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Sunday, July 08, 2007 |
Iraq weekend toll exceeds 170. A new round of attacks in and around Baghdad on Sunday pushes the weekend death toll in Iraq past 170. Attacks on Iraqi police and civilians claimed more than two dozen lives, adding onto a suicide bombing at a market in northern Iraq that killed at least 150.
[CNN.com]
9:57:18 PM 
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Real Estate Tips
The real estate "open house" is supposed to be a good way to sell your home. But most of the time it isn't very effective. The first thing to ask yourself, then, in preparing for an open house, is whether you really want to have one.
You see, an open house is a prospecting tool for the agent more than a way to sell your home. Many experienced real estate agents won't even host their own open houses. They have less experienced agents host them, as I did many times as a new agent. By the way, a listing agent gives up a good chunk of his commission if the hosting agent sells the home, so would he give away that opportunity if homes were commonly sold from open houses?
My first open house was a lakefront home which was too expensive for most of the visitors that came. They wanted to dream, while their kids ran around the home and yard, getting in the seller's things, and I ran around trying to keep track of where everyone was.
I didn't sell the house, which was okay, my office manager explained. Selling the home wasn't the point. The point was to get a list of several prospective buyers and their phone numbers - those who had signed in at the open house. Having discovered what some of them were looking for, I could possibly sell them something.
Should you let dozens of people who aren't qualified to buy your home track their muddy feet through it then? Probably not. Agents mostly suggest it because it is a tool for them, and to prove that they are doing everything they can to sell your home. Of course, any additional exposure of your home can increase the odds of it selling. So if you do decide that you want those muddy feet in your home, prepare in a way that protects your home and helps sell it.
8:50:39 PM
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World Business Briefing: Mexico: Cemex Gains Control of Rinker. Cemex, the Mexican cement maker, gained a controlling stake in the Rinker Group of Australia, completing its largest acquisition and increasing its share of the United States market with the $14.2 billion deal. In a filing to the Australian stock exchange, Cemex said it had received acceptances from investors holding 50.34 percent of Rinker. The offer for all of Rinker’s shares expires June 22. Cemex, based in Monterrey, Mexico, had to sweeten its six-month-old unsolicited offer by 22 percent in April to win management approval. Rinker, which is based in Sydney, receives about 80 percent of sales from the United States, where Cemex is already the largest cement company. By BLOOMBERG NEWS. [NYT > Business]
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8:10:57 PM
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World Business Briefing: Britain: Cadbury Acquires Gum Maker in Turkey. Cadbury Schweppes said it had agreed to buy Intergum of Turkey for $450 million to gain almost half of the country’s chewing gum market. Intergum, which has a 46 percent market share in Turkey, will be acquired from the Amram family, Cadbury said. Cadbury, which is based in London, is in the process of selling or spinning off its North American soft drinks unit, which makes Dr Pepper and 7Up. By BLOOMBERG NEWS. [NYT > Business]
Website Traffic
8:09:27 PM
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World Business Briefing: Canada and Four European Countries in Trade Deal. Canada and four European countries signed a free trade agreement, the first for Canada in six years. The agreement is with the European Free Trade Association, made up of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. The deal is expected to aid Canadian businesses in building materials, forest products, auto parts and agriculture. The countries do about 11 billion Canadian dollars ($10.36 billion) in two-way trade with Canada. By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. [NYT > Business]
8:07:41 PM
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© Copyright 2007 Richard Walker.
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