BILL CHERRY'S GREATEST DALLAS PARK CITIES REAL ESTATE BLOG: February 2008

BILL CHERRY REALTORS

9936 Windlake, Dallas 75238

214 503-8563

"OUR 43RD YEAR SELLING TEXAS"

REPRESENTATION OF LAKE HIGHLANDS RESIDENTIAL SALES - JANUARY AND FEBRUARY 2008

What a glorious Dallas day.  Easter weather is beginning to take an embryonic shape as the days get longer, the sun is out more frequently, and the squirrels are acting like circus performers as they dive from tree to tree.

Thanks for stopping by for our weekly after-church visit here in the park.

PRAYER.  I accidentally heard a radio commentator last evening as she told of a new study regarding marriage and prayer.  It found that when husband and wife pray out loud together on a daily basis, the chance of them divorcing diminishes from 50% to 20%. 

And it doesn't seem to matter when in their married life they begin this practice.

DALLAS PRAYER.  I noticed more than forty-years ago when I was a graduate student in the Dallas area, that oft times I saw people in restaurants and cafeterias holding hands and with their heads bowed as one of them said grace.  I wasn't accustomed to seeing that in Galveston-Houston where I was raised, or in New Orleans where I attended undergraduate school.

Now that I live in Dallas, it's comforting to note that, if anything, the frequency has increased over time. Dallas people are proud of their spirituality.  That's a good thing.

WOULDN'T YOU LIKE TO KNOW? That's the title of an article in the March 2008 issue of "Texas Realtor."  It's an interview study that was commissioned to find out what clients want from their Realtor.  Here are some things of interest: 49% of the sellers picked their Realtor because of a referral.  Only 1% of the buyers selected their agent when visiting an open house.  Forty-six percent of the buyers found the home they purchased because of the selection shown them by a Realtor or a Realtor's yard sign.  And they said that the most useful sources of real estate information was the Internet (78%) and the Realtor (73%).

It remains nonsense that For Sale by Owner is a practical method of selling a home.

The Vocal Majority. The Vocal Majority (VM) is a Dallas, Texas-based chorus of over 150 male singers, billed as the premier pops chorus in America.  Under the direction of Jim Clancy, it has won an unequalled eleven International Chorus Championships, and it has recorded over a dozen albums and traveled extensively.  The most powerful song in their extensive book is "The Arms of Love."  I heard it the other evening on KAAM-AM as I was on my way to the gym.  I cranked up the radio volume, rolled down the car windows, and felt as I did when Victor, J.E. and I were riding in Victor's old Chevy -- our high school days -- and Rascal McCaskill would begin playing Lloyd Price's "Personality" on his "Night Train" program on KREL.  We handled that the same way.  Windows down, singing along in the same way -- loud and off key.

The Vocal Majority, founded in the early ‘70s will present a concert at the Eisemann Center in Richardson (a suburb of Dallas) on Friday evening, April 18^th and a matinee on Saturday, April 19^th.  Order tickets by phoning The Eisemann Center at 972-744-4650.  Patty and I will be at the Friday night performance.  You don't want to miss this.  You really don't.

VARIABLE ANNUITIES.  For years this product has been one of the darlings of life insurance salespeople.  Many life companies pay extraordinary upfront commissions to their salespeople when they write one of these policies.  I was born and raised in a life insurance family.  And while I believe that universal life policies, term policies and some forms of annuity policies, singularly or in tandem should be the foundation of everyone's personal financial program, more often than not, a variable annuity is not one that is appropriate. Always check with your CPA before you consider a specific variable annuity.

NETWORKING.  As a result of our meeting through Active Rain, Wells Fargo Mortgage man Ken Stampe, Northwestern Mutual's financial representative Paxton Kelso and I are going to have lunch this coming Wednesday to meet in person and see how we may help each other.  I'm looking forward to it. I'm inclined to think this second step is what ought to be the goal of Active Rain members. 

FRIDAY'S RADIO DAY. Old dudes like me who are members of the Texas Radio Hall of Fame meet every now and then for Dutch treat pizza and talk about our days in radio when radio was radio.  This Friday I'll be among many of the true legends.  What an honor.  In my early college days, I was the host of the famous "American Airlines Music 'til Dawn" in the New Orleans market. Believe me, I just fell into that one.  It had nothing whatsoever to do with any talent I might have had.  I've always been a champion of unbridled tenacity.

