Online Newsletter for the Week Ending January 30

QUOTE: “No arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women." - President Ronald Reagan

JIM'S M&M GROUP, there will be a class on Monday February 1 but the rest of February will be determined by the speed of recover from surgery. Watch this newsletter for a more concrete schedule.

THE IMPORTANCE OF IDENTIFYING OUR PURPOSE IN LIFE, by Lew Smallwood. Smallwood posts numerous blogs to his blog site. Look for this title at: http://dynagroup-online.blogspot.com/

PHOTO TRICKS TO SELL YOUR HOME. This is a blog from a photographer specifically regarding homes for sale. 5 tricks. I would like to add that try not to take the photo from the driveway side of the home. The photo should contain as little concrete as possible. As a reminder, the photo placed on the MLS CANNOT CONTAIN THE YARD SIGN IN ANY WAY. http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/ask-agent/real-estate-photography-tricks-from-larry-lohrman/1415/

REAL ESTATE AGENTS; DO NOT BECOME EMOTIONALLY INVOLVED; Great article by Jim Crawford, you don’t want to miss this one, we all have been guilty of this at one time or another, hopefully not often: http://activerain.com/blogsview/1452580/real-estate-agents-do-not-become-emotionally-involved-

HOW’S YOUR BUSINESS? A FEW LESSONS FROM THE NOW! Another gem from Jeffrey Gitomer. http://activerain.com/blogsview/1452580/real-estate-agents-do-not-become-emotionally-involved-

THE POWER OF POSITIVE INTERACTIONS: By Jon Gordon, who else? We can all take a lesson from this one: http://www.jongordon.com/newsletter-012510-positiveinteractions.html

PRETTY SPECIAL VIDEO, thank you Stacey Chehardy for submitting it: http://www.nragive.com/ringoffreedom/nr_j0199_landing.html

REAL ESTATE WEB SITE: www.ZoomSwap.com. Don’t know much about it; when checked, there were no homes listed in the St. Tammany area.

MISSISSIPPI LISTING AND BUYING FORMS. There were two new folders added to www.SlidellCalendar.com in the Documents that now include the forms necessary to list properties in Mississippi and to write contract to buy property in Mississippi. Of course you have to be licensed in Mississippi to do either. All the necessary forms have been uploaded to SlidellCalendar.com.

IN CASE YOU MISSED THIS:

Dear Fellow REALTOR®,

By now, we all know about the severe devastation caused by the earthquakes in Haiti. NAR is helping answer the calls for help in two key ways.

First, we are contributing $550,000 to charities that will help bring much-needed supplies and care to the people of Haiti. Included in that sum is $100,000 donated by our REALTOR Benefits® Program partner, Lowe’s®, which we have matched at $100,000. From that we will donate $50,000 to The Harvest of Haiti, founded by REALTOR® Patrick Moore, a 2007 Good Neighbor Award winner. Patrick has done great work for several years in Haiti supporting orphans, delivering clean water and providing medical care for more than 3,500 people a year.

http://www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2010/01/donate_haiti

We are also contributing $500,000 to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, which is supporting earthquake recovery efforts with immediate relief and long-term support to earthquake survivors. For up-to-the-minute information about these efforts, visit NAR's Haiti relief page on REALTOR.org.

Second, I have asked NAR to accept donations from REALTORS® through the REALTORS® Relief Foundation. Please consider giving today. To make a donation, go to www.realtor.org/relief and complete the contribution form.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said: “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”

REALTORS® have earned a reputation for our compassionate work on behalf of others – both here in the United State and around the world. I hope you will join our latest efforts and bring that same compassion and hope to people who desperately need it.

Sincerely,

Vicki Cox Golder, CRB

2010 NAR President

IMPORTANT COMPLIANCE ISSUES:

We are continually receiving the same discrepancies on listings and sales and I need your full attention.

