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Thursday, March 6, 2008Other Dates

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HomeSales.gov - Find foreclosures online
EmailForeclosures.com - Find foreclosures online
CruiseMates.com - Cruise reviews and more
CruiseReviews.com - Cruise reviews and more

Oddball pricing strategy works in down real estate market

Selling a house is a turbo-challenge right now. Clark's mom recently put her condo on the market. Figuring out the price point was the most difficult part. Everyone's perplexed by the question of price point these days. Here's some advice: Don't look at comps from a year or 2 ago; look at today's comps. Know that if you overprice, you'll likely get less in the end than those who price realistically upfront. You lose your initial marketing thrust when you overprice upfront. Listing your home at a realistic price will lead to less angst, a shorter time on the market and possibly a better price.

Clark and Christa have a mutual friend who was selling her home last year. Clark advised the friend to price her home at a totally oddball figure, something that ended in $XXX,552.27, for example. Everyone laughed at him at the time. Now financial writer Jonathan Clements reveals this pricing strategy actually works. When you throw out an oddball figure, people think 2 things: First, that it's a bargain. Second, that's there is carefully thought out reason behind it. But whatever you do, do not overprice your home!

Do clean bathrooms make for successful companies?

What are the bathrooms like where you work? They used to be disgusting at the studio where Clark records. It got to the point that he had to speak to the head of facilities management. Now they're much cleaner.

Years ago, Clark told the story of a Wall St. stock analyst who liked to visit the companies he invests his clients' money in. He got in the habit of routinely using the bathroom at the companies. If the toilet was filthy, he would cancel his appointment and pull all financial support. This stock analyst knew that if the bathroom was filthy, the employees were not valued and that speak volumes about the company's chances of long-term success. The same holds true with reserved parking spots for upper management at a company. Priority parking tells the little guy that he doesn't count, and that doesn't make employees feel valued.

Now The Chicago Tribune reports that employees get fired up when basics aren't being met at the workplace. 1 in 3 will actually quit over things like lousy bathrooms. After all, clean bathrooms are a basic in a developed country like ours.

Car repossessions at highest level since the '90s

USA Today reports that car repossessions are headed to the highest level they've been since the '90s. In addition, people are stretching out their loans way beyond the generally safe 42-month mark. A longer loan means that you're usually going to be upside down in your vehicle. This year, 1.6 million cars will be repossessed. Clark recently spoke with a man who does repossessions. These people have a very tough job, but they are just the messenger, not the message itself. It's not the lender in the fancy suit that does the dirty work of repossession.

Be mindful of marketplace changes to survive

All eras come to an end. Clark recalls the old Data General commercial back in the '80s that had the following tagline: Don't show up for your battles with yesterday's armaments. The actual ad depicted an army of 19th-century soldiers facing off against a 20th-century military force. Data General itself has long since given up the ghost.

Sometimes it's tough to keep perspective as the market shifts around you. Look at Polaroid. They delivered an overpriced photo with a low-quality print that was considered amazing for its time. But today, Clark's phone can take a better picture and wirelessly send it to be printed for cheaper. Now Polaroid is closing factories that make its film and camera. Contrast Polaroid with Kodak. Kodak didn't stay married to film and did a good job transitioning to digital photography. In your own life, do you have tunnel vision like Polaroid? Stay aware as the ground shifts. Are you prepared?
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