Rick Hogue - REALTOR

So today was a big day for me. I found out that I can be a little blunt when I am putting a point across and sometimes share opinions of things I may know as fact but do not necessarily need to be expressed at a specific point and time. That is really profound to me and I agree.

To step back a little I went out this morning to show homes and the rep had a GLAR key that was set on a timer and it would not open so we ended up rescheduling for Friday at 1 to see this place and another location as well. I went back to the office sent out 40 emails to people I know, wrote 6 letters to others, and 1 postcard. Then I talked to one of my buyers and got them to reschedule for Friday so I did not miss my accountability group at 3.

That was a very good idea. We watched a portion of the Floyd Wickman video on FSBOs and discussed it. I made a statement about how I had two offers that were rejected and that had been dropped and got a couple of eyebrows that raised. Come to find out I was not as productive in trying to get the deal to go through as I should have been and my comrads at arms Linda, Noel, and Larry were like the LNL Railroad with excellent tips on how I could have changed my rejections into sales. I applaud them for their efforts and appreciate everything they said. I also decided to be more realistic with my goals and look forward to next week having my goals met and exceeded by better planning on my part.

After the meeting we were in our office section that will begin to be converted in October and I heard one of my group talking to another agent.and going over a deal that had bothered him and after our conversation it made him contact the other agent to try and recoup his ground on negotiations. The other agent listened as he talked to them and understood and was apologetic as well.

I guess what it really boils down to is that you get what you give. Tonight I wrote to an agent on one of my failed deals from last week and asked him a couple of questions that I hoep will spur our negotiations back from the grave.

I will let you know how htat turns out later.

Tonight I wrote an offer on a home in West Point and talked to the buyers and will probably list their mobile home for sale next Wednesday evening. I also set up showings for Friday and Saturday. I am looking at maybe 3 more offers by Saturday night on homes in Louisville. Wish me luck.

More later.

Today marks 127 years that Labor Day has been observed in the United States. Originally this was a holiday observed in Canada and a machinist by the name of MaGuire in NJ helped to organize the first demonstration and picnic for this holiday in New York in 1882. the holiday was organized by the labor unions to present a solidarity with works and their contributions to the movement forward of the US society and strength of it’s workforce.

In 1909 Congress passed the legislation making this a permanent holiday in all states and thus  putting Labor Day on the holiday map. Though Labor Day has been celebrated for 127 years, This year is the 100th anniversary of the official holiday according to congress.

Reflecting back on today’s events I would say we celebrated quite well. We had a mixed bag of people in our group today from those in public service, to a librarian, social worker, University Professor, several entrepreneurs, office manager, school teacher and an unemployed person.

Food ranged from hotdogs to chicken and osagio cheese  franks, vege-burgers and franks, Broccoli Casserole, Cole Slaw, Sweet Kraut, Vegetable medley Casserole, Mac and Cheese, Mac Salad, Cus Cus, Spicey Cheese dip, to Double Chocolate Caramel Brownies, Cherry Pie and warm chocolate chip cookies.

We swam, played games including Password (a great find that Rita got at a thrift store), and had stimulating conversations from housing starts, to healthcare reform.

I want to thank all that came over and wish those who did not get to attend a pleasant and wonderful holiday whereever you may be.

Now that we have celebrated it is off to great adventures for me during this week leading up to my class in St Louis for CDPE Certification.

Houses to show on Tuesday and new potential agents to come in on Wednesday night to our opportunity night. Then I am off to schedule my FSBO calls and to land a couple of listings for this week.

I hope each and everyone that reads this has a wonderful week and that you have enjoyed your holiday as much as I have. Check out some of the photos I took in the backyard today on my facebook account rick.hogue

Call me if you need to find out about a home in the area 502-649-3431 ro visit my website at http://www.louisvillemls.pro.

It is hard to think that we are now into the 9th month of the year and that temperatures will start declining very soon. But this weekend is about getting together with friends, having the last swim of the year and football. In Louisville we have fans that follow both UK and UofL. Both teams got off to a great start winning their first game of the season. Congrats to both teams on their first wins of the year. Holly and I have guests coming on Monday for a potluck dinner and games so that will be lots of fun

This week will be full of home showings and working with new and old clients. My schedule looks pretty full with showings on Tuesday for homes in Eastern Louisville, to downtown, to Shepherdsville. Should also get word on a couple of closings and I have an appointment to talk to a new couple about a listing their home. I am also shooting for getting all of my clients on a buyers agreement to show my commitment to them as well as the reverse.

I am also preparing to go to class for CDPE and look forward to finishing that course up too. As things come about I will keep you abreast.

For now just keep looking for homes on my website http://www.louisvillemls.pro or find out what properties are doing in your area by going to propertybyrick.com to get a monthly updated market analysis.

