These are one of my favorites types of flowers. I just can't pass them up when I see them in this color. Yesterday I saw this lovely peacock blue color in several places and had to have these when I saw them at Central Market in Fort Worth, TX, my favorite grocery store because they have so many hard to find specialty items as well as an abundance of healthy organic foods. The color is so vibrant and vivid and just makes me happy. Sometimes you have to treat yourself right???? I think so anyway, so I decided to share them with you all.
For these lovely orchids visit Central Market in Fort Worth and for Fort Worth Real Estate call me at (817) 966-7963
Driving along Camp Bowie Blvd. in Fort Worth the other day my daughter and I really noticed this statue in Veterans Park for the first time and took a photo of it thinking that it would be appropriate for today. Engraved on the base is the poem In Flanders Fields by Lt Col John McCrae in 1915 after the death of his friend Lt Alexis Hammer. McCrae was a Canadian doctor serving during World War I.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.
by John McCrae
Call me for more information about real estate in Fort Worth and the Camp Bowie area at (817) 966-7963
Recently I had a discussion with a relative who told me about another relative who may come into a very large sum of money. The means by which this relative may acquire this large sum is worthy of another post all by itself, but for now we will try to stay on topic.
This soon to be wealthy relative has some mighty big plans, as we probably all would if facing a similar windfall. His biggest plan is to remodel the house. While this may sound like a good plan and a good investment, the first thing I would recommend to anyone who is about to plan a remodel is to find out what the home is currently worth and to find out how much real value any remodeling would actually add to the property.
When speaking of real value, I mean value you could actually realize when selling the home. There is of course a certain kind of value involved in just plain enjoyment of your home, but you should be very realistic when it comes to how much you spend on remodeling or renovating a home. Just because you spend one hundred thousand dollars on the remodel, doesn’t mean you will get that money back upon the sale of the home. You have to be knowledgeable about how much value the neighborhood will bear. If you upgrade your seventy-five thousand dollar home into a two-hundred thousand dollar home, but the neighborhood has no other homes valued at two-hundred thousand dollars, but only homes worth less than one hundred thousand dollars, do you think you will be able to recoup that other one hundred thousand dollars? The answer here is usually a resounding NO!
How you see your house after remodel
How the appraiser sees your house
Unless you find a cash buyer that is so in love with the home or so clueless, that they don’t have an appraisal done, then you are most likely never going to see that additional hundred thousand dollars again. The reason is because anyone who is receiving a mortgage loan in order to purchase the home will be required to obtain an appraisal prior to closing and that appraisal value has to be at least as high as the loan amount and depending on the type of financing usually must be higher than the loan amount, because most loans are now requiring a down payment. The term that mortgage companies will use to reflect the appraised value versus the loan amount is called Loan to Value. An example of Loan to Value is a home worth one hundred thousand that is being financed with a loan of ninety-five thousand dollars is a ninety-five percent LTV, or Loan to Value. In this ninety-five percent Loan to Value scenario, the buyer is bringing in a five percent down payment and financing the additional ninety-five percent.
Now that we understand Loan to Value, there is another thing we need to understand. That is market value. The market value is the value that the market will bear, or put simply how much the similar homes in the neighborhood are selling for. In order to complete the appraisal, the appraiser will be looking for homes in the neighborhood that have sold within the past six months that are comparable in features, size and construction to the home you are selling. If the appraiser can’t find anything similar to your home in the neighborhood, then there could be a problem with the appraised value and the financing approval. If the appraiser can find homes that are similar, but the value is much lower than what your asking price is then there can also be a value problem. Your value will be based on the values in the neighborhood and that is the value that the lender will use to determine what they will loan to the buyer to purchase the home.
So basically the lesson here is that just because you spend a certain amount to remodel or renovate, doesn’t mean you are adding that amount to the actual value. Gather knowledge from a professional in your area before spending the money to remodel and be smart about what you spend the money on. A pool for example may be of value to you while you are enjoying it, but you will not necessarily receive back your total investment when it is time to sell. Big value items are usually kitchen and bath remodels, but be careful to not overspend and try not to purchase the most expensive materials. Develop a budget that will get you the most return for your investment and seek advice from professionals prior to diving into your remodel.
