Bill Blog

I wonder how many real estate agents have an education in real estate. You don't see a degree in real estate on most people's resume or being pushed by colleges. Most states require some sort of pre-licensing education with a test but does that really compare to a true education in real estate?

After I finished high school I did a semester of college and then I joined the Navy. I didn't join the Navy to pay for school. I turned down the GI Bill for some stupid reason. Actually, it was because I didn't want to pay $100 each month for my first year in the Navy when I already had a puny paycheck. But then again, I was from Illinois so as long as I returned to Illinois I could attend a state college for free. Go Illinois!

So 13 years after getting out of the Navy I took a couple of college classes. These classes were the required pre-licensing classes. After completing the classes I took and passed the licensing exam. The classes were very educational but I realized beforehand that I needed to know a lot more than what was covered in school about the state's real estate laws. So I studied state law specifically and then took the test.

After completing those classes I decided to continue my education. I now have a goal and I have the ability to obtain it. My goal is to continue college, study business and get an MBA (masters in business administration).

I am currently working toward my associates degree so I have a way to go. A few weeks ago I realized that I can get a minor degree in real estate. Imagine that! Guess what two of the required classes are? Yup, the same two pre-licensing classes I already took. There are other classes that go along with the minor in real estate and each one of them will better me as a realtor... or will being a realtor make me a better student?

When I introduce myself to my classmates, some young and some not, I always say I'm a realtor and a business owner. It's also a good way to advertise and network.  :-)

Google Chrome? It's not a shiny part for the Harley. It's not a chrome plating service either. It's a new toy for the internet enthusiast.

Google Chrome is a web browser. It does the same thing as Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Mozilla's Firefox. This is Google's first attempt at a web browser. They are quite proud of it and expect to do a lot more work on it. 

Why another browser?

Frankly, because there's always someone who thinks they can do a better job. Another name for that is "innovation". This is common in the open source world of computing. It's so common it can be frustrating for the end user.

Chrome attempts to perform the same functions as Internet Explorer and Firefox, only better and faster. A lot of the same features offered in the other two are available with a slightly different twist.

Don't run out and download it and get rid of your IE or Firefox though. Chrome works pretty well on plain web sites but it doesn't currently work in advanced web sites like the MLS.

What's so "funny" about this is that Google and Microsoft compete with each other and both have long term plans for the future. Google has talked of releasing a computer operating system that could replace Windows. Of course, Microsoft doesn't like those plans. Microsoft is releasing it's Internet Explorer version 8 that, guess what, has features that allow you to bypass search engines, ie Google. So they both have motives behind their new features designed to stear internet users in a particular direction. 

Download Link

Read more about Google Chrome at MarketWatch.com or Google's description/explanation in comic book format at http://blogoscoped.com/google-chrome/

This blog entry written inside a Google Chrome web browser.

For any of you that like to keep up to date on windows software, Microsoft has released a beta version of Internet Explorer 8. It's currently in the beta 2 version. I have it installed on one of my PCs for testing. It has some new features that catch it up with Firefox and some other new features I haven't see anywhere else.

One of the new features is called accelerators. Accelerators allow you to highlight something in a web page. For instance, if you highlight an address in a web page, the accelerator option appears and allows you to click an option related to that address. The feature I like in this is it allows you see a map without changing pages or bringing a new page up. This is great for looking up phone numbers or addresses on a map.

Another new feature is called slices. A slice allows you to keep updated more easily on subjects such as weather or news. Facebook has a slice feature already. If you use IE 8 and a web site has a slice option a green slice icon appears in the IE menu across the top. I have seen that you must stay logged into Facebook for the slice feature to work though.

The beta version currently has this annoying thing to it where it keeps a Microsoft IE 8 page as the first homepage. This comes in to play each time you open IE.

IE 8 allows you to have multiple homepages. If you routinely visit 3 different web sites each morning, IE will open all 3 of them in separate tabs for you. Another incredibly useful feature is the ability to close IE with multiple tabs open and re-open IE with those same tabs open again.

The beta version has received updates pretty often. Even though it's in beta 2 I've had to update it more than twice. After one update the quick links at the top quit working. The next update fixed that. You can sort of see the work Microsoft is doing along the way.

I've noticed a few things not working. For example on Facebook when you enter a city, Facebook normally determines what city and state you are referring to and gives you the expected choice via a drop down menu. That drop down quit working after the last update.

Will your web site be ready for IE 8? I figure some of these features would be great for adding new listings features to our real estate web sites.

More info on IE 8 can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/beta/default.aspx

Today I went to the McCracken County Master Commissioner's Sale. It was held at 1:30pm inside the courthouse at the steps going upstairs. This was my first time attending one of these so when I had always heard someone saying "courthouse steps" I always thought they meant outside. Turns out it's inside.

