Grand Rapids Real Estate Talk

Perfect Wide Angle Compact Camera for Realtors-Samsung TL320

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 21:09:10 -0600

Last week I went to watch a virtual rebar with a group of people in our association. I learned an incredible amount of information but something one of the attendees said took me back. "If you don't have a wide angle camera, I will beat you out of a listing every time!" Great, just what I need to do, spend more money. Having been in real estate a little more than 6 years, I am hear to tell you that after you own equipment for that amount of time, everything starts failing.

In the last 6 months I have had to buy a new printer, laptop, phone, monitor, camcorder and web cam. Then two weeks ago on a Monday, the hard drive went in desktop-my main computer mind you!! I figured I was good. Heck, I had a brand new lap top. Yeah, shouldn't have said that because the mother board went two days later. At least it was under warranty!!!

So to say the least, the thought of spending more money WAS NOT appealing at all! I read all I could find on AR and Google about the cameras and learned that basically the best would be a 10mm, 17mm or a 24 mm and it would be very expensive. But, I didn't know that much about photography and the size of those big body cameras and all those lenses and garbage scared the tar out of me. I hate learning curves and I really didn't want to spend over $600 on a camera. So I kept searching and found something about a new camera Samsung had just put out but all I could find were blogs that this really cool wide angle small camera was coming out. I searched hi and low for it, but couldn't find it.

Finally, I decided to look at Samsung cameras and see if they had an equivalent. That was when I figured out they had changed the model number of the camera. It was only $300 and it wasn't a big huge camera--just a little bigger than my Exilm. I ordered it from Amazon and it came with an extra battery, camera case, little tripod and cleaning kit. Honestly, I figured it would probably be going back but I really wanted to try it before I bit the bullet and bought one of those huge cameras.

I took it with me today to Thanksgiving and figured I would have the time to play with it. My step sister's fiance was an awesome help bringing his experience as a past professional photographer. I had brought my old camera so I could compare if there was any difference. Steve steadied his hand against the door frame and took a picture of the front room with my old camera. Without him moving his hand, I slid the new Samsung into his hand so it was in the exact same place.

We were absolutely blown out of the water by the difference. The Samsung took in much more of the room making it look so much better. We also used the back light setting and were very surprised on how well it did. With my old camera, I always tried to take pictures at night to avoid the white wash from the windows. No longer will I have to do that.

The Samsung TL320 is amazing and so easy to use while still being a wide angle lens. It comes in black or silver and it has a rechargeable battery. Apparently the fact that is has an Amoled screen is really awesome according to all the reviews from photographers I read. Honestly, I am clueless on what that means. My only complaint about it so far, is the cord. The electrical plug attaches to a USB end which was really cool. But what is not cool at all, is the fact that the cord they give you is about a foot and half long. After plugging it into my tower, the cord was barely long enough to set it on my desk. To make matters even worse, it has a special end that went into the camera but definitely not a deal breaker.

I would recommend this little camera to anyone, but take a look for yourself. The first picture below is my old camera. The 2nd picture down is the new Samsung. Keep in mind, both cameras were held in the exact same spot. Which agent would you hire?

Bathtub Resurfacing West Michigan-My Bathtub looks like new thanks to Bathmasters!

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:38:19 -0500

Thanks to Bathmasters, a company that does Bathtub Resurfacing in West Michigan, my bathub looks like brand new. I wrote a post several weeks back, Bathtub Refinishing West Michigan - Will they be able to make my tub look new again?, about checking into having my bathtub refinished or resurfaced. Not only did I need it done myself (as you can see my the picture to the right), but I wanted a viable option to be able to recommend to both my clients who have just purchased homes in West Michigan and those that are about to sell.

When my husband and I started thinking about ripping out our old one piece tub and surround, it sounded daunting. Although we were fully capable of doing the work ourselves, it was still going to cost money and time. I started calling around Grand Rapids for bathtub refinishing, a process by which they reglaze the bathtub. As I explored the possibilities, I found that not only can your refinish a fiberglass bathtub but also ceramic tile, porcelain and counter tops.

I got quotes from two different companies. Bathmasters definitely beat everyone in price and they have been around a long time. My bathtub and surround ran $450 which is well below the cost to rip the whole shower out and put a new one in. Bathmasters called me back within the same day and had it scheduled for the next business day.

They arrived exactly when they said they would at 8:30 am this past Monday. He immediately started preparing the entire bathroom for the process by making sure everything was covered so as not to get over spray dust on anything. All my cupboards, counters, toilet and towel bars were all covered. Even the floor was completely protected. The process with the tub was started by a very thorough cleaning. I was concerned because there was some adhesive and also two small chips in the bottom of the tub. But the chips were repaired and the adhesive taken off.

He began spraying the tub at around 10 am with the primer. I was already excited with just the primer on!! He then put the non-slip material in the bottom which I am really glad I got. It was all said and done by around noon and it looked absolutely gorgeous!

This is definitely a much more inexpensive way to go and there is a 5 year warranty!! If you refinish your bathtub, I would advise you do it before any painting of the bathroom. If I were to do it again, I would definitely wait until we were going to be out of the house for several days. We only have one bathroom and we were not to go in the room for at least 24 hours. Additionally, the fumes are noxious--but well worth it because it looks great! I am so excited to clean my new bathtub. Instead of five hours to clean, it will only be 5 minutes.

Now I have to tell my husband we need to paint, get new light fixtures, get new cupboards. Somehow I don't think my husband will be too happy to have more "honey do's" added to his list. Thank goodness he is used it. We do a lot of work ourselves. You can also read Oak Cabinets with a New Face - Glazed Cabinets are Beautifulabout reglazing our cabinets!

So, If you are looking for someone in West Michigan to refinish your bathtub, I can not recommend Bathmasters high enough! You can call them today at 800-585-1000. Tell them Tami sent you!

West Michigan Short Sales-If I knew then what I know now about Michigan Short Sale Experts

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:00:18 -0500

West Michigan Short Sales-If I knew then what I know now about Michigan Short Sale Experts I would have been able to help some really incredible people stop their home from foreclosing. I would have been able to put them in the position to purchase a home in 12-18 short months iinstead of years!

I was once told I would never make it in the Grand Rapids Real Estate business because I cared to much. How can anyone care too much about people?

Many years ago I was referred by a lender to a couple who needed to sell their Rockford home because they could not make their payments. He said he gave them my number because money was not the driving force in my life. That was quite a compliment.

The meeting with the couple was heart breaking, to say the very least. They had six children ranging in age from about 4 to 21. They all lived in the Rockford house which was immaculately cared for. The distress in their eyes was evident as they told the story of how they came to own the home. Too many people in cahoots including a lender that dropped the bomb on them at close that there were two loans. They wanted to back out but were told there would be lawsuits.

With all my heart, I wished I had been there when this couple purchased the house but it was too late for that and they were in serious trouble. The financial information they gave me was devastating. There was absolutely no way they were going to be able to sell this house and pay the real estate fees. They were drowning in debt and this house was the cement block around their neck. At that time, I didn't even know what a West Michigan Short Sale Specialist was!

Life has taught me that if you pay if forward, you will be given back. I listed the house taking no commission for myself.
Even with no commission for myself, the home did not sell. Even though this home was only a few years old and on over an acre, there were other homes just as nice selling for less. So many people had lied to this couple and I didn't want to give them false hope, so I told them honestly that there was no reason for me to keep the home listed. My heart broke for them. The house foreclosed!

With all that I am, I wish I had known then what I know now about Michigan Short Sales. If I knew then what I know now, they would probably already be purchaing a home. Now I count myself among the Michigan Short Sale Realtor Experts that our times have demanded. There are quite a number of West Michigan short sale homes, but there are a very limited number of agents who really are West Michigan Short Sale Experts. Not only is it important to have an agent experienced in selling a Greater Grand Rapids Short Sale, but it is also important for buyers to have a West Michigan Short Sale Expert representing them in the sale.

For sellers, it can be extremely difficult to weed through and find an agent who is truly experienced in selling Ottawa County Short Sales and Kent County Short Sales. What questions should a seller ask to find a West Michigan Short Sale Expert? See my next blog, West Michigan Realtors Experienced in Short Sales - 6 Tips on How to Hire a Short Sale Agent to find out what steps you need to take to make the best choice.

Let me know if you would like a West Michigan Short Sale Consultation. Everything is kept confidential and there will be no pressure--I think you probably have enough pressure in your life at this moment. When you fill out the information on to submit a West Michigan Short Sale, I will contact you. We will go over your situation and I can let you know if I can help. Please feel free to call if you just want to talk.

Bathtub Refinishing West Michigan - Will they be able to make my tub look new again?

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 14:14:07 -0500

Bathtub Refinishing West Michigan - Will they be able to make my tub look new?

I got a quote from a company yesterday to have a bathtub restoration done in my West Michigan home. We just can't keep it clean anymore and we really don't want to rip it out-it would be so much easier to do a bathtub restoration.

