Hughesville, MD Real Estate

Using Candlelight in Photography

Craig W. Barrett - Hughesville MD Real Estate (RE/MAX 100) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 17:10:03 -0500

The Photography Lesson

Jon Washburn helped me with some photography last week at Pat Kennedy's house. Pat Kennedy hosted the DC area Active Rain gathering while Jon was in town for his presentation to NAR. In a conversation about Social Media, I explained I'm following Teresa Boardman, Kristal Kraft and Chris Griffith on Flickr, whose photography I enjoy, admire and try to emulate.

We took two photos where the Sake was the subject. In both pictures, we turned the flash off, positioned the camera on the table and set the timer. The photo above is the 2nd one.

photo credit - Margaret Woda

The difference between the two though was Jon had me move the Sake closer to the camera in the second photo. He also had me raise the camera how I wanted, by using the ring from the Sake cap, and position the candle so we could get a reflection in the Sake.

Jon explained natural lighting and lens are very important in capturing depth photography. The larger the maximum aperture (size of the hole), the more light the lens will allow in, the more natural or real the photo will look. I thought that was very thoughtful of him to share his experience with me.

Subtle Change, Dramatic Difference

Here are the two photos side-by-side. While the lesson was brief, it was not short on usefulness, it was fairly comprehensive. You can see the reflection of the candlelight in the second photo. The color of the shrimp is also brought out and the reflection from the blue plate is caught from the glass table.

Are there any other differences that you see?

Photography 101

I realize some of these techniques are probably photography 101, I thought I'd share my experience and what I learned. Even though my hardware is old and limited and really don't know what I'm doing, I had a blast doing this and thought the outcome was pretty darn cool.

Do you have some photography tricks, thoughts, ideas or experience you'd like to share?

Real Estate Biggest Loser - The Final Stretch

Craig W. Barrett - Hughesville MD Real Estate (RE/MAX 100) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 09:01:09 -0500

photo credit: aaron_j_o

Real Estate Biggest Loser

As you may remember, what started as a friendly $50 bet to see who could lose more weight in two weeks between between Jay Thompson and Dean Ouelette, grew into Real Estate’s Biggest Loser. Anybody could participate, all it cost was $50 towards the winners charity of choice and a commitment to lose some weight.

The whole thing started when Steve Belt, upon hearing Jay Thompson was a (former) avid cyclist, had been proding Jay for a long time to ride with him. After witnessing another prodding on twitter, Dean Ouelette issued a private challenge to Jay to lose weight. Jay thought it would be fun to get few other to join in and from that, the Real Estate Biggest Loser was born.

What's Your Motivation

I run marathons for Team Semper Fi and raise money for Injured Marines and their families. The Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund provides financial assistance and quality of life solutions to:

OEF/OIF Marines and Sailors injured in combat, training, or with life threatening illnesses
Their families- to help defray the expenses incurred during hospitalization, rehabilitation, and recovery
Other OEF/OIF service members injured while in direct support of Marine units and their families
Help with expenses associated with the purchase of specialized equipment, adaptive vans or vehicles, and handicap home purchases and/or modifications

I coupled the Real Estate Biggest Loser contest with my training for the February 14th Myrtle Beach Marathon. So I not only took this as an opportunity to lose weight for my charity, I took this an an opportunity to push myself to run and swim harder and longer than I've ever done before.

How's it Going?

Everybody seems to be doing pretty darn good. Folks have lost anywhere around 5, 10 or 15 pounds so far. We're watching what we eat and we exercise more. Over the last 7 weeks, I've seen tweets about going to the gym on Christmas Day, elliptical training, lifting weights, walking, treadmills, mountain biking, cycling, running, swimming, hiking, diets, weekend activities, lower pant sizes, satisfaction because 5 pounds were lost over the Holidays instead of gaining 10 lbs, trying to figure out how to schedule in extra workouts because of a busy schedule, etc...

Me? I've lost 7.5 lbs since December 1. Although, I've gained a pound and a half in the last couple of weeks. But, I'm faster on the road and stronger in the pool and I owe it all to the Real Estate Biggest Loser mojo. Everyone particpiating motivated me, we motivated each other.

The Final Stretch

The Real Estate Biggest Loser contest ends next Sunday February 1 and it's going to be an exciting finish. Somebody's charity is going to win, but let me add to that. No matter what, everybody that participated has won. We'll all finish strong.

You know what I think? While the contest may end next week, the training won't. I bet many continue to do their thing... lifestyles have changed.

My thoughts on the housing bailout plan

Craig W. Barrett - Hughesville MD Real Estate (RE/MAX 100) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:41:29 -0500

Spencer Rascoff, COO at Zillow.com, made an appearance on CNBC this evening and in preparation penned this post. Spencer provides an excellent explanation, commentary and honest opinion of the President's housing bailout plan.

Via Spencer Rascoff (Zillow):

Prepping for my CNBC appearance tonight forced me to dig into the housing bailout plan in a way that I might not otherwise have found time to do. I find this stuff really fascinating because it's at this beautiful intersection of several of my favorite disciplines: politics, economics and real estate. I majored in Government as an undergrad at Harvard, and studied Economics there as well, so I enjoy playing armchair economist and political theorist every now and then.

Here are my thoughts on today's announcement. And let me preface this by saying these are MY thoughts on the bailout plan, not Zillow's official thoughts. (Zillow officially doesn't have an opinion on this.)