A good source for information on neighborhood market values is a professional Realtor® in your area. A Realtor® can give you information on what features area buyers are seeking and what homes are selling for in your market. Make a connection with a Realtor® in your area and then when it comes time to sell you will be prepared in advance and have a Realtor® ready to market your home.
As for my relative, I hope his ship does come in and with it I hope he also receives a boatload of wisdom on how to properly invest and manage his new loot.
If you are interested in buying or selling property in Fort Worth or the surrounding areas call me, Samantha Davault of de Luxe Homes & Estates, at (817) 966-7963. I would be happy to assist you with all of your Fort Worth area real estate needs.
Today started the 26th annual Main Street Fort Worth Arts Festival in downtown Fort Worth. It is a four day festival featuring fine arts(including juried art), performing arts, culinary arts and a host of entertainments. The fair stretches for nine blocks from the Historic Tarrant County Courthouse to the Fort Worth Convention Center. There will be tens of thousands in attendance and art of every kind to view and purchase.
The Main Street Fort Worth Arts Festival is rated the number one art festival in Texas and the third largest in the nation. There will be over 300 entertainment performances and more than 200 juried artists.
There will be so much to do and see and great food, art and entertainment in the heart of beautiful downtown Fort Worth.
The festival started today and the hours are tomorrow, Friday from 10:00am-11:00pm, Saturday 10:00am-11:00pm, and Sunday from 10:00am-8:00pm.
After reading Whitney Peddy's post about the seal slaughter in Canada that is still happening every year and learning that Red Lobster and Long John Silvers are some of the largest purchasers of Canadian seafood sold by Sealers, I felt compelled to re-blog this. Please read it and get involved if you feel led. I can't believe this is still happening.
I hope I'm right in thinking that the animal lovers outweigh the easily offended here on ActiveRain. A grusome and cruel slaughter of nearly 500,000 seal pups is happening right now and will continue unless you and I put a stop to it.
Facts:
Each year, the Canadian government authorizes hundreds of thousands of baby seals to be clubbed and slaughtered for the use of their meat and pelts
Hunters repeatedly beat and either kill or hook them with hakapiks and drag them while still concious
There is no market for seal meat so this is a wasted effort and many seals end up as carcasses piled on top of eachother to rot
The U.S. banned the sale of seal fur in 1972
In 2009, the European Union voted to end the sale of seal products and the U.S. Senate passed U.S. Senate Resolution 84 calling to immediately end the annual seal slaughter
It's still happening, they started the hunt on March 28th
You can help
I won't post the videos here but I've provided some links below where you can learn more and watch the horrible videos if you want.
So the other day my business partner, Whitney, and I found a great new place in Fort Worth to get a sweet treat. We were out viewing properties in one of our favorite neighborhoods when we found this adorable new little bakery called Nothing bundt Cakes. Cute name right??? Well along with that cute name comes some of the tastiest little cakes we have ever had.
Nothing bundt Cakes has samples available to tempt you and help you make a decision about what you want to take home with you. They do specialty bundt cakes, bundtinis, and other delicious sizes of bundt cakes. We tried the lemon and the chocolate chocolate chip. I am still trying to decide which one was better, if either. They were both delicious and I am having a hard time trying to stay away. For more information click www.nothingbundtcakes.com
Also check out this video to be tempted by the yumminess that is Nothing bundt Cakes in Fort Worth, TX
Surviving Your Serengeti- I Guess I Really Am a Croc...odile
I downloaded the first two chapters of Surviging Your Serengeti and took the quiz. It turns out I am a croc...odile. Who would have guessed, certainly not me, until I read about the traits and characteristics of The Enterprising Crocodile. In many ways it was describing me. I have never fit in the box and it would be impossible to completely think that way, so it makes perfect sense once I read about the crocodile.
I have always believed that there is always some type of solution to any problem, we just may not be seeing it at the moment, but if we take a breath and resist the urge to panic, we can find the answer.
The crocodile is able to strategize and see an opportunity that others may miss, and while I am not a meat eater like the crocodile, I too am always looking for an opportunity to try something new and willing to make a decision to do so without spending a large amount of time worrying whether I have made the wrong decision.
A crocodile can't lie around and trying to decide if he might pick the wrong wildebeast, he has to make the decision pretty quickly knowing that the beast is getting close enough to take the chance. The crocodile has to have the self confidence to make the decision, stick with it and catch and eat that wildebeast. Just like we need to make a decision about where we want our business to go, devise a concise business plan, and eat that real estate beast.
