Real Estate Information Archive

ELIMINATE THE BOX!

It was refreshing to read the article entitled "Thirty Under Thirty" in the REALTOR(r) magazine. Thirty agents under the age of thirty talked about their approach to real estate, and most seemed to "think outside the box." They didn't appear to be bound by conventional rules of marketing conduct. Think back to when you were a young child. You were totally uninhibited by rules, so you weren't afraid to try new things.

Back then, there wasn't even a "box" to confine your thinking or actions. You did whatever worked for you. Then, you began to grow up and your parents, then your teachers, began building a box for you. "Stay in line, be quiet, don't touch this or that," they admonished. "Good little girls and boys don't talk back, eat snacks between meals, or chew with their mouths open. "The rules got more sophisticated as you got older, and you began to conform. Now you're all grown up, comfortable in the box the world built for you, and it's not so easy anymore to "think outside the box".

Not so for the newcomers - the youth of the real estate industry. They are enthusiastic, energetic, and with their "no rules" thinking, they're going to mop up on those competitors who are too comfortable in their box. If you've been in the business for more than ten years, you have one powerful advantage over the newbies - real estate wisdom. You're a survivor and know your way around the business. Now it's just a question of combining that base of knowledge with some of the unfettered new thinking of the under 30 crowd. Old dogs CAN learn new tricks, after all!

It would be our pleasure at the Lohman Team to help you with all your real estate needs. We buy and sell homes in Toledo, Sylvania, Perrysburg, Monclova, Maumee, and surrounding greater Toledo. Feel free to call us anytime.

Nancy Lohman 419-360-4735          Bob Lohman  419-360-4437          

 Nancy Stemmle  419-867-3898       Kim Iott   419-466-8926    

KNOW WHICH DIRECTION TO TAKE?

Alice had no destination in mind when she began walking - no goal or objective to be achieved. She just wanted to "get somewhere." Might there be a parallel to that simple lesson in the business of everyday living?

In the average 168-hour week, chances are good that each of us will sleep for approximately 56 hours. That leaves about 112 hours for work and play. Whether or not we know which direction to take each week, we still have that same 112 hours.

If we choose a destination for the week - in the form of some personal or business goal - then set out in that direction, chances are good we will arrive. We will have -0- hours left at the end of the week, and will have achieved our objective.

The reverse is also true. When we allow the week to happen to us, vaguely hoping to "get somewhere," yet having no destination in mind, we still end the week with -0- hours remaining. The difference, of course, is that we accomplish no worthwhile objective.

How often have we been reminded of the importance of having goals and writing them down? With clearly defined goals, we can build a roadmap to our greatest achievements. Without them, we are like a ship without a rudder, unlikely to even get out of the harbor without ending up aground on the beach.

Choosing a worthy destination for our lives is a simple task. We get to choose any direction that excites and fulfills us. Then, once chosen, we need only construct our own "yellow brick road" to take us there.

It would be our pleasure at the Lohman Team to help you with all your real estate needs. We buy and sell homes in Toledo, Sylvania, Perrysburg, Monclova, Maumee, and surrounding greater Toledo. Feel free to call us anytime.

Nancy Lohman 419-360-4735   Bob Lohman 419-360-4437

 Nancy Stemmle 419-867-3898  Kim Iott 419-466-8926

www.nancylohman.com

BUILD A WALL OF HAPPINESS!

To affect the quality of anything first requires action of some sort. Affecting is the opposite of passivity. In a passive state we can only BE affected, but we ourselves have no effect on our surroundings or other people. Hold that thought for a moment and consider next the result of your "affecting."

Ambition leads to action. Your ambition leads you to affect the quality of the day through some action. So what is the ultimate result of your ambition transformed into action? Johnson suggests it is "to be happy at home."

If, as Johnson recites, being "happy at home" is the ultimate result of your ambition, then why are you working so hard? Is there a way to avoid working evenings and weekends? Could you schedule your child's soccer game into the week's plans? Is that next appointment more important than celebrating life with your spouse at anniversary time?

One way to affect the quality of your day, which in turn may result in happiness at home, is to "build a wall," to paraphrase Frost. Keep in mind that walls may limit you if they are constructed of heavy gauge steel mesh rimmed with concertina wire. Walls can also be formed as a low hedge or a split-rail fence - even more simply as a line in the sand. Rather than limiting us, they become a mere reminder of how far we are willing to go.

