Another item to add to Daylight Savings Time changes… batteries and power cords

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I’ve written a few articles about fire prevention one of them linked here: link with respect to a site that has lots of fire prevention tips. I’ve also written about the dangers of space heaters.

Today I want to write about the dangers of old, or overheating electrical cords, specifically, if you are using extension cords or multi-outlet cords in your home. We all do it. In fact, recently I updated all the outlet cords in our home office because we couldn’t remember how old the ones were that we were using. Plus, we upgraded some power surge protectors for those outlet cords that were being used for our office equipment like computers and printers.

What got me thinking about this post though was what I read as I was reviewing a condominium resale certificate for a client the other night. In two months of the Home Owner’s Association board meeting minutes were remarks about fires that had started in individual units over the course of about 6 months. This association only has 67 units and 2 units had experienced fires only a few months apart from each other. While that is a small percentage overall it is still scary that if either of these fires had gotten out of control many more units would have been affected. Granted, this is a building from 1992 so it should have a sprinkler system and hardwired smoke detectors and thankfully both fires were stopped within the units walls. But, what about those buildings that are grandfathered against these requirements? You can see where I’m going with this as we’ve all read stories of those kinds of buildings burning and people being hurt or killed.

It’s imperative that anyone using extension cords be careful and to check or replace them regularly.  Perhaps as Daylight Savings Time is a recommended time to change out the batteries in your smoke detectors perhaps it should also be the time to check your power cords around the house.

If it smells, it doesn't sell – planning for pets in home sales…

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There truly is an adage in the real estate industry of “if it smells, it doesn’t sell”. A great article for dealing with pet odors is at this link.

This is something that, as a real estate agent, I run across frequently. With the number of cases of asthma and allergies rising in the US it’s even more important that pet owners be good about cleaning odors and allergens from their homes before and during the time they sell.

Allergies are pretty common and if a person walks in your house and is hit with the smell and/or allergic effects of a pet you can bet that this is where the home tour ends. No one will push their way through an allergic or asthma attack to see your house. A thorough cleaning is in order and you’ll want to be super-vigilant during the time your house is on the market to keep hair and dander levels down. If it makes sense to replace the carpet before going on market, and maybe sending the pup to a friend or family member’s house for a week, you should consider it.

[photopress:IMG_0707.JPG,thumb,alignright]

Plus, some pet smells are in more than just the carpet. If a pet has had a long history of soiling a carpet it is very likely that the wetness has penetrated to the subfloor which will also need replacing before the smell can be eradicated.

We’ve found that it also makes sense to have a plan in place to handle how your pet will deal with the stress of having your house on the market. Some dogs and cats have difficulty with strangers and that’s exactly who’ll be tromping through your house at all hours of the day while you’re at work. Letting “Fido” or “Sam the cat” run around loose is not the best idea because the pet could get out and get lost. Animals tend to sense the changes that are coming because of the increased activity around the house so preparing ways for the pet to be soothed and kept safe will make for a better experience for everyone. If you’ve crate trained your pet then you’ll be ahead of the game in getting your pet prepared for the visitors you can expect while waiting for the perfect buyer to choose your home.

From the new buyer’s perspective (and an agent’s) it’s not fun to walk into a house just to be met with a dog that you don’t know if it will be aggressive. Plus a portion of the population is also phobic of dogs – no matter the size. If the dog hears the agent getting the keys and unlocking the door most likely, if left loose in the house, the dog will be at the door. If barking is involved it’s possible that the prospective buyer or agent may say “let’s just pass on this one” for fear of what could happen as soon as the door is opened. Believe me, liability is an issue we all have to deal with on a regular basis. Just because your pet is usually very sweet and loving to you doesn’t mean that it will be to every stranger that comes into the house. Most pets are territorial by nature and you don’t want to get hit with a lawsuit for a dog bite just as you’re trying to sell your house. The number one insurance claim each year for residential property is dog bites.

A new item that was brought to my attention too regarding keeping houses clean and free of pests is dander and pet food sitting out without being in closed containers. A client of mine recently had an infestation of carpet beetles invade their home. The pest control folks told them that it was likely a combination of pet dander, hair, and open pet food that brought the little critters in. Specifically, the pest that showed up are carpet beetles. Read more about them here: Entomology info on carpet beetles  Be sure to put your pet food into sealed containers; either metal or plastic. Plus, the general smell of pet food isn’t too pleasant to humans so you don’t want that wafting through your house while you’re trying to sell it.

