Fisher & Company's Blog

You Be the Judge: Should This Real Estate Agent Be Paid? 

The Case Before the Court:

A “For Sale By Owner” seller spent time and money advertising his property, holding 

open houses, and doing everything he could think of to attract a buyer to his property.   Several area real estate agents stopped by and asked him if he would co-op. Knowing that the customary co-op rate in the area was 3%, the seller replied that he would pay the Realtors 3% if they brought him a buyer. 

Realizing that he could increase his chances of selling his home faster with some professional help, he put that he would co-op with real estate agents on his flyers and in his ads at 3%. 

Eventually, at an open house, the seller shows the home to someone driving by and ends up selling the home all by himself.  Several days later, a real estate agent shows up at his door and demands the 3% commission since he had been working with that prospect for some time. 

Now then, the question before the court:

Should the For Sale By Owner seller pay the real estate agent?

Whether you are a first-time homebuyer, or a seasoned "pro" at buying and trading up to that next dream home, with all of the new governmental regulations and requirements placed on mortgage lenders, every home shopper will benefit by knowing not only how much of a mortgage the lender can provide them, but as a buyer you'll benefit by having an inside track to ironing out the maze of required paperwork before you find that dream home.  To do otherwise greatly increases the chances of someone else STEALING YOUR DREAM HOME right out from underneath you! 

While it may still be a "Buyer's Market" in many areas, as a buyer, don't let a "buyer's market" fool you into thinking that YOU are in total control and have all the time in the world to make a decision and wrap things up.  More and more, as I review listing information provided in the Multiple Listing Service, the Go-To catalog of the majority of homes on the market, I am reading the "fine print" . . . ALL OFFERS MUST BE SUBMITTED WITH LETTER FROM LENDER. 

Whether you are buying a foreclosure, a short-sale, or a "traditional good, old fashioned owner wants to sell" property, more and more sellers are reluctant to take their home off the market unless they know PRIOR to accepting the offer that the buyer is able to complete the purchase.  Put yourself in ANY seller's shoes . . . I'm certain that if you had something of value to sell, say a boat or a car, you'd want to accept the offer from the buyer that you know will MOST LIKELY be able to produce the cash to complete the purchase. 

As a buyer, you'll likely find that when purchasing a foreclosure or short sale, unless you have that letter from your lender saying they are willing to lend you $x your "offer" won't even be considered.  In fact, it's likely that your offer will not even be looked at!

So, if you are looking for your dream home, be smart and get a jump on your competition: take the time to get discuss your mortgage options, get PRE-QUALIFIED, and start assembling the lender's required paperwork to get you APPROVED prior to starting your new home search.  To do otherwise means that your dream home stands an excellent chance of being stolen right out from beneath you.

Wishing you success in finding your dream home,

Deborah.

I read a featured blog post from Mesa, Arizona Real Estate Broker, Teri  Ellis this morning regarding another agent's request for her to list and market a home that sounded as though the other agent and the sellers were involved in a "buy and bail" plan. For those of you unfamiliar with the term "Buy and Bail", this is the practice of homeowners purchasing a "new" home at today's prices with the intention of giving their current home back to the bank after they take title to the "new" home. This exit strategy is being used today when homeowners:

• Have a monthly payment that they are no longer able to afford - often due to escalating interest rates, job loss, financial hardships, etcetera.
• Are unable to sell the property because the property's current fair market value will not satisfy the mortgage debt and closing costs associated with a transfer of ownership
• Are overwhelmed at the prospect of paying thousands upon thousands of dollars off on a mortgage that greatly exceeds the value of the property - especially when the homes around them are going into foreclosure and being sold as short sales by the very same lenders to new buyers who will enjoy a similar home at better terms and conditions than they themselves are struggling to handle.

I understand Teri's unwillingness to assist another agent and his seller turned buyer's home on the market knowing that some sort of fraud was about to be perpetrated.  I admire Teri's ethics and her professional and personal standards and I entirely support her decision not to participate in this agent and seller/buyer's plan.

However, not that I condone the Buy and Bail practice, I also understand a seller's willingness to do a buy and bail in order to keep a roof over their head when they are at the end of their rope.

I have knowledge of young first-time homeowners who purchased a small condo in a new community almost five years ago.  That small condo was all they could afford and although it was slightly on the fringe of town they were excited that it was in a gated community, brand new and ready for immediate occupancy. Today, that condo is worth $200,000 LESS than their purchase price and falling monthly.  They have acted in good faith, been fiscally responsible, and have reduced their original mortgage debt by $40,000 over the past five years.  Unfortunately, the mortgage offered them was a five-year ARM that is coming due and as result have contacted the mortgage company about converting the loan to a fixed rate mortgage.  The mortgage company will not convert their mortgage to a fixed rate and they have been told that the company is not writing new mortgages in that market.  Upon contacting other lenders, the couple is unable to obtain financing for the property because of today's reduced value. To refinance elsewhere, they will be roughly $160,000 SHORT plus closing costs.

Yet all around them, the very same lenders are negotiating short sales at today's prices and foreclosing on homes only to place them on the market as REOs (a term banks use to indicate Real Estate Owned by them) at TODAY'S REDUCED MARKET PRICE!

So you can clearly see why I understand the frustration of home sellers trying to do the right thing, yet getting absolutely no help from the banks that have received billions in government stimulus that was meant to help out people exactly like this young couple.

Where has all the money gone? A report this morning indicated that only 9% of that money has been given out to help homeowners. 

Why are lenders sitting on the bailout stimulus money? The answer appears quite clear: to keep themselves afloat and make their bottom line and cash positions look great to potential investors and share holders. Oh, and those "performance" bonuses are pretty nice as well!

Americans are told their entire lifetime that home ownership is the great American dream, yet for many the dream has turned into a nightmare.

Instead of the government handing over the stimulus money to the banks, Americans would have been better served to have been offered a federal stimulus bill of their own where they could have had their home appraised at today's fair market value and the "negative value to debt" offset as a form of a one-time payment to the primary lender to stabilize both the housing market and financial lending market.

Let me take this one step further now that I am wound up:

I hope that the government will consider putting the next round of stimulus money into the hands of the people.  Let all of us submit a request to some new Tsar (that will create a few more government "jobs") to pay off our credit card debt in exchange for our turning the credit card in and being shut out from acquiring new credit card debt for, say, a period of seven years. This will make us a cash society again and will in all likelihood stimulate the economy since we won't be paying interest on interest at 25% APR to banks that have already received billions of our tax dollars.

This "Cash for Credit Cards" program will act as a "stimulus" to the credit card companies to reduce their escalating monthly double-digit interest choke-holds on Americans and give credit card account holders the negotiating position of either having credit card companies provide Americans with realistic single digit interest rates or face having us cut the credit card companies off at the knees courtesy of "our" stimulus bill. 

By the way, you can vote for me for Florida state senator as a write-in candidate. If elected, I will not take any prisoners nor be held hostage to a 3,000+ page health care bill that no one has read or wants. If this bill is good enough for us, then it's good enough for the Congress to join. But that's another rant.

