Archive of SoundBite Bites Articles
August 13, 2008 at 10:22 pm · Filed under Bite Me Blogs, Bites of Kitsap, Bites of Washington, SoundBite Bites, Sparks from Sparky
This coming Friday could be Doomsday for the long awaited and much-anticipated Olympic View Marina Project out in Seabeck.
How this has remained under my radar, I have no idea. Tonight, while taking a walk with my wife, I ran across fellow RE agent, Nick Blickhan (Nick and I had worked together at the Windermere office here in Silverdale).
As a waterfront resident of Seabeck WA, Nick has been keeping close tabs on the progress, or lack thereof, of the Olympic View LLC Marina Project. Four partners purchased the fledging property a few years ago, and put together a very detailed development plan. At considerable expense, they effectively jumped through each and every hoop that the County and State required, and in most instances, went way beyond what was necessary. From every indication, it appeared that things were moving forward, and the much needed marina would become a reality.
Unfortunately, due in large part to one lone, dissenting squeaky wheel, the ear of the WA Department of Ecology has been effectively bent, and it appears that the project is headed to a devastating demise. Evidently, the neighborhood squeaky wheel is one of these types who defines/measures ‘Smart’ growth by how far you can bury your head in the sand.
Nevermind that the dire needs of the many clearly outweighs the preferences of the few, or, in this case, the one.
Nevermind that the partners paid exceptionally close attention to detail in their plans towards maintaining and even enhancing the existing environmental integrity of the areas impacted by the proposed marina development.
Nevermind that the marina would have a very positive impact on the financial stability of existing Seabeck merchants/businesses, and long-term residential property values.
Nevermind that area boat owners would finally have badly needed basic marina services and mooring space available. The closest marina is Pleasant Harbor, over on the western side of Hood Canal, just south of Brinnon. You can moor your boat there, but it takes nearly an hour by car to get there.
The Olympic View Marina Project should make complete sense - ecologically, or otherwise. While it could be argued that some commercial developments are not necessarily environmental-friendly, this project clearly fulfills the demand for highest and best use. Although Kitsap County Commissioner, Josh Brown, has voiced his full support for this project, but his influence may not be enough to affect the outcome.
The WA State Department of Ecology is issuing their final verdict on the project this Friday. In my humble opinion, the Dept needs to step up and display some backbone. Rather than buckling under the incessant whining of one solitary voice, the project should be measured and approved on the merits of the significant positive impact it will have on the environment/habitat, and the true value that quality marina services will offer to our community.
March 9, 2008 at 1:52 am · Filed under SoundBite Bites, Sparks from Sparky
Yours Truly was interviewed and quoted at length in the March 2008 issue of the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal.
Contributing writer, Rodika Tollefson, had contacted me a few weeks ago, and was doing an article on local business blogs. She had found me through the well-known national real estate platform, Activerain.com, and through here at SBB.
It’s exciting to see more and more local business professionals here in Kitsap County WA recognizing the marketing shifts of Web 2.0, and realizing how blogging can be an effective means of connecting with potential consumer clients.
Buckwheat and I get together for coffee every Thursday morning at 8AM up at the new Global Bean Coffee House here in Silverdale WA. We gladly extend the invitation for anyone to join us for a cup ‘o’ Joe and some great conversation.
                                                                                                           See you all there!     Sparky Â
February 12, 2008 at 12:22 am · Filed under Buyers, Real Estate Bites, Sellers, SoundBite Bites, Sparks from Sparky
Sparky (aka Yours Truly) and Buckwheat (aka Mark Flanders), the duo caped crusaders of SOUNDBITEBLOG, have both received the prestigious Magnificent 7 Award from Larry Cragun of RealEstateUndressed!
Every year, Larry scours the Blogosphere, looking for the best of the best in consumer-oriented real estate articles. Each month he selects 7 articles from among the hundreds that he reads. At the end of the year, he goes back and selects 7 winning articles from among the 84 that were selected throughout the year.
Mark won for his article, “Ten Commandments for Mortgage Applicants.”
I was chosed for my article, “Putting the Cart before the Horse: Making a Contingent Offer.”
*Â *Â *Â *Â *Â *Â *Â *Â *Â *Â *Â *Â *Â *Â *Â *
Five of the Seven winning articles were written by members of the popular Real Estate Network Community, ActiveRain. Those also honored included:
Ardell DellaLoggia, for her Rain City Guide article, “The Flip Side of the Sub-Prime Story.”
Kelly Koehler, the Housechick, for her article, “17 Reasons to have New Construction Homes Inspected.”
Steve Leung, for his article, “Real Estate Myths Home Buyers Fall in Love With!”
And two, count them, Two articles by Rhonda Porter, “Picking your next mortgage by rate shopping? You might as well be playing Liar’s Poker!” and “Mortgage Interest Rate Locks 101.”
Congratulations to all the winners, and our special thanks to Larry Cragun for sponsoring such a valued contest!
December 20, 2007 at 12:15 am · Filed under Bites of Kitsap, Bites of Washington, Bremerton WA Real Estate, Buyers, Real Estate Bites, Silverdale WA Real Estate, SoundBite Bites
Okay, so what if we just had over 12″ of torrential rain swamp us in a 24 hour period, causing sinkholes and washed-out roadways. And forget that we have a huge stockpile of nuclear warheads just down the street at Bangor Subase (at least once a year the tree-hugging Al Gore global warmers protest at the front gate). 
