http://marynack.blog.com The Travel Log of a Serial Entrepreneur Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:23:56 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en It seems that when it comes to politics, people fall into one of two categories: 1) They are utterly consumed by it -working themselves up into a frenzy of "we're all going to hell in a hand basket"... OR 2) They don't have a CLUE as to what's going on. As with most things, ... http://marynack.blog.com/2010/03/15/we-the-people-hold-these-truths-to-be-self-evident/ This past fall, the movie "Frost and Nixon" was released in the theatres. Having lived through that era as a college student and young wife, I remember only too well the Watergate hearings and the very fundamental sense of betrayal we, the American people felt. Our view of politics and our government ... http://marynack.blog.com/2010/03/14/the-body-politic/ Something became crystal clear to me this week: and it has only taken me 30 years of selling real estate to figure this out. In real estate, we think of ourselves as entrepreneurs. This is where the confusion lies: we are entrepreneurs in the sense that we are 100% commission based ... http://marynack.blog.com/2010/02/21/selling-vs-owning-a-cash-machine/ I'm in the middle of negotiating a contract right now but the negotiations are not going well. My client is really frustrated. So, being a tech guru, he went on-line to do some "research" on the other agent involved in the negotiations. And sure enough - right there on the first ... http://marynack.blog.com/2010/02/14/the-internet-is-a-scarey-place-to-be/ I was looking into purchasing a holiday gift on-line this afternoon and came across a really unique on-line marketing method: On-line auctions! This is how it works: You, the consumer, purchase "bidding points". Each point costs 60 cents and raises your bid by 5 cents. For example, this particular site was selling a Kindle ... http://marynack.blog.com/2009/12/18/necessity-the-mother-of-invention/ A couple of weeks ago, I attended a seminar on geo-thermal energy as an alternate heating and cooling source. The seminar was interesting enough - but what I really enjoyed was getting to know the company and the president of the company that was presenting the information: John Polich of Gabriel ... http://marynack.blog.com/2009/12/17/in-praise-of-the-little-guy/ This is a blog post from Active Rain written by an agent in Scottsdale, AZ - Robert Herzog. His outrage at the short sale process replicates my feelings precisely. However, what I was attributing to incompetent bureaucratic BS may actually be an intentional business decision on the part of the lender - all ... http://marynack.blog.com/2009/10/02/those-greedy-bastards/ I was speaking to a colleague the other day - an old time real estate agent such as myself. I often find myself having this conversation these days. The past 3-4 years have been really tough for real estate agents. We old-timers have gone through down markets before - but this one... It just never ends. And this ... http://marynack.blog.com/2009/09/25/the-new-real-estate-maxim-you-must-niche-to-last/ Is there really such a thing as "luck"? I know that sometimes events conspire in such a way as to make it seem that there is. And I have a client - a really interesting and completely charming fellow! - whose mantra is "I'm a lucky dog!"  [Now approaching 80, I ... http://marynack.blog.com/2009/09/23/you-lucky-dog-you/ It's amazing what you can learn about people by the way they handle their real estate transaction. I'm working with a buyer right now to whom I have shown maybe 50 homes. We finally saw one that he fell in love with on Tuesday - a marathon day of looking ... http://marynack.blog.com/2009/09/17/peace-baby/