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CNN reports today that "An outraged sheriff in Illinois who refuses to evict "innocent" renters from foreclosed homes criticized mortgage companies Thursday and said the law should protect victims of the mortgage meltdown. Cook County, Illinois, Sheriff Thomas J. Dart says too many renters are being evicted for landlords' problems, and he is suspending foreclosure evictions in Cook County, which includes the city of Chicago. The county had been on track to reach a record number of evictions, many because of mortgage foreclosures."

This is truly sad.  Until now, I thought of the mortgage debacle as a shared responsibility between folks buying homes they should not have been buying, and lenders lending money they should not have been lending.  At first…

Tri Cities Washington is ranking again! This time, the Tri Cities of Kennewick, Richland, and Pasco, Washington are 29th on the top 124 list of America's Best Small Cities list, up 40 spots from last year's position. The rankings are based on the metro area's ability to sustain employment and economic growth.  

Related: Milkin Institute's 2008 Best Performing Small Cities | Tri Cities Job Market Expected To Stay Strong

Hmm, that is what Colleen was told yesterday! I even gave this man this blog entry, and this Squidoo lens to read. Apparently, he read neither. Presumably, this potential client thought Colleen a pushover, lacking negotiating strength, and/or incompetent in some way in regards to client representation. Our client didn't know this about Colleen...

• When negotiating, Colleen has the most excellent 'poker face!' The client she represents may be in dire straights, desperate to sell or buy, but the other real estate agent would never know. Colleen represents her clients in a way only her clients and Colleen can appreciate, as 'the other side' never finds out what's in Colleen's hand until the negotiations are complete. In the past, and unfortunately for…

Today, the AP reports second quarter home prices drop the largest since the inception of Standard & Poor's Case/Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index. The drop is 15.4 percent lower than last year. I'm reminded of this blog entry!

The Tri Cities Washington market, however, is maintaining property values. Actually, Washington state as a whole, isn't too bad either! Never a better time to buy property in the Tri Cities than now!

Related:

• Standard & Poor/Case Shiller Home Price Indices

• CNN Money - Home Prices Plummet To New Record Low
   

Colleen received her award today for earning River Realty's second quarter top producer. River Realty is a Pasco Washington office of about 18 agents brokered by Carrie Chambers. Amidst a team of great agents, Colleen, relatively new to the office, out-paced them all for the second quarter Top Producer award.

Colleen Lane Is All About Customer Service

Search engine optimization is bantered about often online, however, Colleen's clients are coming to her from referral. Colleen defies the typical sales person stereotype. Never a "closer," Colleen's #1 goal is to provide a great service to the client, hence, a customer base very loyal and often times purchasing several properties from Colleen. In fact, one of Colleen's recent clients had this to say when…

Matt Cutts was the keynote speaker for the Web 2.0 Expo held in San Francisco on April 22-25, 2008. This video is Matt's keynote address about Google's spam policy and is a great introduction to search engine spam for beginners, as well as a relevant reminder for seo veterans. I hope you find this 10 minute video useful! You can find other 2008 Web 2.0 Expo videos of keynote presentations here.

Mayhill Fowler went form obscurity to the national stage and possibly changed the course of the presidential election. Fowler, a 61 year old self proclaimed journalistic blogger, recorded Obama's now famous Bittergate speech, blogged about it, and the rest is history. To everyone's surprise, Fowler received more attention for her piece than possibly imagined. You can read about Mayhill Fowler and her Bittergate blogging here.

Goes to show what blogging can accomplish when posting information everyone wants to read! 

The Tri-Cities Washington Salvation Army’s Annual Civic Dinner will have as its theme, “Joining Forces.” In appreciation of the outstanding volunteer service to local organization and the community, The Salvation Army wishes to give recognition to selected groups that have partnered with them in service this past year.  They include: the Kiwanis Clubs of the Tri-Cities, Columbia Center Mall,  Dean Dental, Bank of the West, Les Schwab Tire Centers, Liberty Christian School, and KNDU-TV.  Recognition will also be given for Employee, Volunteer, and Advisory Board Members of the Year.

The guest speaker for the civic gathering will Major John Chamness, Inland Northwest Regional Coordinator for The Salvation Army.   The Major is currently giving leadership to…