Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas Real Estate: December 2006

A 2005 survey by the Senior Advantage Real Estate Council (SAREC®), titled "Moving Forward: 50 and Beyond", explored the home buying trends of those 50 years of age and older. These are some of their findings regarding Internet use:

• 61% used the Internet to locate a specific REALTOR®
• 92% researched comparable prices
• 19% looked for specific neighborhood info

A whopping 82% of senior home buyers stayed within their home state, most within 100 miles of their current residence. For those who moved, the most popular destinations were Florida, Texas, Arizona, Nevada and Virginia.

Senior Real Estate Specialists can help meet the special real estate needs of senior buyers and sellers whether they are downsizing, buying a second or vacation home, or selling an existing home. With an emphasis on counseling rather than selling, SRES® designees can offer advice on how to maximize equity and plan for the future, and refer their clients to appropriate tax and estate planning professionals when necessary.

If you are a Senior Real Estate Specialist, have questions about senior housing issues, or just want to keep up on the latest news and trends, join the SRES group. For more information about the SRES® designation, visit http://www.seniorsrealestate.com/.

A study done by Dr. Walter Calvert, funded by the National Science Foundation, revealed some startling statistics about human beings and worry. Here's what he found:

• 30% of our worries are about events in the past
• 40% of the things we worry about never happen
• 12% of our worries are unfounded health concerns
• 10% of our worries are over minor and trivial issues
• Only 8% of our worries are real, legitimate issues

What can we take from this study? Don't dwell on the past, it's over. Don't agonize over the future. Just live in the present, and focus all of your energy, talent, commitment and compassion on the moment. And know that wherever you are at any given moment in time, it is all part of a larger, universal plan.

As they say in The Lion King, "Hakuna Matata!"
(a Swahili phrase that literally means "There are no worries.")

Ask most any real estate agent to tell you about their business plan and they'll talk about listings taken and sold, buyer sales, gross commission income, their marketing budget and maybe some tax planning. There's one more element to your plan that can have a huge impact on your results - Giving.

The great thing about giving is that even the smallest amounts can make a big difference. Amber Riviere, a virtual assistant in Baton Rouge, LA is working on the CARE MORE Giving Circle Challenge. Here's a sampling from Amber's blog of what CARE can do:

• $50 can send an Afghan girl to school for one year
• $600 can keep 10 girls in Sudan in school and teach them about AIDS prevention
• $1000 can provide a day's supply of emergency rations to 330 families

Throughout ActiveRain there are probably hundreds of examples of what you can do. There are a dozen more ideas in this post: Giving Back - a new ActiveRain group. And if you have successes or ideas to share or just want to get involved, we'd love to have you join the group!

Giving is not just about money. Think about what you can do with your time, expertise, resources or how you could leverage your sphere of influence. Imagine the possibilities when add yourself into an equation that includes the concepts of 'Pay it forward' and 'Six degrees of separation'. That's powerful!

Randy Prothero wrote an excellent post about getting involved in your community. It's no coincidence that Randy is consistently a top agent in his market. From a table by the window in a small coffee shop in Minnesota, the Retired Codgers are taking positive steps to protect our environment. Maybe this will turn out to be a variation on the butterfly effect - 'When a codger sips his coffee ...'

In the end it's not about being the top agent in your city, dominating your market area, or shattering sales records. The real question is 'what did you do with all of your success?' Just take one more step in your business planning. Instead of starting with 'I want to make $xxx in 2007', make it 'I will give _____ in 2007' -- and let giving drive your marketing, production and income.

By shifting your focus just slightly from earning to giving, you'll find that your motives are pure, your presentations more sincere and people will be drawn to you and your cause. In The Millionaire Real Estate Agent, Gary Keller calls it your 'Big Why'; for others it's called 'Yawp'.

As Winston Churchill said, "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." All my best to you and yours for a healthy, prosperous, generous and rewarding 2007!

By now everyone on ActiveRain (and probably a good portion of Google) knows that today Rich Jacobson is celebrating his 50th birthday. In honor of that milestone, and because Rich is such an all-around good guy in the Rain, I've come up with a twist on the meme concept. It's a sort of online version of 'This is Your Life' (maybe 'This is Your Blog?'), or some of you might take it in the direction of a 'virtual roast!' Here's how it works:

Instead of Rich sharing five things about himself, we share one or two pieces or information about Rich (we're shooting for at least 50!) Maybe it's something from one of his 158 blogs or nearly 2000 comments that has stuck with you. Perhaps you're one of the 14 Rainers invited by Rich. Or maybe you've been lucky to chat on the phone or meet him in person and have some juicy inside info to share.

Just jump into the comment box and tell us your favorite Rich-ism, and then invite your friends to join in! Here's mine:

• Although he lives on the beautiful Kitsap Peninsula, Rich is a big Kansas Jayhawks fan. In fact, the photo from his latest blog shows him in a KU T-shirt! Rock Chalk Jayhawk!!
• According to his ActiveRain tag cloud, Rich's favorite blogging topics are: Kitsap County WA, buyers, marketing, success and ActiveRain.

To get the ball rolling, I'm inviting Maureen Francis, Maureen McCabe and Mark Flanders. But you don't have to wait for an invite - like Rich always says "Jump on in, the Rain is warm!"

Happy 50th, Rich!!

At 2 PM Central, listen to investor Dyches Boddiford from Marietta, GA as he shares his tools and techniques for building a portfolio of rental properties. He also has experience in lease options, owner financing, fix and flip, manufactured homes, developing resorts and land trusts. Besides investing, Dyches is an author and teaches seminars on Limited Liability Companies & Partnerships, Real Estate Investment Using Self-Directed IRAs, Discount Notes & Mortgages, and other topics.

At 3 PM Central, Top 50 RE/MAX agent Leslie McDonnell, from Lake County, IL talks about how she doubled her business with geographic farming. Find out how she grew her database, hired her first assistant, and tracks her numbers. In 2005, Leslie's seven-person team (three buyer's agents, a listing coordinator, a closing coordinator and support staff) closed 182 transactions. This year they are on pace to do $82 million in volume.

To listen in, dial (512) 225-9443 and input 914315#. The teleconferences are FREE and open to anyone. MP3 downloads of each session are also available free for one week after the call. For more info, visit Millionaire Mondays.