First, today's plan will NOT turn around the housing market. It WILL somewhat reduce the number of new foreclosures (though I think many people are overestimating the reduction it will cause, considering the fact that it only applies to Freddie/Fannie loans which are only 60% of the market, and it only applies to people with a small amount of negative equity. And it's voluntary.) Reducing the tidal wave of foreclosures is good for home prices because it reduces inventory (or avoids further increases in inventory). This is why I applauded the huge drop in new housing starts announced today.

Foreclosure prevention will somewhat help the housing market stabilize, and it will obviously help the homeowners in question. But if you're looking for a REAL stimulus to the housing market, keep looking. The fact is that two things need to happen before home prices stabilize and start increasing:

1. We need to see stabilization in the labor market. Specifically, employees need to be able to stop worrying about lost wages from underemployment, and unemployment needs to return to the 5-7% range.

There were three pieces of big housing news today: 1) the Obama housing bailout plan, 2) the reduction in housing starts, and 3) the Fed put out a new forecast of unemployement for 2009: 8.8% by the end of the year. Frankly, this third piece of news which was the least reported is probably the most important of the three in terms of impact on the housing market.

2. Homebuyers have to feel confident that we're at or near a bottom. Zillow's research shows that a striking 70% of American homeowners think their home will increase in value or stay flat over the next 6 months. But buyers aren't walking the walk. Credit goes to Brian Brady for calling my attention to this point today. Too many buyers are sitting on the sidelines, not making offers because they don't want to buy too early. We're not going to have a housing market turnaround until those buyers start to make offers, and they're not going to make offers until they feel that we've already hit a bottom.

More specifically, here's what I like about today's plan:

- Donald Trump Jr and I agree on this much: it's a good thing that bankruptcy judges will now be permitted to rewrite the terms of mortgages in bankruptcy court. Corporate bankruptcy judges have always been able to rewrite material contracts when companies file for bankruptcy protection -- witness the countless labor contracts for bankrupt airlines that judges have ripped up in bankruptcy. It's about time that personal bankruptcy judges have the same latitude.

Some have argued that this will increase borrowing costs to mortgage holders in the future because the risk associated with a potential loan being able to be negated in court will have to be priced into all loans. Yes, I concede that in theory this is true. So what? It's true of corporate borrowing costs also, in theory, and life goes on. If an individual goes bankrupt, the contract detailing their single biggest liability -- their mortgage -- needs to be on the table for a bankruptcy proceeding to address.

- I like the incentive that the government is giving to loan servicers to try to work out troubled mortgages directly with borrowers. Alex Perriello gave a great speech at the NAR Convention in Orlando imploring the thousands of Realtors in the audience to spread the word among their client list: before you're foreclosed upon, please speak with your lender! Alex said that in between half and 2/3 of all foreclosures, the lender and borrower never even speak to one another. He pointed out that frequently borrowers are embarassed or confused, so they do nothing. The government's actions today -- offering a few thousand dollars to the borrower and servicer for each loan that is modified -- will definitely spark those conversations.

What I don't like about the plan:

- the part of the plan that I like least is the one that introduces enormous moral hazard on the part of borrowers: it basically rewards homeowners who fall behind on their mortgage by paying them a few thousand bucks to stay CURRENT on their mortgage. I think that creates strange incentives.

- To be honest, the whole dang plan is a little hard for me to swallow because I've always been a believer in free markets: if a foreclosure is meant to happen, or a company is meant to go bankrupt, then let it happen. It's impossible to hold back the tides. HOWEVER, we're living in extraordinary times, and my economic liberterianism is now outweighed by my pragmatism.

I also have to use this opportunity to point out that on March 23, 2006, I wrote the following post titled "The Tidal Wave Is Coming" on Zillowblog:

"I’m usually a pretty optimistic guy, but I’ve started to see some scary things on the horizon. And I’ve gotta pass it on. Check this out: 9.4% of all mortgage borrowers now have no equity or negative equity in their home, and 29% of new mortgages last year had no equity. $800 billion worth of mortgages owe more than their homes are worth, and that’s optimistic since it assumes no reduction in home values. One study estimates that if home prices fell by 10%, the share of 2005 homebuyers with negative equity would shoot up to 48%. Yikes! What happens when all those interest only mortgages flip from their low fixed rates to a much higher variable rate? A lot of homeowners who bought houses beyond their means a few years ago via low introductory rate ARMs are suddenly going to find themselves unable to pay their new higher mortgage. And guess what? They have no equity in their house. So they’ll have to sell and/or dramatically reduce their consumption. This is a disaster waiting to happen. This analysis says it all: 'Many homes were sold with Adjustable Rate Mortgages in 2003 and 2004. Now, we are seeing more than $2 trillion…of these mortgages coming up for a reset in their mortgage rates. My back of the napkin calculations suggest interest payments are going to eat up at least another $3 billion a month in consumer spending capacity over the next year. In a $12 trillion economy, this is not all that large, but it will suck almost 1/2 of 1% of consumer spending potential out of the economy.'

Sorry to be such a downer, but I’m worried about the impact that this will have on housing prices and more importantly on the overall American (and global?) economy."

Wow, sometimes I hate being right.