This morning a local television station in North Florida aired a story about one of their employees having a bad experience searching for a rental property on Craig's List, the premier go-to on-line web-site that gives the term "searching the classifieds" an entirely new meaning.

Reportedly, an employee of the station was seeking a home to rent and found a home of interest on Craig's List allegedly owned by missionaries living in Africa.  The property was offered at $800 month, $800 deposit and no application fee, and prospective tenants were asked to fill out an on-line rental application that asked for bank account and social security numbers. 

The entire ad was a scam seeking to collect money and personal information purportedly for identity theft purposes.

The reporter suggested that potential renters using Craig's List:

• Meet the Landlord in Person
• Tour the property
• Make certain that the Landlord has a key
• Be suspicious

The story drew my attention as the one-word reference to using the professional services of a Realtor was so quick and brief that we missed hearing it until we rewound the footage using our satellite's TIVO feature so that I could properly record the story's information.

The reporter clearly offered some good advice, but in my opinion should have suggested that renters consider using a professional Realtor in their home search.  Not to take away from homeowners seeking to rent their properties on their own, but we do live in a time when it is easier than ever to be outsmarted and separated from our hard earned money, and I think that the suggestion of using a Realtor was greatly underplayed.

Potential renters and buyers choosing to go it alone and not use the services of a professional Realtor should not only be cautious about giving out financial and personal details, but also cautious when giving monetary deposits. 

Before handing any form of a deposit or personal information to a "landlord", verify that the "landlord" is in fact the legal property owner and that they are who they say they are.  The Craig's List story is not unique. I have heard several stories of vacant homes being "leased" out by individuals with no authority to do so.  

Consider placing any deposits in trust with a real estate attorney of your choosing and have your attorney draw up the rental agreement.  That fee for professional legal services will be well spent should problems over price, deposits, identity theft and ownership status arise at a later date.

As a long-time real estate professional, I would encourage anyone seeking a rental property to use the FREE services of a professional Realtor to find the ideal rental property.  Here's why:

• It will not cost you anything to use a Realtor to locate a suitable rental home. The Landlord pays the Realtor the fee, typically one month's rent for showing the property, processing the paperwork and verifying your credit and employment history.
• Professional Realtors are held accountable to the local board of Realtors who typically have a low tolerance for misconduct, policing their own to ensure a high level of ethical standards and the reputation of the Association of Realtors. 
• Realtors know their local market, have access to a vast database of properties, and can provide you with details on fair market rents for the area you are most interested in calling "home" so that you do not overpay.
• Details regarding your credit application and personal information that could be used for identity theft will be held confidential by your Realtor for your peace of mind and to help you prevent identity theft.
• Deposits held by Realtors typically fall under strict guidelines by state statutes and are monitored by the state's real estate commission. These deposits are held in trust on your behalf until the transaction in completed.
• When using a Realtor, you are not meeting strangers - individuals you have no information or background on. 
• For personal safety, Realtors typically don't meet strangers at residential properties.  Why should you?
• Remember that con-artists and scammers can also work as a husband/wife team and that the term "con" is short for "confidence" and the term "artist" indicates that these people have taken their "craft" and perfected it.  Keep in mind that confidence artists will meet with you as many times as it takes, building trust until they get what they want.
• Realtors have access to standardized un-biased rental agreements and forms that will serve to protect YOUR interests as well as those of the landlord - agreements that clearly spell out important details such as who is responsible to maintain the property, and many more details that invariably prevent misunderstandings and problems between tenants and landlords at a later date. 

I use Craig's List frequently to market and lease properties, disclosing that I am a licensed real estate broker in the state of Florida.  I have also used Craig's List satisfactorily when seeking employees for both my real estate company and marketing company. 

As the con-artists and scammers keep taking their craft to new heights and levels, we must all keep in mind: Consumer Beware!  When buying or renting properties, for peace of mind take the high road, the safer road, and consider using the free to you services of a professional Realtor.

Ah, technology. How did we ever manage before the internet and the ability to email? 

This is an email I received earlier this morning from another agent, an agent whom I don't know.  The message pertains to my attempts over the past three months to hold a weekly all agent caravan in our market area.  The names of the area and lane were removed to mask the identity of the agent.  I am NOT making this up:

was this caravan to lease or to buy please advise. i have a property in the m******* on c**** p*** lsne fopr rent use to be a condo i like for you to know that we pay a commission for rentals if any if your agfents have a renter thanks

Yipes!

Okay, we all make mistakes. Sometimes we don't even care that we do as we dash off a fast 'critical' response email to a peer from our Blackberries, a text message to a co-worker stating "R U in Ofc?" or "Ned 2 c u SAP".  We know the spelling is all wonky, but it's considered acceptable since we have a relaxed business relationship and we're responding timely and "on the fly". 

Most of us recognize that when communicating B2B or B2C, it's critical to carefully re-read and polish our emails before hitting send.  How many of us have hit send and forgotten the attachment? Oops! Drat! Can I retract that?

If you are brilliant in many ways but aren't a great technical writer, ask someone in your office to proof your writing. Take a night class in English and learn the fundamentals of the language or take a business writing course.  Draft a few messages to respond to business situations that you deal with frequently, and perfect the grammar and spelling.     

Many people write their emails in Microsoft's WORD(R) and use the built-in spell checker and grammar checker to make certain that their writing makes sense.  Then, they simply copy and paste into their email program. WARNING: Spell checkers and grammar checkers can only do so much; you still need to know the basics and you still need to proof your work.  The author is unknown, but here's a funny example of Spell Checker:

A Little Poem Regarding Computer Spell Checkers...

Eye halve a spelling chequer 


It came with my pea sea 


It plainly marques four my revue 


Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word 


And weight four it two say 


Weather eye am wrong oar write


It shows me strait a weigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid 


It nose bee fore two long


And eye can put the error rite 


Its rare lea ever wrong.

Eye have run this poem threw it


I am shore your pleased two no


Its letter perfect awl the weigh 


My chequer tolled me sew.

I know we all get in a hurry, but, when communicating professionally, a few extra moments to proof our 

work will make all the difference in our perceived level of professionalism.

Happy Marketing! 

Up to $23,000 Waiting for First-Time Home Buyers

But Buyers Must Act Fast!

Many first-time homebuyers are unaware that in addition to the $8,000 Federal tax credit Duval County, Florida 

(Jacksonville, Florida) is offering first-time homebuyers up to $15,000 (fifteen thousand dollars) as a “forgivable” down payment assistance program to encourage and help first-time buyers obtain their first home.

Designed to provide assistance to eligible individuals and families who are interested in purchasing their first home but lack funds for down payment and closing costs, the program, Head Start to Home Ownership, (H2H) is a partnership with the Housing and Neighborhoods Department, the Housing Services Division, and select approved lenders.

The down payment and closing cost assistance is a “forgivable” fifteen-year second mortgage.  Provided by 

the City of Jacksonville, should homebuyers reside as owner/occupants in the property fifteen years the second mortgage will go away and be “forgiven”.