The pictures attached make it look like I am a pig and I really am not. The process we have been following to get this tub to look even remotely clean, is absolutely ridiculous. It is literally an all day event and it involves A LOT of Kaboom. I go through a whole bottle and just keep spraying it, letting it sit, scrubbing and spraying it again. It takes about 8 times of repeating this to get it to look even a little clean. Then we use it twice and it looks absolutely awful again.

I even tried getting it all clean and went out and bought this stuff that was suppose to seal the fiberglass. What a waste of money! The sealer did absolutely nothing but make it slippery for three days and then it was just as nasty looking again.

So about a month ago, I was watching a show called "Take five", a local talk show, that had a company on talking about how they could restore a fiberglass tub and ceramic tile. They showed pictures of this awful pink tiled bathroom and then they showed pictures of it restored. I'm pretty sure as a Realtor I have been in that pink tiled bathroom five thousand times. My clients could really benefit from this and I am more than willing to throw myself out there to be the guinea pig.

Yesterday Scott came out and looked at it. First off, he was a very nice guy. Easy to talk to--just a genuinely good guy. He talked about the steps they take to clean the tub--they even remove all the old caulk around the tub enclosure. He talked about how they don't use acid etching because it is bad for the environment. They spray the tub several times with a special bonding agent. To top it off, there is a 5 year warranty.

The cost to do it was $500. At first it sounded really expensive. Then I started adding up the cost to rip it out and replace it. Now true, my husband and I are fully capable of doing all the work ourselves but it would still cost us about $1000 and a lot of time that we don't have. So, I am jumping in with both feet to be the guinea pig. We will let you know how this West Michigan Bathtub Refinishing goes. I am going to be excited just to spend under 15 minutes cleaning a tub! So hopefully this bath tub refinishing will be well worth it!!! Stay tuned with a follow up on how it went.

Read my follow up post West Michigan Bathtub Resurfacing-

Holland MI Short Term Rental-Furnished Cottage-September-May

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 05:49:04 -0500

Holland Mi Short Term Rental-Furnished Cottage-September-May

Tami Vroma | Five Star Real Estate | tami@grhomepro.com | 616-777-0536

3340 Lakeshore Drive, Holland, MI

Holland, MI Furnished - 3 Bedroom, walking distance to Lake Michigan!

Furnished 3BR/2BA Single Family House

$750/month

Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	2 full, 0 partial
Sq Footage	1,200
Parking	2 dedicated
Pet Policy	No pets
Deposit	$750

DESCRIPTION

HOLLAND- Furnished, charming and within walking distance to Lake Michigan is what describes this winter only, short term, off-season rental. The rental period is from September 2, 2008 through May 28, 2010. There are 2 bedrooms up with a full bath and one bedroom down with a full bath. The home offers a fenced in private back yard, two stall garage fully furnished--absolutely NO PETS & NO SMOKING. Utilities of, gas, electric, phone (free long distance in US), trash, cable TV and wireless internet are a flat rate of $300 per month.

see additional photos below

RENTAL FEATURES

- Air conditioning	- Fireplace	- Hardwood floor
- Living room	- Dishwasher	- Refrigerator
- Stove/Oven	- Microwave	- Washer
- Dryer	- Laundry area - inside	- Cable-ready
- High-speed internet	-Pots & Pans	-Linens

COMMUNITY FEATURES

- Garage parking-2 Stall

WiFi if requested

LEASE TERMS

$750 monthly September-May

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

Front	Living Room
Kitchen	Bedroom
Beach

Contact info:

Tami Vroma

Five Star Real Estate

tami@grhomepro.com

616-777-0536

Equal Opportunity Housing

Posted: Sep 24, 2009, 11:47am PDT Also listed at www.LiveInWestMi.com

Holland Mi Short Term Rental-Furnished Cottage-September-May

My Daughter, Lindsey Vroma, named Top Student Web Designer in the Nation!

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 07:33:52 -0500

My Daughter, Lindsey Vroma, named Top Student Web Designer in the Nation!

To say I am a proud Mama would be a serious understatement. How many parents can say their daughter took the title as Top Student Web Designer in the Nation according to Business Professionals of America? When my daughter Lindsey (far right) and her partner won at Regionals, I thought it was really wonderful. When they took 2nd at the state level and qualified to go to Nationals, I wondered if they could really pull it off.

When she boarded the plane to Dallas June 18, 2009, I was seriously bummed that I could not go with her!! I knew she had worked really hard on all the graphics. She is a wiz with Adobe Photo Shop and she taught herself!! Lindsey would spend hours and hours creating the most incredible graphics. She was constantly changing her computer desk top to show off her latest creation. She would sit for hours looking at code trying to figure out what was wrong--changing and tweaking as she went. When she decideded they needed to do a omplete make over before Nationals, I have to admit I was a little worried. They pulled off in days what it usually takes moths to do. My daughter was at it constantly. She wanted to win in the biggest way. Her partner, Alex, wasn't quite as in to it as my daughter was. In fact, at one point Alex decided she didn't want to go. It was hard for Lindsey who was after a career in web design. Alex wasn't pursuing a career in web design but opted to go to school for nursing. After urging from her instructor, she decided to go.

Each time they competed, they had to give a presentation and then take 5 mintues of judges questions. Their design, "Top 10 Things to do in Dallas" was judged on knowledge of web design, layout, graphics, team work, leadership and flexibility of browsers. Lindsey called and said they did really well on the presentation but she was still nervous. They were to get the results at the awards ceremony the next day. Saturday I was pacing waiting for Lindsey's call . . . phone in hand . . .waiting . . . . waiting. Finally at around 10:05 pm the phone rang, "Mom" she said in a sad voice, "your not going to believe what happened . . .", my heart dropped and I was ready with, 'just getting there alone means you are a winner' speech when she screams, "WE WON . . .WE WON". I was giddy, "You mean, as in first place?" "Yes we won first!!"

Lindsey is now attending Baker College for web design. She won a full ride scholarship to Davenport College but they wouldn't give it to her because they said it was past the application period. The finals were suppose to be held in May, but because of the Swine Flu epidemic, it had been postponed. One would think she would have won other scholarship money but they got absolutely nothing. That part makes me so sad. All these athletes get all these free ride scholarships and kids who are competing in what they would actually be attending the school for get nothing!!

But the important part is, she won!! She is showing the world what she is made of!!!! She recently went to the State Horse show and placed twice. She is an incredible singer and she can draw like I can not even believe. She also recently did the header desgn on my web site, Grand-Rapids-Homes-for-Sale.com

I am so proud to call her "Daughter"!

Safety Steps for Women Realtors - Don't Make Yourself a Target!

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:12:36 -0500

Safety Steps for Women Realtors - Don't Make Yourself a Target!

I have not been in the Rain for a while. After being gone for a while I have to tell you, what I really want to do is write about how my daughter just took the honors of top student web designer in the nation. But I felt this was more important. Oddly enough, there have been many times I started writing this but it just seemed there was always something else more important. Then it became to close for comfort . . . .

Whether we want to admit it or not, women are sometimes at a serious disadvantage. It has nothing to do with knowledge about the intricacies of real estate. It has nothing to do with the fact that we have to take time off to have babies. Women, I believe, are pretty much equals with men in real estate with one huge exception. It was the way God created us, but we are smaller and for the most part will never have the power that a man has. Unfortunately, there are men out there in the world who will exploit that weakness to their advantage. I let my guard down last week but ,by the Grace of God, a mistake kept me safe when I believe it could have been horrible. This is my story.

I have been really busy and I took a call and made an appointment to show one of my listings and continued on with what I was doing without missing a beat. But I should have slowed down to think about what I was doing. I AM smarter than this and I have always been really careful, but it didn't even sink in that it was a man by himself. It didn't even dawn on me to be worried about--it is Hudsonville/Jenison for crying out loud. Paul Harvey has even reported our area to have the highest number of churches per capita than any other area in the nation. I am still usually much safer but I was on warp speed mode.

The next day rolled around and I was suppose to meet him at noon. As I went to walk out the door, I told my son if he wanted a ride to work then he better hurry up and come with me and I would drop him on the way. We were halfway to his work when I realized I had done it again, thought he had to be at work at noon when he is actually suppose to be there at 1 pm--he missed it to. So I told him to come with me on my appointment which wasn't that far away. Now normally he would be driving as he needs drive time, but this time he was sitting in the passenger seat.

We got there at about 5 minutes before noon and pulled into the parking spot in front of the house which was parellel to the road but kind of at an angel. . . .and we waited . . .and waited . . and waited. At around 12:15 a guy went by the house slowly and was really rubber necking it--leaning across the seat and looking really hard at the house--or so I thought! Truthfully, I just thought wow he is really interested in this house. The house sits about 200 feet off the road so with the angel and everything, he didn't see me watching him. He could only see my son. I didn't really think that much about it. We waited until 12:30 and left--I haven't had a no show in years. Still oblivious to what had just happened.

