Please visit one of my other blogs or my website.
Thank you very much.

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Blog Anthology, Posts 151 - 165

***Special Note*** I have moved my primary blog to www.LaneBailey.com. I will post much less frequently on here, and those posts will primarily be these recaps pointing back to the other site. I'd like the thank everyone for reading this blog over the last few months. I enjoy writing it, and it is icing on the cake that others are reading it. The blogger platform has been very good for me, but I needed something a little different, that is why I have the address change. ***I look forward to seeing you on the other site.***

I have been quite happy with the change to WordPress. One of the great things is the level of control I can have over the presentation of the site. It is a lot of fun to try to make the site more user friendly, as well as deliver better content and entertainment. So, feel free to wander over and take a look.

On Thanksgiving morning, the whole family sat down to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Talk about a dis- appoint- ment... Each network seemed to use the entire parade as an excuse to promote their line-ups, rather than actually showing the parade. BTW, congrats to Stephenson High School in Stone Mountain for being selected to the big show.

Still being in the relax mode from Turkey day, the day before, I wrote a post outlining some websites that might be of interest to car people. Welding, shop tools, garage forums, and other enthusiast forums. So, you have a little time, and want to think about garages and garage stuff...

Since I was still in a holiday mode, I got to thinking about tradition. But it's a tradition... ties those thoughts about the way we've always done things back into real estate. I'm a non-traditional agent. It isn't just about technology, but also attitude.

The NAR released some information about housing starts from a third party. The info showed Housing Starts down slightly, but Multi-family are up... Not being one to just pass along the numbers, I also wanted to delve into the regional numbers and figure out what they mean.

Hockey, a three year old, and Twitter is not just about playing floor hockey with my kid, but also about Twitter as a business promotion platform. I'm pretty up-front that I don't "get" Twitter... although Terri Lussier did a great job of outlining how it can be useful over on Bloodhound Blog (a real estate industry blog).

Coming back from a Thrasher's game at Philips Arena in Atlanta, we drove by Fat Matt's Rib Shack. That got me thinking about Good bread, good meat... I just had to write about good southern food that is available around Atlanta, GA. Aside from a couple of BBQ venues, I also mentioned a couple of "meat and three" choices. Read up and eat up...

For years (decades!) we have been the holders of information, the gatekeepers. Real estate agents have always held that information like it was valuable... and, the information does have value. But, in the current age, the information is out there. I am perfectly willing to give away all of the information, and let people work with me because I provide value through helping them filter and translate that information. So, Free Milk... Get your Free Milk!!!

S&P released their survey of home values in different markets across the country. For the Atlanta region, House values UP!?! To find out exactly how much... read the blog. ;^ )

So, I a very willing to admit that I read other real estate agent blogs. It is good to know what others are saying, and to see what sort of reaction they are getting. And, when Jay Thompson had a post about a guy doing 219 mph in Phoenix... Unbelievable!! I had to grab the video and post it. (BTW, I did ask Jay if I could steal it...)

Around the times of the YouTube debates for the Republican candidates, I ran across this video there. I'd almost consider running to answer this question... Ignoring the odd coincidence of Democrat candidate staffers and supporters getting their questions onto the CNN sponsored debate, I wish this one would have made it... of course, no candidate would answer it the way it should have been answered. For the question and answer, follow the link...

Building a better website, part ZCXII is about me crashing my site and then needing several days to get it back online... I hate that I blew it up, but I love the result. Everything works better, and looks better. I'll take the lumps to deliver a better experience to my clients, readers and consumers.

I was having a hard time concentrating on real estate while I was trying to figure out how to fix that which I had broken. So, in Overkill... just about right... I talked a little about technology.

Almost at the end of the long, slow website crash, I tossed up a post explaining what I had managed to do, and how. I also posted a great video to illustrate the point of Just when you think you've got it beat... I try to talk about real estate... really, I do try. Occasionally, I do post about it.

I know... It's officially a rut! I had to talk about crashing the website just one more time. I'm tired of writing about this... I bet you are tired of reading about it...

Finally, a post that isn't about the website! Parkview High School in Lilburn, GA tossed me a little roadblock. Scholarship thwarted, but not abandoned was to let people know that I am still trying to find a way to make this happen. I'm still trying to figure out how to make this a reality. Here is a bonus... I am thinking of opening it to ANY high school senior in Gwinnett County. So, if you are one, or know one... let me know.

I hope that you find a post of interest. Hopefully I'll be back in here next week making another update. When I catch up, I'm going to try to make the updates for the previous week. And, if you need real estate in the Atlanta or Gwinnett County area of Georgia, drop into my website GarageHomesUSA and let me know. Of course, you can find my blog now at LaneBailey.com.

Blog Anthology, Posts 138 - 150

***Special Note*** I have moved my primary blog to www.LaneBailey.com. I will post much less frequently on here, and those posts will primarily be these recaps pointing back to the other site. I'd like the thank everyone for reading this blog over the last few months. I enjoy writing it, and it is icing on the cake that others are reading it. The blogger platform has been very good for me, but I needed something a little different, that is why I have the address change. ***I look forward to seeing you on the other site.***

Once again, I have a little discrepancy in the numbers. This time, it’s because of the platform change and now there are actually numbers next to the list on the back end… I must have mis-counted previously. Hopefully that jazz is behind me.

