Posted on Saturday, December 19, 2015

My Holiday Gift

If you’re like me, you search hard for holiday gifts that have special meaning for your loved
ones. Fortunately, this year I came across an inspiring story that has sparked new ideas in a
whole new direction. Maybe it will do the same for you. Here’s the story:

It’s just a white envelope stuck in the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no tag. A similar
envelope has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years. It all began
because my husband Mike hated Christmas—the frantic running at the last minute to get a tie
for Uncle Harry—the gifts given because you couldn’t think of anything else.

Merry Christmas From The Haviland Group

Knowing Mike felt this way, one year I decided to bypass the usual swag and look for something
special. I finally found inspiration through our son, Kevin. Shortly before Christmas, Kevin’s
team was in a wrestling match against an inner-city team. The inner-city youngsters attended in
uniforms so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together. They
were a sharp contrast to our Eastside boys in their spiffy uniforms. The other team didn’t even
have proper headgear.

Kevin’s team beat them. Mike shook his head sadly, “I wish just one of them had won a round,”
he said. “They have potential, but losing could take the heart right out of them.”
Mike loved kids, and he knew them, having coached little league football and baseball. That’s
when the idea for his gift came to me. That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and
bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the
inner-city team. On Christmas Eve, I placed the first envelope on the tree, the note inside telling
Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was brighter than the
Christmas tree that year and in all the succeeding years as I found new ways to help other
youngsters on behalf of Mike.

The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on
Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new toys for a time, would stand with wideeyed
anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents.

Sincerely,
Matt Haviland
Your Real Estate Consultant For Life
P.S. If you know anyone starting a new job, business, or perhaps going off to college, please
pass this letter along to them. Maybe it will make a difference! Let me know what you think by contacting me here or call me at 609-338-3773

P.P.S. To download or view my December Newsletter click here: Dec 2015 Newsletter – Matt

Posted on Friday, November 27, 2015

What People Are Really Looking For – At Home

272 Deerfield Drive Mays Landing, NJ 08330

Here is a quick note to let you know how I can help you or the person you feel comfortable introducing me to.

The other day I was reading a story that said the storage industry is an 8.8 billion dollar business. It’s no wonder, when you consider how much time we spend looking for lost objects. The average person spends 6 minutes a day looking for car keys! IKEA reports the top 4 items men search for are clean socks, keys, wallet, and remote control. Women search for shoes, a child’s toy, wallet, and remote control. It occurred to me that a home is never more organized than just before and after a move. While it is seldom easy to move, very few things feel better than starting over again with the right amount of space. The next time you are in a conversation with a friend, family member or neighbor and you notice they would benefit from having the right amount of rooms and space to enjoy an organized home…then stop, take out your phone, look up my number and call or text me. Together we’ll make sure they get the best advice for the space they need.

Posted on Friday, November 27, 2015

Fake It ‘til You Make It

Sunrise

A friend of mine once said that the way you become good at something in life is by faking your
way through it the first few times, until you learn how to do it without faking. That makes sense.
Even as adults, there are many first times…a first time you run a meeting at work, a first
networking event, a first sale, a first party in your home, etc.
In many of life’s public situations, you don’t want to look new and green; it’s embarrassing, and
messing up could prove costly. Even if you explain that it’s your first time and ask others to cut
you a little slack, there are still plenty of first, second, third times that you’ll just need to push on.
Fortunately, most people are willing to accord you with the authority you are taking on. If you’re
running the meeting, you are probably the right person to run the meeting. If you’re making the
sale, you’re probably the person with the knowledge to help them make a decision. If you’re at a
networking event, you probably have something to contribute. And, nervous as you might be
that no one will show up, if you throw the party just the way the experts say to do it, you’ll
probably have a great crowd.
People tend to expect that you belong in the role you are taking on at any given moment. Once
you know that, you can be powerful in just about any new endeavor. If you don’t let on—by
apologizing, hiding out, or calling attention to your own mistakes—then they probably will never
realize it either. If you step into the role you’re taking on, almost as an actor, and pretend to be
experienced at it, they’ll go right along with you.
It may feel like you’re faking it the first few times, but eventually you realize you’re not faking it
anymore, because you’ve made it!
Sincerely,
Matt Haviland
Your Real Estate Consultant For Life
P.S. If you have a great parable you’d like to share with me, please send it to me or call me at 609-338-3773.

