This Crystal Beach Florida Realtor® just about died laughing when she spotted the latest sign at our favorite Chiropractor Dr. John Banacki’s office.  I can’t wait to share it with our friends in the Keller Williams Palm Harbor office! 

I confess ….I love this story so much it has made me cry more than once.  ~  Julia

Did you know that …

When kids are removed from a home by Child Protective Services it is usually with no advance notice and often without personal possessions or clothes?   When they arrive at a new placement center or home, having a duffel bag full of necessities to call their own (during a downright tramuatic experience) makes all the difference in the world.

If you’d like to help a Pinellas Foster Child out by assembling a duffel bag full of a few kid necessities (blanket, underwear, toothbrush, socks, stuffed animal, an encouraging book, etc.) – please contact me at 727-366-0324 or Matt at 727-366-0325.  

A quick trip to Wal-Mart can get one bag done for under $40.   Call us and we’ll even pick up your bag(s) and get them to Eckerd Community Services!   Hint, hint ….

Keller Williams Realty Palm Harbor is looking for volunteers and monetary donations to help a Dunedin Foster child family.  May 13th is Keller Williams RED Day where our offices nationwide will join together to Renew, Energize and Donate back to the community that does so much for us.  And These Palm Harbor Realtors need your help!  We’re actually taking KW International’s program a step further and making it RED Week!  

Keller Williams Palm Harbor joins with Eckerd Youth Alternatives for Extreme Makover of Dunedin Foster Home for KW Red Day

We need:

• Contractor help for ceiling, insulation, roofing, flooring, painting and carpentry
• Donations of many items – plywood, siding, an air conditioner (we may have that already), paint and paint rollers/brushes/supplies, carpet, tile, sliding glass doors, windows, trim, shelving and more
• Cash donations for the above
• A day at a the spa for Mom
• People to help paint and help the contractors
• A large dining room table with chairs
• Large toy storage cabinets or boxes
• And if we’re really lucky, a contractor that can remove and reface kitchen cabinets
• And probably much more!
• A volunteer coordinator – that’s currently me, though I need lots of help!

The project is being done in conjunction with Eckerd Community Alternatives, the lead Foster placement advocacy agency in Tampa Bay.  Of course, your donations are tax deductible, an no donations are too small  

Please Contact Us or call us at 727-366-0325 for Matt or 727-366-0324 for me (Julia) if you personally can help or know of an organization or company that may be able to participate.

This house is full of love and I promise you that this project will be fun, fun, fun!  You’ll also be bringing much happiness for some really terrific kids. 

Thank you!

Our Keller Williams Realty Palm Harbor  office inspires focus.   While we are sharing a real estate antidote,this post is really about the importance of recognizing what’s most important to you, your plan to get you there, and how to stay focused consistently to make it happen.    Let’s start our tale by saying that while searching for Pinellas waterfront homes for a buyer client friend this week, we stumbled upon an Ozona FL For Sale By Owner home on the beautiful Gulf of Mexico.   

Watch the video above, then read on.  It will make more sense. 

With a limited supply of Palm Harbor waterfront homes to choose from, our big mistake was stretching out and falling in love witha property where the seller was not being informed and guided by professionals like us about the realities of the Pinellas Real Estate market or the art of negotiations. 

Mr. Seller started out very demanding of certain conditions that he wanted met – quickly!  We jumped through hoops.  Then Mr. Seller lost his focus about why he wanted to sell.  Then he asked for more money.  Then he said he doesn’t really need to sell.  How one goes from 60 to zero in 3 days time is beyond me.  He lost his focus, and we and our buyers were left with only frustration to show for our investment.         

Meanwhile, with all of the hurried demands from Mr. Seller, we lost our focus about our sacred time of day - our morning lead generation time – where we find buyers for our listings, listings for our buyers and have good conversations with people that see the benefit of working with us. 

Gary Keller, the brains behind Keller Williams Realty, reminded me of this when I found this “Big Rock” video tonight.  The trick remains to keep your eyes on your single most important purpose (your big rocks) and stay dedicated to achieving the goal that gets you there.   And in our case this week, we shouldn’t have allowed Mr. FSBO seller without a clear focus to sway us or our buyers from ours.   Tomorrow’s another day.  And I know exactly what I need to do to win it. 

