Another sign the housing market is picking up this spring: Pending home sales rose in March and were sharply higher than a year ago.

Pending sales of existing homes rose 4.1 percent in March, according to the National Association of Realtors. The D.C.-based trade group said pending sales were up 12.8 percent from a year ago. Pending sales represent contracts signed but sales not yet closed, a better gauge of the current market.

“First-quarter sales closings were the highest first quarter five years,” said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. “The latest contract signing activity suggests the second quarter will be equally good.”

Pending sales rose the most in the West, up 8.7 percent from the previous month. In the South, which includes the Washington region, pending sales were up 5.9 percent in March and up 10.6 percent from a year earlier.

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The Markets of Saint Louis Missouri and Memphis Tennessee continue to be resilient housing markets as they continued to show signs of recovery in March, as buyers chased discounted prices and posted the eighth consecutive month of single-family home sale increases. Cord Moving and Storage watch these trends carefully since these increases impact the moving storage industry.

“I’m excited about what’s happening,”  said Steve Young CEO of Keller Williams in Memphis, TN, Agents sold 2,791 single-family homes last month, an 18.4 percent increase from the 2,357 homes sold during the same month last year, according to the MLS Property Information …just in our state alone.”

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Recently, Cord Moving and Storage helped our friends at Xanadu Press move shop 450-miles! It was quite an undertaking but it’s amazing just how easy a move can be when you choose the right moving company!

Read More about the entire endeavor over at Xanadu Press’ blog.

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On December 10th, 2011, Cord Moving participated in St. Alban Roe’s annual Christmas Outreach Loading Day. It is the day when everyone’s hard work of collecting generous donations are loaded up, to be delivered to the many families in need over Christmas. It was such an honor to be involved in this process, this manifestation of the Christmas spirit.

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A surge in new multifamily construction in November resulted in the strongest month for U.S. residential builders since April 2010, with a number of large apartment projects breaking ground over the last two months.

While the increasing number of new apartment units breaking ground is picking up momentum, especially in the top coastal markets, the construction activity hardly qualifies as a boom as measured by either peak levels or historical averages for new construction starts.

That said, Tom Layne the Sales Manager for Cord Moving and Storage Headquartered in Saint Louis, MO  went on to say, “apartments remain the only major  product type showing demand growth justifying new supply at the moment, and first-movers are hoping to capitalize on the demand opportunity before the project pipeline fills up again in selected markets. “

Starts of buildings with five or more dwelling units rose 32.2% in November from the previous month to a rate of 230,000, the highest since September 2008, according to statistics released this week by the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development. On a year-over-year basis, multifamily starts surged 180.5% last month compared with November 2010.

The apartment building activity pushed total private-market housing construction starts to a seasonally adjusted rate of 685,000 in November, an increase of 9.3% over revised October numbers, and 24.3% higher than the same period in 2010.

The Northeast region saw the largest gains in total residential starts (single-family and multifamily) at 53.8%, followed by the West at 22.6%. Starts declined 18.2% in the Midwest and rose a modest 4.2% in the South.

The pain clearly continues for single-family housing, where construction starts rose just 2.3% in November.

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Following a recent review by US Customs and Border Control, North American Van Lines International have received confirmation that they are in compliance with the minimum standards established under the C-TPAT Program. The Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism is a voluntary government-business initiative to build relationships that strengthen and improve overall international supply chain and U.S. Border security. “We believe that the accreditation adds value to the North American International prospects and transferees”, said Mark Oakeshott, Vice President and General Manager of North American International.

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 “ Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life; because almost everything —all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.  Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” 

Steve Jobs

1955-2011

Founder and CEO of Apple

From his Stanford University Commencement Address, 2005

  There are only 16 more Selling Days in October and 58 remaining in the Quarter!!!

 Picking an article to share with you about the passing of  Steve Jobs is an impossible task with so many that knew him sharing their impressions on one of the most important entrepreneurs in history. To get a sense of what was important to this truly remarkable and essential human being, you ought to view the video of his 2005 Stanford Commencement speech.     I hope you will share it with your friends, family and employees.  