As we affect the quality of our life and push our ambition to the limit, we may also make choices about the boundaries of our lives. By choosing sound principles of living, for example, we may say, "No!" to friendships with those who operate outside our boundaries of accepted activities. We may decline meaningless activities, or the occasional committee appointment, which robs us of our valuable time.

In the end, WE are solely responsible for affecting the quality of our individual lives. We must choose wisely.

It would be our pleasure at the Lohman Team to help you with all your real estate needs. We buy and sell homes in Toledo, Sylvania, Perrysburg, Monclova, Maumee, and surrounding greater Toledo. Feel free to call us anytime.

Nancy Lohman 419-360-4735   Bob Lohman 419-360-4437  Nancy Stemmle 419-867-3898

www.nancylohman.com 

PLAY BALL!

With the start of the major league baseball season, a simple success formula recently heard comes to mind. It uses baseball words, but contains plenty of success wisdom.

Which do you think is more important, a home run or a single base hit? Most of us would choose a home run - even a "grand slam" home run. Most of us were also brought up to believe that someday our "ship would come in" - that all of our success or wealth or whatever would arrive at once, in one grand port call.

Funny thing is - more ball games are won with base hits than with home runs. Most ships arrive slowly in port - guided by tiny tugboats - and only after having navigated the wide oceans through a series of thousands of minor navigational corrections.

Yes! Big wins and successful journeys occur most often as the result of daily decisions - not life-altering, once-a-year, mega-decisions. Want to lose weight? It won't happen because you vow on January 1 to do it. It will be the result of your daily decision to walk, run, or work out. Want excellent health? Your daily, even moment-by-moment, decisions to ingest only healthy foods and avoid junk are the ones that will win the day.

The same holds true for your success in business. While a master plan at the beginning of the year is important, it's really the steps taken each day that produce the results. As you face each of the very small daily decisions, be careful to make only the right choices. By day's end they'll add up to valuable progress both on and off the field.

It would be our pleasure at "The Lohman Team" to help you with your real estate needs.  Call us anytime with questions.  We are very experienced in all aspects of real estate transactions in the Toledo area; Luxury Homes, Condos,New Construction, Residential, Investment properties. We can also help with "short sales", foreclosures, and loan modifications.

Nancy Lohman 419-360-4735   Bob Lohman  419-360-4437 Nancy Stemmle 419-867-3898

ON MY HONOR . . . !

The Boy Scouts have long espoused the same set of principles. It goes like this: "A scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent." How simple life could be if we all practiced just that short list. Each in itself denotes a wonderful trait. When put into action, all can make the world a better place.

So, what happens between the age of scouting and age 30, 50, or 75? How is it that we turn from being a friendly 12-year-old to a suspicious, stand-offish adult? How do we turn the corner from being obedient to our elders to challenging the authority of our employers or government? Why won't we open the door for someone who can't? Did simple courtesy die with our youth?

Perhaps experience has taught us that others are not always friendly, courteous and kind. "Turn-about is fair play," we may respond. Why should we be thrifty, taking care to save for our future, when everyone around us has "maxed out" their credit cards? Reverence for all we know to be of value seems to have become the victim of political correctness. Why should we be any different?

The greatness of our country was built on the solid rock of "principles." The soft, easy life of an affluent society may be our undoing. Our forefathers had it tough. Most of us living today had a cake-walk, comparatively speaking. Our forbearers had to live their principles - or face the defeat of poverty, ill-health, and despair.

Our children can bring us back if only we will take the time to teach them those simple principles. More than teaching, we might help them practice those principles in their daily lives until habit makes them permanent. Begin while they are still playing in the sandbox. They will grow soon enough into men and women who live principle-centered lives!

It would be our pleasure to help you with buying or selling your home in the greater Toledo area including; Sylvania, Perrysburg, Holland, Maumee, Monclova, Waterville, Whitehouse, and Ottawa Hills. The Lohman Team at Re/Max Preferred includes Nancy Lohman 419-360-4735, Bob Lohman 419-360-4437, Nancy Stemmle 419-867-3898.  Our website has many interesting features  www.nancylohman.com  

LOOK BACK TO THE FUTURE!

