uh... say again??

Hmm... I'm leaving names out because I have no bone to pick with any particular person, but a recent article in local news rag (sorry no link available -- Hey Kingman Daily Miner step into the age of the Internet will ya??) had a very interesting passage about the reason for the local real estate market has softened. It follows...

It was the flood of inexperienced Realtors, (this person) said, who caused the market to drop. When the influx of people started to slow, Realtors urged sellers to lower asking prices.

Whoah. The gal to the right would say the following... WHAT - WHAT -WHAT!! (Southpark TV show reference).

I've not really seen this reason given before by someone in the real estate business. Seen something very similar on many real estate bubble blogs (where pretty much anything bad that has happened in the world will likely be blamed on Realtors in general... not just inexperienced Realtors).

Kingman is a smallish town, the local fish rag is popular, and people talk about what is written in that fish rag like it is gospel (for some outrageous reason). In my view the local rag hates anything growth related, and over the years it is my perception that if the local rag can shine negative light on anything Realtor related -- they will. Which is why I'm giving a liberal benefit of the doubt to the fellow Realtor that was interviewed in the article.

Still it remains that this article was published and it is being talked about throughout town right now (I've taken multiple phone calls from fellow Realtors AND from others who are not in any way shape or form in the real estate business). So I'm going to break it down my way.

First... what is an inexperienced Realtor?? Last year I finished my fifth year as a Realtor. I think of myself as experienced enough to not be called inexperienced by now. However my perceptions may be tricky on this because of my involvement over the years in various forms of Association leadership, both local and state. I find myself surrounded at all kinds of Association meetings by fellow Members who have been in the biz for 10, 20, and even 30 years or more. I don't pretend to put myself up there with the likes of those folks... so I often feel inexperienced when I am in the presence of greatness.

Getting back to it though, so I'm in my sixth year... and do consider myself an experienced real estate agent. At this time of year our own Association is gearing up for our annual awards banquet and I just happen to be in charge of all things related to this event. We give out top production awards to Members... and I have the list... and five of the top ten producers are Realtors with less experience than I have. Are these the inexperienced Realtors that caused the market to drop??

Of course not is the answer. Neither are the great many other Realtors that are newer to the same profession that I have more experience than. I think the correct reasons to the market change have been well documented throughout this blog. Heck I started the blog while the scales were tipping at full tilt away from the white hot market. I've provided plenty of monthly listing and sales reports for any and all to see (including the media folks at the local fish rag... in fact they used my charts a couple of months ago [with permission]).

It is true that the majority of the total Membership of our local Association is 'inexperienced'... meaning most of them have less time in this biz than I have. When I started there were just over 100 Members in the Association, now there are over 450 (the number was as high as 530 late last year). The Kingman area is growing rather rapidly and business was incredibly brisk over the years since I began as a Realtor. Generally people flock to where the opportunities are, and the opportunities certainly were there... and I believe they still are there in many ways. The market will 'thin the heard' if need be.

Blame is a sign of weakness in my opinion. There is no need to place blame on any one person or group of people for the market change... certainly not Realtors, 'inexperienced' or otherwise. I can guarantee that if nobody ever thought up the idea of paying for the service of representing human beings' interest in a real estate transaction... thereby no such thing as a Realtor... the market would have changed anyway.

I express shame towards the quote from the newspaper above. Not towards the fellow Member that may have said it or the journalist that may have manipulated it... I'm leaving people out of it... the shame is simply for the quote.

Hoover Dam Bypass completion delayed..

Do you want to know how I feel about this??

Click here.

Things to consider interviewing Realtors

I belong to a message board community that mostly has discussions revolving around my favorite NHL hockey team. I've been posting on message boards like these since I first started using the Internet many years ago. Each member usually becomes goes by a 'handle' rather than using our own names.