Regardless, the Silverdale WA and Bremerton WA area just recently made the No. 10 spot on a list of the Safest Mid-Sized Cities across the US with populations of 150,000 to 500,000.
The list is from a report compiled by Farmer’s Insurance. The rankings take into account variables such as crime statistics, weather, life expectancy, and terrorist threat levels.
Two other Washington State cities were ranked - Olympia (the State Capitol) came in at 1st place, and Bellingham was 5th.
To read more about the Most Secure US Places, go HERE.
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May 21, 2007 at 7:24 pm · Filed under Bites of Buckwheat, SoundBite Bites
If you have never heard of Larry Cragun and his notorious Tarantula Trademark graphic, it’s simply because Larry is not a loud or noisy internet guy. In certain circles though  Mr. Cragun is well known as a tireless proponent of Real Estate Transparency and a voracious reader of real estate articles.
Each month on his website RealEstateUndressed.com, seven Consumer Real Estate Articles are spotlighted as the the best on the web. These seven articles comprise what Mr. Cragun considers valuable and useful, well-written articles designed to keep the real estate consumer equipped with knowledge. Mr. Cragun calls his collection of articles the “Magnificent 7″. Inclusion in this list is high praise in internet real estate circles.
SoundBiteBlog has been included in the Magnificent 7 List for the month of April. Mr. Cragun nominated Rich Jacobson’s article “Putting The Cart Before The Horse” and Mark Flanders’ article “Should I Tell My Loan Officer…”. Needless to say Sparky and I are thrilled. It’s a real ego booster to have our articles included in this listing of articles by some of the best real estate writers on the web.
At the end of the year, Mr. Cragun will choose 7 of the articles that were nominated during the year to become 2007’s Magnificent 7. Last year’s collection was awesome. Every article was worth reading. This year the competition is even stronger.
The articles choosen for April 2007 are:
You may want to read them all. This is a great collection of articles from some very good real estate writers.
May 14, 2007 at 11:57 pm · Filed under Real Estate Bites, SoundBite Bites, Sparks from Sparky
Okay, so maybe it was just a small bug bite on the Massive Internet News Windshield, but I thought it was pretty darn cool.
Yours truly (Rich Jacobson, aka ‘Sparky’)Â was mentioned and quoted in a recent Inman News article dated Thursday, May 10, 2007, entitiled “Real Estate Agents Learn to Google Themselves.” This was the 3rd part in a series on Web Trends written by Glenn Roberts, Jr.
My portion of the article dealt with the long shelf-life and lasting impact that our blogging has, and the measures we should employ to safeguard and protect the content we write, as well as the precautions over ‘what’ we write. Several other prominent members of ActiveRain, the real estate network, were interviewed in the article, including Denver’s own Kristal Kraft.
Of course, I’m still playing catch-up with my distinguished compadre, Bucksnort. His articles have been nominated twice now by the Magnificent 7, and he was interviewed by the Seattle Times. Or was that the Post-Intelligencer? Maybe it was the Kitsap Sun or the Central Kitsap Reporter? Nah, I bet it was the Ridgetop Junior High Bulletin. Go Raiders!
May 8, 2007 at 12:04 am · Filed under Real Estate Bites, SoundBite Bites, Sparks from Sparky
For real estate professionals, as it is for many different sales-oriented businesses, there are a gazillion different plans, programs, and systems available that you can employ to market yourself. You could invest a nice chunk of change for a high-end website, complete with all the latest and greatest visual bells and whistles. Or, you could spend a ton of money for a personal coach to slap you around and to make sure you’re managing your time wisely. You could even buy a Hummer and convert it into a moving billboard to promote your image/services.
But of all the marketing and promotional tools at my disposal, by the far the most effective and lasting, is my reputation.
Five of the transactions I’ve enjoyed so far this year have come from repeat clients. These were all people who purchased homes through me, and valued my services enough to entrust me with the sale of their homes.
A potential client calls me out of the blue, asking if I would be willing to help sell his home. A good friend of his knows of me, and says I have a good reputation; someone he can trust.
Reputation. It isn’t something that’s easy to achieve. It doesn’t happen overnight. It requires consistent behavior and performance. It takes a long time to earn and develop. In some markets, it can take years and years.
Unfortunately, a good reputation that takes years to cultivate, can be easily destroyed in less than a minute.
With one word or one action, an entire lifetime of good reputation becomes questionable or suspect.
When my kids were little, they used to watch all the Veggie Tales videos. One was entitled, “Larry Boy and the Fib from Outer Space.” In the story, a character named Junior Asparagus tells a lie. Each time he’s confronted about his indiscretion, he lies to cover it up. This ‘Fib’ that starts out very small, gets bigger and bigger as the video progresses. Pretty soon, the ‘Fib’ is GIGANTIC, totally out of control, and about to destroy the town!
That’s the way it is in real life. We start out telling little white lies. The lies become larger and larger, and turn to grey. Pretty soon, the web of deception is HUGE and pitch black. A career is ruined.
One small compromise leads to another small compromise. Pretty soon, compromise becomes a consistent practice, a way of life. A lifelong reputation is destroyed.
How well do you protect your reputation? What checks and balances do you have in place? When temptations present themselves (and they will and do, daily), what keeps you from giving in to compromise? What ensures that your reputation can never be bought?
A good website?  $ 1000 start-up, $ 75 per month
A business coach? $ 3000 annually
A good reputation?  Priceless.