Life has been described as a path, a direction in which we travel over time - rather than a single event. Each of us gets to choose the direction our path will take us. By making those choices, we also clear the way to achieving the objectives we've set for ourselves.

When we fail to choose the path we will travel, that is also a choice. In that case, the path we travel becomes less distinct with more twists and turns than we would have liked. Each side path we encounter tempts us to change direction. Lacking any roadmap of objectives we might have chosen, we often end up somewhere - else.

Regardless of the quality of our choices, we can get a clear understanding of where we are likely to end up - just by turning around. By simply looking back at the path we have been following, much can be learned. For example, is the path behind us straight, or filled with curves and detours taken? Is it paved with solid, masterfully laid stepping-stones, or filled with muddy ruts that zig-zag around every obstacle?

Chances are that, as teenagers, most of our paths seemed to have had many twists and turns. As we matured and learned from our mistakes, however, it is also likely that we began improving the direction and quality of the path we traveled. The more attention we paid to the path, the more enjoyable the journey became.

Want life to be a most pleasant journey? Build your own roadmap - then start paving!

THINK YOU CAN?

Regardless of your age, you were probably introduced as a child to a wonderful book entitled "The Little Engine That Could." If you will recall, it was the story of a small red locomotive personality who believed it was possible to pull a very heavy load uphill - a task that was shunned by other larger locomotives. The little engine huffed and puffed up the hill, all the while repeating the mantra, "I think I can! I think I can! I think I can!"

It was a cute story that contained a very powerful message about persistence and the ability to overcome adversity. Now there's a sequel entitled "I Knew I Could!" A quick ten-minute read, it clearly outlines our ability to make our own choices in life. Using illustrations of train tracks and those cute little locomotives, you are easily led to the understanding that we choose the life "tracks" upon which we travel.

The book suggests that before picking one of those tracks, we should determine the direction it might take us, and the destination we might reach by so choosing. Sounds like real life, doesn't it? How many times, and in how many ways, must we be taught this lesson? If we fail to make our choices wisely, we have consciously made the choice to live at the mercy of happenstance - as did Alice in the following excerpt from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland":

"Cheshire-Puss...," said Alice, "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?" "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat. "I don't much care where -" said Alice. "Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat. "... so long as I get somewhere," Alice added as an explanation. "Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."

Life - it's your choice. Toot! Toot

READY TO BEGIN AGAIN?

Have a child or grandchild who graduated this last year? Whether it's high school or college, commencement exercises mark the end of a full curriculum of education - or do they? In fact, why not ask the graduate?

After four or more years of study, homework, reports, science projects, and exams, many graduates would quickly answer that commencement marks the end of their education. In fact, you can often hear students reinforce that line of thinking in their lament, "I'll never pick up another book as long as I live!"

The definition of "commencement" leads, however, in another direction. It is the beginning, not the end, of a bright future. It is the beginning of a life-long quest for knowledge, not the slamming shut of the books that opened so many new doors.

If it's been a few years since you graduated, perhaps you might also benefit from a renewed commencement - by opening some new doors to your own life-long learning curve. When's the last time you attended a workshop, bought a recorded educational series, or thought about taking college courses or embarking on a new degree track?

No longer are books the only on-ramp to education. Distance learning over the Internet, tapes, videos, workshops, seminars, and many other educational resources are yours for the taking. Why not let your graduating family member be the inspiration for your own commencement?

The 8,000 first time home buyer tax credit has been extended and their is now a credit for buyers who have owned their current home 5 years or more. 

Search of the MLS in the Toledo area. 

The Lohman Team RE/MAX Preferred  would love to help you with the purchase or sale of your next home. We pride ourselves in the ability to market well on the internet and get the most exposure for your home for sale.

We serve the greater Toledo area; including Sylvania, Holland, Perrysburg, Maumee, and Monclova.

 Check out our website at   NancyLohman.com    or  ToledoMLS

 Call us anytime.

Nancy Lohman 419-360-4735     Bob Lohman 419-360-4437

Nancy Stemmle 419-867-3898   Bert Spangenthal 419-346-1458

FORGET THE LEADER!

