Those Pesky Loose Ends! - 06/28/08 01:37 PM
The little old lady who owned my house until the mid-1970's loved wall paper. She loved it so much that she papered virtually every surface in the house, including the ceilings! After many years, it started to pull away, and the ceilings in the second floor bedrooms started to look … (18 comments)
|
The Best Thing About Active Rain! - 06/25/08 10:08 PM
Today, I had a settlement that was both fun and smooth as butter – thank to blog buddy, Ken Montville!A few months ago, Ken referred me a favorite client. Wayne was selling his home in Cheverly, MD and wanted to find a really cool in-town condo. You know – great kitchen, … (23 comments)
|
My Brain-To-Mouth Filter Mechanism Is Totally Unreliable! - 06/24/08 10:00 PM
Today on tour, I stopped at a broker’s open held by an agent with whom I have a very long history. Julie and I were classmates at the old Shannon & Luchs Academy of Real Estate back in 1983. This year, our licenses will celebrate their 25 birthdays!She served a great … (27 comments)
|
Housitosis? - 06/24/08 09:15 PM
Today on tour, we stopped by a pretty house an a thickly wooded lot backing up to Rock Creek Park. So far, a wow!But wait! We walked in the door and, sniff sniff, we realized this house had bad breath. Really bad breath! It had three damp drooling big dogs bad … (14 comments)
|
My Solemn Promise To All You DC Metro Area Listing Agents - 06/22/08 09:44 PM
If you have a listing with an armed alarm system, I hereby promise you, cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye, that if I show it, I will set that alarm off.I did that today showing a cute house in Shepherd Park, a lovely DC … (26 comments)
|
Watch Out For Seller Subsidies! - 06/22/08 12:23 AM
We have a sort of culture in my office that brings to mind some of the really good things about blogging on Active Rain – actually there are a bunch of Evers & Company bloggers who see Cati Bannier and I having so much fun and learning so much, they are … (45 comments)
|
Does Microsoft Word Make You A Better Writer? - 06/21/08 10:55 PM
When I came to Washington after finally graduating from college, I was thrown into the deep end of a pool filled with really good writers and they assumed that I would swim with the best of them. Yikes!Panic!I had done a brilliant term paper on airline overcharges for a professor who … (10 comments)
|
Who Drank All My Google Juice? - 06/20/08 07:14 PM
Before I started to blog on Active Rain, I was somewhere on page 10 if you did a Google search for Patricia Kennedy. I got beat out by Patricia Kennedy Lawfuord, President Kennedy's little sister, Patricia Kennedy the porn star, and a few others who were doctors, college professors and PTA … (19 comments)
|
Do You Play Well With Others? - 06/20/08 03:55 PM
Sometimes during a real estate transaction, we can be confronted with dark sides. After all, buying or selling a home doesn’t always bring out the best in buyers, sellers, colleagues or – oh gee! Ourselves!And sometimes even normally nice real estate professionals, who tend to be a little more aggressive than … (13 comments)
|
Do You Practice Law Without A License? - 06/19/08 10:07 PM
Real estate contracts are among the more complicated legal agreements that our buyers and sellers encounter. In this area, they range between 20 something pages if you are buying in Northern Virginia to over 40 pages for some properties in parts of Maryland. They are long, the print is not huge, … (21 comments)
|
Will Fabulous Staging Make Up For A Leaky Roof? - 06/15/08 10:18 PM
The house was really a sweetie – a cute little hundred-year-old cottage on a country lane in the middle of the city. And when I showed it to a favorite client, he could not resist.Until, that is, the home inspector noticed fresh water spots on the master bedroom ceiling and, from … (26 comments)
|
A Bittersweet Father's Day - 06/15/08 11:21 AM
Father's Day of last year was the last one that I spent with my dad, Edward Kennedy
He was living at Stella Maris north of Baltimore in a unit that housed people with dimentia. And he was pretty loopy - not the kind of loopy you get from Grey Goose, either.
… (15 comments)
|
Washington's June Lilies - 06/14/08 11:34 PM
Somewhere around 1950, when my next door neighbor was about six years old, he planted a bunch of lilies in his front yard. He still lives in the house (where he was born), and his lilies still bloom every year.
