Ed Silva CDPE, GRI, ABR, Real Estate Agent

The day finally arrived. Forrest Gump dies and goes to Heaven.

He is at the Pearly Gates, met by St. Peter himself. However, the gates are closed,

and Forrest approaches the gatekeeper.

St. Peter said, 'Well, Forrest,

it is certainly good to see you. We have heard a lot about you. I must

tell you, though, that the place is filling up fast, and we have been administering

an entrance examination for everyone. The test is short, but you have to

pass it before you can get into Heaven.'

Forrest responds, 'It sure is

good to be here, St. Peter, sir. But nobody ever told me about any entrance

exam. I sure hope that the test ain't too hard.

Life was a big enough test

as it was.'

St . Peter continued, 'Yes, I

know, Forrest, but the test is only three questions.

First:

What two days of the week begin with the letter T?

Second:

How many seconds are there in a year?

Third:

What is God's first name?'

Forrest leaves to think the questions over. He returns the next day and sees St. Peter, who waves him up, and says, 'Now that you have had a chance to think the questions over, tell me your answers.'

Forrest replied, 'Well, the

first one -- which two days in the week begins with the letter 'T'?

Shucks, that one is easy. That would be Today and Tomorrow..'

The Saint's eyes opened wide and

he exclaimed, 'Forrest, that is not what I was thinking, but you do

have a point, and I guess I did not specify, so I will give you credit

for that answer. How about the next one?' asked St. Peter.

'How many seconds in a year?

Now that one is harder,' replied Forrest, 'but I thunk and thunk about

that, and I guess the only answer can be twelve.'

Astounded, St.. Peter said, 'Twelve?

Twelve? Forrest, how in Heaven's name could you come up with twelve seconds

in a year?'

Forrest replied, 'Shucks, there's

got to be twelve: January 2nd, February 2nd, March 2nd... '

'Hold it,' interrupts St.. Peter.

'I see where you are going with this, and I see your point,

though that was not quite what I had in mind.....but I will have to give

you credit for that one, too. Let us go on with the third and final question.

Can you tell me God's first name'?

'Sure,' Forrest replied,

'it's Andy.'

'Andy?' exclaimed an exasperated

and frustrated St Peter.

'Ok, I can understand how you

came up with your answers to my first two questions, but just how in the

world did you come up with the name Andy as the first name of God?'

'Shucks, that was the easiest

one of all,' Forrest replied. 'I learnt it from the song,

ANDY WALKS WITH ME,

ANDY TALKS WITH ME,

ANDY TELLS ME I AM HIS OWN.'

St. Peter opened the Pearly Gates,

and said: 'Run, Forrest, run.'

I had landed at the Memphis, TN airport just about an hour previous and was walking through the lobby door of a company for a meeting with their engineeringdepartment. People were scurryingto the conference room and their television was on. Announcers were talking about a tragic air collision at one of the world trade towers in Manhattan. Within minutes the screen showed the second plane hitting the second tower.

The room gasped as if in unison, and then went eerily silent so that everyone could hear the announcements. Then came the announcement of the plane hitting the pentagon, and shortly after that the plane crash in the Pennsylvania field.

It took minutes for their head engineer to locate us and tell us that we were not meeting that day. We left and found a hotel to stay at for the night, as it was obvious no planes were moving. I didn't get back to Connecticut until the following Sunday. It took a series of rides by field salesman to get me back to Charlotte. There I was able to rent a car that need to be driven back to Newark. Six days after the attack, as I drove up the New Jersey turnpike towards the car drop, the smoke hung like an acrid cloud over Manhattan, where the twin towers once stood. The NY skyline was in mourning with it's once proud focal point alongside the river no longer there.

Air travel was no longer the same for me after that. I did not know anybody personally that last their lives in that tragedy, however there were friends of friends that did.

Our way of life changed, our priorities needed to be adjusted, and our sense of pride was never greater than right after that tragic day.

Gone but not forgotten

Wanted to share some photos we just took on Lake Lure in the North Carolina Mountains, about 20 miles below Asheville, NC. The lake and town is Lake Lure. Properties along this lake with 25 miles of shoreline are rather large with the appropriate values associated with it.

The lake is man-made, but well thought out and now protected. One of the tid bits of history for the lake was that the film Dirty Dancing, was filmed here, and not as thought in the Catskills Mountains of New York state. Most of the buildings set up for the movie are gone, but those famed steps that Jennifer Gray walked up with her watermelon are still there.

While on a lake boat ride, an rain storm came up, made for a quick return, and a wet one.

Above photo is the lake cove where the film was shot.

The value of a small 'cottage' on this lake starts at around $600,000. The largest home currently completed has 12,000 sq ft of living space, and is about to be eclipsed.

Turn the boat around, that's headed our way, also the end of these shots, water started to kick up.

Perhaps this year more than those in the past,Labor Day has more meaning than ever before. With so many people either out of a job, know somebody out of a job, or fear for their job, this year should be noted as a day to hope for Labor.

We should make an effort to pause for those we know that need the help and maybe make an effort to work just a little harder to try and achieve a just and rewarding effort. Perhaps as in the movie, 'Pay It Forward', if we work a little harder, just maybe it will spur somebody else to do like wise. If we try, just a little effort may create a jobs for somebody else. This year let's just Labor a little harder

Our business is an every evolving business. Within the past 6 months alone there have been changes in how appraisals are managed, changes to the way lenders can conduct a transaction, changes to how properties are transacted due to the complexities of short sales. We as business professionals, and essentially the guardians and navigators of a real estate sale don't always have all of the answers. How can we expect our clients to not be confused and doubtful?

Clients don't want to let us know their degree of confusion or how little they have absorbed. Unless we create the comfort zone for them at the onset of the transaction there will be hesitation on their part. We have an obligation to let them know early in our relationship that it's acceptable to make us stop and clarify a point. We have t let them know that there is no such thing as a dumb question. After all, the money being spent or borrowed is not our money. At the end of the transaction we walk away and there is only one person or couple left with the financial obligation, and as we have seen over the past 18 months, if we do not let them know that it's permissible to stop us and ask a question they could find themselves with serious problems down the road.

When meeting clients for the first time, I lay out the rules, and one of the rules is to ask questions, no matter how foolish they think it might be. Many times, our pride makes us pause when we have doubts, and even though we may think we know the situation, we cannot expect to have all of the answers unless it's something that we deal with non a daily basis. We can not assume that the clients, whether first time buyers or even people that have bought and sold several homes over the years are current with the obligations and conditions that they may encounter as they progress through a transaction. We don't know all the answers, how can we expect them to be aware.

We should also let them know that it's okay to stop anybody that is working for them and ask the questions. We can get so complacent in our jobs because of the routine, that we almost anticipate the next step in the process. To someone making their first purchase there is nothing routine about the deal to them. They need our guidance, but guidance without the understanding of what's going on is like leading a herd of cattle. If that leadership slips just a little then that herd of cattle is destined for trouble.

We need to let them understand that it's expected of them to ask questions. Ask the loan officer to clarify details. Ask the inspector to back up and go over that again. Ask the lawyer to explain the conditions on the mortgage contract, Ask questions and don't leave that point until the question is properly answered. We must let them know that there is no such thing as a DUMB question.