The Speedway Stays!

THURSDAY, Thanksgiving 2007

Concord Mayor Scott Padgett's phone rang just before 6 p.m. Wednesday.

On the other end of the line: Lowe's Motor Speedway owner Bruton Smith.

"We have an agreement," Smith said.

With that, the speedway will stay in Concord, where Smith's company will receive about $80 million in incentives in return for spending at least $100 million on renovations and upgrades.

Smith's decision caps a seven-week saga involving one of Cabarrus County's biggest taxpayers, its biggest tourist draw and a signature sports venue in the Charlotte region.

Still undisclosed, however, are exactly which incentives Smith will receive, and what he'll spend on track improvements.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Maybe after dinner you can go to www.WeichertCraven.com and buy that house that your significant other has been talking about for the last month? I don' t know? Just thinking out loud about what an awesome present that would be. Happy Holidays!

What does Al Gore have to do with Real Estate?

Last evening, while talking with a fellow co-worker over a few Guinness at the local Irish bar, I had a revelation. Al Gore is a parallel to the future of Real Estate. The discussion was about how Al Gore brought the world up to speed about our environmental situation. As my friend put it, "He may have given up the Presidency of the greatest country in the world for a higher calling. Possibly single handedly saving the planet."

How did he do it? It's so simple it hurts! He climbed into a tour bus and headed to auditoriums and libraries all over the United States. He was armed with valid statistics from internatioanlly known scientists. He was armed with a laptop computer and a power point presentation.

Let's review: statistics, technology and environmentalism.

Fellow Realtors that is the future of real estate. Our future home buyers don't care that you have been in the business for 20+ years. They care that you have statistics current to today's market. Not the market 10-15 years ago. They won't be blinded by your old school sales tactics like talking slick to cover up the fact that you really don't know that answer. They don't want to read your newspaper ad. They want to go a website and watch a video about you. And guess what? They're not impressed by your new Hummer or Escalade. They see it as wasteful and as a slap in the face to living, breathing creatures everywhere.

Realtors: Change with the market, before the market changes you.

Concord: Cruisin' for a Bruton?

So the City of Concord has laid down with the dogs and is now itching it's fleas! Concord said NO to a dragstrip that Bruton Smith, owner of Lowes Motor Speedway in Concord, started to build across the street from LMS. Now Bruton has said he doesn't need Concord and is entertaining the idea of removing the speedway from Concord. This would cost the City of Concord millions in tax dollars and a crushed dream of becoming the epicenter of the motorsports world. But what is this all about anyway? Will Bruton really move? Is it a bluff just to get more tax incentives out of Concord? Is Bruton just a billionaire Diva with no more loyalty then Paris Hilton's dog? Will he really risk becoming the most hated man in motorsports by turning his back on the home of racing in order to flip a few (million) bucks? Is Concord sucking up to Bruton just making you squint your eyes and grit your teeth with rage? Should Concord call on the Franz Family (the Royal Family of NASCAR) for help? Is NASCAR dead? Has it become so big that it's roots have been kicked out of the track because you can't through chicken bones or 24oz cans of Budweiser anymore? Do you care? Do I care? I don't even know anymore. Let's hear it!

New Weichert Realtors - Craven & Compnay Website

We are proud to announce the new Weichert Realtors - Craven & Company office website! Just launched a few days ago at our weekly Tuesday morning sales meeting. Let us know what you think! www.WeichertCraven.com

Beezer to fire CEO

The Charlotte Observer today released a news story that Beazer Homes, of sub-prime mortgage infamy, is ousting it's CEO under pressure form a union-based investment group. Thoughts anyone? http://www.charlotte.com/business/breaking_news/story/350677.html