Lisa Duke

AOL stinks! Not a big fan of MSN either... why?

When I send property blasts to my fellow Realtors, I am very unhappy when they "report" me as spam. Do they know they are "reporting" me or do they just have a button that says "spam" that they push thinking that is somehow sorting out their inbox?

For one thing, if you are a Realtor, you are an entrepreneur. I have respect for you by taking the chance to control your destiny and essentially be your "own boss." Conversely, I wish you would show me the same respect.

How many folks among us have had a client who *thinks* they know what they want, you plug in their requirements into the MLS, and they just can't seem to find what they are looking for? I have a girlfriend who does this ALL the time- she drives around instead of relying on the MLS because oftentimes, she will find something she likes and if it doesn't fit a criteria she thinks she wants, she will change her criteria.

This is where my email blasts come in. What if my property is in your client's price range? It may not fit into the mold but give it a try!

I also run a side business geared towards Realtors, subcontracting certain work for which I send email blasts- what if you need me?

Don't get me wrong, I TOTALLY understand having more emails than you know what to do with. But my emails are embedded into the bodies of the email- it takes 5 seconds for you to read my email and move on. You don't have to report me as spam.:(

Finally, I also purport that emails from AOL or MSN (among others including gmail) are unprofessional. I don't mean to offend anyone, but you can easily create an email address that reads "John@JohnSmith.com" and have it routed to your AOL address. That won't solve MY problem but it will make you look more dignified while you practice.

Is there B2B marketing that is more effective and less "offensive"? Are you top-of-mind? Let me know!

What is it about folks who buy real estate and never expect anything to chage ever, ever, ever?

I am noticing a disturbing trend with buyers. As much as they are educating themselves on the internet, couldn't they be educating themselves about the risks? Shouldn't SOMEONE be telling them it's not all moonpies and rootbeer? Sure they sign the lead-paint addendum or learn about cracks in the foundation but who is talking to them about evolution? Highest and best use? Change?

A few years ago, my husband started building on a lot adjacent to a home where the woman of the house did NOT like that her view was changing. I don't know all the details of the ruckus but I believe she was upset my husband was thinning out trees that would likely fall at a later date.He's not a clear-cut type of guy but he wanted to prevent some of the trees from hitting the house if they were to come down.

My theory is that if you want control over your view, buy the lot next door. You can't control what other people do with their land.This same lady went through the trouble of getting a professionally designed banner made up that said "(My husband's company name), the unfriendly builder." What?!

Years later, my husband neglected to tell me about a petition started by one of our neighbors to prevent US from building our personal home- pretty much, once again, because her view was changing. The funny part was, no one signed the petition because they realized the lady was crazy. ;) If you don't want your view to change ever, ever, ever, then buy the lot adjacent to yours. If you can't afford it, don't live in a situation you can't afford.

Recently, in my area, there was an uproar over an existing but dormant landfill. Don't get me wrong, if I lived next to a dormant landfill and the city council decided to crank it up for economic reasons, I'd be upset too. AND, if for some reason my realtor did not tell me there was a dormant landfill near the house I was about to buy, I'd probably be even more upset. But most of the folks complaining at city council meetings seem to be feinging ignorance on the issue.

Here's a tip: things change. Sometimes, as ugly as it is, eminent domain comes into effect. Sometimes, mother nature has her way and takes away all your "stuff." Sometimes, builders build and dormant landfills come back to life.

If you're buying real estate and you can't handle any tchange, maybe you're better off remaining a renter.