Marty Boardman is a Realtor and real estate investor in Gilbert, Arizona.  He’s the Chief Financial Officer for Rising Sun Capital Group, LLC, a real estate investment firm that buys and sells distressed real estate in the Phoenix metro area.  He’s also an accredited instructor for the Arizona Academy of Real Estate.  You can read about his successes and failures on his blog, www.freerealestateeducation.com or contact him directly at marty@risingsuncapitalgroup.com.

As a boy my interests were in sports and movies.   I had this dream of being like Dan Fouts of the San Diego Chargers and Harrison Ford from the Indiana Jones films.  But did I ever play football?  Very little.  As for acting?  I never enrolled in a single drama class.  These weren’t real goals of mine, they were whims.

Consequently, I spent all of my childhood thinking that success came naturally to people.  These gifted individuals didn’t have to earn their success or have someone show them how to get it.  A cosmic force had granted them special talents that I didn’t deserve.

That all changed in 1994 while working as a photojournalist at KMGH in Denver, Colorado.  I set a goal to become the National Press Photographer Association Regional Photographer of the Year.  I started spending hours at the TV station watching other photojournalists’ reels.  I immersed myself in the craft.  I convinced some of the best in the business to mentor me.  Within one year I had my award.

As I reflect on this accomplishment I wonder why it took me so long to discover that success is not pre-ordained or a do-it-yourself proposition?

Benjamin Graham mentored one of wealthiest investors of all time.  Born in 1894, Graham prospered following the Great Depression.  His book, The Intelligent Investor, was published in 1949 and inspired a generation of value investors.  Mr. Graham’s most successful protégé was so inspired by the book that he moved to New York from his Midwestern hometown at the age of 20 to attend Columbia University.  Graham taught classes there in addition to managing his investment firm, the Graham-Newman Corporation.

Graham’s star pupil? Warren Buffett.  Buffett would later write “I knew Ben as my teacher, my employer, and my friend.  In each was an absolutely open-ended, no-scores kept generosity of ideas, time and spirit.  If clarity of thinking was required, there was no better place to go.  And if encouragement or counsel was needed, Ben was there.”

If the most successful investor ever had a mentor then shouldn’t you and I?  Set your goal.  For me it was to win an award, for Warren Buffett it was to become a millionaire by age 35.  Next, surround yourself with people who can help you achieve it.

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Marty Boardman is a Realtor, real estate investor and instructor in Gilbert, Arizona.  He’s the Chief Financial Officer for Rising Sun Capital Group, LLC, a real estate investment firm that buys and sells distressed real estate in the Phoenix metro area.  He’s also an accredited instructor for the Arizona Academy of Real Estate.  You can read about his successes and failures on his blog, www.freerealestateeducation.com or contact him directly at marty@risingsuncapitalgroup.com.

I know certain things.  For example, I know that I should exercise at least three times a week for 30 minutes.  I know that I should eat a balanced diet of lean protein, fruits and vegetables.  I know I shouldn’t drink soda, smoke cigarettes, or drink alcohol excessively.   I also know I shouldn’t speed on the freeway or talk on my cell phone while driving.  I know I should floss my teeth every night before I go to bed and tell my wife that I love her.  So, if I know and accept these things to be fundamental truths then I must do them religiously and without fail right?  Well, if you’re anything like me then the answer is a big fat no!

Why is that?  Most of us know exactly what we need to do to be successful, from our diet to our fitness.  The trouble is following through.  Some experts believe it’s because as a society we are undisciplined.  That’s part of the reason but not the real answer.  I believe it’s because it’s just too darn easy not to be successful.  The consequences are often unrecognizable and far off in the distant future.

As a REALTOR there are things I know in my business too.  I know my listings will sell faster and for more money if they have lots of clean, well-composed, high quality pictures.  I know that potential buyers will most likely find my listing online and will call their REALTOR to see it because of the pictures.  The bottom line is that facts tell and pictures sell.  You probably know that too.  But do your listings show it?

I’m not advocating dropping thousands of dollars on an expensive camera and lighting equipment, nor am I suggesting you go back to school and study photography.  However, I do recommend you invest about $500 in a digital camera and learn some basic photography techniques like the rule of thirds.

I recently purchased a Canon G11 digital camera.  Keep in mind I’m no photo geek so I’m not going to bore you with the specs.  What I like about this camera is that it’s high resolution (10 MP), has a built-in wide angle lens (a must for taking pictures of houses) and is excellent in low light.  The Canon G11 is a hybrid between a standard point and shoot and DSLR.  It won’t weigh you down like a big DSLR but it has easy-to-use settings that allow you to switch back and forth between inside and outside shots.

Once you have a good camera it’s time to work on your technique.  For starters, turn off the date stamp feature and don’t ever shoot directly into the sun.  And unless you want to end up on UglyHousePhotos.com, do not to capture your reflection in the mirror while taking that picture of the master bathroom (a little tip here – kneel down below the mirror.)  Leif Swanson a REALTOR and creator of the site, also says you should never take pictures from your car or at night, and never have people or pets in the image.

There you have it.  You now know what you already knew.  What I have written here may not get you to the gym or prevent you from drinking a bottle of wine at dinner but at least you’ll start selling more houses.

