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house for sale: A House with Personality - 12/08/10 01:44 PM
Adding personality to your home is usually a good thing... however, do you think it's best to show all that personality on the outside of your home? I understand people wanting their homes to not look like the house next door, so it's common to not have the same brick color, the same siding color, the same stucco color, or even the same colors within their landscaping. The colors you choose are a reflection of yourself and your personality, not your neighbors'...
But then again, is covering the entire exterior of your home in your personality a good thing? Do you … (14 comments)
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house for sale: Coldwell Banker and Agent being Sued Because of Indiscretions in the Home - 08/15/10 08:22 PM
Did you hear about the Coldwell Banker Burnet agent, Steven Skar, who is in the middle of a lawsuit along with his former broker because some sellers in Minnesota are suing him for having some indiscretions in their house?? This story is hilarious... I'm sure it's sad for the sellers, but when you read all the details, it's pretty darn funny to think an agent would be so stupid! The premise is that this agent has the house listed and the sellers leave the country for a few months. While the sellers are gone, the neighbors emailed the sellers some concerns … (15 comments)
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house for sale: I Go the Distance for My Clients and Weight Loss! - 06/19/09 01:36 PM
How far do you go for your clients?
In the past two days, I have driven 206 miles with my out-of-state buyers. We looked at 27 houses. After the first day, I remembered my GPS could track exact driving time and such, so on the second day, I remembered to reset the system when they got in the car.
On Day two, we met at 10am and I dropped them off at 5:05pm. A good 7 hours!! We went 132.88 miles. Out of that 7 hours, we were in the car for 3 hours and 44 minutes. That means we spent 3 hours … (15 comments)
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house for sale: Do You Give Usable Feedback or Meaningless Feedback? - 01/12/09 02:49 PM
In my market, we have a showing service who sets up all our appointments, Centralized Showing Service. It's great. 1 call can set 10 appointments for the day, or you can even login to their website and schedule it from there. Very easy.
Within this system, they also send out an automatic email to showing agents from the listing agent asking for feedback on the showing. You can have your system set to send out an email however many times you want. I usually do 3. If they don't answer by then, they're not going to answer.
When I show properties, I … (61 comments)
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house for sale: My House is FOR SALE- 3013 Springbranch Dr, Richardson, TX - 12/17/08 09:50 AM
After months of talking about this relocation to Austin, TX, we finally put our house on the market. What an ordeal!! I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned some more. Whenever I was finished with one room, "someone" would make a mess again and it would have to be cleaned again.
I took 180 pictures yesterday in order to get enough pictures for the virtual tour and still photos for the MLS. Then, my listing agent also came over and took some pictures. I'm not sure how many he took.
Yes, you read that correctly... I have a listing agent and it's … (26 comments)
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house for sale: Cut Off Your Foot to Spite Your Leg - 10/15/08 08:17 AM
Here's another example of why it doesn't usually pay to use a discount broker just to save their fee. I have some clients whom I sold a house to a few years ago. For the past couple of years, they've been wanting to sell and buy something with a pool. We finally accomplished that last month.
When it came time to list their home, I treated them like any other seller. I went over and presented the new comps since I would run them every few months since they couldn't decide to sell or not. I also showed them all my … (11 comments)
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house for sale: Shopping for a Mortgage like you Shop for a Car, TV, Dress... - 09/16/08 02:34 PM
Can you shop for a Mortgage the same way you shop for a Car or a TV or a Dress or anything else?
To an extent, Yes. But, for the most part, NO!
When you shop for a Car, you go to a few dealerships and see what they have to offer. You not only get their price of the car, but you get the price they're willing to take for your trade-in. Getting the trade-in value is very important because they might be giving you an awesome price on the car, but cheating you out of hundreds or thousands on … (21 comments)
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house for sale: Dallas Area Property Valuations Going out - 04/07/08 02:02 PM
Please keep an eye out for your new Property Tax valuations in the mail. They'll be going out the week of May 5. It's very important to look at this document and make sure there are no problems. I am currently working with some home owners who just found out that they've been assessed with a pool, and they don't have a pool. They've been in the house for 30 years, and who knows when the pool was added to the documents, but even if it's $10k high because of this error, that's a lot over 30 years.
