I've had it. My auto insurance company, MetLife, has the phone system from hell. It's one of those voice prompt systems where they ask you questions, supposedly "to serve you better", and you respond with spoken words. There are several prompts, some redundant, and the process takes about three minutes to get to a real person. We have five family vehicles that we insure them for about the last five years and I have always tolerated this system. But no more, I'm done with them.
My son bought a Jeep and I was trying to add it to the policy on Friday. This would have been vehicle number six. Two times I went through the whole process only to have my call inexplicably terminated when I got tantalizing close to a real person. On the final attempt I was yelling at the phone, because we all know that these voice systems work better the louder we speak. I then saw that my poor dog was freaking out! She thought she had done something wrong. I immediately consoled her and gave her a treat.
I called my local agent and he answered the phone. He quoted me a price that was actually lower than what I had been paying. This I would have never discovered if MetLife had a better phone system. Their letterhead has the motto "Outstanding People and Service". I don't think so.
Real estate agents have long know the benefits of answering their phones. A missed call can mean a significant portion of our monthly income. Please, Mr. & Ms. Realtor, don't say you provide outstanding service unless you answer your phone.
Wayne B. Pruner is a Realtor® at Oregon First, who works in the Portland and Tigard, Oregon area. He is ready to help you with all your real estate needs and he is also a licensed contractor. Wayne knows houses. His phone number is 503-891-0795. Here are links to his real estate website and his real estate blog.
I have many gates in my life. Since I own rental property and my children are boys, I have to do many gate repairs. I have learned over the years how to make a gate as sturdy as possible. One problem that stumped me for awhile was the lack of a sturdy gate latch. Almost all the ones being sold were of the same design; flimsy metal and short screws. The screws that attach the metal piece to the gate work loose over time and strip out the holes and never stay tight.
My solution to that problem was to weld the piece that goes on the gate to a piece of angle iron. I then can use 3" screws to secure it in place. This distributes the holding force over a wider area. I have never had to "readjust" a gate since using this method.
Wayne B. Pruner is a Realtor® at Oregon First, who works in the Portland and Tigard, Oregon area. He is ready to help you with all your real estate needs and he is also a licensed contractor. Wayne knows houses. His phone number is 503-891-0795. Here are links to his real estate website and his real estate blog.
In many cases, no personal guarantee is needed when signing a commercial lease in the present economic climate. It's just a matter of firm and sound negotiating techniques. Commercial real estate sales and leasing activity in most areas is just as bad, or worse, as the residential real estate market.
Most commercial Landlords are experiencing high vacancy rates and when they have a prospective Lessee they are willing to make concessions, including waiving the personal guarantee. Lessee's with the financial ability and courage to move forward in the current economic climate are hard to find. Landlords are willing to compromise to get any rent out of vacant properties.
Recently I talk with 2 small business owners, (who were not clients of mine), that had rented office space. Neither one had to sign a personal guarantee. They both told the Landlord that if a personal guarantee was needed, they would go elsewhere. Both Landlords readily tore up them up.
This is a Lessee's market. Push hard for concessions, including no personal guarantee.
Wayne B. Pruner is a Realtor® at Oregon First, who works in the Portland and Tigard, Oregon area. He is ready to help you with all your real estate needs and he is also a licensed contractor. His phone number is 503-891-0795. Here are links to his real estate website and his real estate blog.
I've always wanted to post my flyers on Craigslist. I know there are websites, such as postlets.com and vflyer.com, which host flyers on the web that you can then upload to Craigslist. I am the first to admit that I am "computer and internet challenged" and these sites may allow me to upload my own flyers, but I could not figure out how to do it. A mortgage broker offered to do this for me, so I have been letting him.
So after the baseball game last night, I set out on figuring how to do it myself. Naturally I started by Googling it. This led me to a helpful video on Utube by deriktutt. (I think there is a Utube video for everything.) In a nut-shell, he said in a Word document write your text, imbed your photos, save in Paint as a jpeg, upload to Photobucket.com, take the HTML that Photobucket.com generates for you and imbed it in the Craigslist ad.
I tried to paste a flyer I had created with Publisher in Paint, but it would not work. Nuts. So after fumbling around for a hour or so, I had that Eureka moment. (I love it when a plan comes together.) I use Publisher 2007 and it allows you to save your flyer as a JPEG File Interchange Format. Bingo! Works like a charm.
So the steps are:
•1. Create your flyer in Publisher and save it as a JPEG File Interchange Format document.
•2. Open a free Photobucket.com account and upload your flyer.
•3. Copy the HTML that is generated.
•4. Create a Craigslist ad and paste the HTML in the body.
So easy even a caveman can do it!
Wayne B. Pruner is a Realtor® at Oregon First, who works in the Portland and Tigard, Oregon area. He is ready to help you with all your real estate needs and he is also a licensed contractor. His phone number is 503-891-0795. Here are links to his real estate website and his real estate blog
I am a Landlord so it is wise for me to keep abreast of laws that can affect my investments. I will offer a summary of these laws, as I understand them. Further investigation is required on your part.
Starting Jan. 1, 2010 Landlords must disclose their smoking policy in writing.
