Pullman WA Real Estate - Lori Cofer's Blog: June 2010

It’s summertime, and that means plenty of barbeques, beach weekends, and the best your local farmers market has to offer!  Shopping at the farmers market is better for the environment, better for the local economy, and better for your wallet.

 

Did you know that most conventional food travels an average of 1,500 miles before it reaches your plate?  That’s a lot of wasted energy for something you can find so much closer to home!  In fact, switching to buying even 10% of your produce from local sources will contribute 5-17 times less CO2 than those who buy non-local.

Once you eat fresh, recently harvested produce, you’ll realize the stuff from the supermarket (organic or not) is just not the same thing.  Here are some helpful hints for hitting the farmers market this summer:

1. Don’t forget your bags, baskets, and containers.  Invest in good reusables.  No one goes to market and forgets their bags!  A basket can also be very handy, especially during berry season.  There are no plastic clamshell containers at the market, so stacking is not an option unless you bring your own.  Take some of everything: produce bags, bread bags, and containers… they all come in handy!

2. Bring cash and plenty of small change.  It’ll be faster and easier for everyone.  Green Genius knows it can be awkward to pass a $50 dollar bill to a farmer selling you $3 worth of spinach!

3. Bring your family and friends.  It’s more fun to share the market with others.  Consider meeting at the market for a meal or drink.  It’s also a place to involve the whole family in food choices.

4. Do a full walk-through.  There are no returns.  Who has the best tomatoes?  Would you have preferred the peaches instead of the pears?  Walk the whole market first to see what’s available and compare prices and product.  Also, produce gets heavier as the day goes on.  Melons and squash should be your last purchases, so you don’t have to carry them around all day.

5. Go early and get first pickings.  You cannot imagine the excitement the regular market shoppers have for the season’s first strawberries, asparagus, ramps…  If you want to take part to the fullest, don’t sleep in.

6. Go late and get good deals.  If you are not picky, vendors will generally be happy to give you a discount and not have to haul anything back with them.  They worked hard enough to get it to market in the first place.

7. Ask questions.  You’ll get real answers.  If you want to know when something was picked, or how to best choose a particular item, just ask.  Feel free to ask what something is, or try things that you would not necessarily see at the store. Farmers know all about what they grow, and sometimes they will share great recipes too—that’s not happening at the supermarket!

8. Speak to other marketers.  Sociologists estimate that people who skip the supermarket in favor of farmers markets have about 10 times the number of conversations while shopping.  In addition to your farm-fresh zucchini, you just might pick up a new shopping buddy.

9. Don’t buy ingredients for a meal; make a meal based on the best ingredients you buy.  Don’t just go to the market to cross things off your grocery list.  Buy what’s best and in season, and try new things.  When you buy fresh and simple, the dishes you prepare can be also.  Green Genius loves making a “market meal”—a help-yourself-to-all-of-the-goodness-we-just-got-meal.  You can obviously make a list, but keep an open mind.  Take advantage of seasonal inspiration!

 

Best Regards,

 

Michael Caruso, Broker ABR ABRM CRB CRS GRI GREEN

 

2007 President, Orange County Association of Realtors

 

949-753-7900

Carolyn Capalbo is a respectable, professional Realtor® in Northern Virginia.  Unfortunately, her reputation is being hijacked by another Carolyn Capalbo who has been in the news.  When you google her name, pictures of the other Carolyn Capalbo as well as other sites pop up.  When a prospective client googles Carolyn's name, some are getting confused and associate her with the Carolyn in the news.  It's not the case!!!

I encourage you to to google the phrase Carolyn Capalbo and see how Carolyn's good reputation is being hijacked on google.

Now here's what you can do to help.....

Click on this link to see Lisa Udy's post on Carolyn Capalbo , and then hit reblog!!!!  That's it!!!!  The more people reblog Lisa Udy's post, the higher this post will show up in google, which will help Carolyn reclaim her good name.

For all that have participated in reblogging this article, I would like to share with you Carolyn's thank you from http://www.realestatewebmasters.com/blogs/morgan-carey/9948/show/....

