Can I order these somewhere? For real, these are great!

Ok, I got a great email today and started to delete it but this picture caught my attention!

Now ladies, is this brilliant or what? It was probably a man who thought of it no doubt, the brush is a bit small for my liking, but consider the options..... how about one with eye colors, lip shades? You get the idea! Oh I have a great idea for you men out there too, how about one that doubles as a TV remote?

What can you come up with? Would love to hear your fun ideas!

Mixing up our weekly office meetings!

With today's economy, we business owners have to help each other out and I am a big advocate of business relationships or business partners.
A recent example was our office meeting last week we were invited to a local shop called Whitt's End. It is a boutique of home and garden things and has a unique variety of products that is sure to come to mind when shopping for that hard to buy for person in your life.
We were warmly invited with coffee and pastries and heard Ginni (the shop owner) tell the story of how she came to open Whit's End. We felt right at home and discussed how we could help each other by using our circle of influence and work together toward a common goal. Ginni surprised us all with some great gift certificates we can pass on to our "New in Town Clients" and discussed ways of using "extra space" to build community relations for the small businesses. Whitts end will soon be hosting classes for Staged So Right's Sheila O'Mara where you can see where items you can purchase right there at Whitt's end can give your home that special touch to make it appealing to buyers in today's market.
At the close of our meeting, I think everyone left with a brighter outlook and a bag or two of items we just couldn't live without. For you Realtors out there, Whitt's end has gift certificates too for that extra special closing gift! Stop by and tell them you read about the shop in my blog and you can receive a special offer just for my clients and friends!

Here are a few photos of our office meeting! Can't wait to see where our next "Networking Office Meeting" takes us!

Thinking of Investing in Real Estate?

As a Realtor and investor myself, I want to share a couple of things if you are considering becoming an investor in today's market.
First, think smart --if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is!" Just because it seems like a bargain, do your homework on the property. You will be glad you did.
Investing in Real Estate can net 9-10% more than stocks so consider what you expect to achieve.
Rental properties should rent for approximately 1% of the purchase price. Check your local market to be sure other properties on the market are comparable.
Consider auctions, estate sales and banks sales as prices are usually below market value!
Not interested in property management? Consider a tract of land with possibility of future development or commercial use.
Just a few general points to consider before you buy. Call me for more information and deals suitable for investing. With my skills and experience I can help you get the most for your money!

Cream, Sugar or black? How do you like your coffee?

What makes a person decide how they like their coffee? Is it a genetic make up? Is it your job? Can you tell someone personality by want they drink? With all the different types of coffees, creamers, sugars, it can get very confusing. Instant or not? The more I think about this the more I realize what a big industry coffee and all of the accessories to go with it. We just purchased a Keurig and I love being able to have something different every time why wait you can have a cup like johnny on spot no waiting. I like mine with more cream than coffee and in a pink mug. What is your favorite type and why?

Most of us at Marsha Booth & Associates are coffee drinkers. We all have our own preferences and really just enjoy a good cup of coffee and the conversation around the coffee pot. Stop by sometime and sit a spell and have a cup of coffee with us! You will be glad you did!

Business is Great! We are upgrading!

Thanks to the great clients we have at Marsha Booth & Associates, we are happy to say our two girls up front are BOTH getting new Dell computers! For awhile one of the front office computers have been going to sleep when ever it feels like it, so you don't know if it will wake up or not. And if you walk to the back for a cofee or anything, it just decides at random to shut down. Time to upgrade for sure! So we got a great deal with some "inside" discounts so we got two for the price of one we had been considering! So, Cindi will get a faster computer and will stop complaining, and Kala will have no excuses so we are ready for what ever you can bring in!

As a special suprise, I have decided to get each of the girls a new "Mini Laptop" as well, so no matter where they are at, their work will be at their fingertips! Not really we just wanted to let them know how wonderful they are and just as a thank you and they have both been in the market for new laptops anyway.

