I’m still on vacation. In fact, I’m so much on vacation that I had to look at Outlook in order to double check that today was/is actually Wednesday. I’ll be home in a few days. However, in the meanwhile, to keep the AR juices flowing, I’m posting a few botanical photographs for your enjoyment.

Now, this list one is my favorite. Just goes to show you that even when you are on vacation, someone or something is always working hard. Check out these ants:

My friend Christie is a school nurse at a San Diego County middle school. The school receives all sorts of food donations, but does not have a kitchen or permission to prepare food on site. A few months ago, they received a donation of 140 bags of Hershey’s semi-sweet chocolate chips. After seeing the boxes lying around the school for awhile, she decided to take matters into her own hands. She donated the bulk of the chips to a local food pantry, and then saved a few bags for a local block party.

At the block party, each family was supposed to use the chips to prepare some exciting chocolate chip treat. I decided to use my two bags and follow the traditional recipe-doubling it, of course.

If you do not have a baker’s kitchen and baker’s equipment, you may not be able to successfully double the recipe. I didn’t realize that my Kitchen-Aid mixer was too small to handle all of the batter. I didn’t realize that I did not have enough cookie sheets for ninety-six cookies. I didn’t realize that I did not have the arm strength or the patience to make almost 100 beautiful cookies.

The whole idea sounded great (and yummy) when I got started. But, in my efforts to be super-efficient and double the recipe so that we would have cookies for years to come, I was foiled. I made a huge mess. I had to use and reuse the cookie sheets, and the oven was on for hours. At the end of the whole project, I asked myself, “Was it all worth it?”

Well, the cookies came out pretty well. But I did learn a lesson: sometimes in an effort to save time, we are actually cutting off our noses to spite our face. I thought that I might as well make 96 cookies, since I was already making 48.

Sometimes when I try to double up on my marketing efforts or multi-task to be more efficient, I seem to spread myself too thin. I do not end up putting my best efforts into my work-in the same way that my cookie experience kind of died a slow death.

There’s a limit to the number of listings my team can handle, the number of short sales we can negotiate. If we take on too many, then we are spreading ourselves too thin. We are not able to provide the level of service that our clients expect. We are not able to provide the kind of service that we want to provide. Doubling up on the number of listings we take on does not always mean that we double the number of closings just as doubling the chocolate chip cookie recipe did not quite yield the chocolate chip cookie experience that I had hoped.

How often do you have things that need to get done by other folks in order to move ahead, but it ain’t happening?

There’s a monkey on YOUR back that needs to go, but it’s stuck until you get what you need. 

Or there may be tasks you need to delegate to others, so you don’t have to deal with them or so the appropriate person can take care of the issue. 

Depending on other folks can sometimes be a hassle. Ironically we seem to be able to accept our own procrastinations, but somehow it is more of a problem when someone else is involved and isn’t doing what they are supposed to. Talk about frustration. 

Real estate transactions require coordination and cooperation from a host of folks – buyers, sellers, agents on both sides of the transaction, lenders, inspectors, title and escrow, appraisers, and more. Often, the process cannot move ahead until some other party does their thing:

• You cannot get a pre-approval from the lender until the buyer provides all the documentation

• The offer cannot move along and escrow (where applicable) cannot open until the seller signs the necessary documents

• The lender will not order the appraisal until the buyer, or agent, provides the executed offer to purchase 

• The underwriter cannot approve the loan commitment until the appraiser completes and sends in the appraisal, and all needed documents are in place

You get the picture. [which, BTW, is courtesy of s-a-m on Flickr]

The point is that monkeys end up on our backs often. We need to move them along, i.e., delegate that task to someone OR take care of it ourselves and get it done, so that the responsibility is no longer ours and the next person in the process can do what they need to do. 

But that also means that once we pass along that task or accomplish our goal someone else has the monkey, and may need a bit of prodding, or a kick in the pants, to do what they are supposed to do in order to proceed to the next step. A phone call, an email, or stopping by in person may be necessary to get that monkey moving in the right direction…off their back and on to the next person. 

Get that monkey off YOUR back by taking action. 

