Thursday, September 11, 2008

The Hawg has returned!

Fortunately, I'm back from Arkansas Realtors Association (ARA) convention that was held Monday through Wednesday in Little Rock.

Of course, I'm the director of media relations for the ARA and consider any convention where someone doesn't get arrested as a successful one (that photo I took and posted here was staged, thanks to a Realtor and a Little Rock police officer with a good sense of humor). The media would have a field day with the ARA should one of our members drink too much, do something stupid and wind up in jail.

As an added bonus, I got to meet the famed Hillbilly Willy, a fellow Arkansas Blogger who works for one of the exhibitors that arrived at our convention. I'm not going to go around identifying which company Willy works for, but I will mention that he's as funny as one might expect from his blog. Look me up when we're not so busy sometime, Willy. I'll buy you a beer.

One thing I was reminded of at this convention and all of them I've attended is a question that I get quite a bit -- which Realtor should I hire? At the ARA, we can't go around making referrals, of course, as we're not supposed to show preference for one Realtor over another. However, there is a great way to find a good Realtor regardless of where you live -- ask your friends and families who have bought houses and get some recommendations.

Here's the thing -- most Realtors are good, honest people who work hard for a living and represent their clients well. Some of them are terrifyingly self-centered and are best avoided.

Of course, I've got that insider knowledge and I know how to spot those few bad apples. You can spot them, too, just by asking your friends and neighbors who did a good job for them. Reputation is everything in the real estate business. It's been that way for years and will never change.

So, it's good to be home and blogging again. I've been slacking on my marketing through Entrecard for obvious reasons, but I'll be back in the swing of things within the next few days.

Meanwhile...

While I was way, I was somehow presented with a slew of dandy awards. I will get around to passing those along to some great bloggers before long but I feel obliged to mentioned what those awards are and thank all of those people who sent them to me. So, here's what I won and who sent them.

1. Lyndon at Lyndonology sent me the BFF Gold Card Award. He also sent the "I 'heart' Your blog" award that I sent to him straight back to me. Not sure that one counts, though.

2. Lot 2 Learn at Did I Miss Something? sent me the Brilliante Weblog Premio 2008.

3. Steve at the Axis of Stevil sent me two awards -- the Kick Ass Blogger Award and the Brainy Blog Award.

So, thanks to all of those cats for sending those awards my way. I'll get around to thanking all of those great bloggers properly through a post in the next day or two and I'll pass those awards along, too.

10 comments:

Paul Eilers said...

Hawg,

While you were out, did ya hear that the Arkansas - Texas game has been postponed due to Hurricane Ike?

So after this Saturday, the Hogs will still be undefeated!

Yay! (waving pom poms)

HawgWyld said...

Paul:

I heard that was a possibility. Frankly, I kind of wish they'd delay that game permanently. It's going to be ugly...

Anonymous said...

welcome back and looking forward to more interesting posts from you!

ImitationAngel said...

Welcome back Hawg!

Anonymous said...

I love the advantages of living in a small community. I can tell you who gives a good haircut and the best realtor to have in your corner.

HawgWyld said...

Shaxx: -- Thanks! I'm planning to have an exciting series of posts as I just found out about adjectives. Yeah, they can really spice up your writing, I'm told.

Imitationangel -- Good to be back to my regular routine, let me tell you. When you're pushing 40-years-old, this shindigs start to rather wear on you.

Karen -- In my position, I can tell you the best Realtors to use in the state of Arkansas. However, here's the thing -- that's privileged information.

Kind of like having a great secret you can't tell anyone.

Ah, but won't my memoirs be exciting?

Anonymous said...

heh, I attended a State Police convention in Hot Springs one year...uh...let's just say, while no arrests, because after all they weren't going to arrest each other, they ended up having to pay the Sheraton a lot of money for damages. Yeeeeah

Anonymous said...

I just found your blog and I am enjoying it. I have a condo here in Atlanta that I've been trying to sell for a couple of years, and I've been through 3 real estate agents. All the agents were good, and came highly recommended. All nice folks. It's just that the market stinks. I don't hold a grudge.

I liked what you said about reputation. My dad was a small town banker for 40 years, and he taught me that reputation is very important. Amen.

Dee

Lyndon said...

No where is it in the rules, that I couldn't give the award back to the person that awarded it as well ;)

Glad your back, gives me something to read again!

HawgWyld said...

lala -- State police carrying on like that? Geez...

dee -- Well welcome aboard! Please come back and visit.

Yep. The housing market is troubled in a lot of parts of the country, Atlanta included. We seem to be holding up OK here in Arkansas. We'd like to see sales increase, but we'll take what we can get.

And, yes, reputation is very important. It's a pity some people just don't quite understand that.

lyndon -- Nope. Nothing like that in the rules at all!

And it's good to be back. Working those long, tiresome hours was easier when I wasn't pushing 40-years-old...