The next post in the series was about one of the biggest football games of the year in south Gwinnett County. Football Night in America… ok, Lilburn, GA chronicled the experience of the Parkview v. Brookwood game. All of us had a great time, including the future student.

For a Saturday post, I decided to answer the question about What has been in the Lane stable… Cars I’ve owned. The list was long. Hopefully, as I scan more pictures, more of these will make their way onto the blog and website.

For one of my sellers, I put together a multi-unit open house. I co-ordinated 7 units being open in his condo with the listing agents of the other units. Of course I had to do as much promotion as possible, including my blog.

I figured out that I was Going to Vegas for the NAR Convention a couple of days before it started. So, I packed my bags and jumped on a plane to Las Vegas.

Another lame post with I’m in Vegas.

Finally, I managed to deliver some real content. While at the convention, I learned about an exciting (ok, it’s exciting for those of us in the industry) different way to value homes and gauge the market. I announced my New pricing model while still in Las Vegas.

Because I had a great time in Las Vegas, I thought I would write a little bit about about my limited experience. If you are Thinking of visiting Las Vegas? it might be a good read.

My last Blog Anthology Post was next.

Just about everyone knows that we are in the midst of a water shortage here in Atlanta. The big question is Can we ease the water shortage? Everyone here is looking for the answer.

I like to write about my kid. So, he’s hit the “But that’s the way I want it to be” stage… related my three year old ignoring reality because it isn’t convenient, and other real estate agents doing the exact same thing. Come on folks. Be honest. Look at the numbers.

The Gwinnett County School system is looking at a major re-districting plan. I didn’t break it, but I did make sure that my readers would have the info.

Many real estate agents are trying to control the flow of information to the public. They don’t feel that people outside the industry should have unfettered access to listings and other information. In order to gain access to listings on THEIR websites, you have to tell them all about you. I announced my Open Property Search for Gwinnett County, GA and surrounding areas.

Finally… I still want people to tell me who they are. So, I announced the next day that you could Get 10% off at Lowe’s for telling me. I’ll still do it. you give me your real name, address and email, and i’ll mail you a certificate for 10% off at Lowe’s. I promise that I won’t spam the poo out of you, either. Not more than a couple of emails a month, and generally just one snail mail a month… or less. I just want to keep my name in front of you in case you decide to buy or sell a house… or know someone else that is looking to buy or sell a house.

MLS? Zillow? Trulia?

I ran across a blog post by Jay Thompson regarding a story in the Wall Street Journal about on-line home searches. He noted that in his area the WSJ had it wrong. He researched the numbers for the local MLS, Trulia and Zillow. His findings were that Zillow only showed about 10-31% of the listings shown on the MLS, and that Trulia only had between 69-90%.

So, I decided that I should take a look at a few zones in Gwinnett County.

• For 30087, I came up with 442 (FMLS), 457 (Zillow), and 482 (Trulia)

Hhmm… That seems odd. Reviewing 10 of the 33 pages of Trulia, I couldn’t find ANY FSBOs. How can they have more? Well, about 20% of the listings seem to have been sold or expired (and not relisted). I found a similar percentage on Zillow. This was based on a sampling. Furthermore, I found homes on FMLS that were not listed on either Trulia or Zillow. Trulia was a little more accurate.

• Next up, 30043. 842 (FMLS), 467 (Zillow), and 447 (Trulia)

But wait… there are still expired listings from agents, and homes that have already sold but not been updated in the system. I am finding some interesting listings, too. For example, there is a $7.9M property on Zillow (make me move…) that isn’t on the MLS.

• Finally, 30518… 576 (FMLS), 419 (Trulia), and 3673 (Zillow)

What? Ok, now I’m seeing something. Not one of the properties on the first page is in the MLS. Wow, they must have a lot of listings to peruse. Why would anyone use the MLS? Oh, wait… Several ARE in the MLS, just not in the ZIP code that I searched. All of the first page are listed in multiple ZIP codes on Zillow. So, how many houses are acually listed by Zillow in 30518? I don’t know, and I’m not going to wade through them to find out. But, if I were searching for a property in Buford, GA, I’d be a little annoyed that I had to wade through homes in Chamblee (15 miles and 45 minutes away), and Dallas (GA… but still over an hour away) to find houses that were actually in the area I was looking.

So, Lane, what do you think?

I think that Zillow sucks. I’ve done a previous post about their absolute lack of accuracy in their Zestimates in this area. Trulia is a much better choice here, but still not likely to give the latest up to date info, nor all of the options. FMLS is a better choice.

If you want to find a home in Gwinnett County, let me know. I can set you up on a search within FMLS that will go to a custom website… just for you. It’s called the Client Gateway.

Lane.Bailey on Yahoo IM

Or you can email me through my contact form at GarageHomesUSA (When I post my direct email, I get spammed. I apologize in advance for the extra step).

I look forward to hearing from you.

Making the change... from Blogger to WordPress

It is a big change for me.

I started seriously blogging back in June on Active Rain. In July I picked up Blogger (Blogspot). I wanted an outside platform that would be more configurable. But, everything was fine with Blogger. I changed the theme a bit to better fit with my personality and subject. All was ok.

However, as I delved deeper into what I wanted to accomplish (in regards to my real estate business), I decided that I needed to offer something more than I would be able to offer with a static website. So, I started researching options.

In steps Joomla. Joomla is a content management system. It is kind of a cross between a blog and a website, but as a blog... not so great. I created GarageHomesUSA. This was what I wanted a site to be. it had depth and organization and was very configurable. Most of my blog material found its way there.

