Jill Watts

I can truly say I am my Plumber's best friend! He's my husband, Mike! He's been a plumber for over thirty years. He is a fourth generation plumber. His grandfather is famous for many plumbing inventions, most are obscure and unknown, but used by most households in America. Mike's father teaches plumbing code law and has even written parts of the code book for here in the Northwest!

Mike is also one of the smartest and funniest guys I know. I am amazed when I hear him talk on the phone to "our" customers. He is so knowledgeable about pricing, products, installations. (Besides being a Keller Williams real estate agent, I work for Mike as his admin.) He works mostly in Camas, Washougal, Vancouver areas. He doesn't do new construction anymore, mostly just does the plumbing in remodel jobs with his contractor friend, Jerry Engbrecht from Reliable Remodeling.

Mike, as a plumber gets the highest praise any businessman could ever get: he NEVER has to advertise. He's always swamped with business. I call him "my good-deed-a-day-guy." He gets paid for his work of course, but there are many people that give him jars of jam, travel items they've acquired, house building items...he used to even get zuchinni...until I told him, "Stop with the zuchinnis!"

Mike is pretty much the LAST plumber in the Watt's line. There is no one to follow him, so there won't be a fifth generation of plumbers in our family.

Here are the current stats for sales, etc. in the Clark County, Washington area. Stats are taken from the RMLS.

I find it extremely interesting that FSBO (For Sale By Owners--Unrepresented Sellers) only show one sale last week that is recorded. I know that not all FSBO sales are recorded by RMLS, but to me, it reiterates that with a professional Real Estate Agent, a seller or a buyer will get a dynamic marketing plan, showings, offers and opportunities.

These are my grandchildren!! I call them "The Lil' Darlin's." I'll only tell you one story about one of them and it is kind of real estate related.

I took my 7 year old grandson Preston with me to show homes one day in Vancouver, Washington with one of my guy friends and his Dad. We were touring an older two story home. As the gentlemen walked through the house, they were knocking on a wall here and there, just checking things out. Preston began walking behind them knocking on walls right behind them. Then Preston began asking them, "Well, are you going to buy it or not?!!" I tried to shush him. They kind of laughed. Preston asked them a few more times during the touring. "Well, are you gonna buy it or not?!!" I gave him a few frowns with that "not now" look.

When we finally locked up and went outside and stood in the yard, Preston put his hands on his hips and said, "Well, are you gonna buy it or not?" One of the gentlemen humored him and said, "Well, we might. How much is it?" Preston said, "$400....$200 for my Grandma and $200 for me!"

Have you set up a GOOGLE ALERT for your own name? When you set up an alert, Google will send you an email everytime someone looks for your name. I get about an email a day so I assume that someone has looked at one of my blogs. And what does that mean???? I can't tell WHO looked, just that someone is searching for me. O.k., that could be a compliment, or it could be really scary!!

Where in the world are you?? Now that we can "Google" just about anything in the world that we are wondering about...we are obssessed with WHERE ARE WE LOCATED ON THE DANG GOOGLE PAGE!! I'm blogging my fingers off trying to make it to the top of the Google page. Is that today's notation of success?

Whenever I look at ActiveRain GROUPS that I have chosen to be a part of...I see that many people read some of my blogs but maybe only a few comment. (O.K., is 240 views alot? Who knows? What scale may I measure that against...I could be a total blogger loser compared to the hits/reads that some of you get!)

It's exhausting trying to be Google Worthy!! But, it's fun.

I've been using Talking House with my clients for about six months here in the Camas, Washougal and Vancouver Washington area. I absolutely love it. I especially love it because it gives me a way to present to the sellers a new way of advertising their home. It gives buyers a chance to hear about the home and call me for the extra information they want to know. I try to build the recordings to accent something wonderful about the home such as "Imagine yourself in this gourment kitchen with family and friends gathered round enjoying your enticing meal."

I prepare a "radio broadcast" on the Talking House unit about the listing beffore I arrive at the home. I talk about the things that a buyer would really love. I also take the bright red Talking House yard signs with me because they're very impressive too. Talking House helps set the mood for my listing appointments. The clients are impressed.

If you don't know what Talking House is...you can CLICK HERE to go to their webpage. It's a radio unit that you put your recording on and place in the client's home. It is done in a loop so it plays over and over. The client does not hear it because it's silent inside the home. But the people who drive up can read the sign and tune in to a certain radio station that you choose and they can hear all the cool things about that particular listing. This radio broadcast can be heard for about 2-3 blocks away if it's a good signal. (I'm laughing here...On my very first listing that I placed Talking House, I drove around and around the block listening to myself on my own car radio!)

I can't say that I sound like a professional on the recordings...I hate how I sound. But the Talking House company provides a book with scripts and tips and suggestions. I've laughed at myself and practiced alot. I try to do the "happy radio annoucer" type of recording. It's a continual learning process!!

Jill P.S. I've even offered the use of my Talking House radio units to For Sale By Owners. They like the idea but have not taken me up on the offer. But, it gives me a reason to call!!