LETTER
FROM THE PUBLISHER
 Dear
June Readers,
Summer is not officially upon
us but you could have fooled Las Vegas. I, for one, am happy
that it is here. It is a grand time to slow down a bit, drink
more water and catch up on your reading in an air-conditioned
room. And as for reading material, of course I mean the June
and archived issues of E RealEstateExec. Start with June’s
issue and a cold glass of water (or your drink of choice)
and I will give you a sneak peek.
There has been a recent
wave of lawsuits against those in the Lending and Real Estate
industries stemming from the mortgage crisis and ensuing foreclosures.
REALTORS® understand the importance of full disclosure
when helping their clients to make a home buying decision,
but what happens when those same clients later make accusations
against them? There is a responsibility on both sides of the
transaction, and in Michelle Savage’s National article,
“The Subprime Blame Game,” she takes a look at
several cases that are currently pending. It is unfortunate
that a few bad apples can spoil the bunch—and in this
case, it is shedding a dark cloud over the industry that prides
itself on its ethics and professionalism. Yes, there are always
two sides to a story, but what about personal responsibility?
This subprime issue has put a lot of wonderful people—average
people (if I may) like you and me—in the toughest situations
of their lives. However, unjustly suing the lender or Real
Estate professional and not owning up to the situation seems
to be a cheap shot. Let us know how you feel about the situation
and the article by commenting below the National article.
Because of its hot, dry
climate, the EPA considers Las Vegas to be a unique environment
and is including our city in a new study on multi-family high-rise
as it relates to energy efficiency. In our June Feature article,
“Energy Star—EPA Puts Las Vegas High-Rise Market
in a Test Tube,” Doug Shields shows us what this means
to builders in our community, as well as to our future as
an energy-efficient city.
Real Estate professionals
come from a variety of professional backgrounds, some unexpected.
Lisa Cobb of Realty Executives of Nevada is one of those people.
Parlaying her sales expertise in the Tupperware industry into
a career in Real Estate was a surprisingly smooth transition,
and it has allowed her the flexibility to spend time with
her family. Additionally, her approach to sales in general
has served her well in an industry that depends on relationship-building.
Read more about Lisa in Cathie C. Hulen’s article, “It’s
All About Attitude.”
Finding a need and offering
the solution is what good business is all about. Elie Taylor
of Liberty Mutual Insurance has made a habit of doing just
that, from his past experience connecting loan originators
with mobile notaries, to his current service as an insurance
agent focused on the Real Estate market. Elie has always had
an instinctive connection to our industry, and in Doug Shields’
article, “How to Tap the Power of Good Relationships,”
he talks about the road that brought him to where he is today.
In our June Beyond Green
column, Doug Shields writes on how investing has changed to
reflect the importance of sustainability. In “Capitalism
With a Conscience,” he talks about how socially responsible
investing has gone from a peripheral notion to a rapidly increasing
section of the market, as the green industry is growing by
leaps and bounds to accommodate the need for change. Doug
discusses the benefits of this kind of investing and offers
a few Web sites that provide more information on investing
and tracking growth in the green industry.
The Arts District is a
unique and growing part of Las Vegas, and as a downtown fixture,
it has added personality and depth to our city. First Friday,
a monthly event, seeks to promote this part of our community.
In her article for the Urban Update column, “Old Meets
New—The Arts District and the Growth of Downtown Las
Vegas,” Tiffany Pace talks to key players in the Arts
District and downtown Real Estate about how these two facets
of our community coexist.
Stress is something we
all deal with on a daily basis, and many of us are always
on the lookout for ways to combat its effects on our bodies
and our lives. In the June Lifestyle article, Rita Templeton
writes about Reiki, a centuries-old practice that improves
overall wellness by harnessing the body’s energy. In
“Refresh, Revitalize—Reiki!” Rita discusses
the origins of this practice, and she talks to Mary Magdalene
King, a Las Vegas Reiki Master, about the healing benefits
of Reiki. I had heard of Reiki over the years and always wanted
to learn more about it, and finally, this year was the year.
I learned of Mary through my naturopath and set up an appointment.
All I can say is I have been back almost every week since.
Thank you, Mary, you are awesome. Please join us at REALTOR®
Rally and meet Mary for a free mini chair massage.
Short sales can be a valuable
tool when it comes to helping clients out of a seemingly impossible
situation, but without knowing what to look out for, there
is the potential to drag the process out longer than necessary,
or even to make the situation worse. Just a little bit of
knowledge can go a long way toward helping this kind of transaction
go as smoothly as possible. In the Legal Notes column, John
Benedict discusses some things that every Real Estate professional
should know in his article “Common Pitfalls of Short
Sales.”
Ambiance is important in
any home, but the vertical community offers distinct challenges
when it comes to interior design. From light to wall space
to furniture placement, there are much different forces at
work than with a ground-level home. In her article, “High-Rise,
High-Style,” Brenda Calvin talks with interior designer
Thomas Burger about how to use all the unique elements of
a high-rise unit to get the best possible result.
Feng shui has been around
for thousands of years and is as popular as ever when it comes
to design. Working with these famed Chinese principles has
long been said to promote wellness, prosperity, success and
peacefulness. In the Design Connection column, Stephen Leon
gives us a refresher course on “The Art of Fung Shui,”
and speaks with Tamara Tyrbouslu about how to use this technique
to enhance our surroundings and harness the energy around
us in a positive way.
Technology News tackles
another important aspect of becoming a part of the New Real
Estate™ by helping you to embrace technology and plan
your Web site. My advice to you is that you download the form
to use later when you get ready to make that commitment to
your own Web site or for when you decide to evaluate your
existing Web site.
As always, all of us at
E RealEstateExec hope you found some interesting information
to digest this month. Please let us know if there are any
particular issues you would like us to explore or people you
would like to see profiled. We will take it under advisement.
Thank you to all of you for making E RealEstateExec the success
that it is. Keep reading!
Lee Papa, Publisher |