Then came the meltdown.

I've chronicled it previously on the blog, but because i selected a version of Joomla that wasn't stable yet, and because my host had me on the same servers as a few years ago, I had to change serveres with my host. I decided as I was doing that, that one of my sites was not really fulfilling a purpose. LaneBailey.com was just kind of there.

In an "aha!" moment, I decided that the blog needed to be there. I could afford to lose that site to bring my blog "in-house" so to speak. And so, I again dived in to do some research. Opting for another open source application, I chose to run WordPress on my domain. Again, it could function almost as a website as it is another CMS (content management system). However, it is a great blog, but less than optimal for a full site.

So, over the last week, I have been running both the Blogger and LaneBailey site parallel to each other. I will continue to do so for a while. After a bit, I plan on just summarizing my posts from LaneBailey to the Blogger platform.

So, if you are my reader...

I'd love for you to visit LaneBailey and hang out in the shop with me.

As always, I'd LOVE your comments and suggestions. I look forward to hearing from you.

I know... it's officially a rut!

This is yet another technology post... and there are so many other things I want to blog about... but I just can't move past this until I get it out. I'll include a bonus for those few of you that stick it our for a few minutes.

It all starts out in

Another in the never ending series of posts about building a website... Part ZCXII

And then I carried it a little further with

Just when you think you got it licked...

Well... I am a couple of steps further.

I decided that since I had to go to all of the trouble to rebuild my web presence, I should upgrade. I had already gone pretty much over the edge with GarageHomesUSA, but LaneBailey was pretty boring. I mean really boring. But, hopefully, those that stumble on to this post soon won't see the site that the early readers see. Instead, they'll see the new site. I was thinking about my "other" blog, and had wanted to migrate to a WordPress platform on my own domain. ***BTW, this is the bonus. I haven't turned the name on yet, so you are getting a REAL sneak peak... if you are an early reader.***

This whole blogging thing is out of hand.

So, I am getting away from Blogger, and going to WordPress. I'm going to make one of my primary consumer interfaces into a blog. I'll keep the Blogger up for a while with regularly updated posts. Then, I will transform that platform into a anthology site.

I also got a new toy that I'll be getting set up in a few minutes... a Nikon Coolscan V. I have literally thousands of images to scan... and you can bet that some will be making it on to my blog. I have not really put as many pictures as I'd like into my posts, but much of that has been because I didn't want to run afoul anyone's copyright... and I knew that I had something floating around that would cover it...

So, enough technojunk from me...

Just when you think you've got it beat...

(I thought about naming this Adventures in Web Management Part 715)

So, last week I found a GREAT theme for my Joomla site, www.GarageHomesUSA.com. It is really cool out of the box, and it has a lot of room for mods that I wanted to do anyway. So, I figure...

I got it beat!

But then there was a little compatibility issue... I have been running version 1.5RC2. The new theme was written for RC3. I upgraded, and then I was sure...

I got it beat!

And then I notice (thank you Marchel and others) that the actual articles aren't showing up. I can see all of the front page and the teasers, but no real content. That sucked... After doing a bunch of digging, I find that the PHP version on my host's server is 4.3.1.1, and I need it to be version 5.something. I chat them up, and not only can I change, but it will be a little less money. So, I back up all of my data, and get the change ordered up. Everything is cool. Once again...

I got it beat!

And then I find that the zipped files (spelled a-l-l-o-f-m-y-c-o-n-t-e-n-t) are corrupted. Should I say that this is HUNDREDS of pages of content? I think not. I have EVERY SINGLE SHRED of it in other formats, but that will be a pain in the butt... So, I go to the back-up of my back-ups, and... (care to guess)

I got it beat!

Seriously. It's back online. But I'm not going to say I got it beat! because I don't want to see what happens as I start wiggling things around. That will happening for the next couple of days... between the other changes and migrations that are a result of this whole change-over. More on those changes later...

About the video...

Near my "happy place", Moab, UT, there is a trail called Hell's Revenge. Around 40% of the way through the trail, there is an optional side-route. Off of the optional route, there is a slight deviation. The side route goes to an overlook of the Colorado River across from Arches National Park. The deviation gets one to the same overlook, but ends with this little "hill." Keep in mind while watching that this climb is too steep to walk. I'm not kidding.

I was not there for this, but I can very much visualize how it happened. Please note the spotter. A few seconds before it all goes terribly wrong, he is pointing the other way. The driver (I assume) can't see him, and doesn't hear him.

The driver walked away, and the Jeep was driven off of the trail.

Overkill... Just about right...

I would say it is a Jeepguy thing, but it isn't.

• Too much power is almost enough!
• Tim Allen.
• Dana 60s (from an F-350) under a lightweight Jeep.
• V-8 Miata.
  
• 53" tires. (when 44s just aren't enough)
• 24" rims.
• Gas-powered screwgun.
  

It is part of our genetics. It comes from the gasoline (and/or diesel) that runs in our veins. We want to be able to do what we want to do... without worry that we will have an issue. Or we just want to be able to set off car alarms when we tromp on the gas.

So, it isn't any different with tech geeks. I talked to a guy today that has a laptop that the rest of us won't get for 3 years. It isn't much bigger than a hardcover book. It has more computing power than a couple of average desktops. It even has more memory than my wife (at least 32 gigs). And you can't buy one, but if you did, it would cost as much as a car.

