From what I have heard about the CHILDREN’S THEATRE OF CHARLOTTE, ”THE BORROWERS” could be amazing. This is the last weekend of the show and they are having a SUPER Sale (get it? SuperBowl)
Here is the premise:
“Under the floor boards, Arrietty Clock and her parents, Homily and Pod, live a quiet little life. Tucked away in their cozy home decorated with dollhouse furniture, they survive by “borrowing” what they need from the “human beans” who live above them. But life is too quiet if you ask Arrietty, a typical tween yearning to experience the grown-up world for herself. When the Clocks’ hiding place is discovered, they must venture into the giant universe outside, and Arrietty gets a bigger adventure than she bargained for.”
This inventive rendition of Mary Norton’s beloved book will take the viewers to a fun new world.
Location of the show will be at ImaginOn: The Joe and Joan Martin Center at 300 East 7th Street, Charlotte, NC 28202.
Photo Courtesy of Children's Theatre of Charlotte for their show Borrower's
Save 50% This Weekend! Before you get lost in Super Bowl madness this Sunday, spend some quality time with The Borrowers. And to help you get into the “Super” mood, here’s a championship deal for Patriots, Giants, Panthers and Borrowers fans alike: Use keyword SUPER12 when ordering online, and save 50% on your tickets. Good for General Section tickets for any show this weekend! Visit http://www.ctcharlotte.org/Borrowers.html now.
So what are you doing in Charlotte this weekend?
People buy all kinds of things on the Internet. Cars, TVs, computers, clothes and even groceries get sold at various online retailers. But if you’re thinking of buying your house solely on the web, several Charlotte-area Realtors say – not so fast.
More and more agents in the modern real estate world find themselves almost replaced by the web. Buyers come to their initial meetings or home tours armed with gigabytes of data and hours of research. And while some Realtors say this can be a good thing, for others it is a source of frustration with buyers and sellers acting like they don’t need a licensed professional at all.
For Lori Bee, a Union County Realtor with Charlotte-based Allen Tate Co., dealing with buyers who think they’ve got it all figured out thanks to the web can be frustrating.
“I had a customer who came to me and said he wanted to live in the Albemarle Road and north area,” Bee said. “But a lot of the listings he brought to me were outside that geographic area. Customers do need us and I think it is a misnomer to say that we are being replaced.”
The worst experience for some Realtors is the feeling that the Internet-friendly buyer or seller is really just wasting everyone’s time. Lisa Archer, a Charlotte Realtor with Austin, Texas-based Keller Williams, has seen her fair share of time waster thanks to the web.
“A friend called me and said her buyers from California were killing her,” Archer said. “They sent her a list from the Internet. She drove around and found four houses they wanted to see but two were under contract and two didn’t meet their criteria. She told them driving around or searching was fine, but this kind of thing was wasting everyone’s time.”
But Archer is no Luddite when it comes to new technologies in the real estate world. In fact, she’s the farthest thing from a techno-phobe with her own blog she co-writes with fellow Realtor Laurie Davis as The Geeky Girls at www.thegeekygirls.com. Her agency also has launched its own mobile app, which she calls a measure to stem the tide of bad information clients get from various lists on the Internet.
“I had a client who was pulling listings from Trulia and they were like four years out of date,” Archer said. “The average buyer goes to four websites if they’re techie and they have their list. I have to convince the buyers that I have their best interest in mind and am looking for the very specific criteria they told me. We’ve gone so far as to have our own app now because we want to be sure that we have the right information that is up-to-date and we get all kinds of notifications when people use it.”
Bee said she tries not to get frustrated with buyers who are getting their information from the web and tries to see it from the buyer’s perspective.
“They don’t know what they don’t know,” Bee said. “I think some of it is the press and the overall perception that the listing info is out there and they can do it on their own. Until they try a transaction without us, then they’ll realize what they don’t know.”
Bee said she frequently cautions clients, and potential clients, that big name websites like Trulia and Zillow don’t always update information from the MLS. And often the Internet searchers are surprised when she tries to explain to them that estimated values on certain websites don’t always line up with values in the Charlotte-metro market.
“But the buyer wants to offer whatever the estimate is and they want to stick to it,” Bee said. “There is a lot of misinformation on the web – about real estate, healthcare or even cooking. We have a responsibility to advise our clients what the real picture is, but ultimately we have to present the offer as they direct us.”
And if that means the offer on a property is incredibly low balled and Bee knows it won’t be accepted, sometimes she just has to bite the bullet and make the offer. She’s been on the other side of that low offer, too, she said.
“I have had offers presented to me where the agents apologized for the offer because we both knew that it was too low,” Bee said.
