realweenie

Obeoman blogs

Real estate is crazy, according to Obeoman, AKA Steven Stearns.  The guy leads a charmed life and somehow managed to write his blog for an entire year with out a write up on the weenie.

Obeoman did not post every day and for that we are all thankful.  Just kidding.  Steve has a wicked sense of humor.  We follow each other on Twitter and one afternoon he had me laughing so hard I had to call him.  You know, on that old fashioned thing with the keypad on it and no mouse. 

He was a delight to talk with.  I find his avatar rather frightening because of the big grin, but when I talked to him i found that the voice did not match the picture, even though he was smiling as we talked.

It is hard to roast Steve on the weenie.  He has always been very kind to Realtors which as we all know is highly unusual, which is one of the many reasons I question his sanity.  Real estate is crazy but I think Obeoman is Crazier.

Go read his blog, and ask him to post more often.

Questions

There really is such a thing as a dumb question.  The one I am thinking of is not really a dumb question but it is one that I can't answer.

It goes like this:  "I am starting a blog, can you give me some advice?"

Sometimes they ask for pointers but you get the idea.  How can I answer such a question?  I have written tons of posts on the subject on Active Rain, the Real Estate Tomato and even some on Agent Genius.  My blogging peers have done the same.

I can answer specific questions that go beyond, "what kind of camera do you use?"  I have even written posts about what kind of camera I use. LOL

Have a great day, don't bug me. Don't expect advice.  I can answer specific questions, and could write and entire book on the subject of blogs,  but can not give advice.  What do I look like?  Dear Abbey?  I am a Realtor dammit!

The real estate weenie

People have been referring to this blog as the weenie.  It is the real estate weenie and I should have insisted that it be called by it's proper name.

The real estate weenie blog turned a year old last week. It has five times as many comments as it does posts and not near enough posts for a one year old blog.  It seems that I keep getting talked into writing for other blogs and as a result I neglect this blog cleverly disguised as a hot dog stand.

The weenie has quite a history.  It's accidental launch last year caused quite a stir, but that was so last year.  The real estate weenie has taught me many things. 

I do accept guest posts for others who have weenies to roast and don't have an appropriate place to post.  On this blog most anything is appropriate as long as we all use our grown up words.

Thanks for reading the weenie.

The NAR Pin

I knew I would be writing about this eventually, and what better place than this blog of mass destruction cleverly disguised as a hot dog stand?

I was contacted by Realtor magazine a couple of months ago and interviewed for the article in this months issue.  Then I was contacted a few weeks later and asked if I would consider being photographed for the cover of the magazine.   I couldn't pass up an opportunity like that, would you say no?   I was told 3 or 4 bloggers would be featured on the cover.

My photo never made it to the cover but is shown inside in a couple of places.  I figure they took one look at me and decided that I am not cover material.  I totally get that.  After all the people from Realtor Magazine don't know what I look like and the photos they had taken were their first glimpse.  The photographer did take some excellent shots, considering what he had to work with, but those were not the photos chosen for the magazine. Since there are no recent pictures of me dressed in a suit, wearing a NAR pin it is nice to have them.

The article has generated some email and phone calls from people all over the country mostly asking questions about the blog. (Many, many phone calls and emails)

Last night I got a comment via facebook that made me smile.  "Did they make you wear that pin".  In the Realtor Magazine photos I am wearing a dark suit, a white blouse and have a NAR pin on my lapel.  That is pretty much how I dress for work every day, especially when I am out showing unheated vacant houses.

Honestly I have worn my NAR pin and I do own one.   A day or so before the photo shoot I was contacted by the people at the magazine and reminded to wear my NAR pin and told which lapel to wear it on.  I searched everywhere for my pin and could not find it.  I was asked for my address and told that one would be sent to me.

On the day that I was supposed to meet with the photographer the pin still had not arrived.  I got on the phone and started calling agents who live near me to see if any had a pin I could borrow.  I struck out on that one.  I called my local Realtors association and they found one for me, and had it waiting at the front desk so that I could swing by and pick it up and still be on time for the appointment with the photographer.  The pin in the picture on this post arrived two days after the photos were taken.

As for the article, it truly is an honor to be mentioned so prominently in such a widely distributed trade magazine. It is a favorable article and I thrilled to be mentioned with so many other prominent bloggers.  A copy arrived in the mail last week so I finally got to see and read it.  My mother says that she wants a copy of it but I have been unable to find a copy of the magazine anywhere. 

No one in my office knows about it or has read it, but many in my market area have.  When I was in the office yesterday I asked our MCA to hang onto a copy of the magazine if it is sent to our office and if she gets any extra copies.  When and if they arrive and she looks at it she will understand why I might want an extra copy.  Today I'll call some other offices around town and see if I can score a copy for my mother, before my moment of fame becomes last months news.  If that doesn't work I'll call the NAR.   If it were one of my children in the magazine I know I would love to have a copy.  It is kind of a universal mom thing.

There was a time when my parents were the only readers of my blog, they really hung in there.

What were you thinking?

Yes this is a rant.  What is the point of having a blog cleverly disguised as a hot dog stand if I can't rant once in a while? 

These days I have been spending a fair amount of time with clients who are looking for fixer uppers.  We have plenty of them.  Most are vacant homes that are bank owned.

Here in Minnesota smart property owners "winterize" vacant homes so that there is no danger of pipes freezing, breaking and flooding the home.  Winterizing involves turning off the water and draining the system.

So I go out to show these properties with my clients who are often accompanied by an entourage which consists of fathers, brothers, sisters, minor children of the same, and occasionally someone who knows something abut real estate or about home repairs.

Usually by the time we get to the third house, someone needs a potty break.  It is most often an adult, but occasionally a child.

None of the homes have usable facilities.  I know the drill, and often have to wait somewhere while the entourage takes a potty break.

When I was a child, back a very long time ago, my parents would advise us to drain ourselves before we got into the car.  Great advice.   I go one step further and limit the amount of caffeinated beverages that I consume before showing houses.  While I may fall asleep behind the wheel, at least I won't have to have everyone wait while I take a potty break.

If I could be paid minumum wage for every hour I have spent waiting for the entourage to take a potty break I could probably retire.  I do advise my clients on how to dress for seeing vacant unheated properties in subzero weather.  I am going to be adding some verbiage so that they know there won't be any working facilities in the homes that they will be seeing.  If that isn't enough I will tell them that they need to go potty before touring homes.

Could this Happen with A Real Estate Blog?

Cartoon From Blaugh

Most of us can not be fired but we can be asked to stop writing our blogs. I have been asked, rather often,  if I am worried about it.  Yes I do worry that I will be asked to stop writing my blogs, or maybe I would be asked to delete this one. LOL.  I do have a plan.  I have a brokers license and am ready to go out on my own at any time. 

Is having a blog really that important?  Yes it is from both a business point of view, and becasue I enjoy the freedom.  Freedom is more important to me in my life than money.  If it were not I would be working in a nice secure job with a predictable pay check.  I instead work in a business where the failure rate is very high, and in a down market.

After reading these last two paragraphs I have decided that I am totally stark raving mad and that I should get help soon.  . . . but you knew that already.