www.BuyConcord.net
Buy Concord was created to encourage residents to purchase their products and services in Concord.  In this economy, it is good to support your local businesses.  The categories include:

Apparel, Automotive, Electronics, Entertainment, Food, Floral, Furniture, Gifts, Health & Beauty, Home Improvement, Hotels, Jewelry, Pets, Professional Services, Restaurants and Sports.

- Terrylynn has been a Realtor in Contra Costa County for over 32 years.  She works with Diablo Realty in Walnut Creek and is consistently a top producer.  Terrylynn is a local expert, please contact her for any Real Estate needs, or with a question about the area.

ATM Machines:
I found some websites you can look at to find No-Fee ATMs near you.  Fees can be as high as $5 a transaction, and that definitely adds up!

www.allpointnetwork.com, just enter an address or zip code to find a no-fee ATM near you.

www.moneypass.com, also includes driving directions.

Going Out:
My daughter subscribes to www.goldstar.com.  If you like going out but don't like paying full price, this site is for you.  She receives almost daily emails with discounts on events in our area.  These include comedy shows, plays, live music, art events and more. It's a great way to do fun things in your area without spending too much money!

Need more (or less) stuff?
Try www.freecycle.com.  Freecycle is a yahoo group you join for your local area.  You can post to the group asking for items you need or offering items you no longer need.  Everything just has to be free.

- Terrylynn has been a Realtor in Contra Costa County for over 32 years.  She works with Diablo Realty in Walnut Creek and is consistently a top producer.  Terrylynn is a local expert, please contact her for any Real Estate needs, or with a question about the area.

• Police in Wichita, Kansas arrested a 22 year old man at an airport hotel after he tried to pass two counterfeit $16 bills
• The Chico, California City Council enacted a ban on nuclear weapons, setting a $500 fine for anyone detonating one within city limits
• A bus carrying five passengers was hit by a car in St. Louis, but by the time police arrived on the scene, 14 pedestrians had boarded the bus and began to complain of whiplash, injuries and back pain
• When two service station attendants in Iona, Michigan refused to hand over the cash to an intoxicated robber, the man threatened to call the police. They still refused, so the robber called the police and was arrested

Statistics

• The city with the most Rolls Royces per capita: Hong Kong
• Men can read smaller print than women; women can hear better
• The amount American Airlines saved in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first class: $40,000
• State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska
• Percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28%
• Percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%
• Percentage of American men who say they would marry the same women if they had it to do all over again: 80%
• Percentage of American women who say they would marry the same men if they had it to do all over again: 50%
• The cost of raising a medium size dog to the age of eleven: $6,400
• Average number of people airborne over the US any given hour: 61,000
• Percentage of Americans who have visited Disneyland/world: 70%

- Terrylynn has been a Realtor in Contra Costa County for over 32 years.  She works with Diablo Realty in Walnut Creek and is consistently a top producer.  Terrylynn is a local expert, please contact her for any Real Estate needs, or with a question about the area.

Thanks to:
Rex Lock & Safe
3511 Clayton Road, Concord, ca
1-800-901-LOCK

Bode & Bode Lock & Safe
1215 21st Street, Sacramento, ca
916-443-1967

Tracy Lock & Safe
1020 B Street, Tracy, ca
209-839-6557

I received a mailing from my local water district reminding me it is time to reduce outdoor watering.  According to their mailer at this time of year, even if the weather is warm, we can reduce our watering to:

Lawns: 1 to two days per week
Shrubs & Trees: No more than 1 day per week

My local water district also offers coupons for discounts on garden mulch and car washes that recycle their water, rebates on high efficiency toilets and clothes washers, free water-use surveys and more.  It may be worth checking with your own local water company to see if they have freebies and/or incentives!

- Terrylynn has been a Realtor in Contra Costa County for over 32 years.  She works with Diablo Realty in Walnut Creek and is consistently a top producer.  Terrylynn is a local expert, please contact her for any Real Estate needs, or with a question about the area.

Drab to FAB...Sid Pinkerton. TLC Sid Pinkerton, New York City Sid Pinkerton. YES...He's not shy about sharing his thoughts and opinions, so don't ask if you don't want to know.  Sid tells you how to do more business with Realtor clients.  You won't want to miss it.

The tale of a Short Sale - Sold by a Realtor who believes in Staging

Series...So this is the Bathroom!

The Short Sale bathroom - drab to potential fab

This is a short sale listing I took this past month.  I know the lender will not give credit for repairs or clean up.  This one needs both, and more.  The a/c and dishwasher don't work, the disposal leaks.  The walls are dinged, corners chipped and the paint is dingy, carpet stained, pet odor and stains (eek clothes pins provided at the door) and it's dirty, debri, cobwebs, etc.

BUT I espouse to my clients, my collegues, everyone I have talked to in the last almost 20 years that EVERY home needs to be staged.  Perhaps the distressed properties need it more than any others.  SO, how much money am I the Realtor willing to invest in a property where the short sale may not be approved, I may not get any reimbursement ? (I'm going to create a presentation piece for the lender to show the results the staging brought them and see if they'll relent, I figure it's worth a try and that's another blog post.)

