Compost, Cubic Feet & Goldie Hawn?




not our real truck but it is kind of cool!

 Amazing what we can find on the internet.....I want to buy some mushroom compost and it is sold by the truck load....So I am assuming I need to know what the cubic capacity is of our truck bed.

 I ask my husband how do I get that and he smugly said Google it! (I didn’t really Google it because I am now a devote’ of Bing, with those wonderful photos on their home page how could you not? So I Binged It?)

I actually tried this first on my I Phone but it was not being co-operative so I did it the old fashioned way I went to my computer. As soon as I hit search I am learning that it is Length x Width x Depth. All measurements need to be in feet so anything that is less than one foot divide by 12 to get the percent of feet. Simple actually...

This reminds me of when I was in school my Dad was always telling me to go look it up in the dictionary or the encyclopedia. Do they even make encyclopedias anymore?

                Funk & Wagnalls Logo                              

 Guess no one today would get the joke that was a running theme throughout  Laugh In, which was “Look that up in your Funk & Wagnalls!"

If you are a COUGAR pretend you do not have a clue as to what I am talking about......
And if you are dating a much older man Laugh In was a TV show where Goldie Hawn got her start in the 70’s....

You do know who Goldie Hawn is, right? OMG ! 

 Guess I don’t even need to mention Will .....
















For Actual Real Estate info go to http://theguthrieteam.com/ and alsohttp://www.greaterpensacolahomes.com/

CASH IS KING

Cash speaks volumes in this market. And when many short sales and foreclosures are being confronted with multiple offers Bank's love a sure thing. And a Cash deal means YES this is going to happen. No VA or FHA rules that at the last minute might halt the process….just good old green and be done with that confounding property once and for all.

And unfortunately there are many properties that just will not fit within guidelines of government backed loans. In a market where financing is tight this just might give your offer the edge that a financed offer does not afford.

If you do have the cash you might just get yourself a fabulous deal. There certainly are pitfalls, one of which is your offer might offend the seller so much they do not want to deal with you. But if you are dealing with a bank or a lawyer and emotion has nothing to do with the sale you might just have hit the jack pot.

Last year alone half of the houses sold were in the distressed category and from what The National Association of Realtors has projected this trend is not going to abate any time soon. This is clearly a problem for appraisers who have to take into consideration these homes even in a regular transaction. Often the appraisers just cannot find the comparative sales to support a NON –DISTRESS sale and the deal dies and the home goes back on the market. That is another reason that one third of all sales involved investors who were not hampered by appraisals and financing….. CASH is king!

Credit where credit is due…..this blog was inspired by a reprint from Florida Realtors News & Events of an article in the Minneapolis, Minn. Star Tribune

For Realty information go to :http://www.guthrieteam.com/ and for full IDX http://www.greaterpensacolahomes.com/

As often is the case when I am at a loss for the topic for a blog, I go to my Photo Bucket Account to look at the pictures I have saved. Invariably I see one that inspires a thought…Luckily this picture is a thought… All the more easy to get started on what is probably going to be my last post for 2011......

I really think this verbiage is the essence of acceptance or as friends of Bill will tell you that is close to what page 449 in the Big Book is all about.  I think when you REALLY GET IT right down in the marrow of your bones you come to understand acceptance is all about learning to be grateful for your blessing and your own sack of woes. I learned many years ago that a gratitude list was the best way to get me out of a “slough of despond!” It is being able to realize without walking in the other guys shoes that he carries his own sack and when you get to know him, his is far worse than your own.. Over the last few years I have had dear, dear friends that were subjected to terrible diseases…some have lived but many have died. I am at the age where it is beginning to occur all too frequently. Once I wrote a bit about all my newly acquired friends must be very young, very healthy and not prone to accidents. But that just is not possible in the times we are living. Any moment someone can be killed in a car accident…..get cancer. It happens these days all too often…

“So what?” you may snipe back at my musings. But each of us eventually comes to the point where we find out (especially us boomers) that the Doris Day movies were not going to be our reality. I mean Hello how often on the big screen did she fall for ROCK HUDSON? Perfection and more to the point perfect happiness is not something that does not come with out a ton of emotional sweat equity. For me getting a personal relationship to God has made the process less painful When you have that you begin to see that life is what you make it. And these awful events that at the time seem so ridiculously uncalled for just might make us wake up and get on with our own happiness. Acceptance is all about being comfortable in your own skin.

