Mary Pope-Handy's Silicon Valley Real Estate Commentary

The town of Los Gatos enjoys interesting architecture and an equally fascinating history that really impresses upon its residents the unique character of the area. One of the more colorful individuals was the inordinately surprising Charley Parkhurst, a stagecoach driver with a secret kept 'til death. (This is not the same person as Mountain Charley, though they did live at the same period in time. They are often confused as both had tussles with grizzly bears.)

If you'd like to learn about this amazing person who "made history" in the late 1800s, please visit my Live in Los Gatos blog.

History is full of surprises!

As it has been said several times, in many ways, everyone who's participated in Project Blogger is "a winner". We've all learned a ton, made friends here, and grown as people and as bloggers. My Live in Los Gatos Blog is vastly improved over where it was on April 1st of this year. It's been tough for us and also for the people who have been running it. In another week, it really will be over because then the official by-the-books winner will be announced at Blogger's Connect in San Francisco.

Frances Flynn Thorsen and I have been in the lead to date, but there are way too many outstanding factors to assume that we will be in a postition, next Wednesday, to give thanks and to see that the prize money gets assigned to CARE. At least two, maybe three other contestants could be declared the winner at Blogger's Connect. "Photo finish" someone said in a blog comment.

I would not say it is an easy choice, if you've followed the contest, to pick a team for your vote. It has occurred to me that I could do a post on what I've learned from each of the other teams - and I may well do that sometime soon. I could argue the merit of each one, but especially those other 6 who are still blogging even after the bell has been rung. We are all tired, but more, we all have pretty good blogs. They've been "whipped into bloggy shape" to use Fran's phrase.

So what to do if you like all of them? How should you vote?  Toss a coin?

I'm going to suggest something different. Look at their charities and see if that helps you to decide (for a tie breaker). Cheryl Johnson very kindly put up a grid and asked each participant to let her know which charity would be his or her choice if he or she wins. So not only are there links to each blog for each team member, but a few of the good causes for which they are blogging are listed too. (Thanks, Cheryl!)

If Fran and I win, the recipient for the prize money will be CARE, a fabulous organization that fights poverty and hunger around the world. It's a cause that Jim and I were donating to before I ever knew Fran (or knew who she was). Fran is very involved with CARE through the Web Women Giving Circle. Recently she and Joeann Fossland made a trip to Peru together with others from the WWGC and they detail their trip in a moving series of blog posts that you can read from the comfort of your computer.

All of the participants in this contest have great charities earmarked. But I want to ask you to consider ours. Please take a moment and get to know the Web Women Giving Circle, or look at the CARE website and check out the variety of amazing things they do to make the world a better place.

If you are looking for a tie-breaker, or help in deciding how to vote when you do, consider the good work this organization does. A vote for Frances Flynn Thorsen and Mary Pope-Handy is a vote for CARE.

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Anyone may vote (once!).  To vote, choose your team and send an email to vote@activerain.com. You must include your first name, last name, and a phone number where you can be reached for your vote to count. Votes must be received by midnight (Pacific Time) Friday July 27th, 2007.

Your thoughtful consideration is much appreciated.

July 31st is coming up fast and I know that I'll be seeing several of you at Bloggers Connect on August 1st and the reception the night before on July 31st. I'm thinking we should do some sort of dinner after the reception on July 31st. What do you say?

I live an hour south of The City but it's easy enough for me to find a place if some of you good folks would like to get together. I need at least a rough idea so I can try to find a restaurant brave enough to take us on, assuming we're more than a half dozen people (in walking distance to the Palomar, preferably).

Let me know if you'd like to be counted in. Please email me (responding here is good too but I'd like a cell number) to Mary (at) PopeHandy.com and confirm the # and a cell.

Many thanks.

And don't forget to Dress Warmly!!

Looking for something to do?  Los Gatos has a lot going on this weekend, and much of it's free! From a Harry Potter party at Border's in Old Town to 4 free music concerts, you have your pick without spending a dime. Not constrained? There's even more. 