Discrepancies on listings and sales not only create extra time and paperwork, it could cost you dearly in the event one of your files is ever examined by an outside examiner for a court case or the real estate commission. I am asking that you please pay attention to these issues:

1. The Listing Agreement Addendum is REQUIRED by the Market Center on ALL listings, not just residential sales but rentals, land, commercial - ALL listings. It insures YOU are in compliance with the REALTOR Code of Ethics AND it gives me the authority to accept the listings via email as compared to preparing letters and enclosures.

2. When you scan and save a file, please use the highlight feature of the paperless system to identify EVERY type of file you are saving. Files are being saved under just one name, example, MLS and then every type of form is saved under that one name. By highlighting each form name and then saving the file, each form included will be displayed on your dashboard. This is especially true for forms not listed and you are to use the MISCELLANEOUS feature where you can both save AND NAME the form(s) saved and submitted. And because it has happened more times than it should, agents are saving documents under a specific file name, like MLS, and when opened it contains something other than the MLS sheet.

3. The Dashboard should be used as a checklist for your files to make certain you have addressed all issues. If for some reason you have not included one of the forms listed in RED, you must include a NOTE as to why the form(s) was not included.

4. VERY IMPORTANT. If you are selling a Market Center listing AND it has not as yet been entered into the Paperless system, you can not enter it as a sale in the Paperless system unless the listing agent enters it first. Otherwise you submit your paperwork as you did in the past. The best way to resolve this issue is to simply ask the listing agent if the listing was entered or is the listing agent going to enter it since there is a contract on the property.

5. Final Walk Throughs: You need to protect yourself and the interests of your buyers and sellers by conducting a final walk through a couple of days before the closing. If not conducted, how can you be assured that everything is working, the building is still there and the appliances that were to be left are still there?

6. PRICE REDUCTIONS/WITHDRAWALS/EXTENSIONS - EVERYTHING. Once you enter a file into the paperless system you MUST then enter everything that happens to that file such as a price reduction, extension, withdrawal, any notes that need to be saved, etc. If it happens to a listing or sale it must be scanned and then uploaded to the paperless system.

INTERESTING NOTE: This past week two Mississippi RE Commission Investigators visited the Market Center and I had a great conversation with them. They said they were always amazed at how many real estate agents work sellers not knowing for certain that they were the actual owners of the property being listed. Searching the tax rolls is the first step in this process and any discrepancy in names should be a huge red flag to you to research further. You can also research the Clerk of Court records online to ascertain who originally purchased the property, example, two people, and if now only one is selling the property you need to know why and under what authority. If the owner is a corporation, you need a corporate resolution specifically stating who within the corporation or LLC has the authority to list and or buy the specific real estate in question.

Reflections on Your Greatness; by Michael Dalton Johnson

You are great. You are far greater than you imagine. You are a unique entity given the power to create your own life. When you look outside yourself for self-definition you are giving your power away. However, when you understand and accept that you alone possess the power to define yourself and your life, there are dramatic changes. You will find new clarity, focus and confidence. You'll also find that using this incredible gift is both exhilarating and challenging.

You are in charge. Think of your life as a movie. You are the writer, director, producer and star. You choose your co-stars and extras. Whether the movie is a smash or a flop is in your hands.

Your thoughts determine your outcomes. This is one of the great mysteries. There are a lot of theories about this phenomenon but no one really knows how it works. However, it does work and reveals the astonishing power of your thoughts. If you think you are average, you are. If you think you can't win, you won't. Conversely, if you see yourself succeeding, you will. If you expect great things to come to your life, they're on their way.

You bring others with you. Your courage and confidence to examine your life and make changes will have a profound effect on those around you. When you lift yourself up, others are lifted up too.

Your life. Your responsibility. The first and most important rule is to take responsibility for everything that happens in your life. Following this rule puts you in command. Winston Churchill said, "The price of greatness is responsibility." While I'm certain he was talking about fighting wars and leading nations, his statement applies to your life as well.

You have the power. Life will inevitably send you your share of setbacks, problems, disappointments and losses. These things are beyond your control. How you react to them is not. Listen to the voice within you and realize you have a choice. You have the greatness to persevere, to forgive, to smile, to lift yourself and others up and to move on.