Roy Kelley Sells Maryland Homes

When a home has an unconditioned (unheated) crawl space, most building codes require that there be some form of crawl space ventilation. This comes in various forms but, at least in Bellingham and Whatcom County, more often than not the builders put in foundation vents -- typically a few feet from each corner and spaced quite evenly from one another, every few feet.

The preferred vents are those with wire mesh, typically 1/4" galvanized screens. Often, instead, I will see vent screens like the one below.

This is a louvered vent screen and the average person may not know it, but the louvers seriously impede the "net-free" area. In other words, if the goal is to have some air movement then these are of marginal design. With a few exceptions, I typically suggest that these vents be replaced with proper vents that do not impede venting. There is some controversy in some areas, where inspectors recommend that vents be closed. If a WSDA licensed inspector in this state suggests that, he or she is likely to receive a reprimand. Crawl space vents that are blocked are a state mandated conducive condition. As an inspector, at least in this region, I can say that I never encourage blocked vents. When I inspect older homes with few, or blocked vents, it seems like anobiid beetle infestations are often a part of the equation.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith

 

 

This passion flower begs the question what is our passion? This passion is so beautiful, and there's one budding right next to it. Maybe our passion has yet to unfold.

───

For more information on my coaching and educational programs and services, visit my website stevehoffacker.com, or go to my other blog homesalesinsights.com for additional sales tips, insights, and commentary. Listen to my free podcast messages at Steve Hoffacker's Happenings.

Steve Hoffacker - Consultant, Coach, Author, Blogger, Photographer, Motivator, Teacher, & Strategist - for Realtors, Real Estate Sales Professionals, Home Builders, New Home Salespeople, Entrepreneurs, Small Business Owners, and Independent Sales Representatives.

Photography displayed is original composition and artistic expression of Steve Hoffacker, and as such is copyrighted. Photos are as taken and have not been cropped, edited, or enhanced in anyway.

© Steve Hoffacker, 2010. All Rights Reserved.

 

Sellers all share the same notion as to the value of their house. When I ask what they would like net from the sale of their property, they always answer: “as much as I can get.”

And generally, they believe that the best way to achieve that goal is to start high to test the waters, and then consider price reductions as time goes on without receiving any offers.

However, in today’s market, there is a strong possibility that electing to use this strategy will ultimately lose money for the seller. It’s called “chasing the market,” and in a declining market it is more like a dog chasing its own tail.

As houses languish on the market, savvy buyers sense more and more desperation on behalf of the seller. There is nothing about these listings that would make a buyer want to offer anything near the list price.

My preference is to ask a seller what the “least” amount they can live with right from the get-go. If that amount is close to the true market value that I have researched, we are in business.

A properly price house immediately attracts serious buyers during the initial “new listing” phase. And if a house generates multiple offers within the first week or two, the seller is actually in a much stronger negotiating position.

And here’s the kicker: Pricing a house lower can actually net the seller more money in less time! Let’s all repeat that: Pricing a house lower can actually net the seller more money.

And a better bottom line is the net result of a successful sale!

 

All content, including text, original art, photographs and images, is the exclusive property of Coweta Fayette Real Estate, Inc., and may not be used without the expressed written permission of Coweta Fayette Real Estate Better Homes and Gardens Metro Brokers, Newnan Georgia. All information is believed to be accurate but is not warranted, Copyright 2003-2009. Richard Weisser REOS, E-Pro. licensed Auctioneer. 770-827-6225.
Learn more about Coweta County and Fayette County Georgia Real Estate, and to search the entire Georgia MLS for free with no registration required visit CowetaFayetteRealEstate.com! Photos of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Get the latest GA Foreclosure List Updated Daily! We Do HUD bids in Georgia! 770-827-6225

Indian Springs Elementary School received a designation of "Excellent with Distinction" from the State of Ohio Department of Education for the 2009- 2010 school year.

 

Is "Excellent with Distinction" an A+ ?  It is the highest designation.  The six designations for schools in Ohio:

• Excellent with Distinction
• Excellent
• Effective
• Continuous Improvement
• Academic Watch
• Academic Emergency

The elementary school in the Columbus City School District is located at  50 E. Henderson Rd. Columbus Ohio 43214.  Map

Neighborhoods that attend Indian Springs Elementary School include: *Beechwold, Delawanda Park, Indian Springs, Old Beechwold and Tremont Gardens.   Indian Springs Elementary School attendance area

This post brought to you by 301 Girard Rd, Columbus OH 43214, a listing in the Delawanda Park neighborhood and the Indian Springs Elementary School attendance area.  The link above provide current information on that listing.

 

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This post was written by Maureen McCabe of Real Living HER

For information on Franklin and Delaware County communities including Clintonville, Columbus, Dublin, Gahanna, Grandview Heights,  Hilliard, Lewis Center,  New Albany, North Columbus,  Powell,  Upper Arlington, Westerville and Worthington 

Contact 614.388.8249

Website: MaureenMcCabe.com

Search Central Ohio homes

email: MaureenatMaureenMcCabe.com   @

 

Central Ohio real estate market news:

Discover Columbus OH - Columbus and Central Ohio

Worthington Old and News - Worthington real estate

Subscription by email is in the upper right hand corner just below the blogs header.