To be eligible for the H2H program, prospective buyers must have a minimum of $500 as a down payment, attend a homeownership training class, and meet the minimum income requirements but not exceed the maximum income requirements. For example, a family of three must make at least $29,300 but not more than $46,900.  A lower income may be allowed if one of the approved lenders can approve you based on your income and debt.

In addition to the H2H program, the Federal Government in offering a first-time homebuyer tax credit of up to $8,000 on the purchase of a home.  Buyers should note that the current deadline to close on that first home is December 1^st, 2009.

For more information on the H2H Head Start to Home Ownership, please contact me at 904-545-5204 or drop by our offices at 8862 La Terrazza Place, located at the corner of Baymeadows Road and Waterfront Terrace in the San Jose area of Jacksonville, Florida.   We are working with an experienced banker/lender on the H2H program who is well-versed in the H2H process and will assist us in navigating through the H2H application.

<!--EndFragment-->

This is NOT a foreclosure or Short Sale. This is an IMMACULATE, well-cared for home priced for a Summer Sale!

Call TODAY to see this beautiful home. At this price . . . it won't last long.

Call Deborah Fisher, Broker/Owner, Fisher & Company, P.A.

904.545.5204

Reduced by $25,000! Sellers Said “PRICE IT TO SELL TODAY!”

Meticulously Maintained Home Inside & Out!

This One is NOT a “Fixer-Upper”

Sellers Will Consider Paying Buyer’s Closing Costs with an Acceptable Offer.

Excellent, Highly Desirable Mandarin Location!  

THIS IS NOT A SHORT SALE! (Benefit: No waiting for months for bank to approve the sale!!)

Convenient to popular commuter routes, major grocery stores, an abundance of shopping and numerous restaurants, this lovely Mandarin home is close to everything, yet tucked away off the beaten path in an established neighborhood.  

Home buyers will love the fact that this home has obviously had lots of TLC and as a result is in tip-top shape.  Currently under a home warranty program, the sellers will provide a warranty for the new owners.  This is a non-smoking non-pet home and is immaculate making this home ideal for those buyers with allergies.  Freshly painted, the carpets and tile floors are spotless, making this home is move in ready.

A large great room features an abundance of wall space, perfect for furniture placement, hanging artwork, a flat panel TV and more. On the rear of the home, a large bonus room could be the ideal place to place a pool table, create a kid-friendly game space, or provide an informal family gathering area.  This design offers flexibility and is only limited by your imagination!

Bedrooms are spacious, bathrooms have been 

updated to reflect today’s trends, and the kitchen boasts all appliances including a side by side refrigerator.  Washer & dryer are included for your convenience as well.

To find out more about this home, visit the virtual tour on-line at http://tinyurl.com/b6dlh8 or preview this home’s website at  www.10673BallesteroDriveEast.com

Call TODAY for See This Home! At THIS PRICE it WILL Sell FAST!  904.545.5204

Deborah Fisher, Broker/Owner, Fisher & Company, P.A. Realtors (R) 

NEFAR MLS # 472576

JACKSONVILLE AREA AGENTS:

Are you interested in Exposing YOUR Listings on the NEW Zone 1 Mandarin/San Marco Caravan?

The SUCCESS of the Zone 1 Caravan DEPENDS on YOU!

SHOW MORE-SELL MORE!

1.   Submit up to 3 homes of your homes listed in MLS Zone 1 in order of preference for inclusion on the Caravan list. Send your 3 homes to dfisher@fishercopa.com by 3 PM this WEDNESDAY.  Please provide:

a.   MLS Number

b.  Property Address

c.   Current Price

d.  Your Name

e.   Contact #

f.     Firm Name

2.   The number of your listings that make each week’s caravan list depends on how many submissions we get. FIRST COME FIRST SERVED! Each week we will attempt to include at least 1 listing from each agent. Any listings that do not make this week's listing will have the first right to be on NEXT week's caravan.

3.   We will start the first Caravan THIS THURSDAY if we have any INTEREST from YOU.

4.   You MUST attend the Caravan the week of your showings so that ALL OF OUR SELLERS (& US!) may benefit from participation.

5.   TO BE FAIR TO ALL: You MAY NOT DROP OFF the caravan once we have caravanned your listing. Doing so may cause your future caravan requests to lack preferential treatment & be pushed back.

6.   The GOAL is to EXPOSE ZONE 1 LISTINGS to a broader group of agents than the agents that are just in your office.  We will do this each THURSDAY via a multi-agent caravan. 

7.   Any questions: Call Deborah Fisher, Broker, Fisher & Company, P.A. at 904.545.5204.

I will gather the listings, map the most logical route, print the route and hand out the route at the designated meeting spot Thursday morning. You will know which of your homes are on the list Wednesday evening by 5 PM & the times that we anticipate arriving at your listing.

We will meet in the KMART parking lot on San Jose near Old St. Augustine Road at 9 AM Thursday. This is a reasonable, central Mandarin/San Marco location that is fair to all.

Please let me know your interest / disinterest in a Zone 1 Caravan.

Even if you do not have any listings, please participate on the caravan. You will then be able to tell potential listing clients that YOU participate in the Multi-Agent Zone 1 Caravan to expose THEIR listing to the broadest audience PLUS you will know which homes to talk about and show with/to potential buyers. Now more than ever WE NEED TO PLAN AHEAD TO BE PREPARED.

This will be another benefit to your sellers, so I hope that you will participate!

The problem with "Christians" is that well . . . they are so fallible. 

Fisher's Law # 3: Email boxes are vacuums that when emptied will be refilled at a rate faster than the previous emptying.

Here it is Friday, I have a to-do list the size of the old woman in the shoe's grocery shopping list, and I have just emptied my email in-box. 422 emails not including the canned spam-ham. (My filter does a nice job of grabbing those spam things and stuffing them through the garbage disposal before they ever get to me.)

So, here I sit, Friday, what really should be a legal skip day in all 50 states, and after just having emptied the email bin on my very sexy MacBookPro (Gosh I luv that thing!) the darn email in box is filling up again at a rate that is making my head spin.  

I have created a monster & it is social networking.

Great. I just received an email blast from a BIG builder (you know who you are!) on another expensive campaign that is going to do little to advance their number of sales for the quarter.  (And after being in the home building industry for so many years . . . I am well familiar with trying to make those numbers for Wall Street.)

Here's my wonderment: I can not believe how poorly designed some of the marketing strategies are that are rolling out of the home building industry. Who is running the home builder's marketing??  Who's coming up with this stuff???  Guys, is this the best that you can do??  Do you really think that one band aid - one program - will fix a lack of sales across the board?  Is this something you came up with or the lame attempt of some advertising agency that doesn't have a clue about home building and buyers? 

