The agents and staff of Kimberly Howell Properties wishes you and your families a happy Thanksgiving! We always have so much to be thankful for and you are a big part of that. We hope no matter what your plans are, you have a fantastic day full of moments to be thankful and get to spend time with family, friends, and loved ones. Please note, our offices will be closed today as well as Friday for the Thanksgiving holiday. If you need anything, call your agent and they will be able to help you. If you don’t have an agent yet, take a look through our agent page and you’ll be able to find someone that you connect with and can start building a relationship with today.
KHP News
A Little Celebration and a Lot of Thanks
Today, our office will slow down for a few moments and celebrate our Annual Office Thanksgiving Potluck. While Thanksgiving is still a week away (almost time to start thawing the turkey!) we thought we’d take a minute to give a bit of thanks as a company. Individually, we each have many things to be thankful for and we hope each of you will take some time to reflect over the coming days on some of the things that you have in your life to be thankful for.
First and foremost, we’d like to thank all of our clients, because without them, we’d be out of work. But it’s much more than just the money that keeps our doors open. It’s the friendships we’ve created, the laughs (and sometimes tears) we’ve shared, and the years of memories we’ve created together. Some of you have been with us since the doors opened (some of you even longer) and some of you are brand new to the Kimberly Howell Properties family, but we are truly lucky to have crossed paths and been able to work with you. Buying and selling your home is a big deal and we are privileged to be a part of a slice of your life that contains a lot of emotion and often many memories. We appreciate that you let us in to your world and allow us to be a part of it. It is a special thing to be allowed the opportunity and we vow to never take that for granted.
And of course, not all of you are immediate clients. Some of you might just be avid readers and visitors to our site. We built this site nearly 8 years ago and it has been a smashing success since day one. We had other websites before that sputtered along and never stuck. You responded to this one and it has grown every year since. We are proud of this site and thankful that you choose us when there are so many websites out there to choose from. We look forward to the day you jump from site visitor to client and we promise to give you an amazing experience.
To our agents, we owe an enormous debt of gratitude. Without you, we wouldn’t do the business we do. We’ve watched many of you grow from brand new licensees to powerhouses in the industry. The past few years has seen incredible growth amongst our agents and we couldn’t be more proud (or thankful) for it. You work hard and play hard too. We hear the stories you bring to the office and they are full of such care and compassion for your clients that those clients become part of the larger picture for all of us. We worry about your clients, not just you. They become part of our family. Thank you agents, for all you do.
In an industry like ours there are many moving parts – the inspectors, the lenders, the relocation companies, the title companies (and their reps, who are unsung heroes in our industry), photographers, the IT people working behind the scenes, and all of the vendors who help us and our clients keep the homes looking great. We couldn’t do it without you. Thank you for always having our backs, going the extra mile for our clients, doing us favors, saving us at the last minute, and always giving us the best quality work at fair and honest prices. We appreciate all you do and it doesn’t go unnoticed.
To our small, but mighty staff, we send some gratitude your way as well. It’s not easy keeping a real estate office running and you do it day in and day out. You lean on each other and find ways of making the impossible happen. Need something that normally takes a few days done yesterday? You seem to pull it off every time. You make magic happen and keep things running smoothly in an industry known for its fast pace and penchant for needing everything “now.” Keep it up, you’re awesome.
Lastly, and I know I speak for everyone in our office when I say this, I’d like to take a moment to thank Kim Howell, the owner of the company. Kim is an incredible agent who gives so much of herself to us as an office, her clients, and everyone she meets. There are few people on earth like her. Truly a giving spirit with a huge heart, Kim embodies the company spirit and inspires us to do more every day. She is tireless and still makes it all seem effortless. Kim has taught us all so many things about this industry and the business, all while teaching us about ourselves and how to live a good life too.
She has given us the tools and knowledge to learn and always backed it with practical reality based help to show us how she grew her business. Our success is her success too and you can see it in the time she spends helping and mentoring agents. And her graciousness extends well past office hours and even office subjects. She has been a friend, a mother, a sounding board, a trusted advisor, and so much more to each and every one of us in this office. She hates when we draw attention to her like this, but she truly deserves more than just a simple thanks. So although it may never be enough, from the bottom of our hearts Kim, thank you for all you do.
Next week, as you sit around the table with friends and family, we hope you find much in your life to be thankful for. We certainly feel lucky to be a part of it and look forward to many more years.
As a reminder, our offices will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, and the following Friday, November 23. If you need your agent they will probably still be available by phone and email as usual, but do try and give them a bit of time on Thursday to relax and be with their families…I see how hard they work and they deserve it.
Happy (early) Thanksgiving everyone!
image courtesy of marcoverch
Congratulations to Our Platinum Top 50 Semi-Finalists
It’s no secret that we are proud of our agents and all they accomplish, so this year we’re excited to announce these three ladies as Platinum Top 50 San Antonio Semi-Finalists: Tatiana Delaserna, Vickie Earle, and Kimberly Howell. We can’t say enough about these three and all the hard work they put in through the past year. Platinum Top 50 isn’t just about sales either – it also awards agents who contribute to the industry, further their education, and give their time and money to local charities and organizations. Many of you know Kim from her years in real estate and if you don’t know Tatiana and Vickie, you should get to know them as you’ll be seeing their faces for many years to come. Both have proven to be not only excellent agents, but amazing additions to our office on a personal level as well. We are truly lucky that these two ladies chose to bring their energy and skills to our brokerage. The winners of the 2019 Platinum Top 50 Awards will be announced on December 7th and we hope all three ladies make the cut this year – best of luck to each of them and we will let you know what happens in December!