All information is deemed to be accurate but should be verified to your satisfaction.  The information provided herein is supplied by several sources and is subject to change without notice.  Opinions expressed are solely those of Maureen McCabe.

Newbies- here are the answers to some of your most asked questions. I have included the links where you can find the tutorials in detail. 

Question #1- How do you get colored text, different sized fonts on your blog?

How To Jazz Up Your Blogging- Free and Easy! 

Update: Since writing that post there is another great tool that has actually become my favorite Active Rain blog editor. It is using Gmail as an editor. With the Mac- you just drag and drop right from Gmail into your Active Rain WYSIWYG editor. You don't need to know html. It will cut your blogging time in half. 

Question #2- How do you get your screenshots with arrows and...?

Cool Tool I Use To Get Those Screen Shots and Torn Edges

Update: With the Mac- you don't need anything except your keyboard to do great screen shots fast and super easy. Just click Shift, Command, 4- then drag your curser over the part of the screen you want to capture, release and there it is! You can then drag the screen shot into Pages or Keynote and use Inspector and the Tool Bar to add your arrows, etc. Again, our Macs increase productivity and save so much time. 

Question #3- Where do you get those cool safe images to use on your blog?

Clip Art You Can Use For Business and Commercial Purposes

Since I wrote this post the clip art site we use has increased to over 7 million images and added on all kinds of web graphics. Their 3D art is the best I have ever seen. 

   

 

 

        

 

 

Copyright © By Katerina Gasset 2010 *Newbies- Answers To Your Top Active Rain Blogging Questions*

 

 

 

 

Vegetation in Southern California covers an amazing array of contrasts in color, size, greenery and flowers. It can be very tropical, or from the desert. We see plants more commonly seen in colder climates, and a few things aren't found too many other places, like the Torrey Pine.

One of my seller clients has a goregous garden, which is, itself, a study of contrasts. I love the simplicity of the tiny groundcover which is, literally, 5 feet from a huge sago palm (not a real palm).

Beauty to behold.

 

[Note - I have tried repeatedly to upload the contrasting photo but the dreaded proxy error and bad gateway keep appearing. I have edited the photo a couple of times, and tried several different ones but AR refuses to allow it. I give up, for now]

 

 

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If I can provide more information about Carlsbad real estate and surrounding areas, the housing market, or otherwise assist you, friends or family in a home search, please contact me by phone or text at (760) 840-1360 or email me at JDowler@remax.net.

Serving Carlsbad, Encinitas, Cardiff, Solana Beach, Del Mar, La Jolla, Carmel Valley, Rancho Santa Fe, San Marcos, Escondido, Oceanside and San Diego

Carlsbad Breaking News ~ Oceanside Breaking News ~ Encinitas Breaking News

All content ©Copyright by Jeff Dowler. All rights reserved.

 So I googled my new listing "11110 Hidden Trail" and the first six spots are mine! My new listing! 11110 Hidden Trail Drive in Owings Mills is being found on the search engines.

 This is a wonderful way to get exposure for listings. Are you blogging your listings on ActiveRain?

 Are you telling your sellers, your buyers, your friends, neighbors and even  other agents to Google your listings?

If not you are missing a great opportunity.  Take a look at what Google turned up in a very short time. It is even OK that my new listing is on a site of one of my competitors...more exposure for my seller. Also there is more exposure for my other listings.

1. Margaret Rome - Baltimore real estate agent - r...   - www.homerome.com/

11110 Hidden TrailDrive, Owings Mills MD - Trulia 

 - 4:34pm Photos, maps, description for 11110 Hidden TrailDrive, Owings Mills MD. Search homes for sale, get school district and neighborhood info for Owings Mills, ...
www.trulia.com/.../3026916356-11110-Hidden-Trail-Dr-Owings-Mills-MD-21117 -

A Competitors site

 - 4:33pm Aug 28, 2010 ... Virtual Tours for 11110 HIDDEN TRAIL DR Multiple Virtual Tours exist for this property. Click on the link to view the virtual tour. ...
11110-HIDDEN-TRAIL... -

Margaret Rome - Baltimore real estate agent - relocation and ...

 - 11 visits - 4:35pm 11110 Hidden TrailDrive. $474944. 3031 Fallstaff. $149944. 7901 Winterset Avenue. $424944. 1 Gristmill Court Annen Woods. $274944. The Risteau. $399944 ...
www.homerome.com/ -

Margaret's Blog

 - 21 visits - Jul 29 11110 Hidden TrailDrive Valley Heights Owings Mills, MD 21117 4 Bedrooms 4 Full Baths This is a Custom all brick Rancher built by Dahan. ...
activerain.com/blogs/homerome - Cached - Similar

 

 

11110 Hidden TrailDrive Valley Heights Owings Mills, MD 21117 4 Bedrooms 4 Full Baths This is a Custom... Owings Mill MD Townhomes ...
activerain.com/states/MD/cities/Owings%20Mills - 

 So I googled my new listing "11110 Hidden Trail"  21117 and the first six spots are mine! My new listing! 11110 Hidden Trail Drive in Owings Mills is being found on the search engines.

