In closing of the Year 2011, we should give thanks for an excellent year in an an area of the country where we pay little attention to the down turn of the economy and believe it is OK to be a Community that is contrary!
Let’s look foward to 2012 with enthusiasm to the possibility of great strides of success and growth with the new leadership in various areas of our community!
We can be the example for other communites to follow!
Enjoy the Holidays with Family, Friends and Giving Thanks!
It seems that everyone has an opinion about the economy. Whenever I talk to people or watch TV, someone is always talking about the world, US, state or local ecomony. With election season coming around, this talk has gotten even louder than it was before.
When someone asks us about our economy in Garden City, we just smile and say, ‘it’s fine’ because we are in our own little world out here in southwest Kansas.
It is true that we live in an Ag based economy. We love our cattle, wheat and corn, but we’re more than simply agriculture. People in our area have an extremely strong work ethic and we pride ourselves on being able to accomplish something with the work that we do.
We try to instill in our children that the world does not owe us a living. When you live in an Ag based area surrounded by cattle, crops and Mother Nature, you quickly realize that life is not always fair and you can’t win every battle you enter. We try to let our children know that, with a little work and a whole lot of perseverance, there are tremendous opportunities in our little corner of the world.
Now you put all of these strengths together and you have created a little corner of the world that has a strong economy, where people support one another and appreciate the work that each other have put into making their way. We may be small and few out here in our little corner of the world, but collectively we have been able to build an economy that will sustain as long as we hold on to those collective values we learned when we were younger.
Martin Nusser is the Commercial Broker at Coldwell Banker, The Real Estate Shoppe, Inc. in Garden City, Kansas. Be a Fan of Coldwell Banker, The Real Estate Shoppe, Inc. on Facebook! Martin can be reached at mnusser@gcnet.com or log on to their website at http://www.gccoldwellbanker.com
Looking for something the whole family can enjoy? That’s just what Downtown Vision is aiming for in their launch of the Third Thursdays on October 20.
The first ever Third Thursday will take place on October 20, starting at 5 pm on Main St. Featured in this pedestrian-friendly event will be arts, crafts & food vendors. Many downtown merchants will also be offering special promotions that evening and will remain open until 8 pm.
The event will take place every month, on the third Thursday. Mark your calendars for Thursday, October 20! We’ll see you downtown!
For more information on Garden City Downtown Vision and Third Thursdays, visit
www.downtowngc.com or www.facebook.com/downtowngc.
Judy Nusser is the Managing Broker at Coldwell Banker, The Real Estate Shoppe, Inc. in Garden City, KS. Be a Fan of Coldwell Banker, The Real Estate Shoppe, Inc on Facebook.
Judy can be reached at jnusser@gcnet.com or you can log on to their website, www.gccoldwellbanker.com.
What is economic development? I often travel around the country to different marketing sessions and meetings with Brokers focusing on commercial real estate. I attend City meetings and often visit with City and County commissioners. No matter where I go, I find that everyone I talk to has a different idea about what Economic Development is, how it should evolve and what results we should expect from the process.
So I ask again, what IS Economic Development? Is it an Industrial Development that will bring Jobs and other related businesses to the area? Is it the development of Retail Centers that bring in shoppers to the City and expand our Trade Area? Is it development of the older central business areas that get developed into niche retail, professional office space and loft living that brings in the need for restaurants. Or is it Quality of Life. In the end, all of these things accomplish something everyone wants, which is JOBS. Yes we all want to create Jobs for Garden City and congratulate each other for delivering Economic Development.
But Jobs are only as important as the people we bring into Garden City. We as a community need to provide an inviting atmosphere where people coming into the community have things to occupy their time. We must work to be a place where businesses don’t just provide Jobs but actively improve the community so that Garden City becomes a place to raise a family and call Home.
It’s my thinking that if we can accomplish this, we as a community will provide the needed fuel to continue to grow and expand the City that we call Home.
Martin Nusser is the Commercial Real Estate Broker at Coldwell Banker, The Real Estate Shoppe, Inc. in Garden City, KS. and husband to Judy Nusser. Be a Fan of Coldwell Banker, The Real Estate Shoppe, Inc on Facebook. Martin can be reached at mnusser@gcnet.com or you can log on to their website, www.gccoldwellbanker.com.
