Owasso, OK

Tulsa's Still Hanging Tough

With all the hype about the economy, it is no wonder people are afraid to buy or sell homes. Although there is no doubt that everything happening on Wall Street affects the real estate market, it is NOT a make-it or break-it event. Actually, we're still doing well here in Tulsa. According to an article entitled "Rise in Home Prices Forecast" in the Tulsa World, "A study predicts Tulsa's housing market will see a 2.8 percent INCREASE over the next year" (Evatt, 2008). This predicted increase makes Tulsa the "fifth-strongest market in the nation" (2008). In that same article, Eric Fox said, "Lately, Tulsa's been performing well due to economic factors such as its low unemployment rate, its low interest rates and its favorable consumer price index" (2008). Mike Cotrill, chief operating officer of the Greater Tulsa Association of Realtors, said, "We've had a consistent increase here" (2008). So whereas other markets in the nation are suffering drastically, Tulsa is still hanging tough. Be proud you live in Tulsa, don't believe everything you hear and see on the news, and go ahead and live out your dreams for a new home!

Thank you for reading our post. Please post your comments! We'd love to hear what you have to say. Remember, EllisTeam's goal is YOUR trust, YOUR dreams, YOUR way!

Sincerely,

EllisTeam

Davey and Tammi Ellis

Davey: 918-845-7503 Tammi: 918-346-5449

Email: ellisteam@kw.com Website: TheOwassoRealtors.com

Keller Williams Realty

References:

Evatt, R. (2008, October 30). Rise in home prices forecast. Tulsa World, p. A3.

When our children were little, the words, "Oh be careful little tongue what you say..." were a part of a children's song we taught them. We'd sing the song over and over and talk about being careful what you say about others.

The words came to mind this morning when I jumped on my computer and saw the story about Lori and Sarah Drew. You may remember them as the mother and daughter team who drove a 13 year old girl to commit suicide in her bedroom after sending her a message through MySpace that said the world would be a better place without girls like her. Click here to see a pic of the mother and daughter.

Now, this post isn't to judge these two in regards to their actions that day, although I will admit that what they did was wrong in so many ways (in my opinion).

What I see here is a lesson for all of us. When you are self-employed, as the mother was (and I suppose, still is), you have to bring an extra measure of level headedness and control to your daily life. What you say in person or on line can have significant ramifications. Am I saying you have to be censored...to give up your freedom of speech in order to be a successful real estate professional? Nope. If you want to say something, by all means get out there and say it! But, if you are smart, you will use self-censorship in large portions on a regular basis.

Why? Because look what happened to this lady...no that isn't right...this woman, in this situation. According to the article in the New York Times, her cell phone number popped up in blogs across the Internet. Then she started getting hateful phone calls. Supposedly someone hacked into her cell phone account and changed her greeting to something that wasn't very nice. Further ramifications included the companies that her business worked with getting targeted. The article doesn't say what happened to her business, but I'm willing to bet it took a serious hit.

Being only a Sophomore in the world of Real Estate, I am reminded how important it is to behave yourself out there in the big world. Be careful what you say, both on the job and in private. Especially in the blogosphere and on social networking sites. And if you're ever tempted to do something like Lori and Sarah Drew did, remember that we're the adults here. It is our job to teach the kids by our example - especially the impressionable 13 year old teens who have so much access to the adult world and so little experience in dealing with what they find there.

It wil be interesting to see what the punishment ends up being in this case. The mother could face prison and a hefty fine. And the daughter? I don't guess she's facing any charges, but I'll bet her dating life is...interesting! And how about the mom of the 13 year old who killed herself? She can sue this mom and daughter and make their lives a living hell for a long time to come. Talk about giving someone control over your life??? Wow!

Have a great Black Friday and watch that tongue. It can be a crafty little beast! Make it say something nice to someone today.

I'll admit it. I held off plunging into Facebook for a long time. This was mostly because I own three teenagers who have been Facebooking and MySpacing for years. It's a kid thing right?

WRONG!

I finally took the plunge a few weeks ago after reading Jason Crouch talk about social networking and real estate. Click here to read his post.

Facebook is very easy to set up and install and it is FREE, which is great. Once you set up your account and upload a pic, you can go pick your high school and graduation year and click the search button and guess what happens? Anyone from your school and that year who is on Facebook will pop up. You can then ask them to be your friend, which is how you build your social network. You can do this same thing with places of business where you have worked (not all are on there). You can also search for friends by name. Pretty cool.

Once you get up and going, you type in what you are doing. For example, I just went over to Facebook and typed "Bob is blogging about Facebook." That's it. Now, what I typed will be taken and seamlessly integrated into the pages of the other 118 people that I network with. When I list a house or work with a client, I post that. Why? It shows I'm a highly successful Realtor!!! And everytime you post something like that, all those people who you are networked with, see it. LaShawn Norden is a pro at this sort of thing!