 This is a wonderful way to get exposure for listings. Are you blogging your listings on ActiveRain? Are you telling your sellers, your buyers, your friends, neighbors and even  other agents to Google your listings? If not you are missing a great opportunity.   It is even OK that my new listing is on a site of one of my competitors...more exposure for my seller. Also there is more exposure for my other listings.

 

 

Author of Real Estate the Rome Way

www.HomeRome.com

410-530-2400

For other pages in the Nature Handbook,
simply click on Nature Handbook.

Last Thursday morning, Jane Grant, Jim Frimmer, and I went to the San Diego Zoo for a few hours.

Our specific goal was to see all the big kitties, and we'll get to them once we finish walking through all the exhibits between the entrance and the big kitties, like this secretary bird:

And this llama taking a dirt bath, not exactly my kind of bath:

Or this llama chewing his cud:

Try RusselRayPhotos.com for inexpensive, royalty-free photos.

Twenty recent posts

1. Nature handbook — Just give me a little food and love, and I'll do whatever you want
2. Nature handbook — Don't I look huggable?
3. Nature handbook — Are we not just as cute as our meerkat cousins?
4. Fun with Russel Ray — HELP! I'm stuck on a bad number!
5. Nature handbook — It was too early for her to be laughing at me!
6. Nature handbook — Sunny San Diego is perfect for them!
7. Nature handbook — Can you identify this creature?
8. Anyone have any recommendations on bicycles?
9. Nature handbook — Do cute and happy animals make you happy?
10. The latest in high profile celebrity mold lawsuits
11. San Diego home inspections — HELP! My air ducts are falling apart!
12. Flower Fiesta #19 — Happy Monday!
13. A piece missing — I haven't found one at my local Wal-Mart
14. Real estate lawsuits, Part 7: Expect to be accused
15. Please welcome my 150th ActiveRain Invitee: Jason Channell of Troy, Michigan
16. Please welcome some of my new ActiveRain Invitees!
17. Flower Fiesta #18 — Sunday is for family and friends
18. Fun with Russel Ray — Shouldn't he be paying homage to me?
19. Fun with Russel Ray — I love my Zonie neighbors
20. Fun with Russel Ray — He either saluted me or told me I was #1....

My Favorite ActiveRain Groups

ActiveRan Travel Station
ActiveRain Convention Station
ActiveRain Guerrilla Marketing Station
ActiveRain Library Station
ActiveRain History Station
ActiveRain Nature Station
ActiveRain Symphony Station

Today, our local association sent out an email with, among other things, links to Real Estate's 6 Most Dangerous Everyday Situations, written by Melissa Dittmann Tracey.   Now, these were all very common sense things that we all know to do - or not to do.

But, Melissa forgot the big one!

She forgot the huge one!

So what is it?

It's the car, stupid!  And I'm not talking about a car with a new buyer sitting in it, which is covered by Tip No. 6: "Transporting strangers in your car".

My friends, it's not the strangers in our cars that are a threat to us.  We are - probably more of - a threat to them!

So many Realtors I know are terrible drivers.  It's not that they are inherently maniacal behind the wheel.  But they multi-task like crazy - talking on their cell phones (and forget the hands free stuff), check their messages on their Blackberries, wolf down the Big Mac for lunch, and forget looking where they are going!  Instead their eyes are on the new For Sale sign that sprouted up on the front yard of the listing they thought they were getting.

Oops!

My problem with the article isn't that the advice is without merit.  It is important to use common sense at Opens and while showing houses.  But I think the focus is entirely misplaced.

I know many agents who have been involved in accidents caused by distracted drivers.  I know a few who I will not get into a car with when they are driving.   I don't know a single one, in over almost 30 years in the business, who has been put in any danger from a customer or client. 

So if you are really serious about keeping yourself safe on the job, you'll focus on the road while you are driving - not on your phone or your latest text message or your lunch.

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VIRGINIA HOMEOWNERS BEWARE...THINK TWICE BEFORE WALKING AWAY.  Unfortunately there are a number of borrowers finding themselves underwater and may be thinking of doing just that..  If you are one of them, give it some very serious thought before you make the decision to walk away.  The penalty may very well not be worth it.

There is a possibility that Fannie Mae will come after homeowners that walk away.  You might well find yourself on the losing side of a lawsuit.  Beyond that is the distinct possibility that Fannie Mae will refuse to back mortgages for these homeowners for at least seven years, especially if these borrowers have not been diligent about looking for other alternatives with the help of their lender.

Walking away, even from a property that is underwater, may not be the smart move in the long run even if it looks tempting right now.  This choice may have dire consequences.  If you, as a REALTOR®, are working with someone thinging of walking away, please be sure to share this with them.

Whether this may hold true for other states as well, I do not know.  However, it may be a good idea to watch for news about this.

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GET MOVING WITH KATE!

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lakeanna.kate@gmail.com

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