Through the endless debates about the merits of coaches, players, general managers of the my favorite hockey team, discussion can lead to other subjects such as politics, personal interest (off topic discussions), and other weird things. Through the thousands of posts that I've written and probably the hundreds of thousands I've read over the years it becomes easy to get to know some of these fellow members even though I've never actually met them. Over the years I have let it slip that I am in the real estate biz when off topic discussion have arose on the real estate subject.

Today I received the following private message from a fellow discussion forum member.

We're interviewing Realtors over the next couple of days to sell our house. Any advice on questions we should ask?

I have answered this members request for information. It was a lengthy response and I figured it would be a good blog post so I'm sorta killing two birds with one stone.

Here is my response...

Find out what they do for marketing, and make sure they are willing to market on the web at places like googlebase, trulia.com, craigslist, etc.

Find out if they are willing to send you proofs on any print advertising they may offer before such ads are run. See if they are willing to let you have some input.

Make sure they are one way or the other internet savvy. Email, web pages, maybe even a blog. Digital cameras are a must for an agent, and agents need to take really nice photo's. Photo's on the Internet are the main reason a potential buyer will have interest in your home.

The sales market is slower than it was a couple of years ago and marketing must be the number one key in hiring an agent right now.

Don't let the agent give you a run down on the brokerage they work in. Find out what THE agent does for you. Big firms like Century 21 and RE/MAX are good, but the quality of the agent is still the most important factor. Plenty of duds hang their license in these big shops. I'm in a RE/MAX office myself but I don't consider the other agents in my office to be part of my team. I hope you are understanding what I'm trying to say here.

You obviously want your listing to appear in the local MLS... it is still the best marketing tool to sell homes (for now). Find out if the local MLS has a data feed to the broker site (if the broker has one). Also find out if there is a data feed from the MLS to Realtor.com, it normally does. Also see if the feed may go to places such as I listed above (google base, etc.). If the agent has their own site ask them about web traffic. Agent web sites aren't all that great for the most part, but anywhere you can have your property listed on the Internet is a plus. Thousands of more people that want to move to Kingman Arizona visit Google Base to search for homes than my sales site, it's good for me personally to have my site but it's better for the sellers that their listing appears where millions of people search the Internet every single day.

Make sure the agent discloses to you what you are paying for out of your proceeds. Meaning if you agree to list your home for the standard 6%, ensure that half that is offered to any cooperating agent in the MLS. Then try to find out what the advertising budget will be monthly for your listing. I typically spend about $200 a month on each single family home listing. My market may be waaaayyy different than your market is though so don't be married to that dollar figure (on certain properties I have spent over a thousand dollars a month on average). It is important to find out where the money goes. It is a perception that if you have a $400,000 home listed for 6% of the sales price that $24,000 ends up in the agents pocket at the close of escrow when in reality they may end up, after all expenses to market and sell the property, with just a few thousand dollars for many months of work.

The reason that online advertising is so important is because it is really inexpensive. It is definitely a better bang for your buck. If my clients and I agree that I don't have to do print ads I will charge a lesser fee to my client. You may just want to see how flexible the agents you are interviewing are on fees. In today's slower market I am NOT discounting listing fees as much because I am spending more money on marketing. When homes were selling in a matter of days I was offering deep discounts to clients because my costs were lower per listing. It wouldn't hurt to have this kind of discussion with agents.

Also have the agents disclose to you how they may handle a situation if they represent the buyer as well as you in a transaction. I'm not as comfortable representing both parties in a transaction, I prefer to firmly negotiate for MY client. When I'm representing both sides, my loyalties are to the contract. Working both sides can be done and there are plenty of capable agents that can pull this off, but sometimes there can be conflicts of interest. When I'm listing a home and a buyer comes to me most of the time I refer out the buying client to another agent either in house or to another broker. But... that is just me.

Now I'll say that I am not a 'typical' agent by any stretch. I'm basically a maverick and I'm on a mission to change my profession. You may get a lot of weird looks from more 'typical' agents if you bring up some of this information above. That is okay, if you are interviewing a very successful agent he/she got there by doing successful things. Bottom line is to sell your home.