I'm always so appreciative when you drop by for our Sunday visit.  It's a way to get to know each other better, and to explore our passions.  I'll see you next Sunday after church.  Enjoy your week, and explore the joys of love.

GOD Blesses!

Pen and Ink Drawing of Bill in the Park by Carlotta Barker

Copyright 2008 - William S. Cherry

All rights reserved.

Dallasites, whether from generations back or having just moved here, are familiar with the car dealerships that have the Sewell branding.

It's a brand that's been in business for a long time, and appears to be "the country's largest luxury-car dealer." 

Through almost two hands full of stores, they sell Lexus, Hummer, Cadillac, Pontiac, Saab, GMC, and I almost forgot Infiniti.

When Carl Sewell acquired the business from his dad some years ago, he decided that he would step-up the business plan.  His business would consciously provide such an excellence in customer service that it would "turn that one-time buyer into a lifetime customer."

And very dangerously and innovative for the time, that included the total discontinuance of price haggling, the noted but despised foundation of the car business. 

"You'll pay more for that Lexus here than elsewhere, but there is no way that dealer will look after you like we will," he decided his salespeople would say.

So he began studying others, others whose business reputation was exactly what he wanted Sewell Motors to be.  He got some of that knowledge from books, others he got by interviewing successful merchandisers and marketers. 

One, Stanley Marcus of Neiman-Marcus, was a perfect match.  His store had attracted the best clientele and was known for setting the pace for Dallas style.  Mr. Sewell went to see Mr. Stanley, and before long, Mr. Stanley had agreed to be one of Mr. Sewell's advisors.

In 1990, Mr. Sewell wrote a detailed accounting of the Sewell Motor Company plan.  The book is appropriately titled Customers for Life.  And twice since then, once in 1998 and again in 2002, he's updated it to add the new things he's learned about how to keep "customers for life."

My friend, Kevin Johnson, is one of the most important business analysts that Mr. Sewell has.  Last year, when Kevin and I were eating lunch at a Mexican restaurant, he just decided to suggest to me that Mr. Sewell and I exchange books. Kevin would be the catalyst.  So I sent Mr. Sewell Bill Cherry's Galveston Memories and he sent me Customers for Life: How To Turn That One-Time Buyer Into A Lifetime Customer.

Reading Customers for Life would be a worthy investment of your time, especially for real estate brokers and their sales people.  It's published by Currency, an imprint of Doubleday.  It's a $14.95 paperback. 

If for whatever reason you can't get a copy, let me know and I'll put you in touch with Kevin Johnson.

Finally, let me add that there is another business couple here in Dallas that follows this business plan, it's Bob and Marilyn Jackson's Jackson Home and Garden on Lemon Avenue, near Love Field.  Ironically, Jackson's is surrounded by several Sewell Motor dealerships.

NOTE: As of February 21, amazon.com has new copies in stock and 41 used copies of Customers for Life.

Copyright 2008 - William S. Cherry

My friend Robert Lacquement, a proud Marine and a retired railroad employee, sent me this.  I want to note that Robert left his wife Ruthie at home and went to New Orleans to help the Katrina victims. He spends his weekends as a volunteer Coast Guard sailor, pulling people out of the water and towing drunk fishermen ashore, who, as night has begun to fall, have lost their way home in their boats.  He's with Ruthie every Sunday at their church.  And he is always volunteering to help someone in need. 

There are a lot of men like Robert Lacquement.  You rarely hear about them.  They believe in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, keeping close tabs on their children, that the world doesn't owe them a thing, and most of them cut their own yards. 

Robert is one of the people this editorial is about. -- Bill Cherry

Gary Hubbell
ASPEN TIMES WEEKLY

                                                                                          February 9, 2008



There is a great amount of interest in this year's presidential elections, as everybody seems to recognize that our next president has to be a lot better than George Bush. The Democrats are riding high with two groundbreaking candidates - a woman and an African-American - while the conservative Republicans are in a quandary about their party's nod to a quasi-liberal maverick, John McCain.

