I found myself thinking about the approach of Valentine’s Day…and how this would be a pretty darn romantic time for a couple to find their new home. Sure, flowers/chocolate/dinner/jewelry are lovely, but a signed Contract to Purchase is fabulous way to say, “I love you and I love imagining this house as the next backdrop for our life together.” Yeah, that’s pretty romantic! But what about those who are not […]
Conventional wisdom says that the winter real estate market is slower than other times of the year. In the late Fall of 2012 (or, as I like to call it “last, last fall”) I began predicting that the “Spring” real estate market was going to begin on January 2nd. Colleagues laughed at me and told me that was much too early to see buyers and sellers turning their thoughts to […]
It happened several years ago. A buyer made an offer on a home my client was selling, and gave us a strong pre-approval letter from a large local bank. All the better, we discovered the buyer was an employee of that bank…so we did a little happy dance expecting they were treating his loan process with extra special care since he was part of their team. Fast forward to 23 […]
Quick: what were your favorite parts of the house you grew up in? (And by “house” I really mean wherever you lived when you were little. Apartment. Whatever.) Did answers come to your mind right away? When I was first asked this question, my mind popped out immediate responses. I loved the window seat in my bedroom, the biiiiig closet in my bedroom (which felt more like a clubhouse to […]
It’s cold outside. And, when I went to show a house a few days ago, it was also cold INSIDE. The seller had moved out, and left the thermostat set at 50 degrees. So the pipes wouldn’t freeze. The buyers, however, did freeze. The home was undeniably beautiful, but what the buyers noticed most clearly was… “IT’S COLD IN HERE!!” Sigh. I’m sure the seller would have preferred their attention […]
Some sellers, who could do it now or do it later, are wondering if it is worth listing their homes in the Fall/Winter, or whether they should wait until after the new year. Well… A few weeks ago an agent walked into a closing (his seller, my buyer) and, in lieu of “hello,” said to me, “PLEASE tell me you have something coming on the market soon in Blue Ash!” He […]
Some children have a “totally flexible” vibe. Doesn’t matter what you throw at them, it’s all a wonderful new adventure to enjoy, and they never look back. Never met a new food they didn’t like. They are comfortable wherever they go, and their transition from one activity to another takes about 5 seconds. Well, I have HEARD there are children like this, but I’ve never parented one of them. […]
It’s Monday night, 11:51 pm. And I intended to post today. I had lots of topics percolating in my mind, ready to leap into blog-dom. The topics are more than fully perked. But the post wasn’t posted. And frankly, my morning walk wasn’t walked. My dinner wasn’t cooked. And the TV show I thought I might get to watch tonight was utterly unwatched. The real estate market is very busy […]
So I say “Grandma’s House,” and many already smell the cookies in the oven. But for me, “Grandma’s House” indicates one of my favorite categories of homes for sale. Mind you “Grandma’s House” is not a category by which we actually identify a house in the MLS. We are pretty much confined to categories like Transitional or Cape Cod or Ranch. Useful designations all. And sometimes it IS thoroughly helpful […]
So, that doll house in the photo, the amazing one that towers over the entranced child who can’t believe her good fortune?? One like that was in the house when one of my clients and her children went to look at the place that soon became their new home. Now, you know that doll house wasn’t going to be there when they moved in, and I know that the doll […]
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