Staff Website Endless REsources.........

Chicago has started a program that will use a combination of price reductions, down payment assistance and non profit financial aide for purchasers on property in which the city has an investment.

Visit    FindYourPlaceinChicago.org or ThePartnershipForNewCommunities.org for more info

Any agent interested in a personal website with no monthly fees attached please contact me at nnovak@PruSourceOne.com

We will be releasing a free monthly website with template options to all of you by the end of October. There is only a one time set up fee of $100. If you'd like customization that will be charged to you at $50 per hour for the web designer.

The search engine attached is the same as our company search, FREE to you. If you are on the eTeam this will save you the 5% technology fee with your own clients!

Again, simply send me an email and I will put you on the list. You will then be contacted regarding your site setup within the next 30 days. Don't wait, sign up today!

QSC Training is scheduled for Thursday, September 18th 1pm to 4pm in the St. Charles office.

Please RSVP to nnovak@PruSourceOne.com by September 12th to reserve your seat.

"One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation."
~ Arthur Ashe

MOVIN' WITH MORALES!

This is a reminder to please take the time to download and listen to the following podcast if you're into podcasts.

Tax Credit Podcast

If you don't know what a podcast is and want a quick 3-minute crash course, here it is:

A podcast is basically an audio recording that you can download, then add to your iPod(or whatever music player you prefer).  The idea is you can listen to the audio conveniently on your ipod.  This is great for people who commute, because instead of listening to music in the morning or aimlessly people watching, you can be covering an important topic in your industry!  Keyword: productivity!

For more info on podcasts:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast

I would like to announce that we now have video upload and sharing capabilities. It is very simple to use. If you are familiar with Google Video® and/or YouTube®; PruVid® is very similar. Its easy as saving videos from your camera and uploading them to PruVid®. The videos you upload are browse-able and search-able via keywords.

Hurry, time is running out!

 We need help and participation from ALL OF YOU!

We have a disappointing number of golfers and attendees for our Sunshine Kids event. If you plan on golfing, playing bingo, sponsoring, buying raffle tickets or just coming for dinner and cocktails you only have until September 10th to sign up. Don't wait until the last minute.

 If you already signed up but have yet to pay...please do so by the end of this week.

Come support your Managing Partner, Dave Hanna while he is inducted as the 2008-2009 President of the Chicago Association of Realtors ®. We have tables reserved for all of you to come and join the celebration.
Tickets are free of charge to you, spouses and/or guests are $50 per ticket.
Enrollment and payment is due no later than September 18th. Date: Thursday, September 25th Time: 5:00pm Cocktail Reception / 6:00pm Dinner & Program Where: Navy Pier Grand Ballroom, 600 East Grand Ave  Sign-Up Sheets Are Located at Your Office Front Desk

I normally do not send out "forward this" type of e-mails, but this one is worth the read.  It's short, simple, uplifting and should be everyone's mantra.  The following is what the Dalai Lama has to say for 2008.  Enjoy!

INSTRUCTIONS FOR LIFE

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three R's:
   • Respect for self,
   • Respect for others and
   • Responsibility for all your actions
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don't let a little dispute injure a great relationship.
7. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honorable life.  Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation of your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation.  Don't bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge.  It is a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

I think that should cover just about everything!

  One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were
driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a
parking space right  in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes,
skidded, and missed the other car by just inches!

    The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling
at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean he was
really friendly. So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost
ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!'
 
   This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call,
'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'
 
  He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around
full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of
disappointment.  As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and
sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally.
 
  Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on.  Don't take their garbage
and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.
 
  The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks
 take over their day. Life's too short to wake up in the morning with
 regrets, so...Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who
 don't.
 
    Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent
 how you take it!
 
  Have a blessed, garbage-free day!

MOVIN' WITH MORALES! ~

HISPANICS ARE ONE-IN-FIVE OF ALL PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS NATIONWIDE
WASHINGTON - The number of Hispanic students in the nation's public schools nearly doubled from 1990 to 2006, accounting for 60% of the total growth in public school enrollments over that period. Presently, 10 million Hispanic students attend the nation's public schools, 20% of all public school students.
 
