Kim's Real Estate Corner

Welcome to our new Realtor, Christina Burks

kim — Thur, 15 Jan 2009 06:54:49 GMT

Please help me welcome a brilliant new Realtor to Kim Roulias Realty! Her name is Christina Burks, and she is a very dynamic young lady. She learned all the aspects of residential, commercial, and multi-family real estate investments by observing her family's business while she was growing up. I'm very honored to have her join my company, so please help me welcome her.

Happy New Year!

kim — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 04:44:33 GMT

I want to wish everybody a joyous new year, filled with peace and happiness.

Toys for Children

kim — Thur, 18 Dec 2008 16:54:48 GMT

Merry Christmas! Yesterday was the big Realtor Christmas party and benefit auction at Blue Canyon on the lake in Rockwall, and it was so nice seeing all the toys we have collectively donated for the Helping Hands project.

Local title companies, home inspectors and mortgage lenders were kind enough to work with us make the holiday time very special for children.

I hope everybody has a blessed Christmas season, and that you get to spend it with the ones you love.

The Real Estate Market Today

kim — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 05:25:48 GMT

Here lately, everybody I meet, when they find out I'm in real estate, they want to know how business is doing. It's easy to look around and see gloom and doom, with lenders having problems, and buyers having problems, and sellers having problems. And real estate agents having problems.

But I think that things are pretty much what you make them out to be, and I honestly have to say that from my perspective, the market is fantastic! I have four closings scheduled this week, and one of my agents has two scheduled this week. In the last 12 years that I have been selling real estate, the market has always been fantastic! And here's the secret....what I focus on, is instead of focusing on the entire nation in a devastating mortgage crisis, I focus on getting the job done for my clients, the day-to-day reality for them. Some need more help than others. Some owe more on their house than what it is worth. That's when I negotiate with their lender. You take the good with the bad. They aren't all "slam-dunk" transactions. Some take more work than others.

The industry is changing a lot, and one of the shakedowns from that is that many people are turning in their real estate licenses. Studies have shown that the new fingerprinting requirements in Texas are keeping a lot of people from pursuing or renewing a real estate license. To all of this, I say, that is fantastic! That leaves more business for those of us who are dedicated to what we do.

A wise man once said that we become what we think about most. What are you thinking about today? Where are your thoughts today? Instead of focusing on what you don't want, how about focusing on what you do want? It really does make a difference. God bless your day, and God bless America!

My First Job in Real Estate

kim — Thur, 21 Aug 2008 03:24:24 GMT

Today, I was reminded of my first real-estate related job. I went to the Anatole on Stemmons for the SMU Football Kickoff Luncheon to hear what the new coach had on his mind for the upcoming season, how he planned to take the team from a losing 1-11 record, and to generally show all around support of my alma mater.

There, I ran into my former boss, Mr. Joe Beard, also an SMU graduate who played football at SMU when they were a highly-feared opponent in the old Southwest Conference. He and his then-business partner, also an SMU graduate/football player, gave me my first real job after I graduated from SMU. This job was being the office manager at their multi-family real estate investment company in Las Colinas. Basically, buying and selling apartment complexes. It was just the three of us, and we had a lot of hard work to do. I loved working for Steve and Joe. Every day was something different.

And I never knew who I might see coming through the door on any given day, because they had a lot of very important friends and clients. I learned some good real estate lessons there, and it was very nice to see Joe again. I always knew that he would go on to do even greater things, and he has, as president of Westdale Asset Management.

What a great day, seeing a lot of other old acquaintances from my days at SMU. Plus, it's always a good day to see the Mustang Band, and the cheerleaders and baton twirlers.

My Minority-Owned Business

kim — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 22:01:09 GMT

Earlier today, I was filling out this lengthy form to get HUD-Certified, which basically means that the federal government will let my brokerage work with even more government distressed properties. You might be interested to know that not only is Kim Roulias Realty a "woman-owned business," but it is also a "minority-owned business," because I actually have a Native American heritage on my dad's side, and I'm a member of the Echota Cherokee Indian tribe out of Lawrenceville, Alabama. It wasn't too long ago in American history that you really didn't want to tell anybody that, but I'm pretty proud of it.

I was reminded of it while watching the Olympics. I am fascinated by the cultures, mannerisms, traditions, and physically differentiating features of different nationalities and races. It is truly an amazing world that we live in.

Obviously, I don't look too much like a native American because of my mom's contribution in all of this.... but I used to love to gaze at my grandmother's face and try to picture the hardships of the life she led, and the adversity they faced, and the whole Trail of Tears situation. There are people today who have no idea how fortunate they are to be living in the times and places they are. And there are other people who don't have it so well, living in cultures or societies in their own living hell, today in 2008. Hold those people in your thoughts and prayers, and remember them, especially as you are watching the Olympics, what an amazing amount of adversity -- not just triumph -- that some of those athletes had to endure to get there.

Who is your hero today? And who thinks you are their hero? No matter how insignificant you may feel that you are in your job or your life, somebody somewhere thinks very much of you, and they are watching you and wanting to be like you. Are you being, and doing, all that you can be and do? Just some things to think about....

