Sam White's College Station Real Estate Blog

Dear readers,

Everyone (all of the Texas A&M kids) is headed back to Bryan and College Station to begin another semester at Texas A&M University and Blinn College. Football's behind us and we have a great spring semester to look forward to.

There's a lot of housekeeping going on since the dorms opened on Wednesday, and I want to tell our students and remind our residents that the City of College Station is beginning their series of Green Mini-Seminars tonight (Friday) with a presentation on how to Green your home or dorm.

Here is a list of the seminars offered during the spring semester, straight from the City of College Station's Green Website.

Jan. 15 - Green Your Home or Dorm
Representatives will talk to residents and students about all aspects of the home and how it can be green or eco-friendly, also touching on how eco-friendly materials do not have to be costly or something you buy.

Feb. 12 - Recycling Markets and Economics
Why doesn't College Station recycle green glass or other items? Representatives from Texas A&M University, Texas Commercial Waste and others will talk about actual market rates and costs.

Mar. 12 - Organic and Local Foods
What is the difference and why does it matter? Local farmers and grocers will talk to residents about why it is important to buy locally and how organic foods can help your health.

Apr. 9 - Green Living
This session will tie in with "Greening your Home or Dorm," what you do after you have decked your home with green stuff: recycling, re-using, reducing, donating, conserving water.

May 14 - Environmental Volunteering
Those who need volunteers in the recycling field will be available for a meet and greet.

June 11 - Meet the Professionals
Visit with the area's top professionals in recycling, sustainability and water conservation. Professionals will talk about the aspects of their job and take questions. The session will be very informal, very relaxed and very informative!

Where? The new Public Works Office located on the 2nd floor of the College Station Municipal Court on Krenek Tap Road at 6 p.m.

There are many green hints on the City's Green Website, as well as the City's White Paper and Action Plan for the Green College Station Initiative.

For more information or to sign-up for these classes, click here or call 979.764.6228.

See you there!

Blue skies,

Sam White
979.589.4487 google voice
sam@bcsgreenliving.com
SamWhiteRealty.com

PS- 2009 market reports and graphs are up at my Market Reports Website, MarketReports.SamWhiteRealty.com.

Dear Readers,

I love winter. All three months of it. I appreciate the change in weather, the holiday season and a chance to slow down from the dead run of the summer sales season.

Some may be surprised just how seasonal our market is here in College Station.
This is a chart depicting Total Monthly Sales for the last three years (minus Dec 2009 which hasn't been released yet). Click the image for a full-size chart.

This is a chart of Units Sold for the same period. Of course, there is a pattern.

Winter is also a good time to evaluate what the business did right and how to mature. I usually spend the fall finishing up the summer's work and reflecting. After the Christmas decorations come down, it's time to get to work in preparation for the summer.

Today, I'm going to talk about one of the two areas of emphasis.

Technology

First, I've always been a believer in working technology, with emphasis on "working." I've been in the business long enough now to know what technology really works, and what is just a black hole where time and data disappear forever.

I'll be implementing more comprehensive traditional and social marketing tools to expand our base on the Web and through mobile devices. I already have a strong presence on facebook and twitter both professionally and personally. I've already expanded our twitter presence to include our first "green" feed, @bcsgreenliving, and a new marketing presence @mediafrontier. Both will expand to the Web this spring.

In addition to our primary Website, SamWhiteRealty.com, I'll continue to add niche sits such as FoxRunCondo.com & BCSHomes.info, as well as more individual property sites.

All of my Websites are transitioning to new servers, with a cleaner, less clunky, interface and expanded search capabilities for both clients and customers. All of our information and data will be available in a mobile format. We also know that many of our clients use Safari (especially the mobile version) and Firefox, as well as google Chrome, and site design will now take this into account.

We'll also continue to expand the the many ways our clients communicate with us. Using google's business platform you can reach us through sms text, voicemail, email, chat. We can also share documents and calendars that contain important information about our transactions, all in a secure manner. In fact, we have all of the pieces in place for a paperless, or near paperless, transaction.

One of our strongest communication tools is Go To Meeting, which plays a vital part in the greening of my company. There will be a lot more information on how I use Go To Meeting in a coming post.

Finally, I'm spending much of my winter in training, both on the Web and in person, to make sure that we are on top of the latest marketing and technology trends. I think sometimes local Realtors forget that we are home to Texas A&M University, and that some of the brightest minds in the world move to, and through, College Station and Bryan. My clients deserve a 21st century real estate firm along with 21st. century service. As one friend said over the holidays, "We aren't just some old cow college, anymore."

Of course I'll keep doing what I've been doing, updating the latest market information at MarketReports.SamWhiteRealty.com and supporting our local market and community. You can look for part two in this series on Thursday.

Blue skies,


Sam White
sam@samwhiterealty.com
979-589-4478 google voice and text