For those of you sorry to see the Olympics come to an end, I thought it would be fun to keep the event alive a little longer with this post. Michael Phelps and other Olympians are the ultimate physical athletes, the cream of the crop.  While we Realtors will never be on par with Olympians in the world of athletics, there are a few things that these two groups have in common. 1. We Are Skilled - Athletes are talented individuals.  Although most of us possess the basic skills from which athletes build upon, athletes further develop these physical skills in order to excel in competition. Basic athletic skills like balance, speed, and strength are enhanced to achieve new levels of performance. Like athletes, Realtors build upon basic skills - time management, problem solving, customer servi... 08/27/2008

There were 25 Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania homes that sold in July, down from 43 in June.  Here's the list for July: AddressList PriceSold Price 200 Warwick Drive 799,900 725,000 1452 Paragon Place 699,900 625,000 1312 Wellington Drive 634,900 592,000 1050 Tall Trees Drive 525,000 498,000 168 Fieldgate Drive 519,900 495,000 206 Carriage Lane 500,000 495,000 1755 Scarlett Drive 519,900 485,000 1511 Candlewood Drive 464,900 455,000 1778 Seegar Circle 487,900 450,000 1776 Seegar Circle 459,900 432,000 1859 Taper Drive 349,000 340,000 2558 Corteland Drive 319,900 310,000 2559 Forest Brook Drive 309,900 300,000 564 Trotwood Ridge Road 290,000 297,500 2445 Corteland Drive 294,900 282,500 220 Trotwood West Drive 284,900 275,000 2621 Quail Hill Drive 289,000 270,000 1513 High Knolls Drive 274,... 08/27/2008

To keep your pet safe and secure during home renovations, Blog Remodeler passes along these helpful hints:  First, if you've decided to hire workers to renovate your home, you'll need to consider your pet's reaction. If your pet tends to be overly protective of your home and family, you should take the time to introduce it to the workers. A major aspect of home renovation that is sometimes difficult for pets is the loud noises that almost always comes with work on your home. The best thing to do is to place your pet in a smaller space (such as a laundry room or office) with its bed, a comforting blanket, and a few of its favorite toys. Because the safety of your family and pets are of the highest priority, be sure to be on the lookout for hazards once the workers go home. Things that co... 08/27/2008

There were 27 homes that sold in Peters Township, Pennsylvania during the month of July: AddressList PriceSold Price 300 Buckingham Drive (New Construction) 799,000 799,000 200 Rosewood Court 762,000 762,000 105 Rebecca Drive 699,000 699,000 102 Trotwood Drive 669,000 662,000 502 Kingston Circle (New Construction) 609,000 603,000 206 Farmington Drive 799,000 595,000 301 Bridle Trail 519,900 505,000 211 Snowberry Circle 499,000 477,500 307 Bunker Hill Drive 464,900 454,000 214 W. Edgewood Drive 355,000 346,250 102 Brave Run Road 339,900 335,000 122 Druid Drive 299,900 294,500 110 Timber Oak Court 309,900 290,000 167 Pleasantview Drive 299,900 290,000 81 Will Scarlett Road 299,900 270,000 415 McCombs Road 269,900 267,500 109 Will Scarlett Road 259,900 265,000 111 Sherwood Drive 249,900 24... 08/27/2008

Summer cooking (and eating!) is best with fresh food from a farmers' market.  Here are some of the markets in Pittsburgh and the surrounding communities: Ambridge Farmers' Market - Route 65 and 6th Street, 4:00-7:00, Thursdays Avella Farmers' Market - Avella Firehall on Route 50, 10:00-1:00, Sundays Beaver Farmers' Market - 800 Fourth Street, 10:00-1:00, Saturdays Beaver Falls Farmers' Market - behind Brodhead Apartments, 8th Avenue and 12th Street, 3:30-6:30, Mondays Bethel Park Farmers' Market - Community Center parking lot by the playground, 3:00-7:00, Tuesdays Bloomfield Farmers' Market - Cedarville Street & Friendship Avenue, 3:30-7:30, Thursdays Bridgeville Farmers' Market - 151 Parks Road, 5:30-close, Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays Carrick Farmers' Market - Carrick Shopping Center,... 08/27/2008

If you're selling a home in Mt. Lebanon, you'll be happy to hear that the number of houses sold in this community continues to increase each month.  From 32 in April and 42 in May, Mt. Lebanon saw 47 homes sell in June and 48 in July.  Here's the complete list for July: AddressList PriceSold Price 804 Elm Spring Road 645,000 645,000 1020 Martha Avenue 575,000 560,000 32 Woodhaven Drive 548,000 548,000 16 Woodland Drive 639,900 532,500 777 Pinoak Road 495,000 480,000 111 Woodland Drive 469,900 446,000 41 Lebanon Hills Drive 459,900 442,000 240 Woodhaven Drive 389,900 389,900 136 Inglewood Drive 395,000 387,000 225 Jefferson Drive 374,900 372,500 302 Shadowlawn Avenue 375,000 352,000 37 Mt. Lebanon Boulevard 349,900 340,000 767 Pinetree Road 319,900 314,000 244 Outlook Drive 319,000 300,0... 08/27/2008

