Speechless Sunday - Bathroom Humor - 06/27/10 08:06 AM
I recently listed a beautiful home in Lake Valley in Owasso, Oklahoma.
When I walked into the Master Bathroom, I knew I had a fun loving seller on my hands!

The entire rest of the home in Lake Valley is as creative and fun as the Master Bathroom.  Watch for more pictures to come soon of the rest of the Lake Valley home. 
One other very special feature of this Lake Valley home is that it is one of two homes on its' side of the street that back to the neighborhood Lake Valley lake (also known as a very … (18 comments)

Bag the Bag Worms Naturally! - 06/22/10 09:56 AM
Ella Fitzgerald sang it best.  "Summertime...and the livin' is eeeasssyyyy...."  I love summertime.  And I love the music of Ella Fitzgerald. 
What I don't love is what we call summertime "bag worms" or "web worms".  These little nasties show up about June and begin spinning their thick silky web worm webs in our trees.  If you don't remove them, they can strip a tree of all of its' leaves quickly.
Here is a young web worm nest that we found in our River Birch tree the other day.  You can see that they have already begun to kill the leaves.

You can't … (8 comments)

Speechless Sunday - Happy Father's Day - 06/20/10 08:26 AM

Happy Father's Day!
Carmel, our beagle is already off to enjoying Father's Day.  She has found her favorite spot on the couch and is off to "La-La" land and sweet dreams of chasing squirrels and rabbits (which she does occasionally catch!). 
If I get lucky, I'll be able to grab the spot from her this afternoon and enjoy it myself!
… (8 comments)

Attention New Pool Owners, Don't Do This in the Dark! - 06/19/10 09:06 AM
Buying a home with a pool is an exciting experience.  When we purchased our current home and pool, I couldn't believe that I actually owned a home with an in ground pool.  "How cool is this?" I thought.  And it is cool.  We love our pool, even with the year round maintenance that is required.  It gives our family many hours of fun in our own backyard.
However, let me warn new pool owners of something very imporant.  Never, never, never put your hand into your skimmer basket in the dark.  For those of you who are not pool owners, the skimmer … (21 comments)

Attack or Debate? - 06/18/10 09:25 AM
I've been mulling this post over for a few days.  It follows a blog I wrote about ethics.  Many commented and the debate was spirited and excellent.  Folks made their point, supported their argument and added to the community discussion.  This is Active Rain and our free society at its' best.
But then there was an AR member who popped in and took the original thought of the blog and turned it into a rant for their personal political opinion.  And they even went so far as to attack a fellow AR member - one whom I thought most everyone here … (44 comments)

To Recommend or Not to Recommend, that is the Question - 06/16/10 08:28 AM
Being in Real Estate, I often find myself being asked to recommend a painter or electrician or heat and air company or other such services.  Brian Buffini recommends keeping a directory of service providers and making it available, which is a pretty good idea.  So, when I started my first networking group, those in the group became my "go to" people.  But then, after I had made a recommendation to one of the members, they dropped the ball.  This upset the client and made me look bad. 
The lesson I learned (after that happened a couple of times) was to keep a recommendation … (14 comments)

Ethics 101 - 06/14/10 08:12 PM
"Is it Ethical to Walk Away From an Upside Down Mortgage if You Can Afford it?" This question was recently asked here at Active Rain.
The blog and comments got me to thinking about ethics in business.  According to dictionary.com, ethics are a set of moral principles or a theory or system of moral values.  In other words, ethics are what guide us in understanding and doing what is right as opposed to what is wrong in life.  And ethics are important because we don't live in a perfect world.  People cheat, lie, steal, make mistakes and then turn around and do good things … (101 comments)

Speechless Sunday - Nottingham Hill Lake in Owasso Oklahoma - 06/13/10 08:47 AM

Nottingham Hill is a new subdivision being developed in Owasso, Oklahoma.  The 1/4 acre average sized lots are offered at $68-$82K.  This private gated community will offer homes that are at least 3000 square foot in size and that are 75% brick, rock or stucco.  Nottingham Hill has room for only 58 lots, including Nottingham lake (really a pond) shown here.
Yesterday was one of those few, non windy, clear days when the sky was blue and the reflections off the pond lake were gorgeous!  I took this picture while standing in what will be someone's backyard in Nottingham Hill in … (6 comments)

Missed buying a home during theHome Buyer Tax Credit? Congratulations! - 06/13/10 08:34 AM
Readers,
This is excellent information in regards to the housing market and the recently expired tax credit.  Pay close attention to the stats!
Enjoy!
Via Bill Carroll Hampton One:
The facts are in. The tax credit definitely improved sales volume as we saw pending home sales rise for at least three consecutive months. Median home pricing has actually risen in some markets.
But let us not forget that the core  intent of the program was to prime the market and create a steady flow of transfers long after the credit expired.
 That, it seems has not happened. In fact in a report generated … (2 comments)

My Active Rain Success Story - 06/12/10 09:18 AM
My Active Rain Success story is a bit different from those you've been reading so far.  Mine is all about the power of blogging and how what you and I write can impact the world of real estate.
Recently, I was surfing the web when I came across an Entrepreneur.com article written by Greg Rand.  The article caught my attention because Greg was advising investors to use Zillow.com to obtain 10 year market stats.  Well, one of my hot topics as of late has been trying to figure out how Realtors can get their feet back under them now that our listing … (12 comments)

The Black, White and Grey of Comps - 06/11/10 09:00 AM
The offer was almost $20K below asking price.  And yet, we had priced the home appropriately.  The buyer's agent even sent comps along with the offer.  But they weren't any comps I had ever seen or presented to my sellers. 
I've seen this happen before. In an effort to support their lowball offer, a buyer's agent will go find comps that support their number.  However, these comps are almost always out of the neighborhood or altered in someway or other to show the lowball number.  Sure enough, in this case, the comps came from all over the place. 
So I did what I … (10 comments)

How About You Pay Me for My Listing? - 06/10/10 09:10 AM
So I've been thinking a lot lately about how upside down the world of real estate is.  We agents, who are the actual engine of this business (no offense loan officers - you are too), are now courted to pay websites to be beside our own listings.  That's nutso!  It's also smart on their part!
Where is the NAR in all this?  Are they helping us figure out a way to protect our livelihood?  Are they making Realtor.com profitable for US?  Are they working hard to stay ahead of sites like Zillow and Trulia and others?  Having been in the business only a … (79 comments)

If you're going to sell your house, remember that letting people in to see it is important! - 06/02/10 08:38 AM
If you're going to sell your house, remember that letting people in to see it is important!
I've got a nice couple whom I am working with.  They are looking for a house in a certain part of our city and in a specific price range.  And they're very certain of what they're looking for.  That makes it easy to find houses to show them.  Usually there are only a couple at a time to go see.
"Hi.  This is Bob Haywood with McGraw Realtors.  I'd like to show your house on Saturday at 1 p.m."
Usually when I call a home … (10 comments)

Active Rain Nationwide Realtor Survey UPDATE - 06/01/10 12:55 PM
If you missed it, we're inviting AR members to participate in our Nationwide survey.  Those who participate and complete the requirements, get to earn an easy 1,000 points.  Part of the requirements is the writing of a blog about your market area.  The other requirements can be found here.
Below is a chart showing the current status of those participating.  One thing to note is that not everyone has completed all of the requirements to earn their 1,000 points.  In fact, if you'll look closely at the chart, very few have completed all the information needed! 
What that means for you … (14 comments)

 

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