Sam White's College Station Real Estate Blog

Dear readers,

How exciting.

Yesterday, someone here in College Station found my ActiveRain blog on Google, and used the contact button on my profile to send me a message. I received her information, got on the phone, and I have an appointment for tomorrow evening.

This is the first "tangible" lead that I can source to my ActiveRain blog after blogging sporadically for about a month.

Only time and good tracking will tell how well my blogging investment will pay off, but this is certainly a morale booster.

Blue skies,

Sam White
www.SamWhiteRealty.com

Dear readers,

Today in our sales meeting we were talking about the slower market, and how to take advantage of the situation by doing something different. During the course of the meeting, one of our older (meant respectfully) brokers remarked about something he'd observed in the last few days.

One of our area's top producers has begun spreading a noticeable number of bright directional signs around her listings, thereby multiplying her visible number of her signs by four or so. In a community our size, this is something immediately noticeable.

Truthfully, I don't think she'll be able to keep all of those signs out there long, but then she doesn't have to. She did something different, and got noticed again.

I also noticed that she and her entire team attended recent Top Producer training and took good notes. She certainly isn't wasting her "off season."

I hope everyone is having a good week.

Sam White
www.SamWhiteRealty.com

Dear readers,

I always hate to write about something negative, but we are having a problem here in the Brazos Valley.

We have killed 12 people in 18 days on the highways in our area. That is a nasty number.

Most of these accidents have been head-on collisions which occur on hour multi-lane highways which are not divided. They usually involve passing in a bad place. There has been a lot of ranting recently about reducing the speed limit. I suggest we need to look in the other direction.

Many times, when asked why someone would pass with little or no room, the answer is something like "Well, I've been following this car that's going 20 miles an hour below the speed limit for thirty minutes."

Is it possible it is the people going to slow that are the danger, not the folks going 70? I thinks its something to consider.

Drive safely,

Sam White
www.SamWhiteRealty.com

Dear readers,

Just over a week ago, the Aggies played Fresno State here in College Station, Texas. It was an amazing, triple-overtime tight game.

Overlooked were the hundreds of fans at Kyle Field who were treated for heat stroke due to the very hot and humid early afternoon weather. The game began at 2pm.

As with many Aggie games, this game was originally scheduled to begin at 6 pm, leading into a much cooler game. Why was the time changed? Simply so we could get television coverage.

We find ourselves putting a dollar value on two things...television exposure for the Aggies, which we all want, and how many students and fans we are willing to expose to dangerous temperatures. Obviously with Fresno State, TV coverage won out.

Hmmm....

Blue skies,

Sam White
www.SamWhiteProperties.com

Dear readers,

As I said in an earlier post, the Brazos Valley is a much happier place went he Aggies win. The game last night here in College Station was almost perfect. The weather was nice and we outscored the other team, our friends from Monroe, LA.

Yesterday's game was not televised, so everyone enjoyed a comfortable evening game. Most Aggie games are scheduled for the evening. Its only when the evil temptation of television coverage is dangle in front of the Aggie administration that we get into heat problems...but that subject is for another post.

Many thanks to Andrew Smith and his bunch for again offering park and ride limo service from our offices at Chimney Hill to his tailgate location near the Heep building on West Campus. Everyone had a great time.

Blue skies,

Sam White
www.SamWhiteRealty.com

Dear readers,

Luckily, Hurricane Humberto was a non-event here in the Brazos Valley. Texans living in Beaumont and Port Arthur weren't so lucky, with streets almost three feet deep in water this morning.

As long as they come too often, non-event storms are a good thing. They keep people aware, the emergency supplies stocked, and our emergency management folks on their toes.

College Station, Bryan and Brazos County recently practiced their emergency plans on 9/11/07. Our emergency planners have been very busy since about 1 million of our friends from Houston came to visit during the evacuation for Hurricane Rita. It was a BIG wake-up call.

And we live to fight another day.

Blue skies,

Sam White
www.SamWhiteRealty.com

Dear readers,

For more current information, go to http://www.nws.noaa.gov/ and click on the big red blob south of Texas.

Hazardous Weather Outlook

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX

1242 PM CDT WED SEP 12 2007

AUSTIN-BRAZORIA-BRAZOS-BURLESON-CHAMBERS-COLORADO-FORT BEND-

GALVESTON-GALVESTON BAY-GRIMES-HARRIS-HOUSTON-JACKSON-LIBERTY-

MADISON-MATAGORDA-MATAGORDA BAY-MONTGOMERY-POLK-SAN JACINTO-

TRINITY-WALKER-WALLER-WASHINGTON-

WATERS FROM FREEPORT TO THE MATAGORDA SHIP CHANNEL 20 NM TO 60 NM-

WATERS FROM FREEPORT TO THE MATAGORDA SHIP CHANNEL OUT 20 NM-

WATERS FROM HIGH ISLAND TO FREEPORT 20 TO 60 NM-

WATERS FROM HIGH ISLAND TO FREEPORT OUT 20 NM-WHARTON-

1242 PM CDT WED SEP 12 2007

 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS.