After reading the first two chapters of Surviving Your Serengeti, I am very much looking forward to reading the rest of the book. I was immediately interested and ready to find out what happens once Sean and Ashley ask Zachariah if they can tag along. You can download and read the first two chapters yourself here
and call me " the Fort Worth Crocodile" for information about Fort Worth Real Estate
Going paper-less has been a goal of mine for a while for several reasons. Number one because of course it is the environmentally responsible thing to do and even though I recycle my shredded papers, it is still a lot of trees that are coming out of the rain forest because of me.
Reason number two is because I am "CHEAP". I don't want to pay for so much paper or toner anymore. Heck, I don't even want to pay for the electricity that the laser printer uses. That things sucks the energy big time. It even makes the lights in the office blink because it takes so much energy.
In the interest of rising to the challenge, I am embarrassed to share a photo of my corner of shame, but here it is...
So here's the plan, some of which I have already been using and some of which I intend to fully implement this year.
*Electronic fax service, which I actually have been using for the last six years and love. I prefer MYFAX, but Efax and many others are available. If you have never used an electronic fax service you should give it a try. The faxes go to your email as a PDF file and it is a great paper-less solution.
* Mobile MLS solutions such as the one our local board uses, Wireless Innovia. You can access the MLS from your smartphone and it is a great option to look up property listings on the go. I like to have the list already pulled up on my phone and leave the app open so that I can refer to it at any time. Since the client has usually already received the printout in their email they can review it later instead of me giving them a paper printout. Great paper saver for sure.
* The newest tool that I have begun to implement is the iphone/ipad app "sign-n-send"- I love this one so far. It is a great tool to be able to actually sign a document right there on my iphone. The best thing about this app as opposed to an option like docu-sign is that this one is an actual real signature, not a digital signature. You actually use your finger as a pen and sign directly on the document. Love it!!!!
I also use my iphone for everything. I take notes in the notepad, use the voice notes and the camera to snap a photo of something that I want to remember. I have the HP12C financial calculator app that replaces my old HP12C financial calculator. I also have numerous real estate apps that help me to do so many things. Topic for another post since I have probably gone over my 500 words for sure.
"This post is written as a submission to the ActiveRain & Kodak Paper-less Challenge contest. I have the chance to win the high speed KODAK SCANMATE i1120 Scanner, great for helping real estate professionals reduce their stacks of paper by scanning contracts, photos and business cards in seconds."
CALL ME TODAY FOR INFORMATION ON HOMES FOR SALE IN FORT WORTH
I have to admit that I am not the biggest football fan, but even I realize that the Super Bowl is a big deal. Its such a big deal that the entire DFW Metroplex is all atwitter with plans on how to capitalize on this big event. In case you have been in another country or don't have access to television of any kind, you may not know that Super Bowl XLV is scheduled for Sunday February 6 starting at 6:29 pm at Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, TX.
The bad news is that we get hit with a huge winter storm that seriously cripples the big plans for the big event. But the good news is that even mother nature can't totally crush the festive mood in Fort Worth. Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth, has been rocking all week even with the below freezing temperatures that have been a constant visitor since Tuesday.
Fort Worth is host to the Pittsburgh Steelers and even though this is officially Cowboys territory, it has temporarily become Steeler Central. Sundance Square is boasting 80 hours of media coverage during Super Bowl week. Click here http://www.sundancesquare.com/superweek.aspx to check out he Super Bowl events scheduled for Sundance Square.
Visit http://www.dallascowboys.com/ for information on half time entertainment including the Black Eyed Peas, who have arrived in DFW and are getting ready for their Super Bowl performance.
Hopefully all of the visitors to the area will forgive the weather as we don't have any control over that, and have a great time anyway. For more information on the Super Bowl visit http://espn.go.com/nfl/superbowl
Just another thing to Love About Fort Worth!!!!
For Information on Fort Worth Real Estate call me, Samantha Davault at (817) 966-7963.
In the coming posts you will learn why I love Fort Worth and Real Estate. I think that my reasons could become reasons for you to also love Fort Worth.
I look forward to hearing your opinions and suggestions.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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