38th Annual Special Needs Kids Christmas Party

The 38th Annual Special Needs Kids Christmas Party was held at the Elks Lodge again this year. Organized by the Shasta Association of REALTORS Social Committee. The event was a great success, as always. Here’s a short video offering a taste of what was missed if you weren’t there for this heartwarming event. Thanks to all the participants and the vendors who helped!

Special Needs Kids Christmas Party 2010 Redding CA from Skip Murphy on Vimeo.

Rainy day reflection

Redding ca open house
We real estate agents are independent contractors. That means we often work many hours for free, hoping to meet somebody buying or selling a house. This very rainy weekend I held a house open both days on Foothill Blvd, and it was looong time between few lookers. I believe this was also the weekend for NFL playoffs. No playoffs here.

I’m still remaining hopeful that someone will come along eventually; they simply have to. This house is wonderful, and it will also put me in good stead when it comes to having the responsibility of selling homes in the future. In some cases, we may decide to look at other ways to purchase real estate, like through a land contract, for example. The person looking to buy the land makes an agreement regarding the payments with the seller, and will then pay the remaining figures over a certain amount of time. This again is decided between both buyer and seller. But don’t worry, once it has been paid off, the buyer has ownership of the property. Good, right? Of course, you will need a company like Amerinote Xchange to help you along the way, especially if you are looking to sell your own land. And there are some great pieces of land around here, which is probably why so many people have decided to build real estate properties on them. If I was looking for a house, I’d definitely consider buying one in this area, maybe even the homes that I set up an open house for on Foothill Blvd because they were amazing. But just looking for someone, anyone, who is interested in this property is my first obstacle to overcome.
Redding ca open house
Well, there is time for reflection. And whining, apparently! Things could be worse…

Coldwell Banker C&C Properties Christmas Party at Riverview

Here’s a few photos I took of my friends and family at the company Christmas party in Redding.


It seems like we don’t get too many opportunities to dress up in Redding, so this is always fun. It was like Prom night for some folks. I enjoyed hearing singer Summer Schappell’s take on a few Christmas classics. It was a great evening, but it kicked my butt apparently. I’ve been down with a cold for about a week ever since that night. That’ll teach me to party. At least until next time. Thanks to all who were there, and to the Crafts for throwing a tres cool soiree every year.

Insane Clown yard art

We drove by this on our way to show the house next door, southeast of Anderson. Every Realtor’s dream, to have yard art like this in the neighbor’s yard. Needless to say, our client was not thrilled with the house next door. Looks like a really bad horror movie scene.
Insane clown yard art
And of course they felt compelled to put it under cover for protection. Of course.

Happy Thanksgiving! Plus, link to a good post for today

I have so much to be grateful about, it wouldn’t even fit into a day. Nevertheless we are celebrating at home with friends and family, and Karry’s usual “Martha Stewart on steroids” dinner. Love it all.

If you make the rounds of local blogs, you’ve probably seen this recent post. But if not, I will bring this to your attention for today, as it follows the spirit. My friend and fellow Realtor Lara Wells Osborn wrote a thought-provoking post over at Food For Thought. It’s one of those rare pieces that stays with you long after reading. Lara is one of my favorite fellow agents. She and her husband have several cute kids too, which added poignancy to her excellent prose. That, along with the fact that she has established herself as a marketer of luxury homes, and has done very well with that high-end market segment. She’s just a good person to be around, and people sense that sort of thing. You should read her post if you didn’t already, and the link is HERE.

Thanks for writing, Lara. And a Happy and thoughtful Thanksgiving to all!
View of river from Diestlehorst
Diestlehorst bones by Skip

Odds n ends

Yesterday, I ran into one of Erin’s young friends, Sarah. She said to me “Hey, how about Tuesday, huh?” I was taken aback. Most of Erin’s 20-something friends seem very unconnected to politics. I found it hopeful that this young woman was excited enough about how the presidential election played out to even mention it to a geezer like me. It will be good if Obama’s success has captured the attention of young people, and got them thinking about the importance of elections. BTW Even though Sarah and her husband are still in their early 20s, they have their own small business. How cool is that? Shasta Pizza on Lake Blvd has the most delicious Garlic Chicken Bacon pizza, call 244 9999. Yum.
Day Lilly in Redding CA
Even though it’s November, we still have one Day Lilly blooming. Global warming? Maybe it’s just confused. Photo by Skip.

Secondly, local Realtor Brad Garbutt has a blog. He’s written some excellent information regarding “home retention” scams on his blog. There are a large number of unscrupulous people trying to take advantage of the many people in mortgage trouble. You can read his blog HERE. The series started Nov.4. He did an excellent job of spelling out the mechanics of the latest fraud schemes. Fraudsters are everywhere. Beware.
If you are interested in local real estate issues, you might pop over and take a look now and again for his take on things. I read it.

A cold wind blows through the Homeshow

We’ve had a booth at the Homeshow in Anderson for several years now. This Fall show was very lightly attended, coming on the heels of the stock market problems. In the past, it’s been a decent way to meet people in a non-threatening environment. We give out schwag (free promotional items like Custom Water bottles). A memorable moment from today was when a woman took my offered schwag, and when I recited my usual spiel “Please remember us if you know anyone buying or selling a home,” she replied, “I’m an agent myself” turned and walked off. Took my schwag, and cut me off at the knees all at once. That was harsh. Ow. You gotta have thick skin in this business. I marvel at her, really. I could never be that cold.

Ultimately, trade shows are an excellent opportunity to bring your products and services to a wider audience. However, in order for your exhibition to be a success, you need to make sure that you are as prepared as possible. For example, if you want passers-by to be drawn to your table you need to make sure that your corner of the exhibition hall is as inviting as possible. This year, I invested in a bright and colourful poster that I designed and printed using an online template on a website similar to MyCreativeShop. It definitely worked to our advantage as it captured the attention of quite a few people!

We have already started making plans for our next trade show. We want to come up with a new trade show banner, as well as more professional promotional material that we can utilize at events like this. Anyway at this show, the new, much lower valuations hit several people very hard. They had leveraged all their equity or whatever, and were now seriously upside down on value. Gosh, nothing like making people REALLY SAD to make a good impression at a trade show. We need a new reason to speak with people.

Things could be so different now
It used to be so civilized
You will always wonder how
It could have been if you’d only lied

Its too late to change events
Its time to face the consequence
For delivering the proof
In the policy of truth

Depeche ModePolicy of Truth Too true.
Homeshow in anderson