Archive for November, 2009

Snow or No?

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

Breckenridge street

Last week we enjoyed warm and sunny days – a rare thing for November. Our temperatures were in the 70′s and then the weather changed. Within just 2 days, it went from 77 to 47 degrees.

Of course, things could be worse. If we lived in Colorado we would have about a foot of snow on the ground right now. Good for the snow skiers. Not so good for the people who have to schlep back and forth to work in the mess.

Waffle Shortage

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

The past couple of days we have heard rumors about a waffle shortage. The Eggo brand of frozen waffles has had to shut down production and there are not many boxes of the waffles left in the pipeline. So the grocery stores will soon be out of Eggo waffles. The only estimate that I’ve found predicting availability again is for the second half of 2010.

Holy moly! What could have gone so wrong that they can’t make waffles somewhere and keep the product on grocery shelves? If one plant has to be shut down, why can’t they use another plant and put on a third shift?

This make no sense to me. Usually when something makes no sense it is because I’m being deceived in some way. So I want to know more about this – even though I’m not a big waffle fan. I just hate being lied to.

Real Estate Tales

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

My friend Pam picked the worst time to get into real estate as a career move. Just as she got her real estate license, the economy turned bad and the housing market has been crumbling. The best way to learn about real estate is to get involved in the actual deals and get out on the street to learn the available inventory. It is hard to learn when there aren’t many deals happening and even harder to pay your bills when there aren’t any houses being sold.

I’ve been working with her to let her know that she can hang in there and that things will get better. In the meantime, she can enhance the services that she offers and build a network of other related professionals.

If she offers extra things like help figuring out what the closing cost items are and how much will closing cost, having a list of home warranty companies that can be used, and providing a home inspection checklist on her web site are all extra goodies that will impress her clients and bring her referrals in the future.

She has a nice web site and is starting to use emails in a direct marketing campaign. I got an email from her yesterday explaining the new government rebate program that was renewed and the changes that were made to make this program better and available to even more potential homebuyers. All of these things can help now and also help build her brand.

Down Under

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

Funny how something unusual presents itself and then once your awareness is raised you see it everywhere.

I have a good friend in Australia who just broke up with her boyfriend and is moving back to the States. I feel bad for her – she left a good job and a nice condo in San Francisco to be with him. Now she has to “go home” to nothing and start over.

Then my brother says he is going to Australia for two weeks over Christmas. Funny how Australia came up twice this morning.

Now I have a request from someone on FaceBook to be a friend. And she is in Australia. How funny! Do you think Australia is calling out to me?

Drive for Less in Australia

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

My brother is taking his whole family to Australia over Christmas for a two week holiday. They have always wanted to travel to exotic places and Australia seems to be a great destination for a family trip, especially since it is summer in December.

He has been busy booking flights and checking Car Rental Prices. Although he makes very good money, it is always a good idea to save what money you can, especially when traveling. After all, the money he saves on the flight and car rental can be used for more fun things while in Australia, like a deep sea fishing trip or expedition to the outback.