In 2006 Hispanics were about half of all public school students in California, up from 36% in 1990. They were more than 40% of enrollments in three additional states (Arizona, New Mexico and Texas) and between 20% and 40% of all public school students in five states (Nevada, Colorado, Illinois, Florida and New York). Overall, Hispanics are the largest minority group in the public schools in 22 states.
 
Strong growth in Hispanic enrollment is expected to continue for decades, according to a recently released U.S. Census Bureau population projection. In 2050, there will be more school-age Hispanic children than school-age non-Hispanic white children.
 
In order to illuminate this growing group of public school students, the Pew Hispanic Center today releases "One-in-Five and Growing Fast:  A Profile of Hispanic Public School Students," a statistical portrait of the demographic, language, and family background characteristics of the nation's 10 million Hispanic public school students.

Key findings from the report:  
The vast majority of Hispanic public school students (84%) were born in the United States.
Seven-in-ten (70%) Hispanic students speak a language other than English at home.
Nearly one-in-five (18%) of all Hispanic students speak English with difficulty.
Nearly three-in-five Hispanic students (57%) live in households with both of their parents compared with 69% of non-Hispanic white students and 30% of non-Hispanic black students.
More than seven-in-ten U.S. born Hispanic students of immigrant parents (71%) live with both parents.  Smaller shares of foreign-born students (58%) and U.S.-born students of native parentage (48%) reside with both parents.
More than a quarter of Hispanic students (28%) live in poverty, compared with 16% of non-Hispanic students. In comparison, more than a third of non-Hispanic black students (35%) reside in poverty and about one-in-ten non-Hispanic white students live in a poor household.
Foreign-born Hispanic students (35%) are more likely than their native-born counterparts (27%) to live in poverty.
The report, One-in-Five and Growing Fast: A Profile of Hispanic Public School Students, is available on the Center's website, www.pewhispanic.org.

Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center, is a non-partisan, non-advocacy research organization based in Washington, D.C. and is funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

~ Article from info@pewhispanic.org

MOVIN' WITH MORALES! :)

For those of you who own laptops and have ever fretted about having it stolen, there are options for you. Traditionally, there have been several companies that offer tracking software for your laptops. I never pursued any of these companies due to three reasons:

1)Compatibility issues

2)They cost money

3)They are controversial when it comes to your privacy.

But worry not, there is another solution! There is software from a team of researchers at U of Washington called Aedona ( name due to the Roman goddess '''Adeona''' who guided children back to their parents' household). The software's webpage is at : http://adeona.cs.washington.edu/

I will be trying out this software tonight (fittingly while using my laptop at a cafe/library), and I hope to report how well it works, as well as maybe a tutorial on how to set it up yourselves. But before I do, I thought I would recommend it to those of you who are adventurous users with a need to provide what protection you can for the expensive laptop.

Advantages of Adeona:

1. It is open source software, which means a lot to us geeks, but to you, one word: free.
2. It protects your privacy. Only you have that key that will enable the tracking software, therefore, no one else can track you!
3. Compatible with Windows*, Macs, and Linux

Please contact me if you are interested in this further....

Quick Tip…

“Most REALTORS® I know have a traditional "point and shoot" camera and use these to take photos of their listing to place on the MLS. I want to share a wonderful product that is inexpensive and makes a significant difference when taking interior photos. It is a wide angle lens available from www.magneticlens.com. This device is easy to install on your reliable point and shoot camera and fits most models. The installation is simple being a magnetic ring that sticks to your camera so the lens can be attached and removed as needed. I use mine all the time!”

I spent part of the day yesterday learning about the new NAR “Surround Sound” campaign, a grassroots effort targeting potential home buyers who are “on the fence”  which is all about why now is a good time to buy a home.

I left with a better understanding of how to deliver this message any and every chance I get to a member of the public, because I do think this is a great time to be in the market as a buyer. The real question is, do you?

What are you telling your buyers when:

They say they want to wait until the price goes down on a new listing you just showed them?

They heard prices haven’t reached bottom yet and they don’t want to lose money on a purchase if that is true?

They mention interest rates are at historic lows, there is no hurry to lock a loan?

They point out he average market time in (fill in the blank) is over 200 days, so there is no hurry to make an offer even though they do like the house.

