I think that this is such a great website for Realtors and just invited about 300 of my friends to joinActiveRain. You have taught me so much and I enjoy reading the ideas of others.  It is my hopes that the agents that I have invited to join us with learn from us and to share their responses, Hopefully some of these good folks that I have invited to join will share good and positivethoughts also. With warm regards,Ginger HarperSeaCoast Realty. 12/07/2016

One of the biggest things that we are faced with still in our area, is the dreams of what was going on in 2004 and  2005.  That day is gone.What we have to do as a Realtor and as a professional is to educate our buyers as to TODAY'S Market.  We all sold properties in 2005 that we are having to sell for half of what they sold during the HayDAys!When I have a seller  to call me and say that they bought in 2005 and HAVE to SELL  right a way..I just cringe.Who knew?  This is a nationwide happening, not a local problem/We have to be honest with our sellers and give them the facts.  And hopefully we will be able to relieve some of their pain. Ginger of Southport. 10/21/2016

Sunday is a very special day around here.  It is a day that we are able to have our family around us.First thing I do on Sunday morning is to get up and start preparing our Sunday Dinner. Today was Roast beef, Corn, Butter beans,  Stewed Apples, biscuits, and fresh blueberry cobbles (from our blueberries that a grandson, Jonah and I picked in the Spring and froze for a day like to day.. The berries were very ripe and about the size of large marbles. My recipe for Blueberry Cobbler is:Melt 1 stick of butter  in a 8x8 dishPut 1 cup of berries in the butter Mix 1 cup of flour, (self rising) 1 cup of Sugar and 1 cup of milk and just mix it up.Pour that mixture over the berries and butter and bake at 350 degrees for  about 30 minutes.So good...top with vanilla ice cream.  Enjoy..  Ginger of ... 08/28/2016

 I know that there is a reason that we do this.. One of my agents just told me that she was blogging with a friend and one of her friends...friends....saw her site and asked if she was in real estate. Of course, my agent told her that she was.  They got together and my agent sold them a house.  Wow!  Don't we all wish that it was that easy!  One never knows who is reading what we write.  Suppose we must make our information ans informative as possible. Hope you have a great day and keep on blogging.Ginger of Southport 04/13/2016

 No Agent Open Houses!!! I wanted to run this by you all  to see how you feel about it. An agent in our area, is having Open Houses and this is how it works. He will have 4 houses Open and the requirement is that you go into the houses with your lock box and leave your card on the counter. This Open house will go on for 4 hours.....say from 10 to 2.  After that time, he will  draw 4 cards from the agents that went to preview the house and give away $100, $50, and 4 $25 gift cards. Would that go well in your area? It is working here.. Ginger of Southport 04/01/2016

Have you ever heard of a condo association foreclosing on a condo and then buying it with dues of the owners?We are having something like that going on here and I do not know who to go to for help.  I can't help but think that this is wrong.  Have rules changed....if they have, I feel that human decency has eluded us.I have great concern for the folks that lost their unit even though they were trying to work out a payment schedule with the association.Ginger of Southport 01/06/2016

I am so glad that you did a contest for us to work with.  I always enjoy the challenge. The three things that I have picked to grow my business: 1.    EDDM  - Every Door Direct Mail.  This is a good way to send and blanket an area with you Media.I do this when I am in search of a listing in a certain location.  It is with the United post office and is fairly inexpensive.  EDDM.com 2.   I plan to hold more open houses.  I think that I want to try a new approach to the Open Houses and that is to Ofer Money and no food.  This is working in our area.  You Hold the oPen house and I do not have the be there.  Just have the agents to unlock the door with the Key Pad and leave a card.  There is a sheet to fill out to give fed back to the seller.  Then YOu draw for the Money.  I attended one lik... 10/27/2015

Joaquin is saying Good Bye... Although we were not directly affected by Joaquin, a lot of rain and winds did come ourway.  Over the past 48 hours, we have had 14 inches of rain and more on the way tonight. The winds gust were around 35 MPH.  Which is not a lot but with the ground being saturated by so much rain, the roots of the trees can't hold the tree with gusts of 35 MPH.  Many road are flooded and as you can see from this picture, our condo has water all around it and underneath. WE are safe and I have my Wellies read for tomorrow. WE are THANKFUL....that it is almost over. Sleep Tight... Ginger of Southport NC   10/04/2015

 This was a contest that I dearly love  We have all heard that the sellers say that they never hear from us.  Well...I have made it a point t o reach out to my listings at least once a month. Our office gives us our statistics for each month and do a comparison with the previous month.  This is a part of our Monthly Sales Meeting. Once those stats are provided to us.  I convert the charts  and graphs to a jpeg and insert this into the body of my email that I send out to all of my listings.  The email is a letter giving them general information regarding the market and what we have sold  for the previous month in comparrison with what we  sold the precious year.  All of the information I pull direct from MLS.  So this email has 4 pages of                   1.  Letter with Stats          ... 09/30/2015