What are your big rocks?  Do you have a plan to achieve your goals?  Get a coach if you need one and then FOCUS!

The Ozona Fl Ospreys seem to have it made – and I’m not referring to the the Ozona Elementary School Ospreys which are a neat flock, too. 

Ozona locals know that Ospreys are big beautiful birds abundant in Pinellas County – and they have this super cute tendency to build their nests on man-made structures if all the trees are occupied – including on top of boat masts, business signs and light poles.  These nests are HUGE and HEAVY- 2′ x 3′ or larger, and sometimes they need to be moved (see pic).

Our buds in the nest at HomePort Key Marina are getting new digs (a pole and platform) soon on The Pinellas Trail courtesy of the Clearwater Audibon Society.  While I’m sure this is better for the birds, I myself, might be a little peeved about losing my slice of waterfront Ozona Fl real estate.  

I can’t figure out how one convinces a bird to stay in a new nest?  Maybe install cable?  Ozona is for the birds, after all. 

Oh God, I can’t stop … I’m turning into such a bird nut – you have to check this cute site out – the live Dunedin Osprey CAM.  This monitors the nest at the St. Andrews Golf Links on Alt. 19 in Dunedin 24/7.   Don’t they get whacked with golf balls from the driving range?! 

Pinellas County living is just too much fun.  ~ Julia

These Palm Harbor Realtors hope that your holidays have been beautiful.  We’ve been wrapping up the results of 2009, acknowledging and learning from our wins and losses, and finalizing plans to make 2010 our best year yet at Palm Harbor Keller Williams Realty. 

With Pinellas County Home Values still readjusting, trust me, it’s been a challenging year.  It has taken more phone calls, appointments, showings, offers, negotiations, contracts and many more hours than we even knew were possible to get some wonderful people in to new homes, get their homes sold, and to work toward our goals.  Honestly, we didn’t hit our goal this year, yet we matched 2008′s results by a hair – and in 2008, we tripled our business from 2007.

We’ve still got work to do and have employed some powerful new strategies this past month to make our dream of doubling our business in 2010 a reality (Oh my – I just put that in writing for the world to see!). 

What are your goals?  What baby steps can you take to acheive them?  Write them!  Read them aloud often!  Be committed to them.  Dream them! 

Did you know that studies have proven that people who have written goals tend to be more successful in life than those that don’t?  

Did you know that people that are up-beat and positive tend to have more successes in life?

   We take these things to heart.

We wish you an abundant 2010.  

In life and in real estate, everything’s possible. 

Happy New Year!

Oh what a day full of surprises.  It was not the best.   I envisioned all afternoon about writing this post about getting blackmailed for Christmas, then I came to my senses. 

Tonight I realized that it’s possible to build a candy cane out of Legos to hang on a Christmas tree.  Wow!  Who knew?

I gave a homeless man on a 275 off-ramp in Tampa the $3.00 in my wallet and reminded him God loved him and that he was not alone.

We had a seasoned turkey roast from Surf and Turf Palm Harbor on Tampa Road.

There were bubble baths, tickle fights and all that is right.

I am reminded that we are all blessed if we decide to be.

And that when we are ‘tapped out’, we all still have more to give.

Whatever the obstacles, at the end of the day, if we each do what is right -even when others choose not to – we will sleep peacefully knowing we did right by the world.

And yes, we closed two more Pinellas short sales today.  Hooray.

I heard a funny song for the first time this afternoon while station surfing – “I Love God, I Like Beer, and People are Crazy.”  (oh boy, aren’t some?)

I am grateful dear readers, for Christmas, and all of you ~Julia

If you’ve been on the hunt for Pinellas foreclosures lately, you’ve probably seen more than your share of green swimming pools full of disgusting muck.   It seems that in Wellington, Florida the city has come up with a solution:  CATFISH!  Or pleco algae-eating fish.  It seems that about 15 fish will clear up a pool in no time for just a few dollars.  Who knew?!  See story here.

By the way, if you need a knowledgable, dependable, reasonably priced pool guy, call Marty at Bayside Pools in Dunedin at (727)360-7494. 