It was another great weekend with showing homes to multiple people on Saturday, having a record 17 couples at my open house on Sunday, getting water back into our pond at home, starting on some wood projects in my shop, and knowing that today marks 19 years that I have had the pleasure of being married to my wife Holly. You just can’t ask for more than that.

So on my anniversary, I have 2 homes to show this afternoon, a closing at 4:30 pm and then Holly and I are going out for dinner.

I hope each and everyone that sees this has a fabulous day and week.

More to come.

Do you remember the song, “She works hard for her money?” Change the She to a He and you got Me! If you are looking to sell your home or to buy your first or upgrade to another, then give me a call at 502-649-3431 or email me at info@propertybyrick.com. Any way you reach me is fine. You will not be disappointed in how I work for you. I eat sleep and breath real estate and I love what I am doing. I do take time to be with my lovely bride Holly and our dogs Zorro and Zen but I spend lots of time with clients and doing research.

Today it was announced that I am now ranked in the top 20 (17) for individual agents in our local office. I feel honored to be in this group of fine sales people who care about the way the real estate business is going. I know that by following the example of the people in this list and not only receiving but also sharing the knowledge that we will have the best sales force in all of Kentucky for real estate.

If you work for another company I would like to be your sponsor and have you come to any of our training programs that we offer in house, so you can see just how powerful our members are and how powerful you can become. Call me and we can meet for coffee and tell me which book you would rather receive free from me, “The Million Dollar Real Estate Agent” a plan to make you the best you can be by planning your career and staying focused on your family life or “Shift” knowing how to act during up and down times will set your pace for a great career even in tough times.

It is not only our strong belief system but also our commitment to excellence. We follow the examples set forth in Gary Kellers MREA book, Shift book, Flipping book and the vast knowledge that is shared within the Keller Williams organization. Those that believe in what they are doing and stand fast to the task of blocking time slots for specific activities and put the customer first are thriving in this market and are starting to realize their dreams. I am but one of those people and hope you will join me in the quest for greatness as we move into more prosperous times in the housing market. Look for the 36-12-3 course to be added in November of 2009 to our arsenal of programs. 411 will be added to the first session of 443 starting in the October class so if you need to brush up for your planning for 2010 goals then I highly recommend to attend this class. Also we are working on a class that will be probably presented once per quarter that will be interactive on “7 weeks to a FSBO Convert.”

I will be adding credentials to my Real Estate Associate title on the 15th of September when I have completed my course study to become a Certified Distressed Property Expert in St Louis. If you know of someone who may be in hard times or coming into hard times, be sure to have them contact me so I can work with them to make it hopefully a little easier when it comes to handling their real estate needs.

And don’t forget we are coming down to the wire on the 8000 Federal Tax Credit for first time home buyers. Let me help you get into a home before the 1st of December to qualify for the program.

I have now been with Keller Williams Louisville East for 8 months. In that time frame I have seen many changes in the market and in myself. With the training we get and give at Keller Williams it is amazing how fast you can grow your business. I have gone from knowing very little if anything at all about selling a house to 8 sales, and currently over 10 buyers who are ready to do something with the real estate market.

It is truely an exceptional company to work for and I hope that those who read this that are in the business will give me a call so I can tell you more.

Now I am off of my soap box but still want to let you know about the market. Home sales are up in our area every month since this spring with prices starting to level off and not be fast to fall. For the most part I believe that agents are doing a better job of explaining how the market is and how short sales and foreclosures are effecting the pricing in specific areas of the state. I still see somewhat of a slow market in the 500k homes but for those in the 100 to 210k market they are prime for first time home buyers.

Don’t forget, if you are eligible for the first time home buyers federal refund, you must close on your home by the 1st day of December. You will not be able to get the refund on an amended return at this point but you can apply for it with the proof of purchase on your 2009 income tax return. Just to reiterate, the first time home buyers tax refund is based on 10% of the sales price of the home up to 8000 dollars total rebate available. As long as you or your partner have not owned a home in 36 months and you make less than 75k for a single person or 150k for a family then you can qualify. Remember that it declines in percentage after that based on your income and those making more than 95k for a single person or 190k for a family are not eligible for any refund.

Call me if you have questions about this or if you want to find that perfect home for you. You can also search for homes on my MLS Search site http://www.louisvillemls.pro.

I will post as often as I can on this but it gets harder as the people start to call me more often.

Drove up last night to Columbus for a class for Keller Williams University on lead generation. About 8 people from my office joined me here so this should be a very good day. Look for some of my ideas that I take away from here to be appearing not only on my web site but in my mailings as well. More notes later.

Well it looks like my schedule is allowing me to post about once every two weeks. Since my last post we have gone through an inspection on a home, apraisal, termite inspection and are currently working on the repair list for that house. I hope we can close by the end of the month. I also should be into contract on another home in the next couple of days and I am so glad for my buyer as they have really been stressing over getting into a home before their kids start back to school next month.