When I got back to my desk I called the seller to apologize that she and her family had to leave for no reason. She asked me when I had taken the call to show the property and I said, "I don't know, sometime yesterday am". She said there was a vehicle that was stopped in the front of the house talking on the phone at right around 10. I said, "oh, what color was the truck". There was a long pause and she said, "Tami I didn't tell you it was a truck". Serious chills ran down my spine. "Oh dear Lord ," I said, "please don't tell me it was a red truck". She confirmed that it was. I felt sick to my stomach. "Did it have a red matching topper?" Long silence . . . ."yeah it did".

I hung up the phone and with dread, pulled up the phone number he had given me and called it and listened to the computer voice tell me how this phone was no longer in service. Dear God in Heaven . . .he had driven by and seen a man with me and had kept going . . . .he had planned on me being alone. I knew it and my seller knew it. I called the police and told them what happened and they asked me if I had taken the plate number. I hadn't because it hadn't dawned on me what was going on until long after I had left.

I let my guard down and I shouldn't have. Let's face it, most Realtors can't afford to give up a client and that includes women. But, I have had a plan that I have adhered to for years. . . and I slipped. I would not have been prepared if I had been in a bad position. My first plan is to have someone come with me. When I can't find someone, I have a plan in place that is pretty thorough and I would like to share it with you.

#1. Find out what you can about him before you meet him. Where does he work, where is he staying. Call and verify that what he tells you is true. Believe me, when you call businesses and explain you are a women and wanted to verify who this man is, they commend you for not being . . .well . . . .stupid. Even better, ask who he is pre-qualified with and get their phone and information and call and verify that he is working with them. I know many of you will say they should be pre-qualified before you even meet them. On this I disagree, but I don't want to debate that right now with this post. I have called several companies when people say they just moved here for a new job--not once have I had anyone refuse to let me know that he did work there or he did have an appointment.

#2. Before the appointment, call him and ask him for his drivers license number, plate number and the make, model and year of his car. I have only had it one time that they refused and I had a creepy feeling anyway about him. Most men are impressed that I am on my toes and thinking. Tell him you will verify it when you meet.

#3. Plan ahead and have someone who is keeping track of where you are and what homes you are showing and the addresses of all of them.

#4. Do not ever meet your male clients in a secluded place. If you don't know that exact area, pull it up on Google maps and look at the aerial picture. It will tell you a lot about if the home is secluded or in a subdivision. If it is in a secluded area, meet them in a busy parking lot first.

#5. Carry pepper spray. Keep it in a pocket but don't put it on key chain so they see it--it takes away the surprise advantage. You can buy it anywhere on line.

#6. Keep your keys in your hand. Hold one key through your fingers so if you punched, it would stab. You should also make sure you have a panic button for your car that will make the alarm go off by pushing a button.

#7. Have a secret text you can use with your point person to let them know if you are in trouble and a different text if you are ok. My text that someone sends me 15 minutes after I am suppose to meet him is, "what did you do with the key". If I text back, "I left it under the flower pot" they know I am ok. If I don't text back within five minutes, they call the police. If I know I am in trouble, I text back, "it is under the garbage can". From there I have to text every 15 minutes. The next text that my point person sends is, "the key isn't there". If I am ok then I text back, "check both flower pots". You get the idea.

#8. When you arrive at the appointment. Verify his info, then take his picture and a picture of the vehicle and text it to your point person. They should be waiting for this. If they don't get your info, they immediately send the secret text. If you don't respond or respond the wrong way, they immediately call the police.

Is this fool proof? I am sure it isn't-- nothing really is. But, this sure puts us in a better position!

Pass this around, print it, reblog it, copy it in any way you want. You never know what women you might save!

THIS IS AN ADDITION AS I THOUGHT IT WAS GOOD INFORMATION

Dawn Maloney had some good advice:

Check out their name on www.pipl.com, google.com or 123people.com - she actually kept herself from showing a serial rapist a home by doing this. Thank you Dawn!!

Brian Block said:

I'd highly suggest to you, and all women (and men) to read the book "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin de Becker. I can't recommend it enough. This book will change your perspective on the world and make you more aware of your surroundings and how you can prevent dangerous situations.

News Release: Missing Active Rainer Makes an Apperance - Tami Vroma

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:00:01 -0500

It feels good to be missed . . . . . . .

I have gotten several emails inquiring . . . "Tami where have you been?" I still find it unbelievable that people you have never really met in person actually notice your missing on line presence. Well the answer to why I haven't been on Active Rain is pretty simple. Life totally went crazy--everything that could happen, happened; everything that could break broke.

First my, daughter graduated from high school. That, in and of itself sounds, so simple. Let me tell you that it isn't!! It takes a ton of time to put together initiations, especially when you don't have your family addresses and such together. Then you add in the whole graduation party thing--planning, preparing, cleaning up the yard, buying food, making food, etc, etc--you don't realize how much time it takes! We went with an e-invitation and it was huge hit. Everyone said it was 10 times better than getting the card in the mail!

Check out the e-card we sent out. The first page pictures load really slow-if you let it sit they will come up. If you mouse over the pics, you can make them bigger. At the end is video, wait until the music is done playing to click it. That's my girl singing!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Second, my new assistant quite. That was a killer. She didn't like how real estate is really slow and then bam . . you work like crazy for days. She had actually wanted to be a Realtor . . .not so much anymore. I decided to go back to just paying for a listing to go up but then I had to go through trying to find a virtual assistant. I avoided that for a long time. Because I had so many other things going on. We solved that, my 18 year old daughter is working for me. I don't know if it is going to work out but she needs a job and she definitely knows her way around the computer (see number 5 below). I figured if it doesn't work out, I seriously don't want to take the time to train someone again so I took the time to do video training tutorials--at least if it doesn't work out I don't have to take the time to train again.

Third, one side of our duplex opened up. Man I hate it when that happens!! We needed to put in a new floor in the kitchen because the worst renter I had ever had put in linoleum squares (without asking) and caulked around the outside. All the squares were pealing up and he caulked, yes I said caulk and it was white to boot and against wood, around the outside and it looked like crap. Then there is all the painting and ads to get up to get it rented, dealing with the tenant that moved that didn't feel she she should have to pay for the holes bunched in the door or the cleaning that didn't get done. That was a real time sucker!!

Fourth, my little laptop died, my phone died and my printer/scanner/fax died. Serious time suckers because I really hate learning curves. I had to get used to Vista--by the way, I still hate Vista. The phone thing was a serious time sucker because it really dominoed a chain of events. I had to change from a Palm platform for a calendar to Outlook so I had to learn Outlook calendar. Nothing transferred right and I had to renter all my appointments. And of course when I got the new laptop, I knew I had to finally update to Office 2007. So I now have the Blackberry pretty much down pat and have to admit that I have finally joined the ranks of Crackberry fans all over the world. I absolutely love that I can answer emails in a traffic jam instead of just sitting there. I realized that Outlook is really powerful with tasks and managing my contacts. I am still learning that and still haven't put 2007 on my desk top computer. 2007 is really different so I am working on the new laptop to try and learn that before I put it on my desktop and have to know it.

Fifth, I took a SEO Above and Beyond with Katarina Gassett! I loved it!! Loved it loved it!! So much so that I built a whole new web site!! I also manage the forums for her with each class--wich I also love! I am so looking forward to her next class that starts September 2. I loved her class when I took it the first time. When I helped her with the second class, I loved it again and it was the same exact class--I still learned more. I am looking forward to helping her with the third round of students and managing the forums because I learn something every single time!! I am telling you all . . . . . if you haven't taken it . . . . do it!!! Her boot camp is also coming up and I am totally geeked about that also!! If you are interested shoot me an email or give me a call. Katerina has her hands a little full right now but I would love to tell you why I loved it so much!

Sixth, and this is a big one. My daughter took FIRST in Web Design in Dallas, Texas three weeks ago. My daughter, if you can believe, is the top student web designer in the nation!! This one requires it's own post!!

I have not been on my horse once since the beginning of June which is sad because here in Michigan, we don't ride much in the winter-- it is just to darn cold. I have missed several camping trips because I had to stay home and work. But I count myself as lucky because at least I am working!! A lot of agents aren't.

The good thing is that the learning curve is almost over and not so severe and frustrating, the daughter is graduated, the college is picked out, the duplex is rented, the Blackberry is learned, the scanner is scanning, the new lap top is set up and life is coming under control. It is still busy but that is ok with me!! Winter will come soon enough and it will slow down. But I am excited for any extra time so that I can put into action all the things I am learning with Katerina!!

If your going through hell . . .keep on goin . . don't slow down

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 20:44:49 -0600

Every once in a while I like to do a post on who I am besides Tami Vroma, Grand Rapids Real Estate Specialist.

