Monthly Archives for
June 2005

The Art of the Sale

I attended an all-day seminar yesterday on the topic of the National Realtor Code of Ethics. It was given by the Southeast Valley Regional Association of Realtors as an orientation to its newest members (me!). The material for the class included quite a bit dry legal jargon that left me struggling to stay conscious, however we had a charismatic lecturer, who peaked my interest with some clever advice.

He recommended that when we are getting ready to list a house and putting together promotional materials for the home, we ask the owners two questions:

1. What made you buy this house instead of any of the others you looked at before buying it?

2. What will you miss most about this house?

This advice makes so much sense that it made me wonder “DUH, why didn’t I think of that!” I feel like one of my talents as a Realtor is my ability to find the beauty in just about any house. Even the roughest, farthest away shack has a desirable feature I can shake out. The thing is, though, the people who’ve lived there and loved it to begin with definitely know those things better than I do. It would be silly not to ask for their help in promoting it.

If, however, they ask for my help to make the house just a little more desirable, here are five things I recommend a seller do to his or her house before putting it on the market:

1. Make it sparkle – even though your kitchen cabinets are not the newest and your floors have seen better days, a good thorough cleaning can work wonders. It lets the buyer know that even though they may want to do some remodeling eventually, everything is still livable and functional right now. When I’m shopping for a home, I like a little reason to DIY here and there, but I definitely want the option to do it gradually.

2. Call a yard service – have a profession come out and give your yard a once over. It’s cheap and definitely adds to the first impression.

3. If you do have older cabinets in your kitchen or bath that have gold handles and knobs, hit up a hardware store and buy some inexpensive silver replacements. This can really update the look of your cabinets quickly and easily.

4. De-clutter – you know you’re going to be moving fairly soon anyway, so why not get a jump on the packing and box up some extraneous knickknacks and get them out of the way. The less you have out, the easier it is for the buyer to imagine his or her own things in the home.

5. Fresh flowers – an arrangement or two of fresh flowers in your home really makes it feel glamorous and livable at the same time. My favorites are tulips!

Random Shots

I showed a house in Dobson Ranch on the water the other day. When I drove in through the neighborhood (it’s on a street I hadn’t been down before) on the way to the house I was surprised at the beauty of the homes (even though they are all 25-plus years old) and the peacefulness of the street. When I pulled up to the house I was showing I was immediately charmed. It had a lovely manicured lawn and mature trees. My favorite part was a sweet pair of ducks relaxing in the shade of one of the trees.

They just seemed so comfortable and at home on the lawn, that at first I wasn’t even sure they were real. The closer I got, however, the more protective the male became. The ducks won me over for that house before I’d even walked through the door.

(If you want to see it, contact me; it’s still on the market!)

And one more little bitty brag:

Look at my cute little genius! The kid is NOT EVEN FIVE! He LOVES to read. OK, OK, I’ll quit with my munchkins (for the moment…).

The School Factor (AKA: This took me HOURS)

Obviously, if you are thinking of moving soon and you have kids, there is more on your mind than just how many bedrooms are needed in the new house. You are also looking for a safe and fun neighborhood that they will love to grow up in. You want parks nearby and a family atmosphere. You want a backyard they can run around in and a garage for their bikes. Maybe most of all you want great schools for them to attend. And somewhere there, in the back of your mind, you’re worried about the timing of them moving to a new school. Of course, you can technically enroll a kid at almost any time of the year (I began first grade here in Mesa at Jordan Elementary School two weeks after the fall semester had started because we were still finishing up our move back to Arizona from Illinois), but many people think of the summer as a perfect time to make a change so their kids can have a seamless transition into their new school. If this is your line of thinking, I have some information for you. I’ve done a bit of research and put together a list of the High School and Unified School Districts in the Phoenix metro area and their corresponding Fall Semester 2005 start dates. If you are unsure about which district you’re looking for a home in, please contact me and I will consult my map of School District Zones and get back to you.

As you can see, most of the schools in the Phoenix area start about mid-August and some are as early as late July. That means, that when you factor in an escrow period of at least 30 days, NOW is a good time to buy in order to leave yourself enough time to get settled into your new house and still have your kids start school with the rest of the class. So give me a call and let’s go find that perfect house!