Sorry if I spout off and foam at the mouth, but really, people, what are you thinking, and why do you still have your "BIG" corporate jobs?  For the love of God and all that is holy . . . wake up and get to the heart of the matter! You are wasting time, money, and the energy of your sales team on "promotions" that have little value and no substance. And we know that our sales teams have very little energy to spare at the moment. They are emotionally and mentally exhausted.  Giving the sales team a promotion that builds them up but will do little to help them achieve their numbers (and yes, it is about the numbers) will only make them crash even further and harder than before.  This type of sales management and marketing platform is tantamount to you being the pusher and your site team being the junkie. Oh, these are hard, hard words, but the facts are the facts.   

People, today's home shoppers are not delaying the buying decision because of the monthly investment.  A mortgage buy down across the board from 5 % to 2.875 % for the first year is not going to convert traffic.  You could drop the interest rate to ZERO and it is not going to spur urgency!  IT IS NOT ABOUT THE PAYMENT!!!  

People are afraid to purchase today because they are unsure that the value of the home that they are buying will keep that value in the days ahead. Who wants to buy a home for $x and have the home home valued at $x-y in the months to come? That difference between $x & $y is what the buyers are worried about!  Who wants to be on the hook for more money than a product has value??

Folks, I could go into a litany of reasons people are not buying homes.  It is different buyer by buyer, and I do not have the space in this blog to address each OPPORTUNITY that is preventing your prospects calling one of your homes THEIRS. Let me just say this: do what I did and do on a regular basis.  Review your prospects/leads community by community and person by person, and come up with a way to get that person off of the fence and into your home. 

Please stop trying the "one crummy idea" will generate sales across the board and be all things to all people. Those days are gone. People took those promotions at the time because they were going top buy from you regardless. It was a BONUS to them.  The buyers that went for those promotions are having their homes auctioned off at the courthouse or are mailing the keys back to the bank.  Start looking for REAL promotions to real buyers. 

It's what I am doing, and probably why WE ARE SELLING HOMES!

So, I am hitting the delete button. Email me when you can figure it out. 

I have (well-meaning) cyber-friends who send me all of the promotional stuff the builders send them because they know I am a marketing junkie, an analytical one at that. Thanks for sending me stuff. Keep it coming. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

PS. I don't care if you are offering a Realtor 10% commission. 10% of nothing is still nothing. I think the Realtors would prefer even 2.5% of something.  It is still more in their pockets than they had before. Use your money to make purchasing your home IRRESISTIBLE to THE BUYER. 

PSS.  As a sales and marketing professional in the homebuilding industry for more than two decades, and president of a marketing company geared to builders and developers, please consider using our services.  Not only do I teach at the NAHB's IBS and the SEBC the very stuff I am talking about, stuff that works, but I am portable. Besides, you really, really need someone outside in the real world not worried about their job to tell you how it really is.

My parents had it easy. They really did. After a day at the office, Dad came home and had the role of Jim Anderson in "Father Knows Best". Smart, never raised his voice, always dispensing tidbits of wisdom, dad, a general contractor, left the office behind at the office.

My mother, a June Cleaver type, ("Leave It to Beaver"), was patient, a great home maker, and always telling us to 'wait until your father gets home'. Her two pieces of advice, God bless her, were "Always look nice when your husband comes home" and "Always have a bank account that your husband knows nothing about". I know that I am a BIG disappointment to her.

There was a time when my mother worked outside of the home for the Ministry of Tourism, but even with her "career", she just didn't seem to be as busy as I see myself today. How is that? She didn't have a microwave, electric rollers, Starbucks, and I remember we had a sit-down dinner cooked from scratch at 7:30 PM every night.

I am busy trying to grow my real estate and sales and marketing businesses. Two separate things, yet they are one: just two revenue streams. Both are tied to the housing industry. (What was I thinking?)

As a marketing professional, I recognize the importance of Social Networking. After all, it's free publicity, it expands my web of contacts, and while I can't quite attribute any income to it yet, I know that eventually it will pay off. Besides, this beats standing at the corner of Baymeadows and Phillips Highway in the hub of Jacksonville Florida with a sign that reads "Will Market Your Home for $695".

However, that being said, how on earth do people find the time to 'touch' each one of these social networking interfaces on a daily basis?

I am twittering (@DeborahFisher), Blipping (@FishCO) on Blip.FM, raining on ActiveRain (debfisher.activerain.com), and I am now hooked up to SalesBlogcasting. Okay, so I like Blipping because one of my childhood dreams was to be a DJ. (The other was to be a black gospel singer, and I just don't see that happening, do you?)

So, social networking has become my "significant other". I am not sure if I can claim an extra dependent deduction on my taxes, but social networking has become such a chunk of my time that I am questioning my legal marital state and wondering if this "marriage" is illegal in all states except Nevada.

To quote an illiterate friend with a Phd . . . "How do one do it?" In the meantime, I am going to pop over to Hallmark.com and order a special e-Valentine for my "significant other". Preferably one that is easy to download.

On Monday I flew into Las Vegas (yes, that Las Vegas) for the National Association of Home Builder's 2009 International Builder's Showcase.  I had been invited to share my insight on marketing to other building professionals by fellow AR member, Steve Hoffacker, so I spent Monday making the trek from Jacksonville to Vegas.  There were a few delays getting me here: foul weather up north keeping planes on the ground, and people trying to save the cost of checking their bags at the check-in counter or curbside by attempting to get luggage the size of refrigerators on board as a "carry on", which, by the way, is a BIG no-no on the airlines today.

I ended up getting into Vegas at 12:30 AM, checked into my hotel at 2 AM, and at 2:30 AM, having not eaten since a light breakfast since early morning . . . I went in search of breakfast at the hotel. I think I got to bed about 4 AM, and after about 2 hours sleep I had to start my day.

Last night my crazy schedule caught up with me. It also didn't help that yesterday I walked 'for a little light exercise' the complete length of the 'strip' and back again. I think I walked for about 5 hours, but I shopped along the way so it was all good. Oh, and the day before I ran 4 miles. 

I wanted to watch a movie . . . but I am wiped out. It's light out for me. My room is pitch black and cool and I am buried under covers, just the way I like it. When my head hit my pillow . . . I was gone!  

At some point during my z's, I am awakened to shrill short blasts from something in my room.  Dazed, I leap up thinking it is the alarm clock on my mobile phone or my laptop computer going off and creating a disturbance for the rest of the guests.  Frantically I turn on the light by my bed wondering what the source of the racket is, only to realize it is the hotel's fire alarm going off. Sleepily I think it is only in my room . . . so I call the hotel operator to tell her that there is no fire, but who upon answering and before I can get a word out informs me that security is checking into the source for the fire alarm.

Fire alarm??? I am on the 15th floor - the top floor - and I am not too crazy about heights.  I throw on shorts and running shoes, grab my leather jacket, stuff my cash, ID, and laptop into my backpack and head out down the hallway looking for the fire exit.  All of the doors on my floor have automatically closed . . .  and I am wandering the floor alone . . . clearly I am the only one taking this seriously. Either that or everyone else is already out.

