I find the difficulty is finding a balance between being firm with them on the phone, and being too tough and turning them off.

The local nature of real estate investment prevents any large firm from "dominating" the industry so to speak.

v=4UegMxgYXtE I'm firmly convinced that the best TV ever comes out of Japan!

That is a little bit more about me/we (I have a few partners in my firm).

I've got a pretty firm grip about how the process is now thanks to Jon and Bill ... now I'm looking for a case that happens here in my marketplace so I know further how this process might go in a city like mine?

Im excited to get as much info on this site as possible because im a firm believer that right know is the best time to be a buyer in this maket/economy.

This reminds me of a Rudyard Kipling Poem, titled:IFIf you can keep your head when all about youAre losing theirs and blaming it on you,If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,But make allowance for their doubting too;If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,Or being hated, don't give way to hating,And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;If you can meet with Triumph and DisasterAnd treat those two impostors just the same;If you can bear to hear the truth you've spokenTwisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools:If you can make one heap of all your winningsAnd risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,And lose, and start again at your beginningsAnd never breathe a word about your loss;If you can force your heart and nerve and sinewTo serve your turn long after they are gone,And so hold on when there is nothing in youExcept the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

One of my close family friends is the principal broker at a local realty firm.

To become certified, property owners must submit an application for firm certification (PDF) (9 pp, 642K) and fee payment to EPA.

You don't want to talk to them so you tell your spouse, or assistant, or whoever picks up the phone, "Tell 'em I'm not here, or I'm in a meeting", right?