The 2-OH-2! Your Portland Oregon 97202 Experts

via Alex and Kelli's blog

--- sign up for the Run For Ed.5K to benefit Sellwood Middle School.

The walk will be along the Springwater Corridor on Saturday, October 19th.

Registration begins at the school at 8:30 am. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Sellwood Middle Shool Foundation and directly support the school's diverse electives program of art, band, Spanish and industrial arts.

One of the treats in my life is that I live across the street from the school and have the privilege of hearing the various bands practice. They march right past my house, in formation, looking and sounding great! The sound of the marimba band fills my garden on spring days and makes the weeding go that much better!

It's a sad fact that now days there aren't funds for the kinds of activities that many of us took for granted back in the day. Schools are forced to turn to the community in a variety of ways - and the 5K Fun/Run/Walk is one of those ways.

So let's get out there and walk -- or become a sponsor of the event. You can download forms and register at the school's web site, www.sellwoodmiddleschool.org, The registration fee is $20, adults, and $15 for kids. The 1k fun walk is free. Or get more information by contacting May Kyle McCurdy, 503-777-5312, or Dana McKillop, 503-349-1808.

See you there? It will be fun!

Growing up as a kid in So. Cal I can remember having so many talks with my Dad, usually sitting in his car driving somewhere. He knew that he had my attention because I wasn't going anywhere, at least physically I wasn't going, but mentally I usually drifted off to a place where there were no rules. He would say to me "son you have so much potential and you are just wasting your time and energy with all this stuff you do. Which was code for.."go to college, get a good job and make something of your self.

Potential? how did he know what my potential was? How does anybody know what your potential is? But apparently I had some becuase it seemed as though every adult in my life would say the same thing to me. Then one day I heard this friend of mine say that "he was being crushed by the weight of his potential" I love that saying because it was spot on true! I could hardly breathe....

Being a manger in the real estate business I find my self today saying the same things to recruits, new agents and seasoned agents. of course I don't say it out loud but inside my head I say "you have so much potential blah blah blah. What the hell does that mean, its as if my father is inside my head speaking.

I can say that hiring on potential is a mistake, it is the same as marrying for potential, you know " I thought I could change him/her". Brian Buffini says it best "when people show you who they are, believe them". As a manager my number one job is to retain agents and hopefully teach them some things about the business and life. Do I think that I can change them? No not really, I might be able to help them develop better habits and learn to run this like a business. But actually change them I don't think that is possible. Agents, especially now, have to want this more then anything else. They need to wake up every morning excited about what the day is bringing and to show that enthusiasm to their clients and other agents in the office. I am not saying that times are great, they are not great, but I have agents in this office who are doing a great job, enjoying life and doing what they can to achieve success.

This is not an easy Career path. I have been doing this for 11 years and it took me a few years to figure out that nobody is watching me, nobody really cares if you make it to the office and really if I want to make this my Career I better lift that weight of potential off of me and get moving. I love what I do, I love the agents in the office, I love living in Sellwood. But in the beginning of my career I thought this was all going to be easy, but in the end it has taken a lot of hard work and dedication to have the life I have today. I guess my Dad was right because I don't feel crushed anymore....

Being amanager for Remax equity group I get the opportunity to talk to a Lot of people on a daily basis about the market, the good and the bad. I am trying my hardest to keep a positive attitude in the office by being honest about what is going on but really leading the charge to a better tomorrow and the years to come. We will all survive this market and I would venture a guess that not too many people are going to die from this. And what do they say "if it doesn't kill you it will make you stronger" yahoo for that logic. Agents are my customers these days and man it is hard sometimes to see people struggle especially when you know they are doing all they can to get business. i look across the desk at times and I just don't have anymore answers, I have no magic words, I have no joyous words of hope and mostly I feel like I let them down. At night before I drift off to sleep I run my day through my mind to see if I could have been more productive, if I could have been a better person, you know let the guy in front of you on the road type of stuff. could I be a better leader in these tough times, I am brought face to face with my demons just like the agents are every day. There are days that life seems easy and other days you just want to be a cabana man in some swanky hotel serving drinks to the rich and famous..oops did I use my outdoor thoughts? I am here to tell all of us that in a few years we will be having the same conversations about pricing, buyers not deciding fast enough, sellers not listening to us about pricing and other agents dropping the ball but the market will be rockin and we won't have the time to dwell on the negative. Put yourself in the future right now and listen to your self talk and if you hear negative Nellie replace it with positive Paulie because life is to short to hang with Nellie.

Hello All;

this is a very important town hall meeting tomorrow, if you can not attend then please fill out the survey.....Thanks

Dear Steve Eggerts, On Thursday, September 18, 2008 the Big Look Task Force will visit Portland to get feedback on land use to help make decisions about farm and forest lands, urban communities, issues related to sustainability, climate change, housing choice and economic prosperity. Big Look Task Force Town Hall Thursday, September 18 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. University of Portland 5000 N. Willamette Blvd. Portland, OR 97203 This is an excellent opportunity to share a real perspective of how Oregon's land use laws impact your community. Your input is essential to the formation of the task force's recommendations to the 2009 Legislature. If you are unable to attend the town hall, please take a few minutes to share your thoughts on the future of land use and fill out the survey! For a complete copy of the recommendations released by the Big Look Task Force in June 2008, visit: "Choices for Oregon's Future." -- TALKING POINTS -- 1. "One size does not fit all" -- there must be increased flexibility in our land use system that accounts for the regional differences throughout the state and allows for greater local determination of the specific needs of a community and/or region. 2. Standing -- there must be clear parameters for who has standing to appeal a land use decision. Only those directly impacted by a land use decision should have standing to challenge. In addition, there must be a reduction in the number of allowable appeals if land is already zoned for increased density or a particular purpose. 3. Climate change -- climate change is best addressed by the Oregon Global Warming Commission. The Big Look Task Force was given specific instruction by the legislature to examine our land use laws, and delving into the political quagmire of climate change would be counterproductive at best. 4. Accurate identification of resource lands -- modern technology allows for a much more accurate determination of what constitutes "high value" farmland, and the antiquated soil classification system has resulted in "farm land" with zero to little growing potential to remain off limits to development. 5. Economic Development -- there must be a higher value placed on employment lands. While the land use system was designed to protect farm and forest, the primary economic drivers in Oregon when SB 100 was enacted, the economy is far more diverse today. Our current land use system does not reflect or embrace this diversity. Please share this with your friends! Tell-a-friend! If you received this message from a friend, you can sign up for Oregon Association of REALTORS. This message was sent to steve.eggerts@remax.net. Visit your subscription management page to modify your email communication preferences or update your personal profile. To stop ALL email from Oregon Association of REALTORS, click to remove yourself from our lists (or reply via email with "remove or unsubscribe" in the subject line).

Passport event in Sellwood and Westmoreland

This weekend there is going to be the event of the year in our wonderful neighborhood I have attached a link so that you can pull up the website to view what is happening.

The neighborhood is doing great and real estate prices seem to be hanging on!!! Look forward to seeing you all this weekend!!

Event Link

The good Egg