Category Archives: Motivation

AVAILABLE NOW, but not for LONG

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I am posting this from my other website Living the real estate LIFE, not only because it’s a good post, but because the ECHO FLEX is back in stock for a short time and it will be a short time because this item sells out fast. Read on to see why this device is GREAT!!!

My first favorite smart device is a smart speaker from Amazon, the Echo Flex. THIS IS A GREAT SMART SPEAKER TO GET YOU STARTED–With a starting price tag of $24.99 you immediately start to see why I like this device. The small price tag is only equaled by it’s small size(2.8″tall by 2.6″ wide), but don’t be fooled their is ALOT you can do with this device. This is the only Alexa speaker that plugs straight into the wall. What comes in the box is the Echo Flex and some instructions that’s it, NO CORD. You plug the Echo Flex directly into an outlet and you can plug it in RIGHT side up or UPSIDE DOWN. I’ll explain why you might want to do that later. The Echo Flex has a 3.5mm line out on the side, perfect for plugging into a speaker, a USB PORT on the bottom, and Bluetooth capabilities. The microphones, speakers and on/off buttons are on the face of the Echo Flex. The speaker is small, but with the Bluetooth capability you can synch to a more powerful Bluetooth speaker or an Amazon Echo Dot or like I mentioned earlier you can run that 3.5mm wire to a bigger and better speaker. Because of it’s size and the ability to plug directly into an outlet this Echo can go places other echo’s have difficulty like behind a counter or on a wall that doesn’t have a table or ledge near it. You can use this device just like other Echo devices, calling the wake word and then asking for what you need. Wake words include: Alexa, Computer, Echo, Amazon, Ziggy and any of the celebrity voices you have paid for. Here is an Amazon link to the Echo Flex.

The Echo Flex has several accessories that you can use with the device and one of these is my second favorite smart device. Important thing to note you can only use one accessory with the Echo Flex at a time. I mean you plug the accessory into the USB port on the bottom of the Echo Flex. The three most popular accessories are a digital clock, a night-light and a motion sensor. The brand of accessory that I have tested and have had positive results with is made by Third Reality. The device that I have tested is the motion Sensor, $14.99. You would plug the motion sensor into the bottom of the Echo Flex and then plug the Echo Flex into an outlet. Your motion detection would be at the bottom of the device. If you are not getting the range that you want you simply unplug the Echo Flex, flip it upside down and now the motion detector is on the top. Here is an Amazon link to the Motion Sensor for Echo Flex. Link to the Clock. Link to the Night-light.

Having a motion detector with a speaker opens up a world of opportunity with Amazon Routines. Your looking at around a $40.00 one time fee. Let me be clear, that’s buying an Echo Flex and a Third Reality Motion Sensor and does not include any shipping and handling. You can add Amazon Prime or Amazon music but all of your echo devices will work fine without an Amazon Prime or Amazon music account. Let’s talk about routines.
The flow of a routine is: Trigger=Action.

Your trigger is motion detected. Your action could be all of the following: 1) Sound “dog barking” 2) Smart Home “lamp goes on” 3) Alexa says “Someone’s in the kitchen”. You can also set this routine for certain days of the week and certain times of the day. You can then have the routine wait for let’s say 15 minutes then turn off the lamp. Lastly you can suppress the routine for a number of hours or minutes before it will run again, that way people won’t be tripping it over and over again and it becoming annoying.

The small price tag and size makes the Echo Flex and it’s motion detector the perfect tool for any real estate agent or broker listing properties. It’s perfect for you to promote your listings as buyer’s tour the property and you might want to use one during and open house. After all Alexa is the ultimate assistant, put her to work upstairs or in another part of the home. She can talk to buyers upstairs while you talk to a group in the kitchen. The ultimate open house that EVERYONE will be talking about.

