A Tale of Halloween Pumpkin Horror
October 31, 2007 | 1 Comment
I have to admit, I’m not big on Halloween. I never really have been. That being said, there have been a number of good Halloween posts floating around the RE.net Blogosphere, so I thought I would share.
Kari and I went to my parents’ house a few weeks back to do some pumpkin carving. We hadn’t carved pumpkins in a while, so it was fun. Here are some pics of the finished products. They are taken from my camera phone, so the quality is what it is:
All of the pumpkins:
That’s my skull, my Brother’s HPU logo, my Dad’s pirate ship, Kari’s ghost, and my Mom’s Witch
Here’s a closeup of Kari’s artfully-carved ghost:
My Skull:
We were very proud of our pumpkins. So proud, in fact, that Kari and I promptly took our pumpkins home and put them on display on our front porch– big mistake. We awoke the next morning to this:
What you see above is what was left of my skull. Kari’s ghost suffered the same horrific fate. The pumpkins that we spent hours to carve, were obliterated in less than 12 hours. At first, we blamed the deer. In our neighborhood, it is easy to blame the deer for just about any type of tampering with vegetation. We can’t plant anything without the deer munching on it. Further investigation leads us to believe that raccoons were the likely culprits. That makes a better Halloween story, anyway. Deer aren’t very Holloween-like, but raccoons can be downright scary!
In Case You Forgot Why They Call Me The Zebra
October 31, 2007 | Leave a Comment
My basketball officiating season started in earnest last night with my first scrimmage of the season. Since it is getting to be that time of the year, you can bet that there are going to be more officiating-related real estate posts coming up. It has been a little while since I did a lot of things relating to sports or officiating, but if you would like to refresh your memory, you can go here.
[tags] real estate, officiating, [/tags]
Light Posting This Week, so Check Out the Link Blog
October 30, 2007 | Leave a Comment
This is a busy week for me, between my real estate-related responsibilities and this being the first week of basketball scrimmages. Posting may be a bit on the light side. No worries, however, you can always check out my link blog to see what interesting stuff is going on in real estate and Web 2.0.
Oh yeah, the link blog has it’s very own RSS feed also, so feel free to subscribe.
The 2007 NAR BloggerCon is ON!
October 27, 2007 | 23 Comments
Inspired by what Ben Martin was able to do for the Virginia Association of REALTORS, I have been working to try and organize a BloggerCon for those members of the RE.net attending the 2007 NAR Conference and Expo in Las Vegas. Today, we took a major step toward making this happen.
With help from NAR (believe it or not), I have been able to secure a time and place for the BloggerCon, so for those of you attending the Conference and Expo, mark your calendars:
Date and Time: Monday, November 12th, 2007 @ 5:30pm.
Place: The NAR Bloggers’ Lounge– Venetian Hotel, 4th Floor, Room 4605
I don’t know how much space there is in the Bloggers’ Lounge, but I would love to have people spilling into the hallway. If you are planning to attend, you can leave a comment here, send an email to Daniel at StrongTeamRealtors.com, join our Facebook group, whatever.
We also don’t have a formal agenda for the get together as of yet, either. So if anyone has anything that they think is worth addressing, or would like to suggest a possible format for the event, I’m all ears. As of right now, it is pretty much an informal cocktail party.
For those of you not attending the NAR Conference, don’t worry, there will be plenty of extensive RE.net blog coverage, I am sure. All I ask is that you promote the BloggerCon on your own blogs, if you feel so inclined. I would really like to show NAR the positive impact that blogging can have on the organization and the industry.
I’ll have more details as they become available, so stay tuned. . .
A special “thanks” goes out to Hilary Marsh, Managing Director of REALTOR.org for securing space and sponsoring this event. I met Hilary through Facebook.
VAR Shows Commitment to Technology Through Political Donations
October 24, 2007 | 1 Comment
The fact that the Virginia Association of REALTORS made donations to the campaigns of two Virginia politicians is not news. The organization does that routinely. What is newsworthy is the type of donation that was made. VAR is providing an in-kind donation of text-messaging services to State Senator Jeannemarie Devolites-Davis and Delegate David Poisson. Both plan on using the system as a means of outreach and increasing their grassroots efforts.
It is good to see that VAR is at least thinking outside of the box with their support. A donation such as this one is far more interesting and potentially rewarding to Virginia voters than a simple monetary donation. Kudos to VAR.