Be realistic on setting the price on your home. If your sales market is anything close to mine... the price point is the biggest determining factor in the success of the sale. There is simply a lot more inventory on the market right now to expect a premium price. You are competing against a much larger field than ever most likely, other sellers on that list have really nice properties as well, some better than yours. Trust me. Be sure to check the comps that are offered and pay particular attention to any sales in the last few months at the most. I'll bet the prices are stable at best and could be slipping at worst.

If the agent is really pushing a higher price than comps show be careful. You will end up getting frustrated with the process of reducing price to meet the market. Your neighbors may not appreciate a lower priced home in the neighborhood, but you want to sell the home there, not protect the value of the area. Again, base what I've just said on YOUR market as it might be quite different than what I know here in Arizona.

Sorry this was so long, I'll be happy to answer any questions or feel free to run anything by me before you make a decision on who to hire. I'll do my best to help.

Todd Tarson

Alert: Mortgage Fraud Scheme

A huge topic of conversation in yesterday's Professional Standards Committee Workshop in Phoenix was an inflated price scheme, basically mortgage fraud. Each month in Arizona our state Association publishes a magazine and in this month's issue this mortgage fraud scheme was the front page article.

While I couldn't find a way to link to the Arizona Realtor Digest (membership required), the article used in the Digest came from the California Association of Realtors. I found this link to that article, please read it.

In recent days the print media in Phoenix has been running articles that I'll link here.

The reason it was discussed at length in the workshop I attended yesterday is because more and more of these types of transactions were happening. Overall though, I'm willing to bet that the actual percentage of transactions held this way are minuscule but all efforts must be made to end each and every transaction of this type.

The bottom line, ANYONE involved in this type of scheme in a transaction can be found guilty of fraud. This means the Realtor, the lender, the appraiser.... and the buyer and seller of the property. This is why so much attention is being brought to this issue right now. Not everyone is aware of the legal implications.

Buyers should be aware of large sums of cash back offered by a lender and even a seller.

Sellers may like the increased offering price on paper. For example say if the property listed was on the market for $200,000 and the offer comes in at $260,000, looks good right?? There will likely be a 'secret' addendum asking the seller to refund the $60,000 back to the buyer at closing though, ending any perceived gain. If a seller was to close on such a deal and they had an agreement to pay the listing broker a percentage of the final sales price it would mean that more proceeds would go to the broker out of the transactions while not receiving the actual benefit of the higher sales price. And that ain't too groovy.

Realtors should be aware that if a situation appears to be 'too good to be true' that is probably means that it is. The first thing an agent should do when presented this kind of 'opportunity' is to talk to your broker. I know the state Association will be looking to throw the book at members who have complaints filed against them that are involved in such a scheme. Major brokers in Phoenix are severing agents that are involved in these transactions. Not only that, but these brokers are also turning over agents to legal authorities as well.

Personally I have never been approached to be involved in this type of scam. In fact I'm not aware of this practice in my area (that is not to say it can't happen or hasn't happened).

If you are a buyer or a seller and suspect this may be happening in a current transaction, contact an attorney right away. As I said earlier, it is possible that ANY party to this kind of fraudulent transaction could be guilty of mortgage fraud. Anyone, especially Realtors, that suspect mortgage fraud should contact the Department of Financial Institutions at 800-544-0708 or on the web at www.azdfi.gov.

Off for a day...

I'll be in Phoenix Wednesday for my annual Professional Standards Committee Workshop. Fun is not really the word I'd use here, but I will get the chance to catch up to some people I haven't seen in awhile.

As a member of the pro standards committee, it allows me to sit on hearing panels when a complaint is made against a fellow Realtor in regards to our code of ethics. I take a lot of pride of being a member of this committee. I believe it is very important work to be involved in.

I sure do learn from the panels I have sat on over the last couple of years. The things I've learned have helped me be a better representative to my clients. So it is more than worth it to head down to Phoenix for an all day workshop once a year to maintain my eligibility.