It would be the computing equivalent of cramming a Hemi into a minivan... and keeping the good looks of a sports sedan. Kind of BMW M5 meets Town & Country... with a touch of Ferrari F50 to splash in some color.
So, why am I talking about all of this?

I crashed my website. I am currently breaking out the gas powered screwdriver to see what I can make better... and a little groovier.

We'll what happens. Stay tuned.

Building a better website, part ZCXII

I think I have done around 121,894 posts about building my website... Ok, maybe not, but it seems like it.

Friday night I crashed it. Bad. Like off-line for hours bad.

But, I learned (or was reminded about) a few things.

• Always back up files before making changes. I did, and it saved me DAYS of rebuilding content.
• Always know what you are going to do before taking it on. I didn't, and it took the site down for 6 frustrating hours.
  
• Did I mention backing things up?
  
• It might be helpful to have a "dummy site" that tests can be run on. That way, instead of crashing a live site, a private site can be crashed and no one will know.
  
• Don't build your sitein front of the world (wide web).

On the last one, I know that I won't practice it. I have been working on this site for a couple of months. My target date is still a month away. But, there are several guests in the site almost any time I log in to do work. I mention on the front page that work is ongoing. I have also changed things on the site based on user input. I have several "evangelists" that spread the word about the site, and feel a sense of ownership because they know that I am using their feedback.

I have a dummy site, but nothing ever seems to go wrong there... I only have issues on the live site.

This isn't the first time I've blown my site up while "upgrading" something. It's funny, because when it happens I will get calls from friends and strangers telling me I am off-line. The last time was really funny. I was doing the upgrade at 10:00pm, and the site had been down about 15 minutes, and I got a phone call from California. It was followed by my HVAC guy. If one is going to blown up their primary marketing tool, it is at least nice to know that people notice.

So, Lane, what did you do?

I just upgraded from Joomla 1.5RC2 to Joomla 1.5RC3, and added a new theme. The new theme is going to get a lot of custom touches. Starting in January, it should become a magazine format. The theme designer has set this up to allow a LOT of customization. We'll find out how good the support is while I learn how to take advantage of it.

Since both the site, and the underlying architecture are still in Beta, expect that there will be more issues, and there will be more outages. Also expect to see design changes frequently as I learn my way around both. I know that many would counsel me to hire a webmaster to do all of this... and it would be much easier to farm it out... but, with the format that I am trying to build, it would be cost prohibitive to pay for monthly changes. I also like being able to alter the site immediately.

I am currently on Round 4 with the design of my new logo. Of course, the new logo will show up on the site as soon as it is finalized. The new theme will allow the logo to be placed on the site, and allow me to utilize a flash logo if I desire... and I desire.

Post-script

I had this on my A/R blog, and now that I am moving it over here, I need to add... I wasn't done blowing it up. When I changed from RC2 to RC3, I ran into a php problem. The version on my host was too old... even though it was within the system requirements. So, I called the host and I am moving to a better server and will have a newer php version. In the mean time, I am off-line. All of the articles had disappeared, but they were still there. Hopefully the bug will go away in a short while.

What's with the pictures?

They have no business here, other than I promised Marlene I would post one of them after mentioning it in the comments of her blog. I couldn't very well write a whole post about my wife selecting and editing that picture for our Christmas Card, so I just thought I'd toss it in here as a bonus, along with the classic Pink Pig.

For those of you not familiar with the Pink Pig, it is an Atlanta tradition. Originally on the roof of the downtown Rich's store, it started making its Christmas runs in 1953. When Federated bought Rich's, and closed the downtown Atlanta store, the Pink Pig was modernized and moved to the Lenox Mall store. Federated then dropped the Rich's brand, and rebranded the stores as Macy's, but kept the Pink Pig tradition. My wife rode the original as a child, and now my son has been on it each year... even before he was actually born.

Don't worry, I'm sure there will be more about my new site as I relate trials, tribulations and victories while I build it out.

Buy a house from my wife's and my son's favorite "Pink Pig."

Free Milk... Get your Free Milk!!!

I had an interesting conversation. it was interesting for many and varied reasons.

• There were three people gathered in place that were familiar with my blog... and I was only one of them.
• Only one of them was familiar with Active Rain... me again.
• One of them was an honest to goodness consumer.
  
• Nobody got punched... the Realtysaurus only pushed me a couple of times... ok, she didn't, but she wanted to.
• The path of the conversation was VERY interesting.

So, let me elaborate.

Consumer: "You look familiar to me."

Lane: "I'm a REALTOR(R)."

C: "I think I've read your blog."

Lane: "Cool... I DO have a reader!!"

blah, blah, blah...

C: "So, how soon do you think real estate will turn around in Gwinnett County?"

L: "Tough to say, but I think that the momentum is turning now. Remember, we won't know it is turning until it has turned, since we can only look in a rear view mirror to see."

Realtysaurus: "I couldn't help but overhear you talking about real estate. I'm a REALTOR(R) here in Gwinnett County."

L:

C:

R: "You look familiar."

C: "I said the same thing. It's because I've read his blog."

R: "That's right... the garage guy."

C: "So, when do you think the market will turn in Gwinnett County?"

R: "Oh, Sugar, it never slowed here. We are great."

C: "Are those the talking points you got from the NAR?"

L:

C: "I've seen the numbers on Lane's blog. There is no mistaking that there has been a slowdown. Is your research showing something different? Do you have a blog?"