The Art of Negotiation - Lawmakers FAIL

Craig W. Barrett - Hughesville MD Real Estate (RE/MAX 100) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 10:44:48 -0500

The Art of Negotiation

In many lines of business negotiations are an everyday occurrence. Sometimes deals are struck quickly without much deliberation and other times it takes many back-and-forth's to find just the right accord. Once the deliberating parties agree, generally terms are recorded in writing and signatures appended. It's imperative to keep a cool head, remain focused and leave emotion at the door. It's a process that involves give and take and usually one or both parties compromise.

Moving Forward and Performing With Great Expectation

Once a deal has been struck, terms have been recorded in writing and signatures appended, parties begin to perform according to the terms of the agreement. Time lines and specific actions are detailed. Often, as actions or terms are met, addendum are signed by both parties. Expectations on both sides are realistic as set forth in the written and signed agreement.

Defaults and Enforceability

While expectations may be realistic and terms may be clear, sometimes things don't work out. So, what happens if one party defaults on the terms and is unable to perform? How is the agreement enforceable? The answer will vary according to the terms of the agreement, but "any agreement where parties have necessary capacity to contract and the contract was not trifling, indeterminate, impossible or illegal. Remedies can be provided."

Lawmakers rip Fed's 'bait-and-switch'

I came across an article in the Washington Times from this past Friday. (hat tip Delusional Duck)

Here's the opening two paragraphs:

Angry lawmakers Friday accused the Treasury Department of pulling a "bait-and-switch" as it implements the $700 billion Wall Street rescue plan approved by Congress last month.

Treasury Secretary Henry A. Paulson Jr. earlier this week confirmed that the bailout funds would be used primarily to re-capitalize banks and other financial firms through direct stock purchases, not to purchase "toxic" mortgage and other assets from lenders as the Bush administration originally intended.

An Obvious Disconnect

There's obviously a disconnect between the lawmakers and the Treasury Department. But, that's not what bothered me. What bothered me was the lawmakers inability to implement and execute an agreement according to their expectations.

The lawmakers expected the bailout funds to be used to "buy toxic mortgages and other assets from lenders". Instead the bailout funds are primarily being used "to re-capitalize banks and other financial firms through direct stock purchases".

Politics aside or whether you agreed with Government intervention or not, there is a lesson to be learned from this.

The Lesson?

While I am not an attorney and I am not offering legal advice I do suggest the lesson here is:

Get the agreement in writing
Understand what is written
Make sure what is written is enforceable
Expectations are realistic and are based on what is written
Assume nothing
And when needed seek competent legal counsel

It's My Business

I'm a Realtor and my business is listing and selling houses. I don't know the intricacies of lawmaking, but I am familiar with contracts to list and sell Real Property. That's a large part of my job. I visualize my contract as my tool box. I do know what's in my tool box, how to use those tools and I also know my limitations with each tool.

What's This All About

We're in tough times, times I've never seen before. Some say this is the worst Global Economy in 20 years, others compare this to the Great Depression. But, while relevant, that's not my point.

Lawmakers are well-educated and many of them have been in Congress for some time. They have experiences far greater than many of us, so I don't think it's a question of ability. Call me the eternal optimist, but I also don't think it was malicious or self-serving. I do believe, collectively, their intent was good and meant to bring positive change.

Because of the magnitude of the crisis and in their haste to devise a solution, I think lawmakers lost focus of the art of negotiation and made decisions based more on emotion than logic.

What say you?

Real Estate’s Biggest Loser

Craig W. Barrett - Hughesville MD Real Estate (RE/MAX 100) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 23:37:36 -0500

photo credit -Sylvar

You Talkin' To Me???

What started as a friendly $50 bet to see who could lose more weight in two weeks between between Jay Thompson and Dean Ouelette, has grown into Real Estate’s Biggest Loser. Anybody can participate, all it'll cost you is $50 towards the winners charity of choice and a commitment to lose some weight.

How Do I Participate

To sign up just send me a tweet or if you don't have twitter, sign up in Jay's comment section, then sign up for a twitter account.

Weigh in on Friday, December 5. and on February 1, 2009 whoever has the largest percentage weight loss wins. Honor system rules. It's a win/win... err... lose/win for the participants and the charity!

Hey, Aren't You That Running Guy?

Yea and if I want to get faster, I've got weight to lose too. My charity is the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund. I run marathons as a civilian member of Team Semper Fi. The program was inspired by wounded Marines and Sailors who refused to allow their disabilities to get in the way of their participating in sports and as a way to move forward with their lives.

What's Your Motivation

The Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund provides financial assistance and quality of life solutions to:

OEF/OIF Marines and Sailors injured in combat, training, or with life threatening illnesses
Their families- to help defray the expenses incurred during hospitalization, rehabilitation, and recovery
Other OEF/OIF service members injured while in direct support of Marine units and their families
Help with expenses associated with the purchase of specialized equipment, adaptive vans or vehicles, and handicap home purchases and/or modifications

So, when I saw Jay's tweet to lose some weight, trash talk, make new friends, get my charity some exposure and hopefully some hard cold cash, I jumped at the opportunity. So far, there are 15 people participating in the challenge! Wow!

I think I can dig deep and lose some weight with these fine men and women. The weight loss challenge for charity is from December 5, 2008 to February 1, 2009.

UPDATE 12/7

Turns out I only saw the twitter part of the story. The whole thing started when Steve Belt, upon hearing Jay Thompson was a (former) avid cyclist, had been proding Jay for a long time to ride with him. After witnessing another prodding on twitter, Dean Ouelette issued a private challenge to Jay to lose weight. Jay thought it would be fun to get few other to join in and from that, the Real Estate Biggest Loser was born.