Still not convinced? Here's some reasons to take the plunge...

1. You can set up a group specific to YOU. I haven't done this yet, but soon the Bob Haywood Real Estate Group will come alive on Facebook. In that group, you can have FANS (people who adore you) and you can write specific messages to all your people who join up. How cool is that for promoting your real estate career! Just listed a new house? Let everyone know through your Facebook!

2. You can find hard to reach clients. For example, I have a client who lives in Missouri. We've been trying to get a contract on his house here negotiated. Last weekend I really needed to talk to him. I couldn't get him by email or phone all day Friday. Ugh. On Saturday I was on Facebook and guess who showed up as being "On line?" Yep, my client. We were able to chat through Facebook and take care of our business. VERY COOL! This can be used to reach other Realtors too, if they are on Facebook. I needed to get a hold of an associate last weekend to submit an offer. I left her a message on her phone. After a few hours of no reply, I jumped on Facebook and sent her broker a message letting her know I was needing to talk to the lady from her office. Guess what? A few minutes later, my phone rang! (This wasn't a hateful, "Hey where the heck is that woman kind of thing, but rather a friendly, "I'm looking for such and such to submit an offer. Do you know if she's in town this weekend?")

3. I am one of only TWO people in my entire office on Facebook. We have a lot of non techie types in our office. Guess what that means? Me and one other Realtor in our office are the only two people working this Sphere of Influence! Rock and Roll!

4. You can keep up with other Realtors in your area. We have a group dedicated to Owasso Realtors. It is new, but I'm learning people's names and seeing their pics. This is very helpful, when you are dealing with someone on the other side of a transaction.

5. Your Active Rain blog can seamlessly be integrated into your Facebook page. Guess what that makes you? A PRO!

6. Do you get bored at your Open Houses when it is slow? Take your laptop along, jump on line and tell everyone you're doing an open house and to come see you. How cool is that???

Now to be fair, there are some features about Facebook I don't like. It is a social network, so people will do things like throw virtual snowballs at you and send you requests to take a quizzes and stuff. But hey, for all the benefit you get, it's worth a snowball or two!

And in today's economic mess, getting an advatage is more important that ever...

I read about this concept a couple of years ago. It was written in regards to church growth, but the idea applies to real estate big time! Basically, the thinking goes like this...you may think you are a native in your environment because you've been you, doing what you're doing for a long time. However, you may actually now be a tourist in your world because the world around you changed while you stayed the same.

Want an application? How about Facebook and Twitter?

I've put off jumping into these two applications for a long time because I always thought they were more for the kids. I finally gave in after reading so much about them here on Active Rain and guess what I discovered? I WAS OUT OF TOUCH. I WAS A TOURIST AND I DIDN'T EVEN REALIZE IT.

As my kids would text...OMG (gosh for me) - I have been having an incredible time meeting old friends, reconnecting and making new friends. And I can already tell that these two social networks are going to be huge tools for me in the world of real estate. One reason I can say that with confidence is because so few other agents are using them in my area. I'm amazed!

I've already set up two new groups - one for Owasso Realtors (can you believe there wasn't already a group???) and another one for McGraw Realtors. I'm looking forward to building great relationships and connectivity within these areas.

The world of real estate is changing folks. If you are not connecting on-line and using on-line tools, you're gonna be a tourist rather than a native pretty soon. And you know what the difference between a tourist and native is don't you? Tourists don't hang around very long. Natives live comfortably in the environment around them.

I'm goin' native!

PS - If you're on Facebook, let's connect!

Finally the election is over. This is a day I've long been waiting for because in the world of real estate, election years slow down your business. At least this is what the big dog, long time Realtors in my office tell me.

So now that we're past November 4th, I have to wonder what happens and where do we go from here?

In the world of politics, we now have one party that is basically in power. This is dangerous, regardless of what party you belong to. Our forefathers set up our government to have a system of balance and checks so that no one person or group of people could take absolute power. Hopefully, this administration and the Democrats won't get into office and do exactly what the Republicans did when they had their day. And that's to blow it by getting the big head and just doing whatever you want instead of staying in touch with the folks back home.

In the world of everyday living, I have to ask if we can get back to life now?

I think we're all sick and tired of the stinking bad economy, the bad wall street news, the bailout that makes no sense to most of us, our shrinking home values and our shrinking retirement funds.

Quite frankly, I think the unpopularity of President Bush has added big time to the sour feeling in our country right now. I can't tell you how many times I have watched the man and wanted to scream at him to "be real," to "relate to me," and to "capture the hearts of people." Needless to say, he didn't listen!

Well, hopefully President Obama will be able to lead us and to inspire the country. We'll see.

Congrats Mr. Obama on a historic victory. You have much to be proud of.

Now, would somebody please buy a house???