On the playground of any school, and on any day, you can witness examples of children playing "follow the leader." One hops, skips, or jumps, and all the others follow. As adults, however, many of those children play a variation of that game - called "follow the follower."

On the job, they look around, see how someone else is doing their work, and duplicate the effort. What they don't realize is that their fellow employee is also watching someone else. A circular game of "follow the follower" evolves, resulting in a mediocre work force. The same can be true in marriages, education, hobbies, and sports.

Consider the story of a telephone operator in a small town. Every day she received a call from a gentleman asking for the correct time. Finally, one day, she asked the mystery caller who he was and why he called every day. His answer? "I'm the one who blows the whistle at the factory each day at noon. I like to be right on time!" The operator laughed and then responded, "Here at the telephone company, we set our watches and clocks by the noon whistle at the factory!"

Tired of playing follow the follower? Want to rejuvenate your life? Begin acting like the unique person you already are. See what everyone else is doing . . . and do something different. Strike out in the direction of your own imagination instead of theirs.

In the words of Henry David Thoreau, "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined."

The 8,000 first time home buyer tax credit has been extended and their is now a credit for buyers who have owned their current home 5 years or more. 

Search of the MLS in the Toledo area. 

The Lohman Team RE/MAX Preferred  would love to help you with the purchase or sale of your next home. We pride ourselves in the ability to market well on the internet and get the most exposure for your home for sale.

We serve the greater Toledo area; including Sylvania, Holland, Perrysburg, Maumee, and Monclova.

 Check out our website at   NancyLohman.com    or  ToledoMLS

 Call us anytime.

Nancy Lohman 419-360-4735     Bob Lohman 419-360-4437

Nancy Stemmle 419-867-3898   Bert Spangenthal 419-346-1458

DON'T LISTEN!

Someone once said, "When I was in my twenties, I worried about what others thought of me. When I was in my forties, I didn't care what they thought of me, and when I was in my sixties, I realized they weren't thinking about me at all." Who hasn't had a parent or friend tell us "What will people think?"

How easy it is to let the influence of others govern our actions. By listening to others, then carrying out our lives to the tune they wish us to play, we are but puppets. One of "Aesop's Fables" addressed the same issue.

It told of an old man, a boy, and a donkey making their way down a hill. As the boy rode, while the old man led the donkey, they overheard a neighbor comment about the shame of making the old man walk. The next turn in the road saw both man and boy astride the donkey, and the next passer-by shook his head at the shame of putting such a load on the poor donkey. By the time the two reached the final turn in the road, they were seen carrying the donkey on a pole.

The message, of course, was that we should not live our lives to satisfy the expectations of others. It is up to us to set a clear direction for our own lives, and then follow that path to the exclusion of others.

It's really about choices, isn't it? We get to make our own choices in life. When we fail to do so, we have still made a choice - that being to let others make our choices for us. As the final days of the year approach, it's an excellent time to let your vision take hold, to set a bold new direction for your life in the coming year. Make some choices - no matter what "they" think!

THIS IS IT!!   866-419-2010  PUT IT IN YOUR CELL PHONE, TOLEDO OHIO HOMES FOR SALE.

• If you are out their driving around and looking at homes. 
• call 866-419-2010, easy to remember.
• push in the address number and the # sign
• you will get a detailed recording with current price
• must be listed in Toledo MLS or Monroe MI MLS
• We may call you to see if we can help get you more info, we will enter your name in our system
• after that CALL AWAY,  we will not keep calling you
• COOL 

The 8,000 first time home buyer tax credit has been extended and their is now a credit for buyers who have owned their current home 5 years or more. 

Search of the MLS in the Toledo area. 

The Lohman Team RE/MAX Preferred  would love to help you with the purchase or sale of your next home. We pride ourselves in the ability to market well on the internet and get the most exposure for your home for sale.

We serve the greater Toledo area; including Sylvania, Holland, Perrysburg, Maumee, and Monclova.

 Check out our website at   NancyLohman.com    or  ToledoMLS

 Call us anytime.

Nancy Lohman 419-360-4735     Bob Lohman 419-360-4437

Nancy Stemmle 419-867-3898   Bert Spangenthal 419-346-1458