There are 42 46 participants! You guys ROCK!

Almost Time For Baseball - Hughesville Baseball Registration

Craig W. Barrett - Hughesville MD Real Estate (RE/MAX 100) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:22:56 -0500

photo credit StuSeeger

Batter Up!

According to Hughesville Baseball Association, registration for t-ball, baseball and softball starts this Saturday January 17, 2009:

From the Hughesville Baseball Association Website:

GET READY FOR BASEBALL...

Registration for the spring 2009 baseball season will be held at the Hughesville Firehouse and Mechanicsville Firehouse according to the schedule below. The registration form can be completed and printed online. Click here to open the registration form.

Complete the registration form, print and bring it with you to one of the registration dates. Be sure to bring the form with you to the registration, along with your proof or residence and child's birth certificate. Check here often for up to date information prior to the scheduled registration date.

There will be two registration dates at the Hughesville Firehouse:

Saturday, January 17 from 10:00 am - 1:00 pm

Wednesday, January 21 from 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

There will be two registration dates at the Mechanicsville Firehouse:

Saturday, January 24 from 10:00 am - 1:00 pm

Wednesday, January 28 from 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Registration Donations:

T-Ball $75 per player

Baseball $85 per player

Maximum per family $160

Registration Notes:

1. For late registration, if teams are full, players registering during one of the regular registration dates will receive placement first. Late registrations unable to be placed on a team will receive a full refund.
2. This year, Senior League Softball will not start until mid –May to give High School time to finish, and Big League will start in June, however, all players should still register during one of the dates above.

Charlotte Hall Safeway and Retail Center

Craig W. Barrett - Hughesville MD Real Estate (RE/MAX 100) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:08:36 -0400

The 17 acre development with Safeway as the anchor I blogged about a few months ago is about 4 months or so away from start of construction. It will be located in Charlotte Hall, MD between Golden Beach Road and the 7-11 and across the street from the McDonalds.

Apparently, Tidewater Veterinary Hospital will be relocated about 600 yards away in a new state of the art building. Access to Tidewater Vet will move from Route 5 to Charlotte Hall Road or Golden Beach Road.

I spoke to the developer this morning, Ray Mertz, about the project. Other tenants are expected to lease space soon. He said we'll start seeing signs and heavy advertising in the near future. I'll post updates like store design, additional businesses, etc... as I get them.

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When buying or selling Real Estate in Hughesville, MD and the surrounding area, you deserve local expertise and advice. Craig W. Barrett provides professional Real Estate services to home buyers and sellers in the Maryland areas of Hughesville, Charlotte Hall, Benedict, Waldorf, La Plata, Mechanicsville, Aquasco, Baden, Croom, Prince Frederick, Broomes Island, Dunkirk, Huntingtown and the Virginia areas of Leesburg, Ashburn, Aldie, Oak Hill, Fairfax, Montross and King George.

Whale of a Tale - Twitter, Security and You

Craig W. Barrett - Hughesville MD Real Estate (RE/MAX 100) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 14:24:34 -0500

Phishing Phail Whale

If you were on Twitter over the last week or so, you're probably aware of the latest phishing attempts. What's phishing, you ask?

According to Wikipedia:

In the field of computer security, phishing is the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.

Phishing is typically carried out by e-mail or instant messaging,^[1] and it often directs users to enter details at a fake website whose look and feel are almost identical to the legitimate one.

Looks like we can add Tweets to that wiki. There were actually two different recent Twitter security events. The second part was a hack into a Twitter support staff's account. I'll get to the second part a little later.

This Isn't the First Time

And it won't be the last. Here's a couple of social engineering "schemes" on twitter over the last several month:

Twply - via @techcrunch -

A service that let Twitter users forward messages that include their user name to their email address.

Sounds good right?

Twply asks if it can send a Twitter message from your account saying that you’ve tried the service. Apparently, lots of people did. Advertisements can be added to the emails sent from @replies. The site was sold within 24 hours for $1200.

So, what people thought would be an efficient way to manage @replies, allegedly quickly morphed into a SPAM machine.

What happended to the username and password data that was collected?

Twitterank - via @adamostrow -

A crudely designed website used to "rank twitter popularity". Users handed over credentials in mass to get what their latest Twitter popularity might be.

I almost fell for this one and I understood why one would try it. It seemed to "measure" Twitter and social media efforts. A number was spit out at the end which showed some "value". Problem was, what details were used to measure that "value"? That's when I began to think about security integration and social media.

The creator of twitterank, Ryo Chijiiwa, @ryochiji @t_rank did explain in an interview with @olivermarks on @zdnetblogs:

I blame the Family Guy. There I was in my hotel room, where I’m staying while in NY for business, watching episodes of The Family Guy on my laptop like any other Joe the Coder on a Tuesday night. But then I ran out of episodes. None of this would’ve happened if there were enough Family Guy episodes to watch on Hulu.

Hi. My name is Ryo, and I’m the developer of Twitterank, which is not some grand scheme to steal thousands of Twitter accounts, but a casual experiment gone horribly horribly right.

Turns out there is algorithm behind twitterank that analyzes @replies:

Similar to how Google’s PageRank algorithm judged a web page based on the number of inbound links and the origin of those links, Twitterank attempts to quantify a Twitter user by analyzing their incoming @replies. In essence, the more people talk to you, the higher your score. So yes, the number you’ll get may not necessarily reflect the number of followers you have, how often you tweet, or even how big your ego is.