 A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FROM PORT O`CONNOR TO

CAMERON LOUISIANA.

 A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT THURSDAY

FOR THE EASTERN HALF OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS.

 .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

RAINBANDS WILL CONTINUE TO APPROACH AND MOVE INLAND ACROSS THE

UPPER SOUTHEAST TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THE MAIN THREAT

FROM TROPICAL STORM HUMBERTO WILL BE HEAVY RAINFALL AND THE

POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING...MAINLY ALONG AND EAST OF A SARGENT TO

HOUSTON TO LIVINGSTON LINE. RAINFALL TOTALS ARE EXPECTED TO RANGE

FROM 5 TO 10 INCHES IN THE ABOVE MENTIONED AREA. ISOLATED TOTALS

UP TO 15 INCHES IS POSSIBLE.

ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE ALSO A POSSIBILITY LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND

EVENING ACROSS COASTAL AREAS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS.

OVERNIGHT...ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE ALONG AND EAST OF A

FREEPORT TO HOUSTON TO LIVINGSTON LINE.

TIDE LEVELS WILL RANGE FROM 1 TO 3 FEET ABOVE NORMAL. THERE MAY BE

SOME MINOR COASTAL FLOODING ALONG THE BEACH FRONT AREAS EARLY

THURSDAY MORNING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

TROPICAL STORM HUMBERTO WILL BE MOVING NORTH ACROSS EASTERN

PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS ON THURSDAY. THEREFORE...THE HEAVY

RAINFALL THREAT WILL CONTINUE FOR EASTERN AREAS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

Blue Skies,

Sam White
www.SamWhiteRealty.com

Hi all,

Our local City Bank Mortgage, along with FannieMae and AIG UnitedGuaranty, are hosting a briefing on the mortgage industry tomorrow here in College Station, Texas. They have several speakers lined up, and plan to cover several topics:

• Market Conditions - what's causing the turmoil
• Market Statistics - defaults and foreclosures
• What can we expect?
• FNMA guideline changes

I've very happy to have this information available and plan to attend. I'll report back tomorrow afternoon.

Have a good Tuesday,

Sam White
www.SamWhiteRealty.com

Dear readers,

I was driving down the state highway that connects Bryan and College Station today, also known as College Ave. It was once (and may still be) the shortest state highway in Texas.

I noticed that the former Haufbrau Steakhouse, which most recently was Thai food, had become the Crazy Cajun, formerly of Wellborn and New Orleans.

Luckily, I know several good folks who fled the Big Easy, landed here and remained. Many said this was the closest available motel room when they bolted. All have been a great addition to the community.

Thanks for adding some spice to the Brazos Valley!

Sam White
www.SamWhiteRealty.com

Dear readers.

After 4 1/2 hours in sultry heat, and at the end  of the THIRD overtime, the Texas A&M Aggies finally outscored Fresno State yesterday. Although it is estimated that almost 1/3 of the 75,000 fans at Kyle Field had to leave the game before the end because of the heat, for those who remained it was well worth it.

One thing I have always loved about the Aggies is our ability to turn something easy into a marathon. We went into the half with a 19 point lead...who would have ever thought we were headed for triple overtime.

Our hats  are off to the Bulldogs for coming to College Station and playing in our fall weather. Their were great opponents and gave us a run for our money. We look forward to having you as guests in our community again.

Travel home safely Aggies and Bulldogs. Thanks for coming to College Station. We hope everyone had a pleasant experience!

Sam White
www.SamWhiteRealty.com

Dear readers,

Another game day is upon us, and we are experiencing typical "fall" weather in College Station, Texas. I said in an earlier post that it doesn't cool off here quickly enough for me in the fall, and today is a typical example. At 0719, is 79 degrees outside and the humidity is just over 90%. Yuk.

This is great for the Aggies, because our team is used to this weather. Last week our friends from Montana weren't. I suspect that this week's opponents from Fresno State are thinking the same thing. College Station weather will also be helpful when we play Miami, in Miami a few short weeks from now.

Next week things are supposed to change, with lows falling to the 60's...finally.