Two thumbs up..

I remember back in the day when I though how great it might be to be a movie critic for a living, to make it a career. These were also the days when I though about getting into journalism and radio. Sadly, or luckily (really depends these days on how I look at it) I never followed through with those early career thoughts.

Anyway, the movie critic thingy?? Well I'm not going to do that as there is plenty of movie reviews on the Internet that can be easily found, but I do want to share the following. On recommendation from Helena, my office neighbor next door and company property manager, I rented 'Thank You For Smoking'.

Wow, what a surprising movie. Surprising to the good. This may have been a timely movie because of my involvement in local politics on behalf of the Realtor Association, but I'm sure I would have enjoyed it anyway.

To me the movie is a huge slap in the face to political correctness and that alone was worth the price of the rental. It was also about spin, as in political spin. About winning arguments without being right.

So much of my job as a Realtor is the very opposite of spin when dealing with my clients. I must deal in facts and I have no problem with this one bit. Being a fast talker is really the last thing you want to be when representing a client, you must deal in facts. Like when there is a hole in the roof... all it means is there is a hole in the roof... no spinning the facts to make that fact anything else. It is what it is. But compared to a Hollywood movie it can appear boring.

What appealed to me in this movie was the was the way the main character always... and I mean always appealed to whatever audience he had. He wasn't necessarily 'right' with what he had to say, he just wasn't wrong. The character really stuck it to many others along this film's journey.

If you get a chance, check this one out. It's also great for some intelligent laughs.

Locally... it has been cold

Consider this a public service announcement.

It has been exceptionally cold so far this winter in the Kingman area. It has caused some problems for housing that you should be aware of. Many are experiencing broken water pipes throughout the area. Sometimes it's the landscaping sprinkler system, I've been told of a sprinkler system that popped that spouted water up onto a roof of a home that caused a large series of icicles formed at the roof's edge. Wish I had a photo of that.

I currently have a buyer client that is purchasing a vacant home in Kingman. Last month we offered a contract and it was accepted. We then had 20 days to do the inspections which we did (we asked for some repairs and the sellers agreed). Last week, before closing as the sellers were finishing replacing sliding glass doors, they found a the carpet in the hallway wet (and I mean wet).

What happened was the evaporative cooler water line in the attic burst causing a leak. Now the leak wasn't visible anywhere in the ceiling. I know because I looked for what had to be an hour in a small 1200 square foot home. Turns out the leak fed into the house within the walls in the hallway (according to the inspector that the buyer re-hired to assess the situation).

The shame of it is the sellers had the water shut off at the main while the home was being shown waiting for a contract. It was only when my buyer needed to do the inspection was the water main turned back on. It was also left on so that the dishwasher could be repaired. Then on one of the many particularly cold winter nights in the last couple of weeks the pipe to the cooler snapped in the attic and the water leaked into the home.

If you happen to be an owner of a vacant home during this colder winter, you may want to check on the water and any pipe system to make sure something like this does not happen to you.

My buyer still wishes to purchase the home, we are giving the seller the time to assess and disclose the extent of the damages and let us know what they are willing to do to correct whatever damage there may be.

Kingman Crossing.... again

I was at the public meeting on January 10th and knew the local paper was there to cover it and was wondering when they'd finally get around to publishing an article on the meeting.

Here it is finally.

First I have to admit something. I have a very difficult time hearing people in a large room such as the school's multi-purpose room (where the meeting was held). I couldn't hear what the people there were saying, but I figured it wasn't good (for the city). I wanted to follow up on that meeting on this blog but I was waiting for the above article.

I think I understand what some of the folks were against, such as increased traffic in neighborhoods near the proposed interchange. Well folks, sorry to have to break this to you but Kingman is a growing city. That most likely means more traffic in all of our neighborhoods.

On my government affairs committee agenda is this citizens group calling itself RAID (Residents Against Irresponsible Development) and what needs to be done to combat them. RAID already has the ear of the local media... in fact they are a media darling by now. They are a dangerous groups to more citizens than they think they are protecting.

