Twisty, Curvy Roads

Looking For Your Perfect Round Rock Home? Get your FREE copy of The Ultimate Buyer's Guide. Posted by Jim Ivy, Realtor on  Wednesday, August 9, 2017

This is a chain of emails between Garrett Wilner and myself. Garrett began the chain with an email bearing the subject line, "The Mental Disease of Liberalism". On Sun, Feb 5, 2017 at 8:26 AM Garrett Wilner wrote: Lofty subject line, huh? Hehehe So, one of my hobbies has been "trying to understand people." It always amazes me when I run into folks with cognitive dissonance, watching how they justify their points of view with an alarming paucity of logic, references, or facts. In a moment, below, I will provide a link to a YouTube video that I watched twice. It's a conversation between two people whom I like and admire. I almost always find some gems, things I learn when these two get into conversation. And, I find major, glaring holes in their arguments. It's funny sometimes. I marvel at how a closely held belief can be so closely held! Why would I watch a video (twice, no less) of two Liberals having an honest conversation?? Many reasons! Fi...

For several years my band, The Second Line Jazz Band , would play a monthly show at a local venue in Round Rock, Texas. One of our most stalwart fans was Gloria Krause. No one would describe Gloria as a "spring chicken", but her spirit was as fresh as any springtime flower you have ever seen. One evening after the show, Gloria handed me a folded piece of paper with the words to a Christmas poem that she had written. She had titled the poem "Love, Love, Love At Christmas". She asked if I would set the words to music and I agreed that I would do my best. Gloria's poem sat in one of the innumerable paper piles on my desk for several weeks waiting for my attention. Eventually, the poem worked it's way to the top of my "do something about it" pile and I began the process of fitting words and melody into something that might be called a song. At our next show, I handed Gloria a CD recording and a printed copy of the song. The excitement in her eyes w...

This evening, I was doing some long neglected house cleaning. I picked up a piece of paper and was surprised to find this. I don't remember this, but it has a 1948 date. I would have been 4 or 5 years old. I would listen to the Lone Ranger radio show religiously. He was my hero. That show has been an inordinate influence upon my life. "Hi-yo, Silver, away!"

Late one evening I was driving home from a gig when suddenly I saw a small dog in the road in front of my car.  There was no traffic, so I swerved to avoid hitting the pup. I stopped and turned around to make certain that I was not leaving a hurt dog on the road, and there he was running down the middle of the road again. I stopped, opened my car door, and, without any coaxing, he came over and jumped into the car with me. The next day, I set about trying to locate the owner. There was no collar or rabies tag. I took him to a vet and they checked for an embedded ID chip. Nothing!  I checked with the pound to see if anyone had reported a missing dog, and spent quite a bit of time walking him through nearby neighborhoods to see if anyone recognized him. I never found an owner. Before too long, I found myself becoming attached to the little fellow, and evidently, he felt the same since I soon found that I could not walk from one room to the next without him following me...

What Do These Statistics Mean To You? Statistic Your Takeaway 90% of home buyers searched online during their real estate search process Furnish an online portal for your customers and clients where they can search homes. Know how to explain why they should be using your portal instead of the Zillow/Trulia, etc., etc. Why? You lose control when your buyers are roaming all over the internet. Position yourself as their best and most reliable source of information by giving them a portal where they can search and you can interact with them and make search suggestions. 78% of consumers prefer getting to know a company through articles instead of ads. Maintain a customized blog with information that will be of interest to your target market of consumers. Drive inquiries to the appropriate blog articles in your blog. Why? The same reason as above. Also, your blog serves as a library of pertinent information that you can use to reach out to potential customers and...

The weather has been a bit gloomy for a few days. It is not rainy, but it is certainly not dry. Sunday, one of my friends, Andy Blake, and I had lunch and then decided to try taking a few photos at one of our local parks. Andy is a good photographer - I just own a camera! Click on photo to see more These photos were taken at Veterans Park in Round Rock, Texas. The mist in the air gave everything a soft blur.  There were a number of water birds - none of them seemed interested in flying or feeding. They seemed to be wishing for the weather to clear. Vladmir, the Muscovy duck greeted us as we arrived. These two turtles seemed to be deeply engaged in a conversation. Three Comorants standing on the dam. Andy Blake snapping a photo of the cormorants. The resident geese were staying far from the Muscovy Duck.