Did I Read That Right? $.08 a Gallon for Gas?!

Being a Realtor, you tend to travel a fair amount.  You are always traveling back and forth showing homes, meeting with clients and going to closings.  This is one reason that I love being a Realtor so much; I am not tied down to my desk from 8-5 Monday through Friday.  Now the flip side to this is that every since gas prices have started to rise over the past few months, all that traveling really starts to cut into the wallet. Here in west-central Indiana gas prices are right around $3.99 a gallon (is that supposed to make us feel better instead of the shock of an even $4.00 I wonder?)  Nevertheless, when I was taking a break from my hectic day today, I happened across an article discussing gas prices across the world.  You can view the article here:

Gas Prices Around the World

The one thing that I noticed is that right now, the US is tending to hit roughly the average of all of the countries featured in this article.  Turkey was the highest listed at $9.96/gallon (ouch) though on the other end of the spectrum Venezuela’s gasoline only costs an incredible $.08/gallon.  So obviously gas prices prices could be much better, but at the same time they could be a whole lot worse. 

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Government Shutdown Ripples

I briefly looked over some of the freshly pressed blogs on here as I normally do.  One caught my eye more than the others though.  It was written by CNN about the government shutdown.  I’m sure by now, many of you had heard about this and know that if this does happen all the national parks and government service branches and industries (minus social security and the military) will be shutdown and its workers will not get paid.  One reason that I really became concerned about this though, is it will affect a lot more than just those who work for the government.  I had read that parts of the government including the Federal Housing Authority and government lenders such Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae will be included in the shutdown.  This poses a huge issue as if this happens, I will basically be out of a job too.  Being a Realtor, if my clients can’t get their financing, they can’t buy their homes and if they can’t buy their homes, I’m not going to get paid for brokering and closing transactions.  I also think of all the other professionals related to the real estate industry that will be facing the same predicament as myself as well as other industries that no doubt will be in the same situation of having the shutdown ripple into their livelyhood even though they don’t directly work for the government.

I obviously feel very bad for all of those government workers who are caught in the middle of this situation.  They can’t help their situation and are at the mercy of the lawmakers who will inevitably make the decision as whether the country gets shutdown or not.  It is also quite irritating that even if the government shuts down, the lawmakers WILL still get paid.  I think that there should be a law against this sort of action.  If they do not work, they shouldn’t get paid just like the rest of us.  If the situation was to get into their wallet and bank account, you can be for sure that they would find a way to keep the government running.  Nevertheless, hopefully they can come up with a solution before we all suffer the consequences of their actions.

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Numbers

This post might be a little random but hopefully entertaining nonetheless.  I find it interesting how numbers can strike so much emotion in people.  Your credit score, just a little three digit number, can bring joy in the ability to own a new home or sadness in destroying that dream.  Someone saying the date of your birthday, marriage or other significant event can trigger great happiness; or somber feelings sometimes if it does involve your birthday and maybe you’re hitting the big 5-0.

This came to me today when I ran in the grocery store.  I grabbed a couple things for lunch and when it rang up, the total was 3.16.  I stopped and stared at it for a minute.  Even though it was simply my total for groceries, it had a much deeper meaning for me due to Christianity.  I don’t know maybe it’s just my analytical nature, but nevertheless, it really got me thinking of how just looking at a number can change your mood and your day.  What was up to that point a normal day, became one with more meaning.  Have any of you had any experiences like this, or am I just weird?

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Days Gone By

Whew, I’m back!  It’s been at least a week (if not more) since I’ve been on here.  It’s amazing what all can happen it a week’s time; a whole nation and its people devastated by a tsunami, escalating military engagements in the Middle East, and a whole host of other major and trivial stories that have came out within the last week.  I have also taken on a few more clients within the last week as well (hence the reason I have been absent.)  One of my new clients really struck me in a real, heartfelt way the other day though.  My broker and I traveled over to her home to give her a bit of a presentation as well as discussing selling her property with us as well as the whole process in general.  What I didn’t expect was how much I was to learn while being there. 

The owner of the home was a widow and her husband had died late last year from cancer and other medical problems.  After we had spoken for a while, she opened up and talked more about her husband and the home which she is now looking to sell.  We found out that her husband had literally taken care of everything while he was alive. Now since he is gone though, it has put her in the situation where she has to take care of things that she never had to deal with and so it has been difficult for her.  Nonetheless she is accepting of things and she is slowly learning how to function more for herself and is getting along better now.  While she was telling us their story and the home’s story, she did tear up and cry some.  It was so sad to listen and watch her.  I’m not sure I’ve ever wanted to hug anybody so badly just to comfort them.  It was that moving.  It made me think of what kind of a man her husband must have been and wish that I could meet him.  For him to take care of her and work so hard to give them the life that they had together really told of his character. 

I could tell that she was an active Christian by all of the little verses, pictures, and church newsletters posted around.  Those and the whole situation around made me think of a verse:  Revelation 14:13 “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.”  Even though he might be gone, her husband is still taking care of her even to this day.  His pension is giving her more income on a monthly basis and he did everything that he could to set her up so she would be taken care of after his death.  It really gives meaning to the saying “Love knows no boundaries.”

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An All New Way to Work and Play

I consider myself to be a bit of a tech geek.  Now I’m not always a “first adopter” by any means as I don’t need to buy every new thing that comes out, I just enjoy keeping up on new devices and gadgets that may or may not make our lives better.  Something that is interesting in the real estate technological realm is the ability to go completely paperless.  You can check out an article here about doing just that here: http://lowes.inman.com/inmaninf/lowes/news/138581  Basically, all the paperwork that you normally would have to go through and fill out, can all be done electronically in some states.  It saves the realty company a lot of money through lowering supplies and general overhead costs, not to mention speeds up the process of a transaction.  To advance it more, the one device that is pushing the envelop even more towards this is the iPad.  It’s really allowing us as Realtors to compile everything we do into one device from the beginning of the transaction to the end.  Want to see a home before we go to see it?  I can take you on a virtual tour.  If you like it enough to see it in person, I can have all my listing sheets and information at my finger tips and the best part of all?  If you really like it and want to put in an offer, I can draw up the paperwork right there in the home AND have you sign it electronically so I won’t have to waste more of your time by going back to the office, going over everything there and then get the offer submitted to the listing agent.  It can all be done quickly and efficiently.

