How Are the Schools in this Area?

school-signLast weekend, while attending my daughter’s volleyball tournament in San Antonio, I observed the sign shown here posted all throughout the Middle School at which the tournament was held. I’ve been to a lot of public and private schools for my kid’s basketball and volleyball games over the years, but have never seen a sign such as this. I found it interesting and it started me wondering, and making assumptions.

How much can such a sign tell us? Can one extrapolate a broad and deep set of accurate assumptions based on nothing more than the words on this sign, and the fact that it’s prominently displayed throughout the school, inside and outside? What do the words on the sign tell us about the school and its kids, about the parents, the parent’s jobs and socioeconomic status, about the homes and neighborhoods that feed into the school, or whether these kids are someday headed for college?

For me, I thought at first, “this must be a school that struggles academically and has discipline problems”. And, “the homes and neighborhoods that feed into this this school must be low cost homes in low cost areas and the owners and renters are mostly blue collar workers”. Those were just some of my assumptions, based on nothing other than the words on this sign.

Was I right?

As the day wore on, and I had down time between games, I wandered around and made further observations about the school. It seemed to be a newer facility, in very good condition. The gyms were very nice, with newer style flooring and good bleachers. There was no graffiti or visible evidence of why such a sign would be needed.

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Mountain Lion in Our Neighborhood

cougarSteve and I live in a neighborhood in Oak Hill called Granada Oaks which is adjacent to Granada Hills and South View Estates. Though we are just 15 minutes from downtown Austin, these are fairly “country” neighborhoods with lot sizes ranging from 1 to 2 acres on average. We have an abundance of trees and wildlife.

Recently the neighborhood email list has been active with fears and concerns about a Mountain Lion that has been roaming the area. It has taken down a deer, and it’s tracks have been verified next to the carcass of the deer.

Many of the wildlife rescue sites claim that most mountain lion sightings are actually other wildlife and that most people are so inexperienced at identifying cougars and their tracks that the sightings usually turns out to be a fox, coyote or even domestic animals like dogs and large cats. Also, in researching this topic, I learned that in the years between 1890 and 2007 there have “only” been 17 actual reported mountain lion attacks on humans in the North American continent. Not exactly cause for alarm.

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Do Real Estate Conventions Make Better Realtors?

Keller Williams Family ReunionI’ll be travelling to the Keller Williams “Family Reunion” convention for 5 days in Orlando later this month. Sylvia and I have attended the Family Reunion together every year since joining Keller Williams in 2005, and we also attend the yearly “Mega Agent Camp” held here in Austin. Sylvia is staying home this year due to scheduling conflicts, so I’ll be flying solo and taking good notes to bring back home, and some new ideas to implememt in our business.

Are these real estate conventions worth the time and expense? All totaled, I’ll drop about $1,200 to $1,500 on this trip, plus lost productivity while I’m away,  plus the torture of airline travel, hotel stay, and lugging around the “convention bag” full of trade show stuff, goodies and the notes and handouts that are accumulated each day during classes and workshops. And, finally, when I get back home, I’ll have to work hard to get caught up. Is it worth it? Maybe a vacation would be better. 

Yes, it is worth it. You couldn’t pay me to not go. Here are some internal stats from Keller Williams:

Agents who attended the 2008 Family Reunion convention …

  • Took twice the number of listings in 2008 as KW agents who did not attend.
  • Sold 81% more houses.
  • Closed 47% more buyers
  • Completed 61% more transactions than agents who did not attend.

Attendees who attended BOTH the 2007 and 2008 Keller Williams Family Reunion convention…

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