I trot down metal stairs on tired muscles thinking to myself: great, your bloody exercising is going to be the death of you after all since you won't be able to RUN from the fire.  I may be the first person in history to die as a result of exercise.  But I am not taking a chance. Fire?? I'll trot down the stairs and wait outside until they figure it out, thanks all the same. Better safe than sorry, that's my adage!

As I wearily pass each door at each level, I think to myself . . . Where is everybody? and My God, I am NEVER going to get to the bottom! As I approach the door to level 3, I hear a voice over the fire system's loudspeaker . . . an automated voice, a calm deeply masculine voice designed to instill calm in panicking guests running for their lives . . . and I pause to listen . . . "There is no emergency.  Repeat. There is no emergency. Security has everything under control."  

To be perfectly honest, I am not sure what else the voice said because I turned to look back up the stairs . . I am going to have to trot all the way back up to the 10th floor to grab an elevator since the elevators to my section of the hotel only run from the tenth floor to the 15th . . . 

I sigh, go the distance, and I return to my bed . . .  keeping my shorts, socks and t-shirt on just in case.   I hope they have a wheelchair here in the hotel. I'm going to need it today.

I recently shared in a (private) blog with other Real Estate professionals around the nation that I recently had the most complicated closing of my thirty-year real estate career.  Even the real estate attorney closing the file said it was the most complicated file he had ever closed. 

At the end of the day everyone was ecstatic that the house was sold and closed, from the buyers and seller right down to the closing coordinator in the attorney’s office because everyone felt as though they ‘got’ what they wanted.  That is the happy ending that each of us was striving to achieve, especially the professionals handling the transaction.  Most importantly, I have a very happy and loyal seller who realizes that he would never have been able to close this home on his own.

I've closed a lot of homes over the past thirty years, closing more than a thousand homes a year as a senior-level executive in the homebuilding industry. While this sale may have had more than its fair share of challenges ‘opportunities’ to overcome, most home transactions are not the ‘lay downs’ that the buyers and sellers perceive.Someone is making the process look easy, and that person is often a real estate professional (with the much appreciated help of an equally professional closing agent).  Real estate closings are the dog show at the circus: there are hoops and someone has to be jumping through them.

Every day buyers and sellers try to go it alone, but buying and selling real estate has become more and more complicated with new lending laws, obligatory disclosures, and a maze of legal documents.  We live in a litigious society, and ignorance is no defense in court.  Even in new home closings between builder and buyer things "pop" up that have to be overcome.  

After everything had been satisfactorily resolved, which by buyer account appeared smooth, I sat at the closing table wondering why anyone would want to put themselves through the aggravation of buying and selling a property without professional help?  After this transaction, I needed professional help: help from Jack Daniels Captain Morgan, or Jim Beam.

I know people who have sold multiple homes, done it themselves, and all has gone (by all appearances) well.  I know others, in fact one of my current sellers, who said that they would never do it alone again. 

If the sale to closing process is so complicated, why do buyers and sellers choose to go it alone? 

The main reasons:

1.     The parties have not personally experienced ‘the’ closing from hell

2.     The buyer hopes to get a better deal from the seller since there is no commission involved

3.     The seller hopes to save the commission (which is in opposite polarity to number 2. above, thus both 2 & 3 occurring simultaneously are against all laws of physics and mathematics)

The truth of the matter is:

1.     Countless unbiased studies show that FSBO homes are typically over-priced. Real Estate professionals use data collected on sold homes, current market conditions, knowledge of inventory levels, and more to fairly and more accurately predict what price the market will bear, and more importantly at what value the home will likely appraise.

2.     Buyers tend to pay too much for FSBO homes and probably could have gotten a better ‘deal’ on a home marketed through a professional in a comparable neighborhood if not the very same neighborhood. Homeowners, and I admit to this personally, believe their home to one of the best in the neighborhood and therefore worth more.  Unfortunately, this perceived value is typically based on emotion.  If the home doesn’t appraise the contract will need to be renegotiated, and, if negotiations fail, the buyer will have to look for another house, starting the home shopping process all over again.  Sellers who have a firm price in mind, and many do, will have to either wait for the market to catch up to them or wait for an unsuspecting buyer with some cash to offset the difference between the appraisal and asking price.

3.     Often things go awry between contract and closing that creates added stress for and between both parties, ruining the joy of the transaction for each party.

4.     FSBO transactions often fail to make use of the proper inspections to both the buyer’s and seller’s disadvantage.   Why bother with the added expense of inspections?  No longer do the courts have an attitude of “Buyer Beware”.  Other than some lender required inspections, inspections provide peace of mind to the buyer, and Sellers benefit by having documentation that the home is as represented thus adopting a proactive approach to avoid potential future litigation. 

5.     FSBO ‘contracts’ often lack clarity in the terms, thus opening the door for ‘misunderstandings’ and discord between the parties (Buyers and sellers have been known to not even be able to sit in the same room at closing together.  Can you imagine moving into a home that ended in a bitter purchase?)

6.     Federal, state & local laws require mandatory disclosures that protect both the buyer and the seller.  Ignorance of the law is no defense when one of the

parties discovers something they don’t like and uses a missed disclosure as a legal out or cause for action.

7.     Both parties may end up paying ‘non-customary’ fees and expenses.  While all fees are negotiable, learning that they have paid for something that is not customary to the area can create ‘hard’ feelings between the parties, opening the door to suspect throughout the transaction.

8.    Sellers and buyers often end up using valuable vacation days as days off to facilitate repairs, appraisals and inspections required by the lender.  Professionals are used to juggling these items and often have a carefully selected team of professional trades and vendors on speed dial. As any homeowner knows, it is not uncommon to take a morning or afternoon off to wait for an inspector or repairman, only to have no one show or experience lengthy delays.

9.     FSBO sales often have ‘contract’ breaches to the detriment of one party or the other.  Professionals ensure that deadlines are met and the terms of the contract enforced. 

10.   Real estate professionals often sell a home faster than the FSBO.  Agents are able to properly price and expose each home to a wider audience than the FSBO.  It takes time, money, and effort to expose a property to a wide audience.  The most likely buyer for any home is likely already working with a real estate professional.  Real estate professionals don’t show homes that they don’t know.  The professional’s agent’s role is to sell that home to other real estate professionals before it is sold to a buyer. 

Fisher’s Law # 1:  It is mathematically impossible for both the buyer and the seller to save the commission.

Fisher’s Law # 2:  Every real estate transaction is within one challenge of never closing.

This morning, my seller called to wish me a Happy New Year and to thank me again for coming up with the numerous solutions to get his home sold and closed. What a great guy.  It's nice being appreciated and I appreciate people who recognize how hard I work and how much effort I put into my work.  You know, it really isn't just about the money.  This is a job just like any other, and we all want to feel appreciated and feel good about each day's performance.  When you are an over-achiever, good is never good enough.  That's what's so great about real estate: every day there are new challenges and new opportunities, and on just about every transaction we get the opportunity to make it all happen.

