I was working at my home office the other day when I looked out the window and noticed several "wooley worms" on our blooming vine. I don't actually know what kind of worms these guys are or even if they're guy or girl worms or caterpillars or whatever they are.  When I told Diane about them, I knew exactly what she was gonig to say... "Oh, it's gonna be a bad winter, Rob!" And sure enough, that's exactly what she said!  That's because she's an Indiana farm girl and she fancies herself a weather person based on signs and signals from nature.  Every year, when the wooley worms show up big and fat, that's a sure sign of a bad winter to come. Sometimes she is right in her weather predictions and sometimes she isn't.  But the same can be said about the weathermen in Oklahoma!   Originally P... 10/10/2010

In our part of the world, we can burn brush piles in our yard.  This is convenient since we can put fallen branches and end of the season garden stuff in the pile or fall leaves, light it on fire and then enjoy the ambiance of the crackling fire.  Since yesterday was not a high wind day here in the plains, I decided it would be a good day to burn the "burn pile."  Sure enough, when it was burning real good, the phone rang and I had to leave to go help a friend.  So I left Diane in charge and took off.  This morning, I went back to the backyard to see the results of my latest burn off.  It wasn't something I really needed to do, but whenever I've burned my burn pile, the inner primordial cave man in me wants to go see it the next morning.  Sure enough, the burn pile had been burned to as... 10/08/2010

Open Sunday 2:00-4:00! 11386 North 120th East Avenue in Owasso Oklahoma 74055 in Remington Place MLS # 1023730 11386 North 120th East Avenue in Owasso, Oklahoma 74055, in the Remington Place neighborhood is a great place to call home!  And on this coming Sunday, October 10, 2010, you'll be able to find out why for yourself.  We'll be holding our first open house for this wonderful home. You will love the open floor plan, vaulted ceilings, big bedrooms, two full bathrooms, laundry room with mud room, fully fenced back yard and brick and vinyl siding for easy maintenance that you'll find at 11386 North 120th East Avenue in Owasso Oklahoma 74055 in the Remington Place neighborhood. Here is a view of the kitchen and living room area.  And now, a close up of the kitchen...   Here's the dinin... 10/08/2010

I got an email the other day from someone I didn't know who lived in Cape Coral Florida.  Apparently someone had lifted my Facebook picture and was using it as their profile picture on Facebook.  And they were posting on a political page in the Cape Coral area.  The page administrator had long suspected this person as being an imposter of some sort so they did a reverse image search on my picture and discovered me in Owasso Oklahoma. After they contacted me to let me know what was going on, I sent the offender a note through Facebook demanding that they cease and desist from using my likeness and personal property.  I also went on the Facebook page and notified all the users of the person who was using my image.  I immediately got a response from several folks there about the situation.... 10/06/2010

Ownership is a part of leadership.  We were having a discussion this morning in my Leadership Development group based on this idea from the book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.  The idea is that, when you are a leader you have to take ownership of vision, policy and other crucial factors such as budget and marketing. As I sat listening to the other business owners talk through the topic, a thought crossed my mind.  As a Real Estate Professional, I have to own the reality of what the housing market is.  I have no choice in the matter.  I cannot control the market nor alter the market.  It is what it is and I have to accept that reality.  Now, that's no big deal to you right?  You sell Real Estate for a living.  You accept the market for what it is also. But if I am to be a leader... 10/05/2010

So we're all getting our smart phones now, right?  You probably already have yours or at least, have yours picked out and will soon be making your purchase.  Good!  Smartphones are a great tool in the world of Real Estate. Besides finding and buying a good Mortgage Calculator app, the next most used app I have on my HTC HD2 smartphone surprised me!  It's my flashlight application.  Basically, all it does is turn on the two LED lights that my camera uses when it needs a flash. Is it handy?  You'd better believe it!  When I'm in a dark house or a dark room, all I have to do is whip out my smartphone, hit the flashlight app button and whamo...I've got lots and lots of instant light!  No more flashlight to have to carry! I cannot tell you how many of my clients are impressed that I've got l... 10/04/2010