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In January 2010, the Center for REALTOR® Technology (CRT) extended an email survey invitation to 45,000 random REALTORS® who have provided NAR with an email address. Close to 1,500 responded to the survey. 93% of those indicated that they were 40 years old or younger use a smartphone to conduct real estate business. 86% of respondents older than 40 use a smartphone.

Here are the highlights of the survey:

Top 3 smartphone brands used by respondents:

• Blackberry (41.2%)
• iPhone family: iPhone 3G (14.1%) ; iPhone 3GS (11.9%)
• Palm (14.0%)

Top 3 reasons why respondents were motivated to choose current smartphone:

• Best device for email (45.9%)
• Ease of use (26.2%)
• Ability to use a keyboard (23.7%)

Top 5 features used most by respondents on their smartphones:

• Telephone (91.2%)
• Email (88.4%)
• SMS/texting (73.8%)
• Calendar (52.6%)
• Web browser (42.3%)

For general purposes, social media related apps were the most popular type of application downloaded by survey respondents (54.5%). This was followed by maps (43.3%) and weather applications (41.8%).

When it comes to MLS listing information:

• 57.3% indicate they have access to MLS listing information through their smartphone’s web browser.
• On a scale of 1-5, where 5 is extremely satisfied – respondents rated their overall satisfaction with the MLS listings available through their smartphone a 3.12.
• 10.7% do not have access to listings via a smartphone because their MLS does not allow it.
• Of this group, 94.4% are very interested in obtaining access via their smartphone.
• 11.4% are not interested in accessing MLS listings via their smartphone.

Out of all this data – the one that is the most disturbing to me, is the MLS info.

Only about HALF of smartphone users have access to MLS data on their phone? And 10% don’t have access because their MLS won’t allow it? REALLY?

It really boggles my mind that agents would not have full and complete access to this data from any internet connection – laptop, desktop or smartphone. I know many times the problem lies in that many MLS’s only work on Internet Explorer – which yes, is still the top web browser but unfortunately it also usually contains the most bugs. Many tech-savvy and smart agents are working from Firefox, Chrome or Opera – just to name a few. In addition many MLS’s are not compatible with Safari – the main browser on a Mac or iPhone. I hope NAR and the Center for REALTOR® technology will help move many MLS’s into the future!

This topic is sure to be a hot debate at Real Estate Connect during our MLS Track held in the afternoon on July 14th.

FOREM fans – what do you think of this survey? Would love your thoughts and opinions – please leave me your feedback below!

Written by: Katie Lance, Marketing Manager, Inman News

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Have you seen Really Rotten Realty yet? I stumbled across this site this week and thought it would be perfect for “Fun Friday!”

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from this site:

Looking for a home with specific qualities?
We will work with you to find out what you are looking for in a home, then we’ll show you the homes we wanted to show you before we pretended to care about your needs.

Worried about getting pre-approved by a mortgage company?
Why bother? That takes all the fun out of home shopping. We’ll figure all that math stuff out after you fall in love with a home you can’t afford.

We hold open houses every week for our clients.
We’ve never actually sold a listing by holding open houses, but we have attracted lots of new customers to our agency by using our client’s homes for our own personal gain. Plus it’s fun to rummage through our client’s personal belongings and if we’re lucky there might even be something good in the refrigerator. We’ll hold as many open houses as you like. It’s the least we can do.

Want your house advertised by a professional?
We believe in the 3-P’s of real estate marketing: Put, Put and Pray. Put a sign in the yard, Put it on MLS and then Pray someone will come along and buy it. We usually find that after enough time passes, and after several price drops the house usually sells itself without too much intervention from us. That’s an easy commission earned. We like easy.

Props to Agent Harvest for creating this really entertaining site. According to their site: ‘AgentHarvest empowers clients, selling or buying a home, with the ability to find, interview, hire and work with the best available agents that can serve their needs. Our free service provides an opportunity for home owners and sellers to avoid unprofessional, unproven, or unsuccessful agents while focusing entirely on “harvested” agents in their micro-territory that have displayed an ability to sell in our client’s area.’

Pretty creative if you ask me! What do you think? Leave me a comment below!

Written by: Katie Lance, Marketing Manager, Inman News

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I made a trip up the I5 last week to Seattle. It was a chance to finally visit the epicenter of Real Estate 2.0 and meet many of the people I’ve been reading about and writing about over the last year.

A big thanks to the fine folks at Zillow for hosting me and letting me shoot some Inman TV interviews in their offices (as long as I could drag myself away from their fantastic view of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains anyway).

Drew Meyers turned the camera on me too, while I was there, and posted the resulting interview on the Zillow Blog.

Driving home to Portland however and I saw this…

The Realtor That Rocks. Awesome.

I’ve ranted about real estate logos before (see Why Do All Real Estate Logos Suck So Bad?) – but this one was simple yet effective. Plus it spoke to me (might have had something to do with the AC/DC on the stereo at that time).

Rock on Brother.

[Pardon the crummy camera phone pic. I ditched my Blackjack today for a new iPhone today and what can I say, I'm totally loving it - finally, a smartphone that syncs nicely with a Mac and so much fun to use.]

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