There are a lot of real estate companies out there to choose from. But, when Marty and I talk about all of the different choices available to people, we always come back to one simple question… Who will do the best job of marketing a property?
It all starts with training. Here at Coldwell Banker, The Real Estate Shoppe, Inc. we take a lot of pride in making sure that our clients are getting the best possible return on their investment in our services. In order to make that happen, we take the time to make sure that our agents are fluent in the language of real estate, and are prepared to use a variety of tools we use to effectively market your property.
Our number one goal is to ensure that your property is as visible to as many people possible. In order to achieve that goal, we utilize a number of different methods (both traditional and new) to make sure that a property reaches many different audiences.
Our mix of marketing methods is truly unique. We use traditional methods like advertising in the newspaper, word of mouth, and placing the property on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS); but we also integrate social marketing (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and QR Codes) to bring a property to a whole new market.
We use Facebook as our hub for social interaction with audiences. This allows us to provide pictures of your home, provide guided tours and the ability to showcase your property to people who would otherwise not have the ability to visit your property.
We use Twitter as a tool to cross-market properties across multiple channels. Twitter accounts are major contributors to social accounts. We are able to cross promote in-home tours, photos, and MLS property listings for our clients.
YouTube has afforded Coldwell Banker, The Real Estate Shoppe, Inc. the opportunity to post short, guided home tours. Our listing agents provide clients with the option to film guided tours of their properties to be posted on YouTube. Again, these tours are cross-promoted across several social technologies in an attempt to touch as many audiences as possible.
We have recently been utilizing QR codes as a way to let people view information on properties on their terms. These codes allow Coldwell Banker, The Real Estate Shoppe, Inc. to imbed links that are read by smartphones and automatically take users to a specified site. That means that anyone who has a phone with a QR code reader who walks by a property can have access to the information associated with that particular property.
We take great pride in making sure that our clients feel confident in our ability to effectively market their properties. We would love the opportunity to sit down and discuss our methods. Remember, our main concern is making sure that our clients receive that best possible return on their investment.
Judy Nusser is the Managing Broker at Coldwell Banker, The Real Estate Shoppe, Inc. in Garden City, KS. Be a Fan of Coldwell Banker, The Real Estate Shoppe, Inc on Facebook. Judy can be reached at jnusser@gcnet.com or you can log on to their website, www.gccoldwellbanker.com.
Fall is just around the corner. I must say that Marty and I are extremely excited for cooler temperatures, the gorgeous colors that dawn the community, and the start of school. So I thought that we could talk a little about how to prepare your home for the new season.
For those of you that know me, I’m very big on to-do lists. Every day, I start my day by making an activity list so that I can prioritize my time appropriately. Hopefully, you will find this list is helpful as you ready your home for Fall. I found this list on Kiplinger.com.
Every year around this time, I like to take a few minutes to appreciate what’s happening in our community. If you’ve read my blog before, you already know that I truly believe that our job here at Coldwell Banker The Real Estate Shoppe is to welcome people into our community and to be a resource for them to get connected into Garden City. Then it struck me, why don’t we take this a step further and let everyone know about what’s going on here in Garden City?
We just completed the Finney County Fair, which occurred on the week of July 28. http://www.finneycountyfair.org/. Every year we look forward to watching the kids participate in the livestock portion of the fair. We also enjoy walking through the various exhibits that truly showcase the many talents people in this community have.
Downtown business owners and Garden City Downtown Vision are readying themselves for the annual Sidewalk Sale, an event that brings thousands of people from around the area to downtown businesses. We’re incredibly excited for this event because it brings so much excitement to the area.
Marty and I have been tremendous supporters of the annual Tumbleweed Festival http://www.tumbleweedfestival.com/. For the past 20 years, this event has been held on the fourth week of August at the Lee Richardson Zoo. What is truly special is that Tumbleweed, as we affectionately refer to it, provides food, music and fun for the entire family. Follow this link for our YouTube video of Tumbleweed 2010 http://youtu.be/bqmuE_wK_NM
The Annual Balloon Festival http://www.gardencitychamber.net/ will happen the same week as Tumbleweed. This event, which is sponsored by the Finney County Convention and Tourism Bureau brings baloonists from all over the southwest region of the United States to Garden City. Every year members of the community get a chance to see these beautiful balloons take off from the Finney County Fair Grounds parking lot.