Each candidate is carefully pandering to a smorgasbord of special-interest groups, ranging from gay, lesbian and transgender people to children of illegal immigrants to working mothers to evangelical Christians.

There is one group no one has recognized, and it is the group that will decide the election: the Angry White Man. The Angry White Man comes from all economic backgrounds, from dirt-poor to filthy rich. He represents all geographic areas in America, from urban sophisticate to rural redneck, deep South to mountain West, left Coast to Eastern Seaboard.

His common traits are that he isn't looking for anything from anyone - just the promise to be able to make his own way on a level playing field. In many cases, he is an independent businessman and employs several people. He pays more than his share of taxes and works hard.

The victimhood syndrome buzzwords - "disenfranchised," "marginalized" and "voiceless" - don't resonate with him. "Press ‘one' for English" is a curse-word to him. He's used to picking up the tab, whether it's the company Christmas party, three sets of braces, three college educations or a beautiful wedding.

He believes the Constitution is to be interpreted literally, not as a "living document" open to the whims and vagaries of a panel of judges who have never worked an honest day in their lives.

The Angry White Man owns firearms, and he's willing to pick up a gun to defend his home and his country. He is willing to lay down his life to defend the freedom and safety of others, and the thought of killing someone who needs killing really doesn't bother him.

The Angry White Man is not a metrosexual, a homosexual or a victim. Nobody like him drowned in Hurricane Katrina - he got his people together and got the hell out, then went back in to rescue those too helpless and stupid to help themselves, often as a police officer, a National Guard soldier or a volunteer firefighter.

His last name and religion don't matter. His background might be Italian, English, Polish, German, Slavic, Irish, or Russian, and he might have Cherokee, Mexican, or Puerto Rican mixed in, but he considers himself a white American.

He's a man's man, the kind of guy who likes to play poker, watch football, hunt white-tailed deer, call turkeys, play golf, spend a few bucks at a strip club once in a blue moon, change his own oil and build things. He coaches baseball, soccer and football teams and doesn't ask for a penny. He's the kind of guy who can put an addition on his house with a couple of friends, drill an oil well, weld a new bumper for his truck, design a factory and publish books. He can fill a train with 100,000 tons of coal and get it to the power plant on time so that you keep the lights on and never know what it took to flip that light switch.

Women either love him or hate him, but they know he's a man, not a dishrag. If they're looking for someone to walk all over, they've got the wrong guy. He stands up straight, opens doors for women and says "Yes, sir" and "No, ma'am."

He might be a Republican and he might be a Democrat; he might be a Libertarian or a Green. He knows that his wife is more emotional than rational, and he guides the family in a rational manner.

He's not a racist, but he is annoyed and disappointed when people of certain backgrounds exhibit behavior that typifies the worst stereotypes of their race. He's willing to give everybody a fair chance if they work hard, play by the rules and learn English.

Most important, the Angry White Man is pissed off. When his job site becomes flooded with illegal workers who don't pay taxes and his wages drop like a stone, he gets righteously angry. When his job gets shipped overseas, and he has to speak to some incomprehensible idiot in India for tech support, he simmers. When Al Sharpton comes on TV, leading some rally for reparations for slavery or some such nonsense, he bites his tongue and he remembers. When a child gets charged with carrying a concealed weapon for mistakenly bringing a penknife to school, he takes note of who the local idiots are in education and law enforcement.

He also votes, and the Angry White Man loathes Hillary Clinton. Her voice reminds him of a shovel scraping a rock. He recoils at the mere sight of her on television. Her very image disgusts him, and he cannot fathom why anyone would want her as their leader. It's not that she is a woman. It's that she is who she is. It's the liberal victim groups she panders to, the "poor me" attitude that she represents, her inability to give a straight answer to an honest question, his tax dollars that she wants to give to people who refuse to do anything for themselves.

There are many millions of Angry White Men. Four million Angry White Men are members of the National Rifle Association, and all of them will vote against Hillary Clinton, just as the great majority of them voted for George Bush.

He hopes that she will be the Democratic nominee for president in 2008, and he will make sure that she gets beaten like a drum.

Gary Hubbell is a regular columnist with the Aspen Times Weekly.

