Margaret Rome's Blog

When is a dining room not a dining room?

That's easy - when there's a grand piano in the middle of it! My daughter, Erica, placed a gleaming grand piano where most people would have a dining room table. This makes sense because she's a professional accompanist  http://www.ericarome.com/  and needs a piano for her work. Her dining room is NOT a dining room.

It got me thinking. What else do people do to change a room into a unique expression of the owner? I mean, if you call it a "living room"...what  the heck  do you do in the rest of the house?

I've known people who took a bedroom and turned it into a luxurious walk-in closet. A formal dining room that was never used became a poker room and home to a regular gathering of old friends. Even a living room morphed into a media room with the addition of a massive wall-hung state-of-the-art TV and a comfortable sofa.

One family had a room in their Victorian farmhouse that was furnished with tree limbs, high shelves, and cozy beds for their cats - real ones. There was no room for a human to sit, but the "cat room" was heaven for these felines.

One family had even "decorated' their entire house with Christimas Pigs. This was quite a conversation starter.

And then there are the collectors. One man had a complete  "turtle room" to house his collection. I've seen rooms and whole basements devoted to trains, dolls, chairs, owls,  giraffes, hippos and butterflies.

Yes, there's a grand piano in my daughter's dining room. 

So, what makes your home unique?

http://www.homerome.com/

Baltimore,md.

 7000+ Real Estate Agents now on Active Rain                         7000 +                                                   7000+

7000 +          000                                7000+                           7000+

                          7000+                                                   7000+

I wrote this back in September: "WE HIT 3000 Real Estate Agents! It was July 18th when I posted that Active Rain hit 1000 agents. It seemed like a lot  of activity in such a short time. (8/14, we hit 2000).  And here it is 9/8/06, Not quite 2 months later, and we have added another 2000 agents!  This is not counting all the other categories, just Real Estate agents."

It is now December 27th and I have just noticed that we have over 7000 Real Estate Agents! We more than doubled in a few months.  What an amazing number in such a short period of time.

 Congratulations to all!  This is a wondeful group and I am proud to be a member. I love sharing the Rain with special people. So I encourage  everyone to invite those special agents to join. This is a great holliday gift to share!

http://www.homerome.com/

Baltimore,Md

You might call them potholes or bumps in the road or detours; I call them turbulence. All those things that can happen between the time you sign a contract to buy or sell a house, and the day the keys change hands at settlement.

While talking on the Radio show this past Sunday, I started talking about challenges in a transaction. Many of you know that we fly a great deal. I am very fortunate that my husband is a pilot and we have the luxury of using our plane when I speak in places like New England. And when you fly, it is not unusual to encounter turbulence.

So what is turbulence? It might be a contract with contingencies: You agree to sell your house to someone who has to sell their house in order to buy yours. That means your sale is contingent on their sale. What happens if your buyer is not able to sell? Oops - turbulence.

You find a house you love, that you just have to have. At first look you know it's a stretch for you financially, but it's the perfect house. Then you go back and crunch the numbers, adding in all the costs you didn't think about at first - closing costs, moving, new appliances, etc. Uh-oh - that house you love just became unreachable.

Or you are selling your home and have a buyer who looks perfect. They want your home, they offer full price, and sign a contract. Sounds great, but are they qualified, can they get the mortgage they need, do they have "bruised" credit? There's another pot hole for you.

How do you handle these bumps? It's up to me to prepare you for them. My job as your Realtor® is to be honest with you from the start, to let you know that there will be turbulence. When you are prepared and encounter these bumps, they are much easier to ride out.

Turbulence bounces you around, but a top professional Realtor will help you get through the rough spots and on to a smooth settlement.

www.HomeRome.com

Baltimore,Md

Sunday December 24th   12noon   ALL ABOUT REAL ESTATE   Radio Show

Call In 410-922-6680 or listen http://www.wcbm.com/  East coast time!

Yep, I am doing it again, I will be hosting the Radio show LIVE in Baltimore.

 The show is always fun and I never know who is going to call in or what topic will arise.   It also helps the host Terry Stafford and Dave Meurer to have a life. Fifty two weeks equals a lot of Sundays.

You see I am very fortunate to be the back up guest and host. This happens when there is something really important in the main host's life, like a 1:00 Raven's game or Christimas Eve. Yep, I will be hosting the show on December 24th.