Home offices present a few challenges when it comes to being eco-friendly, mainly relating to energy and paper. Jennifer Roberts, the author of Good Green Homes, has come up with a few simple ways to save trees, conserve energy, and reduce the carbon footprint of your home office. Here are her seven tips, which were posted on This Old House: 1. Reduce paper use. Print only the emails and documents that you really need, and make double-sided printouts when possible. Subscribe to digital newsletters, opt out of paper billing, and register for online banking. "If you need to transmit a signed document, scan and email it instead of printing and faxing it," says Roberts. 2. Reuse paper. Hold onto one-sided printouts and use them as notepaper. If you subscribe to magazines or printed newslett... 08/27/2008

TruClose is proud to be the tasting glass sponsor for the following charity event:   Wine Opener At Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium     The Wine Opener is a national wine tasting series to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. From wine novices to advanced wine enthusiasts, The Pittsburgh Wine Opener is a casual and fun evening for all experience levels! Along with delicious food and wine pairings, and the sights and sounds of the marketplace, guests will be treated to lively auctions and entertainment. For a $60 ticket, guests receive entrance into the event, all wine and food tastings, a keepsake tasting glass and a tasting journal. $100 VIP ticket holders receive all of the above plus a unique gift bag of products from the marketplace and a special pre-event wine tasting. Date(s): 20... 07/31/2008

New baby at Pittsburgh Zoo A new baby elephant was born early this morning at the Pittsburgh Zoo.  This is the second baby elephant that Pittsburgh Zoo has welcomed this year which is a rare occurrence.  If you are looking for a fun family day the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium is definitely at the top of my pick list.  There is fun for the whole family.  Take a nice walk on the paved walking trails.  Enjoy a snack at the snack bar.  Visit up close and personal with the Kangaroos!  No matter which animal is your favorite the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium is sure to make you smile.   07/27/2008

Here's the list of 26 Peters Township, PA homes that sold in June:   AddressList PriceSold Price 209 Rosewood Court 1,237,000 1,100,000 848 Bebout Road 689,900 650,000 McMurray Highlands (New Construction) 645,900 629,212 611 Sagewood Drive 529,000 525,250 106 Brandywine Drive 527,900 514,500 240 Molly Drive 549,900 496,000 210 Windermere Court 509,000 495,000 108 Kingwood Drive 495,000 490,000 306 Bridle Trail 484,500 471,500 328 Hedgerow Drive 456,328 456,238 103 Wiltshire Lane 469,900 447,000 113 Horizon Drive 437,000 437,000 100 Bridle Trail 429,900 403,000 107 Maid Marion Lane 399,900 393,000 329 Buffalo Ridge Road 382,500 385,000 141 Druid Drive 349,900 383,412 102 Creekwood Drive 359,900 342,500 115 Evans Drive 289,900 289,900 157 E Highland Drive 284,999 278,000 104 Lightholder ... 07/14/2008

Looking for your first home is a new experience, so of course you're going to make mistakes (maybe even lots of them!). House hunting can be fun, but here are 3 of the most common mistakes that will surely kill your enthusiasm and make your search seem like it will never end: #1 - Searching for the perfect house    There is no such thing as the perfect house. Every home you look at will have its positives and negatives. Often homebuyers think that, if they search long enough, the perfect property will come along. There are always things that people change to make a house a home. You need to look past how it currently looks and see the home as it can become. It is what you make of it that makes it perfect. #2 - Having a scope that's too wide Too many choices can be confusing. You really ... 07/07/2008

There are some great benefits to living closer to downtown - proximity to food, entertainment and shopping, as well as access to the amazing cultural scene. There are also wonderful aspects of living in the suburbs, like owning a bit more land and having a larger house as well as enjoying community pools and having barbecues in the cul-de-sac. Some people want to live downtown because they can walk to everything. But keep in mind there are suburbs that also are considered to be very "walkable." If you're looking for a house where you don't have to get in your car every time you want a gallon of milk, then check out Walk Score.  You enter an address or zip code, and it finds the distance to the nearest grocery stores, post offices, restaurants, libraries, movie theaters and other useful ... 07/07/2008

This house on the South Side has been beautifully renovated on the inside, but would the exterior paint color keep you from seeing it? There are many factors involved in marketing and selling your home, and you can't control most of them. But the curb appeal of your home plays a big role, and it's one of the things you can have direct control over.  You'll never get another chance to make a first impression of how your home looks from the street. If your home exterior needs new paint, or you made a poor color choice, potential buyers might not even get out of their car to come in and look. Color can certainly make your house stand out in a crowd, but neutral colors appeal more to the masses and can give you better resale value. If you need a dramatic touch to make your house memorable, ... 07/07/2008

