Bird's Eye View on Real Estate

I was showing a house the other day and it looked good on the inside.  The people had moved out, but had left furniture behind and "staged" the home to look inviting. The carpet was clean. The Bathrooms and Kitchen were spotless.  My client was making positive statements about the property. When ...

I was showing a house to a client the other day.  They wanted to look up in the attic and pulled down the pull-down attic stairs to go up into the attic.  The ladder looked very precarious.  I have been to several home inspections where there were problems with the pull-down attic stairs. If you ...

The numbers are in for September 2008. Russet Woods and Southwood are neighborhoods conveniently located near I-459 and South Shades Crest Rd. in Hoover Alabama.  Students attend Hoover High, Bumpus Middle School and either South Shades Crest or Deer Valley Elementary. There were 4 homes that sol...

I was out in the backyard watering my garden today and was noticing how many of the plants are starting to look weary now that fall is here.  I guess some of the mornings have been a little cool and the sun is going down sooner so it is more difficult for them to flourish. My roses love the cool ...

Last year we had a terrible water shortage and people were doing all kinds of creative things just to be able to water their plants.  Now that the drought has passed, are we back to old habits? Well, if you have noticed it didn't rain much in September and October is not much better!  But the big...

We all know the presidential election is right around the corner.  It is extremely important that EVERY person vote. November 4th is the big day to go to the polls.  But, you can't just show up and expect to vote - unless you have registered.  That registration deadline is October 24th. If you ha...

I've written before about saving up to buy a house in Hoover, Alabama.  The down payment on FHA loans went up from 3% to 3.5% on October 1st, so for an FHA at least, you have to save a little more to get into that home.  This means that if you want to buy a $100,000 house, you will need $3500 for...

  I have a contract on one of the Homes I have For Sale in Birmingham Alabama.  When the buyer made his offer, the lender had given him a pre-approval letter.  He pays his bills on time and has a great credit score.  He was really excited about buying his first home!! We were supposed to close on...

The other day I was showing a house and my client and I walked out onto this wonderful deck that overlooked a nice wooded back yard.  A cool breeze was blowing and we were talking about how great it would be to sit out on the deck and eat dinner.  We were talking about the bar-be-cue and how much...

The last week has been wonderful.  Evening temperatures have been down in the 50's on some nights.  The cooler temperatures are causing the leaves to start turning, although we are going to need to see the 40's before we get the real vibrant colors. I've had my windows open to let in the cool air...