Stephen Stills

I’m going to diverge from the real estate industry. You all have more than you can possibly read about the trade and how to manage a career in it.

So just for fun …

Stephen Stills, the guitarist originally from Buffalo Springfield, then solo, then Crosby, Stills, and Nash and sometimes Young, was playing on my iPod this morning.  Someone told me recently they heard Stills playing and singing somewhere, and simply due to his age it seems his voice wasn’t what it used to be.

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The first sight I had of Stephen Stills was with Crosby, Stills and Nash together  on the stage at Woodstock (I wasn’t there.  I watched the movie some 10,000 times).  The group was just tuning up to play, and Crosby said off mike (but could be heard anyway); “tell them who we are.”  Nash said, “they’ll all know if just play …“ and Stills started playing “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.”

We knew who they were.  Stills' guitar was all it took.

On Thanksgiving night probably 1970, Crosby, Stills and Nash played the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City.  Santana opened the concert. The entire show was amazing.  I was very late getting home and the parents were not happy with me.  It didn’t matter.  I was still floating on the most amazing music since the Beatles.

Stills sounded good that night.  He always sounds good.  On a televised show years ago, Stills walked onto a stage with an acoustic guitar and began playing and singing … and for an hour, one guy, one guitar captivated an entire huge theatre.  His music and voice filled every available space.

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It had turned cold with a slight drizzle in the air at the base of a ski run on Big Mountain in Whitefish, Montana on an early summer June evening.  Stills was playing.  And he was in full stride.  He played right through the cold and rocked us for a long time.  He played loud for us and he didn’t miss a beat.

The night after a few dirt bags stole our jets  and crashed them into the World Trade towers, Crosby, Stills and Nash showed up on the Tonight Show to sing for us…to find some common ground to somehow hold onto.  I needed that one.

Stills sounded great.

I’m not a singer…I always wished I could sing like these guys.  I don’t understand vocal cords or how they change with age or why some of them stay the same.  Some singer’s voices change as they age.  Paul McCartney’s voice is not the same as his Beatle voice.  Glen Campbell, in his mid-70’s, sounds nearly identical to his 20-year old voice.

Stills’ voice has changed.  He sounds great.

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Talk to me about Stills or music and what it put in your soul.

Prof. Mike

Prof Mike • Class Star®

ClassStar offers two, 3-hour core courses and several live courses. www.ClassStar.com

Your business and referrals are appreciated. The Porch weblog and all contents herein are © 2012 Mike Ballif. All rights reserved.

Short Sale and Foreclosure and Disclosure

Should foreclosure be disclosed?

Foreclosure means the lender has started a legal procedure to have the property on which it holds the mortgage sold at auction.

This may be a short sale, and it also may not be a short sale. A short sale is not a foreclosure but obviously the two situations can be related.



What is confidential here?



Say a property on Adams Avenue “under foreclosure” is presently worth $375,000 and the mortgage balance due is $300,000. Perhaps the seller lost his job…or a divorce has caused the mortgage payments to go unpaid. If the property is sold for $375,000 or is sold for any amount that exceeds $300,000 plus costs of the sale, there is no need to disclose that the property is in foreclosure as it not a “material fact.”


It does not affect the seller’s ability to perform on the proposed purchase contract and it is a confidential situation.


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If loans on a property on Maples Street are $430,000 and Maples Street is presently worth less than $430,000, then the property and the situation can be considered a short sale. In this situation, there is a “material fact;” the seller’s potential inability to perform. This fact needs to be discussed with the seller; consent obtained from the seller and probably disclosed to the transaction.


Confidential information cannot be disclosed without your client’s consent. If it’s not confidential information…just go one more step and get consent to disclose information about the seller in writing anyway.


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This is a discussion of market conditions and various real estate, lending, and legal procedure. I’m not offering legal advice. I’d suggest legal assistance if you have questions about the legal stuff. In Utah, an attorney is required to obtain a real estate license if she or he regularly processes real estate transactions on behalf of clients.


from The Porch…

Prof Mike • Class Star®

ClassStar offers two, 3-hour core courses a new Utah Law series, and several live courses. www.ClassStar.com. Your business and referrals are appreciated.

