SoundBite Bites :: SoundBiteBlog.com

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:

• Mortgage Rates and Why I Don’t Post Them. by Nigel Swaby: SLC Real Estate Blog
• Preparing to Sell Part 1 by Merv Forney – Northern Virginia Real Estate Guide
• Protecting Your Credit And Your Privacy Blown Mortgage
• Putting The Cart Before The Horse: Making A Contingent Offer by Sparky for SoundBiteBlog
• Should I Tell My Loan Officer About The Loan Thats Not On MY Credit Report by Buckwheat for SoundBiteBlog
• Two Refi Offers In One Day…Just How Lucky Can A Gal Be? by Rhonda Porter for Rain City Guide
• Top 10 Things To Know About Reverse Mortgages by Mortgage Loan Place Lending Guide

You may want to read them all. This is a great collection of articles from some very good real estate writers.

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Tags: real estate article award, soundbiteblog.com

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’) 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!

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Posted in Real Estate Bites, SoundBite Bites | 7 Comments »

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.

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Posted in Real Estate Bites, SoundBite Bites | 13 Comments »

Tags: kitsap business reputation, silverdale real estate, silverdale real estate blog

Tony Gallegos

The Mortgage Cicerone

(S.M.A.C.) SoundBiteBlog’s Most Active Commenter Award

Maybe I’m just in love with the sound of my own writing, (How’s that for a mangled metaphor?) and maybe not. But if you have ever maintained a blog you know that blogging is often like writing in a twilight room. You can’t really tell how things are turning out until the sun rises. A blogger writes about what he or she finds interesting. A blogger has no idea for a while if anybody else is interested, or if (dare I say it?) the writing just sucks! The only way to find out if your blog is any good is to keep on plugging away, and wait for the day to arrive when visitors start leaving comments.

Comments validate the blogger’s work!

Good comments or snarly comments; I’d rather have something over nothing. At least I know someone is reading.

Let me introduce you to Tony Gallegos. Tony maintains his own blog for Loan Officers. Tony has the dubious honor of becoming SoundBiteBlog’s very first recipient of the SMAC Award. Tony has been consistently reading and leaving comments on SoundBite articles for a while now. I have no idea how he discovered SoundBiteBlog in the first place. But Tony’s feedback is greatly appreciated. With Tony around, I don’t feel like I’m blogging in the dark! 

If you read Tony’s impressive resume, you might get the mistaken notion that Tony is a boring, analytical type of guy. You might think that right up until you come to his recently posted video, “Who said geeks can’t rap?”. Then you get an entirely different perspective. There is definitely a sense of humor lurking under the hood of the Mortgage Cicerone!

The variety of subjects on The Mortgage Cicerone keeps it interesting. I visit regularly now to see what Tony has found to write about. He must be a full-time reader because the number of sources he has for information is huge. You can find snippets from the Associated Press, the Baltimore Sun, the GMAC Investor Forum, BankRate.com and Savage Insights, just to name a few. I wouldn’t have found the aritcle on Savage Insights except for Tony’s blog, and it’s one of the best articles for Loan Originators I seen lately. Thanks Tony, that one was a great piece!

When he is not busy pointing out promising articles or interesting news, Tony also writes his own articles. Check out this article on Credit Reports and Newlyweds. It’s a great subject and offers solid advice to consumers.

Here’s a short collection of some other excellent posts:

• Do you ever feel like Michael Jackson’s plastic surgeon? (you just gotta love the title)
• Little things make a big difference. (the first time I’ve ever seen a mortgage guy using Homer Simpson as an example)
• Maxed out.

The highest accolade one blogger can give another is link on the main page. It is a vote of confidence; a “Blog Nod”, so to speak. If you glance to the right of this article you will now find The Mortgage Cicerone in SoundBite’s very short list of read-worthy websites. It’s not there because Tony leaves lots of comments, it’s there because it belongs there. SoundBiteBlog is a consumer website. The Mortgage Cicerone is an industry website. Sometimes though, the two different types of information overlap.

If you have read this far, take a wander on over to Tony’s corner of the internet. Take a peek at a few of the articles posted there. Tony, like Sparky and I, is blogging in the dark too. So leave him a comment or two! He’ll appreciate it and his articles are worth reading. Tell him Buckwheat sent you.

Tony, Sparky and I thank you for all of your feedback and your involvement in our site!

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Tags: soundbiteblog supporters, the mortgage cicerone, tony gallegos

Buckwheat and Sparky (aka – Mark and Rich) have added a new tool to SoundBiteBlog for our Clients. This tool is an online Real Estate Transaction Tracking System that provides our clients with 24 hour access to updated information about each individual transaction.

The Transaction Tracker is accessible by the Realtor, Loan Officer and the client. It is a password protected system to maintain the client’s privacy and it is viewable from any computer in the world that has an Internet connection. The Tracker System will itemize every step of our clients’ Real Estate Transaction from Loan Application to Funding. There is an area for the Realtor and the Loan Officer to leave notes and comments for each client.

There is also a “Recommended Reading” section with articles specifically chosen to match the type of transaction each client is involved in. If the transaction is for a First Time Homebuyer, the articles are specific to a First Time Homebuyers’ most common questions. If the transaction involves a rehab loan, the articles are tailored for that type of transaction. The same applies to Adjustable Rate Mortgage Transactions, Bridge Loan Transactions, Reverse Mortgage Transactions, etc.

One of the most common complaints clients voice is not having instant access to their Realtor and Loan Officer. While a phone call from the client’s representative is the perfect solution, it is not always possible. The Tracker System is designed to eliminate the unknown. Our clients can log into the system at any time they choose for an up-to-the-minute report on the status of each transaction.

If you would like to see the Transaction Tracker at work click on this link. You can use a login of “guest” and a password of “guest” to see a dummy deal and how the Tracker System works.

Any Realtors that work with Mark and any Loan Officers that work with Rich are welcome to take advantage of the Transaction Tracking System. It is a great communications and organizational tool for everybody involved in a Real Estate Transaction.

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Tags: bremerton real estate, poulsbo real estate, real estate transaction tracking software, silverdale real estate, soundbiteblog