Today's game is televised on FSN at 1400. Go Ags!

Have a great, safe weekend!

Sam White
http://www.samwhiterealty.com/

Dear readers,

I attended a free Top Producer training class this morning led by Reid Kegel, our TP regional sales associate. Scheduled for three hours, I went into it wondering how much time would be training vs. time spent trying to sell me add-ons to Top Producer 7i.

I was very pleasantly surprised. I've been using Top Producer for about eight months, and already has most of it figured out through their on-line courses or through trial and error. That said, there were five Ah-ha's that I learned that would have made any sales presentation worth it, but Reid didn't have to sell. The program sold itself, and Reid is a realist. Not every part of Top Producer is perfect, and he helped us around the rough spots.

I think the most amazing thing I learned was that one of our area's top agents wasn't using TP, at least to its full potential. Her entire team was there this morning though, and I suspect she is about to become more organized.

To long-term debate for me, from a technology standpoint, is the return to mainframe based software which requires a constant connection to the server. These are the systems I grew up with in the early 70's, that I think we wisely moved away from. With today's Internet connections this system is practical, but when the ones and zeros stop flowing, you have nothing. Time will tell.

Have a great weekend!

Sam White
www.SamWhiteRealty.com

Dear readers,

I love the fall. The weather doesn't change fast enough for me down here in College Station, Texas, but at least its beginning, and the kids have come back to town.

There is something about all that youth, ready for another year, many on their own for the first time (8,083 freshman this year). And of course there's Aggie football, which is a very big thing here.

Texas A&M has a large military band, which is a unit of the Corps of Cadets. As with many bands, because of their busy schedule, practice is scheduled for 6:00 am, which happens to be the time our family wakes up, and I wander out for the paper.

There is something about the way the sound bounces off the buildings and fades in and out that is somewhat surreal in the balmy, dark morning, as almost two miles away the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band begins their halftime routine.

I'm sure that the band wakes-up innocent civilians that live closer to campus, and for many 0600 is a bit early to hear a large military band play their hearts out. But then there really aren't any innocent civilians living in College Station.

Enjoy the sounds of the fall, for soon, we'll have to wait another year.

Happy Thursday,

Sam White
www.SamWhiteRealty.com

HOWDY AGS,

Those of you at the game last weekend were treated to this video by Granger Smith. I think its going to be popular here.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=17489419

Want more? Granger Smith will be performing live at the 3rd annual Down Syndrome of Brayan/College Station Buddy Walk, which will be held at Wold Pen Creek Amphitheatre on October 21st, 2007.

Tickets and further information is available at http://www.downsyndromeofbcs.com/.

Sam White
www.SamWhiteRealty.com

Dear readers,

A new restaurant opened in College Station, Texas during the summer that many folks don't yet know of. The Republic 1836 is located in the Chimney Hill Shopping Center, conveniently next to the new Keller Williams Realty Brazos Valley office.

This location originally housed The Confederate House, a fine dining restaurant which opened in 1983. Later, it housed The Tavern. The building is furnished in warm woods and deep carpeting.

The lounge is perfect for a quiet cocktail or business meeting. There are booths specifically designed for those quiet meetings.

The menu is upscale with prices to match. I tend for the steaks, and haven't been disappointed.

Its new, its nice, and worth a visit. Their Website is http://therepublic1836.com/.

Happy eating,

Sam White
www.SamWhiteRealty.com

Dear readers,

Figures are confirming what College Station, Texas residents already know...there are a LOT of kids in town. Fall enrollment figures indicate that the College Station campus has an enrollment of 46,612, up from 45,380 in the fall of 2006.

In the fall of 2006 Texas A&M was ranked 8th in the United States. The largest school in the nation in 2006 was Ohio State's main campus at 51,818 students.

Our main campus in College Station is also becoming more diverse, with 5,292 Hispanic students in 2007, up 351 students from last year.

This year's freshman class, one of the largest in the nation, checked in at 8,085 students. I think that I saw them all at the grocery store last night.

Overall, men at this formerly all-male school still outnumber women, 24,746 men to 21,866. The 2007 freshman class is better balanced however, with 143 more Aggie women in the class than Aggie men.

In every way, the numbers add to more ching-ching in the Brazos Valley.

Thanks to Texas A&M University and The Eagle for these numbers.

Thanks to the parents and students of Texas A&M for calling the Brazos Valley home during college years.

Blue skies,

Sam White
www.SamWhiteRealty.com

www.BrazosValleyPremiumHomes.com

Dear readers,

After the tragedy at Virginia Tech last school year, university administrators across the country have reevaluated the methods used to notify students, faculty and staff of emergency situations. Texas A&M has adopted Code Maroon.