By buying through any of the links above I will earn a commission at no cost to you:)

Helping you to…
Live the Real Estate Life,

Scott

MOTHER’S DAY 2020

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Change is inevitable, but I think that we will all agree that the amount of change we have endured in such a small time is unbelievable.  Change is here and some of that change will remain.  One thing that remains unchanged is the love and devotion of your mother.  From nine months in the womb, to birthday parties, graduation and numerous first she is and always be your number one fan.  She is there to help you, to guide you, and grow you into the adult that you should be.  I know that some of us will not get to spend time with our mother today and while that is unfortunate, we love you more now than ever mom, mother, madre.  I hope all the mothers out their have a super, good, awesome MOTHER’S DAY.

Live Life to the Fullest,

Scott

Real Estate Can Move On

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There is no discussion when it comes to how weird things are right now so I am not going down that path with this article.

What I want to make perfectly clear is that your real estate needs can still be met in these trying times.  I have been a professional real estate agent for over thirteen years and with every year we have had technological advances.  Back when I first started, in order to know where you were going you had to have a KEYMAP for the county you were doing business in.  I  started my business on the northern border of Harris County and the Southern border of Montgomery County in Texas.  So two Keymaps, which was a binder full of maps,  and away I went to literally help my clients find their next home.  Shortly after I started working as a real estate agent my family bought me my first GPS device and I haven’t looked back since.  I haven’t used that device in years because, you guessed it… I now get that information on my phone.  Apple maps, google maps, waze and other phone apps have all made my GPS devise obsolete for the way I do business.  You can still buy a GPS, but you can also still buy a KEYMAP.

Technology has also advanced in how I write and present offers to and for my clients in real estate.  Through the years my ability to digitally send and have clients sign a contract has gotten better and better.  My clients and I no longer have to meet one on one to go over the contract.  We can use Zoom or  Skype or a ton of other digital methods to communicate.  These bits of technology do not take the place of human interaction, but instead, help me to maximize the real estate experience by being able to work with my clients when they need me.  Clients no longer need to drive across town in order to sign documents, this can be done easily on their time table in the comfort of their home.

Time is of the essence and if you haven’t seen that phrase in real estate it is there, trust me.  Digitally signing documents does not mean that another offer will not be accepted over yours.  Digitally signing documents has the potential of getting your offer to the other party faster, but you still have to do your due diligence and most of all “MAKE A DECISION”.

Viewing a home online has also seen advances, but it has also given the sellers the ability to misrepresent their homes.  Beware of all the visual tricks that sellers use when selling their homes.  Painting their front lawn green when there has been no rain and a lawn watering ban, making rooms look bigger than they really are, adding wispy clouds or artificially sharpening the photos.  Then there is what I call the basics, reporting the square footage wrong.  Doing any of these things is deceptive and needs to be stopped.  If you as the buyer finds a home that you know has taken part in these type of deceptive practices, what else are they hiding from you?  Did they falsify their seller’s disclosures, WHERE DOES IT END?

If you are a buyer you will need to visit the property that you are buying, it is in your best interest.  Do as much due diligence before you visit the property.  View all the photos, view the maps, confirm the schools, review the route to work, read the sellers disclosures, review the FEMA flood maps, drive the neighborhood anything else you need to review PRIOR TO VISITING THE HOME.  Your home visit now becomes a quick yes or no proposition.  Now in these trying times, you may have to wait a little longer due to self-quarantine and that is understandable.   I have had homes in the past that canceled showings due to illness and I respect them being upfront.  I would hope that all sellers would be honest about their health and the same goes for buyers.

The internet, apps and fancy websites can not and no attempts should be made to replace the human nature of real estate.  People need people especially during times like these.  I have embraced the technology available to help my clients with their real estate transactions.  I have worked with clients while they were in Mexico and even in Dubi.  We even have the ability through the title company to have a remote or mail out closing and this also is getting better with time.  Many title companies are also working on receiving the earnest money funds by wire transfer which also gives more flexibility to the process.  Real estate should not be slowed during these times, the technology is available to help you to…

Live Life to the Fullest…and I can help.

Scott