This morning I woke up to find Diane doing her exercise routine with our Wii Fitness program.  She has set some personal goals and is doing well in her efforts to achieve them.  Usually when she exercises, the dogs and I sit and watch.  I drink my no sugar added coffee so that she'll know that I'm supporting her in her exercise quest.  I'm sure she appreciates this! While she was working out today, I grabbed my laptop and did some surfing for information about the Wii fit program.  I wondered if the trainers were based on real people and if there were any hints I could find to help her.  That's because sometimes the Wii fit board doesn't seem to read her movements correctly. What I found surprised me.  There are cheats for the Wii fit!  For example, you can sit on the couch while doing ... 10/04/2010

I love showing houses.  Opening each front door is like a surprise.  What will we find inside?  An older couple home with yesterday's furnishings?  A young family home with children's stuff around?  A home with a new baby and all the cute (and cool) new baby stuff?  And, of course, the foreclosed homes that are always...shall we say...interesting? Yesterday we walked into all of the above.  Then we walked into a home where we found this.  Can you figure out what it is? No?  Here's a hint.  Tracks.  Bugs.  Waste.  Dark. Still no? Okay here goes. This is roach excrement, left behind by a colony that had invaded this now empty house.  Thankfully, my buyers were the kind of people who looked at it and went (very calmly), "Guess there's been roaches here." Needless to say, they didn't buy th... 10/03/2010

When I pulled up to the house, my heart fell.  The grass was waist high and the weeds were even higher.  Glancing at the structure, I could tell that it had been a beautiful home at one time.  But today it was only a shell of its' former life.  "What had happened here?" I wondered as I waded through what had been a front lawn to open the door.  It's What I Wonder When I Show An Empty House. In this particular case, it had been a divorce that had set the wheels in motion and that had brought me and my buyers to this day.  That, combined with the national housing crisis, had left this house empty and abandoned.  What would I find inside?  A trashed and destroyed memory of what once was?  Or a perfectly clean, stark, whitewashed picture...designed to cover up the recent history?  I knew it... 10/01/2010

It's kind of funny, but I'm the only person in our office who has T-Mobile as my mobile phone carrier.  So when the office manager has to text me, she has to use some kind of special program because T-Mobile doesn't work with the program she uses for everyone else. Fascinating right?  Well stay tuned because this is important.  From what I understand, T-Mobile is still the only cell phone company that will allow you to use your smart phone as a modem for your laptop.  What that means is that you can tether your smart phone to your laptop and be on the Internet anywhere, anytime.  No need for an air-card and additional expenses! For those of you who are wondering.  Tethering = hooking up your smart phone with a cable to your laptop so you can use it as a modem. I was at an open house thi... 09/29/2010

Diane and I were playing around with our Wii the other day when she decided to try out the ski jump. Below is the video I “secretly” shot of her. We still laugh everytime we watch it! If you have a Wii and you haven’t tried the ski jump in the Wii fit program, you don’t know what you’re missing! Originally Posted at: My Owasso Home 09/26/2010

I bought a new kitchen faucet the other day.  Yeah, yeah, I know.  Doesn't knock you off your seat, right?  It didn't me either...until I was actually shopping for the faucet at the home improvement store.  After I got over the sticker shock, I began looking around.  I had certain things I was looking for.  While these involved color and height, it also involved brand.  We have 25 year old Delta faucets in our house and they still work great!  Last weekend I had to change out washers in two of the faucets that had begun to drip.  The parts were under $10 for both faucets and the project was extremely easy.  I was pleased. So, needless to say, after such a fine performance, I was inclined to buy a Delta faucet.  But my selection process narrowed down to two.  A Delta and another brand th... 09/23/2010

I believe Aretha Franklin sang it better than anyone could say it... R-E-S-P-E-C-T Find out what it means to me R-E-S-P-E-C-T Take care, TCB Oh (sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me) A little respect (sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me) Whoa, babe (just a little bit) A little respect (just a little bit) I get tired (just a little bit) Keep on tryin' (just a little bit) You're runnin' out of foolin' (just a little bit) And I ain't lyin' (just a little bit) (re, re, re, re) 'spect That catchy little tune captures the heart of what most everyone wants.  Respect.  And yet, I find that more and more respect has to be earned instead of freely given, especially in the world of Real Estate. Recently, I actually had someone say to me, "Oh you're a Re... 09/22/2010

