"Singing in the Rain!"

This post is the latest in a series of articles aimed at re-hashing the ActiveRain Community Guidelines. With so many new real estate professionals joining the fold, it's a good idea to review these guidelines regularly, and to ensure that there is a clear understanding on what the expectations are for members who participate in this great network.

The next guideline is pretty straight forward, and reads as follows:

"There is zero tolerance for predatory behavior, stalking, threats, harassment, invading privacy, or the revealing of other members' personal information. Anyone caught doing these things may be permanently banned from ActiveRain."

Here in the Pacific Northwest, we're blessed with an abundance of all things green - varieties of pines, cedars, and native ferns. Washington is known as the 'Evergreen' State. Our climate and physical geography provide an environment that is conducive to and promotes such rich growth.

One of the keys to the successful growth of ActiveRain has been providing a safe and encouraging environment for our members. Many of the people who join ActiveRain have never had a blog or written a post. Jumping in and getting your blogging feet wet can be a fairly daunting endeavor for most. Fortunately, we have a very substantial core of veteran members who consistently make a point of providing helpful advice and encouragement to newer members. It's this constant cycle of 'Paying it Forward' that makes ActiveRain such an enjoyable and valued experience for its members.

Every once in a great while though, a bad apple comes along who attempts to threaten or diminish that experience. Our members need to know that ActiveRain Management takes such matters very seriously, and will act swiftly/decisively towards anyone who would jeopardize/violate the safety or privacy of one of our members.

If any of our members ever feels threatened or victimized, contact any of the ActiveRain Staff immediately. Bob Stewart, Brad Andersohn, and myself all have our cell phone numbers published on our profile pages. You can also contact us through the ActiveRain E-mail System, or by submitting a 'Contact ActiveRain' form, located at the bottom right of your screen.

We want to thank all of you who make it a point to reach out and help our newer members find their way around in the Rain. You are the ones who prove daily that "the true value of our network community rests within its members!"

Jon Iannotti has been a part of the 1-800-SELL-NOW team for over a year now. He and his team of professionals are experts at helping local home sellers sell their homes quickly.

"We are privileged to have Jon and his team as part of the 1-800-SELL-NOW family," says Kent Clothier, President and CEO of 1-800-SELL-NOW. "We know that these guys are real assets in the Pittsburgh market. Pittsburgh area home sellers looking for solutions to their housing issues can count on Jon and his team to help them with those problems immediately."

1-800-SELL-NOW and http://www.1800sellnow.com/pittsburgh.html is a national group of real estate investors who say "We buy houses", 'We buy homes", "Stop foreclosure", 'We buy real estate", "We buy any property", "Offer in 7 days" and “Sell my house fast cash.” 1-800-SELL-NOW is nationally recognized as a home, house, condo, commercial property, apartment complex and real estate buyer. We provide many solutions to suit an individual's needs, including a fast cash offer, which will allow a person to sell a house quick to our team of home and house investors, a terms offer so that the person can sell their home or condo now.

We buy houses, we buy homes, we buy condos, stop foreclosure or sell your house to 1-800-SELL-NOW today. If you have a home in the Pittsburgh area, then go to http://www.1800sellnow.com/pittsburgh.html for more information, or call 1-800-SELL-NOW. When people search for companies that buy property, houses, homes, condos, or commercial property, companies that buy real estate, organizations that purchase houses, companies that buy condos or companies that stop foreclosure, they enjoy how easy and simple our solutions are and our website is easy to use. Our clients are satisfied with our ability to answer their more difficult questions like: How do I sell my house fast? A customer said he had questions like, “Can I sell my house for cash now?” or “Can I sell my condo now?” or even, "Buy my house fast for cash" and he was pleased with our fast response time and excellent service.