This inspiring speech, however, should not blind us to the fact that Steve Job’s management style was often very different from the warm, fuzzy and friendly feeling you get from using his products or visiting the Apple store at  the mall.  For some insights into the management style that made Apple the most valuable company in America, check out an article written recently which suggests that if Steve Jobs was often a hard man to work for,  he was, in fact,  “The Right Kind of Tyrant.” No matter what he was and ought to be a true inspiration to us all that nothing is impossible and that your dreams, hopes and wishes can actually come true if you are willing to work really hard and surround yourself with capable associates that work with you as a Team. 

Go out and have a Great Selling Day and make a difference in at least on person’s life today.

 WED

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“The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is to act with yesterday’s logic.”

Peter Drucker

There are 21 Selling Days in October and 63 remaining in the Quarter!!! 

You can’t counter emotion with logic without addressing the emotion first. It is crucial for us as business and community  leaders to move the discussion away from panic or concern and back to the original plan that we created with our clients, friends and neighbors. This isn’t about right or wrong in any decision, but whether the our plan is still intact. Therefore as leaders we have to “reframe” the discussion in terms of what kind of impact is this having on our plan?

The best way to address clients’ emotions is to deal with the three emotional drivers that have made the client uncomfortable:

• They have fear of the unknown fueled by headlines and bulletins
• There are some things that they may not understand or have forgotten that have shaken their confidence
• They have a trust issue with you. It doesn’t have to be a large one to be lethal to the relationship and it must be addressed.

Your clients, friends and neighbors are looking for confidence from you—not confidence in the short-term but confidence that you are there for them and have their best interests at heart, I think it is called trust, faith and honesty. Remember that “this too shall pass,” but it will happen again! Expect it and embrace it and be a leader. 

Go out and have a Great Selling Day and make a difference in at least one person’s life today.

 WED

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“It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”

Albert Einstein

You don’t achieve success by doing one thing. You achieve success by EVERYTHING you do. But you achieve it by doing one successful thing at a time. You achieve success by: • showing up • On time • Prepared. (See? That’s three things right there.) You achieve success by handling the tough customer call; by resolving the issue of a complaining customer who posted on your Facebook wall… the same one who tweeted that ‘your company is no good.’ You achieve success by connecting with your current and happy customers (even after they paid you for their last order and their check cleared.) Bring THEM a new lead or a referral (and maybe they’ll have one for YOU.) You achieve success by connecting with new prospects. Learning about them online and then meeting them in person. You achieve success by positioning yourself so well in your area of expertise that your prospect is thrilled to meet you because they know you possess the information and value they want to access. You achieve success by preparing today – for the next day. Don’t waste time searching for phone numbers and business cards and project files. Everything is where you need it to be to make sure tomorrow is as successful as today – because if you string enough successful days together in a row, you will have a successful week; a successful month; a successful year. A successful life. Go out and have a Great Selling Day and make a difference in at least one person’s life today. WED

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“Pre-Qualify your prospects, don’t pre-judge them.”

Keith Rosen       

There are only 10 more Selling Days remaining in September and in the Quarter!!! 

To permanently eliminate any confusion, let’s draw a distinction between what it means to pre-qualify and pre-judge someone such as a prospect. This is a critical distinction to get because if you’re prejudging them, you’re already creating a self imposed barrier to more sales and creating more selling opportunities.

If you have read my previous articles on cold calling, you know that I’m a strong advocate of pre-qualifying anyone before you invest your very limited and precious time in meeting with or speaking with them. Conversely, pre-judging someone is something you do that shows up in the filter or barrier you have in your listening.

Here’s another way to distinguish between the two. When you are pre-qualifying someone you are arriving at a conclusion that determines whether or not there’s a fit worth pursuing based on a defined set of criteria you uncover through the use of well crafted questions.

Pre-judging said simply, is all about you. Here, you are relying on your faulty and costly assumptions, thoughts and beliefs to determine their needs and whether or not this prospect will potentially buy from you. When you pre-judge someone you’re making assumptions about them before you ask any questions or uncover any facts. When you pre-qualify someone, you’re asking questions to uncover their unique and specific needs without making any assumptions so that you can determine very quickly if there is in fact, an authentic fit worth pursuing.

Go out and have a great Selling Day and make a difference in at last one person’s life today.

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