Today I was driving back from doing a walk through on house that is due to close next week (thank you God!). A song came on the radio that put a lump in my throat and I felt the tears start to well up. It wasn't the usual song that would bring a women to tears but it reminded me that I have been through worse than this real estate market. Only God knows what the next year will bring but nothing will compare to that period in my life 5 years ago when I begged my husband to put me in our local mental institution.

My son was completely out of control. I did not understand what was going on because the same rules were in place for him as they were for my daughter. My son would rage. He was destructive. He was ten years old and our family was going under.

At the same time my husband was not working regularly, I was starting a new real estate career, our tenant had done $6000 damage to one side of our duplex and the other side was not rented. To say I was a little stressed would be an understatement.

I was feeling extreme despair. Though my son was out of control most of the time, he had a golden retriever that was always by his side, no matter how cruel my son was to him. He would get put in the corner and the dog would go and lay by him. Honestly, it seemed the dog was the only one that could stand him when he was raging. The dog was extremely emotional also- when we left we would have to tie him up in the basement or he would potty on the floor.

My breaking point came on a super-bowl Sunday. We had went after church to work on putting the duplex back together and then we were going to head to a super bowl party. This day would be the worst day of my life--everything went into slow motion as my son came up the stairs saying Tanner was dead. He had run himself in a million circles and had hung himself and my ten year old son had found his dog.

I remember sliding to the floor begging my husband to put me in Pine Rest. I couldn't take anymore- I was at my breaking point. My husband picked me up off the floor with tears streaming down his face. "You can not go to Pine Rest and leave me with him because I don't know what I would do to him." Him being our son-our life was so far out of control.

Shortly after the dog died, my son got in trouble at school yet again. He was raging and I had to get him up a flight of stairs to his room. On the way up he was kicking me, biting me, pulling my hair, scratching me and punching me. We fell several times as foul words, that we don't use in our home, streamed from his mouth. Our regular routine was to get him up to his room and sit on him where we would wait until the rage would come to an end.

This time was different. I had small children here and did not want them hearing the F-bomb so I put my hand over his mouth. He bit me and would not let go. I had to slap his face in order to get him to let go. This was our life. It sucked.

The next day he went to school and told them I beat him because he had a bruise on his face. I was horrified that I had done that until I realized that the bruise was on the wrong side of his face for me to have done it but the machine was set in motion and I was investigated by protective services. It was a scary experience but protective services knew that something was off. As I stood there terrified they were going to take my daughter away, the case worker hugged me and offered to help.

I learned that day that God has a plan for everything. Had my son not turned me in to protective services, we never would have been offered help by protective services and we never would have found out he was bi-polar. So we started our journey of finding the right meds. Once we found the right meds, life got much better. Still more than most can handle but way, way better than the past few years had been.

But life was about to offer us another punch in the gut. We noticed a large hump on my sons back so we took him to the doctor. You can always tell when something is serious by the look on your doctors face and by the fact that he won't tell you anything and you get into a specialist within days.

We took him to the specialist and I was in shock as they described how my son's spine was curved to the point that it could compromise his life. I was stunned as they described how he would need to have a titanium rod put in his back and how they would fuse his spine. As if this kid didn't have enough going on we were put on yet another roller coaster. To make matters worse, everything he loved would be gone. No more motor cycle, no more snow boarding, no more skate boarding. The spine will have no flex. Great one more thing to make a very angry kid even more angry.

So we went down that road and my son had the surgery. At one point we almost lost him because the morphine had suppressed his system. I am pretty sure that night took 10 years off my life span. It was at that time the song by Rodney Atkins came out. I would just sing it and keep moving in the hospital and on the days after where my son had to use a walker to walk. It was my montra. I would sing it with tears running down my face . . .but I kept moving. . . .and tried not to show I was scared and kept hiding from the devil by repeating Romans 5:3-5 over and over again. I was building some major character here!

We made it through those times and today my son is one of the lights of my life. He was the number 1 JV runner on his cross country team last year and he is an incredible kid to be around. He is still a teenager but where I used to wish for just 5% of happy times with him, now I have 100% times of happiness. Even when he is angry he is joy because I am so darn proud of how well he handles his anger now. He is a different kid with an incredible smile and we have a new life.

One more thing--I have the most incredible friends one could ever have. It was my freinds who came and helped my husband bury the dog and it was my friends that kept my husband and I going. Friends are the most incredible thing in the world and I have THE MOST incredilble!

So while I don't know what the next year may bring and things are really tight here . . . .it isn't anything compared to where we have been!!

Enjoy the video and sing it to yourself when you aren't sure if you can put one foot in front of the other--God is there.

What would be your one piece of advice in hiring a Realtor to sell a home in the Grand Rapids Real Estate Market?

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 11:41:46 -0600

If you had to give one piece of Advice for Hiring a Grand Rapids Realtor, what would it be?

Isn't it interesting how people love to ask questions in elevators? Being one of those people who can talk to anyone and being a Realtor in the the Grand Rapids Real Estate Market, the question I hear the most is, "If you had to give one piece of advice for a seller interviewing agents to sell their Grand Rapids Home, what would it be?"

That's easy . . . .HIRE ME!! Ok all kidding aside, it is a question that is very easy to answer and one I have been answering the same for several years!

If I had to give just one piece of advice on hiring an agent to sell a home in this difficult West Michigan housing market it would be to Google the agents name.

While there are a lot of important considerations to make, this one will certainly tell you what decade the agent is operating in. The days of the Realtor being the keeper of all the information pertaining to a house are gone! It used to be, the only way to find out the listing price on a house, was to call a Realtor and ask. The internet has changed that idea tremendously. No longer are Realtors the keepers of the information. They are distributors of the information.

Will your realtor know how to distribute that information out on the world wide web to market your home to its fullest potential?

So what does Googling their name have to do with anything? What it will show you is what type of on-line presence they have. An agent who has very few hits on their name is not one that has a huge presence. The probability of being able to Google one of their listing addresses and have information come up is slim to none. One site is not enough because different buyers search in different areas.

When you Google a name, put it in quotes. Jennifer Kassick could return, Hal Kassick, but if you Google "Jennifer Kassick", the search will make sure the first and last name are kept together. Once you have your list of hits, look to see if it has to do with real estate. So what is a good number of hits? When my name is Googled, "Tami Vroma", there are 3,890 hits. This is something I have worked on for over 5 years. The agents with hits in the 1000's take internet marketing very seriously.

There are a lot of Grand Rapids homes for sale, so this is not the only parameter you should use to guide yourself when hiring an agent but it will certainly give you a good place to start. For more guidance on hiring your Grand Rapids Realtor, check out my series, How to Hire a Grand Rapids Realtor.

Photo Attribute: Elevator; Google

West Michigan Short Sales - FAQ's for Buyers and Sellers

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 14:11:06 -0600

West Michigan Short Sales - FAQ's to buying and selling in the West Michigan Real Estate Market

The West Michigan real estate market is loaded with listings that are termed, "short sales". You hear it all the time. "They are selling their house on a short sale". So what exactly does it mean? Is selling it short as opposed to selling it long . . .well no not really. What does a seller need to know about selling a short sale in the Greater Grand Rapids Real Estate Market? Are there things a buyer should know about purchasing a short sale in West Michigan? This is part I on a series of information both buyers and sellers should know when considering purchasing a home that is a short-sale and selling a home as West Michigan Short Sale.

Most would agree there is no good way to lose a home. If there were one best way to lose a home, a short sale would probably be the least damaging to the credit score. It has been said that when you sell a house at short-sale, you could potentially get on your feet and purchase a new home in 12-18 months. If your home forecloses, you have 7 years of bad credit. It has also been explained like a car accident. In some accidents the car is fixable, you may have to wait a while to get it back from the body shop, but it is fixable. In some car accidents the car is totaled, there is nothing you can do to fix the car. A short sale is much like a fixable accident.

So what exactly is a short sale? A short sale is when a home owner is asking the bank to take less than the actual amount owed on the home loan, so that the home may be sold instead of foreclosed. For example, Mr. Smith bought his home in 2006 for $200,000 and financed it 100%. He still owes $198,000 on the home. He has lost his job and has been struggling to make the payments and finds he can no longer make the payments. He has had the home listed at $200,000 for a month but there has not been one call. His Realtor tells him the home is only worth $140,000 in this market. If he drops the price down to $140,000 and he gets an offer for $140,000, his realtor will be negotiating a short sale with the bank.

There is another home for sale in West Michigan that I want--can I just sell my home short so that I can purchase that one? It is not that simple. You can not just request a short-sale because you want to purchase another home. Short-sales are for people who are no longer able to make the payments on their home and who do not have the funds to make up the difference. It is not for the person who just wants a different home. There are certain criteria that must be met. In addition, for a short sale to even be considered, you generally already have to be behind on your mortgage payments. In that case, your credit would already be damaged and the likelyhood of finding a lender to loan you the money for the new house is slim to none.