Dallas County will only … (0 comments)
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house for sale: Real Estate Drama in the Neighborhood- Everyone Knows Who you Are - 04/03/08 02:34 PM
Don't you love it when you hear about Real Estate drama going on in your neighborhood? Aren't you glad it's not you?! I had lunch today with Leonard Thomas. Leonard and I met a few years ago while he had the sellers and I had the buyers. It was one of the smoothest transactions I can remember having as he met me at my buyers' hotel at 11pm at night to pick up the signed offer to take to his sellers. Though we've never worked another deal together since, we've kept in touch over the years as I've shown many of his listings.
Whenever Leonard and I … (5 comments)
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house for sale: Showing your House, not your Home - 04/01/08 10:00 AM
Look around your house. Now, take another look and count how many times your eyes move to all the photos of your family sitting on the shelves and hanging on the walls. Did you notice your college degree? I've had buyers not buy houses because they were Longhorns and they saw the Aggie diplomas on the walls, and vice verse. Sounds silly, but it's very true!
I showed a house this weekend that had stuffed animals EVERYWHERE! We couldn't get a good feel for the room sizes, and it was quickly crossed off he list. I emailed the listing agent for feedback, … (21 comments)
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house for sale: If You Buy My House, You Get Full Refund When I Die! - 10/30/07 12:39 PM
Yes, you read the title right. I just saw this story and I thought it was very unusual and unique. This couple in Pittsburgh have been trying to sell their home for a year, and the market is not that great in that area, so they had to come up with something that no one else was offering...
They are asking $399,900 for the house and since they have no heirs to leave anything to, the people who agree to buy the house can have the entire purchase price refunded back to them upon their death.
WAIT, it gets better!!! If the new owners … (48 comments)
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house for sale: Commissions Based on Asking Price... Good Idea?? - 08/14/07 05:00 PM
I had a listing appointment on Saturday, and I got asked a question that I had never been asked before. I thought it was an odd question, but the seller was very serious as he has bought his last two houses without a Realtor's help, and has never had to sell a house, so this is his first experience with using a Realtor and with selling.
He asked if the commissions were based on asking price. I looked at him, probably with a startled look on my face, and said no. I then said, you may be on to something there. I … (53 comments)
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house for sale: 3121 Scott Dr, Sachse TX 75048 - 07/06/07 04:44 PM
What a Great house with Heated POOL & SPA! 4 Beds, Master Split, with 2 full baths and 2 car garage. There are 3 Living areas and 2 Dining Areas. Plenty of room to spread out for everyone! Updates include fresh paint, newer laminate wood flooring, new blinds, some new fixtures, new hardware, 8' fence with steel posts and much more. Master has double sinks, walk in closet, separate shower, and a corner garden tub. The covered patio and wood deck around the pool are great for entertaining and BBQs. Large Kitchen with Tiled Island and breakfast bar, Oversized garage, Crown moldings, Picture frame … (7 comments)
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house for sale: House Didn't Appraise - 06/13/07 03:16 PM
I've been laughing for a few days about this, so I thought I would blog about it... Granted, the Dallas market does not follow the norm of the "Nationwide" market that the news is always talking about. We never had a bubble and prices have been fairly steady for the past few years, and almost flat the last couple of years.
With that said, one of my husband's co-workers bought a house last year for $184k. Just over a year later, he decides he wants to buy a house with his new Realtor girlfriend so they list his house for sale. His … (31 comments)
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house for sale: Mesquite Home Now Staged and Ready! - 05/21/07 04:22 PM
Here are some before and after pictures of my new listing in Mesquite, TX. With Five kids, it took a couple of extra days to get everything ready, but I'm so glad we waited until today to list it so that extra time was used.
