 years. My point is, it would take an unprecedented, history making, future changing legislation supporting capitalism and individual liberty to recoup the millions of jobs we have already lost and, with a progressively controlled democratic party, who is in control of the White House and Senate, that isn’t going to happen.

So, what specifically do we need to do? I suggest we have “A Return to Normalcy”. Many of you reading this won’t know what that means but, some will, let me explain. The date was April 12, 1921 and President Harding (A GREAT PRESIDENT) laid out a plan to Congress that he called, “A Return to Normalcy”. This plan was a economic stimulus plan and it consisted of 6 key points that, are just as relevant today as they were back then.

Those key points were (in no particular order)

1. National Debt Reduction

2. Tax Reduction

3. National Budget Program (Balanced Budget Law)

4. Tariffs to protect industry and farm commodities (an end to the unfair trade practices of other countries, today it would be China)

5. Immigration restrictions (or in other words, American Citizen get American jobs, not illegal aliens)

6. Farm Relief (could now be industry relief or real estate relief)

The Roaring 20’s were an era of extreme prosperity for this country and it was a direct result of Harding’s “stimulus” program. Now granted, Harding didn’t get to see the program to fruition, it was Calvin Coolidge who stayed the course and ended up truly being able to experience the benefits of Harding’s plan but, it doesn’t diminish the fact, these 6 points transformed this country and led to an inventive, creative, unrestricted society that arguably could be considered one of the most prosperous times in our nations history.

The reality is, times have changed. Our country has become so dependent on the Federal Government to provide their paycheck, we may never be able to institute the kind of plan Harding and Coolidge did. I recently read a report that said over 46% of Americans depend on the Federal Government for the bulk of their income…..what?.....yes….I said that right. If that doesn’t scare you, it should. None the less, this country was built by men and woman who laid an incredible foundation Faith, Truth, Integrity and Personal Responsibility and as an American, it seems to me we are genetically hard wired to return to our founding father’s principals therefore, I truly expect the next to years to be volatile fight between 2 ideologies. One will be that of progressive socialism and the second will be staunch conservatism. Who wins, well….that depends on you, the voter.

With all that said, I believe real estate will be volatile for at least the next 2 years. I think we will start to see an end to foreclosure moratoriums, failed homeowner preservation programs (HAMP), and a more common sense approach to lending. I believe we will begin to see a paradigm shift back to personal responsibility and a reduction of the current REO housing inventory. I think this political climate will be beneficial for real estate simply because it will force our government to be more practical in their methods and let’s be honest, being practical is a conservative virtue, not a progressive virtue.

Jobs Recovery and Rent

Strategic Defaults: A Strategic Option

What To Consider When Hiring a Property Management Company

That Troublesome Contract! ….part two

For part one of this “mini-series” please see: http://reopro.ning.com/profiles/blogs/that-troublesome-contract

As you see from Part One, this all started the week after Christmas, yes...Christmas of 2009. But let me get you up to speed with the latest.

Finally, after weeks of back and forth between the buyer's agent and the bank's asset manager, we come to an agreement on terms. Which were pretty good on paper, key phrase here is “on paper”. The deal was $4000 over list price (no competing offers) so the buyer could get more closing cost paid. The bank normally would not pay more the 3%, but the buyer needed up to 6% to make the deal work according to her lender. Red flag #4 or 5, not sure as I had stopped keeping track by now as we were in the second month of this transaction and still do not have a binding agreement. Almost all the delays were cause by the buyer's agent, having him re-write the offer 7, yes 7 times, before he got it right!

I get the A/M to finally understand what was going on and their net did not change, this only took 3 or 4 emails. The A/M send me the contract back to have the buyers initial off all the changes to the contract before he signs it. WTH? Why didn't he go ahead and sign it? But anyway, I roll with it and send it to the buyer's agent with instructions on what to do. This bank's division does not use addendums, they just mark out what they don't like on the original contract and initial all the changes. I've gotten use to it but some agents get very confused about this. I tell the agent the buyer must initial each and every change or it will be sent back to him. Well, it took 3 attempts to all the initials in the proper places, still not sure if it was the agents fault or the buyer's but I'll blame the agent anyway, he should have known better!

So after 2 more weeks I send the contract back to the A/M for his final signature. Shouldn't take more then a day, two if he's busy...right? Wrong again! Three WEEKS later I get the signed contract back and guess what, now we have got to re-negotiate the closing date as by now we only have 8 days to close a FHA loan. Finally, a closing date is set for April 20.....cool! Or so I thought.

Well, by now the buyer has swapped lenders, another red flag! I called the lender to confirm the approval letter like normal, “no problems” says the lender “we can close by the 20th”. COOL! Or so I thought again. This was early mid-March so I thought they had plenty of time to get this done. Wrong again!