Will the home owner be responsible for bringing the deficeit amount to close? If the owner does not have the money, the answer is usually no. One of the biggest jobs of a Realtor in the West Michigan Real Estate market is to negotiate with the bank for the short-sale. The bank is usually more apt to accept a short-sale because the cost of selling the house short is much less than the home foreclosing. A good realtor with a negotiating team can usually get the bank to accept only the amount offered on the home. Many times this leaves the seller in a position to purchase a smaller home in which they can afford the payment in just a few short months.l

Why would I want to negotiate with the bank to owe anything . . .if it forecloses I don't have to pay anything? The number one reason you do not want a house to foreclose is that it will destroy your credit for up to 7 years or more. In addition, the bank has every right to come after you for the entire amount. In the case of a short sale, the bank has negotiated that, in exchange for a small sum of money, they will consider the debt cleared. It will all depend on the terms of your negotiations.

Are all banks the same and do they all have the same rules? Absolutely not! Each institution has its own set of rules and criteria for accepting a short sale. What works for one bank may not work for another bank. It is important to understand that not all short-sales will be approved. It is a long and tedious process that sometimes ends in disappointment. It may take anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months to get an approval on a West Michigan Short sale.

What is the process for working toward selling my West Michigan home in a short sale? Check out the next installment in this series as we examine how to sell your West Michigan home as a short sale.

Photo Attributes: Picture 1; Picture 2

How to price a home in the Grand Rapids Real Estate Market

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 10:13:03 -0600

How to price a home in the Grand Rapids Real Estate Market

When an agent arrives at a price to list your Grand Rapids home at, he or she should share with you how he arrived at the figure. What facts from the West Michigan Real Estate market did he share with you to help you make an educated decision? An agent who comes in and gives you a figure without data and expects you to just believe him because he knows the market, is not giving you an active part in deciding the listing price of your Grand Rapids Home.

You should feel as if you’re Grand Rapids Real Estate agent is your partner. You should take an active part In deciding the listing price of your home. It is up to the agent to share with you, in detail, how he arrived at the price. By understanding the process of pricing your home, you will feel more confident in the decisions you make.

So how do you arrive at a price for your Grand Rapids Home?

Pricing a home is like a puzzle. No one piece by itself creates the picture. It is only when you view all the pieces together that the picture makes sense. Sometimes, you can tell what the picture of a puzzle will look like if it is a missing a small piece. But if the big piece is missing, it may be impossible to decipher the image. One piece ff the puzzle may be more important than others to decipher the image. It is the same way in pricing a home in the Grand Rapids Real Estate market.

One of the first pieces of information your prospective agent should share with you are what the prices of the homes in your West Michigan neighborhood have sold for in the 30 days prior. It is important to try and stay within 30 days but there are situations where you may need to lengthen that time frame. These homes should be like yours in size, amenities, and location. Some things that should also be considered are the age, the architectural style of the home, and the type of basement (full, daylight, walkout, slab). There are so many things to consider and this is where your prospective agents expertise will come in. This will give you an average sold price for your type of home.

Please realize, this list of comparables will almost certainly contain Grand Rapids Foreclosures and Grand Rapids Short Sale Homes. You must consider these foreclosed homes in your comparables because when your home is listed you will be competing with those foreclosed homes. When the comparables have been chosen, a large piece of the puzzle is able to be deciphered but it will take the other pieces to make it clear and easy to see.

When the comparables are chosen, there will be an average price per square foot. This price can be skewed for several different reasons. Your perspective agent should be able to explain to you why and what would cause these figures to be skewed. There are many different factors that could cause this. One cause is the difference between TFLA (total finished living area) and the ANSI (stands for American National Standard Institute but means square footage above ground on all sides). A finished or finishable basement will skew the figures and should be taken into consideration. Once you know the average price per square foot, you should be able to arrive at a price that will add to puzzle helping you to decide what the list price should be. Remember one piece in and of itself does not determine the price you need to look at all the pieces.

Another piece of the puzzle here in the West Michigan Real Estate market, is to look at the assessed value. The comparables that were chosen and were like your home will have a percentage that they sold over the assessed value. This percentage can then be applied to your assessed value to come up with another price that will help you determine the price of your house. Remember, you can not look at only one piece because naturally, you would go for the higher price.

Lastly, your agent should be able to supply you with statistical information on what your home has done as far as appreciation in your Grand Rapids Real Estate market.. The percentage of increase or decrease can be applied to the sale price of your home when you purchased it or when you got an appraisal.

For example, lets say that you purchased your West Michigan home in January 2003 for $100,000. The appreciation values for the next 5 years were as follows:

+3%, +4%, +2%, -1%, -6%.

$100,000 x 3% = $3000 At the end of 2003 your West Michigan Home was worth $103,000

$103,000 x 4% = $4120 At the end of 2004 your West Michigan Home was worth $107,120

$107,120 x 2% = $2142 At the end of 2005 your West Michigan Home was worth $109,262

$109,262 x -1% = $-1,093 At the end of 2006 your West Michigan Home was worth $108,169

$108,169 x -6% = $-6,490 At the end of 2007 your West Michigan Home was worth $101,679

Your home is now worth almost what you paid for it unless you completely refurbished it or added square footage.

You would now have 4 numbers to compare. Let’s say we got the following numbers:

Average Sale Price $96,000

Average Price by Square Footage $110,000

Percentage of Assessed Value $108,000

Appreciate Rate $101,679

You can tell that the price o f your Grand Rapids Home should be set somewhere between $96,000 and $108,000.

This is where your prospective agents experience should come in. He or she has been in many Grand Rapids homes for sale and will know how they compare. He will consider all the different factors that may skew and arrive at price he feel comfortable suggesting to you.

By going through the process with you and keeping you informed and involved, you will not onlt feel an important part of the relationship but will understand WHY your prospective agent suggested the listing price he or she did. It is also important to note that this is my process and some agents may have different ways of arriving at a suggested price. As long as they share with you and you understand, all is good because pricing a home in the Grand Rapids real estate market can be difficult and it is important you are on board.

Would you like to have an analysis of your Grand Rapids Home Value? I can sit down with you and price out your West Michigan home so you can be a partner in selling it!! When you go Grand Rapids Home Value, fill out the form and an analysis of your West Michigan home will be done. This is an analysis very specific to your home. When sellers look up information on the many real estate sites, it is very generic and can be thousands and thousands of dollars off.

Read the first in this series - How NOT to hire a Grand Rapids Real Estate Agent

Picture Attribution

TRAM Report - Follow Up- Horses were first in Grand Rapids, MI

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 09:33:24 -0600

Last Saturday we traveled from Grand Rapids, MI to Midland, MI to take part in becoming one voice for our right to ride. As you could tell from my previous article, I was excited!

I would love to give you a glowing report and tell you that the TRAM (Trail Riders Alliance of Michigan) meeting went wonderfully!! Not so much!!! And it makes me so sad because they truly have the right idea. The people that traveled all distances to fight for our "Right to Ride" were very passionate . . when they entered the meeting.

Presentation is everything in a meeting. How you present things will either make or break a meeting. In this case it broke it . . . badly.

The meeting basically started out with an hour of saying thank you to the people who supported them. Then there were presentations by all kinds of different organizations. Michigan Horse Council, The Michigan Horsemen PLU, Michigan Equine Partnership, and many other organizations spoke. The people in the room were constantly trying to write down these names thinking, "Oh this is the one voice".

There were presentations from lawyers and representatives and many others that spoke very passionately about protecting our right to ride. There were a lot of people in the room that can make a huge difference in our fight to keep our trails. The problem was the structure of the meeting.

I got frustrated and got up to clear my head and ended up taking to one of the organizers--possibly Connie Frey from Lansing. My first question was who is our 'one voice'? She then explained to me that while TRAM was a good idea, it became clear that they didn't need to reinvent the wheel. They had found the Back Country Horsemen that was a national organization.

She went on to tell me that in order to be a part of BCH, the state had to have at least two chapters. So they formed the first chapter, "Back Country Horsemen Pigeon River and Beyond". The now needed to form another chapter so that MI had two chapters. They were encouraging people to join their chapter so another chapter could break off of theirs. Too bad very few in the room understood this.

The entire time she was explaining, I felt sad. Once again they were dead on in what they were trying to attempt but they were going about it the wrong way. I explained to her that they should have started out the meeting explaining what was going on. TRAM was no more and that BCH was now the "one voice". I explained to her that the human phyche will see "Pigeon River". The "and Beyond" part will not be translated. They will decide right then and there that this is only about Pigeon River and not all the other places that were loosing trails in Michigan. She kept saying, no they need to see the "and beyond" part. Unfortunately that is not the way the human mind works.

The goal, I believe, was to get two BCH chapters so that then we could have a BCH of Michigan that is under the national.