I invite the Active Rain members to listen in and if you are up early enough on this December weekend, call in and let the public know who we are. This market has great opportunities and the top agents are getting results. Here is a chance to tell the world about Active Rain and our active group of Real Estate Pros! I have had good results from the Rainers who have both listened and called in.

Being the day before Christmas, I have a feeling it will be quiet. So I will be talking about my listings and special properties that buyers are looking for. So this could be a boring show if there are no call ins.

If you have a special topic that you would like to share, you can give me a call ahead of time on my cell phone 410-530-2400

 You can listen live by going to the website http://www.wcbm.com/  or call in  1-410-922-6680  12 -1pm  WCBM 680 AM

Sunday December 17th   12noon   ALL ABOUT REAL ESTATE   Radio Show

Call In 410-922-6680 or listen http://www.wcbm.com/  East coast time!

The call came in today: "Can you come on the radio program Sunday as a guest?"

 Well sure I can, of course I can and I would love to:  OK, So I had to change  the time  of a showing on one of my unique properties and then I had to  postpone a listing appointment to later in the week....  No problem..the show is always fun and I never know who is going to call in or what topic will arise.   It also helps the host Terry Stafford and Dave Meurer to have a life. Fifty two weeks equals a lot of Sundays.

You see I am very fortunate to be the back up guest and host. This happens when there is something really important in the main host's life, like a 1:00 Raven's game or Christimas Eve. Yep, I will be hosting the show on December 24th.

I invite the Active Rain members to listen in and if you are up early enough on this December weekend, call in and let the public know who we are. This market has great opportunities and the top agents are getting results. Here is a chance to tell the world about Active Rain and our active group of Real Estate Pros! I have had good results from the Rainers who have both listened and called in.

If you have a special topic that you would like to share, you can give me a call ahead of time on my cell phone 410-530-2400

 You can listen live by going to the website http://www.wcbm.com/  or call in  1-410-922-6680  12 -1pm  WCBM 680 AM

Hope to hear from some of you!

Hey, let's run a contest. That seems to be the "in" thing right now. 

1. Guess how many people will listen in this week.

2. Guess how many people will call in this week.

Leave a comment if you listen in. This should be a fun show.

The show's host is Terry Stafford, she also from the south and we sound a wee bit alike.

I will announce the winner's name and company  on the show next Sunday December 24th.

Baltimore,Md

http://www.homerome.com/

In Boston there is a fantastic lady - Realtor® and friend -  named Mollie Wasserman. She's written a new book with a title that Mary McKnight would love:  Ripping the Roof Off Real Estate:  It's Not What You Save, It's What You Keep. Mollie also worked with her partner, Paula Bean, to create a new ACRE course (Accredited Consultant in Real Estate) for training real estate agents in working and getting paid for their consulting and expertise.

Not long ago Joeann Fossland, Master Certified Coach and a dynamo herself, interviewed Mollie for the Agent Real Estate Roundup Podcast on December 9. In her introduction, Joeann talks about the different choices an agent has in selecting the market segment they want to specialize in. You can imagine my delight to hear her use me as an example of giving what she calls "Nordstrom service" - personal service that has clients lined up waiting to work with me. I never gave it that name, but that's the idea - people know that working with me means they get exceptional personal service, always. 

Whenever Joeann is involved I always learn something, and this Podcast is no exception. Take a few minutes and listen to this terrific interview.

What did you learn today?

http://www.homerome.com/

Baltimore, MD

Last weekend I went to  look at some land with a potential seller. Little did I know that looking at building lots could be such a cold and thrilling adventure!

A few years ago I sold "Big Daddy" his 6 bedroom, 5 bath house. It's a wonderful place that he made even better by adding a gorgeous in-ground pool, 3 decks, and finishing a great deal of the basement. Did I mention that this house is 8,000 square feet?

But now he's ready to buy some land and build a new house. Big D has 200 pairs of shoes and lots of toys, and he wants an even bigger house with at least five garages for all his toys...and his 14 grandchildren's toys, too. So when I asked about his NEW toys, he opened the garage and showed me this wild red beauty. And then he kind of dared me to go look at properties on his new toy. His wife said, "It's way too cold, She's not going on that."  But I do love a challenge.

