Proof that being positive is good for you!

http://www.jongordon.com/newsletter-022210-beingpositive.html

I like subscribing to Jon Gordon's newsletter. It helps me stay positive and maintain a healthy outlook on life. :o) Enjoy.

It's Easy to Twist Things...

Good Monday Morning to you! I am SO happy that today's snow did not materialize. I have been saving my hard-earned parking spot in front of my house with 2 chairs and a jump rope, but I guess I will have to put that away now since the snow is melting... :) I wrapped up my Clarksburg High School diving coaching season Friday afternoon/evening with an 8-hour County Championship Meet. Cassidy Pickles, my graduating Senior placed 13th - her highest finish of her career! Reagan O'Leary and my daughter, Cassandra also put in great performances and represented the Coyotes very well. I am so proud of all of my divers this year. There are some super pictures on Facebook!

I am attaching a link to a great article about how the media can twist facts around, especially when it comes to real estate information. Click here to read the article and let me know what you think. I like how they refer to a term called "healthy skepticism." I am an optimist by nature so I tend to doubt much of the negativity that comes out of the media anyway.

Thank you to everyone for continuing to send us your referrals! We are building our team by adding on two additional people - Angela Faustine as my personal assistant and transaction coordinator, and Charity Moreno as a buyer and rental specialist. Diane Bernard will be overseeing the contract-to-close process as well as servicing her growing client base. Of course Joe and I are here to assist you with all of your real estate goals. We will be updating the bio section on our website soon, so check back often. I am also starting to post the Monday Morning Coffee on the website and on Facebook. www.facebook.com/lisa.sabelhaus

Have a great week and enjoy the coffee. ~Lisa

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:
"We stand at the crossroads each minute, each hour, each day, making choices.We choose the thoughts we allow ourselves to think, the passions we allow ourselves to feel,and the actions we allow ourselves to perform. Each choice is made in the context of whatever value system we've selected to govern our lives. In selecting that value system, we are, in a very real way,making the most important choice we will ever make."
- Benjamin Franklin

ENJOY PRIDE OF OWNERSHIP!

Remember the day you made the decision to go to college? What about the day you decided to buy that sporty red car? Surely you remember the day you decided you would get married. What about your present career path? Did you purposely decide it's what you want to do? Do you remember making a conscious decision to have three children?

Some decisions are relatively simple. You decide to buy a TV, go to the store, write a check - and it's yours. You own it! Other decisions are also easy to make, i.e. the red sports car, but carry a higher price. The decision comes quickly, but entails both a down payment and a commitment to make payments on time for several years. Again, you make the decision to buy and the car is yours - you own it!

At some point in life come decisions that shouldn't have been made, but were, as well as those you should have withheld. In high school, a day of classes skipped may have resulted in grades lower than acceptable to your choice of colleges. Later, a poor choice of friends may have resulted in a blemish on your "permanent" record. As an adult, poor decision-making not only may reduce the quality of your life, but of those you love.

Regardless, each decision made is yours to keep - you own it! You also own the responsibilities created by the decision, i.e. following a healthy lifestyle to stay trim, working two jobs to keep your commitment to the mortgage company, giving up poorly chosen friends and activities to provide your children with a happy, nurturing home life.

Every decision made can turn positive or negative, depending on the actions taken once the decision has been made. Either way - making the decision is followed by ownership of the results. Does "pride of ownership" appeal to you? Buy it, own it, love it!

Snow Delays Spring Market

Good Monday Morning to you. With all of these snow days and the kids still being home from school, I don't know what day it is! More snow is expected this afternoon, but only a very small amount, thank goodness. There is no doubt that our massive amounts of snow and the subsequent snow piles have delayed many listings from coming on the market. Buyers have not been able to go out looking and purchasing, and sellers have not wanted to list their house and waste valuable market time if buyers could not get inside their homes. What will this mean? I am predicting that we will be getting slammed from both fronts - the buyers and the sellers. There is a lot of good news out there for everyone concerning real estate. It is a more balanced market between buyers and sellers. Most analysts agree that we have been at the bottom for several months. Interest rates are still very low and home affordability is the best it has been in decades.

On a side note, our RE/MAX Town Center office is expanding! Our build-out is almost complete and it is a great addition to our existing space right in the heart of Germantown Town Center. We affectionately call it the "West Wing" and it will have a large conference room, several offices and a cafe-style area for social events and trainings. I can't wait to show it off to everyone.

Have a great week and enjoy the coffee. ~Lisa

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:
"There is a law in psychology that if you form a picture in your mind of what you would like to be,and you keep and hold that picture there long enough,you will soon become exactly as you have been thinking."
- William James (1842-1910)

YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS!

Walk into a totally dark room. What do you see? "Absolutely nothing," you say. Now, turn on the light. Where did the darkness go? Really - where is it now? Hopefully you will agree that darkness cannot exist in the face of light.

During a lifetime, we experience many types of "darkness." It may appear in the form of discouragement, fear, hopelessness, grief, ignorance, or poverty. Yet, in every case, there is a "light" in which such darkness cannot exist.

Fear, for example, cannot exist in the face of courage. Education denies ignorance any chance of survival. Grief disappears in the presence of peace-of-mind. Discouragement ceases when hope prevails. Wealth denies poverty its chance.