Up for auction today were 11 properties. Four properties were removed from the list as a sale or something had enabled their removal from the list. Properties ranged from around $23,000 to $229,000. There were probably 30 to 40 people there. I noticed a couple of other agents there. I assume with clients. There were at least a couple of attorneys there representing lenders.

I had many reasons for attending. I wanted to learn if it was really possible to get a great deal at one of these auctions. I wanted to experience one for myself as hearing it from someone else doesn't include all the details. Details are good.  :-)

I don't totally understand all the possible circumstances a property would be auctioned off. I assume foreclosure but I wonder if bankruptcy could be related to some homes getting on this list.

Of all the properties auctioned off today, all properties except one were purchased by the lender that took action. These are the ones I assume were foreclosures. The one property not involving a lender was between two private individuals. The newspaper said it had something to do with a suit involving the division of property and to recover the costs of the sale. The commissioner stated the appraised value was $40,000. A bidder started the auction at $5,000. This property ended up selling for $19,600. Several bidders got involved. This property did not include a right of redemption.

One question I have is regarding the properties the lenders purchased. I assume these properties were foreclosures and that the proceeds of these properties go to the lender minus any legal fees. The lenders then sell the properties to recover their costs? These properties will likely be available or being sold by another agent in the near future?

I had a pleasant conversation with a friend of mine yesterday at his step-granddaughter's birthday party. We began talking about housing sales and such and I started telling him some horror stories of a property I was familiar with. One such story was about a time in his life he lived in Alexander County, IL. This is at the far southern tip of Illinois and is very, very rural. His business of home repair and building new homes found a severe lacking of dependable people in that part of the state.

One of his stories was about a deaf home owner. He said he had to rig a loud ringing bell so she could know the phone was ringing. The loud bell would vibrate her chair enough for her to know the phone was ringing. When I was telling my wife this story my wife asks "If she's that deaf how can she talk on the phone?" I admit that didn't occur to me at the time. I guess she's not completely deaf as she did call him on the phone and ask for help.

Anyway, this lady had felt her bed move one night while sleeping. She thought it was an earthquake at first - we live in the New Madrid earthquake zone. So he didn't quite understand what had made her bed move and why she wanted him to look at the roof so he went to take a look anyway. When he got there he discovered she had a new roof put on a few months earlier. For some reason the drip edge was much larger than normal. Normally, it's about an inch and a quarter but this one was 3 or 4 inches. So he peeled back the roof and discovered it had new decking OVER several layers of an older roof. On top of the decking was another layer of new shingles. This explained why the drip edge was so big. It was covering up someone's laziness to remove the old roof shingles. He was aghast that someone would do such a thing!

After he found this gross error in judgment on the roof, he went inside the attic. There he found 3 broken trusses. The weight of the roof was breaking the trusses. The fall of the trusses had landed on the ceiling joists above her bedroom.

He told her what had been done and she needed to get that fixed ASAP. She still had her receipt. I think he said they were paid to tear off the old roof as well. He told her to call the contractor and demand this be fixed correctly but she didn't want to call them back for some reason. She paid him to tear it all off and do the roof properly.

One of the funny things to the story was he said normally you need roofing nails about an inch and a half long for roofing shingles. But these guys must have used nails 5 inches long to get through all the layers and new sheets of plywood to make it stay.

He said when he left that area he had a waiting list a year and a half long and two other contractors told him they were glad he was leaving.   :-)

I talk to FSBO sellers all the time trying to get their listing. I have mixed results. They are usually persistent or know another agent that they intend to list with if they can't sell it themselves in a short period of time.

Some of these FSBOs are marketing their house completely wrong. I was driving the Cascade Hills neighborhood recently and noticed out of maybe 10 homes in this small subdivision that 5 were for sale. Two were listed and 3 were FSBO. These sellers may not realize that most buyers capable of purchasing their home doesn't drive around neighborhoods or look in the newspaper looking for homes for sale. They call a Realtor who does all the legwork.

I spoke with a couple of FSBOs recently. One had just put a cheap "For Sale By Owner" sign in their yard the Saturday prior - I called them on a Wednesday. The lady was really nice and told me that she believed she had her house sold as she was negotiating the price with a buyer. I told her that was great to hear as most sales don't happen that quickly. I inquired as to the features of the home and the asking price. It was priced in line with what a Realtor would likely price it at. I asked her if she had many calls and she said she had quite a few. I also asked her if she had many calls from other Realtors and she said I was the first one, also to my surprise. I mailed her a letter to followup anyway. The yard sign is now gone so I assume she has it sold. I drive by this house often so I've been keeping watch.  :-)

A couple of days ago I spoke with a couple who wanted to view a listing I have. While talking with them I learned they had sold their home FSBO style. They sold it in less than 3 weeks and they close in less than 30 days if the inspection went ok - which they assumed it would, of course.