Roulias Realty Mission Statement

kim — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 07:04:28 GMT

First, everybody, thanks for your patience while the website is being updated. It's been a little challenging making the step from being a Realtor to being the Broker-Owner of this little growing company. Everything from managing IDX-link hosting systems, to negotating rates on million dollar insurance policies, yikes! But I love it.

I wanted to say first off, my first responsibility is to carry forward my long-standing mission statement of "integrity in real estate." That is first and foremost to me at all times, to uphold the strictest of ethical standards, far beyond what is just legal, or what can be "gotten by" with. That's one reason I'm excited and honored to be a member of the Professional Ethics and Standards Committee with the Texas Association of Realtors.

The reason I wanted to write this little blog, is because as I was just adding the information on our newest agent, whom I have been friends with since we were in first grade, I realized that all four of the agents here at my company actually have at least one college degree, half of them have master's degrees. (I'm not in that half. ) And half have a broker's license. (I am in that half.) In a time when, demographically, the typical real estate agent has only a high school diploma and three weeks of real estate education, that's pretty exciting that all the agents here are so educated, not just in real estate, but in other subjects as well. In the state of Texas, which licenses many professions, it makes me incensed to think that Texas requires a fingernail polisher (a manicurist) to have ten times more education than a real estate agent! Here awhile back, I wrote a letter to the editor of Realtor Magazine about that very topic, and they published it. They also implemented another idea of mine, that real estate agents be fingerprinted.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that I'm very pleased to have the association of a fine group of Realtors around. For 50 years my dad owned his own automobile business, an automatic transmission repair shop, and he taught me how to operate a business on the golden rule, and to always hire people who are smarter than yourself. Plus, he taught me how to rebuild an alternator. You just never know when you're going to need to know something like that!

Thanks to all of you for your continued support. ~Kim

Welcome our new Realtor, Talma Orbison

kim — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 04:30:26 GMT

I'd like to say a big welcome to Talma Orbison, a new Realtor here at Kim Roulias Realty. I've known Talma since we were five years old, growing up in Seagoville, Texas. Talma lives in Combine, with her husband and two young daughters. Please help me welcome her!

Welcome our new Realtor, Don Johle

kim — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 23:13:18 GMT

Well, in an interesting turn of events, one of my former buyer's agents on the Kim Roulias Team at RE/MAX, and a long-time friend, has decided to leave RE/MAX and join Kim Roulias Realty as an agent! Please help me welcome Don Johle (pronounced "jolie"). In addition to being a Realtor, Don also has an active real estate broker's license. When he first got his broker's license, we had talked about him being the designated broker of my new company, Kim Roulias Realty. At first, I didn't really want to get my broker's license, or have that responsibility. Besides, with Don's background in engineering, he has a real fondness for nitpicking numbers and I'm more of the creative type. Although I am very good with numbers, Don has an all-out passion for it. But after a couple of lengthy negotiation sessions at Primo's on the lake, I decided the best thing would be to go ahead and get my broker's license and be the designated broker myself. (We were not the people in a fist fight at Primo's, I promise!)

Don will be specializing in his favorite thing, REO and asset management, along with broker price opinions. He also enjoys working with motivated buyers.

If you recognize Don's name from somewhere, that's because since he was 18 years old he has owned Don Johle's Bike World on Broadway in Garland. He is a world champion BMX bike racer, professional Legends car driver, and ranked in the top 10 in the world in the sport of personal watercraft racing. You should stop in and ask to see his 900+ trophies. He can also help you pick out a good bicycle for whatever it is you want to do. I'm proud to have him affiliated with my brokerage.

~Kim

Welcome our new Realtor, MeLisa Minter

kim — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:06:34 GMT

I'd like to welcome MeLisa Minter to Kim Roulias Realty. We'll have her information up here on the website real soon. MeLisa joins us from RE/MAX Landmark. She is a brilliant, dynamic lady, with a masters degree in business administration (MBA), and has experience in representing home builders in new construction as well as buyers of new construction. Because of her impressive background in planning and development, she knows the Metroplex extremely well. Although she can offer expert advice on many parts of town, she will be specializing in Kaufman County, where she and her husband live with their family.

I'm very excited to have her on board!

Home Safety

kim — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:16:38 GMT

I was thinking about this yesterday, and I wanted to mention that during the summer, it is especially important to pay attention to home safety issues. Especially with kids and swimming pools. Also, if you have palm trees in the back yard, I can tell you from first-hand experience how easy it is to slice your head open on the stalk of a Mexican fan palm. That happened to me last summer, and it's not fun.

Also, be sure to check the batteries on your smoke detectors, and test them frequently. You would be surprised at how many people forget to do this. If your house needs a smoke detector, let me know, and I'll send you one for free. That's how strongly I feel about these! The average house needs two or three units to be safe.