One of the benefits of the proposed interchange would be better access to emergency services. The Rancho Sante Fe subdivision sits southeast of the proposed interchange. The Interstate is visible from many properties in the subdivision. Yet there is no access. One has to travel west and then north along the busiest street in Kingman (Stockton Hill) to access the Interstate (or heaven forbids the hospital). What could be a few moments to interstate access is actually close to a 15 minute ordeal (if you catch a few green lights).

The proposed Kingman Crossing interchange would also offer tax revenue to the city. Tax revenue that could be used for further infrastructure needs this growing area desperately needs. There are excellent commercial opportunities slated to go up near the proposed interchange, but these commercial opportunities want interstate frontage... and I don't blame them. The reason this particular area is so important is because that area is in the city limits, meaning city sales tax revenue. The talk of moving the interchange further east puts those sales tax revenues in jeopardy which equals no infrastructure improvements.

RAID is dangerous and need to be confronted on the real issues that face this city. They at least to tell the fine citizens what is so irresponsible about improving traffic flow that could save human lives and increasing the city sales tax revenues. And I'm sure they don't really have an answer.

I have an idea for RAID, put up a billboard somewhere on the way into Kingman and just tell would be great neighbors that they are not welcome to live here.

The slow pace...

I've not been posting as much over the last few weeks. Nothing is wrong. I'm not burned out. I think I've just been distracted.

My thought was that when the year ended I'd have even more time for blogging, but sheesh I was wrong. More client activity happening right now (which is great), and still plenty to finish up on with my duties to the local Association has caused me to kick the blog priority down a notch.

Please be patient as I know I'll be back in the saddle once again in no time. Meanwhile, please check out any of the blogs on the blogroll. I have been reading plenty of RE blogs and there is tons of good stuff out there right now.

December Sales Report (2006)

Hard to believe that this is the last installment of the sales reports for the 2006 year. Where did the time actually go??

Disclaimer... all data compiled for this report comes from the WARDEX Data Exchange and does not include any sales activity from outside that resource. All research is done only on single family homes and there is no inclusion of modular homes, commercial properties, or vacant land. The geographical area researched includes; all areas within the boundaries of the city of Kingman, north Kingman, the Hualapai Mountain area, and the Valle Vista subdivisions. Click here to see maps of the included area's.

Unit sales were steady in December and I was surprised to see the numbers actually. I thought we might end up in the same place we were in October. Somehow, even with the holidays, 64 single family homes sold in December. The other bright spot I noticed was the average days on market (DOM) for these sales was down to 57 days. Earlier in the year the average DOM had been as high as 147 days.

Click on graph for larger image



The average sales price dropped slightly again but remained over $200,000. The average has been fairly steady all year long, dropping below $220K only once over the last 12 months. There still hasn't been a single family home on the Data Exchange that has sold for more than $400,000 since October though. It appears buyers are buying what they can afford and sellers are lowering prices to meet that point. The clear trend is that listing prices are coming down, while the average price sold is flat.

Click on graph for larger image



Unit sales compared to the years 2004 and 2005 are not nice. Again, I don't have a way to get the records for 2003, but my gut says that 2006 was better for sales in this area than 2003 was. So this year wasn't a record, but sometimes you have to be pleased with a bronze medal (if I was an Olympian I would be).

Click on graph for larger image



December 2006 had a lower sales average than did the month of December in 2005. It was close though. The boom, no the record boom in rising property values is clearly over... for now at least. The hope is that the market can recover and somehow it finds a healthy balance.

Click on graph for larger image



I wouldn't be surprised to see some of these price numbers ease downward a bit into 2007. The key number is the unit sales in my opinion. While it was slower this year than in the previous 2 years, the area continues to grow. New neighbors move into the area every day. The hope is that these new neighbors find reasonable prices on homes that they can afford.

Stay tuned all through 2007 to find out. Also, I still plan on rolling out a year end report in the days ahead so please check back for that.

