Gary Woltal's Blog

In time management I see from clients, coworkers, family, and friends that many people run through their life majoring in the minor events too often.

If we have 16 to 17 waking hours to get done what we would like to, think of urgent and non-urgent activities, and apply important or not important values to them. It leads to four boxes of where you spend your life. Urgent and important need to be taken care of with a priority. Urgent/not important and Not Urgent / not important are down on the list.

But I would like to focus on the lower right box in the diagram. That is Important / Not Urgent. That is where relationship, development, and family time is centered. I think it may be our most important box in our life. That phone call to Mom, that time with a friend. It is things in our life that are important but not urgent that get neglected.

Work on spending more of your time in this box, as that is where your memories lie.

Too often overlooked in the selection of houses is a winning floorplan. I envy the new home builders over the pre-owned market because everything is so neatly tied up in a bow. Clean floor plans with all the dimensions are available to the buyer. I feel like an architect's assistant looking at them.

As great real estate agents, if a home is not too old perhaps the floor plan is still available and can be scanned into the MLS for additional information for the buyer.

Good floor plans of the modern era flow from room to room. Open space is used well. Much older than 30 year old homes had more hallways and lacked art niches and some of the open feeling that is so prevalent with today's designs.

I see too many Master suites that are too small and you wonder how you'll get all your bedroom furniture in there. Some main living areas have the fireplace as the center piece where many want their entertainment center (TV / Stereo) there. Others care to have the big plasma in a dedicated game room.

So keep in mind floor plan if you are a buyer.

Along with location, condition and price it is important. Why? Guess where you live most of the time? INSIDE. Who wants a clunky floorplan with too many step ups and downs and running into walls all the time?

Do you want a Master up or down? Some people feel strongly about either of those positions. Not a right or wrong, but know what you want. If you select the right floor plan you'll live happily ever after in Home Sweet Home, at least until you move again in 5 to 7 years!!

In many areas of Real Estate and life we are asked to make the call. They used to have the ads on the football games with a situation that was put before you to "make the call" and see if you got it right.

The making the call was the fun part but the "getting it right" was the important part.

In selecting a house for purchase finding the right mix of location, condition, floor plan, amenities, taxes, and neighborhood all will have long term consequences on how happy you will be with your decision. A trained professional such as a Realtor can assist a client in guiding them through all this information and making a well-informed decision based on what's most important to them. For example a long commute to work may not be a bad thing if evenings and weekends you relax by your rural setting home that is located near a peaceful stream in a wooded neighborhood. For others they may dread that back and forth commute each day.

Don't make hasty decisions, because you will have to live with them. Buying that newest laptop with the noisy fan may not seem so smart after months of using it. That unreliable car that was a steal as far as price is eating up you weekends and money in the repair shop. And as far as getting into relationships - people can be the most unpredictable in their outcomes and impact on your life. We don't all make the right call there. If you are blessed with a winner in that department count your lucky stars as around half of long term relationships don't work out. It must be our uncommitted society with too many having a disposable attitude not only to material things but also others.

Life is all about growth. I like to think we all get better day by day, year by year. But it is probably more a zig zag pattern with setbacks and moving forward again.

You make the call. Do your best to make the right ones. Use professionals and weigh advice from others on what they think.

It's a BIG WORLD out there.

Just do your BEST. That's all the world needs from you.

In chatting with those in the real estate industry discussing the doldrums gets rather old at times. No, it gets old all the time, and as for me, I have had enough of it. One thing I try to point out to people is that

                                  You Don't Know The End of the Story

Just the sheer energy of moving forward has got to take you somewhere. Stick with it. I don't mean to beat a dead horse here with saying persistence is important to success and getting yourself out of hot water, but it is the truth of the matter.

I am a big visual person and someone who deflects stress with humor. So I will leave you with a Winston Churchill quote when getting bombed over and over by the Germans nightly in London during World War II and a clip with one of my favorite cartoon characters who keeps on trucking baby (no matter what). Keep your chin up, the sun will rise on another glorious day tomorrow. Keep going forward, as you don't know the end of the story.

          SQUIRREL AND NUT

We Americans are a sentimental bunch. Either that or the Hallmark and American Greeting card companies have us under their spell. In between the major holidays like New Years, Easter, and Christmas we have other holidays we really get into like Mother's Day, Father's Day, Fourth of July, and Thanksgiving. Mother's Day is known for brunches with Mom on Sunday. Father's Day is known for the most collect calls in a day. Some Realtors get into the Fourth of July by giving out little flags in their neighborhoods. Then we have the fireworks. Halloween is thrown in there for us adults and kids to act silly and get sick on candy. Thanksgiving, well that's food and football. And pretty much a whole bunch of the former. Thanksgiving we do take seriously and those of us with heart stop and reflect on our blessings. It is a truly American holiday like the 4th of July.

But the calendar page turns to February and on the 14th we Americans (and others worldwide I suppose) turn our hearts to those we love. Kind of like the blessings of Thanksgiving but the gratefulness and acknowledgement of love in our lives.

From a surprise paper Valentine card to the girl across the classroom in third grade, to a dozen roses, to dinner out at fancy restaurant, or a box of chocolates or a greeting card, we let those we love know that they are special to us.

A little sappy perhaps, but we take Valentine's Day seriously. As we should. Life is fleeting and why is it so hard to say I love you to those closest to us? It is easier for some than others. Maybe just having a special day helps.

