About Kent County, MI

Like many folks on the blogosphere, I've become pretty good at drowning out 'noise' especially electronic noise. So, I missed most of the discussion about the recent Virtual Real Estate Bar camp because I wasn't tuned into the frequency that was broadcasting the event.

And I might never have tuned in were it not for a series of @lolaaudu tweets on Twitter Some young professionals in our area were discussing the possibility of meeting together for a shared educational experience.

In record time (less that 48 hours) & with the cooperation and assistance of our real estate board, a 'tweet up' merged into a 'meet up' that resulted in approximately 20 individuals (residential & commercial agents, brokers &mortgage lenders) learning, sharing and exchanging ideas about real estate. Kudos to Ace Inspection Services for providing the lunch!

Looking around the room, I was struck by how different this classroom experience is from my first real estate class almost 15 years ago. Then, the class was advertised well in advance and several hundreds of dollars were required to gain knowledge. The instructor was very much the leader and questions required a raised hand. There was little discussion and when I left, my knowledge about the other attendees was largely limited to the fact that they had sat in a classroom with me.

Today's virtual classroom experience (Virtual REBAR camp) had a choice of several different teachers every forty-five minutes for 8 hours! These instructors were speaking to over 1700 registered participants in 3 different virtual classrooms across the United States. The knowledge base spanned a vast array of information and expertise. Students were encouraged to share their thoughts, insights and best ideas in response to the presentation NOT with the instructor but rather with fellow participants.

No one raised a hand to speak! There was no 'appointed' leader; various people stepped up to the plate to facilitate the discussion on each topic. There was no charge for the class. Folks came...and went. Participants tweeted on twitter and posted on Facebook & even invited a local reporter to drop by.

My what a difference a decade makes! It's becoming increasingly clear that there is a vacum of leadership in many key areas of the real estate marketplace right now. What's unclear is what is going to eventually emerge as the model of the future.

In recent years, the 'Headless Classroom' has created a new paradigm. It's changing the educational experience and the knowledge database for real estate professionals. This has both pros and cons. What do you think they are? What do you think real estate education will look like for the class of 2012?

picture of headless man courtesy of gerrit's photostream on flickr ~ creative commons license.

picture of graduation courtesy of www.lumaxart.com photostream on flickr ~ creative commons license

Would your kindergartener come home and ask for a bowl of cereal

in Mandarin Chinese? If you live in the Forest Hills School System

in Grand Rapids Michigan, this isn't as far fetched as it sounds.

The Meadowbrook Elementary School is home to the Forest Hills

Chinese Immersion Program. This program is the first of its kind in

West Michigan. The program just received a Federal Grant of $238,000

for the first year. If all program objectives are met, it will receive

additional funds for the next 2 years.

Leaders in Forest Hills educational community decided to add Mandarin

Chinese Immersion to their bilingual offerings with the assistance

of Michigan State University's Confucius Institute. Currently 2

Chinese teachers are on the school faculty to give students in

the program an early start in bilingual education.

The Forest Hills District is continuing to expand Mandarin language

courses at middle and high school levels. With 55 percent of the

world's population speculated to be from Asia in the year 2025 and

5 percent from North America, being fluent in Chinese will be a real

asset in the future business world.

Forest Hills also has a Spanish Immersion Program running at the

Ada Vista Elementary School.

Front doors are the first impression that visitors and passersby get of your home.

We all make instant judgments about a home's interior when we see the front door,

just like we do about a person we first meet. If you want to make a good first

impression, you should make sure your front door is attractive and welcoming.

I have a fascination with front doors. I drive by homes and look at the front door

or front entry. I love to see a home with a touch of personality or a piece of artwork

displayed by the front door that lets me know a little bit more about them.

Do they like animals? Are they proud of their home? Does everything appear to be

in good repair?

This front door reminds me of castle. I saw several doorways similar to

this in England inside castle walls.

Holidays and seasonal decorating are especially fruitful for my voyeuristic entertainment.

I especially like the his and hers well-dressed scarecrows guarding this front door.

Thinking of buying a property in another state?

You might want to think a few things over when moving to another state. It is one thing to invest and another to relocated using an out of state lender.

This just happened during one of my closings this week. The buyer and buyers agent offer an approval letter through a national lender. The lender may be national but the loan officer is local in a branch office.

The loan officer had no idea about Michigan title insurance or this states closing process. The buyer thought he would get a loan, the seller would hand him the keys and that would be that.

The lender wanted more documentation about future employment, outstanding debt and a host of other issues. Buyers many times do not understand that little piece of paper called an approval letter is only good the day it was issued.

The sellers many times do not know the ramifications of a preapproval letter either. It doesn't mean a thing until the credit report, income statements, verification of down money and income.

The buyer had one issue after another with the lender. The loan officer for the lender didn't know many things that would have been customary in his home market but cross state lines and they didn't apply.

The buyers agent had a difficult time communicating with the clients lender as well. Time zone issues, local and state issues that did not match the knowledge base of the lender. This created frustration and delays. The closing was delayed and extended 3 times.

The seller would have abandoned the contract if I had not talked with the lender directly to see what issues were holding up the sale. The lender outlined issues that were specific to the buyer and some that were because of being out of state.

So when you are relocating it makes good sense to check out a local lender. If you are affiliated with a national lender use a local office to help establish your credit in your new community.

Home this gives you a head start in your relocation process.

I was arriving home from an evening appointment...I noticed a couple young men walking, I hadn't seen them in the neighborhood before.

They noticed me right away...and turn into the a cul-de-sac like they were out for a stroll. The cul-de-sac happens to be where I live. I turned and my headlights showed two young men one in camouflage and the other in black. Odd attire for walking.

I slowed to get a look...they turned and walk across the street and head out of the cul-de-sac....they make another turn into a dead-end side street...all seemed eerily bad.

I made a circle and notice on had a plastic bad looking a little heavy with what seemed to be the outline of a "BIG" knife. They continue out of the neighborhood. I decide to check on my wife before calling anyone.

She is fine....I tell her of the events and she heard nothing and seen nothing. All at once an old pickup is parked in the bend of the cul-de-sac. I look, the same two guys exit and run onto my two acre parcel of privacy. I can hear them struggling with something....I ask them to Identify themselves.

Bloody hands go up in the air...and they say hey mister sorry....we are bow hunters and the deer we shot ran about a half mile before we found him here. We didn't mean to scare you or your wife...we just wanted to get our deer!

I laughed and said no problem guys...how big is it? They never thought to ask if they could get it....some people are funny and wouldn't let them. So the miss trust of the situation created a dangerous situation. Being a Vietnam Vet who was in the thick of things my reaction to people sneaking around my home in camouflage or black clothing isn't going to be very positive. But common sense works best before getting out Mr. Smith and Wesson.

Having two guys put up their hands with blood all over them isn't something you would expect in a urban neighborhood either.

It all worked out and I found out one of the bow hunters wanted some hunting land...so I gave him my business card and collected his email to send him property profiles.

Many things go bump in the night...being careful is being responsible to yourself and neighbors.

Are You Watching "Who Goes There?"

Live in Grand Rapids or West Michigan area, not under contract? Like to sell or buy a home....give me a call. It could save you thousands in your next real estate transaction. Always confidential, Never Pressured.

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