RECENT BLOG POSTS
Market Watch This month I want to recap the local real estate market in 2012 compared to 2011. This is especially easy since our market improved in virtually every category last year. The easy place to start is closed transactions. Our BLC (broker listing cooperative, which used to be called ML...
03/11/2013
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Sometimes home values can undergo abrupt changes. One way that can happen is through the ‘Surprise Remodel’ phenomenon. That’s when you wake up one morning to find that your local house grew larger…overnight! If you are one of the many residents whose children have left for school, the Surprise ...
03/06/2013
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Rumors about the 3.8% Medicare tax continue to circulate. Here's the definitive word on what's true and what's not on how the tax impacts real estate. Ever since health care reform was enacted into law more than two years ago, rumors have been circulating on the Internet and in e-mails that the l...
03/06/2013
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Sinkholes are a lot more common than many home owners realize—particularly in Florida, according to CoreLogic, a real estate analytics firm. A Florida man is presumed dead after a large sinkhole engulfed his entire bedroom last week, capturing headlines across the country. The incident has prompt...
03/05/2013
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About 30 home buyers — all pre-qualified — have lined up in tents and camped out in order to be first in line for an opportunity to buy a new home in Huntington Beach, Calif. The homes are still under construction by Brightwater Capri development and are priced between $800,000 and $900,000. The ...
03/04/2013
Suppose you are driving past one of those ‘For Sale by Owner’ yard signs…and the house looks good! Do you screech to a halt, jump out and rush up to the front door to – quick! – sign a deal? More likely, you jot down the phone number (hopefully one is visible, though with For Sale By Owner sign...
02/28/2013
Expect to see emerald everywhere — Pantone’s 2013 color queen.Goodbye Tangerine Tango. Hello emerald, Pantone’s 2013 color of the year.Why emerald, or as Pantone’s swatch names it: 17-5641?“Green is the most abundant hue in nature — the human eye sees more green than any other color in the spectr...
02/28/2013
You are doing some serious house-hunting. You’ve been Googling ‘newest local listings’, but when you click on the most popular sites, somehow the ‘newest local listings’ are the same ones you’ve seen before. Worse, some of them turn out to have been sold! Or the price was wrong! Or the agent isn’...
02/27/2013
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Your yard is your local home's calling card. A dated or overgrown yard can be a huge turnoff to potential buyers – just as an appealing one can trump other objections. Landscape designer Cynthia Bee knows this well. "Landscaping often makes the difference,” she says, “between a prospective buyer...
02/25/2013
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The importance of kitchens to prospective homebuyers is something that never seems to change. If you are preparing to bring your home onto the market anytime soon, you’ve probably been thinking about how to make your listing as attractive as possible. Odds are good that updating your kitchen (wi...
02/21/2013