No matter what form darkness takes, it cannot exist when faced with its opposite. That also means we have the ability to send darkness on its way at any point in time. No matter how overwhelming the darkness appears, it is our thoughts and our minds that ultimately control the outcome. How powerful is that?

In the words of several favorite authors: "Think you can, think you can't, either way you're right." "Your life is what your thoughts make of it." "We are what we think about all day long." Finally, in the words of Tom Bodett, from one of his Motel 6 commercials: "We'll leave the light on for you!"

Almost Tuesday Morning Coffee

Good Monday Evening to you. I got so wrapped up in digging out and getting out of the house that I completely forgot it was Monday! With another snow storm rolling in tomorrow afternoon, most of us are betting that school will be canceled for the entire week. My Mid-West clients are scratching their heads over our area's lame snow clean-up efforts. Let's face it - we are just not good at it. You can take a peek at some of my neighborhood's snow storm pictures on Facebook. www.facebook.com/lisa.sabelhaus

I think this snow storm will delay some of the listings from coming on the market for another 7-10 days. I know that our sellers don't want to waste valuable time on the market if buyers can't make it down the neighborhood streets to see their home. As a result, I think we may see a mini-surge of new listings at the end of this month and the beginning of March.

We had a Real Estate Seminar planned for tomorrow night (TUE 2/9) in Clarksburg Town Center, but it is CANCELED due to the snow and neighborhood conditions. Enjoy the coffee and please let me know if your family or friends could use the real estate services which I provide. Have a great week! ~Lisa

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:
"Fear knocked at the door, faith answered. No one was there."
~ Unattributed


REPLACEMENT THERAPY!

Ever received one of those emails that contains a touching message, then suggests that if you forward it to ten more people you'll receive a "special blessing" or "ten million dollars in three days"? It usually also warns that the last person who didn't forward it met some terrible fate at the hands of unknown evil-doers. Remember how that last part - the veiled threat - made you feel? You didn't think something awful would really happen, but you resented being put in the position of wondering.

We've been told many times that our worst fears are of the "unknown." An unidentified fear sends our imagination into high gear, conjuring up vivid mental pictures of dastardly plots against us. We ruminate endlessly over the possibilities. Such fear is disruptive to our well-being, and leaves us tired and wrung-out.

So, how do you handle fear? One method is to identify the fear, so that once you do, it is no longer "unknown." That also means it is measurable, and can be logically quantified. Once you know what it is, your imagination can no longer dream up worse things that it is not. Once identified, it is possible to determine possible outcomes.

Most fears will never come to fruition. Those that do are divided into two categories: those we can control, and those we can't. If we have control, we also have the ability to survive our fears, and change their outcomes. Most fall into that category.

One mother's lifelong advice to her daughter who worried too much was to replace the worry thought with another more pleasant thought. The opposite of fear is hope, which also gives us courage. The next time you experience fear of the unknown, try replacement therapy. Think positive, hopeful thoughts when fear knocks at the door. Then, when you open the door - no one is there!

Feb 1 - Monday Morning Coffee

Good Monday Morning to you. We flew in from Florida yesterday to several inches of snow. I guess we timed that little get-away just right! My parents were wonderful hosts to our gang. It was just warm enough to squeak in a little pool and beach time and a trip to Busch Gardens.


My newsletter is going out today with the chart above from our MLS. It has some interesting statistics on year over year data. Inventory of new listings is down overall while closed and pending transactions are up – that’s good! Days on Market for new listings is also down. The Pending Sales is an interesting statistic when you consider how long it takes for short sales to close. Remember, a “Short Sale” is when an owner is attempting to sell their house for less than what they owe the bank. They must get approval from the bank in order to sell the property. Pending Sales account for many of these short sales which have been under contract for months – sometimes 7+ months! We have not seen a surge in our inventory levels yet, but the Spring Market is just heating up. If you are a seller, don't delay.

Have a wonderful week and enjoy the coffee. ~Lisa
*The "coffee" is a bit that I find on the internet each week.

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:
"A man's reputation is the opinion people have of him; his character is what he really is."
- Jack Miner, conservationist (1865-1944)

HOW'S YOUR CREDIT?

Ever hear someone say, "I have good credit"? They are probably referring to their credit "rating" - a score bestowed upon them by creditors, banks or rating agencies. Simply stating, "I have good credit" changes nothing, nor does the statement merit the attention of creditors. Credit can only be given by others for service to them, i.e. paying them on time.

So, credit is the result of serving others - in many ways. You cannot claim education, victory, experience, success, reputation, or a suave demeanor. Each of these is a gift from others, as a result of your service to them. Friends recognize your courage as a result of your being cool under pressure. Your success is recognized by others only once you have served them well. Knowledge of your career field is recognized by others only after it's been applied to situations in the form of more service.

In the accounting world of income and expense, a debit is something paid out, while a credit is something received. Thus all credits are received from others - not by our own making. The debits - what we pay out - are our efforts, persistence, and service. How they are rated is not under our control, but is determined by those served.

Without service, there are few rewards. Yet, you've seen those who insist on getting more attention than they deserve. They feel they're being short-changed, that they are not appreciated, that they are always the victim. If you look more closely at their contributions, you are also likely to see the dearth of service they are offering.

With service, credit follows. It may be subtle or quite visible - but it always follows. Concentrate on what you have to offer and forget the rewards. Those who are served will pick up the tab!