P.P.S. To download or read my full November newsletter click here: November Newsletter – Matt

Posted on Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Last Year More People Struggled to Rent an Apartment than Ever Before

Here is a quick note to let you know how I can help you or the person you feel comfortable introducing me to.

Not long ago I heard a story on the news that more young people are renting apartments or staying at their parent’s homes longer than ever before. What that tells us is that young people may be forcing themselves to become long-term tenants. At the same time, high-demand and competition cause rent prices to soar, while a mortgage stays predictable and constant.

Competing with other renters to pay off someone else’s mortgage is not what we want for our friends and family.

So next time you’re talking with a friend, family member or neighbor and they tell you they feel they’re wasting money on rent, take out your phone, look up my number and call or text me immediately. I belong to a national network of Realtors and lenders, and I can help make their dreams of owning their first home a reality!

Matthew Haviland, Your Real Estate Consultant For Life Keller Williams Realty Atlantic Shore 609-484-9890 ext 132

Posted on Saturday, October 17, 2015

Our Office Out Performs The Market

These statistics compare our Keller Williams Realty Atlantic Shore office with the rest of the Multiple Listing Service in the Atlantic County, NJ area. As you can see we out perform the rest of the market. We have exceeded the rest of the market in the number of transaction for buyers and sellers and sales dollar volume.

The questions is why? And there are many reasons to explain this. One is that we are an agent centered company. We have a culture. We are the largest real estate franchise in the world in agent count. We are the number one training organization among all industries. Our local leadership team truly cares about helping people reach their dreams and have businesses worth owning and lives worth living.

Who do you know, right now, that would benefit from working with our company? While others agents are struggling, we are thriving. And it’s important that you know that I have time to help your friends, family members, and neighbors that you know and like that need help. Please call me at 609-338-3773 and we can talk about how I can help.

Best wishes,

Matt

Posted on Saturday, October 10, 2015

The Power of Positive Parables

Parables are stories that illustrate a moral or lesson. From the Greek parabolē, meaning “comparison, illustration, analogy,” parable was the name given by Greek rhetoricians to an illustration in the form of a brief fictional narrative.

Lagoon Blvd, Brigantine Beach NJ

Self-help books, the bible, and other texts are all filled with parables, and just reading one every now and then can do wonders for a person’s powers of positive thinking. Here’s one I came across that has stuck with me for a while, reminding me that simply deciding something one way or another in advance has enormous power over the outcome.

The 92-year-old, petite lady was poised and proud. Fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock, with her hair fashionably coifed and makeup perfectly applied even though she was nearly blind, was moving to a nursing home today. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.

After waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready. The nurse walking with her provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window.

“I love it,” stated the lady with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

“Mrs. Jones, you haven’t even seen the room yet,” the nurse said.

“That doesn’t have anything to do with it,” the lady replied. “Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged … it’s how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it.”

Sincerely,

Matt Haviland
Your Real Estate Consultant For Life

P.S. If you have a great parable you’d like to share with me, please contact me at SJHouses.com or call me at 609-338-3773. To view my entire October Newsletter click here: October Newsletter – Matt

Posted on Saturday, October 10, 2015

Adjusting To An Empty Nest

Here’s a quick note to let you know how I can help you or the person you feel comfortable introducing me to.

This is the time of year when people you know start talking about kids moving away or going to university. Many find they simply don’t need as much space to be happy, or they want to be out doing things rather than focusing inside. Sometimes it’s nice to start fresh. In fact, it can be liberating!

Choosing to downsize a home can also provide an extra source of retirement income. There are many wonderful opportunities to create in this new chapter of life…IF one knows how to get the most out of their current equity.

So the next time you’re in a conversation with a friend, family member or neighbor and they mention they’re looking to adjust to the right amount of space, take out your cell phone, look up my number and call or text me immediately. I can help them find a smaller home with less to take care of, so they can spend more time enjoying this special new time in their life!