Best to Be Committed in Today’s Real Estate Market

Dawn Maloney From Active Rain blog… wrote about Total Committment in Today’s Market by reminding us of an old joke. I have to admit this is the first time I have ever heard this joke but it certainly makes a point!!

Have you heard the old joke… A pig and a chicken were walking by a church where a gala charity event was taking place.

Getting caught up in the spirit, the pig suggested to the chicken that they each make a contribution. “Great idea!” the chicken cried. “Let’s offer them bacon and eggs?”

“Not so fast,” said the pig testily. “For you, that’s a contribution. For me, it’s a total commitment.”

As a seller, you are either eggs or bacon. One is total commitment. Do or die. Not just trying it out. Total commitment.

If you are eggs, you are not committed to selling…but if you do sell, that is great. Continue reading

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10 Reasons NOT to Stage Your Home.

I love this post from Janet Jones from Active Rain! Staging is so important in today’s Real Estate Market!!

  10 REASONS NOT TO STAGE YOUR HOME

1. We want to test the market for 90 days. And on the 91st day? Price reduction–and 90 days worth of potential buyers who have already eliminated your property.

2. It costs too much money. I have never seen a home where the staging costs would have exceeded the first price reduction. And that doesn’t even factor in the monthly carrying cost of the home.

3. We can’t stage the house, we’re living in it. One common misconception is that staging is only for vacant homes. Every home/condo can be staged, and you can actually live in it after staging. Continue reading

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Short Sale Vs. Foreclosure: A Short Sale Always Wins

Great post by KCM Blog about why a seller should opt for a short sale rather than foreclosure.

Best Post of 2011: Short Sales

by Christopher Reale on December 29, 2011

Today’s ever changing real estate industry has brought upon some very challenging questions from our clients. We as counselors, want to put forth the best, non-emotional advice that we can, in hopes that we can help our clients and their families navigate the rough waters of the short sale process.

The most prevalent question and one that continues to permeate the industry is:

“Why should a seller go through the short sale process rather than letting their house be foreclosed upon?”

While we cannot speak to every client circumstance, we can say one thing with complete conviction. In almost all instances in which a potential seller is contemplating whether they should short sell their house or let it go through the foreclosure process, a short sale is the better option. The following are examples to consider: Continue reading

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Bees and Beeks New York City

In November I blogged about honey bees. I just read a blog by Emily Anne Vaugh about honey bees in New York City. In March of this year The New York City Board of Health and Mental Hygiene took the common honeybee off their list of insects and animals considered too dangerous for city life. As a result, beekeepers registered a record number of hives with the board in 2011. So many, in fact, that local suppliers were unable to meet the unprecedented demand for starter colonies. Yeah!!

Novice beekeepers and long time “beeks” came together in September in Queens for the First Annual NYC Honey Festival. The festival was organized by Brooklyn Grange a one-acre rooftop farm.  Honey Festival participants brought honey from their own NYC hives, while chefs demonstrated honey-centric recipes, and experts spoke on a range of bee-related topics. One of the most popular attractions was the observation hive, where a window allowed a view into the life of an active colony. BoroughBees blogger Tim O’Neal set up the hive, and spent the day answering questions from passers-by. O’Neal says the event confirmed what he had already begun to suspect: The beekeeping community is expanding and diversifying, virtually overnight. “New York is now host to a huge number of organizations, businesses, and individuals who all keep bees and interact with each other and the wider community in increasingly creative and meaningful ways,” he says.Emily Anne Vaughn is an apprentice to two beehives in Fort Greene, Brooklyn and contributes to the blog BoroughBees.com. As a staffer for Slow Food USA she also supports regional biodiversity and school food projects around the country.

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Vacant Properties in Cook County IL

On December 14, the Cook County Board of Commissioners passed a new ordinance which requires properties with vacant buildings to be registered with either the county (if the property is in unincorporated Cook County) or the municipality (if the municipality where the property is located chooses to partner with the county).
This ordinance will go into effect on February 14.

  • All owners of vacant buildings (whether a mortgagee or
    not) will have 30 days after the building becomes vacant to get it
    registered.
  • There is a $250 registration fee and the owner must
    provide contact information of an agent who is authorized to receive
    notices from the county or municipality.
  • The owner must also show proof of liability insurance
    or homeowner’s insurance that covers third party liability for the
    duration of the vacant status registration. Specific property maintenance
    standards are also spelled out in the ordinance.

 

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Make Your Short Sale a Successful One!

Over 50% of all the distressed sales since January 1st 2011 in Elmhurst IL have been short sales. A short sale will net less than is currently owed on the mortgage securing the home loan.  This is one of the best articles I’ve read about what steps are to be taken in order to increase the chances of a short sale success from KCM blog. Many short sales do not end with a successful sale. I hope this post helps shed light on steps to take if you or someone you know is contemplating a short sale.