Don’t procrastinate but do what you need to do to move it along. Wishing it would leave won’t make it so. And sometimes the longer the monkey is there, the harder it is to make it go away. It probably won’t leave on its own, especially if it gets too comfortable.

A monkey on YOUR back is NOT a good thing.

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 If I can provide more information about Carlsbad real estate and surrounding areas, or the housing market in general, or otherwise assist you in your homes search, please contact me by phone or text at or email me at JDowler@remax.net.

All content copyright © 2010 Jeff Dowler Carlsbad Homes and Real Estate Tidbits

Looking for Chocolates in Carlsbad? Carlsbad Chocolate Bar in Carlsbad Village

As a self-proclaimed chocoholic, it’s pretty easy for me to zone in on anything chocolate.  I can’t say I’ve met a chocolate I didn’t like.

And an entire store dedicated to chocolate is pure heaven. 

And so the Carlsbad Chocolate Bar goes on the list as a fave place to visit in Carlsbad Village.

I love the play on words, being a fan of chocolate bars AND “bars” that cater to chocolate lovers. 

And their tag line is great…”bringing chocolate to Carlsbad, one piece at a time!“ 

The Carlsbad Chocolate Bar is attached to another favorite place…Le Passage French Bistro (with their newest addition, the Vintage Wine Shop) in the heart of Carlsbad Village, and thus it has the charm of a French chocolatier. Both are well worth a visit. 

Or skip dinner and go right to chocolate. 

As one would hope, there is a wealth of chocolate delights to choose from – truffles and dozens of other chocolate novelties, some of them even sugar free (but what fun is that?).  

Two large multi-shelf cases full of chocolate!!

They also offer some wines (French and California) and ports, chocolate beer, and will do wine and chocolate pairings for you. 

Need a gift basket? How about some chocolate, wine and other goodies created by the Carlsbad Chocolate Bar? 

The Carlsbad Chocolate Bar is located at 2963 State Street next to Le Passage. You can reach them at 760-434-4479. Better yet stop in to select a few treats for yourself or someone else who appreciates chocolate as much as you!

Owner Laura Reyer has another winner in my mind at the Carlsbad Chocolate Bar

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All content copyright © 2010 Jeff Dowler Carlsbad Homes and Real Estate Tidbits

Funny. One year ago we were in contract to buy a short sale. Everything was falling into place, we got loan approval, we found tenants to rent our home, all was good.

In just twelve short months they closed our office in Las Vegas, forcing us to either relocate if we wanted to stay with our employer or try to stay in Las Vegas and find employment in a market already beyond tapped. We reviewed our options and decided to relocate.

All in all, not a bad decision. However, in the six months since we have relocated my husband has taken a 75% pay decrease. It isn’t because we relocated, really, there are a combination of factors involved. First of all, our co-workers that didn’t relocate stayed in Las Vegas and opened up a new division of a competitor. We knew we would lose business to them, and although we don’t know exactly how much business we have lost to them we can only guess it has been significant.

Second, the regulatory changes that hit the industry on January 1st of this year have really made a dent on how long it is taking to get loans to the finish line. More regulatory changes are in effect beginning July 1st and we have begun to wonder after those are implemented just how many people will be left standing.

The big thing for us is the morality of having to short sale a home. We didn’t buy a home that was over our means. We weren’t tricked into a loan product that we didn’t understand. We bought that home five years ago and have remained conservative with our use of credit. We aren’t in over our heads as far as some of the stories you read about people overextending themselves and then walking away. The sad thing is just that we have lost nearly 75% of my husband’s income in the last 12 months. Considering he is the breadwinner, you do the math. We have also continued to make the payments on that home every single month even though it is putting us 4k in the negative. (Originally I calculated it as 5k but after recalculating we are lucky, it’s only 4k).

I never got the fax from the first lienholder when I requested it so I called back. When I got someone from the loss mitigation department on the phone he told me that they never fax “work out” packages and he didn’t know why the first guy told me he would do that. He also made a comment that angered me. He said “I can see your loan is current. I don’t even know why you are calling us.”

Well.