SO, having said all that This is the bathroom.  The mirror is delaminated and ordinarily we would probably paint the cabinets, polish the cabinets, and the room would it look better painted, yes?  But does staging better make it look like you MIGHT want to live here? 

More on the cost of all this and the other things in the rest of this series. 

- Terrylynn has been a Realtor in Contra Costa County for over 32 years.  She works with Diablo Realty in Walnut Creek and is consistently a top producer.  Terrylynn is a local expert, please contact her for any Real Estate needs, or with a question about the area.

Every year the City of Walnut Creek has an ice skating rink in the park at 1365 Civic Drive.  This year we can ice skate between November 12, 2009 and January 18, 2010.  This is their fifth year!

Public Skating Schedule:
Monday - Thursday, 11am - 9pm
Friday - Saturday, 11am - 11pm
Sunday - 11am - 9pm

Admission Rates:
Monday - Thursday, $11.00
Friday before 5pm, $11.00
Friday after 5pm, $15.00
Saturday - Sunday, $15.00
November 24-28, $15.00
December 22 - January 1, $15.00
Group rates for parties and field trips, $10.00

Special Holiday Hours:
Thanksgiving, 10am - 6pm
Christmas Eve, 10am - 6pm
Christmas Day, 11am - 6pm
New Year's Eve, 10am - 8pm
New Year's Day, 11am - 11pm

They also offer skating lessons!

Learn to Skate - Beginning December 5
Saturday mornings at 8:45am or 9:15am, 1/2 hour instruction and public session following class
$125 for six weeks of lessons, Recital on the 7th week

Parent Tot Class - Beginning December 1
Tuesday mornings from 10am - 11am, 1 parent and 1 child, 1/2 hour of instruction and 1/2 hour practice session
$100 for 7 weeks

Adult Class - Beginning December 3
Thursday evenings from 7:30-8pm, 1/2 hour instruction and public session following class. This class will be during the public session on a coned off section of the rink.
$125 for 7 weeks

- Terrylynn has been a Realtor in Contra Costa County for over 32 years.  She works with Diablo Realty in Walnut Creek and is consistently a top producer.  Terrylynn is a local expert, please contact her for any Real Estate needs, or with a question about the area.

Go ahead, pull the plug!!!

We are not so unlike many families.  It's easy to judge, but consciousness comes one thing at a time.  We've done some things like dual paned windows, solar, CFL's in the lights, but we ashamed to admit we just couldn't face getting rid of that dinosaur in the basement.  We did it!!! And whew withdrawal was tougher before we pulled the plug than it has been after.  Yes, we've been hearing that the old refrigerator in the garage is inefficient and uses too much energy... but it wasn't until the electric portion of our bill hit several hundred $$ a month that we started looking for something more to eliminate and get a handle on the issue.    Unacceptable and unconscious, but it  got our attention. 

The refrigerator with cracked seals and a motor that ran constantly to keep our water, extra cookies, extra ice and other such essentials cold winter and summer.  And the occasional turkey that wouldn't fit in the upstairs fridge when we were getting ready for Thanksgiving.  Oh and don't forget sodas for the barbecues in the summer.  After hearing the angst, pros and cons of the situation one too many times, hubby just went down and unplugged the thing, called PGE and asked them to come get it.  Hey, they will pay us $35 for the old one!  That's an incentive right there. 

Oh the drama.   NOT.  What to do, well simple really. The water - we just kept it out and put in a few bottles when we needed them, better yet, we used the refillable aluminum water bottles.   Soda -  we buy it when we have a bbq and put it in an ice chest with ice.  The turkey, well that might be a problem, but we'll order organic and pick it up before Thanksgiving and see how it works.  AHHHHHH relief, it wasn't a necessity after all. Perceived value and what an investment, the sad thing is how long we paid that extra $100 a month for cookies and ice cream, soda and an occasional turkey.  It's down right embarrasing.

Best part $100 a month or more has been coming off our utility bill.  SO the search goes on for getting that bill down, now I want more...

That leads me to look at all the other appliances that we have and how efficient they are and I found there are rebates and incentives for other appliances.  Hum,  we've started something here.

PG&E offers hundreds of rebates on energy efficiency improvements.  The rebates are available on many leading brands and the upgrades can help reduce your energy costs and lower your impact on the environment.  Let's see what we can do, I'll report back later. 

- Terrylynn has been a Realtor in Contra Costa County for over 32 years.  She works with Diablo Realty in Walnut Creek and is consistently a top producer.  Terrylynn is a local expert, please contact her for any Real Estate needs, or with a question about the area.

Lynelle, one of the most talented stagers I know.  She uses her Realtor sense and confidence and takes control, wows the client and gets them the results.  I am thrilled she'll be speaking at our Expo. 

I am not alone in being thrilled at Kate's successes in this industry.  She's been someone to watch from her introduction into the industry years ago and am proud she'll be providing her tips and wisdom live and in person.