Go to http://www.1800sellnow.com/pittsburgh.html for more information, or call 1-800-SELL-NOW The 1-800-SELL-NOW team is comprised of real estate investors who advertise "We Buy Houses Fast Cash" and focus on houses, homes, condos, commercial property, and all types of real estate in foreclosure and properties in distressed situations to help people sell their house, sell their home, sell their condo, sell their real estate, sell their commercial property fast. If you are interested in the topics: sell my home fast, sell my home, home selling, buy my home, sell home, sell home quick, sell my house fast, sell my house, house selling, sell house, sell my condo, buy my condo fast, buy my house, sell my house quick, sell my real estate, sell my commercial property, stop foreclosure or you would like to buy a house, sell a house, sell real estate, sell commercial property, sell my condo or stop foreclosure now, then we want to talk to you and you want to talk to us.

Go to http://www.1800sellnow.com/pittsburgh.html for more information, or call 1-800-SELL-NOW. We are best known for "we buy houses fast cash", sell my house cash fast, cash for houses, “we buy any property”, “stop foreclosure” and other solutions for getting cash for a person's house. It's from sell my house, condo or commercial property fast that people locate us. Tracy needed to sell her house fast and she went to http://www.1800sellnow.com/pittsburgh.html and she was “able to sell my house to 1-800-SELL-NOW fast” she said.

Go to http://www.1800sellnow.com/pittsburgh.html for more information, or call 1-800-SELL-NOW. We can help you sell your house or condo, sell your house or condo fast or buy your house or condo fast cash. If you dream of selling my house, selling your house fast, selling my condo now, selling your condo fast, by sell house, sell for cash fast, stop foreclosure, we are your solution. I get sell house tips at http://www.1800sellnow.com/pittsburgh.html because I went to sell my house for sale by owner, but I had to stop foreclosure now. We can help you stop foreclosure. To save your credit is better than foreclosure so stop foreclosure, paying cash for house, paying cash for homes fast, cash for houses, buy houses for cash fast, cash for my house, rent to own your next home.

The next time you think "We Buy Houses", think of http://www.1800sellnow.com/pittsburgh.html. Go to http://www.1800sellnow.com/pittsburgh.html for more information, or call 1-800-SELL-NOW. 1-800-SELL-NOW –

Sell My House Fast – America’s Fastest Home Buying Company Call 1-800-SELL-NOW

http://www.1800sellnow.com/pittsburgh.html

MemphisInvest,.com , a real estate acquisition firm focused on solutions for today's real estate investor, today announced that they have continued with their unprecedented growth in the Memphis, Tennessee real estate investment market.

MemphisInvest.com and http://www.memphisinvest.com have sold over 150 properties in 2008 to out of state real estate investors that are looking for true cash flow properties without the normal headaches of owning rental properties.

http://www.memphisinvest.com is designed for real estate investors who are looking to stretch their investment dollars further in Memphis, Tennessee, and are searching for a no - frills solution to buying quality investment properties at wholesale prices."Real estate investing is a tricky business in this market," says Kent Clothier, President and CEO of MemphisInvest.com "Working with the right partner is critical in making a sound investment in property that will produce cash flow for years to come.  We believe that we are currently the largest and highest profile seller of investment properties to out-of-state investors. We offer complete service packages, that make the transaction as easy and simple as humanly possible.  We are all about service."

The founders of MemphisInvest.com and http://www.memphisinvest.com are real estate investors who have relationships with local and national banks and REO departments, so when they get a great deal they are able to purchase it, then present it nationally to real estate investors who are searching for real estate investment opportunities, and if it is a good fit for the individual real estate investor, they can take advantage of it.

"Purchasing investment properties in Memphis, Tennessee by out of state investors can be a headache, and we understand that" says Clothier. MemphisInvest.com and http://www.memphisinvest.com helps to solve these problems by creating an environment where investors can search for properties and be assured they are seeing good investment property in strong rental areas. "We are a buyer first, so we don't purchase any property that we are not prepared to bring into our own portfolios,' says Clothier.

"There are a lot of new players in the market.  It seems some new real estate investment company is popping up everyday," says Clothier.  "We have been going strong for several years now and see a very bright future for coninued growth not only for us, but our clients."

