Perhaps it was my childhood that instilled an appreciation of moving a lot, but I still enjoy the process to this day. I'm not crazy enough to enjoy the actual "moving" of all my stuff. That's no fun for anyone. But I do love the excitement of a new place, new sights, new smells, new restaurants and of course, new craft beers. What's not to love?
For some people, most likely those with excess baggage (also known as kids), moving is a much larger hassle. The last time I moved, I was able to fit everything I own into the back of my Tacoma. Of course I had to jettison a few items in order to make it all fit. But in the end the cat and I were comfortable and I only missed a few things.
Moving for whatever reason can certainly be stressful and full of anxiety (and hard work). Today I'd like to e...
In today's age of global turmoil, in-fighting, social upheaval and, let's be honest, complete and utterly baffling, mind-numbing ignorance in our political world, there's at least one thing we can all agree on. Kids are just the worst. Wait, what? Is it just me? OK, I'm kidding (really!). While I've decided not to bring another hungry mouth into this world, there are a small handful of kids out there that are pretty cool.
For some reason, perhaps my advanced age (still hovering under a half century), I have this odd desire to spend a little time with kids who are old enough to speak but still too young to fully understand the world they are about to inherit. I think I'm fascinated by their focus on those more important things in life like: Are all the pieces to this puzzle in the box? Am I going to have enough Lincoln Logs to finish the roof? Is it ever going to snow so we can skip school and go sledding? For now, I'll have to rely on my friends with kids (you know who you a...
Life, relationships and yes, real estate, are all riddled with compromise. These include some of those more important life decisions like whether to finish binge-watching "Scrubs" or start "Brooklyn Nine Nine". You know - the important stuff. If you have been partnered up for any length of time, you are keenly aware of the importance of compromise and negotiations. As The Rolling Stones taught us: You can't always get what you want.
One of the more important "rules" for these discussions is simply to keep it professional and courteous. Regardless of the state of the current, local market, low-ball offers are always going to be a "thing". We can't fault the buyers for wanting the best price, but as sellers (and agents) it is important to not take the offer personally. It is even more important not t...
I just read an article about the Texas real estate agent who sold (Are you sitting down?) 4,700 homes worth over 1.9 billion dollars in 2017. I think we all understand he didn't do that all by himself, but the point is the guy knows how to sell homes. As real estate professionals (I was one in a former life) we gain a decent amount of knowledge over the years. With clients coming from every walk of life, we see homes in widely (wildly!) varying conditions and states of (dis)array. From a seller's agent perspective, this tends to be one of the more challenging parts of the job.
It is no secret that everyone wants the highest price for their home and buyers are itching to get the best deal they can. I was taught at an early age that the value of something is directly related to how much YOU are willing to...