For Debe Maxwell, owner of Charlotte-based Savvy+Co. Real Estate, clients using the Internet generally starts with a frustrating case of mistaken identity.
“I get calls all the time for other people’s listings and they think that I’m the listing agent,” Maxwell said. “I’ll meet them in person, but when they say, we’ve got a bunch of other appointments lined up I’ll state the importance of having their own representation.”
She said she sees many people who pull their list of homes they want to tour, then call and make appointments themselves.
“I’ll get to the house and they’ll see my name is not on the sign,” she said. “Then they get that ‘aha’ moment and I see they were looking for the listing agent. I give them my spiel which usually works in person.”
Archer’s app helps her firm get around the cases of mistaken identity.
“The app is a one stop shop from A to Z and it only calls us, it doesn’t call the listing agent,” Archer said. “Typically when buyers send me a list, I try to work with them. But some people are serial lookers and they want to go out a lot of times and see one house per trip. That’s a waste of time.”
Maxwell agreed that the web can be a time-waster as clients miss the important details. But most of all, she said they don’t realize how much of a Realtor’s job is not about providing information and home tours, but about being a competent negotiator.
“You need your own representation in any deal,” Maxwell said. “It really is bothersome that some of these sites have estimates that are far too low. The disclaimer on some of these sites mentions that, but who reads the disclaimers?”
Bee added that web is not as much of a time saver for Realtors as many people think.
“Who do you think is putting the photos and slideshows on the web?” she said. “The Internet has made it more work for us but easier for the consumer. Keeping all those listings up to date and looking good is time-consuming. We’re blogging, doing videos, topography, virtual tours and then providing event information.”
And she had one final warning about the idea of the web replacing the Realtor: “If anyone thinks the Internet is going to replace us, I would caution them to remember “2001: A Space Odyssey” and what happened with HAL 9000.”
BAUGHMAN can be reached at scott.baughman@mecktimes.com
you can find this Article in this link http://mecktimes.com/news/2011/12/30/agents-of-change/
What are you thinking as a consumer?
Hi! My name is Jarrod Clay and I am excited to join the Charlotte Real Estate Blog for a series of guest posts. I work every day helping real estate agents and home stagers prepare a property for market, and with companies nationwide to help relocating employees find temporary or permanent housing in the Charlotte area.
From increasing home values to decreasing the amount of time a home spends on the market, the value of home staging is undeniable. Depending on the property, you may want to consider hiring a professional home stager. For times when that is not in the budget, I advise every real estate agent to have a little staging knowledge in their back pocket.
The purpose of home staging is to improve a property’s appeal by helping buyer’s envision themselves living in the property while highlighting the property’s best features. The primary consideration a real estate agent should make when staging is whether the home’s decorations and furnishings highlight and best utilize the space. A fresh coat of paint and removing furniture and other items that clutter a space will go a long way. Also remember that staging goes beyond what the eye can see. Any unusual odors or noisy appliances should be addressed during the staging process.
I have listed a few tips below to get you started staging and will have more posts about home staging in the future. I’ve found that even a few minor changes and investments can make a world of difference to potential buyers.
And always remember, the price of staging a home is generally less than the first price reduction!
Jarrod Clay is a Senior Account Representative at CORT Furniture Rental Company and has worked with area real estate agents, home stagers and corporations relocating employees. Jarrod is a member of the Charlotte Regional Realtors Association and the Association of Builders and Contractors. He also sits on the Board of Directors at the Greater Charlotte Apartment Association, The South West Chapter of the Chamber of Commerce and the Charlotte Metro Area Relocation Council. A University of North Carolina at Charlotte graduate and a Charlotte native, Jarrod prides himself on his local market expertise.
Hi readers! My name is Jarrod Clay and I am excited to join the Charlotte Real Estate Blog for a series of guest posts. I work every day helping real estate agents and home stagers prepare a property for market, and with companies nationwide to help relocating employees find temporary or permanent housing in the Charlotte area.
From increasing home values to decreasing the amount of time a home spends on the market, the value of home staging is undeniable. Depending on the property, you may want to consider hiring a professional home stager. For times when that is not in the budget, I advise every real estate agent to have a little staging knowledge in their back pocket.
The purpose of home staging is to improve a property’s appeal by helping buyer’s envision themselves living in the property while highlighting the property’s best features. The primary consideration a real estate agent should make when staging is whether the home’s decorations and furnishings highlight and best utilize the space. A fresh coat of paint and removing furniture and other items that clutter a space will go a long way. Also remember that staging goes beyond what the eye can see. Any unusual odors or noisy appliances should be addressed during the staging process.