Two weeks before any closing I usually start calling the buyer's lender to see how things were going and if there were any snafu's popping up. Well, when I call the lender his office phone number has been disconnected (red flag # 30 something by now?) but he answers his cell phone. Kids and a TV in the background, he quickly tells me he is swamped and would call me back in 10 minutes. Three days later I call him back, same story...will call you back in 10 minutes. I then call the agent, he says he will talk to the lender and call me back in 10 minutes. LOL, this is starting to become a funny game. Two days later he calls me back and says “no problems, we will close on the 20th”. It was around the 15^th, (the closing was the 20th) so I say COOL! (I have got to stop saying this)

On the 20^th the agent calls me early in the morning to say there is a problem. No kidding? There has been a problem since the very start! I told him he gets one shot at extending the closing date, talk to the lender and see exactly what the problem was and how long he needs to get this done and closed. That afternoon he calls me to say that the lender told him that the buyer's credit score was 613, that they were working on some credit repairs and would need an additional 21 days. WTH? This “lender” issued a letter of approval knowing that the buyer is not qualified? And I believe the agent knew this all along!

After I calm down and come off the ceiling, I tell this agent that this was unacceptable and that he needed to find a way to get this closed by the end of the week, 7 days max. To send me a closing extension request form before 4pm. Well I get it at 10pm that night.....requesting the 21 days I told him earlier he would not get. Needless to say that the bank rejected the request and I prepared the Termination of Contract and Release of Earnest Money form, sent it to the A/M on April 21 for him to sign, the day after the scheduled closing. COOL, I think to myself, I can get this back on the market in time for the last week or so of the tax rebates. Which did prompt a lot of activity locally.

Well, not so fast there big boy! Even so the A/M said that the bank wanted the earnest money ASAP because the buyer failed to close, and I sent the form to the A/M last month for him to sign and send back, I'm still waiting. The contract is still active and I cannot put it back on the market because in Georgia, contracts do not automaticly expire if not closed. It MUST be terminated in writing, no if's, and's or but's. This was explained to the A/M when I sent him the form.

I inquired again this past week with the A/M, as now I'm getting nasty letters from our business office wanting the paperwork or threatening to fine me. Again the A/M says that the contract has expired because it did not close, to send him the E/M ASAP. Now I can understand that keeping up with contract laws in multiple states can be overwhelming and hard to do, no problems. He tells me that other agents in my state do not require this form, why am I?

Because it's Georgia contract law and these other agents are wrong, not to mention breaking the law. I was only trying to protect them from any future legal liability. He did not believe me and requested documentation on this, so I found an article written by the very attorney who writes the contract forms for the Ga. Assoc. of Realtors (GAR) that states exactly what I have been telling him. Still not good enough and they call one of the partners in the mega law firm that handles all of their closing services.

That was Thursday, I'm still waiting for a one page form needing one signature and fax/emailed back to me and I'll take care of the rest.

I'm starting to think this house is jinxed! This is the third contract that has failed to close, I've had to fire a team member over it (that's for a whole other blog there), and now I expect to be fired by the bank because I refused to break contract law. Not to mention that I'm about to get a $50 fine for not turning in paperwork that the A/M has refused to sign.

I'm hoping that Part Three is a much shorter story to write!

Steve Adkins – REALTOR®

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Metro Brokers

404-843-2500

Hiram Office

www.The-Adkins-Group.com

Keller Williams Realty Associates may be taking the day off on Thursday, May 13, 2010, but it will hardly be a day of rest. Over 25,000 associates across the United States and Canada will spend their day off by giving back as part of the company’s community service initiative: RED Day.

Short for “Renew, Energize and Donate,” RED Day was created to unite Keller Williams Realty offices and associates in an international day of service. During RED Day 2009, over 25,000 Keller Williams associates participated in activities ranging from food and blood drives to cleaning up trash in public parks, doing yard work for neighbors in need or revamping gardens at nursing homes. Last year on RED Day, the company donated over 130,000 hours.

As part of the RED Day effort, Keller Williams Realty of Tracy has chosen to spend the day with McKinley Elementary, one of the 1st schools to be established in Tracy, CA. We have found that this aged site is lacking an outdoor sports field & sports equipment and many of the 450 children come from families with little to no income, making necessities such as paper and pencils a rarity. With the majority of students being on free or reduced lunch and/or breakfast, these teachers and staff have many obstacles to overcome in order to provide the learning facility that each and every child deserves.

We’ve made a commitment to McKinley Elementary to donate 450 backpacks filled with school supplies to start out the 2010-11 school year on the right track. We are reviving the sports field and building a soccer goal for the kids and their soccer field. We’re also hosting a BBQ for the staff and enjoying an afternoon of outdoor play with all the students; DJ playing Kids BOP, activity booths, raffle prizes and soccer play with Troy Dayak of Dayak’s Den.

The Silveria Team has raised nearly $1,000 of cash donations to contribute toward the school supplies. We’ve received gift cards and meal vouchers from many local businesses, which we greatly appreciate.

We are all very excited to spend the day with the students and staff of McKinley Elementary. We would like to invite you all to join us in our RED Day activities. We will start our day at 8:20 AM and stay until school lets out in the afternoon. If you would like to make a donation of school supplies, soccer equipment, raffle prizes or your time, we would love to hear from you.