Far be it for me to tell you to get religion but it is one of the only things I know of that can soothe our troubled souls….I do ask that at least you try it ….Who knows you might like it!.

For questions about real estate I suggest you go to http://www.theguthrieteam.com/ and for complete IDX and more Realty info

www.greaterpensacolahomes.com

Christmas Ornaments and Home Inventories? I don't get the connection!

“Tis the season to be Merry“….

Yes, my Christmas Tree went up as close after Thanksgiving as possible. Each year when I take out all my little ornaments it feels like I am saying hello to old friends. Some of these beauties I bought over the years by up and coming artisans (Christopher Radko, Patience Brewster for example) are now quite collectible. But if these were lost there is no way I could possibly remember the individual pieces or the artist that created them! Replacing them heaven forbid ...

This made me start thinking about home inventories. As a Realtor I know the importance of keeping records in case of disasters....I continually tell my clients about this very fact.
In the coastal south our big fear, as you must know,are the dreaded HURRICANES …..A close friend who lives on the water has a bag always packed of irreplaceable photographs, so as soon as she needs to evacuate she has her prized memories ready to go in a moments notice. But it is not just storms that can wipe our personal possessions out …it can be a fire…burglary….in Louisiana floods.

Replacing Frames of this size are expensive!

Most insurance policies today do replacement value on most of your home goods. It is always good to check and see just what the terms and requirements are on your home owner’s policy so you know you are in compliance and just what they will require from you. But say you have a loss and you cannot  remember all that precious "stuff." If you are caught without an inventory of your home a good way to show loss is with photographs. And they do not necessarily need to be specific ones you have taken for this purpose but ones of the kids that might show Aunt Susie’s prized cake plate in the back ground at a birthday party. Another solution is asking friends for photos and videos they may have been taken in your home. In the case of theft you can use the owner’s manual of that flat screen TV the hooligans took for your documentation!  Purchase receipts of electronic equipment are great. Alas, is there nothing we can throw away?

But the smart thing is to be to be pro- active! Make an inventory of all those precious things you have accumulated. Ideally, you should do a written one and also have photos for items that really have extra value. An excellent technique, if you do not want to photograph each piece,is to at least walk through your home with a video slowly scanning each room so though you do not have written evidence you have enough in the video to jog your memory of just what all you did loose. 

If you are young and just starting out in a new home do this right now and it will become such a rewarding habit as the years go by. Use the link to my inventory(.pdf) and start your list today. Things of real value like art work and jewelry deserve an actual picture or an appraisal. A home Inventory is an excellent item to put with all of your important papers like deeds, warranties and manuals in a home safe or a safety deposit box.

Argh ! Now after creating this wonderful form my husband is insisting I get started on ours …what is the saying? No good deed goes unpunished!


For Great Information on any real estate needs go to http://www.greatercrestviewhomes.com/ orhttp://www.theguthrieteam.com/

PLUMBING SPELLS CATASTROPHE

Want to strike fear into my husband… Just tell him we have a possible plumbing problem.  We all make compromises and at our home we are all about prevention.

Clogged drains can cause more problems than just interrupting your schedule. Backing up a pipe can put stress on it and shorten its life. So how do we achieve never ever having to call a plumber or worse yet hubby getting out his tools?

·   Keep Food Scraps out of kitchen drains…..Yes you really should scrape food debris from your dishes….Yes, Yes even if you have a disposal!