Our loan is current because we are going into the negative every single month to fulfill our financial obligations. We signed a note saying we would do that. However, we cannot do it indefinitely and we want to review our options. I asked him about discussing our situation with someone there to see if we would even qualify for a short sale and he told me that wasn’t an option. Apparently they will not even review your workout package until you are at least 30 days delinquent (hint, stop making your payments so we can work with you) and also contrary to what the first person told me when I called, I cannot submit my package without a purchase contract.

So that puts us in a catch 22 position. We would have to list our home for sale and stop making the payments just for them to consider if they would work with us. And if the answer is yes, then great, it would maybe work out. But if the answer is no, then we have not only wrecked our credit but have also put our tenants to the streets.

We are considering marketing the home as an investment property with tenants, but even short saling it, you tell me who is going to want a 450k investment property right now?

My heart is just broken over all of this. My morals are telling me to just keep draining everything I have until either the market improves or our income improves. Neither of those options are looking likely in the near future. My heart is telling me that we have a family living in that home that has cared for it better than we have- they have even landscaped our courtyard that I could not convince my husband to do anything with. They deserve to live in that beautiful home and keep their children in one place. My financial sense is telling me that if we continued to deplete all of our resources to keep that sinking ship afloat we may wind up losing more than just that house. We have two kids to raise ourselves and the cost of childcare is not cheap. Not to mention, just a few minor emergencies and we could be living beyond our means in a hurry.

So here we are, a few weeks later, and we still have not made a decision if we are going to keep the house or pursue a possible short sale. Having been on the other side of the short sale fence just one year ago I just don’t know if I have the patience to go through it again. Decisions must be made in the next couple of months though, so I will keep you updated.

I read Linda Davis’ terrific blog post entitled “60 websites in 60 minutes“. Truth be told that you need a lot more than sixty minutes to go through the post and try out all of the wonderful tools that she mentions.

Here’s a great tool that is quite a lot of fun to try: Wordle.

Go to http://www.wordle.net and enter in your text or your rss feed address and Wordle will create a cool amorphous shape that pulls out the main words and phrases in your blog.

In addition to the fact that the design itself is pretty cool, I like to see my key words in front of me. You see, I am one of these people that gets so involved with the writing that I forget about the search engine optimization. So, when I see the words that I repeat frequently on my ‘wordle’, then I know what I need to do.

Right now, it looks like I need less Shakespeare and the names of a few more of the local communities (unless I specifically want to target English professors with in my short sale transactions).

Anyway, do give her blog post a look and give wordle a try. It’s a lot of fun!

Here’s my wordle:

ENCINITAS ORCHIDS

Encinitas is known for beautiful flowers in its nurseries, gardens and at retail and whole sale growers.

This beauty was one of many I spied at an orchid nursery in Encinitas just off the freeway.

Of course if you want a gorgeous orchid arrangement, I would recommend ENCINITAS ORCHIDS owned and created by my friend Don Doerfler.

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All content copyright © 2010 Jeff Dowler Carlsbad Homes and Real Estate Tidbits

1136 Hubbard Avenue in Escondido is now For Sale!

Imagine living in a rural setting on a hill with amazing northerly panoramic views of the mountains and valleys, yet near all the amenities (shopping, dining) and commuting routes (e.g., 78 and 15 freeways heading north, south and west) you need. 

Imagine your own citrus and avocado trees on 2.74 acres with the potential to subdivide the land (buyer will need to investigate feasibility, requirements, and costs). 

Imagine your own home business in the 24 x 28 detached workshop – you could be an artist, potter, woodworker, landscaper or entrepreneur. 

Imagine a 2-story spacious home with 5 bedrooms, 2 of which are master bedrooms both with full baths (one is upstairs with fabulous views from a private north-facing deck) and 3.5 baths. 

Imagine the possibilities of this Escondido home for sale with terrific views and gardens. 

Visit 1136 Hubbard Avenue Escondido for more information, photos and videos.  

Read More: 

Escondido Real Estate – A Tour of Escondido: A Diverse Inland San Diego Community

Escondido Real Estate – Escondido Real Estate Market Report

Escondido Community Profile

1136 Hubbard Avenue is Offered at 5,000

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 If I can provide more information about Escondido real estate and surrounding areas, or the housing market in general, or otherwise assist you in your homes search, please contact me by phone or text at (760) 840-1360 or email me at JDowler@remax.net.