I was out showing houses the other day in the country when we noticed something strange way up high on the chimney. At first we could make out what it was.  Can you? How about now? Upon closer examination, we discovered that it was a rubber snake!  The owners had put it there to scare of birds that might want to roost at the top of the chimney.  Originally Posted at: My Owasso Home 09/05/2010

So you're looking at buying a house in Lake Valley in Owasso Oklahoma, right?  And maybe you've found a great house.  But what street is it on?  And what is up with those Lake Valley streets anyway?  They have East Avenues and Places and Street Norths.  And all those Lake Valley streets twist and turn in all sorts of directions. Recently I did a search to see how up to date Google is in mapping this new Owasso Oklahoma neighborhood.  As of this writing, they're not very up to date.  So I went driving around Lake Valley, wrote down the streets, traced them out and made what is the most current, up to date Lake Valley Owasso Oklahoma map. Next time you're looking for an address in Lake Valley, try this map.  I think you'll like how easy it is to use and how easy the Lake Valley neighborho... 09/01/2010

I was out showing houses the other day when we came across this spider.  She had parked herself across a window and spun a web.  Not sure how long she had been there, but she was huge!  We couldn't see any current meals wrapped up in her web, but I'm guessing it won't be long until she's got something to take care of.  Although you cannot see it, this picture was taken through a window inside the house.  The spider was on the other side of the window!  This shot was taken using my HTC HD2 Camera.  Not bad for a camera phone! I named the spider Charlotte. Originally Posted at: My Owasso Home 08/29/2010

Speechless Sunday - Empty Houses Are Lonely Houses There is a saying in Real Estate.  It goes like this.  "Empty Houses are Lonely Houses."  The reason we say this is because when a house is left alone, it begins to deteriorate quickly.  The yard will grow into a weed patch and all kinds of bugs show up and die a bug death, usually on the carpet around the walls. This particular house is new construction in the Owasso Oklahoma area.  I showed up early a few weeks ago to show it to my buyer.  It was a beautiful home, but as soon as I walked in, I could tell it had been empty for a while.  Can you see why in the pictures? How about now?  I've drawn lines so you can see the cobwebs I ran into in the kitchen! I felt sorry for this once beautiful home.  It was obviously very lonely.  But I f... 08/22/2010

Welcome to Lake Valley in Owasso Oklahoma! Lake Valley is an Owasso Oklahoma neighborhood that offers existing and new homes for sale from $130,000 to $160,000.  Homes in the Lake Valley neighborhood range in size from 1200 square feet to 1800 square feet (more or less).  If you're from other areas of the country, you might expect to have a basement in your Lake Valley home.  However, this is not the case.  Most newer Northeastern Oklahoma homes do not have basements.  This is because the water table is very high in Oklahoma and basement flooding can be a major issue.  As a result, our builders have gone up, instead of down.  You can now build or buy your Lake Valley home as a single story or a two story home.  And all Lake Valley homes now offer post-tension slabs.  A post-tension slab... 08/17/2010

Welcome Home to 10719 N 147th East Ave Owasso OK 74055 in Lake ValleyMLS #1018336 Lake Valley is a wonderful Owasso, Oklahomaneighborhood.  It offers amazing amenities that include a neighborhood swimming pool, basketball court, frisbee golf course, walking trails and several large neighborhood lakes where you can fish!  Now you've heard that in real estate location is everything, right?  Well, location IS everthing at this home, located at 10719 N 147th East Ave Owasso OK 74055 in Lake Valley.  And why is that?  Because of this... This is the backyard of this great home, located at 10719 N 147th East Ave Owasso OK 74055 in Lake Valley.  It backs up to the largest lake in the neighborhood.  That means that you can walk out your back door and enjoy the beautiful scenery or go fishing any... 08/16/2010

With a tough housing market, some folks are becoming desparate to sell their houses.  I was driving in Tulsa the other day, when I came across this sign, posted in front of a house on a busy street. At first, I thought the sign was a Real Estate sign, but upon closer examination, I found this was not true.  Can you read what the sign say's?  No? How about now? The sign say's, "Pretty Please Buy My House!" You gotta feel sorry for the homeowner.  Hopefully, someone will come along soon and buy the house! It may be desperate, but at least it's honest marketing! Originally Posted at: My Owasso Home 08/15/2010