HB 2393 doubles the fees Sheriffs can collect for performing legal duties.
SB 777 creates a 60 day no-clause notice for terminating a tenancy. Ouch!
There are new laws governing abandoned property.
A Landlord may not charge a pet deposit for a service animal or charge a cleaning fee.
I have only touched on the residential laws that affect me directly. There are several more bills that affect other types of real estate.
Oregon laws heavily favor the Tenant. It's essential to know what is new.
Wayne B. Pruner is a Realtor® at Oregon First, who works in the Portland and Tigard, Oregon area. He is ready to help you with all your real estate needs and he is also a licensed contractor. His phone number is 503-891-0795. Here are links to his real estate website and his real estate blog.
The Seller of this home is obviously a well-heeled, astute, serious seller. I am in a quandry on what to do if my buyer wants this egg-carton collection. How do I come up with a value for this collection that does not insult the Seller and have him reject our offer, and still be fair for my client? What is the current market value of this collection? I have not seen anything as unique as this on Antiques Road Show and a Google search of "egg-carton appraisers" turned up nothing. I hope this home does not sell before I get this figured out!
Wayne B. Pruner is a Realtor® at Oregon First, who works in the Portland and Tigard, Oregon area. He is ready to help you with all your real estate needs and he is also a licensed contractor. His phone number is 503-891-0795. Here are links to his real estate website and his real estate blog.
The Tigard Farmers Market is located at Young's Funeral Home in the parking lot at 11831 SW Pacific Hwy., The Market runs through Oct. 26, 2008 and is held every Sunday from 9AM to 2PM. This is a temporary location until the permanent one is built in downtown Tigard.
In addition to fabulous produce, there are beautiful flower arrangements, craft and food booths, and live entertainment. One thing that pictures cannot capture are the fragrant smells that envelope the Market. Support your local small business owners. Small bills and change are always appreciated and remember to bring your reusable grocery bag.
Wayne B. Pruner is a Realtor® at Oregon First, who works in the Portland and Tigard, Oregon area. He is ready to help you with all your real estate needs and he is also a licensed contractor. His phone number is 503-891-0795. Here are links to his real estate website and his real estate blog.
Refrigerator magnets are a sign of just how serious you are about selling your home. If you are going to sell your home, you have to accept that your daily routine is going to be interrupted for the foreseeable future. It cannot be avoided. You will have to keep the house clean all the time and may have to leave your home when buyers come through. If you cannot even make the effort to clean off your refrigerator, do not whine to your agent about the lack of offers.
If your home is not getting very many showing, it could be because your showing instructions may not be buyer friendly.
Wayne B. Pruner is a Realtor® at Oregon First, who works in the Portland and Tigard, Oregon area. He is ready to help you with all your real estate needs. His phone number is 503-891-0795. Here are links to his real estate website and his real estate blog. Wayne is also a licensed contractor.
The National Night Out was well attended by Metzger neighborhood families. This national event is designed to improve safety in neighborhoods by introducing firefighters, law enforcement, parametics and neighbors to each other. This was a family freindly event that had free ice creram, cookies, and punch provided by local businesses. The fire truck was a big hit with the kids and "McGruff the Crime Dog" was making friends. A good time was had by all at Metzger Park.
Wayne B. Pruner is a Realtor® at Oregon First, who works in the Portland and Tigard, Oregon area. Wayne is also a licensed Oregon contractor. He is ready to help you with all your real estate needs. His phone number is 503-891-0795. Here are links to his real estate website and his real estate blog
Art in the Pearl 2008 - Art In The Pearl The twelfth annual Art In The Pearl Fine Arts and Crafts Festival will be held Labor Day weekend in the beautiful and historic North Park Blocks of Portland, Oregon. Considered one of the nation's premier art festivals, Art In The Pearl features the jury-selected work of 125 artists from across the USA and Canada. The creativty is amazing! 8/30/08 and 9/1/08
Oregon State Fair - Oregon State Fair The Oregon State Fair is a 144-year-old statewide tradition. The State Fair brings together the best of Oregon, including agricultural exhibits, animals, food, wine and beer competitions, cultural events and world class entertainment. 8/22/08 - 9/1/08
2008 Portland Pirate Festival - Portland Pirate Festival The 2008 Portland Pirate Festival returns for two days of buccaneering music, dance, historical reenactments, and shopping under the St. Johns Bridge in historic Cathedral Park. 9/20/08 and 9/21/08
Portland Juggling Festival 2008: Sweet 16 - Portland Jugglers The Portland Juggling Festival 2008 is on its way! Join us for a weekend of juggling, unicycling, and prop manipulation in the beautiful Rose City. 9/26/08 - 9/28/08
Portland Saturday Market - Celebrating its 34th year. Features handmade arts and crafts; food and entertainment too, from over 300 artisans. Portland Saturday Market
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
gate work loose over time and strip out the holes and never stay tight.
e Lessee they are willing to make concessions, including waiving the personal guarantee. Lessee's with the financial ability and courage to move forward in the current economic climate are hard to find. Landlords are willing to compromise to get any rent out of vacant properties.
Refrigerator Magnets are Toxic
Metzger Park: National Night Out
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