Southport - Oak Island, North Carolina Living on the SouthEast Coast of North Carolina, we have seasonal real estate in our area.  Mainly the majority of our business is done in the Spring, Summer and Fall.  Not much happens from  Thanksgiving to Memorial Day. WE have wonderful Falls with lots of fishing and boating for all to enjoy..  We have wonderful beaches in the Summer for the "Sun Worshipers" to enjoy and also the "Shellers"   who enjoy picking up beautiful sea Shells for collections for artworks or crafts. Also in the Fall...we enjoy the abundance of our fruit trees and grape vines.  WE  "PUT UP"our preserves and jelly to enjoy all year long and  to share with family and  friends. There is much to do when  the season is over and the tourist go home; Festivals, fishing tournament... 09/24/2015

 One of the biggest things that we are faced with still in our area, is the dreams of what was going on in 2004 and  2005.  That day is gone. What we have to do as a Realtor and as a professional is to educate our buyers as to TODAY'S Market.  We all sold properties in 2005 that we are having to sell for half of what they sold during the Haydays! When I have a seller  to call me and say that they bought in 2005 and HAVE to SELL  right a way..I just cringe.Who knew?  This is a nationwide happening, not a local problem,We have to be honest with our sellers and give them the facts.  And hopefully we will be able to relieve some of their pain. Ginger of Southport. 09/10/2015

  Here Marissa and I are stomping the GRAPES to make the Juice..  Here Jimmy is pouring the hot juice through a strainer so that we can just get the strained juice to boil to make the Jelly..  Here Jimmy is squeezing the grapes that Marissa and I stomped..    Here we have the finished producet.  11 1/2 Pints of Wonderful Grape Jelly... ] You can see that we Date Our Jellys and on these, we put the Name of the Grandchildren that helped us pick the grapes, wash them, stomp them, cook them and put them in Jars.. This is one of things that I wanted to do on this Labor Day weekend. 09/05/2015

 I am in the middle of remodeling the kitchen and I am getting rather confused. I think that I want to get the Quartz composite since it is solid and will not stain or scratch. I have learned right much regarding these counter tops but still need to have some opinions from my trusted ActiveRainers.If you have either or know of any details that help me in making a decision, please share those thoughts with me. Thanks you so much in Advance.. Ginger of Southport 09/04/2015

This is such a great idea and everyone can do this.YOu get this great feeling in your heart when you do something for someone else and it is not expected.It can be as simple as letting a car get in line that is stuck on a side road; smiling a someone with a frown on their face; letting someone get in line in front of you when they have only one or two items and you have a basketfull; I sit in the evenings and make afgans for the folks in our local Nursing Center,  I make up to 50 a year.  They are simple and made to fit someone in a wheelchair. They are simple to make and only take about a week to make.  When finished, I will go down the hall and find someone that does not have much in their room.    I will greet them and tell them that I made this just for them.     They will say to me... 08/29/2015

Do YOU throw that food away or offer it to the food pantry? I just listed a house that is now  part of an estate.  There was food left in the cabinets that is unopened and bought recently.   Canned veggies and fruits, oil, sugar, spices, spaghetti noodles, jars of Spaghetti Sauce(unopened).. The executrix of the estate wants me to clean it out. Do you think it is alright to give it to a food pantry, or church or salvation army to distribute to othersthat may be hungry.  I hate to just throw it away.  What would you do? Ginger of Southport               08/18/2015

  I just read a post from another Active Rainer regarding folks that just talk too much and waste your time when you are busier than a "one armed Paper Hanger". WE have a few agents in our workplace that just like to talk and when you see them coming , you want to cringe because you have not compeleted the project that you are working on. I have yet to find the right words to let them know that I am busy and do not have time to chit chat. They will begin a story that goes on and on and there seems to be no ending. Love these folks but talk with me after hours.  I do not need to know every detail nor learn about a friend that I do not know and will never meet.  Need some advice here... Thanks, Ginger Harper of Southport NC 08/14/2015

 One of my agents just told me that she was blogging with a friend and one of her friends...friends....saw her site and asked if she was in real estate.  Of course, my agent told her that she was.  They got together and my agent sold them a house.  Wow!  Don't we all wish that it was that easy! One never knows who is reading what we write.  Suppose we must make our information ans informative as possible. Hope you have a great day and keep on blogging.Ginger of Southport  08/12/2015

I asked a question earlier from all of my friends that are Active Rainers. That questions is:    What would YOU change about our business if you could? I had so many wonderful well thought out answers, and thought that it would be very interesting to find out what they rest of our colleagues would say.  If you have a few moments, please write your answer.  I will share these  answers with others in our area that can help me in making necessary changes.. Thanks for your input.. Ginger of Southport      08/10/2015

I am in the middle of remodeling the kitchen and I am getting rather confused. I think that I want to get the Quartz composite since it is solid and will not stain or scratch. I have learned right much regarding these counter tops but still need to have some opinions from my trusted ActiveRainers.If you have either or know of any details that help me in making a decision, please share those thoughts with me. Thanks you so much in Advance.. Ginger of Southport 08/03/2015

I have been a Rainer since 2009... It is so much fun to see our points grow...from the beginning to what we have now.You can learn so much from your active rain associates. Many have really neat information that can give you a link or idea that you can then explore.  I feel that I am not alone and that there are other Active rain folks just like me, needing new ideas or remembering the old tried and true systems that have worked for along time.  Every day I learn something new from our AR Friends..WE can learn from each other.Share..and I will too.Ginger of Southport 07/20/2015