I still don't understand why someone would want to buy or sell real estate without a real estate professional. All of the legal documents and disclosures aside, selling a personal residence is often emotional.  On every personal 'homesteaded' residence I have sold, with the exception of one property, I have sold the property using another Realtor so that I can step back and let them deal with the sale to closing process.  I want to move on from each property with as little inconvenience as possible, plus I want the highest dollar I can get for each, and I know that another agent who is not emotionally tied to the property will do a better job of negotiating on my behalf.

In October 2008, the National Association of Realtors released a recent study and profile of home buyers and sellers from data collected between July 2007 and June 2008.  Their findings indicate that more than ever sellers and buyers are relying on professional Realtors to assist them in their home and sale purchase.  In fact, the study showed that eight out of ten home buyers are using a Realtor to help them with their home purchase. (Consumer names and addresses were obtained from Experian, a firm that maintains an extensive database of recent home buyers derived from county records. Information about sellers comes from those buyers who also sold a home. )

We have this amazing tiny little poodle with the heart of a lion who looks more like a Bichon.  Her hair is straight and fluffy, and her snow white coat is set off by two button black eyes and a tiny black nose.  At ten, she is as frisky as a new pup and loves to run and chase across our expansive yard, claiming her territory and letting us know that she has all five corners under her control.

"Cheyenne" ended up with us quite by accident.  Born on St. Paddy's day in 1998, Cheyenne was from a puppy mill, and beneath the tangles and mats of a twelve week old pup I knew that there was something special about her.  We didn't need another family pet. We already had two cats, fifteen fish, a pomeranian and two poodles, so the last thing we needed was a fourth d-o-g.  Still, she ended up going home with us, so smelly and dirty that I had to put my foot down for her to be allowed to ride home in the cab of our truck.

From the onset, she picked out the younger of our two poodles, Taylor, as her favorite.  This was a good thing since Taylor was a third wheel to pomeranian Bradley and poodle Whitney.  Cheyenne immediately set about making certain that Taylor had all the puppy love she could handle, and the bond was set.  A few years later, Taylor had to have surgery, and Cheyenne dutifully protected her and stayed by her side during the long recovery process.  When our pom passed away, Cheyenne stepped in to help fill the hole he left in our lives.  She now joins me in the kitchen when I am cooking, a "little chef" assisting and reminding me that I have something in the oven or on the stove.  When her "Nana" was staying at our home recovering from surgery, Cheyenne sat beside her patiently each day, allowing "Nana" to pet her and talk to her during her convalescence, keeping a watchful eye out as the home therapists and nurses paraded in and out of our home daily.

"Chey" has never had to be on a lead.  She has never "pottied" in the house.  There was quite a bit of separation anxiety in the beginning, but we worked through it and we replaced the comforter more than once or twice, but she finally understood that I was coming back to her.  Clearly she had some issues from her days in the puppy mill, which we suspected were beatings around feeding time, but we have pretty much resolved those issues and she knows that there is plenty of food to go around, and more if needed.  Over the years, she has become a most dutiful companion, a small warm lump at my feet during the night who seems to know the precise moment I leave my office to head home even though my schedule is varied and unpredictable.  

About a month ago, Chey suddenly started coughing and she quickly grew listless.  We dropped everything and took her to our favorite and most trusted vet 75 miles away although there are numerous other vets much, much closer.  Even if he is a "Gator", we know our family vet is exceptionally bright, exceptionally caring, and we trust him to make the right call for us as he cares for our pets, so we drive from Jacksonville to Ormond Beach because we know he and his staff loves our pets and, quite frankly, our pets love them back.  

Mark did what he could in his office: xrays, blood tests, etcetera, and he diagnosed Chey as having pneumonia but there were other complications.  We had no idea how a "pup" that lives inside and is so cared for could get pneumonia, and we set about combing our house and yard for anything that could have poisoned her.  For several days she was hospitalized there as Mark fought the illness with antibiotics, but Chey was not making any progress. Finally, Mark suggested that we go to a specialty practice of internists and oncologists in Jacksonville, but warned us that it would be pricey.  It was her only chance.  

The initial office visit to the Internist was a staggering fee just to walk in the door.  By chance, we ran into a couple we knew who had their two Burmese Mountain dogs there. One of the d-o-g-s had been diagnosed with inoperable cancer and the 'family' was spending a few more moments together before a sad goodbye.  We were speechless at the news since another friend of ours had brought these two pups back from Quebec with him for this couple just a few years earlier.  We had seen the pups and played with them even before the new owners had.  Seeing them as a family of four together for the last time pressed upon me even more that our own situation looked pretty bleak.

We spent the weeks leading up to Christmas taking Chey back and forth to the internist for a battery of blood work, pathology studies, x-rays, sonograms, cat scans, and more.  Finally, we sat in the consulting room and got the news: Cheyenne was not responding to any medicine, the middle lung lobe was diseased, and the only cure was to remove the lung. We questioned the oncologist on whether or not it was cancer, but no cancer could be detected in any of the tests. What caused the lungs to collapse was unknown.  The oncologist and surgeon agreed that removing the right middle lung was her only chance.  The alternative was to . . . well . . . you know . . . and since it appeared that she would have a full recovery if we did the procedure we were sent home to consider the surgery as an option.

By now I had spent way more than I had planned. Thousands more.  Good grief.  It sort of snuck up on me, a thousand here, a thousand there . . .  The surgery was going to be all that I had already spent again. 

On December 23rd., Chey had her surgery. All went well. They found a few tiny spots on her other lungs, which were visible only when they opened her up.  Had I known of this in advance, I probably would not have let them do the surgery.  The surgeon sent them off to a pathologist so we don't know the outcome. Over the Christmas holiday we visited her daily, taking turns holding her, wondering if we had done the right thing, questioning if she looked better than the last time we saw her.

We were able to bring her home three days after surgery, a remarkable testament to her determination to live and the skill of the surgeon.  Although she was always trim and lean, post-surgery she was a shivering bag of bones.  Today, a mere six days after the surgery, Cheyenne looks more like her old self. She is home and following my every move throughout the house, sleeping beside me at night, wolfing down food as though she hasn't eaten in days, which she probably hasn't, and we are observing more and more glimpses of the 'puppy' in her.  

We have no idea how all of this will play out.  It seems unfair to cry over a d-o-g when so many people are suffering with serious illnesses. Having been through a major medical crisis or two myself and losing loved ones and friends to cancer I can understand how some people would react to the commitment we have made to this little girl to give her the chance to get well.  

But what were we to do?  How do you say "Thank you and I love you back" to a warm and furry shadow that loves you even though you are really not quite as wonderful as she thinks you are?  Sometimes words are simply not enough. 

To pet lovers everywhere: May each of us be the people our pets think we are.  

I can tell a lot about someone from the greeting card I receive, can you?

No, I am not checking the back of the card to see if it is a genuine Hallmark brand card.  I am looking at the picture and the sentiment, and the title greeting if there is one. And no, it is not my marketing background that causes me to scrutinize each card.