Any Texas A&M student, faculty or staff member can sign up for the service at www.codemaroon.tamu.edu. As the spouse of a staff member my cell phone is included in the network. Notification came come to you via text message or e-mail.

The ability to contact people in an emergency is only half of the equation. Those with the responsibility of activating the system bear the burden of deciding when to implement it. I know that interim president Ed Davis doesn't take that position lightly.

Hoping your day is without incident,

Sam White
www.SamWhiteRealty.com
www.BrazosValleyPremierHomes.com

Dear readers,

Looking for something unusual to do this fall? Try taking some lawn chairs and a cooler out to Coulter Field, in Bryan, and watch the skydiving and whatever other silliness is afoot.

Many moons ago, I spent my days at Coulter jumping out of airplanes. For an entire decade my friends and I jumped like crazy...any excuse to find ourselves in freefall. I logged my first 1,500 hours flying N4803D, the DZ Cessna-182, also known as Duct tape. It was quite an airplane. Fly and jump and jump and fly. EFS. Well, I'm older and a bit more brittle now, but that doesn't mean I can't watch.

Coulter is an excellent recreational airport. You don't find many of them these days. On an active weekend (meaning good weather) you can see all kinds of things. Sometimes its very exciting.

Our local drop zone, or DZ, has a Website, www.SkyDiveAggieland.com. Give them a call at 979.778.JUMP. They can tell you the best times to come watch, so your family gets to see lots of colorful canopies. They are known for running a very safe, professional operation.

Our local life-flight helicopter is also based there. That's a big deal if you need it, and we are VERY fortunate to have that transportation merely minutes away.

As a pilot and sailor, I have a deep appreciation for those who fly rescue helicopters. When we lived on Guam, they were always close to the top of our holiday list.

If you live in the city of Bryan, please pay attention to Coulter Field. It is unique, and if managed properly is a great asset to the Brazos Valley.

And now you understand why I sign my blog,

Blue Skies,

Sam White
www.SamWhiteRealty.com
www.BrazosValleyPremierHomes.com

Dear Readers,

I love Sundays in Colleg Station, Texas. I always try to take some time on Sunday to read. I turn off the TV, radio and cell phone and try to spend at least 1 1/2 hours at it. Most of the time I read fiction, but yesterday I spent some time with the Keller Williams training manual called "Your Business is Your Database."

The hard selling season is over for us, and in the fall I tend to work on building the foundation for next season. College Station real estate, as well As Bryan real estate takes a break. Aggie football season gives us a chance to work on out "not mets" and slowly educate them on the advantages of buying their son or daughter an investment property while attending Texas A&M.

When dealing with my "met" database, the mantra of the day is "educate, ask and reward."

Of course it begins with education. I'm taking great care to explain to my SOI (sphere of influence) how our business works. When I came to the real estate business I really didn't understand what I'd be doing and how I'd spend my time. I give them an excuse to stop by www.SamWhiteRealty.comor one of my other sites. By slowly and subtly educating my SOI, I'm preparing them for step two.

Ask for the business! I don't know why, but that was a big step for me. I usually begin by informing that everyone knows at least one person who needs a Realtor. Being from a college town helps because Texas A&M is constantly recruiting, and everyone knows someone who is on the way in or out.

Finally, reward their referral. It doesn't have to be much...dinner, tickets to the symphony or theatre, or even a day of sailing in the company boat. Needless to say, you should make the reward fit the referral. Luckily, here in the Brazos Valley real estate community, there are many options and all are just a short drive away.

Remember, referrals are a learned behavior, and if you handle them correctly they are the gift that keeps on giving.

Keller Williams has a great library of training materials which help agents reach their potential. Visit www.BrazosValleyKWCareers.com for more information.

Happy Labor Day!

Blue skies,

Sam White
www.SamWhiteRealty.com
www.BrazosValleyPremierHomes.com

Dear readers,

This week I've spent quite a bit of time writing about life in a university town. Today, I'm writing about the morning after.

Yesterday the Aggies played their first home game of the season. Montana came to visit, and they were outscored. Better them than us.

Last season we lost a key home game to a rival from up the road. When that happens, there  is a "subdued" feeling that comes over the Brazos Valley. Festivities are scaled back, but not cancelled. There aren't as many smiles on Sunday, and I suspect that church attendance is up.

So we say farewell to our  friends from Montana State. We wish you a safe trip home. Come back to see us next year.

Blue skies,

Sam White
www.samwhiterealty.com
www.brazosvalleypremierhomes.com