Still Tasty, really?

Completely off topic for real estate, but maybe not. Check out this website:

Still Tasty

Some people, (present company included) keep things forever. We forgot we have them, either in the refrigerator or in the pantry.

So, as you get your house ready for sale, take a look at the pantry. Just like a closet, you don’t want it to look stuffed. So, go through your staples, your cereals, etc. and if you don’t know if it’s still good, check out the link above and, act accordingly.

Do you know how foreclosures affect neighborhoods?

Yes, there's the obvious. The grass gets tall, the home not only is abandoned, but looks abandoned. There's old newspapers in the yard.  And there's always the threat of people breaking in for nefarious activities or vanadalism that could spread to your home.

But monetarily, for every foreclosed home that shows up in your neighborhood, your property value will decline by 1%, initially.  But worst than that, when that foreclosure sells at a drastically reduced price, your values will tumble even further.

We have been faced with homes dropping in value by over 25%.  Example:  appraised for $268K in May only appraised for $210K in October; home appraised for $615K in May, sold for $400K the following year. It's not good and we're not out of the woods yet.

Buyer wants refrigerator and water heater needs to be serviced

What do these two things have to do with each other?

Well, "Buyer wants refrigerator", was an actual stip that a good friend of mine wrote years ago on a contract where she was representing the buyer.  So what!  I want a million dollars, but that's not gonna happen.

The second one, "Water heater needs to be serviced", was written on a special stip just the other day.  Well, maybe so... So what?

Neither of these stips say what has to be done, who's going to do it, by when, and who's going to pay for it. 

Your lawn and the first impression of your home

I remember when I was a little girl, I took biology in school and the teachers scared us to death about walking around barefoot.  They said we would get some dread disease that we could pick up by stepping on sidewalks and lawn that had icky stuff that would come in through our pores or cuts on our feet, etc.

Unfortunately, because of this, I never walked around barefoot on my dad's beautiful Kentucky Blue Grass lawn.  He took great pride in maintaining his lawn.  Back then, edgers weren't popular (or at least we didn't know about them) and we actually trimmed around the flower beds, driveway and walkway by hand with a little scissor.  I can't even imagine doing this now.  All I ever wanted was a nice lawn.  And now, my husband and I spend a small fortune (not really- about $55/treatment - 9 per year) to keep our Bermuda Grass weed free and thick.  I don't walk barefoot on it either!