Fayetteville, NC Real Estate Blog

Finally!  IT IS RAINING!  Anyone from the North Carolina area call tell you without a doubt that it has been a long, dry and hot summer in North Carolina.  It seems as though the storms that have been about the country have just been taking a de-tour when it comes to North Carolina recieving any rain.

Several areas have gone to Stage 2 water restrictions as of the past week and it just seemed as though things were getting worse and worse.  Falls Lake which serves that areas around Raleigh, NC had all but dried up completely and they were predicting that they had about a 90 day water supply before there was no more water left. 

Many areas of North Carolina had been decleared to be in a state of "extreme" drought. 

Even though it was probably not the best decision, some areas were still allowing residents to water their yards with the water supply at critically low levels.  I don't know about you but I don't mind a dead yard if it means that my family and I have water to drink.

Well, I did it.  I changed email addresses.

I have read many columns here about making your email address memorable.  By making it something like JDoe@JohnDoe.com.  So, I figured out a way to do just that using gmail. 

BUT..there is a problem.  If you are like me, you are an Outlook junkie.  I have to admit I can do most everything I need to do in Outlook....BUT....check my mynewnchome.com mail.  When you use google to change the end of your address to your websites it is done through google apps.  Then google changes it to recognize the new ending and directs mail to that account.  It does have some nice features as I can manually assign email address to anyone I like and they all have the mynewnchome.com ending.

BUT...I am an Outlook junkie!  Try as I might I just cannot get Outlook to work with this set-up.  I have even had Google look into the situation and they say that everything is set-up right but it will not work in this configuration....BUMMER.

So to make my email a little more memorable although I am using one of the web address I have decided on MyNewNCHome@gmail.com.  So they are still being exposed to my web address, just at the beginning of the email instead of the end.

If anyone knows of a solution to this delimma I would love to hear it, until then I guess I am a gmail/Outlook user.

Do you remember when you were going to school to get your real estate license?  I do.  I was full of enthusiasm and ready to go out there and take over the real estate world.  I am sure many of you were in the same position of feelings as I was.

Fast forward to 2 years later.  I am a licensed Real Estate Broker in the State of NC.  I have been actively selling for those 2 years.  I do enjoy real estate.

So...if you were to look back on your "career run" so far would it compare to what you had visions of when you were totally green and just starting school to obtain your license?

I would venture to say no...things are not as you saw them in your mind.  I know that I, as well as several of you here on ActiveRain have had good careers and everyday is a new challenge and that is no different than before.  But I know that most people just starting school have visions of the large paydays and driving the fancy car and being known as the real estate person for their area.  Sometimes reality has a way of pulling us back a little forcing us to refocus on our outlooks and goals.

What I am talking about is the thoughts we had that this would just flow smoothly but has turned into a sometimes bumpy road.  No matter what we strive for sometimes there are just some transactions, some clients that you just cannot have a smooth transaction with.

I say this as I just had a bumpy....no.....terrible transaction.  Now don't get me wrong, I am not throwing in the towel or surrendering my license, remember I said I do enjoy what I do, I am just taking a moment to sit back and reflect on the things I am doing and the results I am obtaining.

We've all had the transactions that I am talking about.  It's kinda funny, my wife always asks me "don't you ever get any deals that just flow smoothly?"  and my only response is that every deal has it's bumps in the road.  Maybe I am being trained by the good Lord above for an absolutely super ending....you know, they always say you have to go through the bad to get to the good.....so I am checking the road-map for the good.

There are good things on the horizon.  I love my office and the people I work with.  I love to get up every morning and go to the office.  I love being able to tell people I am a real estate agent and their source for any information that they might need about real estate.  I love dealing with people.  I love meeting new people.  I actually do love the challenges.

But I am just curious if where you are in real estate today is where you envisioned yourself when you were starting real estate school and full of fire?

In today's world where it seems that everyone is just about "me, me, me", life can be a struggle when you need a helping hand.  Have you ever noticed that when you ask someone for help it seems more like you are bothering them?  What happened to the days when people would step up and help their neighbor or even someone they had never even met?

Have we really become so self-centered and shallow?

It is my intention with this post to tell you that not everyone looks at life that way and they still offer a hand to those in need.

Now, granted my need was not life threatning, nor was my family going to go without but I had a need to understand some things better and through all of my research I had not been able to find the answer.

