Local Agent Earns REALTOR e-PRO^® Certification

November 25, 2008 -- Ashton Gustafson of Ann and Denny Bishop Realtor Group has successfully completed the REALTOR e-PRO course to become one of a select few real estate professionals to earn the prestigious certification offered through the National Association of REALTORS.^®

The REALTOR e-PRO^Ò certification course is an educational program unlike any other professional certification or designation course available, comprehensive and interactive. It is specifically designed to provide real estate professionals with the technology tools needed to assist consumers in the purchase or sale of a home.

With more than 70% of consumers beginning their real estate research on the Internet, e-PRO certified agents have the experience and expertise to meet the demands of today’s buyer and seller.

“The real estate industry has undergone a fundamental change over the past several years,” said Ashton Gustafson of The Bishop Group. “A majority of consumers are taking the time to conduct their own research prior to contacting an agent. In turn, real estate professionals must be knowledgeable of how technology can assist them in serving the needs of the buying and selling public.”

The exclusive REALTOR e-PRO^Ò certification course is presented entirely online and certifies real estate agents and brokers as Internet professionals. Because of its innovative design, students are able to complete the course at their own pace, when and where they want, via any Internet connection. The course is designed to help REALTORS^Ò stay at the leading edge of technology and identify, evaluate and implement new Internet business models.

Once completed, the e-PRO certified real estate professional joins the ranks of a special community of highly skilled and continuously trained professionals who provide high quality and innovative online-based real estate services.  Consumers can identify the e-PRO through the exclusive e-PRO Internet Professional logo.

Both the content and the delivery platform were created by San Diego-based technology company InternetCrusade^®. The course instructs participants in the professional use of e-mail, the development of an interactive Web site, and the use of online research tools. Graduates use the skills they've acquired to provide clients information on properties for sale, local communities, and the local real estate market.

For more information, e-mail Ashton Gustafson at ashton@bishoprealtors.com or call 940.691.7355.

Ashton Gustafson is looking to be Wichita Falls' first e-Pro. A designation given by the National Association of Realtors for those that have the skills and education to serve their clients in the latest forms of technologoy. Marti Pattison - NAR e-Pro Certified Trainer - gave the seminar this morning at the Wichita Falls Association of Realtors office.

Ashton is looking to be certified by the end of November - another reason to choose Ashton to serve your Real Estate needs.

www.TexomaHomeSource.com

AG - The Bishop Group - "A Modern Approach To Real Estate"

Weds - December 17 - Parker Square Movie Theatre - 7:00

This will be a live simulcast to our theatre...a great family outing in Wichita Falls.

Get your tickets now online - www.fandango.com

If You Could Change Your Life by Reversing Your Biggest Regrets, Sorrows and Mistakes...Would You?

#1 New York Times bestselling author and renowned radio and television host Glenn Beck delivers an instant holiday classic about boyhood memories, wrenching life lessons, and the true meaning of the gifts we give to one another in love.

We weren't wealthy, we weren't poor—we just were. We never wanted for anything, except maybe more time together....

When Eddie was twelve years old, all he wanted for Christmas was a bike. Although his life had gotten harder—and money tighter—since his father died and the family bakery closed...Eddie dreamed that somehow his mother would find a way to have his dream bike gleaming beside their modest Christmas tree that magical morning.

What he got from her instead was a sweater. "A stupid, handmade, ugly sweater" that young Eddie left in a crumpled ball in the corner of his room.

Scarred deeply by the realization that kids don't always get what they want, and too young to understand that he already owned life's most valuable treasures, that Christmas morning was the beginning of Eddie's dark and painful journey on the road to manhood. It will take wrestling with himself, his faith, and his family—and the guidance of a mysterious neighbor named Russell—to help Eddie find his path through the storm clouds of life and finally see the real significance of that simple gift his mother had crafted by hand with love in her heart.

Based on a deeply personal true story, The Christmas Sweater is a warm and poignant tale of family, faith and forgiveness that offers us a glimpse of our own lives—while also making us question if we really know what's most important in them.