Don’t be the agent who lets these comments go by. Your silence is validating their inaction, and if you believe now is a good time to be a buyer, none of the above is credible. We all know a smart buyer in any market does not let a good value go by; a home is a long tem investment and a place to live, not an online stock day trade; inflation is lurking and the corner and that means rates will not stay low much longer; right priced property can and often does sell immediately.

These are my quick responses to those comments, there are many more and many better ones, I am sure.

My point is, you are the expert, the advisor, the interpreter of the mountain of information the average buyer is trying to digest as they make their way through the marketplace.  It is time to take some ownership in being good at what we are being paid to do because waiting is bad decision making, and we are not supposed to stand quietly by while our clients make poor choices.

This is not about being a cheerleader for the sake of drumming up business.  It is about how you present a compelling argument that low rates, great inventory to shop, reasonable seller expectations, expanded loan programs and buyer incentives all point to now being the best time in recent memory to buy.

In other words, what is your 30 second elevator speech when someone asks you about real estate?

Clear, concise and to the point, it needs to be something in your own words. It needs to be your truth and your mantra. It needs to have statistical proof (know your market!) to back it up and you have to believe it to say it right.

Don’t be surprised if you aren’t asked to share yours in an office meeting or with a little luck, the next time your client asks your opinion about being a buyer in today’s market.

Next- What message are you giving your sellers about the market?

All of us know the world is changing; we see it in our everyday lives, in our business and in the world, as we once knew it. The YouTube link Click here: YouTube -
Did You Know; Shift Happens - Globalization; Information Age (6 minutes) reminds me of the NY Times bestseller "Who Moved the Cheese." It is a motivational book by Spencer Johnson that describes how the life of several mice changed when someone moved the cheese.

Change can take us to new heights, if we are prepared, or we can stay where we are trying to figure out what happened. Activity on the Internet is increasing (2.7 million Google searches each month), and our clients and customers will be using it more to find their idea property. With the "Gen X and Ys" having entered or entering the housing market, the Internet will become their primary source of data. We need to capitalize on that.

Enjoy!!

Jim

Hello,

I am proud to announce that all of the offices have conference call ability.

Now you can conference over the phone with your clients.

It's as easy as calling the given phone number and dialing a password.

Your office Admin will have all the details on Conference Calling; the phone number and the password.

If you have any question, please the Help Desk link to report your problem to us.

Listen to the Dave Hanna Podcast on WBBM 780 AM News Radio...

http://www.wbbm780.com/pages/2535357.php

Very cool to pod.

 2 I Fernwood Bolingbrook Il  MLS#06988973 $74,900

3 bedroom 1 bath Ranch townhome with 2 assigned parking spaces, in unit laundry. Light repairs needs will build your equity quickly. Corporate owned property being sold As Is. Special addendums will be required by seller. FHA Financing available. Possible sellers assistance with Downpayment gift programs until October 1st.   Special Addendums required, no survey, termite inspection Taxes Prorated 100% Pre Approval or proof of funds required.

475 Washington Sq  Wood Dale Il MLS#06992802 $194,900

3 bedroom 1 ½ bath with partially finished basement with office, laundry room and additional storage. New windows, Hardwood floors throughout main level. Private fenced patio, View of courtyard. HOA features Clubhouse, Party room, Pool and playground. Quick close possible, FHA financing welcome! Downpayment assistance with FHA possible until Oct 1st.   Estate sale being sold As Is

In a meeting the other day there was conversation about PDF files and Adobe Acrobat was mentioned.  I use a program called CutePDF which gives me the ability to create PDF's from almost any file, make them fillable forms, reorder and delete pages.  Full version is $50 which is a great deal compared to what Adobe Acrobat costs.  http://www.cutepdf.com/

Another FREE software suite I have been using is Open Office.  It matches functionality with Microsoft Office minus Outlook.  It has Spreadsheets, Documents, Power points.  The use is a little different that Office but if you know what you are looking do to with Word, Excel or Power Point its not that difficult to find the matching function in Open Office, best of all ITS FREE!    http://www.openoffice.org/

A wonderful 3 bedroom/2 bath home in the El Sierra subdivision in Downers Grove that looks like it came out of a Pottery Barn Catelog...now reduced down to $315,000!!! Don't let this one go by!! COME TAKE A LOOK AT MY BROKERS TOUR THURSDAY, AUGUST 14th 10:30a.m.-12:00p.m.....LUNCH:)