All content copyright © 2010 Jeff Dowler Carlsbad Homes and Real Estate Tidbits

This morning while I was walking on the treadmill, I watched CNN and learned about a feud between Lady Gaga and Jerry Seinfeld. If you haven’t been following this important and newsworthy matter (read: sarcasm), here’s the deal: Lady Gaga, who publicly raised her middle finger at a recent New York Mets game, was moved to Jerry Seinfeld’s private box as a result of her behavior. Seinfeld, who owns the box, was angry because he felt that this move was considered a reward or an ‘upgrade’ which only served to encourage what he perceived to be negative behavior.

I have to say that I agree with Seinfeld on this one. In a way, I think that this public feud brings to light the importance of maintaining control your public image. Didn’t Gaga’s agents and representatives ever tell her that hundreds of thousands of people watch her every move? Didn’t she realize that what she does and how she behaves in the media could have backlash?

What about you? Do you realize that people watch your every move and that the way you behave online-your public image-could have long term effects on your business? Your public image includes your facebook profile page, your facebook fan page, your twitter account, your LinkedIn account, your blogs, and your public comments on the blogs of others.

So, where do you stand? What is your public presence? Are you a Lady Gaga or a Jerry Seinfeld?

To a degree, I see the merits of behaving like Lady Gaga. Gaga is dramatic and drama creates hype. In Lady Gaga’s case, this hype will sell more albums. At the same time, what message does this behavior ultimately send to children, her family and those around her about public decency and respect for others?

In your blog posts and comments, do you treat others with respect and decency or do you comment aggressively in order to create hype and draw attention to yourself and your business? I prefer to behave more calmly and rationally. I believe that it is best to comment intelligently and politely disagree. In this way, I assert myself as the professional that I want others to hire and do business with in the future.

Although Lady Gaga behavior may result in big bucks, I’m willing to bet that ten years down the road the professional online behavior exhibited by others will go a lot further.

Anyway, that’s my $.02

Photo courtesy of Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/keithallison/3634089777/

When considering summer vacation reading, most people like a good mystery, love story, or drama. My first summer read, however, was not from one of these genres. In fact, it was Soci@l, written by Ben Kinney with Jay Papasan. And, what a great read, it was.

Having attended Rain Camp in Los Angeles, this book reads like a Rain Camp refresher course with more detail than Rain Camp itself. Using both broad strokes and details, this ebook tells you everything you need to know about social media and social networking in order to elevate your existing business practices.

While I found the entire ebook enjoyable, my favorite aspect of the book was the Preface, particularly the wonderful quotations used to illustrate points about social media.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the preface:

“Facebook is the Swiss Army knife of social media: email, blog, forum, online invitation tool, calendar, and more-all in one convenient package.” -Bryon Ellington

Having attended Rain Camp and now as a careful reader of Soci@l, I clearly understand the deep rooted and multi-faceted value of facebook that Ellington refers to in this quote. Adding fan pages and customizing ads are only a few of the features that can really enhance one’s Internet presence and increase business.

[Regarding You Tube...] If a picture is worth a thousand words, what’s the going rate for a You Tube video testimonial?” -Jay Papasan

Having read Gary Vaynerchuk’s Crush It! and reviewing the value of You Tube in this ebook, there is no question that a well-rounded marketing plan will include You Tube. Papasan’s quote puts it all in perspective.

[Regarding Twitter...] “Shakespeare said, ‘brevity is the soul of wit.” -Ben Kinney

Knowing that you must convey your message in a creative way and keep it under 140 characters is a challenge, just as writing in iambic pentameter probably was for the great bard.

In any case, if you love social media and blogging and want to learn more about how to bring your business to the next level and leverage the tools that are all around us, I would highly recommend that you make Soci@l your next summer read!

This blog post is a review of Soci@l: Attract Friends, Followers and Connections to Your Business. Soci@l is a free download written by Ben Kinney in conjunction with ActiveRain and Jay Papasan. In exchange for downloading the free copy of Soci@l and writing this review, I have a chance to win a free iPad and I’m getting 2000 ActiveRain points.

Download a free copy of Social here and find out how you can have a chance to win an iPad and be guaranteed 2000 ActiveRain points.