Pets are a wonderful addition to any home and family but they need to be considered just like any other family member and they need to be part of your planning when you’re ready to sell.

Email Overload – 50,0000 emails

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[photopress:images_1_2_3_4_5_6.jpg,full,alignright] I’ve done some simple math calculations and it seems that I have a minimum of 30,000 incoming and outgoing business emails in a year’s time. That’s just me personally, and not my partner or anyone else. That is business only and not including JunkMail or emailed property flyers or ads from Title Companies for Clock Hour classes, so I’m adding 20,000 for the crap to the 30,000 known to be business.

Big file emails, like Rhonda’s done in html, can be very short, like “Hi!”, and yet be large file size.

Sometimes short emails have a huge conversation string attached, and those can get pretty big too, even though the current message is “OK”.

Just adding this info to the now long “Disk Space” comment thread. I don’t imagine Gmail to be a good option for that much email. But I could be wrong. There must be different answers for a 50,000 email a year person, than a 5,000 email person…no? So thought this estimate of email usage might be helpful. This also does not count the emails I send directly from the mls with property links. Just those using my Outlook for email on the laptop.

Thank you for all of your suggestions so far. No “low disk space” warnings today! YAY!!

Disk Space vs. Memory – Laptop

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[photopress:pho.gif,full,alignright]I’m Pulling My Hair Out over LOW DISK SPACE!!! I need your help!!

Given the volume of emails I get with huge contract attachments, I keep getting “low disk space warnings”. I’m cleaning, I’m defragging, I’m erasing stuff I really don’t want to erase. STILL GETTING “low disk space” warnings and sometimes freeze ups.

I was going to get “more memory”, but was told that won’t help. Memory and disk space not the same.

I was told to get a memory stick to store things in, but I don’t get that. Once I put the memory stick in the laptop to work on whatever is in the stick, won’t I have the same problem?

Will deleting big Publisher files help? Word files? I’m at my wits end.

One thing I do know, if I go out and trade up to more memory and I STILL have disk space problems because more memory is not the answer, I’m going to shoot myself!

Your help appreciated. When I get five different answers I don’t know what to do. But maybe if you guys sort through all the answers, I’ll get a concensus opinion at the end.

Thanks.

The Great Rent vs. Own Debate

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Owning a home is not right for everyone. There are certain benefits to not owning the home you live in. If something goes wrong with the property, you simply ring up the landlord and they get to fix it. You pretty much know what your cost are going to be month to month (unless your landlord decides to sell the property, increase rent, convert the condo, etc.). On comments from last Friday’s post on interest rates, there is a discussion debating if one could consider having a mortgage as a forced savings plan. I know I’m going to seem biased since I am a Mortgage Planner…and I fully expect all of the number-crunching-junkies out there to have a heyday with what I’m about to post…but here goes!

[photopress:northgaterental.jpg,thumb,right]I found two similar homes, both in the north Seattle area. The rental property is available for $1850 per month. The home for sale, with close square footage, rooms, area, etc., is available (actually, an offer is pending) for $499,995.

With the comparison, I’m going to assume someone has 20% down to either invest in the stock market or to buy a home. The current rate for a 30 year fixed is 5.75% (APR 5.904%). Principle Principal and interest is $2,334 plus taxes and insurance equals a total payment of $2623. First year monthly tax benefits are $606 (mortgage interest benefit will decrease, property tax benefit will most likely increase).

The prospects are in the 28% tax bracket; they have a gross income of roughly $8000 per month and can have $700 in monthly debts with credit scores at 680 or better. The investor will receive 11% from the stock market and the homeowner will benefit from an appreciation of 7% on their real estate.