By this time they were taking questions at the mic. I went up and told them you have a whole lot of really confused people here. The rumble around was definitely with me. I then went on to explain the direction I had been told they were headed in--and it was a good direction. Then Cynthia Kieliszewski got up and started yelling ''no' that TRAM was no more--which is exactly what I had said. She was seriously yelling and seemed extremely unprofessional to me. In the end, we just left the meeting. I have no idea how it will pan out.

The other thing I thought interesting, was that the flyer they gave us to join BCH Pigeon River & Beyond, did not have one phone number or email address on it--not even a website.

Things could have gone so much differently had plans had been made for a smooth presentation. It is all in the understanding of how the human mind thinks. People were there to hear one voice. It could have been accomplished had they immediately laid out their plan to get one voice.

I left my card and told them to call me if they wanted help getting word out about the next meetings and help structuring the next meeting, I would be glad to help. There is also a way to structure a voice on line--all us bloggers know it. There are forums we could put together to meet online regularly--all things I know how to do and how to set up. It is doubtful Miss Cynthia would allow that to happen. It is sad, so sad!! There was a room full of people eager to ban together and in the end they didn't know who to ban with.

So we started our 2 hour trek back to the Grand Rapids Michigan area!

Photo Courtesy -Horses Meet

Horses were here first in Michgan . .Grand Rapids and everywhere!

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 10:01:46 -0600

Riding a horse in Michigan these days seems to be one heck of a battle. Living in a small town outside of Grand Rapids, called Allendale, makes it no different then any where else in Michigan. My home is located on 7 acres bordered by State Land. Many of you have seen my posts, "From my Back Window". What you see in the back is all state land. Most would think I couldn't have a more perfect place to ride . . .NOT!

Three years ago it was owned privately, but we had secured permission to ride the land as long as it wasn't during hunting season--not a problem . .who wants to be out in the woods with gun's going off? Then the state came in and bought the land in connection with Duck's Unlimited. Stupidly, we were ecstatic thinking we would now be able to ride anytime we wanted. The first day the land was owned was January 1. We headed out with a neighbor to enjoy the river and the beautiful snow in the trees only to be stopped by a DNR representative and told to get off! WHAT??!?!?!!

Apparently, the land was to be used as a duck preserve and we weren't allowed on it. The next day there were signs on the back of our property with no horses on them. We talked to everyone we knew who was with Duck's Unlimited, and we knew a lot people. Not one person we talked to cared if we were on the land as long as . . you guessed it . . not during hunting season!! Not a problem!!!

Riding a horse has become such a big deal. Everyone is so scared of being sued. About 4 miles from me is Bass River Recreation area an Equestrian riding area in Allendale, MI. It is actually a part of the land that is behind me. The problem is, we have to hook up the trailer to the truck and load everything up. There is a way there by skirting privately owned land but more than half of the people didn't want us to ride on their land for fear of being sued.

Here in Michigan it has gotten out of control and we are fighting for our right to ride!

Recently, the state all but closed one of the most beautiful riding areas in Michigan. Pigeon River State Forest had one premier riding areas in the state of Michigan. Not only were there miles and miles and miles of trails but there were also sightings of the majestic elk. It the most incredible feeling to ride up to one of those animals--I know . .I've done it! Our state forests are being closed to us one by one by one!

Why do you ask are they closing the state parks to horses? The DNR has claimed user conflict because the horses are transferring noxious weeds and in the case of Pigeon River, are driving the elk from the land. WHAT?!?!!

First of all,horses were here before the all the government rules and land use acts. Our heritage started on horses. Transportation was by horse. Police, firemen . .everyone used horses. Before the existence of cars, man depended on horses. Horses and men have coexisted for years on the same land. I am pretty sure that horses in the 1800's also ate and hence left road apples. Now it is all about horses transferring noxious plants with their road apples.

On Saturday, February 7, 2009, I will travel to Midland to attend a meeting in which they will be laying the foundation for a group called TRAM "Trail Riders Alliance of Michigan". It will be held at Dow Diamond (825 E. Main, Midland)from 2-5 pm. If you would like to fight for your right to ride, please join us as we form an alliance so that we can preserve our right as one united voice.

Photos Courtesy of Seattle Municipal Archives, Claudia Crane's via Flcikr Lady on horse is blog writer

January is Radon Awareness Month in Michigan

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:25:48 -0600

January is radon awareness month in Michigan. How do I know? Because I just had one of my buyers perform a radon inspection on their potential brand new house . . . . and guess what? The levels were at 15.7 which is almost four times the legal limit.

What does this mean? It means the builder will have to install a system of venting the gas out. It is a relatively easy fix but it MUST be done. Much like your furnace that emits carbon monoxide and is vented out, the radon gas can also be safely vented out. Check out this cool animation that explains radon and how it is vented out HERE.

Many don't even know what radon is. Simply put, radon is a gas by-product of the breakdown of uranium. The gas gets into the soil and it comes up through the foundation of a home. Be aware that radon could care less if your home is 100 or newly built. Every home should be tested before purchase. If you have never done a radon test on your home, HERE is a list of agencies who provide the kits for free.

Take radon seriously. The EPA estimates that 21,000 people per year die from lung cancer caused by radon gas. Would you allow your furnace to run and emit that CO2? Of course NOT!! So if your test comes up positive, just get it taken care of! So how do they do it? This website HERE has some great pictures that explain how the venting system works.

My clients asked an interesting question with regard to radon that I had never heard asked before. How does radon effect your water if you have a well? Hmmm good question I had never thought of. What did cross my mind right away was the fact that radon is a gas so I didn't think it would have anything to do with it. But I want to watch out for the best interest of my client and my thoughts on the this matter don't really count! I wanted to talk to a professional on the subject!

So my first call was to the Kent County Health Department. I talked to sanitarian specialist, Steve Petrides who told me that in some areas of the world, radon is a concern in the water--Michigan is not one of them!!! He went into a long explanation which was way over my head but what it came down to was that the concentrations are extremely small. For further explanation you would need to call him!

Here are some more Radon Links

Radon FAQ

Radon Spotlight

Disclaimer: This blog is written by a real estate agent and is no way intended to be used to make serious decisions regarding radon. It is recommended you call your health department and speak to them directly.

Pictures used by permission of RadonGrandRaids

West Michigan Active Listings decreasing!!

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:46:18 -0600

There is enough bad news in West Michgan so we are going to look at some positive news! The number of active listings in the West Michigan Area have decreased for SIX months in a row. That is very good news! The Five Star brokers sent this out today--they are choosing to have a good attitude and are looking at the bright side!

What does that mean for the average consumer? It means that there is less inventory to compete with. We are by no means out of the woods as we still have a lot of inventory but seeing a downward trend in the number of listings is a step in the right direction!! Any step in the right direction needs to be celebrated!!

Now I know there will be those of you who will want to point out that the bank controlled numbers are still high! I will grant you, that is true but I am choosing to concentrate on the good!!

Here is a chart that shows the numbers:

My scanner isn't scanning right--sorry for the image being crooked!

Texas Hold'Em Poker to Benefit Allendale Choir/Band Disney 2009 Performance

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 09:54:39 -0600

News Flash: 4-day Texas Hold'em event is scheduled to benefit the Allendale Band and Choir!

You may be wondering why the Band and Choir is working so feverishly to raise money! Did you know that the Allendale Public School Choir and Band was selected to perform at Disney World in the spring 2009? It is quite and honor that has been bestowed on these kids. My own daughter is a part of the Chamber Choir-- I am so proud of her. If you want to check out a performance, you are cordially invited to listen to their Christmas Concert HERE.

We have been selling key cards and pastries and now The Allendale Music Boosters are teaming up with the Holland Poker Zone to raise more money. Here are some of the details:

January 3-6, 2009

4-day Texas Hold'em event (Lic #M44217)
All proceeds to benefit the

Band & Choirs’ Spring 2009 Disney Performance

We will be playing cash games, tournaments and blackjack on the following days:

Saturday, January 3, 12noon - 1am
Sunday, January 4, 2pm - 1am
Monday, January 5, 4pm - 1am
Tuesday, January 6, 4pm - 1am

The Poker Zone offers daily cash games $20 - $300 buy-in all day and tournaments every day!

Poker Zone Hours!

Monday 4pm – 1am

Tuesday 4pm – 1am

Wednesday 4pm – 1am

Thursday 4pm – 1am

Friday 4pm – 1am

Saturday 12noon – 1am

Sunday 2pm – 1am

Tournaments Every Day!

Monday - $30 Turbo 7pm

Tuesday - $50 Borgata 7pm

Wednesday - $40 Rebuy 7pm

Thursday - $30 & $5 Knockout 7pm

Friday - $60 & $10 Knockout 7pm

Saturday (Double Charity) $30 turbo 2pm & $100 Main Event 7pm

Sunday - $60 & $10 Knockout 7pm

The Holland Poker Zone is located at the Holland Outlet Center between Branns and Star Theater.

