First Impressions from Tuesday Caravan

In residential real estate we speak a lot about first impressions.  Things like landscaping, architecture, lighting, fresh paint etc.  Yesterday on agent caravan I was struck by two first impressions, one really good and the other not so much.  I thought it would be fun to start a little segment called “First Impressions.”  When something jumps out at me as a great or horrible first impression, I’ll blog about it here and maybe offer some insight, without calling anyone out of course.  Most of these photos will come from my iPhone so please accept my apologies for the so-so photography.  We’ll keep it positive today and go with a great first impression.

Yesterday on caravan Dorsey Alston had such a wonderful Peachtree Battle estate open for agents to see.  The first impression(s) at this home start at the road and last throughout the house just in case you missed any of the first ones, but when I opened the door I just loved the arched doorways and curves of the entrance foyer.  That kind of entrance makes me feel really good.

What’s the first thing you notice when you walk into your home?  How awesome it is or things you want to fix?

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I Don’t Send Text Messages

The other day I got a voicemail from someone that included “I don’t text so you can call me on my telephone”. To give you perspective, my voicemail greeting says “you can leave me a message or send me a text”.

In my quest to view information quicker and more efficiently than I did yesterday this is a great model. Most of the real estate related voicemails I receive look like this: “is your listing still available?” or “can I show your listing?” or “it’s John, call me”. Not like it takes that much time to listen to voicemails, but you do have to stop what you are doing to dial/listen/call back/delete and call back/or write down the number they actually want you to call them back on.

A text message is instant and my response will be instant too. Very little goes into a text message and for simple yes/no questions, this is by far the superior route to take.

Do you text? If not I’d love to know why not. Leave it in the comments.

My Love for the iPhone 4

Never once did I question or doubt the awesomeness of the iPhone. I am a Verizon customer and for years have watched my friends, family and colleagues strut around doing awesome things with their iPhones. I held firm and bought the best blackberry I could get which at my last purchase was the Storm2. Very shortly after that purchase, Verizon announced that it would begin selling the iPhone.  To make up for all of its shortcomings I bought the Samsung Gallaxy Tab last December, of which I’m using to write this blog post. Not to go off in another direction, but I have to say I am very happy with my Tab.

Last week I took the plunge (responding to an email from Verizon saying I qualified for an early phone upgrade) and bought the Verizon iPhone4 and must say, it is simply amazing. From the moment I first held it I knew this was the best piece of technology I’d ever had. Email setup to deleting emails to grouping emails by conversation, to sending contacts via text or email and one of my favorites, the organization of phone calls and voicemails, it just makes getting things done easier.

My favorite new app is CardMunch. I learned about it on www.MyTechOpinion.com and it rocks. As a Realtor I am always trading business cards and keeping up with them is a nightmare. With CardMunch all you do is snap a picture of the business card, it categorizes all of the information, feeds it back into your iPhone and with the click of a button they are a new contact. Again, I’ve been waiting years for something like that.

My other favorites are Scrabble (still not sure why you can’t play on other devices), the Facebook interface is close to perfect (lacking picture upload direct from the gallery), Google Maps is perfect, texting is light-years ahead of my old phone with the way it bubbles your messages, and the camera is very impressive.

   

I was pretty hesitant buying the iPhone 4 having heard all of the rumors about an iPhone 5 coming out possibly this fall.  After speaking with a few people, I realized spending one more day without this awesomeness was one day too long and I should just go for it.  I have had it now for about a week and I feel really good about my purchase.

Cheers!

Swimming at Chastain Pool

Last weekend we took our new GoPro out for a spin at Chastain Pool. We had a lot of fun trying it out and getting some underwater footage.

 

Carson Matthews

Thanksgiving Turkey Preparation Timelapse Video

Here is a iPhone 6 timelapse video of our Thanksgiving turkey preparation on Thanksgiving morning. After this it went into the Big Green Egg for several hours and came out perfect!

Timelapse Compilation of Sunrise and Weather

Here is a video compilation of time-lapse videos out of our front window. Our house faces East so we get great sunrises and a consistent look at clouds and storms moving through.

Sunset over the Chattahoochee River

Here is a picture of the sun tonight as it began setting over the Chattahoochee River in Atlanta. This shot was taken from the East Palisades Trail of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area looking west to Cobb Parkway as it crossed the Hooch.

Nikon D800, Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8

70mm f/8.0 5 frames processed in Photomatix and Lightroom

Saturday Down South

Saturday Down South