She says:

I received a call from a prospective Seller yesterday. Her co-worker gave her my name and she had collected a few other Realtor's names. She Googled my name and read about my situation. When she called me to discuss her home, she chuckled about the other Carolyn Capalbo and marveled about how an entire Real Estate community would rally behind one of its own. I asked her what she would have done if she only saw the other Carolyn Capalbo, she said she didn't know if she would have called me since she had other Realtors to consider. Thank you for making it clear that there are more than one Carolyn Capalbos out there! It looks highly likely that I will work with this Seller. That certainly would not have happened if she called someone else instead! Thanks again for all your help and support! 

Carolyn Capalbo

About the Author: The above piece was provided as a community service by Lori Cofer, a local Pullman  WA & Moscow Idaho Real Estate Agent. Lori can be reached via email at loricofer@yahoo.com or by phone at 509-330-0086.  Looking for Pullman Washington Real Estate or Moscow Idaho Real Estate?  Lori is happy to assist you in all your Pullman Washington Real Estate and Moscow Idaho Real Estate needs.  Lori is "Your Moscow Idaho Real Estate Connection"

 

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Should I list my home with a large brokerage firm?

That's a question that comes across the minds of many home sellers. This post is to answer that. Read the comments as the real estate professionals generate them. I will provide my answer in my blog.

As smaller and locally owned brokerage firms are coming into the marketplace to provide consumers more choices, this is a burning question a home seller may ask. Some do, and some just wonder. Today, we'll take this question head on.

Should I list my home with a large brokerage firm?

What does a Large Brokerage Firm do, that a small (locally owned) does not?

Will my buyer come through that large brokerage firm I list with?

Will my home be shown more if I list with a large brokerage firm?

 

Let me first disclose, this is not a post to dismiss a larger or smaller brokerage firm. Known or not known. Recognizable or not. Every size business and name has its own position and influence in the marketplace. I've never been sponsored by a large brokerage firm in part of my personal experiences. I've always been with smaller, locally owned, independent brokerage firm. By the time it was time for me to open shop, that was the natural position I gravitated to.

A listing agent is only as good as the agent's knowledge and skills. The logo on the sign or business card does not necessarily mean a home will sell or not. The event lies within employing the best agent for the job - be it a large or small firm.

A listing agent - at a large or small brokerage firm operates as small business owners. Each of them put in their own effort in driving their self-employment. Again, it lies in the work ethics of the agent, not necessarily the sign or logo it carries.

In any size firm (large or small), the 80/20 rule typically applies. 20% of the agents generate 80% of the business for the company.

 

As long as the property shows up on MLS, it's free for all. The listing brokerage agrees to co-broke (ie. to share the listing and commission fees). Any buyer's agent who has a buyer that meets your property profile will most like show the house. After all, the buyer's agent is also to make the sale. S/He will not not show your home because it was NOT listed by his/her brokerage firm. As Realtors(R), we cannot do that anyways.

 

A single listing agent can be just as powerful in networking as one in a bigger firm. Again, the power depends on the individual him/herself. Since all real estate agents are self-employed professional anyways, they may not necessarily choose to come to the office. At least, not all 300 who are associated with the agency come into the office everyday. Some choose to office out of their home. Some want the synergy while others are much more productive at the office.

Coming from a small agency buyer's agent standpoint, my buyers that I work with do not care the business name I'm associated with, just as long as they feel they have been treated fairly and their interests were taken into consideration. They care about how I can bring value to the transaction.

The way buyers operate have changed since the Internet became a dominant home search tool. In the past, the buyers show up at the agent's office and the agent display a list of 10 homes they will see that day. Today, the buyers show up telling the agent the list of homes they want to see that day.

The home buying process has changed and so is the home selling process. It has always been an individual sport but with the Internet, it has become even more dominant.

 

I hope this post can help answer some of your doubts about listing a home with a large or small brokerage firm. It's not the company but the individual.

The comments and feedback from this post will be just as interesting. I hope you will read it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Pick up your phone & call today!

Loreena Yeo
Frisco TX Realtor(R)
Realtor®/ Broker of 3:16 team REALTY
(214) 783-2210
loreena@loreenayeo.com

 

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Copyright © 2010 by Loreena Yeo (3:16 team REALTY)
Should I List my home With a Large Brokerage Firm?