Somewhere along the way I became more aware, more sensitive, of the real meaning of Christmas, and when I did I stopped purchasing cards with wintry scenes, baby animals, Santa in his sleigh, and cozy home scenes.  I also stopped buying cards that say "Seasons Greetings" and "Merry Xmas" because I am a Christian and I wanted to keep the Christ child in Christmas.   

Many Christians and Jews are caving in and sending cards with generic holiday greetings.

I have a longtime friend who is Jewish.  When we meet by chance during the holiday season he always greets me with "Merry Christmas" and I greet him with "Happy Hanukkah".  I appreciate his commitment to his faith, and I think he appreciates mine.   I recognize that he and I believe in the same God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but I embrace Jesus Christ as the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament and he doesn't.  

Do I see him as being wrong? Actually, I don't. I feel as though he just doesn't know the rest of the story . . . he stopped reading at the 5th book of the Old Testament.  And there is so many more stories, all building to the story of the birth of the Messiah.  

And what a story it is!  From the beginning God knew what a bunch of skunks and rascals we are and that we couldn't do it on our own. We needed a saviour, so he sends His son in His place.  But, what is so fascinating to me is how, over and over, God uses the most unlikely people, the most ordinary of people, the most ordinary of situations.  

Instead of sending His son, a king, off to live like a king and be raised by other kings, he sends him off to be raised by an ordinary family.  Carpenters. Tradesman. Not exactly the upper crust of society.   Biblically it is suggested that as a man, Christ is unremarkable in appearance, possibly short, not quite the rock star we would expect the son of God to be. 

Yet thousands followed him from place to place, hanging on His every word.

If my friend sent me a Hanukkah card, by no means would I be offended. In fact, I would welcome the card as a reminder that, like me, my friend is a faith based person celebrating his traditions, each of us journeying through life trying to follow our rabbi and live the scriptures to the best of our ability. And I would reflect that in a way we have travelled on the same spiritual path . . . we share the same God, the same creator, and together we look to Him for guidance.

So, to my Christian friends, Merry Christmas. To my Jewish friends, Happy Hanukkah.  To both, may the blessings of God flow down and cover you and your family this season and may He bless you richly!  

To those of you who are non-believers, well . . . Happy New Year.  

For several weeks we held a family secret with baited breath: our beautiful Samantha had passed the at home test and was just barely pregnant.  My mother would say that you are either pregnant or not. There is no barely to it.  What my mother, who died relatively young, didn't know was that someone would invent a little $12 test that could tell you the news of the pitter-patter of little feet seemingly instantaneously. This is Samantha and Ryan's first baby, so you can imagine the hopeful excitement that everything would progress beyond the first few weeks and ultimately work out for a happy ending.  Sam just recently blogged to friends and extended family that she and Ryan will be expecting their first future little Gator Nole alumnae late Spring '09.

They really are a cute couple.  They have already had an amazing storybook romance, a wedding fit for a prince and princess and they are well on their way to a storybook life.  I am crazy about them both, even if he is a Florida Gator, which makes him one of our arch rivals from the team we love to beat and suffer greatly over in defeat.  One day I will tell you the story of how I threatened to cut Samantha out of the will if she attended Florida and not Florida State.  We take football seriously in our family.  She made the right decision, went to State, and Ryan upgraded to dating a 'Nole after seeing the error of his ways and that State women are not only smarter but prettier too, inside and out.

The "kids" went to the doctor and had the first sonogram done at eight weeks.  To their surprise, they were actually able to see their baby's cheeks on the sonogram.  The doctor confirmed it for them.  Yes, those are your baby's little cheeks.  Eight weeks and we have cheeks!

I am praying hard, we all are, that everything goes okay and Sammy carries her baby to term.  We are praying hard that baby 'Nole has ten fingers and ten toes, and that he or she is a healthy, normal, perfect miracle from God. God sometimes has other ideas and other plans for each of us.  Sometimes babies aren't perfect to us, but they are perfect to God because his idea of perfect is different from ours.  I don't understand it, but that's what makes being a Christian such an amazing thing: it's sort of like working with a safety net.  You fall, but you land in the safety of His grasp.  

Can't tell you how often I have prayed for each and every child in our family by name, Samantha included, hoping that they would have a relationship with Christ and figure out that it is not about them at all. I have prayed and continue to pray that each child marries someone of faith, that they find a church that is loving to them and to others, one that is biblically based, nurturing, is reaching out to others, reflecting Christ's love for everyone, even the worst of the worst.

I am so thankful that Sam and Ryan are Christians.  With this baby on the way, they are going to need to rely upon Him now more than ever, to trust Him and trust His ways and plans for them and their baby. Along their journey, it's going to be scary at times, but they can do this through His strength and the support of family and friends, and of course the church. 

I think that the Palins, yes, those Palins, showed great courage having their baby when they knew that their baby would not be perfect in the eyes of the world. That's love.  I guess that they were also looking at their baby through the eyes of God, not man.  That's living your faith, practicing your belief, trusting in the maker of the stars and the creator of life, trusting in Him.  

As Christians, it is so easy for us to say one thing and do another.  We humans are so darn good at rationalizing everything to fit our current circumstance.  We are the masters at creating wriggle room.  Somewhere along the way, as I matured spiritually, I learned to pray daily that for that day, I would walk in His will. Sometimes it gets tough.  Often we create the biggest messes for ourselves when we step out of His will. Ever pray and have God say, not now, or flat out no? Ever try to circumvent God's will?  Painful, in the long run, isn't it?

Catholics and protestant faiths agree that biblically life begins at conception.  During this electoral period, as Christians, we need to remember that.  We can't have it our way and God's way as well if the two are in conflict.  How we must break His heart.  If he cares for the sparrow, how much more about you and I? How much more for that eight week old new creation with cheeks?  As Christians, we are a new creation in Him, and we are either Christians who are pro-life, or we are Christians who are not under God's will.  

I didn't intend to get on to the pro-life or anti-life topic today. I really am quite sick of politics at this point and I am ready to get back to blogging about real estate and marketing.  But I started thinking about those eight week old baby cheeks. And I hope you are thinking about them as well.  I hope you will vote against all abortions, and especially against partial-birth abortions.  There are better alternatives, better choices, better acts of Christian love.

May the one who strung the stars across the night sky, who was in the cave with Elijah, who walked in the garden searching for Adam and Eve, may he search for you and may you be found, and may you be found lacking for nothing.

The day I saw video of President Bush whooping it up with the Saudis was the day that changed forever my keen admiration of him.  Visions of Nero partying while Rome burned flashed through my mind.  Et tu, ‘W’? Et tu?

I was a ‘Bushwoman’ for many years.  I prayerfully and emotionally supported him through his first term and most of his second.  ‘W’ seemed like a great guy.  In fact, I think he probably still is, but I just can’t get that picture of him dancing in the desert sand with ‘the enemy', the Arabian oil barons whom we wretchedly need because they have the oil we so desperately crave.  Gas, therefore oil, is my drug of choice.  I want it to power my love for performance cars, no matter the cost.  I must have it. I will have it. I will buy it even at nearly five dollars a gallon.