What are you afraid of?  Overpaying for your Pinellas home while being wham-blasted with negative news about the economy and the housing market?  Or perhaps secrets horrifically and seemingly worse?  OK.  I’ll go first.

I am dreadfully frightened of:

1. Public Speaking
2. Snakes
3. Having to work for someone else (translation:  fear of failing with our real estate business – which, by the way, is the opposite of reality, but a fear nonetheless)
4.  Slugs, snails and leeches (they belong in the same category, don’t you think?)

In these times, more than ever, it’s easy to venture into the realm of being fearful.   Yet, I think we all now, more than ever, must encourage our friends and neighbors to not only to survive these times but to thrive within them.  We’re fortunate, we have family (note: not colleagues or friends) at Keller Williams Realty Palm Harbor that have helped our successes and continue to propel us forward.   We give back, yet are at a point where it’s our duty and honor to do so more.

How do we conquer fear and catapult into the realm of fabulous?  I’m not quite sure, but after 43 years I think I might be on to something.  I’ve been pushing the limits of my comfort zone.  I invite you to stick your toes in the WATER OF FEAR, just to test the temperature.   In the last 30 days I:

1. Chopped a 1′ square, 1″ thick piece of plywood in half with my bare hands (see picture above) – in front of 50 people.
2. Watched an entire show on Animal Planet about slithering snakes with my son.
3. Have pushed myself, more than ever, with my routine of doing the thing I like to do least (lead generation), first thing in the day, and track my results.
4. Public Speaking:  As a newly appointed member of the ALC – Agent Leadership Council – in our Keller Williams Realty Palm Harbor office – I, with my dear friend Patty Neri, had to speak for a mere couple of minutes in front of a group of about 45 (which felt like 45,000).  Five minutes before speaking, my face was heating up, my was heart racing, and had that same ‘Oh my gosh I’m going to VOMIT’ feeling just like when doing oral reports in 9th grade history class and again in college.  Oh my!

Many of you are laughing about #4 and public speaking.  Maybe some of you can relate?  In retrospect, I managed to not throw up, my voice only cracked a few times, and I only stammered once or twice.  Afterward, I made my way to the water cooler and my hands were still shaking.  It’s all a blur now.  My stomach churns just thinking about it.  Yet, somehow, the next time it think it might be just a bit easier.   Afterward, more than ever before, I knew that everything was possible – if we just dare to try.  

What’s my point?  It’s summed up in a quote from an old book we started reading as part of a book club in our office (the brainchild of the amazing Ken Rossi) – Feel The Fear and Do It Anyway.  I’m paraphrasing here, but it’s this:

At the end of the day, I’d rather have said that I’m glad I tried or did than I wish I had.

How many of you have tested your fears?  For those of you that have, what have been your experiences?  Maybe it all just comes down to not overly analyzing whatever it is that scares us the most and just getting out there and facing it head on?

We can’t control Wall Street, but maybe it’s time to dip our toes in the waters of our inner fears – those fears that we actually CAN control?

Some of you now, are fearful of buying a Pinellas home in our current market.  That, I can share with you, with full-hearted enthusiasm – is nothing to be afraid of!  It’s perhaps the best time in history to buy your Dunedin home!  There are concrete facts to back that statement up if it’s a concern.  If you’re scared and have doubts about investing now, I invite you to post your comments and chat about them.  It’s o.k. to just dip your toe in.

After all, talking about buying real estate, within the type of market when historically millionaires are made, is a lot better than stepping on a snail in your bare feet (been there, done that).

So, what does a Palm Harbor Realtor do with her few spare minutes of time?  Truth is, I was just breezing through Active Rain, a clearinghouse for real estate professionals that also happen to be bloggers, and it somehow lead me to this story.

Apparently this divorced single mom, who happens to be ‘hot’ (I’ll let you decide) and her “agent”, have HER included with the sale of the house on both eBay and Craigslist.  Yes, that’s right, you get the house and the gal! 

Aside from the Ewwwwww Gross factor, has this agent no professionalism?  Have we all lost our minds?

Matt and I have seen some desperate measures from people in the wrong hands, but folks, if you’re trying to sell your Dunedin home, find yourself an agent with a professional and PROVEN MARKETING STRATEGY to get your home sold! 

If you’re smarter than this gal, I bet you can find your own dates.