The Proper Short Sale Application

We are again honored to have Christopher Reale, Director of Short Sale Operations at Lepizzera and Laprocina Title and Escrow Services, as today’s guest blogger. He is an expert on the short sale process and will share his knowledge with us on a regular basis. – The KCM Crew

In any business, whether it be real estate or other, in order to be successful one must have a systematic approach to their craft. This holds true when putting a short sale transaction together. During our 5 year tenure negotiating short sales, we have found that some Real Estate professionals lack such an approach. Continue reading

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Whole Foods vs. Processed Foods

I took a trip to Europe this summer with my son. While visiting France I noticed a difference in attitude toward food and food preparation than what I was accustomed to in the States. The concentration was on freshness and wholesomeness rather than speed and quantity. Since I’ve been home I’ve adjusted my attitude and have been eating and preparing foods that are whole and not processed and making only what we need for the meal. I’ve noticed that I feel so much better and healthier. I came across this interesting blog that addresses the difference between whole foods and processed foods.
Let me know if you have had a similar experience!

Welcome to the Whole Foods Market blog

What Makes a Food Overly Processed?

by Alana Sugar, April 27th, 2009

Split PeaI read once that we should eat only what we could hunt, pick, gather or grow. Wow, what a concept! When I think about the nature of the human body, it does seem logical that our cells must naturally crave these “whole and real” foods. And yet we are a nation that loves our fast, processed, packaged food.

We do seem to be somewhat unique in that addiction and we can break it if we try. About 15 years ago I went on a trip to Peru. Once I arrived at my hotel in Cusco, toured the grounds and then my room, I remember thinking: “Where are all the garbage cans?” There were none that I could see. I began to wonder if the people of that great land generated much garbage. So I really looked around and discovered that when it came to food and cooking, I barely saw a package or a can or a box to throw away.   They prepared fresh, whole foods from scratch. It was wonderful!

Of course, I don’t expect all Americans to live on diets that contain no processed foods at all, but I do think we can learn to assess the varying degrees of food processing and choose wisely. (Technically, a processed food is one that has in some way been altered from its natural state. This broad definition even includes peeling, chopping, slicing and cooking.) The food industry processes foods to make them convenient to cook and eat.  They also process foods to preserve them, allow long-term shelf life and for safety purposes such as killing bacteria. Canning, freezing, juicing, boxing, dehydrating, pasteurizing and aseptic packaging are various ways the industry processes foods. Continue reading

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Determining Your Home’s Value

Factors that determine your home’s value:

Lending atmosphere, absorption rate and comparables (similar homes that have sold in the last 6 months and homes currently on the  market in your price range). Condition and location also play a key role in the value of your home.

Lending Atmosphere:

The Lending atmosphere is much tighter than it was several years ago. Down payment requirements are higher and lenders are demanding higher credit scores.  There is much more documentation required than just a few years ago. What this  means to sellers is that there are less buyers that can purchase homes right now. Those that can have their pick of homes and are looking for the best deal they can find. Continue reading

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The Fascinating World of Bees

I took a Bee Keeping class recently at the Morton Arboretum. The world of bees is fascinating! Did you know bees pollinate 2/3 of all the foods we eat? They are fastidious workers that communicate with their hive mates by doing  a waggle dance. Bees are the only insect that processes their own food. Their entire lives center around the queen bee. Interestingly the hive takes on the personality of the queen bee. If she is gentle – the other bees in the hive are gentle. If she is defensive or aggressive – the bees in the hive will be aggressive too. The bee keeper from the Morton Arboretum told me that if the hive is aggressive she will resort to killing the queen because the bees will then create a new queen and the hive will take on the new queen’s personality.

I was delighted to find out that raw honey can increase hemoglobin count and prevent anemia caused by nutritional factors. When applied topically honey speeds the healing of tissues damaged by infection or a trauma like a burn. When honey is combined with apple cider vinegar it helps arthritic joints and fights colds. Honey is exceptionally effective internally against bacteria and parasites. Plus raw honey contains natural antibiotics which help kill microbes directly.  The Morton Arboretum bee keeper suggests starting with 2 bee hives in the garden. She suggested getting the equipment from Brushy Mountain Bee Farm. She also said that taking care of bees is a little more involved than having a cat as a pet and way less work than taking care of a dog.

 

 

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Chew on This

 

New post on Mostly Bright Ideas

Chew On This

by bronxboy55


I’ve always wanted to be smart, I guess because I grew up in a time when smart people got some respect. Albert Einstein was considered the greatest genius anybody
could imagine. He was so smart, he didn’t even have to comb his hair. In a room full of brilliant people, he still got to sit in the best chair and if he opened his mouth to speak, everyone else shut up and listened. Einstein died just a few months before I was born. I used to suggest to friends that this may be proof of reincarnation. Eventually, I stopped saying it because there was too much laughter and eye-rolling, which got in the way of any hope for a serious discussion. Continue reading

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