FHA 6.25%

Conventional 6.375%

For more information on qualifying for a home loan, contact ashton - ashton@bishoprealtors.com

Finding the balance

Lubbock entrepreneur shares secrets of success at luncheon

By Lee Anderson - Times Record News - Wichita Falls
Thursday, November 6, 2008

Don Stull talks modestly about his entrepreneurial skills, but the West Texas native is the co-founder of several ventures in the communications and medical device industries.

One of them, Alamosa PCS, became one of the largest initial public offerings in the states history — a deal worth more than $4 billion after it was acquired by Sprint in 2005.

Speaking Wednesday at the kickoff luncheon of the Lalani Distinguished Entrepreneur Speaker Series at Midwestern State University, Stull used an analogy of a three-legged stool when starting a new entrepreneurial business.

You need all three legs to keep balanced, he told the crowd of business leaders, MSU faculty and students. In entrepreneurship the three legs are the business idea, the entrepreneurial team, and, of course, financial support.

If you have only two, youll spend your entire time trying to stay balanced, but in the end you generally fall. So to create an environment friendly to entrepreneurial startups, you need all three.

The Lubbock resident also stressed the ideal way to recruit entrepreneurs is to have a structure that can provide support, both management and financial, so that the entrepreneurial process can take hold.

Ideas are transportable, but they dont move to areas without support, he said. Communities that offer support will be more successful in attracting entrepreneurial startups.

Stull told the crowd he was raised in the oil field and that he left when it was not doing so well.

He also said he held a variety of jobs — starting at age 13 in a hush puppy costume — ranging from a stock boy to shoe salesman.

When he graduated from Texas Tech, he said he had $200 and a job offer with an engineering firm in Houston. He then returned to Lubbock and went to work at a consulting firm and then things started coming together.

He talked about putting several business plans together for companies that were clients of the firm.

Stull received his bachelor of science degree in civil engineering at Tech, with minors in architecture and mathematics. He later earned his masters at Tech.

He spent eight years as a co-founder of startup companies, and it was with Alamosa PCS that he led the company in its multibilliion-dollar deal with Sprint. He now teaches entrepreneurship at Tech and also serves on the board of directors of four medical companies.

Also during the meeting, Stull extended the offer to collaborate with Jeff Stambaugh, the recently named director of the Munir Lalani Center for Entrepreneurship and Free Enterprise at the Dillard College of Business Administration at MSU, to posssibly make it even more successful.

He praised Stambaugh, the business school, and MSU as a whole, saying it has a great atmosphere.

At the end of the program, Stambaugh remarked to the audience, Don can get the juices running. He can really energize people.

Business editor Lee Anderson may be reached at (940) 763-7533 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. His e-mail address is andersonl(at)Times RecordNews.com.

Ashton Gustafson of The Bishop Team presents:
The Greater Wichita Falls Real Estate Podcast

 http://www.talkrealty.com/ashtongustafson/ - click to hear podcast

www.TexomaHomeSource.com - General Info

www.TexomaListings.com - Buyers

www.TexomaHomeValues.com - Sellers

FoxNews.com this morning that Circuit City in Wichita Falls will not be one of the 155 stores closing around the country. http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/retail/struggling-circuit-city-close--stores/

This is great news! If you are interested in the stores that are closing around the country, click the above link to see which ones will be closing.

Some may choose to use the money to pay bills:  You could put it towards your new mortgage, your school loans, or pay off credit cards.  If  you borrowed the down payment for your home, the tax credit could pay that money back to prevent you from being indebted to a family member.

On a more exciting note, your brand new home presents many opportunities to put that money to good use --   renovations and upgrades, new furniture.  Another opportunity you can take is to travel.  What better time to see Italy, or New Zealand, or to take the family on a cruise?  There are no restrictions on what you do with the money.  Once you file your taxes and get your return, the possibilities are endless.

If you're considering buying a home and want to be able to file for the credit on this year's taxes, you must close on your new home by the end of the year. Please call me at 940.224.0881 to discuss ASAP.