Ryo later finishes with this thought:

This episode also started some conversations about phishing, about authentication, and social behaviors.

What happened to the username and password data that was collected?

Social Reputation and Social Capital

I first remember hearing the term Social Reputation, in the social media context, from Jeff Turner aka @respres, more recently the term Social Capital, from Benn Rosales aka @agentgenius and Data Capital from Jay Thompson aka @phxreguy through a comment Chris Messina aka @factoryjoe picked up on Fred Oliveira's post on Twply.

Jeff Turner @respres says:

Imagine the damage a disgruntled seller, buyer. former co-worker or competitor could do by claiming to be you in on-line forums, social networks and blogs. As a Realtor®, your reputation is integral to your brand. You need to monitor that brand and do everything in your power to insure that YOU are in control of that brand.

Benn Rosales @agentgenius says:

Popularity gives you a voice, but social capital makes your message matter- social capital is granted, not purchased, nor demanded. Often times, it is because you have bridged a relationship on less important matters whether it be over a funny video, or ridiculous pictures, and enjoyed conversations that led to larger commonalities leads to a relationship built on trust. (Emphasis mine.)

Jay Thompson @phxreguy commented:

Sigh. I tweeted this am that I was paranoid of giving out a password to a complete stranger. Got a response along the line of “it’s not like it’s a bank account”.

Well, it’s my social media “bank”. I’ve spent a long time building my SM reputation. And someone unscrupulous could wreck that reputation in a few hours. (Emphasis mine.) I just don’t get why so many will blindly hand over a password to someone they know nothing about. (Emphasis mine.)

While I may have heard the terms in some other previous context, when I read their articles the terms in their particular connotations amounted to little more than a notion. Sure I understood their messages, but now I "get it". I don't have the social capital or social reputation Jeff, Benn and Jay have. But that's doesn't mean I shouldn't be socially responsible.

Weak Password Brings 'Happiness' to Twitter Hacker

The second part of the recent Twitter security events was a hack into a popular Twitter user account, which turned out to be a Twitter staffer. How did he do it? He used an automatic password guesser he wrote himself.

This type of attack is known as a Dictionary Attack. He had one part of Basic Authentication, the username and wrote a program that uses English words to get the second part, the password.

Turns out the password was 'happiness':

Cracking the site was easy, because Twitter allowed an unlimited number of rapid-fire log-in attempts.

He said he decided not to use other hacked accounts personally. Instead he posted a message to Digital Gangster, a forum for hackers and former hackers, offering access to any Twitter account by request.

According to Twitter, 33 high profile accounts were compromised in all, including Barack Obama, Britney Spears, Fox News and others. Once compromised, fake and SPAM messages were sent from the accounts.

High profile accounts who were undoubtedly popular and carried much positive Social Capital. Because of their popularity, any negative Social Capital would probably hurt the Social Reputation of the high profile Twitter users, or least that may have been part of the intent.

What Does This Have to do With Me?

Sure, I'm no Britney Spears either, haha. But it's natural to ask, so what? What does all of this have to do with me? These events don't affect me and amount to nothing more than noise, right? What's the consequence if someone gains access to my Twitter account? I'm not ";;popular";; and don't accept the notion I have Social Capital or feel a need to manage my Social Reputation. Still no risk?

Data Capital

How many of you use the same password across the various social media sites you belong to including Twitter? An example is your blogs. How long have you been writing? Do you value your original content? That is your data capital.

Data Capital via Chris Messina @factoryjoe

Think: Data as currency. Data to unlock services. Data owned, controlled, exchanged and traded by the creator of said data, instead of by the networks he has joined.

We've become so accustomed to giving our username to social sites and their third party vendors.

We've lost touch of what's of real value: Our personal data.

Still not convinced this has anything to do with you? Ok, how about your pocket book, credit profile, and financial reputation?

Got your attention? Thought so.

An Opportunity for Good Data Hygiene

How many of you use the same password for those sites, including Twitter, as your password to access your email? Use the same password for online bill pay for your bank accounts? Which leads to Mortgages, credit cards, etc, etc... And how many of those password are common English words? Remember the Dictionary Attack? You get my drift?

The consequences of poor data hygiene can be dire and this is a lesson we all can and hopefully will learn from. No matter who you are, now's the time to practice good data hygiene. Take this as an opportunity to secure accounts, Data Capital, Social Capital and manage your Social Reputation.

If you are so inclined and you made it through, feel free to follow me @craig42k. Be forewarned... I'm really not that interesting. Haha.

Update 1/13/09 -

I think I'll make data hygiene and security related topics a series. I'll do my best to relate the series to Real Estate and Social Media or how it can affect or improve your business.

Introducing Dion Rainey - Active Rain's Newest of the New

Craig W. Barrett - Hughesville MD Real Estate (RE/MAX 100) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:25:33 -0500

photo credit: Dion Rainey

Whoa! Stop the Presses!

Dion Rainey is an agent in my Maryland office. I haven't met him yet, but was alerted to his blog on Active Rain by my Sales Manager a couple of minutes ago. No she's not here either... yet. I was on the phone with her when she told me another agent in the office is writing on Active Rain.

Whoa! Stop the presses! I've been trying to get some of my friends in that office to cross the blogging threshold for quite some time. I had just about given up.