Customer Service Represenatives--Where are they trained?

Ok, over the past week we have had many instances where we needed to talk to customer support and I thought this was a great idea for a blog post. First off, Dell has great customer service and walk you through every step of your purchase and answer any questions you might have. They would have to be at the top of our list this week for overall customer support. Now, take a few steps back and look at the customer service for Comcast! Totally another story! After our home internet service being intermittent for about 2 weeks, I called and set up an appointment for the following day. The window they gave me was a 4 hour window so I made arrangements to have someone home. Four hours went by, no tech showed up. So I called them back, they checked their records and said there had been no service call set up. I was furious. I explained someone had been waiting and what in inconvenience it had been, they hung up. Now I was upset, but was not rude so I was by this time very upset. I calmly called again, got a human after going through the same 20 "press 1 for this extension, etc." that I now had memorized, and again got an appointment set up. This time they did show up about 2 hours later. Now, you would think problem solved, but no...last night...internet was not working properly again!

My point in all of this is that customer service seems to go this way with almost everything anymore. I waited in my cell carrier showroom the other day for about 30 minutes to check on an error that was made to my bill. They had several customer service reps working, but one girl who was just there for show apparently couldn't even help me. What good is that? So I had to wait until one of the other reps was finished with the customer she had, which if you have ever been in a cell phone place, this can take forever when you had just though you could run in.

One more thing, do you ever feel like you are in the Twilight Zone when you shop at some of the Supercenters? It never fails, I can get in line with one or two people in line in front of me, and stand in the same place for what seems an eternity! I always seem to pick the one who has issues with her register, needs a price check or needs change and her customers are paying with a check! Never fails! I never shop when I am in a hurry in these places now, I have just resigned to the wait and instead of getting frustrated, I decide ahead of time if I really have time and need the things I am in the line for.

Community Service as a Team Building Adventure

As a fairly new Team we are always looking for fun ways to interact with our community and recently Hardin County's Repair Affair was brought up at one of our meetings. Repair Affair is our community coming together to make a difference for our low-income elderly and disabled citizens who need help making repairs to their homes. With both skilled and unskilled volunteers, minor repairs and safety issues are mostly addressed.

The event is to be held Saturday June 6th, 2009 and what is needed are the following:

• Teams of skilled and unskilled volunteers from businesses, churches, etc. to come work on the planned day.
• Contributions are needed to purchase materials to make the needed repairs.
• Your friends or neighbors who are in need of some assistance repairing or winterizing their home or help with a safety concern, give them an application.
  

The day of the event, volunteers receive a T-shirt and a lunch is provided by other volunteers. It is a great way to bring our community together and get to know your neighbors and share your knowledge.

Our team at Marsha Booth & Associates of Remax Executive Group, Inc. has issued a challenge to all other Realtors in our area to form their own team for this event. We hope to get all the different real estate companies involved that day to help support our community. So if your team hasn't signed up yet, email Marsha Booth at marshabooth@remax.net or Sandy Wallace at sandy_wallace@earthlink.net and get your team started. We are excited to do our part and would love to work beside any of you!

You can find more information by visiting the website http://www.hcrepairaffair.org/

Join Us for a Free Seminar - Living Beyond the Golden Years...

We are excited about the upcoming Seminar Living Beyond the Golden Years where several topics will be discussed such as:

Non-Medical Home Care
Home Health
Staging for Seniors
Allegro-Assisted Living Choices
Nursing Home Resources
Preferred Memorials
How to Out Live Your Money

Are you and your loved ones prepared for life beyond the Golden Years? You may not know it but there are local agencies and service that are dedicated to the welfare of the Season Citizens of our community, so this Free Seminar is available to share information and resources to assist you in preparing for the inevitable. Everyone ages, why not do it securely?

Join us Wednesday March 11, 2009 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM at The Allegro, located at 108 Diecks Drive, Elizabethtown. Seating is limited so please call to register 270-765-4414 As soon as possible.