One of the more important undertakings is the effort by the Finney County Convention and Tourism Bureau to rebrand the community; they have hired the New Boston Creative Group to do the heavy lifting on this project. Over the last six months, the community has had the opportunity to get involved in the process and, soon, they’ll get to vote on the final logos and tag lines that will be used to promote Garden City.
Garden City Schools, USD 457, will begin school on Tuesday, August 16. This will be the final class that graduates from the High School that currently sits on Main Street. Following this year, we will see students graduate from a new, state of the art, high school. Members of the community, and their children, are very excited about this.
The reality is that there are a lot of things happening here in Garden City. I personally wanted everyone to know the status of our community because, quite frankly, this is a place that is very important to me and my family. It’s important to know what’s going on in the place that you call your home. We truly believe that this is a community where people can come in and be embraced. As the retail hub of southwest Kansas, we have all of the amenities of our urban counterparts to the east, but we also have the luxury of being a tight knit, welcoming community. Thank you for reading and God bless.
Please feel free to contact our office should you have any questions about our community.
Judy Nusser is the Managing Broker at Coldwell Banker, The Real Estate Shoppe, Inc. in Garden City, KS. Be a Fan of Coldwell Banker, The Real Estate Shoppe, Inc on Facebook. Judy can be reached at jnusser@gcnet.com or you can log on to their website, www.gccoldwellbanker.com.
Marty & I have been in this business for almost 58 combined years. As you probably know from reading my past blogs, we feel that our most important job is to make sure that we make people, particularly our clients, feel welcome in Garden City.
I have lived in this community for more than 47 years & Marty for life. We have invested ourselves in all kinds of different causes, organizations & activities. And we haven’t regretted one minute; because this is where we live & we love living here. Which brings me to the issue at hand: “What’s in a Community?”
Over the course of the last 45+ years, Garden City has definitely changed. We’ve met friends & seen them move on, we’ve seen businesses open & close and we’ve had the unique opportunity to welcome a significant number of people into our community, meaning that we’ve met quite a few great people along the way.
The reality is that clients don’t get us jazzed, it’s the people that we get to meet along the way that make us really happy. That’s not to say that we don’t appreciate the business, we certainly do, but our business is about helping people find or sell properties so that they can move into a new era of their lives. And we feel honored that we get to play a role like that in the lives of people who have become really important to us.
So what’s in a community? Well, the simple answer is the people. Marty & I would not have stayed in Garden City if we didn’t absolutely love the people who live here. And even as the demographics of the community have changed, we’ve gotten younger; the community has become more culturally rich and our professional job sector has grown exponentially. With these changes, we’ve had to make sure that Coldwell Banker, The Real Estate Shoppe, Inc. remains the first place that people turn to when they’re looking for some property in Garden City & the surrounding area.
So here’s what we’ve done. We’ve made sure that our business remains a reflection of the community. Clemencia, our newest agent, is young & she speaks both Spanish & English. She is a native of Garden City, spent a bit of time outside of the community & has decided to raise her family here. She has proven to be a tremendous person in our firm & truly cares about making sure that she is a welcoming presence in Garden City.
But Clemencia is only one of our Agents. Coldwell Banker, The Real Estate Shoppe Inc is dedicated to making sure that our clients are matched with the right agent. Martin specialized in commercial development properties. Shanna Jagels is a young mother of three who has listed properties in Garden City & surrounding area. Then we have an entire battalion of good agents that have been born &/or raised in this area with experience & history: Fred Askren, Luetta Engler, Darlene Gibson, Marian Mason & Marty.
We have taken great care to ensure that anyone who moves into our community has someone with whom they feel comfortable confiding their interests & dreams.
