It's Mardi Gras Time!!

It's that time of year again!  Mardi Gras time!

The history of Mardi Gras began long before the Europeans set foot in the New World.

In mid February, the ancient Romans celebrated the Lupercalia, a circus like festival not entirely unlike the Mardi Gras. When Rome embraced Christianity, the early Church fathers decided it was better to incorporate certain aspects of pagan rituals into the new faith rather than attempt to abolish them altogether. Carnival became a period of abandon and merriment that preceded the penance of Lent, thus giving a Christian interpretation to the ancient custom.

Mardi Gras came to America in 1699 with the French explorer Iberville. When he sailed into the Gulf of Mexico, from where he launched an expedition up the Mississippi River.

On March 3 of 1699, Iberville had set up a camp on the west bank of the river about 60 miles south of where New Orleans is today.

This was the day Mardi Gras was being celebrated in France.

In honor of this important day, Iberville named the site Point du Mardi Gras.

During the late 1700's, pre-Lenten masked balls and festivals were common in New Orleans while it was under French rule.

However when New Orleans came under Spanish rule the custom was banned.

In 1803 New Orleans came under the U.S. flag. The prohibition against masked festivals continued until 1823 when the Creole populace convinced the governor to permit masked balls.

In 1827 street masking was again legalized.

So it's time to don your masks and beads, eat your fair share of cajun cuisine and have a great time!

We here at Goehrs Properties, Inc. wish you Happy February Celebrations, and remind you that we are here to help you with all of your real estate needs!

Who Dat?...

Congratultions, New Orleans Saints!
Super Bowl Champions 2010

As I sat watching the first quarter of the game, I began to think that this game was going to be a shut out.  The Saints looked tired, tight, and nervous. 

By the time the second quarter started, all of those quivering nerves began to subside and what a difference that made.  Drew Brees performance was so exciting to watch, as he threw the football over and over again, it sailed through the air making a record number of connections with its receiver, leading to an overall very exciting game! 


February is always a time of "party" in New Orleans, as Mardi Gras begins, but the party has just gotten alot bigger and now will last longer with the Saints victory over the Colts.  So, from all the agents at Goehrs Properties, Inc.  Congrats to the New Orleans Saints......................."Who Dat?"

To Use Social Media....or Not To Use Social Media, that is the question...

This week I have been thinking alot about social media.

All of my agents have their own opinions on this matter and a few of them have said to me that they absolutely will not participate in social media for their real estate business.

However, this week alone I have seen reasons why I'd like to see those opposed to using social media as a means of networking their business, learn and use the social media outlets that are available to them to help build their business.

One of my agents secured a new listing by being on facebook. This agent was "befriended" by a friend of one of her contact's, and then was asked to come out to see about listing their home. This same agent, who had been working with another client, showing a home, recieved a text message from her client asking her to bring a contract with her to the showing "just in case." Had this agent not participated in social media networking, she would not have gotten this business.

Another agent, who is willing to learn just about anything, decided finally to try some different social media networking ideas, and within just a few minutes of posting her first post, had someone she didn't previously know following her.  This connection has the potential to lead to a sale as everytime she has a new post, this follower will more than likely open it and possibly send it on to others.

Houston Association of Realtors also helps each agent that wants to use Twitter.  Once you sign up on Twitter, you are able to go to your HAR website and link both accounts, so everytime you enter your new listings and/or sold properties into MLS, HAR will send out that information on Twitter for you, so there really are no extra steps for you to do.  With other social media's there would be the extra step of posting to each one, however, http://www.ping.fm/, is a website that will link all of them together, not just one or two, but all of them, so you would only need to go there to post, and your post would go out to all social media websites you were a part of.

Many agents spend thousands of dollars in "snail mail" marketing, to gain access to customers wanting to buy and/or sell.  Social Media has the potential to save each agent, not only money, but time, if they would just take the time to learn how to use it properly.  The social media learning curve is no different than any other educational class agents have to take to keep their license.  And there is absolutely nothing to fear with this new outlet.