"We are the company that investors want to do business with in Memphis and we are very proud of that", says Clothier. "We provide them with the opportunities they are looking for at wholesale prices. All they have to do is pick and choose."

For more information register here: http://memphisinvest.com/newuser.cfm

ABOUT MEMPHISINVEST.COM:  MemphisInvest.com (http://www.memphisinvest.com) a real estate investment acquisition and management firm, focused on cash flow solutions for today's modern real estate investor, specializes in identifying undervalued investment markets for real estate investors searching for ways to maximize their investment dollar while minimizing risk. MemphisInvest.com provides strategis real estate solutions that provide a positive cash flow, tax benefits, and peace of mind investing for out of state clients.

As was proudly announced at the recent Inman Connect 2008 in San Francisco, the 1st place winners of the Makeover2Takeover Contest were Apprentice Brian Block of RE/MAX Allegiance in Alexandria VA, and Mentor Desiree Daniels with RE/MAX Tri-County in Hamilton NJ.

The premise for this contest was simple: We selected 15 'Makeover' Teams, comprised of a seasoned real estate veteran (Mentor), and their chosen apprentice. Over the course of 8 weeks (leading up to the 2008 SF Inman Connect), the Mentor/Apprentices faced a series of weekly elimination challenges, aimed specifically at developing the apprentice's image/skills/abilities as a top performing real estate agent.

The final three remaining teams were then invited to be our guests at the 2008 Inman Connect in San Francisco. They were Jeanette Neerpat & Midori Miller, Kim Wood & Missy Caulk, and Brian Block & Desiree Daniels.

During the Connect festivities, Jeanette & Midori were awarded 3rd place, while Kim & Missy garnered 2nd place.

For 8 long, grueling weeks, the dynamic duo of Team Manna battled head-to-head with the other teams, and throughout the contest, consistently submitted some of the best challenge materials, enabling them to come away as the event's clear winner!

As the 1st Place winners for the Makeover2Takeover Contest, Brian & Desiree will receive the following Web 2.0 Marketing Package:

A professionally produced high-quality Business Profile Video from Turn Here, Inc., (courtesy of Inman News)

One year paid subscription to ActiveRain (Mixpo) Video Editing Suite

10,000 ActiveRain Points

One year paid sponsorship for 10 communities on Localism

One year paid subscription to Trulia Pro (courtesy of Trulia)

One year paid subscription to Real Estate Shows (courtesy of Jeff Turner)

$500 Cash award (courtesy of Zillow)

$1000 Cash award (courtesy of ActiveRain)

We want to personally thank all of the teams who competed and contributed towards making this such a wonderfully enjoyable and valued event. A huge thanks for our award sponsors partners - Zillow, Trulia, Inman, and Real Estate Shows. And finally, a special thanks for the hard work and commitment of our distinguished panel of judges:

Chris Elizabeth Griffith, Monica McGillicuddy, Kristal Kraft, Linda Davis, and Teresa Boardman.

Okay, so tonight, I finally crossed the 300K mark, amid all the cheers, fanfare, and hoopla! Inducted into the ActiveRain Platinum Hall of Fame. What a celebration!!!

Well, okay, so in reality, I was sitting here by myself, at my usual late night position, responding to the masses of emails and Help Desk Tickets, sucking down a nice micro brew, when I noticed my point score showed the following:

Other members used to be able to 'see' my point score, just like all the other members. But not anymore.

There was even a time when I was most definitely 'In the Hunt' for points. I could easily put Jason Crouch to shame.

Then I was hired with ActiveRain, and was told that points no longer mattered.

"What? Are you crazy? I worked my way up to the Top Spot in Washington State, and you're telling me 'it just doesn't matter?"

Luckily for me, there was an AR Points Detox facility nearby, and I enrolled in a local 12-Step program. I was diagnosed with OBD (Obsessive Blogging Disorder) and was given a prescription of expireds.

But every once in a while, late at night, when nobody's watching, I'll post a few quick comments, just to get a point rush!