I admire Laura Bush.  She seems like a nice person.  Polished, polite, she is the epitome of how a First Lady, or any lady, should conduct herself.  The Bush kids seem like nice kids.  When people have good kids, nice kids, some of that niceness has to have rubbed off onto them from the parents.  Overall, they seem like a nice American family, and they seem to have taken root in a religion that most Americans can relate to. 

Mrs. Bush, the one with more experience, reminds me of my grandmother, somewhere between Mrs. Doubtfire and Mary Poppins.   Gentle and amazingly insightful, quick to find the joy in the simplest of things, yet doesn’t take herself too seriously.  I hope the kids in my family, the coming generations, will say the same things about me.

Amazing how we base our likes and dislikes on the people around us based on the imprint of our childhood and our perception of what is right and wrong.  Studies show that we like others who are similar to us, and we tend to be drawn to those with similar interests and tastes.  I liked President Bush because I felt that he was a family man, a good Christian, and he had a genuine love of his country.  I admire anyone who has a genuine love and affection for their country and applies the tenets of their faith to all aspects of their life.  See, that's me.  I identify with those things.  

In life, good people, decent people, people with integrity, are not one way in public, and another in private.  When I was in my early twenties, for a very short time I worked with a fairly well known mortgage broker who promoted himself at every opportunity as a Christian.  I remember how turned off I was to him and to Christians because he was saying one thing, yet doing things that clearly went against any fair business practices.  He was supposed to be modeling Christianity, yet had no personal integrity or ethics.  If this was Christianity, I wanted none of it.  It mattered not what he said with his mouth, I formed my extremely low opinion of him based on his actions. 

This is perhaps why I am struggling with Senator Obama as an elected official of any kind.  He has surrounded himself with a poor choice of people, conducting himself in the same way that the mortgage broker did.  Senator Obama is saying a great many good things, things we want to hear, yet he has surrounded himself with people who are not living up to those ideals. 

Why would Senator Obama associate himself with Reverend Wright, Franklyn Wright, William Ayers, Tony Rezko, Valerie Jarrett, Allison Davis, and ilk? 

It is impossible to deeply believe in something, yet not apply those beliefs to your life and your friends.  Your beliefs shape the people that you associate with. 

Do you spend time with people who live their lives contrary to your belief system, contrary to your personal moral code?  Do you spend time associating with people that would jeopardize your personal commitment to your integrity and your name, or do you distance yourself from them?  Do you compromise your standards and values because you need something from them?

My mother, God bless her, was a lot smarter than her children first realized.  I remember her once admonishing me for “hanging around” with a couple of kids she felt I shouldn’t by telling me that I would be known by the company I keep.

How many of us have said the same to our kids? Knowing they will be out of our sight and care, how many of us admonish our children every day to make good decisions.  Why?  So that they don’t fall under the influence of the wrong crowd.

Right now, you need to consider yourself in the roll of an employer.  You are in the interviewing process for hiring the best candidate for the job of leading this country, regardless of their party affiliation or yours.  As an employer, it is your duty to protect your interests and do a background check to confirm whether or not the candidates before you have accomplished what their resumes say they have and are who their resumes say that they are.

I think that as potential employers seeking to hire a president we need to wake up and take a much closer look at the relationships that Senator Obama has formed.  Don’t wait for the media to do it for you.  They aren’t going to.  In fact, they are so clearly infatuated with the Senator from Illinois that they are glossing over his failures, his relationships, and his actions.

I am not suspicious by nature, but the media’s actions merit curious attention.  What’s in it for them?  Why are they are so quick to smear a coat of whitewash over anything circumspect on Mr. Obama, yet so quick to cast suspicion and doubt on the republican vice-presidential candidate?  Why is that? You should be asking yourself these very things!

I would say this to you:  before you pull that lever at the poll, you owe it to yourself, to your children, and a free and democratic America to gather the facts and be well informed so that you can make a logical, sound hiring decision.   The senator says a lot of great things, but there is little substance to what he says. What policies, what social programs has he accomplished with success?

By the way, if you have read my blogs before you know I clearly lean to the right.  That's because I am a capitalist pig with lipstick who has a work ethic that others say is incredible.  I learned that from my parents. Why am I a capitalist?  I learned that from my parents as well.  I am not in favor of wealth redistribution, which in my opinion helps the unmotivated and the lazy enjoy the same quality of life as I have sacrificed and worked hard for.  This is America, and everyone, regardless of whether they are rich poor has the right and the opportunity to get an education.  If you are willing to get out and work hard, learn a trade, or get an education, then you are clearly in the right country since all of that and more is already made available to you, and I am willing to help you achieve success and get ahead by supporting those programs and cheering you on. I am not willing to help you if you sit on the sofa and watch court tv while waiting for the government, i.e. the taxpayers, or your parents to provide for you. Sit there in abject misery for all I care, or get out and get a job, learn a trade, get an education, become a movie star, whatever, but support yourself.  

I still think President Bush is a good family man, a good Christian, and I still think he loves his country.   I think he just had his hands tied by a partisan congress. The Dems have clearly been in control of the congress for a number of years and we all know how laws and policies get enacted and approved. 

Oh, yeah.  That dancing in the sand thing with the Saudis? That was a huge mistake, Mr. President.  I felt as though you were making light of the price of oil and the cost of gallon of gas.  I feel as though you don’t understand what a gallon of milk or a box of diapers costs.  That’s where you lost me. 

When you can say, Mr. President, that you stood on line in the WalMart to buy a box of diapers with the secret service standing around you, then you can talk to me about bailouts, plumbers, and health care costs.  I don’t think you get it, Sir, but I think Sarah Palin does.  She has stood in line at WalMart.  Out of the four candidates on the presidential ticket, she is the one most grounded in the real challenges that every middle class American is facing. 

But all of this is just my opinion and my right to voice based on the constitution of this country. 

The recent activities around the nation to register voters and rush them to vote prior to any vetting process is putting America on the road to having elections every bit as fraudulent as those under dictatorship.

Every voter in America should be required to properly register, have their eligibility verified, and provide a picture ID with a voter’s registration card at the poll in order to cast their vote for any election, be it a local, state or national election.

The argument that providing an ID will disenfranchise the poor, minorities, and the elderly has no merit.   States may offer those that do not drive a state ID that looks similar to the state’s driver’s license without providing the bearer the privilege of driving.

This brings up the argument that the homeless in America have the right to vote and that the homeless do not carry ID. 

There is no reason that we cannot provide homeless citizens a valid voter registration card in the state of their choice.   With a little thought to the process and a computerized system of checks and balances any homeless citizen will have the privilege of voting.   Even the homeless know where and when they were born and can provide this information in order to get a valid voter registration card in the state of their choice.  What address will they use? They may return to the same place where they applied for their voter’s registration card to pick their card up.

One person, one vote.

Until this process is corrected, no election is by the people.