Beyond that, we genuinely care about the businesses that are in our community. We have showcased them in various videos on our Facebook page. Particularly those businesses who we feel are consistent with our business philosophy. Our main goal is to make sure that people are comfortable moving into our community.
For more information on our agents, check out our website: http://gccoldwellbanker.com or visit our Facebook page: http://Facebook.com/therealestateshoppeinc
Judy Nusser is the Managing Broker at Coldwell Banker, The Real Estate Shoppe, Inc. in Garden City, KS. Be a Fan of Coldwell Banker, The Real Estate Shoppe, Inc on Facebook. Judy can be reached at jnusser@gcnet.com or you can log on to their website, www.gccoldwellbanker.com.
“I want someone who has established themselves as a part of the community, someone who I can rely on that I know will be a strong part of the community after I’ve purchased my home or business. I’m looking for someone who is not interested in profit. I want someone who is looking out for me and my family. I want someone who’s concerned with helping me find a property that will fit our family… not just someone who is just looking to make a sale. I also want someone who will come by and make sure that I’m happy after I’ve purchased the property. I want someone who’s willing to follow up. I want someone who will be with me for the long haul. I want someone who will help me secure properties that will meet not only my needs, but the needs of my family as we grow and become entrenched in this community.”
- Detective Clint Brock, Garden City Police Department
I talked to Det. Brock earlier this week and it got me to thinking about what we, as representatives of our community need to do to improve our relationships with our clients. We know that there are those of you who need to get your property to ready to sell, and spring time is a great time to begin thinking about that process. But there are also those of you who want something special, something different; you want something or someone that you can connect with, and that’s why we’re in business. Not only do we want to welcome you to this community, we want to assist you in making your property reach its true potential.
Let’s look at how we can accomplish that very goal:
These are just a few ideas that you may want to think about this spring. This is the very best time
to begin thinking about the things that can add value to your home for little additional investment. Next month we will begin introducing you to our staff. These people can assist you in improving the value of your propertywhile also serving as valuable resources.
Judy Nusser has over 30 years of experience in the realestate industry. She is one of the most
successful Realtors and one of the most astute business women in Finney County. She can be reached at jnusser@gcnet.com or visit her website at http://www.gccoldwellbanker.com/ for
more information.
Over the last year, we here at Coldwell Banker, The Real Estate Shoppe, Inc. have really tried to improve the way we do business. We’ve long felt that we’re more than just a Real Estate company. Yeah, our jobs revolve around matching properties with the needs of our clients—but that’s just what we do. We define our success, though, by the impact that we have on our community. And, over the last year, I think we’ve been pretty successful.
When we began our sojourn into Social Media almost a year ago, we didn’t really know how it would turn out. We started with Facebook with the modest goal of getting a few fans to follow us so they could see our inventory of properties. But when we really started thinking about the fact that Social Media is intended to BE social, we realized that we were building a digital community. If there’s one thing I know about being social and investing in communities, it’s that there has to be more information to generate interest than simply slapping up some pictures of properties for sale. So then we simply began sharing: design tips, real estate marketing conditions, property listings, etc. everything we were in a position to share information and help others. That’s when we realized that we were on to something special! We began making Social Media a SOCIAL ACTIVITY!
I think it was this realization that led us to think about what else we needed to be doing with our social media tools. That’s when we began using YouTube, Twitter and Linked In. All of these things, YouTube in particular, allow us to be different things to different people.
But that’s not all. We’re going to begin the process of creating innovative ways for people to interact with our business and our properties. In the short term, we’re going to be using things called QR Codes that let people take pictures of a bar code posted on our FOR SALE signs. When people take the picture, it will take them directly to the YouTube video that we’ve developed for that home. Now, you can take a tour of a home without even having to leave your car! These are exciting times here at the Coldwell Banker, The Real Estate Shoppe, Inc. because we’re doing our best to have a truly positive impact on our community!
Judy Nusser is the Managing Broker at Coldwell Banker, The Real Estate Shoppe, Inc. in Garden City, KS. Be a Fan of the Coldwell Banker, The Real Estate Shoppe on Facebook. Judy can be reached at jnusser@gcnet.com or you can log on to their website, www.gccoldwellbanker.com.