Introducing Dion Rainey

According to Dion's Active Rain profile, he's got some mad skillz:

Dion has been serving the Washington DC metro area since 2001. He began his real estate career specializing in short sales and assisting homeowners in avoiding foreclosure. Today, Dion provides real estate services for buyers and sellers all over the DC Metro area to include Charles County, Montgomery County, Prince Georges County and Northern Virginia. In addition, the Rainey Group LLC provides BPO and REO services for banks and financial Institutions. The Rainey Group prides itself on making outstanding customer service for it's clients the #1 priority!

So, Let's Welcome Him... Active Rain Style

Dion has already written a couple of excellent posts. Now that he's been found and outed, let's give him a proper greeting. Please welcome him. Dion, we look forward to getting to know you here. I think you'll find Active Rain to be a friendly, helpful and professional community.

I know I do.

ARE BUYERS BUYING THE "BEST HOUSE"? OR, ARE THEY BUYING THE BEST OF THE BUNCH?

Craig W. Barrett - Hughesville MD Real Estate (RE/MAX 100) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 16:37:24 -0500

Lenn Harley provides some of the best advice and facts in the Southern Maryland Real Estate market.

Via Lenn Harley Homefinders.com MD & VA Real Estate:

GRANT ME ONE PREMISE.

Square feet for square feet, foreclosures and short sales are the best buy for home buyers today. The next best buy is new construction from inventory from named builders who are well financed and can build to spec.

These theories have been reinforced over the past 6 weeks through my experience previewing about 75 homes and showing about 30 of them to two sets of home buyers over the past 5 weeks.

What's available in the price range $350,000 to $425,000?

Home for sale in Charles County, MD - Priced at $340,000,

FORECLOSURE SALE in White Plains

8 year old Colonial with 4 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, living room, family room, dining room, 2 car garage, on 1/3 acre lot with full finished basement. 2400 square feet above grade.

Home for sale in Charles County, MD - Priced at $320,000,

SHORT SALE in Waldorf

8 year old Colonial with 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, living room, family room, dining room, 2 car garage, on 1/4 acre lot with full finished basement. 2100 square feet above grade.

Home for sale in Charles County, MD - Priced at $325,000,

REGULAR LISTINGS (not foreclosure or short sale)

25 year old Rambler, with 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, living room, dining "L", 1 car garage on 1/3 acre lot with finished basement. 1400 square feet above grade.

New Homes for sale in Charles County, MD - Priced at $390,000,

New Home Inventory in Charles County, MD

New homea for sale from established builders, Colonial with 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, living room, dining room, family room, on 1/4 acre lot with finished basement. 2600 square feet above grade. 1 year builder's warrenty and 10 year structural warrency.

WHICH HOME WOULD MOST HOME BUYERS SELECT?

Location: Same area

Price: Same price range

When viewing homes in a specific price range, this is what home owners are seeing in my market area of Maryland and Northern Virginia.

FORECLOSURES and SHORT SALES ARE OUR MARKET with NEW CONSTRUCTION A CLOSE SECOND. The condition of most short sales is comparable to the regular listings. The condition of the foreclosures is likely to need cleaning, carpet cleaning, paint, appliances, etc. New homes are wonderful and will increase in value faster than resales.

Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988.

Homefinders-Newsletter

Here Somes Santa Claus

Craig W. Barrett - Hughesville MD Real Estate (RE/MAX 100) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 10:27:12 -0500

Here Comes Santa Claus

Santa's coming and his elves have finished the schedule. Santa will arrive with a parade of fire trucks and ambulances at the locations listed below between the hours of 6:30pm and 9:00pm each night. Santa wants everyone to have a safe and enjoyable holiday season. Parents are reminded that it will be dark outside and difficult for Santa and his helpers to see everyone clearly. Please hold the children tight until the fire trucks stop moving.

Santa also wants to tell everyone that he can not get to every street because of the size of the fire trucks. Santa's elves have tried to identify streets that Santa can turn around on. GROUP MEETING PLACES have been established for those children that do not live in or near a subdivision and will be Santa's first stop. Have a great holiday and we'll see you soon!

NOTE: Santa runs will be cancelled due to weather and emergencies without notice.

SATURDAY DECEMBER 6

VILLAGE CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTING 4-6PM

(Corner of Old Leonardtown Rd & Prince Frederick Rd.)

STARTING AT 6:30PM

Hughesville Manor

Deborah Drive

Denise Lane

Westchester Drive

Langley Court

Scout Camp Road (to Juliette Low)

Oak Glen Drive

Oak Glen Circle

Wood Glen Drive

Juliette Low Lane

Homeland Drive

Merri A Lee Way

SUNDAY DECEMBER 7

HUGHESVILLE INDUSTRIAL PARK

Brookleigh Subdivision

Patuxent Woods Lane

Harvest Ridge Lane

Swanson Creek Subdivision

Ivy Hill Court

Carriage Crossing

MONDAY DECEMBER 8

James Lee Drive

Lake Jameson Subdivision

Cracklingtown Road

Beverly Drive

Randall Drive

Cindy Lane

Sandy Level

Bryantown Estates (Bittersweet Dr)

