I Heart Providence is an annual free event in February where people confess their love for the City of Providence.  Created by Mike Ritz, this year’s event was hosted by Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline and was held Tuesday, February 10th in the Providence City Hall.

There was a wonderful “Confessions” video filmed in booths set up in the council antechamber. The video features people of all ages and walks of life.  The video premiered on March 16th at Cable Car Cinema in Providence.

“The People’s Confessions” video was directed & produced by Jessica Jennings of VisionWink Productions.  Local musicians Route 44 and Jacob Haller provided the soundtrack.

Here’s part 1:

The Northern RI Board of Realtors held its Diamond awards reception on Thursday, March 26 at the River Falls restaurant in Woonsocket.

In attendance from RPL were nine sales associates from the Cumberland Office, Cumberland Sales Manager Holly Applegate, and myself.

This was a departure from Kirkbrae Country Club, the setting for the awards dinners for several previous years.  The evening began at 6:00 with cocktails which were followed by a huge dinner served family style.  The dinner was reminiscent of Wright’s Farm with its heaping platters of chicken, fries, penne and salad.

Following dinner, awards were presented to 51 agents and teams.  The following agents won awards from RPL:

One Diamond: Cheryl Davis, Janice Geddes, Martha Lapierre, Pat Murphy, Trish Perfetto, Sandy Soares.
Two Diamonds: Katie Baker, John Bessette, Debby Smith. McKinnon Team – Doug and Cathy McKinnon

Doreen LeBlanc, the current President Elect of the Northern RI Board of Realtors, served on the awards committee and was also in attendance.

Holly presented each award winner with beautiful red roses.  Following the awards ceremony, coffee and dessert were served while the crowd was entertained by the hilarious Ocean State Follies.  It was a fun celebration.

At one of my office sales meetings, our corporate IT Director, Tom Flanagan introduced us to Twitter. It was the first time I had heard about this amazing social networking phenomenon. After the meeting, many of us decided to register on Twitter. It was so easy and free!! For those that are unaware of Twitter, it is a site where you can post a 140-character comment about anything. People must register and “follow” you to see what you are posting, but once they do, they are continually updated with your musings.

I do get great enjoyment from reading what my friends and family are doing. It puts a smile on my face!! It’s a wonderfully simple way to feel connected. An additional feature is that links to larger pictures, articles, and blogs can be included in the “tweets.” I have a nephew who is in Costa Rica for two months and now I can follow what he is doing! He references pictures and his blog, so it points me to those when important, but he also just gives a few short blasts of current information.

Being on Twitter is also a great way to let people know what you do. You can quickly communicate what you have scheduled for your workday such as meetings you attend, places you visit, interesting work happenings, etc. As a real estate broker, I see Twitter as a new way to reach out to one’s sphere of influence. You can share interesting real estate news, articles, blogs, property web sites, and open houses scheduled. You can comment on what’s happening in the real estate market. You can become a followed expert in the real estate field. In addition, you can follow other renowned and inspiring real estate gurus.

Use Twitter to inspire others and get inspired as you follow them! Or you can just use it to have fun and keep in touch. Just one word of caution, twitter posts are publications on the web and are available through a Google search, so be aware of what you are saying. It is not private.

Follow me on Twitter: @happlegate

Want to learn more? Check out the ABC News Video -  ‘Tweet’ Like a Bird: Your Guide.

Last night, Residential Properties celebrated the 2008 sales achievements of 36 of its agents from the Barrington and Providence Offices at the Greater Providence Board of Realtors awards celebration.

Held at the Marriott Hotel in Providence, it was a cocktail and hors d’oeuvres reception. Fitting with the times, this year’s reception was less extravagant than in years past. In recent years there was a sit down dinner and a band with dancing, following the award ceremony.

Also in recent years there were upwards of 250 award winners, this year there were around 125 recipients.

Outstanding winners were Gerri Schiffman from the Providence Office, with $40,000,000 in sales, earning her a Platinum Plus award. In addition Gerri was recognized for being the highest single producer in dollar volume, and the 3rd highest individual for 73 transaction sides.

Barbara Stamp, from the Barrington Office, a Platinum award winner, was recognized in second place for the highest sales volume.

The Nelson Taylor Group, a Platinum Plus winner in the teams category came in third for highest sales volume.

Of special note is Ian Barnacle who achieved a gold award; this is his first year in the business.
Also of note is Seth Daley who volunteered on the Awards Committee and was a Silver award recipient.

The full list of award winners is as follows:

Platinum Plus
Gerri Schiffman
Nelson Taylor Group

Platinum
Nancy Markham
Barbara Stamp

Gold
Ian Barnacle
Patty Deal
Nancy Weaver
Liz Bodell
Paula Morrison
Ellen Kasle
Jillian Siqueland

Silver
Joyce Hughes
Mary Beth Frye
Laurie Fletcher
Stephanie Nickerson
Becky Bishop
Seth Daley
JP Pagano
Heidi Farmer Piccerelli
The Wall Group

Bronze
Ralph Curti
Leslie Kellogg
Sandy Conca
Barbara Dacey
Nancy Tobias
Ceci Sartor
Dawne Nordstrom
Lisbeth Herbst
Nancy Ryan
Brenda Gregory
Caroline Butterfield
Kris Chwalk
Fredda Korber
Lana Drew

Nearly 700 Barrington residents turned out Thursday night to protest their recent property assessments and more than 900 residents have signed a petition that asks the Town Council to delay its revaluation for one year so that a new revaluation can be done. The Town Council did not take any action Thursday night.

Rhode Island law mandates cities and towns to complete regular appraisals of all taxable property. In every nine-year cycle, a “walk through” evaluation is completed with two intervening three-year statistical reviews based largely on the sales of property in the town. What most people don’t know, is even though the assessment goes up, the mil rate usually goes down, so often the taxes are about the same.  Further, if you believe your new value is incorrect, there is a process by which you can appeal. To be successful, an appeal must provide evidence that the appraised value from the assessor does not reflect the market value of the property.  This evidence usually includes comparable sales data or information about conditions the assessor may not have known.

• Errors in the description of your property (does it say you have three bedrooms when you only have 2).
• Neighbors with lower assessments on similar houses.
• Value reducers in your home or area, including drainage problems, easements, re-zoning, heavy traffic, nearby railroad tracks, freeways, industry or toxic waste.
• Depreciation factors, including the quality of materials, inefficient heating, structural cracks, deterioration, or chronic defects.