If you'd like a list of offerings over the next few days, please visit my Live in Los Gatos blog or click on this current events post directly:

http://liveinlosgatos.realtownblogs.com/los-gatos-events/harry-potter-and-other-fun/

With warm regards from Silicon Valley,

Mary

Mary Pope-Handy, Realtor,  CRS, ABR, e-PRO, SRES, ASP, RECS, CNHS
Helping Nice Folks to Buy & Sell Homes Since 1993
Co-Author: "Get The Best Deal When Selling Your Home In Silicon Valley"
Intero Real Estate Services, Los Gatos, CA  (Silicon Valley)
408 357-5760 (Direct);   408 204-7673 (Cell);  408 715-0201 (eFax)
www.PopeHandy.com    www.ValleyOfHeartsDelight.com   
emailto: Mary@PopeHandy.com
Blog: http://LiveInLosGatos.RealTownBlogs.com

Months ago, I told my real estate coach, Joeann Fossland, that I really wanted to learn how to blog effectively for real estate. As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for! Seriously, I could not be happier. By hook and by crook, Joeann introduced me to Frances Flynn Thorsen. Fran learned that I love to write (I may even be excessive) and before I knew what happened, I was siged up to be a participant on Project Blogger.

That was about 4 months ago. And wow, I feel like so much has happened since then! 

For starters, I had begun a blog but wasn't actually reading any blogs. I realize, in retrospect, that this type of isolation isn't very smart - but I had just never thought about it.  So my first big "awakening" was before the contest actually started, when Fran told me to get out there and start reading blogs, and then to write a review or two about them. Suddenly, I felt connected and also felt like there were benchmarks against which I could judge my own efforts. Baby steps.

As things progressed, my inititial experiences with Active Rain (which amounted to "getting my toes wet") became more and more involved until I felt like I was being dunked at some sort of carnival. Bobbing for apples? Maybe. Whatever it was (I wasn't always sure), I was certainly wet - fully wet.

Enough has been said about the contest already. It was intense, fun, a learning experience, a bonding one, frustrating, maddening - I think if you can name the emotion, I probably felt it at some point during the official 14 weeks of Project Blogger. I'm a former teacher and sometime control freak. I can't help it.

But no matter what, I'm THRILLED that I was involved and I can't wait to give Fran an oversized hug for inviting me into all of this. Ditto that for Joeann.

Additionally, I really feel that way about a lot of the mentors and other apprentices. I hope this dosn't sound weird, but in some ways, I felt more like this was Special Olympics where each of us had different handicaps and each would actually help the other if needed. I know that I got and gave help - so in many ways it was not a competition like you might expect. In a lot of ways, I do feel (I know it's been said, but...) like we're ALL winners.

So what about now? Project Blogger ended on Sunday. I write this late on Wednesday.

I'm having a hard time "feeling" like it is over. Part of it is no doubt that the judging is still out there, so there's the ongoing uncertainty or closure. Part of it is habit - we have all become habituated (as Aristotle used to say) to blogging so much. It's hard to slow down because after so many weeks, the "habit" is formed. Yesterday I skipped a day of blogging - on purpose. Felt awful. This is going to be a transition!

There are a bunch of old habits that fell to the wayside when the blogging competition started. I'm trying to put them back, because I liked them in my life beforehand:

* reading the EPRO digest each day (now it comes in smaller increments several times a day)
* enjoying my hot tub on a nearly daily basis
* keeping my family website updated (http://www.myfamily.com/ - I highly recommend it!)
* and I've been getting a little more sleep - walking away from the computer a little sooner and so on.

So since Monday, I have been doing these things again. I have started reading the EPRO digest, I have been enjoying the hot tub, and I updated my family's website. There are many more things I've neglected and I'm counting my blessings that Jim and the kids are all still talking to me. (In all seriousness, they are SICK of hearing about the contest and are thrilled it's over.) Fourteen weeks is long. But we did it.

And next? 

I've had several opportunities appear that I've deferred. I'd like to become an EPro certified trainer and an SRES trainer. (I used to be a teacher and I like it.) I have a lot of blogging things to fix and I need to work on my websites so they are more cohesive. When the dust settles, I will teach a blogging class at my office, Intero Real Estate Services in Los Gatos. It will be my way of "giving back".

But above all - I need to be back to the basics of prospecting and following up on leads. I was good about juggling all of it for awhile, but by the end, I pooped out and something had to give. "Doing it all" is a myth!

Would I do it again? In a heartbeat.  I'm not leaving AR. I have great friends here, and it's also a good source of business. I have learned so much and I hope I can help others. That's why they call this the Active Rain COMMUNITY. For all the craziness we sometimes experience here, I'm thrilled to belong.

Thanks to all for the encouragement along the way. It has been a great ride.

With warm regards from Silicon Valley,

Mary

Mary Pope-Handy

Last week, my daugher and I had the pleasure of patronizing an apparel store in downtown Los Gatos. We were in search of clothes for my 16 year old to wear to a family wedding next month. Naturally, my idea of "what to wear" to a Church wedding & evening reception and hers were not exactly identical.