My favorite websites.....

kim — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:48:30 GMT

These are some of my favorite websites. The first two sites, I check daily, the others I check a couple of times per week...

http://www.realtytimes.com

http://www.inman.com

http://www.ingdirect.com

http://www.craigslist.com

http://www.ebay.com

http://www.gibson.com

http://www.mandolincafe.com

okay.... i gotta come clean .... i also enjoy visiting http://www.dallasbasketball.com

and http://www.41-world.com

and http://www.dallasmavericks.com

The rest of the picture....

kim — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:48:38 GMT

Kind of like the radio announcer Paul Harvey's "The Rest of the Story,"..... this is what I call "The Rest of the Picture."

Of course, as a real estate agent, I have some official pictures of me in a suit, like I usually wear when the weather permits, and then, there's this picture of me that you see on the home page of this website. Thats because my sister Karina said I ought to put it up there, instead of the one of me wearing the suit.

I'm sitting at my desk right now, looking at the original photo. There was someone else with me in that photo, and I want to tell you about this, because it is a funny story.

My beloved sister, Karina, is the other person in the photo. For years I've stood in my sister's shadow, literally and figuratively. She has always been the smartest one in the family. Even at a young age you could see this. By the time she was about 14, she was even smarter than my parents (heehee), and taking talented and gifted classes at SMU, and started college at Case Western University at 16. She is now 28 years old, very athletic, and stands 6'1" in bare feet, with long auburn hair. Guys seriously refer to my sister as, "The Goddess." If I had a nickel for every time I heard, "Kim, your sister is a goddess."

A few years ago, when she was living in Manhattan (New York City), I was there visiting her and we were going to see the Fourth of July fireworks, because they put on the best fireworks show there. Karina and I were strolling through a neighborhood drugstore, like a Walgreen's, and this lady came up and asked us if she could take our photo for Glamour magazine. They were looking for candidates for makeovers. (Im not sure why she thought we needed a makeover!) I can tell you that my sister was wearing a pair of mans polyester pants from the 1970s with a vintage t-shirt, all found at a thrift store. And her wild hair was about down to her waist. And I had just gotten back from a trip to Jamaica, and I was wearing an island-type dress, navy with big flowers all over it, and some flip flops. Just a couple of laid-back country girls in the big city.

So the lady asked me if I could fly back to New York City (at my expense) the following week for the hair cut, and makeover, and photo shoot, and I said "yeah." So the picture you see on the front of his website is actually me, with Karina cropped out of the picture, at the Glamour magazine photo shoot. So now you know....the rest of the story!

I Passed!!

kim — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 21:20:08 GMT

I am so excited because this morning I took the Texas Real Estate Broker's Exam, and I passed! I cannot believe I passed, because it was very difficult, with a lot of complex mathematical questions and knowledge that I never really use. Can't tell you the last time I needed to know, if a house has mold, how many days does the inspector have to give the owner a Certificate of Mold Remediation.

Anyway, the lady in charge of the exam said that not very many people pass it on the first attempt, or so quickly. I answered all 45 questions on the State portion in 19 minutes, and the questions on the National portion in 74 minutes. (One reason I finished the exam so quickly is because I had a client, "Gary the Game Warden," wanting to look at houses in the early afternoon before he went to work.) And we did find him the perfect house, too, to make an offer on, so that turned out to be really good!

Thanks for everybody who believed in me, that I could pass this exam! Especially my mom and Miss Wanda.

My assistant Crystal asked me what I was going to do to celebrate.... and I told her that next week I will take her to lunch at the Palm and we'll have a big lobster. Tonight I'm just going to stay home and lounge around on the floating "Pirate Island" in my swimming pool with my dog. I usually go play music on the square, but I've had entirely too much excitement for one day.

News about Foreclosures

kim — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 04:26:58 GMT

Today has been a very long day, but I felt compelled to sit down and write this. I can't get this one lady off of my mind. Some of you may know that I manage assets for a nationwide mortgage company. This week I had to visit a lady whose house they had just foreclosed on, to find out when she would be moving out. She had been ill, and her husband left her. Now the bank has asked me to sell her house, which they now own. Banks do not like to foreclose on people's houses. But if the borrower doesn't ask for help, the bank doesn't just volunteer it. (Ask and you shall receive.) I can't help but thinking that if I had met her before the foreclosure, I could have helped her try to keep it. Of course, then I wouldn't be getting paid to help her keep her house, while the bank does pay me to sell it.... but there are too many other ways I'd rather get paid.

Folks, with the market the way it is now, one of the most tragic things I see going on, are hardworking people losing their houses.

It breaks my heart to see this happen, so what I would appreciate is, that if you know of somebody that has fallen on hard times, or become ill and can't make their house payment, please have them call me before they lose it to the bank. I have negotiated for many families to stay in their homes while they work out pay arrangements. I don't charge for this service. I do this because I love to negotiate, especially when it helps someone. I have one client who hasn't made a house payment in 18 months, and it's not because they are deadbeats.

I also help people who absolutely must move, but cannot sell their house for what they owe on it. It is called "negotiating a short sale." A lot of agents don't like to do it, because it is a lot more work than your typical home sale. But I have systems in place to help the negotiations go more smoothly.

So if you know anybody in trouble, just have them call me please...and thank you.

~Kim

Thought of the day....Seek and you shall find.