Hat Tip to Ben Martin.
[tags] real estate, realtor, virginia, political donations, VAR, Poisson, Devolites-Davis [/tags]
Learn About Social Media For Real Estate
October 24, 2007 | 1 Comment
I just posted the first in what will be a series of posts about social media and real estate. You can read it over at AgentGenius. Here’s an excerpt:
Welcome to the first day of Social Media for Real Estate 101. Attendance is completely voluntary (although highly encouraged). There will be homework (although no one will grade it). There will be no tests (sweet!).
This first post covers Twitter. I hope you enjoy!
Zebra Takes Top Honors at the Carnival
October 22, 2007 | 2 Comments
The 64th edition of the Carnival of Real Estate is up at RE Revealed.
The big news is that my post about social media and real estate took top honors! Pretty cool. I am honored to have been selected from among so many quality submissions.
There will be more to come on the topic of social media and real estate in the coming days, so I will keep you posted.
[tags] real estate, realtor, charlottesville, virginia, carnival of real estate, marketing, social media [/tags]
Felons Who Lie Can Have a Virginia Real Estate License
October 22, 2007 | 3 Comments
There is always a lot of talk around the real estate industry regarding the public reputation of real estate agents. In case you didn’t know, we typically aren’t held in very high esteem when people are asked how much trust they have in various professions. With what I just read in latest issue of the Virginia Real Estate Board newsletter, I can’t say that I blame the public.
The newsletter is delivered to real estate licensees every quarter. One section of the newsletter that I always find interesting is the report on disciplinary actions of the Real Estate Board (REB). This time, I found one particular disciplinary action unsettling.
The action was against a real estate licensee for a violation that was termed “Unworthiness & Incompetence.” The licensee was fined $1000, forced to pay $150 in costs to the Board, and put on 3 years probation. This, in and of itself, is not what I found unsettling.
What bothered me are the details of the case. The public has access to all of the disciplinary actions by the REB against Virginia licensees of any profession through the website of the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation. I looked up the facts of the above-mentioned case and discovered that the licensee in question has been convicted of various misdemeanors for improper filing of taxes and check fraud, and a felony conviction for embezzlement. All of this was prior to this person’s application for a Virginia real estate license. The section of the Code of Virginia that covers real estate licensing states, in part:
The applicant shall not have been convicted or found guilty, regardless of the manner of adjudication, in any jurisdiction of the United States of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, sexual offense, drug distribution or physical injury, or any felony, there being no appeal pending therefrom or the time for appeal having elapsed. Review of prior criminal convictions shall be subject to the requirements of §54.1-204 of the Code of Virginia. Neither shall the applicant have been found to have violated the fair housing laws of any jurisdiction. Any plea of nolo contendere shall be considered a conviction for purposes of this subdivision. The record of a conviction authenticated in such form as to be admissible in evidence under the laws of the jurisdiction where convicted shall be admissible as prima facie evidence of such conviction or guilt. [emphasis added]
On the license application, there is a question that asks if the applicant has ever been convicted of a felony. This licensee answered “no” as was subsequently issued a real estate license. When a complaint was filed, the REB’s investigation lead to the penalty of the fine and the probation.
WHAT A JOKE!
The law clearly states that a real estate licensee shall not have been convicted of a felony. Apparently, what it should say is, “an applicant, if having been convicted of a felony, should lie about the conviction in order to obtain a real estate license and then pay a fine later in order to keep the license.”
I am personally appalled that the REB would allow this person to keep a license. Not only does the licensee have a felony record for embezzlement, but the person also lied in order to obtain a license. Is this really the type of person that we want representing our profession? Apparently the Virginia REB thinks so. I guess they are hiding behind the criminal conviction review statute. I, for one, don’t buy it.
If we, as a profession, are not going to adequately police ourselves, how can we expect the public to hold us in high esteem?
[tags] real estate, realtor, charlottesville, virginia, agent, licensing [/tags]
Know What the Zebra Knows
October 18, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Sometimes, other obligations leave little time for writing blog posts. This week happens to be just one of those times. I have come up with a solution, however, to make sure that you can continue to get the important info you want, even if I can’t write a full post about it.
Check out my RSS link blog. If you scroll down in the side bar, you will notice a live feed from my link blog. All the the items found on the blog come from my shared items folder in my RSS reader (Google Reader). A lot of times, there are items in the reader that I think are interesting, but may not be worthy of covering here on the blog. Sometimes I would like to talk about them, but I don’t have time to write a post.