I had an open house this past weekend in Lake Forest with one of the nicest 6 bedroom 6 bath homes you can imagine. I had seven couple come through and had interest from all of the visitors but have 3 that I count as possible candidates to write a contract on this house. I will write a special post when this happens before the next two weeks.

For the next 3 weekends I am working the 2009 Louisville Home A Rama http://www.homearama.com I hope those who read this will stop by and send your friends to come see me I will work the evenings on each Friday and 1-5:30 on Saturday 1-6 on Sunday. This is for a great cause so be sure to drop by the homes. You will not be disappointed. I am looking for 10 homes to list for sale in the next 4 weeks. If you know of someone call me. 502-649-3431. I will have my new web site up and running where you can search for homes in the Louisville and surrounding markets for sale. The new site is http://www.louisvillemls.pro. It should be up by the end of the week and will be the easiest way for you to keep up with finding your next dream home.

On a personal note my granddaughter Lily and my daughter Christina and her husband (my only son figure) Lloyd were in for the holiday and we had a blast at the zoo and also swimming in the pool. It is great to be a “papaw” and Holly loves being “mimi”. Ain’t life grand?

Yes it was hot and yes it was humid, but the fact of the matter is that with some time off and working smarter not harder you can accomplish lots of things.

This past weekend I had an open house on Saturday, wrote a contract that same day on another property, showed my property on 22nd street, and previewed another one for a different client. After that my wife and I went to play Bridge and had a great time. On Sunday I ushered at church, found another property for a buyer that we will look at next week, negotiated my contract and had it accepted, previewed another home, went swimming and out to dinner with Holly to celebrate the end of a great week. I hope that all of the Fathers and Father figures out there had a wonderful holiday. I sure did. Now it is off to get real busy this week on more endeavors.

It was a very good weekend last weekend and I hope to repeat it this weekend. On Saturday I had a couple of people come through to see Latania but both needed to work on a few things before we can get them into a house. However on Sunday in the first hour and a half I had 9 couples come through. Two of them came through 3 times each and I wrote a contract on the house that day and another Keller Williams agent from the Highlands office wrote one. By Tuesday at 12:45 my client had an accepted offer on the house and we hope to close before the 17th but it may be as late as the 28th. We have to wait and see on the moving of his money seeing as it is a cash deal.

This weekend I am having one for Karen Kraft on Ridgehurst Lane from 2-4 on Saturday. I am late in getting this part on the site so I will just tell you a little about it. The house has over 2300 sq ft of AG space which includes 3 full baths and 5 bedrooms, a nicely laid out kitchen with granite counter tops, a custom deck on the rear, manageable back yard, and a 2 car garage. In addition this home has another 1200 sq ft in an unfinished basement. All this for $245,000. Hope you will consider this one for your short list to see and if you would like me to show it to you call me at 502-649-3431.

Sunday I am revisiting a home that is listed with Jackie Schaeffer and before this week the house was at $529,900 The price was just reduced to $499,500. This house is amazing. From the foyer you can go left or right to the formal dining room or to the formal living room with pocket doors to create an intimate sitting area. Hardwood floors carry you to a massive great room with a wall of windows and flooring of Burber carpet. Included is a large gas fireplace and cafe doors leading out on to the back deck. To the left of the great room is the large eat-in kitchen with all built ins and a 3 season room on the back. Cross back to the hall and go to the 3 car garage, or a half bath or on down the hall to the master suite which is enormous and has a master bath with jacuzzi, separate shower, and walkin closet. The room also has several windows and doors that open to the 3 season room as well. The flooring is carpet in the master with inlaid tile and stain glass in the master. On the opposite end of the house are 2 more bedrooms with a jack and jill bathroom with separate vanities for each. This is what is known as a split ranch. But wait, we aren’t finished. If you go downstairs there is a large family room with cafe doors leading out to a lower patio. It has off white carpet, built in book cases, and a fireplace. To the right is an area ready for your pool table with another room to the rear for relaxing or it could be turned into an exercise room. Down the hall is an office that is 11′ by 12′ and at the end of the hall is another oversized bedroom with windows and walk in closet.  if you go straight ahead from the stairs coming down from the main floor you go to a door that opens to an area that is roughly 30 x 14 for storage and has another door that leads to another area about the same size with french doors and a work room for lawnmower, storage, hobby and crafts, or anything you want it to be. All I can say is wow what a very big house at approximately $100 per square foot. Total living space excluding all of the storage and garage is 4950. This is a one of a kind deal you do not want to pass up. Come see it on Sunday the 7th from 2-5 or call me for a private showing. The address is 17103 Ash Hill Dr., Louisville, KY.