For further information see:

www.hollandpokerzone.com

616 396-6960

We hope to see you there!

Allendale Public Schools Music Boosters

My talented daughter . . . .a shameless plug.

Sat, 27 Dec 2008 09:44:25 -0600

I have been working on an outside blog called Blessed by Horses. It is a blog about my horse activities. It is a blog I did just for myself and I thought it would give just a little more insight as to who I am. I guess it would be my personal blog.

It isn't ready yet as I am still in the learning stage with Wordpress. You are more than welcome to check it out by clicking on the header above but it is nothing special . . yet!

What I really wanted to show you is the work my daughter did in about 15 minutes flat. She made my header for me. She is a wiz with Adobe Photo Shop and she taught herself. She is currently attending Career Line Tech Center in Holland Michigan where she is in Web Design. I wish she had a portfolio that I could direct you to but she has not gotten that far. I have encouraged her to start a new Wordpress blog so that she can start showcasing her work . . but . . alas . . Mom still knows nothing.

She graduates from high school in six months and then she will be attending Baker College where she will be majoring in Web Design and Graphic Design. Last week she went to a competition at Baker College and took a first place in Graphic Design and a 2nd place in Web Design.

She is currently designing the web site for Fusion Hair and Tanning that will be ready soon. She has shown me what she has done and it is so cool!!! When it is complete, I am going to do a blog on it. It amazes me what my little girl can do. If anyone is interested in her designing a header for you, just let me know. She said the cost would depend on what you want done.

News Flash . . .West Michigan Disappears off the map!

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 14:40:38 -0600

West Michigan has disappeared. No longer does the state look like a mitten. It is being called the Alaska syndrome. Word has it that West Michigan does still exist but it is buried under several inches feet of snow. The city's started disappearing first. It has been reported that each neighbor kept shoveling mounds of snow so high on each side of the drive that avalanches have occur ed and buried entire neighborhoods.

Ok I am going to gripe. I'm unabashedly looking for pity. Most of you who know me, know that I don't complain. WELL I AM GOING TO COMPLAIN. I am sick to death of all this snow!! I get text messages sent to my phone whenever there is a weather alert. Mostly, it is for the summer because I have a nasty habit of driving into tornadoes. But I have been getting two and three weather alerts daily for weeks. Into the late hours of the night, my phone is going off.

This is my friend on a ride yesterday in Grand Haven, MI on a full size horse - not a pony!

This video was from last week when we went to get a CHRISTmas tree. This guy slid off the driveway where the trees were at. Of course he sees us in our 4WD and thinks life is good!! So did we. We love to help people out. USUALLY we just hook on a strap and pull them out in seconds flat. NO NOT THIS TIME! It was so icy that the 4WD couldn't dig in. We had to haul him along until he got to the drive so we could force him up. It was truly comical! We did end up getting the guy out--he tried to pay us but we wouldn't take it. I'm not taking money from someone when it cost me nothing to help him.

Today, I thought about canceling an appointment to show houses to a couple for the second time. I REALLY wanted to show them houses-they sounded like such nice kids. But I REALLY didn't want to end up in the ditch either. I finally decided to take the darn 4WD and just go!! On the way I saw about 12 cars in the ditch and the finale . . .a jack knifed semi on the highway! Flippin' lovely!

If you can believe it, it gets worse! We have a big snow blower that attaches to our garden tractor. Our drive is way beyond shoveling or even using a little snow blower! It would kill it quickly, there is just too much there. Our snow blower broke . .can you believe it?!!? The belt broke! Now just a belt breaking is not a big deal. I have a husband that can fix anything and I mean anything! BUT NO PLACE ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH CAN YOU PURCHASE THE STUPID BELT RIGHT NOW!! We have to order it!

ORDER IT!! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND? It will take 3-4 days to get it. By then, we will be buried in snow. We are suppose to get 6 more inches tonight and it is suppose to keep coming tomorrow!! Do you know how much snow we already have???!?!! Look at the pictures. That was from last week folks!! It has been snowing for 5 solid days since then!!

Ok . . you all know I am an eternal optimist so I do have to look on the bright side. This is going to be awesome for Lake Michigan. Water levels have gone down so much that people are destroying props when they put their boats in. This will really help!

The other bright side is that the schools are off for Christmas so they aren't using up a ton of snow days so they have to keep going in June. My daughter would be beside herself . . she graduates in June!

Another bright side is that it will make for an awesome blog about our local cross country skiing and sledding place. I am already forming that one in my mind and have the cam corder primed and ready. I can't wait for you all to see it!

And see I just thought of another plus . . .I can get out my cross country skis. I haven't been able to use them for two years because we haven't had enough snow. WELL WE GOT ENOUGH NOW!

Allendale, MI 12/20/08 3 feet of snow!

Everyone should see this . . you think you got it bad!??!?!?

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:36:21 -0600

There are people out in the world who don't view the glass as half full. It is always half empty. There are people in this world who think that their problems are the worst. . .no one could have it worse than me! They wallow in their own self pity. Have you ever seen someone get so mad about something so stupid and then wondered if they have ever had a real problem in their life? If they can get so angry over something so trivial, how are they going to deal with a REAL problem?

This is an incredible story about getting back up again. The man in this story is THE story about the glass being half full! The smile on his face is incredible and the determination is immeasurable. If half the people in the world had half of his determination . . .the world would be a better place! I applaude him for what he does! He brings his story to the kids of today. So many of them have not been taught how to cope with a problem . . he is teaching them!!

If you put his name in the search bar on Youtube, there are several of him in there. I could have watched them all day long! I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!

Allendale, MI High School Presents . . . Holiday Concert 2008

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 20:53:06 -0600

Allendale, MI High School Presents . . . Holiday Concert 2008 by the HIgh School Choir, Chamber Choir and Band

Each year at this time I press my daughter, when is the Choir and Band Concert this year? I look forward to hearing the young voices so clear and beautiful. Of course my daughter is one of them so I probably tend to be a bit on the partial side!! Ok, a lot on the partial side!

This year was very special as it was the first year with our new Choir and Band director, Tony Bush. He did an absolutely incredible job and it was evident how proud he was of his students. So excited in fact that he broke his baton!

What also made it so special this year was that the Band, the High School Choir and the High School Chamber Choir all performed together. For those of you who are wondering what the difference is between the two choirs, the Chamber Choir is an elite group of young adults who possess superior strength with their voices. Each aspiring singer must audition to be a member of the group. My daughter has been member of the Chamber Choir for the last two years. Sadly, this will be her last year as graduation is six short months away. This year I listened with tears in my eyes realizing that my little girl has grown into a beautiful young lady.

They performed in the Ceglarek Fine Arts Center, which is an incredible facility attached to the main campus of the high school. It opened in April 2005, seating almost 800. It is a very beautiful facility which has incredible acoustics. We are so blessed to have our children attend such a wonderful school in an incredible community. I hope you enjoy the performance of the choir as much as we did!

And now I present to you . .. . .The Allendale, MI High School Band, Choir and Chamber Choir.

Should I list now or wait until spring ?

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 18:38:11 -0600

Even though this blog was written by a Phildelphia Realtor, everything she said applies to every region including here in Michigan. As a seller you need to take a close look at your motivations to sell because the competition is fierce. There are sometimes three years of inventory in any given neighborhood.

Ths is a great blog to help any seller decide what to do.

Via Christopher and Stephanie Somers - Realtors - Philadelphia Real Estate (RE/MAX Affiliates):

Should I list now or wait until spring ?

I received a call yesterday from a consumer who said "Chris, I know it is not a great time to sell. Should I put my properties up now or wait until spring ? " . What is interesting is that I have found myself answering this question frequently and I have been seeing the same question on Trulia Voices and Zillow discussions. So, I figured it made sense to write about it as it relates to the Philadelphia real estate market.

The first part of the answer depends on a seller's personal goals. If a seller has no place to go or plans on purchasing in the future or there are other external factors that pushes their timeline out it might make sense to wait until those answers are figured out and there is less uncertainty. This is the case for any seller at any time of the year. For the seller that called me yesterday, she has several properties to sell, one of which is her primary occupancy, two that are investment properties. She already plans on renting a place temporarily if her property sells before she relocates to North Carolina. So what should she do ? List now or wait until spring ?

Well, to me the answer is obvious. List now !!! There are six main advantages for a seller to list now in December or January instead of waiting until spring:

1. Inventory - In the spring, how many other sellers will have ended up doing the same strategy ? They may have been waiting a year or so until the market got better or perhaps just figured it was the best time to list their property. So come March, April and May, there will be that much more competition to potentially compete with ! By listing now, you avoid all that potential competition.

2. Motivated Buyers - Often many buyers will just wait until spring to start their search as well. They will just be beginning the procoess. Believe me the buyers that are out house hunting during the Thanksgiving and XMAS timeframes are serious and motivated. By listing now, you will potentially get one of these buyers to write a deal on your property !

