Today I was able to get my IDX link integrated into my web-sites www.BillHowardHomes.com & www.HomesofBA.com.  This will be a major boost in performance to my real estate websites by allowing my clients, customers and the general public a place they can search local Broken Arrow, Tulsa, Jenks, Bixby, Owasso, Coweta and Metro area real estate & land.  I'm so excited to have this link up and running actively on www.BillHowardHomes.com. Currently www.HomesofBA.com is down as I'm transferring the domain and this take about 72 hours to propagate to the name servers and become live on the web.  IDX, MLS will however be fully active on this local Broken Arrow, Oklahoma real estate web portal. 

Other Broken Arrow, OK Sports News:   Our soccer season starts tomorrow and my son is very excited about this.  Of course I will be coaching the new team as last seasons coach didn't come back.  The team name will stay the same as we got involved in this late so the Timberwolves it is.  I look forward to the challenge of getting these boys prepared and ready for the season opener.  The Broken Arrow Soccer Club "BASC" has been supportive in helping me get things setup as I was made coach after most teams have already been practicing a week. We now have two weeks to prepare for our first game at Indian Springs Soccer Complex in Broken Arrow.

I'm currently working on a Short Sale property for a client and an REO, Bank Owned Foreclosure for a client.  Sometimes the Short Sale properties can take some time as you have to wait on the lien holders, Banks to get all the proper paper work & documentation. You also must deal with the attorneys they are using to move the property through the foreclosure process.  It's a shame that more people in financial trouble don't speak to a local Broken Arrow or Tulsa area Realtor about selling before this process is started or almost completed.  If they did they may find help if they only would ask.  It's better to short sale the home if possible than allow the property to go into foreclosure.

Well, it's that time of the year again. Broken Arrow is in full swing with soccer season.  I must say the BASC does a great job considering how many children and teams they have to deal with.  This season I found out very late that our team would NOT have a coach so guess what happened?  Yep, the association basically volunteered me... Looks like it's another season of coaching but hey, I get a kick out of it.  What's this got to do with real estate here in Broken Arrow or Tulsa, nothing really but it sure is fun and a great change of pace.  My team is filled with 8 and 9 year old boys including my son Trenton who simply couldn't wait for the season to start. I can hardly wait for the first game.

Fly Fishing is starting to pick up now that the rivers and streams locally have started to recover from last spring & summers drastic amounts of rain.  Arkansas, NE Oklahoma and SE Oklahoma finally are being productive.  You can read more about fly-fishing and my love of it at www.TulsaFlyFishers.org. Of course reading about it is not like actually getting out and casting a line, I'm truly looking forward to hitting the water.

Today I submitted an offer on a Bank Foreclosure/REO property located here in Broken Arrow. My client is really looking forward to remodeling this home as it's a perfect starter home in a great location. Nothing feels better than to find your clients a perfect house in such a great school system like Broken Arrow. Even better when you can do all this at a very affordable price.  I think with a little TLC this home will make the buyer happy for many years to come.

     While out taking care of a buyer sale today I started thinking about the market here in Broken Arrow and Tulsa.  With so many markets down across the country and so many large cities seeing drastic drops in home values I couldn't help but wonder why home prices here in Tulsa have remained fairly steady. Sure Tulsa is seeing some of the same problems but our property values never where so out of line that the market prices here have crashed. Our market has remained level and prices have still been rising. 

Of course this one thought got my mind racing, I started thinking about what it takes in this slower market to succeed.  I came to the conclusion that there are basic skills essential to any marketing or sales position. These skills are as follow's: sales skills, organizational skills, follow-up skills, presentation skills, listening skills, negotiation skills & handling objections skills.  These are vital and essential to being a successful realtor in a very competitive Tulsa market but that wasn't all that it takes. I have seen many talented people fail even though they had all the skills necessary.

One still needs basic tools to be successful in today's real estate market such as a laptop computer, marketing material, transportation, signs, a website and the basic tools essential to doing the job of a Realtor.  I kind of think of it like items a doctor or dentist needs to do surgery or work on their patients.  Even with that said these professionals still must have other skills and traits like steady hands to be good at what they do.  They are very limited to performing the work needed if they don't have the basic tools necessary.

While all this may sound like rambling, don't stop reading yet! I thought what is the one main ingredient that a Realtor here in Broken Arrow or Tulsa really needs to be successful in this current market?  I came to the conclusion that it wasn't a skill or a tool like those above.  I came to the conclusion that it is a trait.  I decided that trait or ingredient is persistence.  You have to be persistent in this business or you will never be more than average at the best.  Where does this lead in this mess of a blog? In this economy or current real estate market those that lack persistence will fail and those that are determined and show persistence will thrive.

It was Calvin Coolidge, our 30th President, who said it very well, “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.  Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.  Geniuses will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

When everything around you is collapsing in, those that are persistent will push through.

It's just like playing soccer as a young child.  I played as a youngster here in Broken Arrow and I have been coaching boys in BA for some time now.  I've seen the kids that didn't start out so good but showed persistence and they have always found that niche or a way to improve because of their persistence. Talent alone will not make you the best.  Michael Jordan didn't start out as the best basketball player, he wasn't even a starter in high school but he had something special.  He was so determined and persistent that he wouldn't allow himself to fail.  He worked on his skills and his persistence later in life paid off. He became one of the best basketball players of all time and did it because of his determination and persistence.

Even though I provide Realtor, real estate services in the entire Tulsa Metro area my area of focus is on the Broken Arrow market.  Yes, I can help you in Tulsa, Coweta, Jenks, Bixby or any of the other surrounding cities. 

I office out of Broken Arrow and know the schools, neighborhoods and area well since I have called BA home for over 30 years. 

If you have a Broken Arrow home your considering selling or a Broken Arrow "fsbo" For Sale by Owner then please consider using my services.  I'd be happy to provide you a free "CMA" or Market Analysis.

If your looking to buy a home in Broken Arrow then you need a Realtor.  The services cost you nothing and can save you from paying too much or even worse, buying without proper representation.  You wouldn't go to court without an attorney would you?

I'd be happy to assist you as your buyers agent.  Please call Bill Howard at 918-282-7621 today or you can contact me by email at brhoward@tulsarealtors.com.

Sincerely,

Bill Howard

     Today I spent some time looking over some of the domain names available and doing some simple domain managment.  Every year you must pay a fee to keep your domain.  I have added www.HomesofBA.com and www.TulsaHomeZone.com to the list of my domain names for my Broken Arrow, Oklahoma Real Estate web site.  My goal of course is to drive more traffic. 

My real estate website www.BillHowardHomes.com is a work in progress and my goals are to obtain a market share of the Broken Arrow, Oklahoma real estate market.  I have decided to build local Broken Arrow information tabs into the website to give my clients and potential clients information on Broken Arrow all at the click of a mouse button.  I will be adding local school information, clubs, neighborhood information including Bentree, Forest Ridge, Wolf Creek, Battle Creek and many other neihborhoods in the Broken Arrow city limits. I'm also looking to add emergency information and local numbers for utility companies to make things easy for my customers.

Of course this site also contains information for local Tulsa, Coweta, Jenks, Bixby and various other cities in the Tulsa metro area.