No problem, now you have access to all of the items in my RSS reader that catch my attention. Hopefully you will find some of them interesting and informative. The link blog even has its very own RSS feed to which you can subscribe, if you so desire.
I got the link blog idea from Robert Scoble’s blog (and accompanying link blog) via Twitter.
[tags] real estate, realtor, charlottesville, virginia, RSS, Google Reader [/tags]
Blog Action Day Post– Buy a BMW for a Better Environment
October 15, 2007 | 4 Comments
Today is Blog Action Day. Bloggers all over the world are taking some time today to write posts relating to the environment. I know this is a real estate blog, but I thought that getting involved in something like this is a good thing. Plus, it gives me an excuse to write about one of my favorite subjects outside of real estate– BMW.
There has been a lot of discussion in the last few years about automobiles and the environment. Everyone is offering their solution to reducing dependence on fossil fuel for cars. Everything from electric cars to hybrids to ethanol is being touted as the solution to the problem of reducing emissions and dependence on oil. Some of these technologies are available now, and some of them are still in development and may not see main stream availability for years.
One thing that I don’t like about many of the available technologies is that they reduce performance. I will freely admit that I love my cars. One of the reasons that I love them is their performance, their dynamics, the experience of driving them. I used to look at cars as merely conveyances, appliances to get me from A to B. It wasn’t until I discovered BMW that I discovered that a car be a lot more than that. BMW demonstrates an unyielding dedication to the driver experience and automotive performance. It is engineered into every single car they produce.
BMW also demonstrates a commitment to the environment as well. It starts with their manufacturing. BMW’s American manufacturing plant, located in Spartansburg, SC utilizes a number of different technologies to make it as friendly to the environment as possible. In fact, BMW’s landfill gas-to-energy project earned a 2003 Green Power Leadership Award from the Environmental Protection Agency. BMW has demonstrated at their manufacturing plants all over the world that it is committed to reducing environmental impact.
The commitment continues with their cars. It starts with the little things that most people may not even think about. You know that new-car smell that you love so much? It can be toxic. The Ecology Center, based in Ann Arbor Michigan, released a study that shows that BMW interiors are among the safest in the industry when measuring toxicity. After all, the most important environment is your own.
Most recently, BMW has been using a group of technologies it calls “efficient dynamics” to re-use energy usually lost from a car in order to reduce fuel consumption. Reducing fuel consumption is one thing that can be done right now to reduce the environmental impact from cars. One component of efficient dynamics is a commitment to developing clean-burning diesel cars. These cars offer reduced fuel consumption without reducing performance. The diesel cars have sold very well in Europe, where fuel costs are much higher, and they are due to arrive here in the US in select BMW models in 2008. As diesel technology shows, one of the best things about efficient dynamics is that not only to they not reduce the overall performance of the car, sometimes they even serve to enhance it.
The latest achievement that BMW has reached is the creation of a vehicle that runs on liquid hydrogen. The Hydrogen 7 is being driven by a few select people (mostly celebrities) throughout the country. The thing that makes this vehicle unique is that rather than using the hydrogen to power a fuel cell that generates electricity, the car uses a combustion engine that can run on either liquid hydrogen or conventional gasoline. While the technology isn’t perfect, and it may not be the final answer to oil dependence, it shows that there is something that can be done right now. It is a technology that we have the capabilities of using today, not 10 years from now. There is something to be said for that.
BMW produces the Ultimate Driving Machine because of its commitment to performance and driving dynamics; its commitment to the experience of being behind the wheel. The Ultimate Driving Machine now goes beyond the driver’s seat. That commitment to performance has lead to a commitment to the environment as well. In the future, the Ultimate Driving Machine may well become the Ultimate Environmental Machine.
[tags] blog action day, BMW, environment, foreign oil, reduced emissions, environmental impact, manufacturing, cars, autos, [/tags]
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Disclaimer
My name is Daniel Rothamel. I am a licensed real estate agent in the Commonwealth of Virginia and a member of the National Association of REALTORS. As such, I adhere to a strict code of ethics and all laws with regard to equal housing, which is reflected in the content of this blog. My broker is Strong Team REALTORS, 86 Joshua Lane, Palmyra, VA 22963; (434) 589-5800. My VA Real Estate License number is 0225 077325. All of the opinions in this blog are mine, unless otherwise noted.