I see FSBOs all over the place that sit and sit and sit. These sellers eventually list them or they continue to sit on the market with the yard sign out front and maybe an expensive newspaper ad on Sunday. After talking to these two sellers made me think that with the news constantly stating it's a buyer's market that some sellers think they don't need a Realtor because there are plenty of buyers out there. Of course, these two particular people may have just gotten lucky. Neither appeared to hold out for top dollar like some FSBOs do.

I just found this article on Fool.com. I read the articles here sometime but I don't always pay too much attention to their stock recommendation because they sell advertising and newsletters and such that I believe taints their opinions.

This article talks of the writers Home Equity Line of Credit. He says he always counted on using it in the event of an emergency. He received a letter recently from Citi Bank that his HELOC had been suspended because they believe the value of his home had decreased, thus, affecting his line of credit.

 http://www.fool.com/investing/dividends-income/2008/08/19/your-house-is-not-an-emergency-fund.aspx

I've always wanted to attend one of these so I know the who, where, what and such. On August 25th at 1:30pm, two McCracken County special commissioners will hold special auctions at the courhouse to auction off real estate that has been foreclosed on. The properties are valued anywhere from $24,000 to $229,000 and come from a variety of lenders. Monies received will be used to satisfy judgements for the properties, late fees, interest charges, plantiff costs, attorney fees and other legal fees.

My kids think I'm crazy. But I'm excited. My wife supports it.

College starts Monday. Why does that excite me? Because I'm taking 4 classes this semester.

When I got my real estate license I took the two required classes at the college instead of paying a big fee for an online class. After I completed the classes I took the test and jumped right in to real estate with big plans for the future.

Since then, I've continued taking classes with plans to obtain an MBA. It's by no means a short term plan. I'm still working on my associate degree.

Why now?

Working toward a degree is a lot easier today than it used to be. Most classes can be taken online. Any classes I can't find online I can likely find a night classes to complete. Or, I can probably find another online class being offered by another college in the Kentucky Community College and Technical School System (KCTCS). For example, right now I am taking 3 classes via colleges outside Paducah and only 1 class at the local school. Since the community colleges across the state "consolidated" a few years ago they act as a single unit and work together. It's truely a benefit to the people of the state of Kentucky.

After high school I took a full semester of classes and worked a part time job. While in high school I pretty much intended on joining the Air Force, you know, so I could fly planes. The Air Force wouldn't let me in due to the weight requirement and they wouldn't give me a waiver. I was contacted by the Marines a couple of times. They told me they would just fill me up with water until I met their weight requirement - really! The Marines, "The few, the Proud, The Marines!", right? Something to be proud of. I joined the Navy instead... and I couldn't swim! They gave me a waver and the recruiter told me they didn't yell at you in boot camp. Just what I wanted. Wroooong! And they say recruiters don't lie.

When I was coming to the end of my 6 years as a Navy Electronics Technician, I was told about the possibility of duty with the White House Communications Agency (WHCA). Hey! Who wouldn't want a prestigious job at the White House, right? So I did everything I was supposed to. I had to apply for a top secret security clearance to make sure I was ok to be in that sort of environment. One of my friends, who is still in the Navy, got past all the hurdles and guess what? They didn't have a spot open for him. I figured that was going to happen to me so I told them I was going to get out of the Navy and they should drop my application to WHCA. At that time Clinton was President.

After I got out of the Navy I got a job. I started going back to school after a few years had passed and shortly thereafter met my, now, wife. With suddenly having two kids and a wife I stopped attending college and didn't think anything about it. That was about 7 years ago. After I took the real estate classes I thought, maybe I can keep going to college and get my degree? My wife didn't mind so I took a few more here and there. Night classes even!

So anyway, college starts again on Monday. I'm taking Calculus, Solar System, Accounting 201 and Intro to Computers. I've got a lot of credits but I have to take certain classes for the degree. Funny thing about the computer class is I've been working on computers since I was a kid. I've been working in the telecommunications industry since 1996 and I hold 3 industry certfications. I asked the instructor if this class was really necessary and she said "Afraid so". I could test out of it but I'd still have to take another class of some sort so I may as well take this one. Should be an easy A and guaranteed to raise my GPA.

The only class I'm really concerned about is the Accounting class. Not because it involves math but because I expect it to have a lot of memorization... stuff that will be new to me. But since I'm a business major and already having a few businesses myself I intend to learn a great deal from it. Sometimes I think I'm a slow learner but in retrospect the things I've observed over the years and wondered "Why?" often tend to get explained or answered eventually.

I hope to open my own brokerage in the future. Maybe not in the next couple of years but one day. Right now I intend to learn and work toward my degree.

Bill Dunn
Prudential Premiere Realty
http://www.RealtorBillDunn.com