The gals at this shop really went the extra mile. Mission accomplished.

It happens that I had my digital camera with me that day. I was so impressed that as I was handing over my credit card, I asked the owner if she'd mind if I blogged about my experience and included a few photos. She said that was fine (free advertising!) and I snapped a few pics.

The store is Infiniti Boutique, located on 120 W. Main Street, Los Gatos. If you'd like to learn more, see more photos etc, please visit my Live in Los Gatos blog:

http://liveinlosgatos.realtownblogs.com/los-gatos-businesses/infinity-boutique
 

Today's the final day of the Project Blogger Contest, so a lot of the apprentices (and some of the mentors) are looking for some kind of closure as they wind down the efforts that will "count" in the competition.

This is not goodbye! For most of us apprentices, it's more like a small graduation day. But we're not packing off to college - we're just getting out from under the microscope, stepping offstage. I think most of us are ready for the pressure part of this great adventure to be over. We have learned a ton, and I think so have the folks who were running this contest for the first time!

Judges, please don't zap points from me for "blogging about blogging". There is a loose end that the contest required be addressed. Something we were instructed to do, but I haven't seen anyone else mention in these 14 weeks but myself, is budget. Here's what was written on the initial post by Jonathan about the contest:

Budget: 
Each apprentice will bear the costs of their own blogging efforts.
No budget restrictions
Budgets must be published in the Project Blogger blog on ActiveRain.

So, here is what I have spent:  appx $100 to my 17 year old whiz kid son to help me with some formatting, template editing type stuff and the creation of the banner for Live in Los Gatos.

That's it. Real Town is a no-cost platform. There are no setup fees, no monthly fees, no renewal fees. I did not pay for a professional web designer to come in and get me started (as did most of the apprentices, I believe).

I have not paid for any SEO work. (Maybe I should have.)

Now I am not sure which blog is "the Project Blogger Blog on Active Rain". This may be a community blog that was intended but didn't get off the ground. So I'm publishing my info here and ask the other apprentices to do the same.

And in conclusion. . .

In previous posts here on AR, I've talked about the experience of being involved with Project Blogger, what I've learned, how confused I've been at times (conflicting advice and judgements), what has worked for me, and how very thankful I am to everyone involved for their gazillion contributions. Special thanks, of course, to Frances Flynn Thorsen for her guidance and encouragement! And also to Joeann Fossland for getting me into this via Fran!

What is next? Just getting the Google Cloak of Invisibility off. Fran (my mentor) has been working hard on that. So have the IT guys at Real Town. And I owe special thanks to my friend, Realtor and fellow blogger Steve Leung (see www.1SiliconValley.com) for his input and advice there too. So I'm not done yet!

I pondered about what kind of post to have on Live in Los Gatos today  - though that blog will continue to grow and develop, I wanted something relevant to the milestone that today is for those of us involved in Project Blogger. It's a transition day. Often I work with seniors who are selling the family home and either moving in with family, or downsizing to a condo or moving into a senior residence of some sort. This struck me as a great piece to write today since this is a huge transition for them and so I wrote "Retiring and Downsizing in Los Gatos". My blog there is not just about buying or selling in Los Gatos, but making this charming town one's home. Living there at various stages of life (not just connecting when there's an immediate need) is all the fodder for Live in Los Gatos. I know when Jim and I retire, and when we need more help, this is where we'd like to stay too. So moving on, but not moving away.

Just like with Project Blogger and Active Rain. Moving on, not away.

~~~~~~~PS to this entry~~~~~~~~~~~

I was mistaken, Tisza DID post her cash outlay in her blog post How To Build A Blogger From The Ground Up - 1st In A Series Of PB Round-Up Posts - she spent just shy of $65 to buy her domains and pay for hosting.

The International Herald Tribune is an excellent news source and today's online news carried an article I wanted to share with the Active Rain family:

New research suggests Internet safety focus should not be on personal info.

What a huge change from past advice!

I have teens and am not super paranoid about the internet or their useage of it. We have discussed the basics about not giving out your home address, full name etc. They're more careful than that, using aliases.  This article suggests that what is more important is just "playing nicely".

Take a look and see what you think. For all of us who spend a good amount of time on the internet, and even more for those of us with munchkins, this is an important point to ponder. Maybe we were focused on the wrong thing before. Or maybe doing both makes the most sense....