In the late 1800's, Washington, DC was so hot and had so many mosquitoes, that it's residents really did have to get out of town - unless they wanted to deal with a case of typhoid fever!  And when the wealthier citizens left town, they often headed for Cleveland Park.

It was named for President Grover Cleveland, who was one of its earliest renovators.  He bought an old stone house near 35th and Newark Streets and renovated it for use as a summer White House.  He sold it when he left office, and unfortunately it fell to the wrecking ball.

In the late 1800's, street car lines linked the neighborhood to downtown and changed its character, turning it into one of the capital's early suburbs.  Today's Metro system replaces the long defunct trolleys.

While President Cleveland's house was torn down, many of the big old frame houses remain, with their wrap-around porches and original details in tact.  And there is an active neighborhood historical society that keeps its eyes out to keep real estate developers from doing anything that could mess with the neighborhood's architectural character.

Cleveland Park is now a serious foodie's paradise.  There are restaurants from every continent except maybe Antarctica.  Sidewalk cafes line Connecticut Avenue near the local Metro Stop.

And when a new movie desides to have it's premier in Washington, they usually choose Cleveland Park's Uptown Theater as the venue.

The National Cathedral (you see it on television whenever a President or other famous American dies and has a huge funeral) is one of the neighborhood major anchors.  If you come to visit Washington, an elevator ride to the top of the tower will give you a commanding view of the city.  And its gift shop has one of the best selections of gargoyles in the country.

And no conversation about Cleveland Park is finished with talking about that neighborhood landmark, the Broadmoor Cooperative.  It was home to, among others, Huey Long, when he served as the Senator from Louisiana.  And the Broadmoor deserves a blog of its very own!

Here's the long-awaited second installment in our ongoing series "Making the Most of Your Localism Sponsored Communities."

To access the first part in this series, go HERE.

So you've created a stellar community description that rivals the likes of Chaucer and Balzac. So now what?

Well, it's time to start populating your community page with good, quality, relevant local content.

And what exactly constitutes good relevant local content, you ask? Ah, therein lies the answer to the meaning of life and proverbial pot of gold at the rainbow's end.

Ultimately, that's for each of you to decide. But I would suggest that you try to see things through the eyes of your intended audience - the residents, the merchants, the consumers, and potential clients in your particular community/city. What information/resources could you share that would offer value to their lives? What would they find interesting and engaging?

These may not be the best our community has to offer, but let me just give you a few of my own personal examples:

Silver City Restaurant & Brewery - Local Business on the Kitsap Peninsula WA

"Feelin' Crabby?" - Life on the Kitsap Peninsula WA

Costco Warehouse Silverdale WA - Local Business on the Kitsap Peninsula WA

Town & Country Auto Repair - Local Business on the Kitsap Peninsula WA

For me, I typcially include some kind of geo-target reference in my titles, whether the specific community, city, or County. You always want to include key search terms within the context of your blog post, but don't stuff it so full that it makes it difficult or uncomfortable to read.

Always remember that you're not simply conveying cold, hard facts about your community or whatever subject matter you've chosen. Don't shove an encyclopedia in your reader's face and expect them to be hungry for more. People can find such fodder on static websites a-plenty. In all of your writing, allow your unique personality, your experienced and professional perspective, and your enthusiastic passions to shine through!

Don't clutter your articles with redundant and blatant self-promotion. ActiveRain offers more than enough links for today's Internet savvy consumer to 'find' you. You definitely know there's a problem when the majority of your article content consists of annoying banners, slogans, glamor shots, widgets, and links telling eveyone you're the best thing to happen in real estate since Donald Trump. This isn't the stuff people want. They get bombarded with that message constantly throughout their day. Consumers today are more sophisticated. They've learned to ignore it. Do yourself a favor, and go read Seth Godin's take on Interruption Marketing. It will provide a fresh perspective and revolutionize the way you approach business.

