It's a hard pill to swallow.  Your biggest investment, your home, has actually gone down in value instead of up.  Especially here in the Louisville, KY area, this has been a difficult reality.  For the two decades I've been selling real estate here in "Bluegrass Country", I've been able to show home sellers that they could count on between 3% - 6% yearly appreciation on their homes.  We've never seen the big peaks and valleys - just a conservative but dependable return on our home purchases.

Not so today. If you need to sell your home this year, the rules of the game have changed.   The bait you're throwing out there must be enticing enough to do much more than attract a few casual nibblers:

you need to put out enticing lures that will create a feeding frenzy of excited buyers anxious to grab up your home.

I'm not suggesting a "fire sale" price.  The message here is that you're in a competition with the guy next door, and around the corner, and across the street, and in the neighboring subdivision.  What's it take to be the "best home"?  Well, if I can drop another metaphor:  you're in a beauty contest.  Your home has to look gorgeous, smell wonderful, be dressed to the nines and send out that "you know you want me!" message. 

Gone are the days when you can just offer "allowances" such as carpet, wallpaper removal, paint, landscaping, etc.  That has never been the best idea, and in this competitive market it just doesn't work at all.  If you truly need to sell it's very important, if at all possible, to invest the time and the money to put your very best foot forward. 

So let your competitive nature break out!  Don't let the guy down the street grab up YOUR buyer!  By making sure your home is the most attractive, the most updated, the most competitively priced home in your neighborhood, you will create a sense of urgency among the pool of buyers wanting that all-important best value around.  And who knows?  You may even end up in a bidding war for your home.

Jacki and Jerry Shafer are "mega agents" with The Shafer Team and Keller Williams Realty Louisville East.  "Moving Families.  Building Friendships."

This is the third year I have volunteered at "Backside of the Track" at Churchill Downs, an annual fund raiser for Christ Chapel, located on the grounds at Louisville's beloved Churchill Downs.  Volunteers from several area churches, (including my church, Crestwood Baptist Church), help organize a silent and live auction in a sold out gathering at the Downs.  Patrons, many dressed in their "Derby" best,  pay $100-a-plate for delicious Kentucky-style cuisine and hear the key note speaker share the "Good News" about lives being changed and hearts being won to Jesus Christ.

Often as many as 100 people in worship each Monday, meeting the spiritual needs of the people on the "back side" who stay on the grounds of Churchill Downs and who may not otherwise get a chance to attend a worship service.  These are the people you rarely see, the behind-the-scenes people who keep Churchill Downs running smoothly.  They're the groomers, the people who clean the stalls, the men and women you may see walking the horses. 

The interdenominational service is held on Monday nights when the track employees are off work.  The service begins with praise and worship.  After the lively music, Chaplain Ken Boehm preaches to the English-speaking members of the congregation while Spanish-speaking worshippers go next door to hear the sermon in their language. 

At the fund raiser a video highlighted several people who shared how much Christ Chapel meant to them.  People who have struggled with drugs and alcohol said they didn't know if they would be alive today if it weren't for the love of Christian people who have reached out to help them and show them the love of Christ.

Monies raised have built a beautiful chapel.  Before the chapel was built in 2007, church services were held in a small recreation building on site.

The Chapel also provides a food pantry and a clothes closet to help out the needy.

Christ Chapel at Churchill Downs is part of the ministry of Race Track Chaplaincy of America, which has been in existence for 35 years.

As we here in Louisville celebrate the 135th "Run For the Roses", I feel blessed to be a small part of "Backside of the Track."

Jacki and Jerry Shafer are "mega agents" with The Shafer Team and Keller Williams Realty Louisville East.

Downtown LaGrange is always one of the first places I take my buyer clients when they come in to tour Oldham County.  They are always intrigued by our piece of Americana, and love to watch the train roll by, right in the middle of Main Street.  That's why, when I was asked if I'd like to be a member of the board of "Discover Downtown LaGrange", I eagerly said, "Yes!"

Our board recently met with local merchants and members of downtown LaGrange's farmer's market to discuss the many facets of our Main Street Program.  As a new board member,  I learned a lot about the important role everyone plays in the success of a thriving downtown.

Discover Downtown LaGrange Executive Director, Barbara Manley-Edds, cited some interesting statistics from the Kentucky Heritage Council:

In 2006, Kentucky Main Street and Renaissance on Main programs reported more then $292 million invested in downtowns through these programs, representing the creation of 1,923 new jobs in Main Street districts, 401 new businesses and 345 downtown buildings rehabilitated. 

This investment, totalling $292,189,114, includes $69,383,808 in public improvements such as steetscape projects, $127,983,338 in private investment and $94,821,968 in new construction.  In fact, through this program over the last 27 years, more than $2 billion has been reinvested in Kentucky downtowns.

Nationwide, statistics show that shopping dollars spent downtown have a greater return back into the community:

*  6 cents of every dollar spent with a "big box" retailer is retained/recirculated in a community. (Source:  Rocky Mountain Institute)

*  20 cents of every dollar spent with a chain store is retained/recirculated in a community. (Source: Small Business Institute)

*  60 cents of every dollar spent with a sole proprietorship is retained/recirculated in a community. (Source: Small Business Adminstration)

Okay, so these are stats, and I find them very impressive, and they truly drive home the point that it's economically wise to promote our downtowns across Kentucky - and across America.

Downtown LaGrange is not just a great place to find wonderful shopping and great restaurants.  It's a gathering place.  It's a place to go to be with people you know.  It's a place alive with exciting events all year round.  Let me just share some upcoming happenings:

*  Girls Night Out - May 7th: 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. 

*  Model T Tour - May 6th thru May 9th

*  Rifficolone - May 16th

*  Farmers Market - April thru October

*  History Walks - June thru August

*  Oldham County Day - July 18th

*  Ironman - August 30th

*  Ghost Tours - September thru October

*  Light Up LaGrange - December 4th

I'm very proud to be a small part of the effort to keep downtown LaGrange a place people enjoy visiting often.  Personally, over the 25 years Jerry and I have lived in Oldham County, I have watched it evolve into, as Barbara calls it, "a gem of a town".

Jacki and Jerry Shafer are "mega agents" with The Shafer Team and Keller Williams Realty Louisville East.  Long-time residents of Oldham County, Jacki and Jerry specialize in residential sales in their own "back yard".