Paternoster Lane

Stiles Place

TUESDAY DECEMBER 9

Oaks Road

Poplar Street

Ash Drive

Arborview Subdivision

Tall Oaks Place

Kent Drive

Traleigh lane

Independence Village

Carrico Mill Lane

Bell Ridge Court

Cameron Ridge Road

Serenity Woods

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 10

BRYANTOWN STORE

Edelen Estates

Langley Road

Bryantown Hills

Bryantown Drive

East Court

Sunnyside Drive

Huckleberry Drive

Finn Court

Huckleberry Court

FRIDAY DECEMBER 12

GILBERT RUN PARK

Round Hill Road

Chambord Court

Dents Lane

Old Home Place Drive

Paps Parkway

Rupert Drive

Elizabeth Lane

Amberleigh Lane

Crescent Run Street

SUNDAY DECEMBER 14

BRYANTOWN SPORTS COMPLEX

Mount Eagle Lane

Maguire Place

Bryan Meadows Lane

Ogrady Place

Clayton Road

Clayton Court

Woodmount Lane

Green Springs Street

Gallant Lane

Bassford Road

Woodridge Drive

Racoon Run Court

Robbers Roost Court

Eagle Ridge

MONDAY DECEMBER 15

Truman Manor Lane

Stowe Lane

Woodgate Place

Truman Manor Place

Truman Manor Lane

Celestial Lane

Plumage Lane

Burreed Court

Young Road

Hens Rest Lane

Spikerush Court

Flatbill Court

Sorrel Ridge Lane

Christy Lane

Greenwood Lane

Prescott Court

Humbolt Court

Collins Court

Lockwood Place

Hunters Harbor Lane

Stillwater Lane

TUESDAY DECEMBER 16

Creekside Drive

Ridgeway Drive

Meandering Drive

Hilltop Drive

Wilkerson Road

Sarah Court

Ladysmith Court

Crawford Court

Woodlark Drive

Inheritance Drive

Beechnut Drive

Celestial Lane

Ginger Root Lane

Formosa Lane

Check out hvfdems.org for updates to the schedule.

Credit Crisis and Zero Acorn Crop

Craig W. Barrett - Hughesville MD Real Estate (RE/MAX 100) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 13:24:08 -0500

Photo Credit: Dominic's pics'

When Nature Goes Nuts

According to the National Wildlife Federation:

The acorn crop in an oak forest can reach 700 pounds per acre in a good mast year, when one ancient tree with an immense trunk and a spreading crown could yield 15,000 nuts. Yet by the end of November, most of them will be gone. Packets of energy that are easy to open and digest, acorns are a significant food item for some 150 species of birds and mammals and typically make up at least 25 percent of the diets of black bears, raccoons, gray and fox squirrels, wild turkeys and white-footed mice, to name a few. White-tailed and black-tailed deer, meanwhile, eat oak foliage along with bushels of acorns.

But yet, there weren't any, or very few, acorns on the ground in the Mid-Atlantic region in November.

Couldn't Find any Acorns Anywhere

Rod Simmons, a field botanist, couldn't find any acorns. He got spooked when he was teaching a class on identifying oak and hickory trees late last month. For 2 1/2 miles, Simmons and other naturalists hiked through Northern Virginia oak and hickory forests. They sifted through leaves on the ground, dug in the dirt and peered into the tree canopies. Nothing.

Simmons and other Arlington Naturalists called around the region and heard similar reports. No acorns on an Audubon nature walk in Maryland. Same reports in Fairfax, Falls Church, Charles County, and as far away as Pennsylvania and Nova Scotia. No acorns falling from the oaks in Arlington Cemetery.

An Over Abundance of Resources

Last year was a mast season. It was a good year to be a squirrel. No worries of starvation, plenty of protein to nourish the newly born babies. It was an exuberant time. A mast year occurs when the number of nuts that trees produce in a given year is exponentially higher than the average.

All Things Cyclical - Even Acorns

The spacing of bumper acorn crops about three or four years apart is no accident either.

"The evolutionary response of oaks to seed predation is to produce more acorns than the sundry forest animals could possibly eat," says animal ecologist Rick Ostfeld at the Institute of Ecosystem Studies (IES) in New York´s Hudson Valley.

But he notes that if there were large crops every fall, populations of squirrels, mice and deer would increase until no amount of acorns could satiate them. So the oaks intermingle good mast years with poor ones, during which many of the seed predators starve. "Trees aren´t as stupid as they look," he says.

Seems There's a Lesson Here

A zero acorn production year, from what I can research, is rather extraordinary and unheard of. The implications of how it will affect the forest animals is not known. It's assumed to be far reaching. Because of the complexity of the relationships between the plants, animals, weather, and pollination, etc... no one really knows why this extraordinary event has happened.

Seems to be a parallel between the Global credit crisis and the zero acorn production. Both are extraordinary events and both had previous years of an over abundance of resources. When times are good, pay down your debts, save discretionary income, budget your time, money and resources. Because there might be a day when the acorns may not come.

Zekiah Farms Fresh Cut Christmas Trees

Craig W. Barrett - Hughesville MD Real Estate (RE/MAX 100) — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 12:52:49 -0500

photo credit: chippenziedeutch

Fresh Cut Christmas Trees

Zekiah Farms has beautiful Fraser Fir fresh cut Christmas Trees, fresh roping and wreaths. They are selling now and until supplies last. The trees are displayed undercover in the barn, so there is no need to worry about the outside weather.

Enjoy a Visit to the Farm

While you're there, see the farm animals or take a tractor ride (weather permitting). Stop in the store for gift ideas. They have unique arts and crafts, fresh apples, greens, winter squash and Zekiah Farms own naturally raised, antibiotic and hormone free meats.