R: "I don't believe in that blogging. It's giving away the milk for free. Why should someone call me if I give away all of the secrets on the internet?"

C: "Everything that you could possibly say is already out there. But, people might call because they see you really know th e market."

L: "Personally, I don't think I'm giving any real expertise away. If I see a TV show that talks about building a house, that doesn't mean I automatically have the skills."

R: "This isn't as tough as building a house."

C: "Really!?! It's easy work?"

L: "No. It just seems easy for us in the industry because we do it all of the time. Just like the contractors that build houses, it is second nature. But, the skills we employ, and the knowledge we have is far from second nature to those that aren't in the business every day."

C: "That makes sense. So, Realtysaurus, why is it you don't have a blog?"

R: "Why buy the cow if the milk is free? I don't think I should give away my knowledge to everyone on the internet thing... And it seems to techy for me. I have a website, though. it has all sorts of local information."

Now, let me point out a few things. The consumer was not someone that is in my target market. I would be glad to sell her a house, and her husband loves the idea of a 4 car garage, but they are not really car-centric. But, she stumbled across my blog while looking for something else. She found what she needed on my site, as well as some other info that interested her. She and her husband are not currently looking to buy a house, but in a couple of years they may downsize.

The conversation went on for a few minutes. The Realtysaurus excused herself... but not until mentioning things from my blog that lead me to believe that she read more than a few passing posts. She wasn't happy that I have given away so much "milk"... But, the fact remains that there is nothing we say that isn't being said by scores of outlets. If we don't supply the information, others will. And, it isn't the info that makes us valuable, it is the ability to act on it, interpret it, and maximize its potential. None of that comes from a webpage.

Woohoo. I have a couple of readers... ok, probably one less as of now.

Hockey, a three year old and Twitter

So, I took a little break from working on the business to play hockey with my son. At three and a half, he has quite the slapshot. When he is accurate, that thing is pretty hard to stop. Especially when you consider that he is shooting with a plastic golf club (he doesn't care... so let's not make it an issue).

So I, with blown knee from walking 35 miles in Las Vegas, knelt down in the kitchen to block the goal/door... using a plastic putter... no pads. With his pitching wedge, he is pretty good at getting the "puck" off the floor a few inches. If he is aimed in the right area, and doesn't hit me, he has about a 40% success rate. He can slap that thing at me for hours... and with a my knee unblown, I can be targeted for about 30 minutes before I get bored.

Of course, I get to shoot back. He is quite good at defending his goal/door. He's figured out that the putter I use does not lend itself to lofting the "puck" to get it off the floor... so, when he sees that I will have a shot, he splays out on the floor, just like Kari Lehtonen (Goalie for the Thrashers). I can beat him back about 25% of the time, but my shots are pretty accurate, so I can usually beat him.

"Hello... Lane... We see the three year old, and the hockey portion of the post is evident... What about Twitter?"

So, let me tie Twitter in to this... What am I supposed to do with this little gadget? I have a Twitter account, and I spent a little while updating it, but I didn't see the point. Do people really want to sit around and vicariously live my life? Is it a target acquisition system for stalkers? Is someone going to track me down at the McDonald's Playplace to have me list their home because they saw my update my Twitter? Do I need to keep the score from the Big L/Little G hockey series on my Twitter?

The question is... is there a point?

I "get" MySpace and FaceBook and blogging and ActiveRain and Craigslist and so many other sites... but I don't "get" Twitter...

Help me?!?

But it's a tradition...

Thanksgiving is a time that we look back over the year and think of all of the wonderful things that we have to be thankful for. It is also a time for us to enjoy being with our families. And, being with family always gets the wayback machine firing on all cylinders...

So, while I was talking with my Mother about Thanksgiving meals, a few interesting things came up... not the first time.

I have spent my adult life being less than traditional. My ex-wife and I used to host our "Orphan Thanksgiving" feast every year. We had all of our friends... and their friends... that didn't have other family in town over for the Thanksgiving meal. We had some pretty big crowds. In order to satisfy the numbers, we often had other things with the turkey... like hamburgers, hot dogs, and lasagna. We would have a lot of the traditional foods, but there were always some "bonus foods."

After we divorced, I kept that little tradition alive for a while. I had friends over, but we skipped the turkey altogether. Pizza was the most prevalent dish served. Of course, the grill was fired up on occasion as well. Nothing says Thanksgiving like a grilled hamburger or hot dog.

Fast forward to this Thanksgiving...

The rest of the extended family was out of town. So, my lovely wife, beautiful child and I sat down for a Thanksgiving meal of... breakfast burritos. Not even turkey sausage in the burritos.

Of course, once again, my Mother was convinced I had committed a sacrilege. But, this is the same woman that used to make 20 courses for Thanksgiving... half of which NOBODY would eat. All in the name or tradition. Nobody wanted the mincemeat pie... but she made it for decades. (She goes out to eat with my step-father now).

"So, Lane, does this have ANYTHING to do with real estate?"

Since you asked... yes, yes it does.

There are a lot of things that real estate agents do because they are traditional. I do some of them occasionally, too. We hold open houses, place newspaper ads, fax things to people, and talk about being number one in customer service in our ads.

But, those aren't always productive. Open houses don't sell houses. Newspaper ads are shown to be a weak draw for a property (at best). I am working to be paperless, since all of the faxes make more paperwaste than anyone outside of this business can imagine. And, "1 is NOT the loneliest number" anymore... every agent in the country is number 1.