That’s all fine and dandy for work, but what about the “Play” part?  One thing I love on my phone is my YouVersion app.  YouVersion is an online company http://www.youversion.com/ that allows you to read the Bible for free in 50 different versions in 22 different languages, so they are really trying to reach out to the International audiance to spread the Word.  Furthermore, as I stated earlier, they offer an app for all types of smartphones (Apple, Android, Blackberry, Palm) so you can read on the go.  They also offer 50+ different reading plans to choose from some being over the whole Bible while others are topic related and may only take a few days to complete.  They even offer these fun “Badges” that you can earn based on completing certain things like reading plans or bookmarking a number of verses etc.  Tying to in to my whole article though is what they offer called “Live Events.”  It allows you to interact with church services using your mobile device.  Here’s what their website has to say about it:

“You can follow along with message outlines and take notes, read related Bible verses and click through to the expanded passage, vote on a poll and see the results live, ask questions anonymously, give, request prayer, and take it all home with you on your phone. It works with any web-enabled phone, as well as any computer with an internet connection.”

You can also check out a good video promo for it here  I have yet to take part in a service like this but think that it would be very interesting and entertaining.  So with that I was wondering, have any of you took part in a service like this and if so, what did you think of it?

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Looking on the Inside

In my last post, I was talking about helping my friend and his family find their first home and reflecting back over the years of our friendship.  Well we’re still out house hunting, trying to find the one that is right for them and in the process seeing some “interesting” properties.  Today we went to another home here in town that my friend wanted to see.  It was an older home, yet well keep; it had that 100 year charm that only homes that old can produce.  After walking around the property, they were pretty excited to go inside and see what it was like so we walked up to the front door and proceeded to enter the home.  Well what was quaint and charming on the outside quickly turned into a nasty, ugly disaster on the inside.  Apparently, when the people left the home, they just left.  Long story short, it was really trashy and overall just disgusting. 

After I got back to the office (and washed my hands) it made me think of something.  This house represents Man to some extent.  We are all made perfect in God’s own image, yet because we are all born into sin, our inside is unclean.  This also reminded me of 1 Samuel 16:7:

“But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him; for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”

God doesn’t care what we look like, He only cares about what’s on the inside of each and every one of us.  Just like that house, we can be beautiful on the outside, but if the inside is horrible nobody will want to live there.  God doesn’t want to live in a trashy house.  He wants to live in a pure, clean heart and one that is focused on Him.  One that wants to do good unto others and do His work, selflessly, in order to glorify His name.  Furthermore, if you are a Christian, do you need to do a little “spring cleaning?”  I know that I will get stressed out at work, say something I didn’t mean to, or just generally mess something up.  We all do at some point, but the most important thing to remember is that God is not only there for us, but He will also forgive us for our sins.  1 Thessalonians 5:17 says “pray without ceasing.”  So pray, that you shall be forgiven for your sins continually and that God help you live a more Christ like life.  He will appreciate the cleaner environment.

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A Reflection on Friends Past

As I sit here waiting for the phone to ring, I figure I might have enough time to write a quick post.  The call I’m waiting on is from a friend who got married last July.  I was honored to have been in his wedding because I have known him virtually all my life.  Now they’re looking to buy their first house so I’m working for them as their Realtor.  It’s just hard to imagine though that this is the same guy who I rode bikes with and went hiking out in the woods surrounding our neighborhood with, what? 15 or 20 years ago?  Now he’s married, has a baby girl, and is now looking to buy his first house.  Then again though my hair was thicker back then too. 

I guess I’ve been reflecting on things, life really, recently and it seems we all grow up fast; it’s not just the kids.  Everybody talks of how someone’s child has grown up so fast and gotten so big, yet tend to forget that they, themselves do not live a static existence.  We all grow and age, albeit some more gracefully than others, but upon a further thought, it really is humbling when you stop and really think of how short life is.  I think this is one of my biggest motivators in living a good, Christ filled life.  This lifetime is so short, but to think that what we do in this life will determine where we will be for eternity in the afterlife and all of a sudden your choices and actions that you make now have a lot more meaning.

Nevertheless, I must go.  I have a home to show to a dear friend and his happy, young family.

God Bless,

Jeremy

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Power Up!

So I am quite the happy camper right now.  I finally closed on a property that I’ve been working with for a while, so that has been a burden lifted off my shoulders.  What I’m most excited about though is that after three years of waiting, I finally get the chance to fully utilize my skills and education that I learned in college here at Sunshine Realty Group LLC.  After some discussion, my broker decided that since I have the education and a greater knowledge base in marketing, I should take over most of the marketing promotions and strategies here at the company.  I am so blessed and excited to finally get the chance to have this opportunity.  It has been almost three years since I graduated college and received my Bachelor’s degree in marketing and unfortunately I never had a chance to do very much marketing in my last job.  It truly shows the power of prayer:

Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you”

This is something I have been praying about since graduating; to give me the chance to use my degree in my career and now it happened.  I give God the glory for blessing me with this opportunity.  It really lifts your spirits and makes you feel fresh and “powered up” when you see God’s power in action first hand.  So now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to start on revamping our marketing strategy and channels!

God Bless,

Jeremy

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