Now it's time to head for the gym to get in a good workout before the Philadelphia Eagles play in their playoff game tonight. I'm extremely nervous as my team takes on a tough New Orleans Saints team that has most of this country pulling on it's heart-strings with all that has happened to that region. I visited NO in November of last year. I love the people of NO and wish them the best... not so much for their football team though... at least not tonight.

E-A-G-L-E-S.... EAGLES!!

Snowing in Kingman

Look closely at the photo below. You may notice a weather phenomena rarely seen in this part of the Arizona desert. Catch a glimpse while you can as it may be gone by the time I'm done writing this blog post.


I know this won't be a big deal to most of the rest of the country, but it is news here. It may snow a couple of times a year on our valley floor and rarely does it accumulate. Normal accumulation happens overnight and we wake to a snowy winter-land only to see it disappear by the early afternoon time.

We are expecting a winter storm today and it is finally here. I doubt I'll be building a snow man or anything like that but it is great to see the snow flurries fall.

I hope to make this meeting...

I think the number one issue facing Kingman right now is the proposed Kingman Crossing interchange on Interstate 40. Getting the proposal approved should mean more sales tax revenue (good for the city) and it should also mean easing traffic snarls on Stockton Hill Road.

I've written about this last summer. See here for more details.

There is a meeting tonight open to the public for discussions on this project. Read more about it right here.

I'm attending a WARDEX meeting in Bullhead City today at 2:00pm that should go till about 6:00pm. I will be breaking speed limits to get back to Kingman to attend this meeting. I hope to see you there.

Anti-growth group in Kingman...

I'm really not in a position to do a write up on this group as of yet, but there is a local group of citizens that are out to put a halt to growth in the Kingman area -- it seems.

Here is a link to an article that I wanted to share (before the link is gone forever. The local fishrag doesn't like to play nice with their web content... here today, gone forever the next day... if updated).

I got a call from another agent in my Association about this group last month and was asked to look into perhaps using Association resources to fight back against this group. After reading this article I'm thinking that something has to be done, however I need to look into this particular issue some more.

I'm all for citizens groups rising up to affect the change they want to see, but I won't sit by and let an anti-growth group bully the city council and the city P&Z this way. The most politically active group in Kingman just happens to be anti-growth types at the moment. I want to use this blog and local Realtor resources to fight these groups. I'll be on this one and report on this at a later time.

No P&Z appoinment for me...

The city council approved two people for city planning and zoning commission on Tuesday night. I had applied for this position and was one of the finalists.

Read here on who the council chose.

I congratulate both Mike and Dorian for their appointments (basically re-appointments). I know both of them and they are fine folks who take this task seriously.

I will continue to apply for this commission and become more active on city matters going forward.

December listings report (2006)

Not only has another month gone by, but so has another year. I'll be doing a wrap up report of last years listings and sales towards the end of this month. For now though enjoy the monthly listings report.

Disclaimer: All data is compiled from the Data Exchange that I am a paying member of (WARDEX). All data is considered reliable but not guaranteed.

Listings:

Today total listings available for single family residence equals 634 (down from 684 on December 1). The good news is that the number is coming down, the bad news is that probably a third of the reduction is from expired listings.

There were 105 new listings for the month of December (113 in November). 2 home have entered contract of these new listings, and 1 home has already closed. The average asking price for these new listings is $227,322 (that's down from $242,571 last month). The median asking price is $215,000 (not much change from $215,950 the previous month). Good to see the average and median numbers slipping somewhat, the new listing prices are entering the market much more competitively than they were earlier in the year.

Units under contract:

30 homes entered into contracts in the month of December (down from 37 the previous month). The average asking price for homes that received contracts was $202,373 (up from $190,127 last month) and the median asking price for December was $180,500 (up from last months $169,900 figure).