A classic song for thinking about this occasion is

My Heart Will Go On - Celine Dion

Celebrate the day acknowledging and caring for those you love!

In the turbulent world of real estate and lending, this year's Super Bowl outcome provided two very valuable lessons for life. Real estate sales have taken a tumble and the short term outlook for their recovery is not good. Many lenders have suffered through the fiasco of the subprime debacle and have taken hits to their financial picture if not completely gone out of business. The lessons from the Super Bowl can be applied to these industries.

The rocky times for the New York Giants started early in the season if not the year before for their much maligned head coach and their quarterback Eli Manning. But somewhere along the way this year if you paid close attention to the story they found their grit and saw their way through the storm.

The two lessons we can learn from life from the winners of this year's Super Bowl are:

Believe in yourself. When the chips are down and things look tough, you will find what you might have called friends, abandon you. Come together as a team and surround yourself with other believers who you consider winners. If you don't have confidence and believe in yourself no one else will.

When you are knocked down, get back up. This is a critical factor in success in all areas of life, football, and business. It's called persistence or tenacity. ALWAYS get back up. You can never be called a failure if you get back up.

So savor the story that was this year's Super Bowl with those two lessons and apply them to your life. Dreams really do come true.

In discussing pricing with home sellers, and the importance of pricing a property correctly to sell, the conversation always comes back to the market. I like the phrase

                                              IT IS WHAT IT IS

Markets, like life, do not care about your feelings about how they operate. They are neither inherently fair or unfair. Those terms come from our interpretation.

So too in life we can say, LIFE IS NEUTRAL.

If we can fully understand this we will not be so angry when things do not go our way. When we attach strongly to our expectations we possibly set ourselves up for disappoinment. Disappointment is an interpretation of a result. Failure could be looked at this way as well. It is JUST an outcome. We would all be better off to be a visionary, set our goals, and get busy working towards them. Life deals us out a hand of cards. It is up to us to play what we are dealt. Our reaction and response to life's dealt cards is what matters most. Just do your best. Strive for excellence and you will come out just fine!

A slow news day in Real Estate, SO, I thought I would pass on this latest amenity of a house to you all:

REDNECK TREE SWING

AND, It's a two seater. WHAT A DEAL !!! : )

Colleen Fischesser, fellow REALTOR and partner in crime from the great state of Washington here on this real estate social network, has tagged me to come up with a Hidden Gem amongst our peers who write blogs and provide much sharing among our members. The philosophy behind the Hidden Gems is that in our midst are highly valuable people that in case you weren't aware of them before I can bring them to light.

First off, think of this individual starting off as a child in a faraway land and picking up a deck of cards. The card she uncovers is the Ace of Hearts.

That's because this child was one of a kind and full of love. Now fully grown into a woman and having moved away from the faraway land she has lived several places in the U.S. before settling down where you might expect someone who knows a thing or two about playing cards would.

And that would be in Las Vegas.

She has strong connections to her mother, loves music, and is talented in many areas outside her current chosen field of real estate.

While I may not be good at many things in life, one thing I have always been perceptive at is knowing people that are

                        PURE OF HEART

As you read what this woman has to say, and if you are blessed with her commenting on your blogs, you will know what I mean. There is a depth of honesty there that you won't find from many. She has a sensitivity to the inner being which is very rare in the world. I haven't met her personally but I can just bet she is an excellent listener too.

Her posts are charming, witty, honest, refreshing, and thought provoking. Of late, when she'll be writing about her latest condo listing I yearn for the next one where she tells me about her observations on life and people. Very good stuff. 

So who is this person I am speaking of?

Her name is Arina Hanciulescu.  Some of my favorite blogs of hers included

SUNSET and All about MeMe...So, you have it! Very refreshing and cool stuff that gives you insight into that honesty and sensitivity I spoke of earlier.

Anyway, I know I have been extremely blessed to have found this Hidden Gem in the Rain, and if you haven't discovered her stay tuned into Arina, you will be glad you did.

I'm picking two others of at least 100 I could have chosen from to go tag some other Hidden Gems they have found in the Rain:

 Martin Abeshaus of Burlington, MA who always makes me laugh, and

 From north of the border in Belleville, Ontario, Jo-Anne Smith

 who is a GREAT inspiration to me ALWAYS.

People ask me all the time where I get my thoughts for what I write. The inspiration comes from within when I read the thoughts of so many GOOD people like Arina, Colleen, Martin, Jo, and countless others. They provide me with boundless energy and beautiful thoughts. I do believe in dreaming big and will leave you with a movie about dreams. Make it a terrific day.

THE DREAM MOVIE

So with the weekend's Super Bowl upon us, in a metaphorical sense, who in your life would you put in YOUR Super Bowl? Who made it to the Super Bowl? Who will you put on that stage? These are the team members you go to battle with. The ones you can count on in crunch time.

Great REALTORS select Stagers, Lenders, Appraisers, Inspectors, Title Companies, fellow agents, Closers, all part of a team to get the job done and all working from the same game plan.

Home buyers and sellers select agents they can trust, who communicate well, who are tech savvy and ALWAYS have their best interest at heart.

What about in life? What friends, family, and associates in personal or business endeavors have you chosen to be on your TEAM? What about your coaching or spiritual mentors you look to for guidance?

Here's a clue. Follow the actions not the words in adding members to your team. The real winning friends in your life follow this quote:

I value the friend who for me finds time on his calendar, but I cherish the friend who for me does not consult the calendar.

May you always have a Super Bowl filled with friends of this caliber!