When Patty and I first moved to Dallas and opened up shop, I heard a financial planner on KAAM-AM one Saturday afternoon.  The announcer introduced him as W. Neil Gallagher, Ph.D., but when the guy opened his mike, he said "This is Doc Gallagher.  I've helped more than 11,000 people retire safe, early and happy."

Now although you know me as a Realtor, my formal education is in economics, primarily international banking and equity investments.  So as soon as one of these birds says he's got answers, I default to, "Yeah, you've got answers, alright...answers for how to get their money from their bank account to yours."

Well I listened to the full hour, and Doc Gallagher was the real McCoy.  And then I got a copy of his book.  Would you believe it was published by the most noted academic text book publisher in the United States?  And in the book he addresses and explains everything one needs to know about financial matters, trusts, and the like.  He even talks about "when you have to parent your parents."

Well, I called this fellow Doc Gallagher, and I asked if I could meet him.  "Sure," he said. "Tell you what, meet me at the Double Tree Hotel tomorrow, and I'll buy you lunch." 

That's when I learned that Doc got his Ph.D. from one of the Ivy League colleges, Brown University, and he taught ethics at Texas Christian University before he began helping people with their financial planning. 

Doc invited me to begin attending his various seminars to answer real estate questions his guests have.  I love doing it.  And I always give away copies of the CD Doc and I did, "A Realtor's Secret Weapons."  It's nearly the full hour from when he had me as a guest on his radio program.

I'll be with Doc twice this month. 

On Wednesday, February 20th at the Gallagher Financial Groups luxury offices at 3030 LBJ Freeway, Suite 700 from 6:30 to 9. 

You're Doc's guest for dinner, and then he gives a brief presentation.  You'll love it.  As soon as he finishes, he leaves...the guy leaves!  He doesn't ask you to sign up as a client or anything like that.  It's up to you.

On Thursday, February 28th, we'll be at the Four Seasons Hotel at Las Colinas, 4150 North Mac Arthur Boulevard, Irving, from 6:30 to 9. 

Remember, dinner is free, but you do need to make reservations because there are limited accommodations.  And believe me, these things always fill up! 

For Reservations: Call Jackie at 1-800-434-4 DOC.

A few years before Patty and I left Galveston Island for Dallas, I sold my company offices in Galveston, in the Island's resort-second home community, and the one in the Museum District of Houston.

I primarily needed a breather from managing people and paying bills, so I became a sole practitioner.  I thought you'd like to see the sign that hung under the canope of the four story 19th Century building where I moved my office.

Note the name of the company.  I figured that in order to add an employee or agent, I'd have to spend the money to change the name.  That was all of the assurance I needed to make sure I thought about it good and hard.

I know of nothing I personally feel is more intellectually bankrupt that agnosticism. 

Many can't bring themselves to say they are agnostics, but they are, and I'm personally tired of the pseudo-intellectualism displays they want me to buy into on their behalf. 

If you'll recall, an agnostic is a person who says he hasn't decided whether there is a God or not.  He takes no position.  It's a wait and see approach.

An atheist, on the other hand, has made up his mind.  For him, God doesn't exist. 

It's not that I find the concept of agnosticism unforgivable, it's the lazy way most of them go about deciding they are an agnostic that angers me.  Most have not read any significant part of the Bible, they have not allowed themselves to be taught about God and His people, and His people's own intellectual struggles.

Tell these same folks about new computer related technology that can do almost unbelievable things.  Rather than say they are agnostic on that technology, they'll make the effort to learn about it, eager to believe.

Religion, beliefs, love and passion require hard work.  After all, they are related. Agnosticism, on the other hand, requires no work, thought or consideration whatsoever.  It's a lazy approach to life.

Make the commitment to properly study faith with an open mind, and if you're still not sure, I'll cut you some slack.  Without evidence of completing that commitment, tell me or show me that you are agnostic, we have real problems.

Even though it's been a rainy cold weekend here in Dallas, joining you in the coffee shop gazebo across from the park for our regular Sunday after church visit is still a great way to start the week.

I woke up this morning thinking about Galveston, an island off of the coast of Texas where I was born and spent the majority of my life. As Easter approaches, so do the sun drenched beaches, the smell of the salty Gulf of Mexico waters and sand mixed with the odor of Coppertone sun tan lotion. 