Kimberly Howell Properties Training and Mentoring Our Agents
As a brokerage, we at Kimberly Howell Properties are tasked with training and mentoring our agents to teach them the skills and share with them the experiences that will help guide them throughout their career. With real estate changing constantly, this requires us to keep learning and growing ourselves. We’re quite proud of the work our agents put into learning and staying up to date and our training and mentoring program is something we’re very proud of. One of the pillars of our training program is Dave Taylor. Dave is a licensed agent and serves as our trainer and mentor to all of the agents. Awarded Trainer of the Year by Platinum Top 50 San Antonio, Dave also conducted training in the military, so he’s a natural at it. Dave’s focus is teaching agents the “why” of real estate, not just the “how” of fill in the blank contract forms. Our agents learn the theoretics of real estate and are constantly challenged by Dave to learn more.
In addition to our regularly scheduled training classes each week, agents have access to members of staff that are also licensed. With phone, email, and text, staff are available to agents throughout the day and night.
Training is conducted weekly and offers a mix of classes built on real life cases and experiences of our agents to bringing in experts in related fields like title insurance, lending, builders, foundation experts, etc. This allows us not only to train and mentor based on our own real life experiences, but also use the experiences of the experts in other fields.
How does our training and mentoring benefit you?
If you’re an agent looking for a new brokerage, the answer is pretty obvious. We provide you with the skills to grow your business and build the confidence that is one of the most important tools in your real estate tool belt. Want to come see how we do things? Schedule a meeting with us and join one of our weekly meeting or training sessions to see how we do things. We’re proud of our program and our agents love it – it’s not easy and you will be challenging, but you will know more and be prepared for more situations than a lot of other agents out there.
As a homebuyer or seller, the training benefits you clearly too. Better agents means better experiences for you. Real estate is constantly evolving and just when you think you know it all, things change. Our agents also have access to a network of staff and experienced agents who are always there to help, even well after normal office hours (when so much of real estate happens). You’ll find that our agents are eager and willing to learn and have benefited from the focus on hands on training and mentoring that we provide.
image courtesy of sandpickle
What Are You Looking At? Let’s Dig Into What Matters Most To You
We usually reserve our research into what matters to our visitors most for our end of the year “Top 10” posts, but we were tweaking some things and seeing how well they worked when and decided to look through the pages and posts that you spend the most time on. We like to analyze this information so that we can help bring you the best real estate website in San Antonio, full of information that you want and answers to the questions you have. Have something specific you’d like to see on our website? You can always contact us and let us know – we’re always looking for ways to improve! Let’s take a look at what matters to you most…
Search
This is a real estate website, so it’s no surprise that people come here to look at homes. That’s what we’re all here for, right? We’ve recently added some new search features to our website and we’re busy testing and implementing them throughout the site. While our main map-based search (and its rental search counterpart) are easy to use and look great, we are experimenting with another search version that gives you a bit more control (more criteria that you can search for) and we like the search results pages a bit more. Want to take a look? Take our more detailed search for a spin.
McNair Custom Homes
When we teamed up with McNair Custom Homes, we wanted to make a statement about our strong belief in their homes. For years, Kimberly Howell has been selling their homes and helping people plan and build new homes with them. As the listing agent for all of their properties, we stand by them in their commitment to building incredible homes. “Reputation is everything” has become the motto behind all that the two companies do and we love that our visitors are spending time getting to know them and their homes. Whether reading some of the blog posts about McNair Custom Homes or looking at homes built by McNair Custom Homes, we hope you get to know them better.
Rentals and Applications
We see a lot of traffic to our posts about rentals, particularly about rental applications. The two most popular posts are “Why Is My Rental Application Taking So Long?” and “Why Does a Rental Application Require So Much Personal Info?” It’s clear that people get a little anxious once they’ve applied for a rental and the wait can be a bit frustrating.
Incorrect Surveys
A blog post that generates a lot of interest, “What If Your Property Survey is Incorrect?,” has been an interesting one to watch in the comments section to see what kinds of problems people have faced with their surveys.
The Option Period: Termination and Timelines
The Option Period in Texas real estate contracts gives the buyer a chance to terminate the contract for any reason during a specified period of time. This time period is typically used by buyers to do inspections and negotiate any repairs, but a lot of people, both buyers and sellers, have questions about how it works. This post, “The Option Period: Termination and Timelines,” helps explain the timelines and what happens when they are missed.
image courtesy of Burp Hammie
Linda Mosse Talks to Spectrum News About Ikea Coming to Town
There’s a new Ikea coming to Live Oak and if you’re like most of us, you’re pretty excited about it. No more long trips to Round Rock to pick up affordable furnishings and Swedish designed decor. Spectrum News called our agent Linda Mosse to chat about the upcoming store and its impact on the local economy from a real estate perspective. We’re pretty excited to see our agents in the news quoted as local experts. We also loved Live Oak Mayor Mary Dennis’ response of “super duper” – it doesn’t get much more authentic than that! You can read the full article at the Spectrum News website. In the meantime, get your allen wrenches ready – Ikea is coming in 2019 (maybe even earlier than originally thought).
image courtesy of Trevor Pritchard