But, that is the way many agents have always done business.

According to the NAR, about 4% of us blog. Despite attending the convention last week where EVERYONE was talking about blogging, I don't think more than 10% ever will. And that will take a decade.

Customer focused websites? Client focused marketing? Rare at best. As an industry, we have gotten in to the habit of putting ourselves at the center of our universe.

It's a tradition.

If you are looking for a non-traditional agent, one that isn't afraid to turn things upside-down for better results, let me know.

GarageHomesUSA.

So, you have a little time and want to think about garages and garage stuff

Let's start the tour with The Garage Journal. It's a pretty cool site. Aside from a forum with discussion from members about all things related to garages, they also have feature stories about groovy tool guy stuff like small parts storage and mobile tool storage. There are also some links to other nifty sites. But, the main feature here is the forum.

Non-garage people might not be thrilled about in-depth discussion of garage HVAC, flooring or lighting, but if one is designing a new garage or remodeling an older one, the money that can be saved by taking advantage of the free expertise is amazing.

Another site worth a visit is the Ultimate Garage. This is a commercial site for Steve D'Gerolamo, a garage designer and consultant. Not only does he advertise the tools and equipment he likes, but he also showcases some of his projects... and his own VERY COOL garage. And, he either borrowed some seriously nifty hardware, or he is doing quite well in the garage designing biz.

If you are a little more hardcore. you might tackle the Tool, Shop, Equipment and Fabrication Forum. This is a bit more geared towards actually using that garage... to the hilt. Woodworking, metalworking, tools and miscellaneous garage talk are all on tap in the TSE&FF. The garage talk isn't nearly as in depth as The Garage Journal about garages, but TGJ can't hold a candle to the tool talk.

For something a little more specific, you might wander over the MillerWelds. They have a couple of forums dedicated to various interests, from motorsports to fabrication to welding projects. Of course the moderators favor the "blue brand", the reader-base are great at answering ALL sorts of questions about tweaking different welding and plasma cutting machines. I know I was able to get some great info about my plasma cutter... it is a blue one.

The final site on the post will be the most radical. It is a very specialized forum, geared specifically toward rock crawling. They talk about trail riding, as well as dunes... and even mud... but it is all about the rocks. Before I say what the site is (like the dramatic build-up? Don't read ahead!) there are two other things I want to mention. The first is that the language is rough. People are cussed out for asking stupid questions, and flamed. The other is that the biggest and best names in the off-road world zip on their nomex because they can learn from the members of this place. I have jokingly called it a post-doctoral degree in 4wheeling. But, it really is. There are folks on this board that know more about metallurgy and structural engineering than people teaching in darn good schools. So, when you are feeling cheeky, visit the Pirates of the Rubicon on the Pirate4x4 Forum.

When you are ready to buy the property with that ultimate garage, or where you can build what others have never even thought about (or maybe they have)... give me a call, or visit GarageHomesUSA.

Open Property Search for Gwinnett County, GA and surrounding

I've gone and done it now... I opened up the search capability on my website. Search the MLS without having to register or give up your private information.

As long as there have been real estate agents, we have been gatekeepers of information. In the early days, agents and brokers held their own listings. They wouldn't even share them with other agents and brokers. Then, somebody figured out that other agents had listings, too... and they might be willing to all cooperate and share... and EVERYBODY would benefit. And so the Multiple Listing Service was born. It was real estate brokers in a specific area cooperating with each other and making all of their listings available to each other.

It was... "The Book." I can remember back in the 1980s (and the book goes back WAY before that) going to the agent's office to see "The Book." It was guarded, and seldom allowed out of the office. It was updated every week or three... depending on the market. But, agents guarded it like a treasure. The information was power...

And then came the listing computer. I remember this as well (no, I wasn't in the business. I was a buyer). One actually had to go to the office of the agent to look at "The Terminal." It was on an intranet, and tied into the MLS. Agents could only see it at the office, and there were still books, but the listings were updated daily, and somewhat searchable on "The Terminal." But, if a buyer wanted to have access to new listings, the agent had to pour over the machine each day or every few days to see what was updated.

Then came "The Website." Soon, the listings were available via IDX (this is a data exchange where the listings are sent to all of the brokers that want them). Because the internet was still not widely adopted, and the information was prized, the only way to access "The Website" was through a broker's site... with a password... that one got by giving up their information.

Now, the information is out there. We all have it. I have it on one of my websites as an IDX feed.

When I surf, I hate putting in my private information. I want to be anonymous until I desire to give up my information. I assume that most web surfers are like me. So, I decided that I needed to give the same anonymity to my surfers that I want when I am out on the web. The Golden Rule and all that.

There was a little reluctance from some of those that were entrenched with the "control of information", but they have caved... Search away.

If you wish to give me your information, I'll be happy to put you on my email list. Or, you can get my RSS feed from my blog, confident that I am still in the dark as to your identity. If you want to look through my site and search the listings and then use another agent for the transaction, that's ok. I hope that you decide that I should represent you.

Enjoy.

Oh yeah... You can do the search through ANY of my websites. LaneGetsResults, LaneBailey, GarageHomesUSA or directly.

Lend me your "too cool" garage... ok, just tell me about it!

I was going to call this post "A funny thing happened on my way to the Search Engine Results..." and then start it with... I got hijacked. It was one of them long-tailed searches. They sure are sneaky. But, I got hijacked with a different idea, sooo...