It's no surprise to those of us living here, but Pittsburgh has been recognized as a Real Estate Most-Livable Bargain Market.  This is based on MSN Real Estate's 2008 list of the nine best, livable cities where you won't need to trade the good life for the boring. Pittsburgh has shaken off its steel-town image to be an attractive and desirable location for families and retirees. In addition to housing many major corporations, it is home to Duquesne and Carnegie Mellon universities. The employment picture is solid, but not as robust as some of the other picks on this list. It's easy to afford a home here and there are more than 90 recognized neighborhoods to choose from, each with a unique identity and personality. Steep hills rise on all sides of town, with some of these neighborhoods a... 07/06/2008

Not a week goes by where I do not meet someone from the Pittsburgh area!  Steeler fans abound down here in beautiful Greenville, SC, just voted 4th best place in the country to relocate and live.  I spent my first 50 years of life in the Pittsburgh area - South Park to be specific.  We moved here last year and truly love the area and the people.  If you  or anyone you know are planning a move here, please let me know!  I would love to help you find a great home (with very low taxes here) and show you all the highlights of this great area.  We are just an hour from the mountains, a couple of hours from the beach and centrally located between Charlotte and Atlanta. 05/30/2008

So often we only have time to see an airport, taxi and hotel in different cities, so Tami and I took an extra day and came to Pittsburgh yesterday.  Meetings will be held at the Sheraton Station Square, just across the river from downtown. This was the view from our window this morning.The day was sunny and mild, perfect for our leisure day here.This morning the free hotel shuttle took us over to  Carnegie Science Center where we saw the exhibit BODIES. It was a great exhibit and we spent a couple of hours there, learning a lot.Back to Station Square for lunch at Bar Louie, where we ate outside overlooking the Mon.After that we joined some of the other CyberProfessionals on the Duck Tour - great way to see both the city, from land and from sea. Our guide is just graduating as a theater ... 04/27/2008

Tips for Selling Your Home in PittsburghThere are numerous articles and blogs available for home sellers that deal with how to prepare a home for sale.  So, why am I diving into the fray?The answer is that this aspect of the home sale is so important that it never hurts to remind sellers.  We are in a very competitive market right now and anything you can do to give your home an edge in this market will certainly benefit you in the long run.Here are my tips for a quicker home sale:1.  Pre-inspection - Probably the number one deal-killer is the home inspection.  With a lot of homes to choose from, buyers are not shy about walking away from a deal if they don't like what they see in a home inspection report.  A pre-inspection will alert the seller to any problems.  Regardless of how long ... 04/04/2008

Money Magazine's Annual Top 100 Places to Live is now Top 100 Places to Live and Launch a business.Pittstburgh, PA was ranked #60 in the USA and was the second highest PA city on the list (after Bethlehem).  They say the Pros are "Top-ranked research universities, affordable homes".  They note: "Urban amenities like first-rate museums and a lively music and arts scene are abundant - and if you like golf, championship fairways are just a fifteen minute drive from downtown."http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fsb/0803/gallery.best_places_to_launch.fsb/60.htmlChristine Bell, CRMShttp://www.pamortgagepros.com/  03/31/2008

Buying Foreclosures in the Pittsburgh AreaPART 3 OF 3 - FORECLOSURE PRICINGIn this final part of the series on buying foreclosures, I'd like to discuss the topic of how foreclosures are priced.  Some people are under the impression that you can buy a foreclosure for pennies on the dollar.  This is very rarely the case and usually leads to wasted time and effort and disappointment for buyers.Lenders will price a foreclosure based on a number of factors.  These include the money owed on the mortgage and any other outstanding liens such as mechanic's liens or unpaid property taxes.  The lender has other expenses as well, such as legal fees as part of the foreclosure process, clearing the property of debris, and the cost to market the property.  According to Freddie Mac (Federal Home Loan M... 03/23/2008

Buying Foreclosures in the Pittsburgh AreaPART 2 OF 3 - BUYER'S COSTSThis is part 2 of a 3-part series dealing with issues to be aware of when considering the purchase of a foreclosed property.  This article will address the topic of buyer's costs.In a foreclosure situation, some of the costs that are normally paid by the seller are passed on to the buyer.  These costs may include:Full amount of Transfer TaxDye testOccupancy permit inspectionsTurning on utilities in homes that have been winterized (if applicable)De-winterization and re-winterization of the property (if applicable)The seller will normally supply the buyer with addendums to the sales agreement which will indicate what each party will be responsible for in terms of costs and other matters related to the sale and closing.  ... 03/20/2008