Look what a little decluttering can do. We removed all personal items, and opened up a lot of wall space to show the room sizes better. And even cleaning off the fridge can make a huge difference!!
All this can be yours for ONLY $159,900!! Are you packed yet??!!
… (8 comments)
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house for sale: 807 Via Sonoma Mesquite, TX 75150 - 05/21/07 04:05 PM
Great house and versatile floorplan. 4 bedrooms plus a study and two and a half baths. 2 Dining areas. 1 or 2 Living areas, depending on how you do the floorplan. The Current Formal Dining can be 2nd Living area & the Study can be the Formal Dining, right off the Kitchen. The 4th bedroom is downstairs and would make a great hobby or workout room. Many updates including: frieze carpet, pergo floors, interior decor paint, front door, some windows, Kitchen cabinets & appliances, light fixtures, master bath, sprinklers, gutters, & new cable wiring. The backyard is great with an oversized aggregate patio. The house … (2 comments)
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house for sale: Dallas and Collin County Tax Appraisals are Out - 05/07/07 04:45 PM
Ok, I hope you've checked your mail! Tax Assessments for 2007 have gone out. You have until May 31, 2007 to dispute your values. I have already received several emails from people asking about their values.
Also, if you do go to the Appraisal Review Board and you don't like their answer, you can file binding arbitration at the state's website. I am a certified arbitrator for property values for the state of Texas, and I'm looking forward to helping more people get the right value for their properties.
Please don't hesitate to email or call me if I can help you with … (0 comments)
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house for sale: Smart Yearly Home Maintenance - 04/23/07 02:05 PM
Once a year, it's a good idea to give your home a checkup. Finding problems or potential problems in their early stages usually gives you the best chance to make repairs more easily and less expensively than if problems are allowed to worsen over time.
The kinds of things you'll want to monitor in your home include:
* Gutters and downspouts: Inspect for leaf and debris buildup that can cause overflow problems.* Paint: Make sure painted surfaces aren't peeling or cracked, exposing wood to weather damage.* Windows: Check the weatherproofing and caulking and replace cracked panes.* Roof: Inspect tiles or shingles and … (2 comments)
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house for sale: Preparing your House for Sale - 04/23/07 02:03 PM
To prepare your home for sale, you may need to perform some maintenance to get it into top shape. Here is a list of things you can do before your home goes on the market that will really make a difference:
* Replace cracked windows and torn screens.* Fix or replace broken stairs or handrails.* Fix plumbing fixtures, leaking faucets, and so on.* Replace exterior lock sets and garage door openers if damaged.* Repair worn or damaged flooring.* Replace broken or leaking gutters and downspouts.* Remove any soil or landscape mulch from contact with wood.* Clean, repair, or replace the roof.* Repair … (2 comments)
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house for sale: Bedford TX Great House with Many Updates - 01/09/07 04:17 PM
What a great location, close to everything! Updates include Master bath, Kitchen with tile counters, backsplash and appliances, light fixtures, canned lights, wood trim, paint, and siding. Features include split bedrooms, vaulted ceilings, wet bar, two patios, 1200 gallon Koi pond, HUGE backyard with dog run, sprinklers, security, CAT 5 wiring, many built ins and much more! The grill in the back stays! This house is a MUST SEE! ONLY $147,500!!Click here for the visual tour
Bedford is in the heart of the HEB area (Hurst, Euless, Bedford). So much is going on around here with many new shopping centers and restaurants. … (1 comments)
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Donna Harris, REALTOR®, CDPE & ASP - Hill Country Austin Lakeway Homes
Austin,
TX
More about me…
RE/MAX Austin Skyline
Address: 4611 Bee Caves Rd #200, Austin, TX, 78746
Office Phone: (512) 592-7127
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