I got hijacked. It was one of them long-tailed searches. They sure are sneaky.

This one was called "cool garage toys". Now, if you take a look at my tags, you'll see that I have around 30 posts that mention garages. I have over 100 that involve real estate. One might think that I would get some search engine lovin' for real estate... but, nope. It's all about garages.

Seriously, my top six search terms are all garages. Now, I will say that there is one post I have here that has surpassed all others in contacts... my phone rings twice a week over it, and it is real estate related, but nobody that calls has the $20M to actually do it, and they just want me to tell all of my secrets... but, for the most part, I think that most of my Googling readers are hitting me looking for the grooviest and coolest garage stuff.

Being a tech savvy guy (think Steve Martin's "wild and craaazy guys" line), as well as a garage geek and swift thinking marketer, I have a solution. I want to see YOUR garage. That's right... YOUR garage.

So, being the swifty that I am, after a mere 4 1/2 months, I have figure out that I need to showcase some cool garages. Now, of course this blog isn't the best platform for it, but I do have a real estate and garage website (duh!) that would be perfect.

No charge. No geographical restrictions. No pressure. I'd just like to see some cool garages. I might even be able to put you on the front lines of a cool reward I'm looking to announce in a week or two as well.

The only thing I ask is that they look better than the sad sack I have pictures of here. This is a truly terrible garage. It is clogged with crap, and needs a much better system for storage. I just haven't had the time of money to finish the projects that is clogging it up... Talk to my wife. As soon as she let's me, I will clean it up and turn it into the 26'x24' one car garage it always wanted to be... with attached tool room.

So, comment and send me an email. I'll gladly feature YOUR garage on my website. For the whole world to see. Maybe my wife will stop buying purses long enough for me to do something with my own garage.

Oh yeah... If you need a bigger garage, let me know. I'm in Gwinnett County, GA and also work South Hall and South Forsyth. Furthermore, I have agents all over the country that would love to get a "car people" referral.

Client Gateway for Buyers... a cool bonus.

One of the great features I offer to buyers is the Client Gateway. If you aren't familiar, it is a custom private webpage that lists all of the properties that meet the criteria we decide on. As new listings are entered into the MLS, they show up in the Client Gateway the next morning.

The example shown is a Gateway that I have set up to keep an eye on new listings of homes with 4 or more car garages in Gwinnett County, GA.

A great feature of the Client Gateway is the ability to organize the properties. While reviewing the properties in the Gateway, one can select "Like", "Possibility" or "Dislike". Properties that are shuffled to "Dislike" drop from the front of the site. Those labeled otherwise will have a bar showing that status. They can be arranged by price, age, number of bedrooms, subdivision or city name.

While surfing in the properties, aside from being able to class them, one may also map them, email them to a friend or family member, make notes or send a message to me about the property.

We've long had the ability to send clients listings as they came on the MLS, but this is a MUCH better way than the old email system. Under the old email system, each day there would be a new email. If one liked one of the listings, then they couldn't delete the mail, or they needed to print out the listing for filing. Now, they are much easier to organize and retrieve.

The Client Gateway is just another great service I offer my buyers. If you are interested in having a Client Gateway to track properties you may be interested in buying, let me know. I'm happy to set one up for you while we work together. I look forward to hearing from you. Drop in to my website and send me a message.

Web Progressions

I got to thinking after responding to a post, and I thought I would expand upon that and write a whole new post.

Gayle Rogers points out the drawbacks of a company website for real estate practitioners in her post Websites that Your Company Provides. She outlines her experience with building the SEO and traffic for a site, only to abandon it when she changed brokers. I think that many of us have been there. I know that I was. This was my reply:

There is a path, and a few of the stops along the path are:

• company branded site and email (www.LBailey.C21nwr.com and LBailey@c21nwr.com)
• Personally branded, but company templated site (www.LaneGetsResults.com and LBailey@C21nwr.com)
• Our name as a domain (www.LaneBailey.com and Lane@LaneBailey.com)
• Separate domain which would be more directed towards our niche, and could be sold upon retirement (www.GarageHomesUSA.com and Lane@LaneBailey.com)

>>Please note, in the actual comment, all of the links were dead to make sure that no one could say I was just self promoting<<

It seems that these are the steps most of us go through in order to get to the final goal, a site that resonates well with out consumers, and can be a stand alone business when we decide not to be in it any more.

So, what could I add?

Every broker that tries to recruit me tells me about their fabulous website, and all of the cool things that are going to happen as soon as I join their firm. Most will even give me a FREE site, much like the first example. But, if I were to leave, the traffic that I generate with my marketing (postcards, business cards, ads, etc.) will all go to the brokerage. The site is also LOADED with the broker's branding. So, in effect they are giving me a free site and I am building their brand.

On to the second example. I thought the first address was clunky, and it was. So, like many agents, I transitioned to a catchy name. But, I didn't actually change the site. So, I am still building my broker's brand as much as my own (if not more). But, at least now I own the domain name and can take it with me. However, because of the platform, I couldn't have the domain in my email address.

Iteration three. I bought my name. I will never let it go, because I think that in this business I need to own my name. I can use it for my email, and there are a tremendous number of benefits that come with owning a domain that includes mail. I use disposable and trackable email addresses (ePro folks will understand this.. but I haven't taken the course). There are also ways to use third level domains and other tweaks (955Juniper2324.LaneBailey.com is a third level domain). This is where many agents settle, and there is nothing wrong with that. It is a nice place to retire.