I have listed a few tips below to get you started staging and will have more posts about home staging in the future. I’ve found that even a few minor changes and investments can make a world of difference to potential buyers.
And always remember, the price of staging a home is generally less than the first price reduction!
Jarrod Clay is a Senior Account Representative at CORT Furniture Rental Company and has worked with area real estate agents, home stagers and corporations relocating employees. Jarrod is a member of the Charlotte Regional Realtors Association and the Association of Builders and Contractors. He also sits on the Board of Directors at the Greater Charlotte Apartment Association, The South West Chapter of the Chamber of Commerce and the Charlotte Metro Area Relocation Council. A University of North Carolina at Charlotte graduate and a Charlotte native, Jarrod prides himself on his local market expertise.
By Tara Ramsey, staff writer
Published: October 13, 2011
Time posted: 2:06 pm
Tags: Geeky Girls, HGTV, Keller Williams Team Ludlow, Laurie Davis, Lisa Ludlow Archer
Lisa Ludlow Archer, broker for Keller Williams Team Ludlow Age: 33 Lives in: Monroe
Family: husband, Bobby, 34; children, Trae, 12, Caroline, 7, Peyton, 3
Education: bachelor’s degree in financial management, East Carolina University
Lisa Ludlow Archer has combined two passions: real estate and Internet marketing.
It’s a marriage that’s paid off — big time: Keller Williams Team Ludlow, for which she is a broker, has already tripled its business from last year, going from 12 transactions in 2010 to 36 transactions so far in 2011.
HGTV’s producers have taken notice of her social media know-how, and she’s been featured on HGTV twice.
Archer is also a co-founder of Geeky Girls, an Internet marketing business she started with Keller Williams agent Laurie Davis.
Your father is the head of Keller Williams Team Ludlow. What’s it like working with family?
My dad is pretty laid back. I usually come to him with an idea, and unless he absolutely hates it, he’ll give it a shot. His background is in computers and with my love of computers that works well. But I don’t know how to do code. He can. I can say, “Can we do this?” and he’ll do it.
How are things at Team Ludlow?
I’ve gone into more of the managerial role. I represent all of the sellers for our team. I just hired a buyer’s agent three weeks ago. I send the buyer’s leads his way. We get 125 buyer’s leads in a month. I need two more buyer’s agents. People are leaving the business in droves and not getting in. I’m sending out Craigslist ads seeking buyer’s agents.
Do you attribute your success to Internet marketing?
I do. I get a ton of referrals from Facebook. I did $1 million in sales in February based on Facebook referrals. We had 10 deals in August and three of them were Facebook referrals for $750,000 in sales. That’s where the people are. Your clients are there.
How did you get on HGTV the first time?
The first family was a co-worker of my husband who had put in for the show last summer. At the time they were listed with another agent. It was on the market almost a year with no second showing, no offers. I was helping them buy their house. We were looking at a house and they said that HGTV was not interested. I said, “You have to give them a reason they want to feature your story.” In October, I was contacted by the show and they said, “We see you are a mover and shaker in social media in Charlotte.” Then (the buyer) contacted me and said, “We fired our agent last night and we want you to list our house.” And I said, “I was just invited to be on HGTV.” I said, “We are going to market it online,” and we got an offer within five days.
Has your brush with fame led to any business for Team Ludlow?
I’ve gotten two listings from it. I was in my dental hygienist office two months ago, and she said, “You were on HGTV. I need to fire my agent. Will you be my agent?”
Any fun stories from taping the show?
The microphone goes under your shirt, so the audio guy and I became very close friends. We’re Facebook friends now. Sometimes I’ll write him and say, “I miss you touching me.”
Ramsey can be reached at tara.ramsey@mecktimes.com.
Our team gets asked everyday for a list of distressed property and homes in the South Charlotte and Union County areas of North Carolina.
Have you been wondering how to search for homes in the South Charlotte or Union County areas of North Carolina that are in short sale, foreclosure, bank owned or other distressed situations? Our team has created this search just for you.
You can view pictures, up to date status and price adjustments, school information and even market trends on this search. We have a full team waiting to answer any of your questions or schedule a private viewing of any of these distressed homes in South Charlotte and Union County.<!-- see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php -->
There are thousands of new, resale, land, farms and other property that are not distressed as well in the Charlotte Metro area. View all of them on our website.
Do you need to buy, sell or invest in real estate? Do you know anyone else who does? Contact Team Ludlow Realty today, we will take care of your real estate needs.
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Our team is NC/SC real estate brokers helping buyers & sellers in Charlotte, Matthews, Moroe, Indian Trail, Waxhaw, Weddington+. We also give great referrals to other states. www.myCarolinaHome.net
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