Sellers rarely question the length of their listing contracts. They simply accept whatever term the agent puts into the listing agreement. However, it is the seller's responsibility and legal right to choose the length of the listing. Although, agents can help guide a seller by suggesting a listi
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01/10/2008
If you've ever wondered about the history of lockboxes, they go back to days long ago forgotten. But the newest lockboxes work digitally. They will record who comes and goes into your home, so you know which agents have had access. Some sellers wonder if lockboxes are necessary, if they work and
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01/09/2008
Film legend Peter Lorre would like to remind you that the New Year is a perfect time to perform routine maintenance. For example, you might want to pick up a keyboard air cleaner that will blow out all that gunk under your keyboard. Of course, the better way to clean your keyboard (do you eat lun
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01/08/2008
SEE SACRAMENTO STORM DAMAGE AND POWER OUTAGE, DAY ONE, FRIDAY, JANUARY 4, 2008.After my husband and I cut down the tree from our roof, we tried to use our land-line phone but the back-up battery had gone dead. The phone for my FAX wasn't working, either and neither was my cell phone. The tempera
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01/08/2008
Friday Friday morning started out like any other Friday, except instead of waking up because a cat was in my face meowing at 6 AM, the howling winds outside my bedroom window jolted me awake. I stumbled into the kitchen to turn on the coffee pot, prepared a bowl of food for my sick cat and hit t
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01/07/2008
Some buyers skip by online listings without a virtual tour. Buyers want more than photographs, they want to be taken by the hand, walked inside the home and shown its grandeur, room by room, all in the comfort of their pajamas while sitting in front of the computer. Personally, I don't have the p
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01/03/2008
Little is worse than showing a house to prospective buyers and discovering dozens of fleas jumping on you and your clients. I know, because I've been there. Even vacant homes can harbor fleas. Fleas live in the carpet and furniture, which means if you vacuum them up, they will still hatch from eg
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01/02/2008
I get more spirited letters from readers when I write about selling a home where pets live than almost any other topic. You would think I had threatened to tell every kid under the age of five that there's no such thing as Santa Claus. If you still believe in Santa Claus and you're reading this,
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01/01/2008
My feeling is sellers should price a home right at the get-go and forget about "testing" the market. Those who test the market often end up selling for a lot less after a price reduction than they might have received had they priced it right from the beginning. Testing the market works only if yo
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01/01/2008