Conclusions:

It is normally a slow month in December with the holiday season and I think it could have been worse than it appears. With the low total of units over the last few months the numbers seem to be going up and down to the point that I think an overall look at the last quarter would offer a better look at the state of the listings market. Still, the pricing trends are heading down slightly and I believe we are now seeing a clearer picture of the sellers that really NEED to sell and separating themselves from the sellers that simply WANT to sell (to capture equity, etc.)

There remains a market imbalanced in my opinion in favor of buyers. Buyers are coming out now more than they did a few months ago. The phones are ringing and buyers are on the other side more often than sellers are. I'm even getting hits on my sales web site at a decent clip asking for info on properties, best it has been in the last year by far.

Now I'm not going down the road saying that this is the best time to buy property, but if a buyer is in the market for a home... the fruit is ripe for the picking. Plenty to choose from and the competition from sellers on price continues to pick up.

If you are a buyer and would like to perhaps save even more on your next home purchase, please ask me how my flat fee buyers program can make it possible to save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

Look for the December sales report in a couple of weeks and be sure to check back for an annual wrap up report on the year that was 2006.

The year that was 2006

I’m tired,
sick and tired of love,
I’ve had my fill of love,
from below and above,
tired,
tired of being admired,
tired of love uninspired,
let’s face it, I’m tired!

--Lili Von Shtupp of Blazing Saddles



Yes, Lili... I hear you. Loud and clear in fact. 2006 marked a long year for me personally. Rewarding and yet frustrating. Some goals were met, while others were missed by miles. I made great efforts to each goal though. "Failure is success... if we learn from it," a wise person once said. I'm looking for the success part in the new year and hope to have learned from prior failings.

While I may be 'tired' from all the events of 2006, I also want to hand out several shouts of appreciation to the following...

To my clients of 2006, thank you very much for the opportunity to serve you. Thank you for the smiles when the transactions were finished as those smiles are as important to me personally as the fees that are collected for the service you paid for. I hope to see more smiles in the coming year.

A hearty thank you goes out to my fellow Realtors in my local Association. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to serve as president for 2006. What a year it was... right up to the end. I gladly take the highs as well as the lows from the entire experience. You trusted me with an enormous responsibility, one that wasn't taken lightly... not one single day. Often I felt like a teenager that was left in charge of the house while the parents went away on a vacation. Well I may have partied a little or even had a few friends over, but never touched the booze locker and didn't burn the house down.

I especially want to thank anyone and everyone in the real estate 'blogosphere'. Thanks to the many fine folks who have inspired me to create and publish my own blog. Blogging has been a great experience for me this year. It has helped me in so many ways from education, expertise, using new technology, grammar, sentence structure, and critical thinking. Blogging has expanded my confidence and my resolve in this business in a very short time as compared to the day to day experience or any continuing real estate education classes ever could.

I won't bother to link to the many names that have helped my blogging over the last year. I'll simply forget someone and I'll hate myself for it. Feel free to click on any of links to other blogs on the right for a good start on the list of folks I need to thank.

Lastly, I want to thank my wife Gail for supporting my quest for 2006 every step of the way. Without her love and support I simply would not be where I am right now. She is a perfect partner for me in every way. It is cliche, but she does 'complete' me. Thank you for everything sweet baby!!

So it is now 2007 and while I remain 'tired' I am looking forward to what 2007 has to bring. I'm looking forward to continued momentum from the previous year. Looking forward to capturing new business with my flat fee buyers program. Looking forward to serving on two state level committee's (Governmental and Professional Standards), serving as Committee Chair for the KGVAR Government Affairs Committee, local RPAC Chair for 2007, and one more year serving on the Board of Directors as immediate past president.

Of course I am looking forward to what the real estate 'blogosphere' has in store for me, as well as continuing to meet incredible people via the Internet who make a big difference in my career as I move along, and desire to offer as much relevant information to the readers of this blog as I can on all things real estate related local and otherwise.

Wow... looking at this post again... I'm pretty sure that Ms. Von Shtupp will be visiting again next year 'round this time. Thank you to all!!