During the 25 years living in my house, I've enjoyed these … (11 comments)
|
A Hidden Downside Of Buying A McMansion - 06/14/08 11:14 PM
Back when I worked at the Civil Aeronautics Board, one of my colleagues bought a (slightly larger than starter) house is a close-in Arlington, Virginia neighborhood. About ten years later (sometime in the 80’s) a developer bought a house around the corner and super-sized it. It was pretty nice, and she … (7 comments)
|
Almost Murdered In My Sleep By My SAFEMLS - 06/13/08 11:50 AM
As many of my readers know, I am no fan of the little SAFEMLS gizmos we need to log onto MrIS, the multiple listing service in many mid-Atlantic jurisdictions. Now I have a new reason to hate and fear this demonic, gratuitous pest!
At first, I kept it on my key … (37 comments)
|
A Year In The Rain! - 06/10/08 07:03 PM
One year ago today, I wrote my first post for Active Rain. And Margaret Woda sent in my very first comment and gave me a warm welcome. No wonder she's become a favorite blog buddie over the past twelve months!
A lot has happened during that time. I've met some wonderful … (34 comments)
|
What Can Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton Teach Us About Prospecting For Clients? - 06/09/08 11:15 PM
On one of the local NPR talk shows, there was a conversation about how Barak Obama blindsided Hillary Clinton, especially with his hi-tech approach to fund raising and campaigning.
They are right. Obama has used technology well trying to appeal to a wide range of voters. Clinton was running an … (7 comments)
|
Do You Answer Your Phone When It Rings? - 06/08/08 11:28 AM
A bunch of years ago, I did a Joe Stumpf "By Referral Only" seminar. And I was totally blown away by a lot of what he said. But one of the legs of his program was not answering your phone. No, never under any circumstances! There was a very long winded … (89 comments)
|
A Night At The Movies - 06/07/08 11:52 PM
A neighbor and I did our part to help make "Sex and the City" a hit. Like me, my buddy, Jean, has a bit of a crush on Mr. Big, played by Chris Noth.
I enjoyed the film. It's set in New York, a city where I lived during my mis-spent … (7 comments)
|
Why Do We "Qualify" Buyers, Anyway? - 06/07/08 10:43 AM
The main reason to qualifying our buyers is to be as sure as I can be that they will, in fact, buy a house before I let them warm up the soft leather seats of my Lexus, right? Once I'm totally, absolutely certain they won't waste a second of my valuable … (16 comments)
|
Heat Advisories! - 06/06/08 09:56 PM
This is my first Washington summer with central air. I can't believe I lived in this house for 24 years without it!
And when I'm showing houses on a hot weekend, which this one promises to be, keeping the CAC turned down to frigid will help me to sell your house.
… (24 comments)
|
I Just Had My First $70 Fill Up! - 06/05/08 11:55 PM
OK, it might just be time for me to buy that Vespa!
filled my beloved gas guzzler's tank and it popped up to over $70 to fill it up. And I didn't even feed it the high test stuff!
This is enough to get even me to re-think my driving habits! … (28 comments)
|
Tornado Warnings! - 06/05/08 10:22 PM
Yesterday in the middle of the afternoon, I was relaxing in the middle of a very relaxing pedicure. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something flashing on the television screen over in the corner.
"Tornado Warning!", it said in big red letters. Then it listed nearby Falls … (12 comments)
|
Posts Fly When You're Having Fun! Here's Number 500! - 06/04/08 04:07 PM
A few minutes ago, I clicked on "My Home" and noticed the number of posts stood at 499, making the next one - um, that would be this one - somewhat momentous.
That's a lot of posts! When I look back, there were some that were a little goofy, and some … (35 comments)
|
Type-A Stops To Smell The Roses! - 06/03/08 09:22 PM
In Washington, we get cherry blossoms in March and April. May is about azaleas.
And June is the month for roses!
During Willie's walks, we pass by these rosebushes on the corner of 17th and Allison Streets in Crestwood, the neighborhood where I live.
Here is a close-up of … (13 comments)
|
Conflict Resolution, Condo Association Style! - 06/03/08 07:22 PM
If you won a coveted seat on your condo association's board of directors, repeat this mantra over and over again: "Lawsuit bad! Lawsuit bad!"Soon after my old apartment building converted to Condominiums, there was an issue with the new roof. It leaked. The hotheads on the condo board irritated the hotheads … (8 comments)
|
;)
Links;)
Archives