So he put me in a leather jacket, goggles, and a "brain bucket." (As a former nurse I know the worst accidents involve motorcycles, and I had to have a helmet.) Then off we went on the Trike, riding behind 440 horses in a Corvette engine. Cold....oh, you have no idea how cold 50 degrees can be! It was so windy that his helmet blew off and we had to make a quick stop to retrieve it. Everywhere we went, cars were blowing their horns and everyone waved. This is not a way to travel if you're going incognito!

We looked at some properties, and then when we returned he told me that as soon as we find the right three acre piece of land, he wants me to sell his home.

How far will I go for a listing? Now you know! My gorgeous hubby says that I will do anything for Real Estate. What fun, I loved it!! 

I bet some of you could hear the roar?

http://www.homerome.com/

Baltimore,Md

I received this from a friend and wanted to share with everyone. We ALL  need to be careful around the holidays.

The crooks have found a way to rob you of your gift card balance.

If you buy Gift Cards from a display rack that has various store cards you may become a victim of theft. Crooks are now jotting down the card  numbers in the store and then wait a few days and call to see how much  of a balance "THEY" have on the card. Once they find the card is  "activated", they go online and the shopping begins.

You may want to purchase your card from a customer service person, where they do not have the Gift Cards viewable to the public.

Let's all share this with family and friends!

www.HomeRome.com

Baltimore,Md

What a fabulous morning! We drove to Worcester, MA because the marvelous Nelson Zide invited me to speak about technology at his office. I figured maybe there would be a handful of agents, but I was wrong - the room was packed!

I showed them my tech tools and talked about how using them helps with listings and sales. Of course my tablet PC is part of me now - I don't go anywhere without it. The group was fascinated by how I've customized the "bump" case, another example of finding ways to make your tech tools useful. I took my digital camera out and gave it to someone in the audience; the photos here are from my camera.

I illustrated how an electronic measurer can be a real "Wow!" factor on listings. I took a couple of measurements and then wrote 14' x 14' on the tablet screen. Sometimes I have the seller do the measuring; sometimes I hand the tablet to the seller and let them write.

We talked about using a website and advertising for a buyer, as in my Buyers4YourHome page. It started several years ago when I advertised that I needed a home within five miles of the Baltimore Beltway. That covers Baltimore City and a lot of the suburbs; they quickly saw how an ad like that would reach a lot of potential sellers! From that print ad I moved on to the B4YH page that is one of the most visited pages on my site now.

Still on websites, we talked about formatting the individual listing pages so that they are full-color flyers for each property. Sellers never run out of flyers if they have a color printer - they can download and print off their home's details and photos any time. The same thing works for other agents, and potential buyers can print and carry with them all the information when they visit.

One of the agents in the front had a "smart phone"  and was on the web pulling up everything I was speaking about. It could not have been planned better. She was so enthusiastic and was sharing the technology with the group! "Oh look at her flyers".  I, of course was beaming!

There were lots of questions and much fun and laughter. Nelson was a delightful host - he is the absolute BEST marketing person I know. He is always covered with his company ERA logo right down to his shoelaces. You might see him with Red Lobster hat on too, the mark of his mentor group. Nelson is not known to be a high tech person - and I did tease him about that a bit - but he has a wonderful way of selling a whole lot of real estate and getting a whole lot of referrals.

You better believe I talked about Active Rain. I had a big writing pad at the front on which I wrote my name, my email address and http://activerain.com/referrals/homerome  I referred to the AR address and had my special AR cards to hand out. Thank you Rain gods for making these available to . We already have some new members from this.

I told the group that had I known there was going to be such a large crowd I would have planned what I was going to say. On the drive to Worcester from Boston I tried to write some notes on the back of a few envelopes but didn't get very far. It wasn't because I couldn't think of anything, but my go-anywhere office was busy! I had  contracts coming in on my Tablet PC, I was negotiating a home inspection request and making appointments on my listings.

I think they got the most important message about technology. It's a great tool but the creativity has to come from the real estate professional. I know how to list, I know how to sell. I know how to listen, I know how to negotiate. I know how to meet people, I know how to network, and NO one can show a house better than I can. All the technology in the world will not teach you how to do these things. A computer can show you photos but it cannot "show" a house with the warmth and personality needed to have that buyer already living in the property.

What technology can do is save me time and allow me to have more personal time. And it does all this without me being tied to an office. That's the real advantage of technology today.

http://www.homerome.com/

Baltimore,Md.