Directions and Hours of Operations

In Bryantown, MD at the traffic light on Route 5 (Leonardtown Rd) turn onto Bryantown Road. Proceed approximately 1.0 miles and the farm will be on your left. You will see two white barns with greens roofs.

Their Street Address is:

5235 Bryantown Road, Waldorf, Maryland 20601

About Zekiah Farms

Nestled in historic Bryantown with the environmentally rich Zekiah Swamp running through it, Zekiah Farms makes the perfect place for family, school, youth, or corporate outings. Zekiah Farms has developed programs to help educate and give memorable farm experiences. These programs will not only be educational, but entertaining and fun as well. Our goal is to share an understanding and love for agriculture and the environment.

Please remember this is a farm, please wear appropriate clothing and shoes.

The Rhythm of Running is a Great Mantra to Live By

Craig W. Barrett - Hughesville MD Real Estate (RE/MAX 100) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:43:27 -0500

Catatonic, Floundering and Without Purpose

How many times have you found yourself at a point in your day where you're not quite sure what to do? You reached the proverbial fork in the road and you don't know which direction to take? Or, you find yourself wandering, floundering or moving without purpose or direction?

Some of you may know I run. I run regularly and sometimes I run far. But, each day, each week, each month I run with a purpose. I train for three (four if I'm lucky) Marathons per year. I do speed work on Wednesday's and Saturday's, hills on Thursday's and long runs on Monday's. Tuesday's, Thursday's and Sunday's are upper body and core work. Additionally, I raise money for injured Marines and their families and collect food for the local food bank.

What's Your Point?

Running Marathons, and for the purpose of this post running a successful business, is about planning, education, dedication, commitment, consistency, experience, flexibility, determination and discipline. It's also about setting specific, attainable, relevant goals and measuring success.

Within all of us is a desire to be great. We work hard to be good at something and to strive to do better. Without specific purpose or direction, the measure for success and the ability to get better is greatly hampered. Purpose enables direction and generates additional experiences, which leads to increased knowledge and expertise.

Success is Subjective

Success in Marathons is not necessarily determined by a clock, placement, points or money. It can be, but for most runners including myself, success is determined by personal objectives. A successful Marathon can be a new personal record (PR), running without hitting "the wall", or just finishing without being "swept from the course". It's a personal goal and when met the feeling is exhilarating. No one can take that experience away from you.

We all have a desire to excel and achieve goals. The difference between surviving and thriving, in my opinion, are defining specific purpose and goals, measuring success and building on experiences. If you don't know where you're going, how you got there or where you started, achieving goals and measuring success will be difficult. Additionally, you probably won't generate new experiences to build on.

Forward Movement

Sometimes our performance plateaus and we find ourselves in a funk. That's ok, but figure out why the energy level isn't optimal or why motivation is lacking. Maybe you need a break, the training is incorrect or nutrition is deficient.

If all else fails just put one foot in front of the other. Don't become paralyzed with indecision and seize. Forward movement is better than no movement at all. At least you'll finish and remember that can be an accomplishment all by itself. Just settle into your pace and listen to the rhythm of running.

We Walked Hallowed Ground

Craig W. Barrett - Hughesville MD Real Estate (RE/MAX 100) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:36:38 -0500

Veterans Day 2008 was a special day. I took my kids to the wreath laying ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery. The weather was cool and crisp and when we crossed the threshold of Memorial Drive, a somber, respectful feeling came over us as the site of thousands of white marble headstones came into view.

Because of the of the crowds, the number of people were limited at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for the wreath laying ceremony. We tried to get to the rail so my kids could see, but the line was just too deep. We moved over to the amphitheater and found a seat. We were greeted by volunteers handing out programs and small flags to commemorate the day.

The Mistress of Ceremonies was Bo Derek. She introduced the speakers, including Vice President Cheney. The Navy Band played several music selections including God Bless America. The program included the procession of the colors and a prayer for the Veterans.

The audience included members of Congress, members of the Senate, Cabinet members, Former and Active Military, moms, dads, wives, husbands, and children. The event was free to the public and all were welcome.

The ceremony inside the amphitheater lasted about an hour. At the conclusion, we walked over to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to witness the laying of several Veterans Group's wreaths.

The grounds at Arlington National Cemetery are vast and includes the internment of President John F. Kennedy, his wife Jacquelyn Kennedy Onassis, and his brother Robert Kennedy.

Arlington National Cemetery Facts

Arlington Mansion and 200 acres of ground immediately surrounding it were designated officially as a military cemetery June 15, 1864, by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.

More than 300,000 people are buried at Arlington Cemetery.

Veterans from all the nation's wars are buried in the cemetery, from the American Revolution through the Iraq and Afghanistan. Pre-Civil War dead were reinterred after 1900.

How Did Veterans Day Come About?

November 11, or what has come to be known as Veterans Day, was originally set as a U.S. legal holiday to honor Armistice Day - the end of World War I, which officially took place on November 11, 1918. In legislature that was passed in 1938, November 11 was "dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be hereafter celebrated and known as 'Armistice Day.' As such, this new legal holiday honored World War I veterans.

In 1954, after having been through both World War II and the Korean War, the 83rd U.S. Congress, at the urging of the veterans service organizations, amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word "Armistice" and inserting the word "Veterans." With the approval of this legislation on June 1, 1954, November 11 became Veterans Day, a day to honor American veterans of all wars.