The Real View

Rob Lang wrote a provocative blog about Active Rain awarding points for earned real estate designations (GRI, ABR, CRS, etc). I suggested that perhaps Active Rain could award its own designations.  After giving the idea some thought and play, a few possible designation awards for Rainers emerged (feel free to add more!):

ARM -- Active Rain Mentor awarded to those who share encouragement, tips and tools to make us all better real estate professionals and bloggers. Nominees? We could start with Mary McKnight , Maureen Francis , Bryant Tutas , Kristal Kraft , Damion Flynn , Bill French  and the Christian Real Estate Network . I also like Karen Hurst  and Maureen McCabe  for their constant and kind encouragement of fellow bloggers. Others?

ARCH--Active Rain Carnival Host awarded to those who host carnivals and contests for AR members. Jim Cronin , Maureen Francis and Mary McKnight  come to mind. Others?

ART-- Active Rain Tastemakers. This designation would be awarded to those who generously offer their advice and tips for staging homes, websites and blogs. Craig Schiller could probably lead the list and nominate others. The Lovely Wife  might also voice a ROAR here! Others?

ARE-- Active Rain Educators. These are the people who constantly share their knowledge about real estate and make us all better Realtors, lenders and related service providers. I am in awe of these professionals who have so kindly shared so much. Brian Brady (once awarded) could probably lead the nominating committee for lenders, as might Jeff Belonger . Website educators? After receiving the awards themselves, the nominators  might be  Lenn Harley  (PR Queen), Angus Woodbury  (branding and MOO!), Kristal Kraft (sticky site). Real estate basics? The Honorable Jim Lee  could lead the charge. Others?

Nomination blogs such as this are dicey, because I know I have inadvertantly left out some very important contributors to this forum. It is unintentional and apologies are offered in advance.  Please feel free to add categories, nominees and ideas.

Roberta Murphy

http://www.SanDiegoPreviews.com

The night before last, I met a friendly woman we'll call Susan, who six months ago had moved with her retired husband from Oklahoma to Las Vegas. They had sold their Oklahoma home and left behind long-term friendships so that they could be near their pregnant daughter and her husband. "In a drunken moment, I happily agreed to move out here and babysit for my first grandchild," she said. Susan has been doing just that for the last six months, since the baby was born. The young parents both work long hours and it seemed like a good proposition for all--at least in the beginning.

Scattered comments from Susan convinced me she was trapped because of real estate problems. It seems the young couple had purchased their first home in Las Vegas with a stated income, 100 percent loan that has resulted in both interest and lifestyle adjustments. Because of rising mortgage payments, both parents must work and simply cannot afford childcare costs.  Selling their home is not an option because of the listing glut in their neighborhood.

Grandmother Susan now babysits 60-plus unpaid hours per week, has no friends, and feels hopelessly trapped. I suggested she encourage the young couple check into the ACORN loan program for refinancing alternatives. Perhaps with the savings, the young homeowners could afford to hire a babysitter and Susan could go back to work, which she is anxious to do. She might even be able to contribute to the babysitting costs.  If that doesn't work, then perhaps the couple will be left with no alternative other than a short sale. Rentals are relatively plentiful in Las Vegas and might afford some financial relief for the couple.

As real estate professionals, most of us are becoming intimately familiar with this Perfect Storm in real estate where market glut and inappropriate loan products have combined to rip off the financial roofs of many homeowners. I guess this is the first time I have seen these circumstances ripple over to grandparents who have no mortgage problems of their own.

Susan says she wants to go back to work, meet new friends and once again welcome her visiting grandchild and their parents. She wants to reclaim her life. When I suggested the possibility she make friends with the neighbors in her new neighborhood, she shrugged her shoulders and said it seemed most of her neighbors were in the same boat as her daughter and son-in-law. The homeowners are working long hours to make mortgage payments.