The Porch weblog and all contents herein are © 2009-11 Mike Ballif. All rights reserved.



Just Talking ... with No Words

Hello, All ...

A few blog postings ago we began a series of ideas and articles about “business” as a social concept.  The foundations of business – when understood help you become a better agent and increase your business acumen. Your clients will immediately notice and appreciate how well you are taking care of their needs.  So, we can do better business when we are better communicators…

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Christopher Columbus’ first recorded voyages to the New World were recorded in his Diario.  Columbus was surely a master negotiator and had to be a master at communications.  Of course the Diario contains remarkable observations of discovery and isreplete with passion as my buddy Al Sandomir describes it. Columbus writes a lot of exquisite material and describes the real estate and biological wealth of the New Indies.  Immediately and concurrently, the Spanish explorers began “winning over” the indigenous colonies of natives for loyalty to the Crown and to Christianity.  Among other assets there was also a nice big piece of real estate on the table.

Columbus had to somehow begin communications with these folks … largely using body language and other nonverbal communication techniques until the basic languages began to take hold.  

Imagine marketing a piece of real estate using gestures and noises only.

Sometimes we agents also talk in a foreign language with our clients.  Real estate—just as many other occupations has a specialized language that can be daunting to the public.  Doctors, lawyers, engineers, and stock brokers for instance all have a specialized language just as real estate practitioners use.  As a result we can use knowledge of nonverbal techniques to our advantage and improve our business communications and to also determine what the natives really mean or want. 

Many times clients won’t express verbally what they want to communicate, but rather do it with other mannerisms and gestures – body language.  In fact, it can be so predictable -- timeshare sales folks have an established floor routine for analyzing what prospective clients are “saying” to each other, under the table or out of sight of the salesperson.  A floor manager watches the body language and then steps in to “win over” the prospects.

Here are a few methods and maneuvers you can use to help in your negotiations.  Remember…the best negotiation is win-win.  All parties must win, or you will be trying to keep the sale on the books forty five days later because the folks on the losing side of win-lose … will most likely be trying to get out of the loss.  So bear in mind these techniques are effective, and greatly assist a negotiation.

After you read them I want you to think of an encounter or a conversation you had recently where some of these body language techniques were used and tell us about them and how they affected the communication. Preferably you can think of something that happened on the job or in a business situation...

Just Talking via Body Language

If you are strolling along an arcade or the county fair in the summer, and encounter a charcoal sketch artist who's drawing portraits... and ask him "how much?"

He says "$20."

You flinch...

What does the flinch mean—to the artist?

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Slight Tilt of the head. Hand going up to chin.  They are paying attention.

Perfectly straight head — not paying attention. [My students are going to sleep]

Stroking the chin.  Very interested.

Head leaning on the heel of the hand.  Boredom.

Stroking the nose.  Exaggerating.

Tugs at ear.  Want to hear more.

Scratches head.  Uncomfortable, nervous, discomfort. Back off, change direction.

Lays eyeglasses on table.  No longer listening to you.

Something in mouth…need more nourishment.  Like what they hear, but need to hear more.

Hands…"steepling." Confidence.  Feel they are in a superior position.

Fingers drumming on the table top…

Tug at the collar.

Hand at the back of the neck ... all indicate annoyance.

D    Determine then eliminate source of annoyance.  Adjust your communication.

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From Professor Mike, ClassStar.com

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Just an FYI:  Class Star.com’s live Negotiation and Persuasion course presents detailed and experiential methods to learn and practice some nonverbal techniques.  I'll send more info to you on all these materials.  Let me know what you would like:  Mike@ClassStar.com


Mike Ballif • Class Star offers online core courses and several live continuing education courses on Consumer Behavior, Negotiation and Persuasion, Real Estate Math, How To Pick Comps, etc.   Your business and referrals are appreciated. The Porch weblog and all contents herein are © 2010 Mike Ballif. All rights reserved.