That all suits me just fine because to be totally honest, I'm a shorts and t-shirt sort of guy.  I'd rather be trapping crabs, walking the shores in the moonlight to gig flounders, and sailing the pungent gulf waters than just about anything.

Along with the onset of spring comes fresh red snapper and flounder, lump meat from blue shell crabs, and pounds of boiled shrimp that were swimming the gulf waters yesterday. 

And that reminded me of a story about my Galveston friend Benno Deltz. I don't think I've ever told it to you. Draw close. You're going to love the ending.

Kirwin was a boys high school that was run by the Roman Catholic Christian Brothers. Dominican and Ursuline were the Catholic girls' high schools. After Hurricane Carla severely damaged the Dominican and Ursuline buildings, the diocese decided to close the two girls campuses and move those students to Kirwin.

And that's when Kirwin's name was changed to honor another of the deceased rectors of St. Mary's Cathedral, Fr. Dan O'Connell. The teaching nuns left and the Christian Brothers went the way of attrition. Lay people took their places. Students no longer had to tolerate the strict brothers and nuns who were noted for being relentless disciplinarians.

The last of the students who went through the original, traditional Galveston Catholic schools are now in their late fifties to middle sixties. In the main, if one were to study the lives of those whose schooling included Dominican, Ursuline or Kirwin, they would find the alumni's support of their religion as well as their work and social ethics to be far above average.

Anyone who went to one of those schools will almost always find a way to work that fact into every conversation where it will be presented with great pride, almost with a tone of aloofness. It's very definitely thought of by them as a pedigree.

Armed with his Kirwin education and a couple of years in the Navy, and married and with young children, Benno Deltz went to work with his life-long friend, Wayne Gaido. Together they got on the job training from famed Galveston restaurateur Mike Gaido, as they tried their hand at operating the old Surf Drive-In. They had renamed it Wayne's.

A couple of years later, Wayne's went the way of most of the drive-in concepts, and Wayne and Benno went to work full-time at Gaido's. Benno managed the front dining room, Wayne managed the Pelican Club.

Nearly twenty years later, with a new lease on a failed Seawall fast-food restaurant and what he had learned from his mentor, Mr. Mike Gaido, Benno opened his first restaurant. The kitchen equipment was mainly a pan or two he had scavenged, a used deep fat fryer he had scrubbed and then scrubbed again, and some kitchen utensils from Kmart. The dining room furnishings were make-shift and sparse.

And he had his Kirwin values and work ethic.

Within a few months, Benno was out of money and failure was definitely getting ready to deal him the final blow. By chance, a prominent Galveston businessman walked in with his accountant to have lunch. It was 1983.

"How're ya doin'?" the man asked before lunch.

"I'm out of money and if something doesn't happen quickly, I'm going to have to shut the doors," Benno found himself admitting for the first time, even to himself.

The man and the accountant had a big lunch of fried shrimp and oysters, seasoned just right. It was a lunch that would have made Mr. Gaido proud of his protege. Then the man and the accountant wished Benno well and left.

Within the hour the man called. "Benno," he said, "there is $50,000 waiting for you at the bank Go pick it up. It comes with only one string. If you make it, I want my money back. If you don't, you won't owe me a dime, and you won't have to worry about ever hearing from me again."

One time Benno was waiting for me in his office suite at the 10,000 square foot building he owns that houses his administrative offices and a catering facility that in both size and elaborateness of equipment, rivals that of a convention center. Thirty people work for him.

The interior was designed by the man known as the "architect for the presidents," Ed Eubanks. The furniture, primarily antique, is from New Orleans. Benno, himself, uses a small, highly polished Duncan Pyfe dinning table for a desk.

On the walls are photos of the famous and not so famous people for whom he has catered - huge parties and banquets around swimming pools, those inside massive Houston River Oaks homes, and just as important, the smaller and less elaborate wedding receptions of the island's children.

Meanwhile, Benno's starting place, Benno's on the Beach, is managed by his 47-year old son, Tracy. Diners there find the original recipes and the strict attention to detail that Mr. Mike Gaido taught Benno. And they hear the same music Benno has been playing there since the day he opened, the Platters' "My Prayer," the Penguins' "Earth Angel" and Ray Charles occasionally screaming to all who'll listen, "Hit the road, Jack!"

