Category: Uncategorized

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A cold wind blows through the Homeshow

We’ve had a booth at the Homeshow in Anderson for several years now. This Fall show was very lightly attended, coming on the heels of the stock market problems. In the past, it’s been a decent way to meet people in a non-threatening environment. We give out schwag (free promotional items like Custom Water bottles). A memorable moment from today was when a woman took my offered schwag, and when I recited my usual spiel “Please remember us if you know anyone buying or selling a home,” she replied, “I’m an agent myself” turned and walked off. Took my schwag, and cut me off at the knees all at once. That was harsh. Ow. You gotta have thick skin in this business. I marvel at her, really. I could never be that cold.

Ultimately, trade shows are an excellent opportunity to bring your products and services to a wider audience. However, in order for your exhibition to be a success, you need to make sure that you are as prepared as possible. For example, if you want passers-by to be drawn to your table you need to make sure that your corner of the exhibition hall is as inviting as possible. This year, I invested in a bright and colourful poster that I designed and printed using an online template on a website similar to MyCreativeShop. It definitely worked to our advantage as it captured the attention of quite a few people!

We have already started making plans for our next trade show. We want to come up with a new trade show banner, as well as more professional promotional material that we can utilize at events like this. Anyway at this show, the new, much lower valuations hit several people very hard. They had leveraged all their equity or whatever, and were now seriously upside down on value. Gosh, nothing like making people REALLY SAD to make a good impression at a trade show. We need a new reason to speak with people.

Things could be so different now
It used to be so civilized
You will always wonder how
It could have been if you’d only lied

Its too late to change events
Its time to face the consequence
For delivering the proof
In the policy of truth

Depeche Mode –Policy of Truth Too true.
Homeshow in anderson

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City Councilman Unearths Magical Zoning Amulet

ROCHESTER, NY—After years spent poring over mysterious and arcane plat sheets and deciphering long-forgotten building codes, city councilmember Mike LaMere unearthed the mysterious City Zoning Amulet Friday.
From the Onion

Mike LaMere, wearing the Ever-Evaluating Eye of Surr-Vey.

“Behold!” LaMere said, holding aloft the solid-gold amulet, which is emblazoned with the Ever-Evaluating Eye of Surr-Vey, Lord Of Demarcation, He Who Measures And Assesses. “With this sigil, the power of zoning comes. Through me, the power of zoning flows! All will behold my power, and I shall bow to no man when designating matter-of-right developments for major retail and office spaces to a maximum lot occupancy of 75 percent for residential use!”

From the Onion of course.

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Fleas

Apparently, I spent much of my adult life sheltered from what must be a daily reality for some. I showed an inexpensive bank-owned house yesterday evening to a curious buyer. Among other issues, it was infested with fleas, a quick Google search for “pest control experts iowa” was so useful for this though. But up until the most recent housing cycle, I had never seen fleas swarm one’s ankles when walking into a home with wall to wall carpet. I am unfortunately familiar with that now. It is still disturbing to think that humans live this way, and maybe even unimaginable for most people until you see it with your own eyes. Imagine Redding summer heat and no electricity for so much as a vacuum cleaner.

Yesterday started me thinking about the health implications, so I browsed over to the CDC website.
flea cycle
Ever heard of Typhus? (2 kinds) Tapeworms? Flea-borne Rickettsiae? I was wondering about plague (Yersinia pestis, known in history as black death) but that’s not prominently mentioned. From the site, “flea-borne diseases could reemerge in epidemic form because of changes in vector-host ecology due to environmental and human behavior modification” and “economic factors, as well as changes in human behavior, have resulted in the emergence of new and the reemergence of existing but forgotten infectious diseases during the past 20 years.” Hmm. Anyway, here’s the website if you’re interested:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol3no3/azad.htm -and thanks to the CDC for the image seen above.
It’s quite a sight to behold, fleas leaping from carpet to your feet and legs with such swarming gusto. As I witness how annoying fleas can be for humans, imagine the discomfort these little pests can have on animals? This is why understanding the difference between frontline plus and frontline gold products, for example, could help with the discomfort that the fleas may bring to your pet. It may also be a preventative measure, which could be beneficial. Pets can be a big factor in bringing fleas into the home as the pests attach themselves to the pet’s fur. If you want to avoid bringing them into the home, you may want to consider an outdoor dog kennel, even if it is just while you treat the carpets.

Not all bank-owned properties have fleas. Its not that bad in the winter, but on a hot day, they have remarkable mobility. It doesn’t even startle me anymore. Maybe it should.
The one that still haunts me is the house in south Redding/north Anderson last year, where it was apparent that the evicted had been doing child day-care. I saw the home pre-eviction when there were kids there, and then a few days after they had left. Along with fleas were the largest rats I’d ever seen. That one was brutal. My sheltered life left behind.

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Cursed home for sale

cursed REO in Redding
Ran into this while showing bank-owned homes to a buyer yesterday. It’s at the front door. She said it was a curse on the house.
cursed foreclosure home in redding
She said “I know how to remove the curse,” to which I replied “So do I. Tear off the paper.”
Curse image of reo home in redding
And she said, “Well it’s a bit more complicated than that.”
Maybe so. Too bad for the seller.

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Hard times hit Redding

There are always hard times. Even in times when the local real estate market is booming, with nany people looking into buying a foreclosed home to renovate and live in you can find a hard time story. It’s just humanity. Lately, there seem to be more hard time stories than usual. The area just isn’t what it once was. It really should come as no surprise that many people are moving away. Some of the Florida homes offered at unionpark.metroplaces.com have proven to be too irresistible. I expect more people to be tempted in the future. Anyway, a couple of days ago, I was in a hurry to make an appointment and stopped into a local Title & Escrow company that shall remain nameless. As I stepped into the lobby, there were about a dozen or so people standing there and looking at me like I just walked in on something important. They weren’t smiling. Looking more closely, it was evident that several were crying. Obviously I interrupted something here, and my first reaction was that I should leave, but I needed to get something done for a client leaving town. One of the women offered to help me, and the group broke up. The tension was evident, but she put on her best game face as she helped me locate the file. She was wearing slippers like you might wear at home and wiping back her tears as she worked. I guessed she had just gone into the lobby from her desk at whatever news had just hit, and I was the only non-employee in the office. I got what I needed and left, but I felt like she needed a hug. I didn’t hug her, though, because that would be weird to hug a stranger. Which is kind of weird, also.
Alliance Title now goneAnyway, I was haunted all day by the image of her flushed face, tears glistening under the harsh office lighting. No one offered to share what had happened, and I wasn’t going to ask, so I had to pry a bit later in the day with some other folks in our real estate community. As it turns out, she had just lost her assistant to a layoff. Merry Christmas!
There’s a lot of layoffs in housing-related services here. Today’s paper had a photo of 84 Lumber closing it’s doors. Merry Christmas to you too. I don’t know if their 5 employees stood in the lobby and cried. Or hugged.
I was once laid off from a company after 20 years, right around the holidays. It stings. I decided to go into another career where the only person who could lay me off was me, and here I am. It hasn’t been easy. It won’t be easy for these folks either.
The Record Searchlight article also said that there were 600 fewer real estate related jobs in October in the Redding Area. I expect that the diminishing number of employed accelerated in November and December. When housing catches a cold, Redding employment gets pneumonia. All those folks will need to find work.
The cliche is “that which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Perhaps more appropriate, that which doesn’t kill you leaves you standing for the next assault. Best wishes to all in our housing-related community.

Hugs, but only if you ask for one.
Vacant real estate office with skips car in background