There are a number of really exceptional authors here on ActiveRain who specialize in writing local content posts for Localism. To get some additional examples, check out the blogs of Jeff Dowler, Teresa Boardman, Kristal Kraft, Margaret Woda, Sally Cheeseman, Lenn Harley, and many more.

At least once a day I will 'feature' an article here on ActiveRain that represents a good example of Local Content posting. In addition to being 'featured,' you'll see the terms (LOCALISM FEATURED) in the title. This way you can view other excellent examples of what constitutes good relevant local content. Who knows, maybe one of your articles will be 'featured' soon?

Feel free to throw in a link or two here in the comments section to some local content posts that you're proud of. Let's all learn from each other, and work towards improving the quality of our blogging!

Well, there ya go! Hopefully another helpful element/strategy that you can implement in effectively developing your sponsored community and attract potential business,.... so Stay Tuned!

(P.S. If you're a Twitter Bug, be sure to follow the new Localism Tweet!)

1-800-SELL-NOW continued its expansion across the country with the recent addition of the Greater Sacramento, California area. "We are excited to have Roy and Syris as part of the 1-800-SELL-NOW family," says Kent Clothier, President and CEO of 1-800-SELL-NOW. "We know that these guys will be a welcomed addition in the local market. Northern Californians are looking for solutions to their housing issues and Syris and Roy can help them with those problems immediately."

1-800-SELL-NOW and http://www.1800sellnow.com/sacramento.html is a national group of real estate investors who say "We buy houses", 'We buy homes", "Stop foreclosure", 'We buy real estate", "We buy any property", "Offer in 7 days" and “Sell my house fast cash.” 1-800-SELL-NOW is nationally recognized as a home, house, condo, commercial property, apartment complex and real estate buyer. We provide many solutions to suit an individual's needs, including a fast cash offer, which will allow a person to sell a house quick to our team of home and house investors, a terms offer so that the person can sell their home or condo now.

We buy houses, we buy homes, we buy condos, stop foreclosure or sell your house to 1-800-SELL-NOW today.

If you have a home in: Chico, Sacramento, Roseville, Napa Valley, San Jose, San Fransisco, Stockton, Fresno, or Oakland go to http://www.1800sellnow.com/sacramento.html for more information, or call 1-800-SELL-NOW. When people search for companies that buy property, houses, homes, condos, or commercial property, companies that buy real estate, organizations that purchase houses, companies that buy condos or companies that stop foreclosure, they enjoy how easy and simple our solutions are and our website is easy to use. Our clients are satisfied with our ability to answer their more difficult questions like: How do I sell my house fast? A customer said he had questions like, “Can I sell my house for cash now?” or “Can I sell my condo now?” or even, "Buy my house fast for cash" and he was pleased with our fast response time and excellent service.

Go to http://www.1800sellnow.com/sacramento.html for more information, or call 1-800-SELL-NOW The 1-800-SELL-NOW team is comprised of real estate investors who advertise "We Buy Houses Fast Cash" and focus on houses, homes, condos, commercial property, and all types of real estate in foreclosure and properties in distressed situations to help people sell their house, sell their home, sell their condo, sell their real estate, sell their commercial property fast. If you are interested in the topics: sell my home fast, sell my home, home selling, buy my home, sell home, sell home quick, sell my house fast, sell my house, house selling, sell house, sell my condo, buy my condo fast, buy my house, sell my house quick, sell my real estate, sell my commercial property, stop foreclosure or you would like to buy a house, sell a house, sell real estate, sell commercial property, sell my condo or stop foreclosure now, then we want to talk to you and you want to talk to us.

Go to http://www.1800sellnow.com/sacramento.html for more information, or call 1-800-SELL-NOW. We are best known for "we buy houses fast cash", sell my house cash fast, cash for houses, “we buy any property”, “stop foreclosure” and other solutions for getting cash for a person's house. It's from sell my house, condo or commercial property fast that people locate us. Tracy needed to sell her house fast and she went to http://www.1800sellnow.com/sacramento.html and she was “able to sell my house to 1-800-SELL-NOW fast” she said.

