Minggu, 30 Desember 2007

Good time to buy Real Estate


Despite all the national news about how bad the housing market is I believe it is a great time to buy a home in the New Bern area. Home prices have stabilize and are certainly more reasonable than they were a year and a half ago, and interest rates are very attractive. I have always felt it was a mistake to listen to the gloom and doom media. Frankly, the market had to adjust some as prices were rising faster than they could be sustained. Don't listen to the prophets of doom, if you are in the market for a home buy one. Check out my website www.newbern-nc.info for all the information you need on Real Estate in the New Bern area.

Kamis, 27 Desember 2007

New Bern History


New Bern has a very unique and storied history and the older I get the more interested I am becoming in not only the history of New Bern but of North Carolina as well. I wonder why that is. Perhaps it is because the older I become the more I feel like I am a part of history myself. I guess one of the advantages of growing older is that I can remember things from 50 years ago. Yikes! thats scary.




With the 300th aniversity of the founding of New Bern just around the corner there will certainly be some interesting facts surface regarding early New Bern and I look forward to learning more about the colonial capital of North Carolina. If you would like to learn a little more about early New Bern go to my website at http://www.newbern-nc.info/ . Please let me know what you think and if you have any information on this subject that you would like to share with me please do so.

Kamis, 13 Desember 2007

Home Staging Gets a Red Eye in Chicago

"You can rent movies. You can rent an apartment. If you live or work in a street-parking desert, you can even rent a space for your ride. So why not add luxury to that list?" This is what Kyra Kyles wrote the introduction to her cover story in last weeks Red Eye Newspaper. (For those of you that don't know what a "Red Eye" is... well it is the hip urban free daily newspaper published by the Tribune Corporation here in Chicago.)

The article, entitled "Rent An Image" looked at some of the interesting luxury items that are available to rent in Chicago-land. Well, I have to admit I never considered the props we have available as ubber LUXURY items, like the Austin Martin automobiles and the Prada handbags the article spoke of. But Kyra who interviewed Real Estaging for a side bar story entitled "Go ahead and rent that furniture", (Click on image on lwft to enlarge) pointed out the fact that props can be rented to help you sell your home for more money (Click on image at left to read it). Besides making homes look more appealing, staging has helped sellers make more money when they RAISED the asking price. as well as help to sell homes faster... and considering "time is money" staging a home should be a considered in this current market.

Most home seller's think that staging props are rented for use ONLY in and for vacant property sales. Seller's don't know that some home stager's can also rent just the right piece or pieces to finish off the look and appeal of their property as they live there while it on the market. The main advantage of renting is the fact that the seller need not spend the time to shop for decorative items or spend full retail prices to buy those items. The other VERY important advantage of using a stager's props is the fact that a stager knows to use pieces that are UNDERSTATED. When selling your home, your house needs to be the star, not the stuff in it. Experienced stagers know how to create a "put together look" with out our stuff ending up being a beautiful distraction.

So thanks Red Eye... your unique story angle helps to make another fine point about home staging.

Me


PS: If you would like to see an entire PDF sample of Chicago's Red Eye Newspaper... CLICK HERE.

Minggu, 09 Desember 2007

The Incredible New Bern Bears



This was your classic David and Goliath story. Going into the state 4A championship Saturday night, Charlotte Independence had won 7 straight state championships. Talk about being an underdog. I think the only folks in the state that thought New Bern had a chance to win were the players and the coachs. It is common knowledge that Charlotte Independence is a football factory of sorts. They recuit players outside of their district and draw from a talent pool of over 1 million. The New Bern Bears draw from perhaps 40 thousand. Despite getting behind 14 to 0 early in the first quarter the Bears never gave up hope. History was made last night. David aka Bears, won their first state championship.

Minggu, 02 Desember 2007

WOW! THANKS... this Home Staging Blog is a "MUST READ"

The authors over at Future of Real Estate and Loans recently posted a list of blogs they feel are "MUST READS".

They write "there’s a ton of excellent mortgage and real estate blogs out there – way too many to list, in fact. But for a unique spin on the market as well as perspective that makes sense to anyone interested in real estate anywhere, there are some blogs that really are masters of their niche."

Home Staging Rants & Ravings is definitely in good company. To see the entire list, click here to read 11 Must Read Daily Real Estate Blogs.

THANKS GUYS! The recognition is appreciated.