I must give a great big round of applause to  Christopher Walker of Mission Grove Realty located in Hemet, Ca.  I had never heard of Hemet, Ca. nor had I ever met Christopher.  Our chance meeting came from a blog post that I wrote two days ago in which he took interest and took the time to read and even comment on.

The blog was entitled "Website: Build your own" and I had mentioned that I used Yahoo's extremely easy website tool called Sitebuilder.  This is where the connection between Christopher and I began.  From my understanding Christopher has built several sites with Yahoo Sitebuilder and was kind enough to take the time to offer some advice and some tricks to fine tuning the Yahoo site.

Taking time out of your busy day to help someone can be a great sacrifice as far as getting your needed items completed but Christopher was willing to spend some time on the phone with me and as far as I am concerned I gained a new friend.  Christopher being on the west coast and I being on the east, we were never destined to connect but through the power of Active Rain not only have I gained some valuable instruction but a referral source for that area of the country and a new friend.

If you don't believe that Active Rain has some power to help you in your business, you are doing something wrong.  Active Rain is an incredibly powerful tool for networking, not to mention giving us all opportunities to just get back to the roots of what made this country so so....taking care of people we don't even know.

Kudo's go out to you Christopher.  I am very appreciative of the time you took to help me yesterday and look forward to hearing from you often. 

Do you have a website?

It is a well known fact that more buyers are going onto the Internet to begin their home search in today's times.  If you don't have a web presence of some sort you could very well be missing out on potential buyers and sellers who start the process on the web.

How do I get a site you ask?  There are many providers out there who can help you with this and I strongly recommend some research before choosing the provider you want to work with.  Some of the sites can be had for free and work very well...some have set-up fees and monthly charges...but all of those sites are ready to go, all-in-one packages that you can have up and running in a matter of minutes.

I have worked with the "set-up" fee sites and the free sites.  The free sites seemed to do better actually.  Some sites have a lot of tools that can help you keep track of your inquires and recent communications.

Then there is always the option of building the site yourself.  The plus of building your own site is the fact that you can change anything and add or delete items whenever you like. 

Are you saying "It's too hard, I have no idea how to build a site"....well I am here to tell you that it is not as hard as you think.  It is actually pretty easy if you choose the right tools.  Most web hosting services have realized that they can expand their market if they make building a website easier for we, who are not web gurus.

Take for instance the site I built, http://www.mynewnchome.com/.  I put this site together in about two hours using Yahoo's Small Business SiteBuilder.  The site builder is a program that you download onto your computer and then you have unrestricted ability to add, delete, modify any items you would like.  It takes just a few minutes for the new user to understand how to use the system and quickly you can be programming like you have been doing it for years. 

Yahoo has plans that start at about $9 for the first two months and then $12 after that.  Not a bad cost if you ask me for something that I can do whatever I want to with.  The neat thing is if you have more than one computer, I have one at my office and one at home, you can download Yahoo SiteBuilder on each computer and then when I make changes at the office I can download the site at home and I am seeing the same thing allowing me to make changes at home.

I still have my Point2Agent site which I will continue to use but I wanted a site that I could make what I wanted.

I have been really researching web presence in the past two weeks and I wanted a basic site that was more consumer oriented than agent branded.  I still have a page on there that has our picture and a little about who we are and what we can provide but when you open the main page there is just a short introduction about the My New NC Home Team, our group name (Note the corolation between the website address and the team name, not to mention...even though I am still trying to change it over the email address....MyNewNCHome@gmail.com).  So far getting the site away from the "me..me...me....me" style and making it more "you...you...you...you" style is working. 

If you are interested in building your own site check out the Yahoo package.  It is easy to use and coming from someone who has tried other hosting providers, trust me....easier is better.

No, this is not a post with a lot of numbers.  I have never been a real number person.

But I do want to tell you that real estate is alive and well in the Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, NC area!

This area is unlike most of the rest of the country when it comes to real estate.  Due to the close proximity of Fort Bragg we have people moving to and away from the area at all times of the year.  Most of the soldiers that move have to do so in a hurry so they understand the importance of an agent working for them.

Right now it is a buyer's market as it is in most parts of the country.  The buyers are calling and they are shopping - which is a good thing.

The sellers are still hanging in there.  Homes are taking longer to sell but they are selling.  I had a listing that recieved 44 showings since May and finally got a contract this past weekend.  Beautiful home...thank goodness for the contract.

I have also noticed that the amount of listings on the MLS hotsheet is still high.  So the sellers are still there wanting to sell their homes.

If you want some excitment in your real estate life come on over to the Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, NC area!