3. Mortgage Rates - "Rates Rates Rates" as my friend Richard Stabile likes to say ! The mortgage rates right now are at 3 year lows ! The average 30 year mortgage is in the low 5s ! This is actually causing an uptick in buyer traffic and activity. I think November, December and Januaray will be end up being busier months for many agents than July - October 2008 which is an anomaly. We wrote about this in our blog post "Are we the pulse of real estate ? " and highlighted the increase in buyer traffic in our post regarding "Google Analytics" . If you list now, you will catch this wave of increased buyers shopping for houses instead of XMAS gifts since mortgage rates are so low.

4. Buyers confidence - Further, buyer confidence is starting to shift which is also increasing buyer traffic. See "5 reasons for buyers to act now" . Another cause for increase traffic is for a buyer to take advantage of the $7,500 first time homebuyer tax credit which expires in the middle of 2009. A buyer has to settle on their property before that timeframe. By listing now, you are taking advantage of this trend of increased buyer traffic.

5. Accomplish your goals now - When it is all said and done, wouldn't you rather have your house sold by March and April and moving on with your life than potentially just listing your house at that point in time. I love it when we accomplish our goals ahead of schedule - it is a great feeling. By listing now, you are positioning yourself to accomplish your goals sooner than later.

6. Reverse Fear - Lastly, not to buy into the media's doom and gloom, but there is always risk that the housing markets could deteriorate more instead of picking up by the middle of 2009. In addition, the reality of the market getting that much better in a short period of time is remote. I doubt that just by waiting until spring, a sales price could be higher by 10 percent. In fact, it could even be a little worse if you think the economy is going to deteriorate as the unemployment rate continues to skyrocket. By listing now, you avoid that extra layer of uncertainty.

What is your opinion ?

As a consumer, will you list now or wait until spring ? As an agent, what will your answer be when asked this question ? Also what additional benefits are there to list now versus waiting until spring ?

________________________________________________________

The Somers - Philadelphia Real Estate

The Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

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Oak Cabinets with a New Face - Glazed Cabinets are Beautiful

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:50:59 -0600

I reblogged a post yesterday about painting cabinets. I thought this was a perfect post because I made a really drab kitchen, really beautiful last year. I truly wish I could find the old photos for before and after but I think that was before I had a digital and only God knows where the photos are now. But I did take a picture of the cabinets in the bathroom that are still there---they looked exactly like them.

In this kitchen, we put in the two windows that are to the left of the sink. Before that there were no windows there--just another bank of cabinets. The stove also sat on this wall and dishwasher was to the right of where the stove is now. The window to the right of the sink used to be where the microwave is now and the sink was where the stove is now. The picture out those windows is way to beautiful to not be able to see all the time. In my post last week when it snowed, I showed you what I see out those windows. Check them out HERE. ~~ I made the pictures pretty big so you can see better.~~

Before I started, the cabinets were very dark colored old cabinets. In some places they were pretty beat up. Here is the process I followed to do the cabinets. First we stripped and sanded all the casings and the doors and primed them. Then I painted the cabinets and doors with an off white color. After they dried I took a meat tenderizer, screw drive and a butter knife to the cabinets and doors and gave them a stressed look. After they dried, I painted a dark brown color over the top of the white. Before it could dry I took a rag (make sure you get one that does not have lint) and wiped it off. The paint filled the cracks of the cupboards doors, the stress marks AND it filled the grain of the oak which really made it look cool. I took a close up so you can see it on one end. Unfortunately, this is where my husband painted sideways when he primed and didn't go with the grain so there is a little affect from that. After the brown dried I went over them with a clear lacquer. I chose matte lacquer but my husband liked the shiny-- you can do it what every way you like.

On one wall about 3 feet up there is waynescotting and it is also under the bar. I did the paint procedure with that also. I will say that there is a trick to it. Don't and I repeat DON'T try and do it when it is really hot. If it gets cold in the winter where you are, wait until winter because on the long runs it is hard to get the paint off before it dries. There are a few places I need to redo because I tried to do it in the summer when it was 90 out. Our air conditioning couldn't keep up.

My husband rebuilt many parts of the main cabinets. I don't know if you can tell but the microwave sets out a bit from the other cabinets because the microwave was deeper than the cabinets. We do need to finishe the trim on the upper part of the cabinet to the left of the microwave. Everything got new knobs and new hinges and we put in a new sink with a new faucet. We also retrimmed the whole kitchen with the wide moldings and the decorative tops and painted them white. My husband did trim work also but a finish carpenter showed him how to do it.

We also put new counters down. I layed the new floor which is laminate. It was so awesome to see that ugly linoleum gone. It also had a drop ceiling with those ugly plastic pieces. I ripped that out to and my husband put in recessed lighting. I also installed the ceramic tyle back splash. And then we installed stainless appliances. I love, LOVE, my stove that doesn't have a back. The old cabinets were low and we had to work with that to put the microwave in so it is a little low but with the flat cook-top it looks pretty cool! I also took the old plain glass out of the china cabinet and bought the bubble glass to put in. That really made that area look nice.

I really wish you could have seen this kitchen before ---it was U G L Y!!!! Really ugly. The counters were yellow and the cabinets were so dark. Everything was dark! I am thrilled, extremely thrilled with my new kitchen. These pictures don't do it justice but I have people I don't know dragged through my kitchen all the time so they can show their husbands what they can do with the old drabby dark cabinets.

As you can probably tell, my husband I are pretty handy people. We have always done everything ourselves because we couldn't afford to have someone else do it. When I take buyers looking at houses, I can give them all the possibilities AND I can usually explain how to do it. Although, there have been many, many times I have went and helped my clients after they purchase a home. I can always get them going with tile or paint. My husband has also shown them how to do trim work and many other things. I am probably a pretty strange women but I know how to roof a house, side a house and I can sweat two pipes together with the best of them. I can do minor electrical and I know how to drywall . . . but I hate it!! These skills come in pretty handy when helping a buyer to visualize what can be!!!

This is what I see from my sink:

Painted Cabinets ...In or Out?

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 07:07:56 -0600

This really shows how painting the cabinets can take a ho hum kitchen and make it look oohhh la la!

Via Susan Gonzalez Faux painting murals atlanta (Marietta Mural & Wall Design):

There has been a lot of debate on "to paint or not to paint". Let's face it-decorative cabinets-whether they be plain painted or fauxed- are in right now.

How many clients have you gone to and pleaded with them to change the oak wood cabinets to something more "in this century"?

There was a very good blog in August of this year by Rachel Backus about this very subject with a lot of great comments:

Wood You tell a Homeowner to Paint the Cabinets?

10 years back, white was in--and it still can make a great impact as seen on some of the before and after shots in Rachel's blog. But there are so many other options for cabinets now: from textured finishes, to hand painted designs.

Here is a kitchen I did a while back.I used a color palette that was chosen by the client and I played with the colors using different colors on the top and bottom. I designed the back splash to tie the colors together.

These were done with a foam roller.

BTW.....

We all know that you can also change the hardware to quickly and inexpensively change the look of the cabinetry. This company has original antique hardware from every era. Very, very cool stuff, and my clients love it.

Robinson's Antiques

Paint is versatile. Find a color and style that suits the room and go for it!

You know your a redneck . . . . when a 6 point buck crashes into your elementary class!

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 08:02:34 -0600

Jeff Foxworthy would have a field day with Coopersville, Michigan . . . especially this morning!

You've heard the stories young boys tell about how they got a bruise, a cut or any other wound. Why is it with boys, it has to be some spectacular thing that happened to them--even big boys! At Coopersville's East Elementary, 4th grader Drake is going to have a story to tell for a real long time on how he got a cut on his head! He got kicked in the head by a 6 point buck IN HIS 4TH GRADE CLASSROOM. He is completely fine, thank goodness, but this kid is going to have a story to tell until he is old. The best part is he has the proof to tell what happened. Toward the end of school yesterday, the deer crashed through a window as a 6 point buck but he left the classroom as a 3 point buck. Can you imagine how awesome it must be to this 10 year old who will have his memento for life. This is going to be a story he will be telling his grand children someday.

The kids in the classroom are all safe as the deer left almost as quickly as he came. There is plenty of glass to clean up, but the kids are going to have something to talk about for a long time. Even their teacher will have something to remember because it was her first year of teaching at Coopersville.

Ok, I have to tell you that Coopersville isn't THAT hick! This is a true story but we really do have all the regular ammenities. Things have grown so much since I was a kid. When I went to high school as a Bronco, we didn't have an Aribies, McDoanlds or Taco Bell and now we have them all plus a Burger King, Little Ceasers and several coffee cafe's. This little town has grown by leaps and bounds in the last twenty years. But it still has small town values and is an awesome community to grow up in! And . . . . it's a great place to hunt also . . .just don't do it in a fourth grade classroom!!!!

Photo courtesy of FreeFoto.com