27 March - World Prepares to Turn Lights Off in Honor of Earth Hour

RISMEDIA, March 22, 2010—On Saturday, March 27th at 8:30 p.m. local time, the largest ever public demonstration for action on climate change will take place as lights are symbolically turned off for one hour in homes, office buildings, iconic landmarks, government buildings and retail establishments across the globe for Earth Hour.
Ninety-two countries and regions around the world have now made the pledge for Earth Hour to show the world what can be done to fight climate change. Last year 88 countries got involved in the lights out event.
With confirmation that the Tokyo Tower in Tokyo and Brandenburg Gate in Berlin will both turn off their lights for Earth Hour, all members of the G20 are now taking part in the event.
“Earth Hour is inspiring millions of people all around the world to join together and show their concern for the future of our planet,” said Leslie Aun, WWF’s (World Wildlife Fund) vice president for public relations and the managing director for Earth Hour U.S. 2010. “Here in the U.S., Earth Hour sends a message that Americans are ready to turn out the lights on pollution and climate change and make the switch to energy independence and efficiency.”
The Las Vegas Strip, Mount Rushmore, Sea World, the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge will join other iconic landmarks from around the world in switching off the lights for Earth Hour. CN Tower in Toronto, Grand Palace in Bangkok, Table Mountain in Cape Town, the London Eye, Hiroshima Peace Memorial and Taipei 101 will plunge into darkness to shed light on dangerous climate change.
Citizens of the United States will unite with individuals, businesses, civil groups and governments around the world including Athens, Bangkok, Cape Town, Delhi, Dubai, Geneva, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Manila, Moscow, Rome, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Tel Aviv and Toronto. Communities will come together like never before with cities such as Stockholm and Hiroshima holding their inaugural Earth Hour.
Countries participating in Earth Hour for the first time include: Brunei, Cambodia, Czech Republic, Kosovo, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nepal, Northern Mariana Islands, Oman, Panama, Paraguay, Tanzania, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the Faroe Islands.
For more information, visit www.myearthhour.org.





World Prepares to Turn Lights Off in Honor of Earth Hour

RISMedia

FIRST and NEVER

First and never
I met a new addition to the family the other day. She was eleven days old.
It was the warmest day of her whole life the day I was there. And she had just eaten her biggest meal ever.
Firsts are fun and exciting and it's neat to keep topping ourselves.
I've also come to grips with the fact that I'm never going to eat tuna ever again, and that I'm never going to be able to easily walk onto a shuttle flight at the last minute and just show up in Boston. Never is a lot harder than first, but I guess you get used to it.
The internet is like Ice 9. It changes what it touches, probably forever. We keep discovering firsts, the biggest viral video ever, the most twitter followers ever, the fastest bestseller ever... And we constantly discover nevers as well. There's never going to be a mass market TV show that rivals the ones that came before. There's never going to be a worldwide brand built by advertising ever again either. And Michael Jackson's record deal is the last one of its kind... And there may never be a job like that job you used to have either.
Revolutions are like that. They invent and destroy and they only go one way. It's like watching a confused person in a revolving door for the first time. They push backwards, try to slow it down, fight the rotation... and then they embrace the process and just walk and it works.

Seth's Blog

10 Staging Tips to Help Your Home Sell | RISMedia

Want to sell your home? Get out the bucket, mop and Mr. Clean. The key to making a positive first impression is simple, said Sandra Rinomato, host of HGTV’s popular “Property Virgins” show.
“Get it clean, clean, clean,” said Rinomato. “If your house isn’t clean, it instantly sends up negative thoughts that the home is not well maintained. If your house is spotless, you’re ahead of the game,” she said.
But don’t stop there, advised Rinomato. To increase your chances of making a sale, “stage” the house to make it as attractive as possible. Until recently, “Staging meant pulling out all the stops—setting the dining table with your best china and crystal, arranging flowers, lighting candles,” she said. “Now we take the minimalist approach. Basically, you want to strip the house to its bare essentials, depersonalize it so potential buyers can superimpose themselves and their lifestyle on the house.”

