full-time real estate agents

In my last post, I mentioned some pretty funny real estate videos I saw at a recent RE/MAX conference.

I may need to track down the director of those videos and buy him a drink. Because here’s another one of his savvy creations that I just discovered:



Did I mention that we have four agents in our office – and that all of us practice real estate full time? No? Hmm. Maybe next post.

RE/MAX at the movies

I spent the first couple days of this week out in Denver, attending the 2010 RE/MAX Broker Owner Conference. (My dad is the owner of our office, but because he was tied up doing deals, he allowed me to fill in for him and make the trip.)

As you might expect, a lot of the conference focused on rah-rah stuff: why RE/MAX is a powerful brand name, how its agents tend to sell quite a few more houses than agents affiliated with other franchises, etc. It was good to hear that, but I consider myself a pretty tough audience. Though no Debbie Downer, I have little stomach for saccharine-flavored messages that consist only of hype.

So I was encouraged when the RE/MAX corporate staff showed us a couple videos that had some wit, humor, and -- best of all -- a point. The first one was about how some non-RE/MAX franchises set up their agents in a pyramid structure:



Not bad, eh? Not quite up there with the legendary Alec Baldwin scene in Glengarry Glen Ross (the grand champion of movies about real estate, in the opinion of this modest Realtor talking in the third person), but definitely better than I was expecting.

The other video they showed us was about how consumers see the RE/MAX name everywhere these days:



After this second video ended, they brought the director up on stage. Turns out he's a real estate agent who's always loved filmmaking, so he just shot what he knows. I think that's why these videos work.

new Little Swan Lake page on our website

If you're interested in Little Swan Lake -- a 250-acre lake located five miles west of Avon, Illinois -- you'll definitely want to check out this brand-new page of our office website, macombland.com:

http://www.remax-unified-macomb-il.com/display.php?cat=12

The page, which we launched yesterday, includes

* All of our current Little Swan Lake listings.

* A basic description of the lake and what it offers.

* A Little Swan Lake map, linked up to Google Maps.

* A downloadable PDF with current Little Swan Lake rules and regulations.

* A link to littleswanlake.net, which features news, community activities, photos, and the history of Little Swan Lake.

We're pretty excited about the page and hope visitors find the information useful. Feel free to drop me a line if you have any feedback (positive or negative).

homebuyer tax credit gets extended, expanded

As you might have heard, the federal government recently extended and expanded the homebuyer tax credit it's been offering.

A first-time buyer can get a tax credit worth $8,000 or 10% of the home's purchase price -- whichever is less. The government defines a "first-time buyer" as anyone who hasn't owned a home in the last three years.

A repeat buyer can get a tax credit worth $6,500 or 10% of the home's purchase price -- whichever is less. The buyer must have owned a home for at least five consecutive years out of the last eight years. And the purchased home must be a new primary residence, not a vacation home or rental property.

Here's a great, concise overview of all this, straight from the IRS itself:




If you'd like something animated and a bit more entertaining, you'll want to check out this:



Created by Washington state's association of Realtors (that's why you see their website listed at the end), it features characters who sound like they could be relatives of Ned Flanders. But gosh-a-rooney -- the whole thing's pretty darn clever.

home show at WIU on March 15th

WIU's Western Hall is hosting the WJEQ Home and Lifestyle Show this Saturday, March 15th. Like the Ag Mech Show, held in the same building last month, the event features dozens of exhibitors. A complete list of them can be found here.

The Home and Lifestyle Show usually runs all weekend. This year, however, it will be held only on Saturday -- from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. (I'm not sure if the one-day approach will be a permanent change for the show or just occur this year.)

Our RE/MAX office will be there, as always, and we'll have free magnets, pens, flower seeds, and other giveaways. And we'll be holding a drawing for a free microwave. Who doesn't need one of those?

farm show at WIU on Feb. 9th and 10th

Macomb's Western Hall will host the 38th annual Farm Expo and Ag Mech Show this weekend, February 9 and 10. The show runs 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Open free to the public, the show features over 250 exhibitors -- on topics such as agricultural equipment, technology, and services -- as well as guest speakers, a craft show, and a kiddie tractor pull. If you care anything about stuff that's ag-related (or just want to grab a bunch of free pens, rulers, candy, and other giveaways), this is your event.

Our office will be there with our real estate booth, just as we are every year. Stop by and say hello. You can also register for a tool set we'll hold a drawing for at the end of the show; you don't need to be present to win.

You can read more about the show here or here.

ethanol plant goes bust

A lot of farmers in west-central Illinois just lost a grain cart-load of money.

Hype about anticipated ethanol production has played a significant role in the run-up in farm prices in west-central Illinois over the past few years. Hoping to capitalize on this hype, many local farmers made considerable investments in a new ethanol plant outside of Canton.

But the $40 million plant just went bust.

Brenda Rothert of the Peoria Journal Star has the story:

The minimum lost by the farmers who spoke with the Journal Star was $29,000 each for investing in just one share, not including the value of the corn they delivered. Farmers who purchased more than one share lost much more, and some farmers say they might lose their farms.

"It makes us all look so stupid," said one. "I'm trying to explain to my wife and son why I did this, and it doesn't make any sense."

A group of farmers from Fulton and McDonough counties who invested in the project recently talked to the Journal Star on the condition that their names not be used.

A good idea

When they were first approached in 2001 about the plan to build a $40 million ethanol plant, the farmers said it seemed to be a good idea.

"The community's been good to us," said one. "It would create some jobs."

They had to invest the money by March 2002, and projections from project planners called for the plant to be making alcohol by July 2003. Farmers had to commit $5,000 per share, plus pledge in writing to deliver 5,000 bushels of corn annually for five years.

One farmer said he supported the idea but was unsure about whether he could afford it.

"I really didn't have the $5,000 to put in," he said. "But I came up with it and put it in."

Since his farm lacks storage facilities for his corn, he figured it was a good decision, because he's close to the plant and would be delivering corn there.

But then board members came back to the farmers and asked them to double their investments: $10,000 and 10,000 bushels of corn annually for five years. Not all of the farmers agreed to double their investments. Those that did lost twice as much, plus the value of the corn.

"I swallowed hard," said the farmer who had struggled to invest the initial $5,000. But again, he did it.

Then board members came to the farmers again and asked them to sign letters of credit for the project. For each $5,000 share, they wanted a $24,000 letter of credit. Farmers went to their banks and signed paperwork for a $24,000 loan to the plant. The farmers would have to personally repay the loans if the company called them in.

"They kept saying that the creditors wanted to make sure we as investors delivered the corn," one farmer said.

"There was pressure put on," another said.

"I didn't want to be the one guy who messed things up," a third farmer said. "Almost all of us signed this thing."

The farmers' troubles may continue. Many fear that they'll be forced to honor their contracts and deliver corn to the ethanol plant for several more years.