We celebrated Coldwell Banker C&C Properties 30th anniversary with a party last Wednesday. Here’s a short video of the festivities.

We real estate agents are independent contractors. That means we often work many hours for free, hoping to meet somebody buying or selling a house. This very rainy weekend I held a house open both days on Foothill Blvd, and it was looong time between few lookers. I believe this was also the weekend for NFL playoffs. No playoffs here.

Well, there is time for reflection. And whining, apparently! Things could be worse…

Here’s a few photos I took of my friends and family at the company Christmas party in Redding.

It seems like we don’t get too many opportunities to dress up in Redding, so this is always fun. It was like Prom night for some folks. I enjoyed hearing singer Summer Schappell’s take on a few Christmas classics. It was a great evening, but it kicked my butt apparently. I’ve been down with a cold for about a week ever since that night. That’ll teach me to party. At least until next time. Thanks to all who were there, and to the Crafts for throwing a tres cool soiree every year.

It was a great party while it lasted….

…but then it was over.

We drove by this on our way to show the house next door, southeast of Anderson. Every Realtor’s dream, to have yard art like this in the neighbor’s yard. Needless to say, our client was not thrilled with the house next door. Looks like a really bad horror movie scene.

And of course they felt compelled to put it under cover for protection. Of course.

Escapees were seen later…

I have so much to be grateful about, it wouldn’t even fit into a day. Nevertheless we are celebrating at home with friends and family, and Karry’s usual “Martha Stewart on steroids” dinner. Love it all.

If you make the rounds of local blogs, you’ve probably seen this recent post. But if not, I will bring this to your attention for today, as it follows the spirit. My friend and fellow Realtor Lara Wells Osborn wrote a thought-provoking post over at Food For Thought. It’s one of those rare pieces that stays with you long after reading. Lara is one of my favorite fellow agents. She and her husband have several cute kids too, which added poignancy to her excellent prose. That, along with the fact that she has established herself as a marketer of luxury homes, and has done very well with that high-end market segment. She’s just a good person to be around, and people sense that sort of thing. You should read her post if you didn’t already, and the link is HERE.

Thanks for writing, Lara. And a Happy and thoughtful Thanksgiving to all!

Diestlehorst bones by Skip

Yesterday, I ran into one of Erin’s young friends, Sarah. She said to me “Hey, how about Tuesday, huh?” I was taken aback. Most of Erin’s 20-something friends seem very unconnected to politics. I found it hopeful that this young woman was excited enough about how the presidential election played out to even mention it to a geezer like me. It will be good if Obama’s success has captured the attention of young people, and got them thinking about the importance of elections. BTW Even though Sarah and her husband are still in their early 20s, they have their own small business. How cool is that? Shasta Pizza at 991 Lake Blvd has the most delicious Garlic Chicken Bacon pizza, call 244 9999. Yum.

Even though it’s November, we still have one Day Lilly blooming. Global warming? Maybe it’s just confused. Photo by Skip.

Secondly, local Realtor Brad Garbutt has a blog. He’s written some excellent information regarding “home retention” scams on his blog. There are a large number of unscrupulous people trying to take advantage of the many people in mortgage trouble. You can read his blog HERE. The series started Nov.4. He did an excellent job of spelling out the mechanics of the latest fraud schemes. Fraudsters are everywhere. Beware.

Brad’s posts can be somewhat erratic, and his blog sometimes looks like a canned production. However If you are interested in local real estate issues, you might pop over and take a look now an again for his take on things. I read it.

I suspect there were few dry eyes in America last night. I know mine weren’t. We saw history, some of it ending, and some just beginning. I’ll leave the political commentary to the other bloggers, however. If you are near my age, you have seen many changes in the way we consider race. Sometimes the changes are slow to come, and sometimes they arrive in an instant. Last night that paradigm shift instant arrived via TV for me, with Charlie Gibson stating “We are ready to predict the winner….” The winner was all of us.

I enjoyed the Oinion’s take on things. Click HERE. Warning, link contains ironic humor.

The music in the player is by Craig Padilla. It’s an excerpt from the song titled Vast Emotions. It’s one of my favorites from the 1996 CD Eye of the Storm. My emotions were vast indeed. The music reminds me that Obama has big job ahead. Let’s all wish him luck, because we’ll need it.

We’ve had a booth at the Homeshow in Anderson for several years now. This Fall show was very lightly attended, coming on the heels of the stock market problems. In the past, it’s been a decent way to meet people in a non-threatening environment. We give out schwag (free promotional items). A memorable moment from today was when a woman took my offered schwag, and when I recited my usual spiel “Please remember us if you know anyone buying or selling a home,” she replied, “I’m an agent myself” turned and walked off. Took my schwag, and cut me off at the knees all at once. That was harsh. Ow. You gotta have thick skin in this business. I marvel at her, really. I could never be that cold.

We need to come up with a new banner too. We have been successful in past shows by giving an instant estimate of house value using Zillow or some other instant valuator. It gets people talking real estate, and that’s the important thing, from our perspective. Anyway at this show, the new, much lower valuations hit several people very hard. They had leveraged all their equity or whatever, and were now seriously upside down on value. Gosh, nothing like making people REALLY SAD to make a good impression at a trade show. We need a new reason to speak with people.

Things could be so different now
It used to be so civilized
You will always wonder how
It could have been if you’d only lied

Its too late to change events
Its time to face the consequence
For delivering the proof
In the policy of truth

Depeche Mode -Policy of Truth Too true.