10 Staging Tips to Help Your Home Sell RISMedia

R-E-F-E-R-R-A-L mind set

Realize that the primary purpose of your business is referral. Walt Disney said, “My goal is for a person to come to Disneyland, and love the experience so much that they go home, tell a friend, and come back with that friend." Isn’t that what Jesus did? He spoke on the side of a hill and delivered a message so compelling that people went home, told the people they loved that they needed to hear this man speak, and the next day they brought a friend. He built his business on referral. If you could pick only one word to describe the purpose of your business, a good word would be “Referral.” The name of my company is By Referral Only. We like to say that the definition of a referral is sending someone you care about to someone you trust. That is all the mission statement you will ever need to create profit, great service, and lots of happy clients.So the next time a person asks you what is the purpose of your business, smile and say, “Referral.”

read the entire article...

Broker/Agent Social Network

Facebook traffic tops Google for the week

Facebook traffic tops Google for the week

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FHA 203(k) – Understanding Its Real Value – Part 2

FHA 203(k) – Understanding Its Real Value – Part 2: "How Is the Appraisal Completed?
The appraiser is given a detailed report from either a licensed contractor [for the “Streamline” 203(k)]; or from an FHA 203(k) Consultant [For the “Standard” 203(k)]. This Bid/Report details the scope of work that will be financed into the loan. The appraiser visits the home and uses the scope of work report as his “rose colored glasses” and appraises the home under a “hypothetical assumption that the work has been completed”. Thus the home is appraised “As-Repaired” even though the work has not been completed nor is it required to be completed until after the transaction closes and will be completed by the buyer thru his contractor.
Financing at 110% of the “Repaired Value”
Yes, it’s true. Let’s use yesterday’s example; if the home is sold for $200,000 and the buyer’s acquisition cost is $258,000 including the renovation account. If the home is appraised “As Repaired” at $235,000, this transaction will close because 110% of $235,000 is $258,500 and the acquisition cost is $258,000 which is less than 110%. FHA will insure this loan and the transaction will close (some lenders have underwriting overlays and will only fund loans at 100% of the “repaired value”). The FHA 203(k) can keep transactions together and eliminate the seller from having to make price reductions at the eleventh hour to keep the buyer from walking because the value did not come in."

Better Customer Service Through Transparency, Tribes, and Talent

I confess that I have a warm spot in my heart for customer service operations. It is probably because I met my wife of 29.5 years when she and I were on the customer service phones at the Polaroid Corporation. As an old phone jockey, it is apparent to me that the world of customer service is transforming. If we look back at history, we can see that the central tendency of consumer businesses is to move more and more function to the end consumer and to provide them more visibility to the availability of the product or service.

read more.. it is great!
http://blogs.hbr.org/sviokla/2009/12/better_customer_service_throug.html?cm_mmc=npv-_-MANAGEMENT_TIP-_-MAR_2010-_-MTOD0311&referral=00203

Realtor Issues meeting in the morning.. getting better one step at a atime!!

Prevention Magazine sent me an email asking me " Is Your Thyroid Making You Fat?" oh yeah... THAT'S why.....

INCREDIBLE!! FHA 203(k) – Understanding Its Real Value – Part 1

The FHA 203(k) Renovation loan may be the most important, least known, and underutilized government loan that could save the Real Estate market in 2010 and Beyond…

FHA 203(k) – Understanding Its Real Value – Part 1

life flows in so many different directions, we still need to have faith and a path to community.

Our mobile site is now live as the redirect to nysar.com/mobile.htm, occurs automatically when you type www.nysar.com into your mobile phone web browser. It is intended to give quick bits of important information and does allow users to go to the full site by clicking a link for the full site.

What Do You Choose? how does it effect YOU?

There was a study in the Wall Street Journal reporting 50% of deaths are because of peoples choices, things like eating habits, lifestyles, driving under the influence, etc. The choice to eat one breakfast food over another every morning, or to skip exercise another day or whatever it is, each and every choice has a cumulative effect that adds up. And so the choices we make are the cause of 50% of deaths. According to a projection of life expectancy late last year, more than half the children born since 2000 in wealthy countries can expect to celebrate their 100th birthday.There is a lot of talk about how we are approaching immortality. All religions and spiritual systems believe in an end of days kind of thing, the good and the bad. The fact that people are going to live to a hundred is showing us the positive signs and power of the end of days. The other power is in our choices. They are linked because people won’t live to be 100 if they don’t make better choices.