Pinkie and the Bleach

We’ve been seized by the cleaning bug at our house lately. It probably has at least a little bit to do with how mobile little Gray has become. Let me tell you, that child does not like to be contained. If he can manage it, he scales the barriers we erect, and if he isn’t able to climb over whatever it is, he screams his cute little head off. So we’ve done our best to clean and baby proof as large of an area as possible so that he can have the run of the place.

Two fun new tools we’ve used as aids in this process:

One of my birthday presents from Jason was this cute little gal.

If you’ve never heard of a Roomba, it’s a little robot vacuum that tackles all types of surfaces at once. Both our cat, Macintosh, and Jason were fascinated by it and spent the hour it took to do our entire living watching it work. I really like that he bought me the pink version that donates 20 percent of its proceeds to breast cancer research. Plus, I LOVE how much cat hair and dirt ended up in its cute pink belly.

Now she just needs a name… any suggestions?

I also am enjoying this tool we got two for $5 at the grocery store.

You should have seen that gleaming white grout before I tackled it with the bleach pen last weekend (I so should have taken before pictures). I used almost the whole pen for the 30 square feet of tile in our extra bathroom, but it was well worth it.

I love a clean house… of course, I’d love it even more if I had someone else to clean it for me, but at least I’ve got help!

3-Day Weekend (Part II – The Food)

My good friend, Rebecca, gave me a subscription to Gourmet Magazine for my birthday last year. It has some really great recipes for Epicurean indulgences and during months when I haven’t been utterly swamped in every aspect of my life, I’ve tried more than a few of them. This month, I got my copy of the latest issue during a lull in the usual chaos last week. I discovered three recipes that I tried out last weekend to varying degrees of success.

This first one I took to my parents’ house for the burgers and veggies at their Memorial Day Barbecue. It was very popular (although I thought it could have had a stronger cheese flavor for my taste).

Blue Cheese Dressing

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
2 and 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon minced garlic
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
5 oz. blue cheese, crumbled

Preparation:

Whisk together all the ingredients except cheese. Fold cheese in and chill covered for 8 hours to two days (I only let it chill for exactly 8 hours, so next time I will chill for longer to release more of the flavor).

This next one I made for our dinner Sunday night. Jason loves all things pork, but is not a big fan of anything fishy, so I think this one was a toss-up for him (although he swears it was good). I liked it a lot while I was eating it, but the taste of the fish oil really took root in my mouth and by bedtime I had to brush my teeth twice to defish it.

Vietnamese Caramelized Grilled Pork with Rice Noodle Salad

3 pork chops
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
Japanese Udon noodles (recipe calls for thin rice noodles, but we couldn’t find them and used these instead)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce
1 carrot, julienned
2 scallions, sliced
1 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup unsalted dry-roasted peanuts, chopped

Preparation

Pound pork chops until 1/4 inch thick. Heat 1/3 cup sugar in a sauce pan over medium heat until melted. Add shallots, lime juice, fish sauce and salt to the sugar and stir (sugar will harden). Toss sugar mixture and pork chops together in a bowl. Grill pork chops (I used our George Foreman grill) a couple of minutes on each side until pork chops are not pink in the middle. Boil Udon noodles until cooked and then drain. Whisk together vinegar, sugar and fish sauce until sugar is dissolved. Toss noodles, sauce, carrots, scallions, cilantro and peanuts together and separate onto three plates. slice pork chops over the top.

The last recipe I made for breakfast Monday morning. It was a hit with all!

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 cup cottage cheese
4 large eggs
1/2 cup flour
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter
Vegetable oil
Salted butter
Maple syrup

Preparation:

Put cottage cheese, eggs, flour and unsalted butter (melted) in the food processor and pulse a couple of times until just mixed (batter should be lumpy). Heat skillet or griddle to medium high and brush with vegetable oil. Pour 1/4 cup of mixture on the griddle and turn after a couple of minutes. Top with butter and maple syrup.

(Diet coke and bacon are optional, but I highly recommend them as accompaniments.)

See, even Gray loved them!

Monthly Archives forJune 2005

Monthly Archives for
June 2005