But then there is number four. I didn't understand this, even though I read Millionaire Real Estate Agent. But, if I ever want to pass the business along, or sell it, it is MUCH more marketable if the domain and the business aren't quite as tied to me. So, concentrating on my niche, I came up with a name that would mean more to clients. My name (even though I like it) doesn't mean anything more to them than what I provide. So, if I pass this along to my kids, or sell it outright, the business can survive without people asking who I am.

My advice to rookies is to just start out with the fourth one. Get the third if you can, but if you can't you'll be ok. Tie your website to your business, not to yourself.

Dump spam...

I'm going to go slightly off topic here for a few minutes.

I don't know about you, but I get so much spam it isn't even funny. In fact, eliminating some of the spam frees up so much time I can get in the garage more...

I just want to share one of my spam strategies. It is fairly effective, and if you put the right pieces in to place, it can make your email communication much more efficient. It does involve having two two things.

The first requirement is owning your own internet domain, and having it hosted where you can control the mailbox... and most hosts let you control the mailbox for your domain. You can own your domain through a number of registrars for under $10/yr. Hosting can be done for just a few bucks a month.

The next thing you need is a program or service that will collect your mail and sort it for you. I use MS Outlook, although Mozilla Thunderbird would be a great open source (=free) option. You might also be able to do it through a webmail service like Gmail or Yahoo or something... but I haven't tried.

So, the first thing to do it start being REAL careful about who you give your "real" email address. I have a primary that is on my business cards, and I give to people. I won't post it here... there is a contact form on my websites... because there are harvesting programs that surf the net looking for addresses.

Second, when filling out those hundreds of forms every time you have to give an email address, use a unique address. My Airtran Rewards account uses AirTran at my domain dot com. Notifications from here use Blog at my domain dot com. (btw, mydomain dot com is not the actual domain...) This does two very important things. The first one is that it lets me know where the email came from. If I get an email to AirTran at my domain, and that email comes from Hertz rent-a-car, I know that AirTran sold my address.

The next step both reduces the spam one needs to look at, and organizes email that one might actually want to read. In Outlook, make folders for different types of mail. I have folders for real estate related mail, and then it is further broken down into client names, RPAC, and then various other folders based on need. I also have a folder for 4x4 stuff. It is broken down into club stuff, and then other catagories as needed. There are several other categories and sub-categories that I use... but you get the idea... and yours will different and based on your own needs.

Finally, build rules (I do it as mail comes in) to route the mail to the appropriate folder. When I changed from my old address, I replied to people as needed, and gave them a new address to route their mail to the appropriate place. As mail came in to the new addresses, I wrote rules in Outlook so that the mail would go to the folder I needed it to go to.

Now, as my mail comes in, I can glance and know if it is something I need to be on right away, or if it is something that can wait. I empty out my junk folder several times a day, but it only takes moments instead of the great deal of time it would take before.

I hope this helps. And, I know there are other strategies to lower spam as well.

Just don't route MY mails to spam...

And, I will soon be deploying a GREAT offer through email. Keep an eye on my new website for details... they aren't there yet, but will be in the next week... It's going to be a cool deal.

Does advertising need to be "good" to be effective?

Since I am in the process of getting my new website together, I have been on the track of marketing and advertising. I know that good SEO will bring some folks in, but I also know that if I don't market and advertise the site, it won't get the traffic it needs.

So, that brings me to this...

I was sitting in McDonalds today, having lunch with my son, and a commercial came on for Head On. If you haven't seen one of these, then you are living under a rock. These may be the worst commercials EVER made. Attack of the Killer Tomatos is a cinematic masterpiece compared to these commercials. Plan 9 from Outer Space has a complex plot, as well as high production value compared to these ads.

"Head On, apply directly to the forehead" is repeated around 300 times in 30 seconds.

Terrible commercial. But, not only is this goop coming off the shelf as fast as they can make it, but they have spun off several other products. And... this is very important... I'm talking about it. Viral marketing. And it is the WORST kind of virus.

Stupid ad, and stoopid effective (for those not up on the latest groovy culture, "stoopid" is good).

So, I ask the question, does advertising need to be good to be effective?

Free, Free, FREE... Nifty open source photo editor

So, without getting real wordy about how I came across this (it all has to do with the new website), let me tell you about a cool open source photo-editor I just came across.

It is called the GIMP. That stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program. GNU is one of the open source licensing protocols. I guess it would be best summed up as the open source equivalent of PhotoShop.

If you aren't familiar with open source, it is a movement (sorry, but it really is) of mostly software geeks and engineers that create programs and then allow anyone to have them, and anyone that would like to modify the program to pop the hood and dive into the source code. The community makes revisions, as well as hacks and add-ons. (Hacks are modifications). It is really a cool idea, even though the capitalist in me wants to scream "You could be making money".

This isn't my first foray into open source. I use SMF (Simple Machines Forum) to run my real estate forum and the forum for my 4wd club. I also have recently started to use Joomla to build my new website. So far, I have been pretty impressed with each of these products. I will say that many of the open source products don't have the same prettiness as their high dollar counterparts, but they still seem to have the performance.

Floating around this post, you will see the results of a couple of minutes of editing. It didn't take me as long to edit this image as it did to write this post.

Not too bad for something that is free to use, free to upgrade, and I haven't even looked at a manual yet.