Go to http://www.1800sellnow.com/sacramento.html for more information, or call 1-800-SELL-NOW. We can help you sell your house or condo, sell your house or condo fast or buy your house or condo fast cash. If you dream of selling my house, selling your house fast, selling my condo now, selling your condo fast, by sell house, sell for cash fast, stop foreclosure, we are your solution. I get sell house tips at http://www.1800sellnow.com/sacramento.html because I went to sell my house for sale by owner, but I had to stop foreclosure now. We can help you stop foreclosure. To save your credit is better than foreclosure so stop foreclosure, paying cash for house, paying cash for homes fast, cash for houses, buy houses for cash fast, cash for my house, rent to own your next home.

The next time you think "We Buy Houses" think of http://www.1800sellnow.com/sacramento.html.

Go to http://www.1800sellnow.com/sacramento.html for more information, or call 1-800-SELL-NOW. 1-800-SELL-NOW – Sell My House Fast – America’s Fastest Home Buying Company

Call 1-800-SELL-NOW http://www.1800sellnow.com/sacramento.html

Crabbing in the Barnegat bay has been GREAT this year. I finally got out for the first time a week or so ago. I posted a blog on crabbing a month ago. I had not had a chance to go out myself until my sister came for a visit from Virginia. So Any Excuse to take a day off and use the Boat!

we got a late start, and went to my secret spot that has always paid off and it certainly did, in a few hours on the boat we had enough crabs for dinner.  The Vast majority of the crabs were big enough that we did not even have to measure them, I would say they were mostly over 6"... And all Males, very few pesty little ones (some times it feels like you keep catching the same tenacious little guy!)

Here is a picture of my daughter with a crab, one of the smaller keepers we caught ... She is going to hate me for posting this picture, but she was being her typical 16 yr old self... You know what they say about pay backs????  Thats my son in the back ground about to net his sister... and my nephew next to him

(Hmm. I should have cropped the photo, you will be able to tell my secret spot from this....)

Of course I did not have my camera, I never do and had to rely on my Blackberry for a shot.

Below is how they looked all ready for dinner. A little Old Bay Seasoning, and cooked up ready to eat

They still look ready to pinch, don't they?  I am truly lucky to live where I do. Ocean county offers so much and I know at times I take it for granted... but Luckily family shows up and you get to see through their eyes what you were missing!

So, go grab a net, some bunker and a few drop lines and catch yourself some dinner... and if you ask really nice, I will tell you where my secret spot is, there is a bit of local knowledge involved, and a little bit of a trick with the current that you also need to know... That secret I may just have to keep for myself!

Have a great week

Rob

Robert Rauf

Real Estate Mortgage Network

Holy toledo!! I am completely psyched!   

Here's how it went down...When I first started really paying attention to what was going on with ActiveRain two weeks ago I was asked to help some folks from out of town.   

I was skeptical...is this some sort of gimmick?   

Is this referral REALLY going to come my way?    Then it did (full skepticism still present).  

Are these real folks?    I talked to them on the phone - they sounded real (skepticism lingering at 34.2%)  

Are these people really going to come to San Antonio?    They came to San Antonio.  (skepticicism nada, zilche, finite)  

It happened today!   It has been POURING rain all week deep in the heart of Texas.  We are talking gata's & perro's (translation:  cats & dogs.  A little spanish lesson thrown in there - hey, it's the least I can do) but we prevailed through it!   

WE (Myself and my ActiveRain referral) saw 5 homes, they chose one, I wrote it up.  Groovy!   

I was originally just smitten with ActiveRain and wasn't quite sure if it would receive a rose at the most dramatic rose ceremony yet.    

I think it is safe to say I am now in Love.    I LOVE helping your referrals!  Thanks!

Please visit www.KristinMoran.com to search for homes in San Antonio.    

Kristin Moran, RE/MAX Access - The Moran Team "Sisters that sell", (210)313-7397, Kristin@KristinMoran.com