Elizabeth Birmingham

Today after eating a huge dinner on Thursday for Thanksgiving you can add another pound or two in Downtown Palisade. Every store has a chocolate treat and a check in Registry. Buy local and support your local economy. The Palisade Chocolate Walk is an annual event.

Cholcolate is always a good draw for most everybody. Hats off to Kathy at the Chamber of Commerce and her trust sidekick Melinda.

Black Friday in Grand Junction Colorado

I love a bargain like everyone else but I wait for the prices to come down before I shop. I saw a great deal at Best Buy for a TV for $199.00. The sale was to start at midnight. I was going to friends for Thanksgiving so the chances of leaving their house close to midnight were good. I thought I can do that!. I took a drive to our Best Buy at around 5 to see what was happening. There were at least 100 people at 5 waiting for the store to open. I decided that saving a little money was not worth the hasstle. An article in this morning’s paper stated that a mathematician determined that the best bargains were in the early part of December or after Christmas. I can wait at home where it is warm.

Those people are nuts who wait out in the cold. They can get a better bargain with out the camping. I was in retail 20 years I know what Black Friday is about. Getting back in the black financially. The loss leaders are what bring people into the stores. I manufactured my merchandise. I made a huge profit because I bought it from myself at a profit, and then sold to my customers at a profit. When I wanted to stimulate sales, I bought from myself an item for a dollar and sold it for two. I only had that one item on sale. When people came in, they found other things to buy. Large retailer’s markup a lot of merchandise during these events and then have these items go on sale the following week. It is all a big game. I do not play! The best shopper is an informed shopper. Research,find out where the real bargains are hiding. The latest Best Buy loss leader was a 40-inch TV that they had manufactured by Sharp for Best Buy’s Black Friday. Every store had ten. The TV was a real bargain. It had a cheap exterior but high quality Sharp components inside. My guess is that TV will be re-issued with a bigger but competitive price and a better exterior. I do look for bargains but I am not sitting outside all night waiting for the stores to open at midnight. -

Happy Thanksgiving from Grand Junction Colorado

Turkey Day is here.

I love this Holiday more than any other because it is all about being grateful. I am grateful for so many things this year. My 90 year old mother survived brain surgery and my baby sister scheduled for brain surgery was told in pre-op her tumor had disappeared.

I am grateful for my wonderful loyal clients, my neighbors, my family and my old and friends. I am also thankful for my success in selling homes in Grand Junction. When the market went down my goal was to have the best year ever. I worked hard but thankfully it paid off.

ActiveRain has been a great place for me to learn from others. The added bonus is that my writing skills have improved. I am thankful for that.

This year has been full of reasons to be thankful.

Quoting from a line in a Rollimg Stones song " Thank you Jesus.Thank you lord."

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Grand Junction Homes for Sale:I sell homes by advertising on the Internet.

The Internet has become the premier spot to advertise listings. Statistics from NAR show most people look online first before calling a real estate agent. Buyers see hundreds of listing online before going inside a prospective home. Buyers we are told drive by first and then contact an agent.

I advertise all my listings on line. I am a member of 3 MLS boards. I enter my listings in all three boards. Every listing entered into a MLS is automatically posted to at least Realtor.com, Trulia and Zillow. Some MLS boards post to 7 or more listing aggregates. When I enter a listing I post to over 21 listing sites just by entering my properties on the MLS. I also have several websites. Each website has the capacity to syndicate listings. One of my websites syndicates to 12 listings spots, others over 7. I have 10 websites. I post my listings to all these websites. They all take those listings and send them out to at least 7 more listing hubs. That is conservatively 70 postings. Total 91 postings. All free (minus MLS Fees).

My paid advertising consists of Trulia,Zillow,Homegain, Google Ads,Yellow pages,Activerain and others. I rarely do print ads. My Internet campaigns have been successful is getting my listings sold and attracting buyers. My buyers data base has dramatically increased due to my consistent advertising my listings. I have also attracted sellers who see my listings online. My business has continued to grow, thanks to the information highway.

In 1970 I got my first real estate license in Florida and 1997 my license in Colorado. I wanted to create a business that accommodates my lifestyle. My home base is Key West, Florida, my second home is Palisade Colorado (15 minutes to Grand Junction). I love both places. I sell real estate in both places. I love travel and commuting. My business model could only be accommodated by technology and great backup staff. I love what I do! I love pushing the envelope and being on the cutting edge. But most of all I love helping my customers achieve their real estate and lifestyle goals.

Homes for Sale in Grand Junction Market picks dramatically. This is the time of year when things are supposed to slow down. It is the time of year to get ahead of Christmas and prepare for Thanksgiving. Not so this year. I have been busier this month than July and August. Other Realtors are experiencing the same movement. Is it because the interest rates are low, property prices are low and we are getting an influx of gas and oil jobs? What ever it is, I love it. I can eat out for Thanksgiving and give out checks for Christmas.