my old blog

Join the AR Facebook Fridays group if you want to be "introduced" to new ideas and help out fellow bloggers at the same time.  There are so many interesting and informed people on ActiveRain that you may never meet unless you're lucky enough to be looking on AR where/when they left a post or thei...

Great curb appeal can be the difference between many showings and few/none.  If your lawn doesn't look great, it's a turn off. A healthy lawn can often be achieved simply through an optimum watering schedule. Free help is available from the Irrigation Water Management Society, a non-profit organi...

YouTube recently launched a channel  for politicians, called YouTube Town Hall, to debate both sides of major issues and allow viewers to select the view they support.  This sounds like a great use of social media since anyone with a computer can attend the "Town Hall".  Politicians don't identif...

Never mind the fact that the QRM provision applies only to conventional loans, the whole idea of it is to give lenders an exemption to keeping 5% of each sale (that becomes part of an MBS) in reserves as "risk rentention", to minimize the chance that they will make risky loans as they did in the ...

The lovely craftsman style home at 3021 Four Oaks Blvd in Southwood, built by Foundation Homes of Northwest Florida, is the recipient of the Best of Show Platinum Award. The same home also won the Gold Award  for homes priced between $200k-$280k. I'm not surprised.  It looked like a winner to me ...

De-cluttering is one of the most stressful and difficult tasks for most sellers and may require some hand-holding and a few nudges.  Here are a few tips that work wonders: Have a stager give a consultation (at agent's expense) on what should be removed/left during the selling process Supply the s...

There is a bit of disagreement about the order in which to show homes in a listing appointment.  Some prefer to show them strictly geographically,  some save the " best" for last, and others suggest showing the best house first. By "best", I mean the one that most closely meets the buyer's main c...

You can tell a buyer is interested in a home when .... - They have seen the entire house twice- They discuss where their furniture will be placed in each room- They stand and gaze out the window admiring the view- They ooh and aah about many features of the home- They say, "I love it!" as soon as...

Everyone who's ever had a house for sale understands the stress of keeping the house immaculate, leaving for showings at inconvenient times, and trying to live life as usual in spite of the circumstances.   Your best bet is to get it sold as quickly as possible- your Realtor can advise you on how...

Inman News reported today that because of rising gas prices, buyers are looking for homes that are closer to their work. According to a survey of 1,188 Coldwell Banker Associates, 89% said that a shorter commute time is of primary importance in choosing a location, while 77% said that a home offi...