Rent

at 5 years

Homeownership

at 5 years

Total Payment $117,863 Total PITI $157,396
Principal Paid 0 Principal Paid $28,951
Tax Benefit 0 Tax Benefit $35,293
Net Cost

$117,863

Net Cost

$93,152

Real Estate Value 0 Real Estate Value $701,269
Loan Balance 0

Loan Balance

$371,045
Total Home Equity

0

Total Home Equity

$330,224

Rent

at 10 years

Homeownership

at 10 years

Total Payment $254,498 Total PITI $314,792
Principal Paid 0 Principal Paid $67,519
Tax Benefit 0 Tax Benefit $67,893
Net Cost:

$254,498

Net Cost:

$179,381

Real Estate Value 0 Real Estate Value $938,566
Loan Balance 0 Loan Balance $332,477
Total Home Equity

0

Total Home Equity

$651,089

Investment

Investment

Opening Balance $109,000 Opening Balance 0
5 Yr Return @ 11% $188,452 5 Yr Return @11% 0
10 Yr Return @11% $325,817 10 Yr Return@11% 0
5 Year Net Worth

$188,452

5 Year Net Worth

$330,224

10 Year Net Worth

$325,817

10 Year Net Worth

$651,089

The first five years with the mortgage provide an average monthly principle reduction of $482.47 per month. Taking out any appreciation factors, the principle principal paid each month is a forced savings plan. With that said, home equity does not earn interest. And I would probably encourage most clients to consider not using the entire 20% for the down payment to stay more liquid (depending on their entire financial picture).

For many Americans who do not have a savings plan (and the statistics show that many do not save), owning a home is as good as it gets for building savings…and it ain’t so bad.

Let the games begin!

Is the mobile web the next big thing?

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I was recently inspired by Joel Burslem’s, House Hunting On the Go blog posting. A lot of folks have voiced their desire for having MLS search tools designed for their mobile devices. Since I had some spare time last weekend, I went ahead and designed a mobile version of Real Property Associates’ web site. If you’re curious to see the final results, I encourage you to visit http://mobile.rpare.com and let me know what you think.

Ironically, as I was reading the post’s comments, I personally agreed most with Greg Tracy’s assertion (of Blue Roof fame), that his clients didn’t really care. The experience on a 3 GHz computer, with fast & reliable network connections and a 21″ LCD monitor is far more compelling, than the experience on a 200 Mhz Phone, with slow & intermittent network connections and 2″ LCD screen. I suspect a typical real estate consumer probably doesn’t care about mobile home search capabilities because they typically only look for homes for a few weeks every 5 or so years.

[photopress:mobile_zearch.jpg,full,alignright]Despite my reservations, I realize that real estate professionals are often very mobile and generally look for houses every week of the year. Since my customers are real estate professionals first and real estate consumers second, I suspect that my semi-pessimistic outlook is due to the fact that I’m not a mobile professional myself. That and the mobile web’s predecessor, WML, leaves a bad taste in my mouth like the New Coke did.

Mobile devices are a challenge to design for because the CPUs are slow, the browsers aren’t usually as powerful as their desktop equivalents (although Opera for Windows PocketPC currently smokes Internet Explorer Mobile), the screens are small, the network speeds can be glacial, and the user input mechanisms are slow and cumbersome. That said, having the whole MLS (w/ photos, static maps & Zillow Zestimates) and the office employee directory (w/ email addresses & photos) in your coat pocket is pretty dang slick, despite all the limitations.

Disclaimer: I designed this site for devices that support HTML and have screens that are 240 pixels wide. Since newer smart phones (Samsung Blackjack, Motorola Q, etc) and PocketPC’s have “big” screens and high speed networking, I decided that was the smallest device I wanted to support and still have the features I wanted. If you use a device with a smaller screen, you may be scrolling around more than you’d like.

So, what features would you like to see in your mobile real estate apps? Do you prefer text messaging apps (like Zillow Mobile) over real mobile web apps? What kinds of mobile devices do you plan on using to access mobile web apps? Is the future bigger, PDA like phones (like Windows Mobile devices, Blackberry, and the upcoming Apple iPhone) or smaller, more limited devices like the ubiquitous Motorola RAZR V3? Do think this trend will take consumers by storm or be restricted to professional use only? Would you pay extra for this technology if your MLS or IDX vendor offered it? Have you bought your .mobi domain names yet?