It's a package that presents a subtle homage to the time when Benno's values were being instilled in him by the Christian Brothers, when his mentor, Mr. Gaido, was teaching him to stretch a long string from table to table to make certain all of the plates and silverware were perfectly lined up, and, of course, to the man with the 50 thousand bucks who enjoyed standing back and watching the young man with the Kirwin ethic accomplish his dreams.

Tell me that isn't one of the best true stories you've heard in a long time.  Enjoy your week.  I look forward to seeing you again next Sunday here in the park,  Hopefully the weather will be more encouraging.  In the meantime, remember...

GOD Blesses!

Pen and ink drawing of Bill in the Park by Galveston artist, Carlotta Barker

Copyright 2008 - William S. Cherry

So you wouldn't have to, I just looked it up.  Dripping Springs, Texas, is a small town in the Austin, Texas hill country.

That being said, let me now begin.  Yesterday I mused about PTAs -- Parent Teacher Associations -- in my blog. Jennifer Wright, a fellow-Realtor in Dripping Springs, attached a comment.  Seems to me it ought to be a stand alone blog, so I'm posting it for all to see.

Comment by Jennifer Wright, REALTOR Dripping Springs, TX:

Bill - Rest assured to know that PTA is alive and thriving in Dripping Springs, Texas!  As a proud member in 3 local school PTA programs, we move mountains, generate funds, facilitate family fun, and keep our schools on target for success.  With so many working mothers, (myself included), the advent of the Internet and community/school websites has made all the difference. The common denominator for successful results is communication.

If a parent can't volunteer time, donations are ALWAYS accepted.  Even nominal ones add up!  We have a school rebate program through my office.  With each local closing, approximately $300 is donated in the client's name to the school of their choice.  

We had my daughter's Valentine Class Party yesterday, and as the Room Parent, I can say without reservation the entire class had a blast.  Who doesn't enjoy a hand written note with warm sentiments and candy artfully attached? 

Getting a Valentine as a young child, or receiving a hand written note as an adult, is really the same thing.  It means someone took the time to acknowledge, appreciate, and uplift you...what a great feeling.  A practice I'm sure most of us should utilize more often.  Happy Valentine's Day from an ACTIVE PTA Member, Local REALTOR, and Proud Mom!

While Patty and I were having our first cup and first of the day chat this morning, I asked her if the Parent Teacher Association was still a dependable foundation-member of public education.  Were there still a lot of parents involved?

It was on my mind because a couple of hours before I had dreamed of being in about the fourth grade at William B. Travis Elementary School, and members of the PTA were orchestrating Valentine's Day parties in each of the classrooms. 

The Messrs. Boldman, Jordan, Tramonte, Green, Jones and my own mother were among others who were helping my class pass out Valentine's cards.  It was great having the opportunity to see them again, young and well in my dream. 

The year of my dream would have been 1949, and America remained in the time warp where few mothers worked outside of the home.

Patty told me this morning that even though there were many working mothers, nevertheless the school PTAs were still active and had great influence over public education because of their hands-on involvement.  Wikipedia explains:

"There are nearly 23,000 local organizations recognized by the National PTA in the United States. and therefore correctly termed official PTAs. The generic term "PTO" is used to refer to either all parent-teacher groups (regardless of affiliation) or (more often) to just independent parent-teacher groups, who choose not to be affiliated with the National PTA. Roughly 75% of U.S. parent-teacher groups are independent groups (PTOs).

"The National PTA is a non-profit organization that is 110 years old, with membership open to anyone who believes in the Mission and Purposes of National Parent Teacher Association.  PTA membership - including the number of affiliated units and of individual members - has been declining for several decades.

"The group boasted more than 12 million members as recently as the late-1960s; whereas today membership is down below 5.5 million.

At the local level, the goal of all parent-teacher groups is to support their schools, encourage parent involvement, support teachers, organize family events and the like. PTOs and PTAs are able to take advantage of a variety of resources to help them with their work."

Any adult can join a chapter of the Parent Teachers Association, so many retired people, especially grandparents of children in a school, are finding this a beneficial way to make important contributions.

I was thinking it would be wonderful if all Realtors were to join and participate in the activities of at least one school's PTA, perhaps a PTA in the area they farm.

Copyright 2008 - William S. Cherry