·   Never Ever put liquid grease down the drain…..that is what empty coffee cans are for…..

·   Cover drains in showers and tubs to keep hair out….one of the major offenders of clogged drains…..

·   Only put sewage or TP in toilets.

You might suggest that the chemical remedies would be the answer but no………..invariably there is a residue of the clog left ...you can never get it all. This means the clog will come back. The real corker is because of the caustic nature of the chemicals your pipes can be damaged….Now that should be a fun way to spend your house hold money on leaking pipes instead of drapes or upholstery.

Removal of a clogged drain by a professional can cost anywhere from $85-$325 The other alternative is to simply buy a manual auger or snake of your own for maybe $15 at the hardware store ….better yet don't allow one to happen in the first place!

based on a great article form house logic
for any type Realty Informations please go to www.greatercrestviewhomes.com or www.theguthrieteam.com

Argh ...New ways to check your credit!

Can you imagine Big Brother has found another way to peek into our personal lives.But when you are asking someone to finance over $100,000 this is what happens. In the past many items have been excluded from credit histories...But alas someone has a new brain storm.From the lenders point of few it gives a fuller picture of just who you are financially ....and really just what is your true buying power? Granted this is a crazy market and lenders are taking a risk with such incredibly low interest rates. However, often credit issues that dealt with medical bills were not weighted as much as some other payment defaults. Corelogic, the company whose brain child this is typically counts these aspects in it's new report. Do you pay your rent on time? Do you have Child Support and do you pay as promised? Have you ever been evicted.....? Understandably this does not paint a great picture if you are outed on these type of questions.............Most Loans are federally backed like Fannie, Freddie and FHA.....which account for 90% of the loans issued. And this new score will not affect whether you are denied or not ...but it could have a lot to do with Higher or Lower Rates and also Banking Fees associated with your loan.....it is never simple! 
Credit where credit is due this blog based on a posting in Inman News which sources the Chicago Tribune that its article was based.

For Realty Information of any type please seehttp://www.greatercrestviewhomes.com/ or http://www.theguthrieteam.com/

Lasagna Weed Prevention

Should we order a bottle of Chianti too?

I had heard of this method of choking out weeds before but just stumbled on a Fine Gardening*that gave this rather amusing name to the proceedure. It is similar to using a fabric shield to prevent weeds but if you have moved in the last ten years you probably have card board boxes languishing in your attic and free beats most any other price. Also some authorities seem to think the fabric can be problematic. Plus cardboard is so much more GREEN !

Removing the mulch to reveal the card board

The Cardboard was deteriorating after a month...

I did a modicum of weeding but by no means got all the yucky stuff out. I then started placing cardboard on the two beds I was working on. Ok I even used a small real estate sign but don’t tell Steve my partner! Then I began to liberally water down the cardboard until I got tired of doing that but probably the more water the better. Then I laid down about 3” of mulch. I used Cyprus but pine straw or anything that is appealing will work. My plan was to wait for several months to let the cardboard decompose. Generally that takes about 6 months. Not going to happen! Have those beds look like that for six months no way!  So after about 2 weeks could not stand how it looked and went into phase 2 get those plants in the beds….

Showing the loosened area around plant....this will be recoverd with mulch!

I removed the mulch in the areas the plants were going to live and then used a box cutter to make large X’s to pull back the cardboard. Piece of cake the cardboard was pliable and the ground was easy to dig into…..I first made sure to unwind any roots that were knotted in tight circles pulling  those out to allow them to grow and smoothed soil around them gently. Final step was to smooth the cardboard around the plant leaving a bit of space and then covered the area with mulch…..

I have since learned in another article that planting immediately is ok too! Whew! So let’s all have a glass of Chianti and watch our garden grow!



Lorapetulum



Juniper

For any type of Realty Issues please go to http://www.greatercrestviewhomes.com/ or http://www.theguthrieteam.com/