Just Do Something!

I love that Ellen DeGeneres makes things happen. She recognizes a need and does something about it. For example, this past winter a young man from Summerville, SC responded to her show's Valentine's Day solicitation. Something like "what romantic thing did you do when you proposed to your fiancée?"

 
Well, young Brad Emmerton had sold his car to purchase the perfect ring for his love! Ellen's crew loved the story and set out to find out more about Brad and his new fiancée, Jennifer Balyeat. It turned out they were both teachers at Newington Elementary School in Summerville, a Title 1 school with a population of underserved children, at least 50% of whom received supplemental meals.
The Ellen Show flew Brad and Jennifer to celebrate their story where she presented Brad with a brand new RAV4 and a trip to Australia for their honeymoon! Wow!!
If you're wondering when I'll get to the punchline... here we go. During their interview on the show Ellen learned from Brad and Jennifer that because the school doesn't have the resources, the teachers in the school regularly use their own money to purchase school supplies like notebooks, pens, pencils, erasures, and other essential supplies. And if you know anything about South Carolina, you know that teacher salaries are NOT high. This "tradition" is a sacrifice by these dedicated teachers.
Getting back to Ellen, her team set up a Skype session with Brad and Jennifer, their principal and their kids and pretended they were just going to "check in." In fact, they had someone there to present them with a $50,000 check (!) donated by Skype to go toward all the essential supplies and whatever else the School decided to use it for.
That's what I mean, she recognizes a need and does something about it.
Thanks Ellen!http://www.journalscene.com/article/20130312/SJ01/130319956

Subject: Winning those Listing Challenges!

It's happened before – I receive a call from a potential client. Someone looking for a Realtor to assist them in selling their home. But this one is different, I can tell the minute I pull up to the curb. I can tell when I see the difficult listing appointments at homes that we know will be less than easy to get ready to sell.

One of my toughest had to be with the “Brown's,” a lovely couple who really, really loved their dog… and their cats… and their bird… and their hamsters. Ugh. I had to face it, they practically had a menagerie living with them and all the paraphernalia that went along with them including the correllating smells, pet stains and the wear and tear that goes along with that too!

The minute I pulled up to the messy front yard strewn with bright green tennis balls and chewed up sticks I had a feeling there might be an issue. And when the front door opened and a friendly golden retriever bounded past me and out the door with a strong pet smell wafting behind him my fear was confirmed… The “Brown's” home was an animal haven and the animal inhabitants were every bit as important as the humans. I put a smile on my face and waded past the dog beds and bird cages to discuss “de-cluttering” and “boarding” the animal family members when we got down to listing and showing time.

Being a dog-lover myself (you’ll hear lots about my Golden Retriever, Annie here) I understood just how deeply that “animal love” can go. So treating it seriously and with respect, I was able to help them understand that their home and their animals while cute, loving and wonderful to them may turn-off potential buyers. It may seem like a lot of work to some sellers, but in today’s market, while may seem like it's benefitting sellers, as Realtors, it’s our responsibility to encourage our sellers to do everything they can to get a leg up on their competition.

And happily this relationship turned out to be a win-win for my sellers, for me and for the menagerie!