I can't help but wonder how many grandparents are indirectly toting mortgage costs for which they never bargained? 

http://www.sandiegopreviews.com/

While climbing one section of China's Great Wall last week, I couldn't help but find parallels to real estate success. Both endeavors seem exciting at the outset and certainly worth the end rewards. Both require positive attitude, lots of determination and some degree of preparation. And connecting the two requires lots of s-t-r-e-t-c-h to maintain relevance in this forum.

Still, while climbing the wall, there were times--when my heart was pounding and my legs were close to collapse--that I was tempted to turn around and head back down to safe ground. I had taken my resources to the edge.

Haven't we all felt that way sometimes with our real estate careers?

At those times, I would pause to catch my breath and look at the miles of mountain scenery around me. Breathless once again,  I would also note the thinning crowd. Many had turned around and headed back to safety and sanity. I had the spur of a 22-year-old son thirty feet ahead who served as a personal trainer (and haven't I done the same for him in this business?). "Come on, don't quit now. Look how far you've come. You can do it!"

Haven't we all needed that sometimes with our real estate careers?

Nothing was logical about the climb. Some steps were only four inches high. I prayed for those. Others were two feet high and required every muscle I had. I learned to be grateful for the easy steps, and to take deep breaths before tackling those that took my breath away. It was best to take one step at a time and not worry about those to come. I came to appreciate the value of determination. Nothing can take its place.

Doesn't that have a ring of familiarity with our real estate careers?

When I reached my personal peak, I took a shaky breath and looked at the world around me. It was a scene that will forever be seared in my memory; it was a  breath-stealing moment. It made everything worthwhile (including the sore muscles that haunted me for the next three days).

These are the moments to savor in life...and in our real estate careers.

It is good to be home....

This is your ragged reporter, clicking live from Beijing with a singular report on Chinese toilets. Over here, they are awarded stars for accumulated levels of amenities.

One star: The door is unlocked.

Two Stars: There is a private cubicle

Three Stars: It flushes.

Four Stars: You have the option of sitting down. 

Five Stars: Toilet paper provided.

It is a wonderful country and I'll share more when I am not so exhausted.

And for what it's worth, Skype works beautifully and the cell phone transfers seamlessly. All good wishes to fellow Rainers. I've met some Realtors on the trip and have told them about this community. Hope to see them here.

More to follow....

This YouTube presentation on GM's very cool Hy Wire car of the future got me thinking about the possibility of hydrogen-powered homes. If one little car has the capacity to provide power for a whole block of homes, consider our homes of tomorrow. Even mobile homes could take on whole new meaning and purpose.

The car body basically sits on a power grid, and is interchangeable. If you need a sporty compact one month and an SUV the next, it is simply a half-hour swap of body styles at the dealer. It's far out, but so much fun to think about the application of this technology (and others not yet known) to our lives. 

It is a stretch of the imagination to consider evolvement in how we will live twenty or more years from now. Energy sources, I believe, will be central to those changes.

(This prototype's cost is estimated to be $5 million) 

Thoughts? 

...or New Delhi, for that matter. I am leaving for China next week, and was struggling with how to handle cell phone calls (with no caller ID) at $1.29 per minute. Additionally, I don't want to be bothered with calls when I am on vacation. At the same time, I don't want to disconnect from the world or family--at least on this trip.

I am so happy to have discovered a solution:

1. Make sure you have call forwarding with your cell carrier.

2. Go to Skype and set up a free account. Once that this accomplished, purchase a local telephone number from Skype for $38.00 per year. It includes free voice mail. It is not necessary to have a Skype number for the service to function. I only purchased the number so I would have one to which I could forward my calls.

3. Prior to departure to far points in the world, set up call forwarding to your local Skype telephone number by dialing *72 on your cell phone and dialing your local Skype number.

4. If you are bringing a computer with you (I am), be sure to include a headset with microphone, or a snazzy new Skype phone. Skype will keep a record of all incoming calls--which I can check at any internet cafe or from my laptop. 

5. You should only be charged for regular minutes within your cell plan.

I called Verizon this morning and ran the game plan by tech support. They had not heard of this.

Yippee!