In Search of a Secret Weapon

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You: An articulate, interesting and dynamic real estate agent/broker with a desire and determination to turbo-charge your online marketing activities. You have a wild streak and are willing to consider the day (potentially sooner than later) when nearly all of your business is generated online (a la Ardell)

Me: A ruthless online real estate marketing machine looking for a short-term commitment so that we can walk on stage in San Francisco at Inman’s Bloggers Connect conference as the winners of Project Blogger. 🙂

I happen to know that Ardell already has already chosen her secret weapon… so has Jim. While I have a few people in mind, I figured I’d open it up to the RCG community before I commit to anyone. (While not required, it would be helpful if you’ve either already attended one of my seminars or would be willing to attend the March 30 seminar in Pasadena…)

Note that there are a bunch of rules and guidelines, but we’ll do our best to differentiate ourselves by not following too many! I’m of the opinion that no one wins in marketing (personal, professional or corporate) by following the rules. 😉

Also, there was discussion while developing “the rules” on the appropriate amount of money that a participant could spend promoting themselves. If you team with me, this will be a very cheap endeavor. I need someone willing to commit time not money…

You can apply to take part by leaving a comment below. My recommendation is to read up on the event and then convince me that you are hungry and can commit to focusing your marketing activities to the online environment over the next few months. There WILL be a lot of publicity around this event, so this is not for the timid.

And in all seriousness, expect to have a lot of fun!

Foreclosure or Buyer Remorse?

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Well, I promised I’d report in if I saw anything really good sitting around with no offers, or signs of foreclosure woes, on “the Eastside”.

As to good properties sitting around with no offers…not!  I showed a few properties on Sunday, turned around and one went STI two hours later.  Of course, very close to Microsoft.  A few others left over there, but doubt they will last.  Even then, those were not of the quality I would recommend.  The best of day was a For Sale by Owner and not in the MLS at all.  Interesting day.  Literally only 5 to show from Juanita to Issaquah in the price range.

But today, I was shocked!!  An agent asked me, “What does this mean ‘commission may be modified by lender'”? I said, “WHERE?”  They said Kirkland.  I said, Oh No!

Then I took a closer look.  Who the heck bought that piece of crap at that price last year?! What lender did 100% funding in there?  Don’t they know there was a huge suit against the builder for basically irresolvable drainage problems?

That’s not a foreclosure.  That’s someone who walked into the bank and said, “Here!  You can HAVE it BACK!

Now don’t ask me where it is.  I can’t point fingers, but I promised to tell you if I saw “a short sale on the Eastside”, so here’s the first one I’m seeing.  Based on the purchase date, there’s no way this should be selling for less today.  But it will.  Someone overpaid for it back then, never should have bought in there with the problems, and some lender wasn’t paying attention.  Some Buyer Agent as well.  Buyer Agents should have stripes so we can “strip them of their stripes” when they are responsible for someone buying a distressed property, for too much money, with zero down.

When you didn’t spend a dime on it, no downpayment, stacked closing costs, your credit was already crap which is why it was subprime…why not just walk away if you decide you don’t want it?

That wasn’t a foreclosure…it was a RETURN! No need to ask for their money back.  They had not a penny invested in the first place.  Don’t like it…walk away and bring the key to the lender.

That one was easy to figure out.  But let’s keep our eyes open, because even though there seems to be a frenzy with three offers on one unit in that condo conversion up in Bothell on Sunday, it is definitely time to proceed with extreme caution.  Make sure the value is there, before you buy.

did you know…

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That March is Washington Wine Month? Several venues are having celebrations of the vino that comes from our fine state – now 2nd in sales and distribution for the United States. The link above will take you to the WA Wine Commission site for a list of venues that are celebrating the occasion. I happen to be the President of the WAC Wine Club for this year and I know that the Washington Athletic Club is participating in the Taste WA Winemaker’s Dinner in April that is part of that event at the Bell Harbor Convention Center April 14/15 but since the dinner may be limited to WAC members I figured a few more public venues would be worth noting for the celebration of wine all month long.

In honor of this month’s celebration of vino, and the oenophiles who love them, I will put on this post a few public venues that are worth checking out.

[photopress:grapes_red.jpg,thumb,alignright]Purple Cafe now has 3 locations: Woodinville, Kirkland and now Seattle. On Sundays they offer 1/2 price bottles of wine valued at $50 or more with a minimum $25 entree purchase. They are also participating in the month’s promotions at their restaurants.

It also happens to be 25 for $25 month (March and October) where 25 local restaurants offer a 3-course meal for the set price of $25. One of the locations that participates is Market Street Grill in Ballard where me and my partner know the owners, John and Kendell Sillars. They always have interesting food and a well stocked, even if smaller than some, wine list. The food is great and I’ve never had a bad experience here.

Ponti in Fremont is also part of the wine promotion with discounts on bottles of wine for this month only and they are also part of 25/$25.