Carol Rondinelli, Broker Associate, CDPE

We have moved into our new office located at 12722 Black Bob Rd., in Olathe, Kansas. Our "state of the art" office features many new concepts in the real estate world. We can now sit down with our clients in one of our conference rooms and view our big screen t.v. and look at many homes through virtual tour or just photos and see the details of the home and decide to put it on the "showing" list or delete it. This concept alone saves the Client and the Realtor time in driving around finidng homes that are not to their standards. It also has an aerial map we can pull up and see the busy streets, parks or whatever may be around the home for several blocks. When we're writing a contract we can change the screen to a soothing, bubbling aquarium with colorful fish swimming, to soothe our Clients nerves...ha.ha...

We have three high-tech color copiers that enable our agents to produce professional quality presentation materials for their current clients and past client mailing list. We have workshops that I conduct every fall and spring, to help the agents practice and learn the applications to create these products.

Our new office is decorated in an African and Wild Animal theme with a warm cozy, welcoming feeling! Stop by to take a view! At our Grand Opening Party we had the Remax Balloon out in front of our office giving tethered balloon rides - - -All the cars slowed on the street and people pulled in our driveway - - the balloons are always fascinating to people!

Having recently completed training, testing & receiving the CDPE designation, I have realized how very important it is to help people work their way through the Short Sale process rather than let them go into Foreclosure.

There are definite consequences that happen with Foreclosure, that you can avoid by going the short sale route. For quite awhile, realtors have avoided short sales because it is a different, more involved & unknown process that makes the realtor work twice as hard. Be sure you find a realtor that has the CDPE training and designation because it involves an extensive amount of time, detail and follow up to work through the process. In this instance, the public should applaud the realtor for his/her compassion, as more realtors are seeing the need for this and preparing themselves for this type of sale.

If you know of anyone in a distressed situation financially, tell them to contact a realtor with training in short sales and try to go that route rather than just give in to foreclosure.

A Foreclosure becomes a public record for 10 yrs. or more; could be detrimental to your future employment, or present job. Security clearance can also be terminated. Learn all you can about short sales before going into foreclosure.

Is this a good time to buy??

Yes, this is a good time to buy. The interest rates are fantastic right now and you can probably get a good bargain out there. Mortgages are available, you'll just need a down payment rather than trying to do it with 100% financing.

We all know, life cycles all the time and the home appreciation will return to us at some point, so an investment in a home is still a good program of forced savings, building equity & interest deductions.

Is this a good time to sell??

Yes, this is a good time to sell. True, you will get less for your property, but you'll make up for it on the buying side when you buy at a lower price than normal. Interest rates are great for your buying side. This gives you a chance to update and move to a newer house, or smaller house or larger house - - depending on your needs.

If you sell in a good market you get more for your home but you also pay more for your new home you purchase. You always have an advantage on one side or the other, but most generally you can't have the advantage on both sides of your transaction.

Ever since I saw the movie "Ground Hog Day," I'm beginning to believe that our lives truly resemble that movie. Each year, month and week we seem to do very similar things in our lives over and over again. Each year we start over and try to upgrade what we're doing and make things better. We keep working on it until we get it right!

Each new year brings us a lot of hope and motivation to improve our business and help it grow, improve our friendships and improve our family relationships. This type of motivation is very good for all of us! Stay optimistic, turn off the news and remember everything cycles in life. 2009 will be a good year for all of us, so start anticipating the best in your business and personal life!

Remember to take time in January to make your new business plan for the year and make a list of goals and desired personal achievements for your future. If you have it written down they say it has a much better chance of coming true in the future. Happy New Year to All!

It's one thing when a relocation company is involved and they've offered their client a bonus in the transaction in return for the company referring their business to an agent. Then their company receives a percentage of the agent's commission to help pay that bonus. Although this type of business sharply cuts into the agents wages, it has become one of the types of business that is pretty accepted.

It's quite another thing when people set up internet sites and advertise that they can find a super agent for you if you register and give them your information. Then the person in charge of the internet site takes the realtor's business and trys to sell it back to them by trying to get them to pay a fee up front to just get the possible lead and then pay a referral fee also if a sale is made. This kind of action is just someone trying to attach themselves to the real estate industry and make money off the agents.

If you need an agent, mouth to mouth referrals is a great way, or call a local company or two and interview a couple of agents and make your decision. If you're working with a realtor and moving to another state, let that realtor find another realtor for you. That way, the realtor will find a high quality agent for you. Don't try to find your agent from some internet site where someone is just sitting there behind a computer trying to tap into the real estate industry to earn extra money.

Generally speaking, the people on the internet sites wouldn't know a good realtor from a bad one, they're just selling names. At least your current realtor can check the roster of their company and talk to the Broker in the town or area you prefer and find someone to fit your needs and watch over you.