Seven reasons to buy your first home today:
1. Softened prices have increased home affordability
2. Low interest rates. Get pre-qualified today.
3. Large inventory to choose from.
4. The $8000. Tax Credit Bonus-- who doesn't like free money?
5. Mortgage rates may increase in the future, because of previous bank problems.
6. If you are pre-approved to buy, act now, don't let the pre-approval or locked in rate lapse.
7. Home ownership creates long-term financial stability.
Mary Maxie can help you make your home ownership dreams come true.
Maxiemize your lifestyle today.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
St. Mary's Food Bank needs your help
The St. Mary's Food Bank is in Phoenix, but food banks all over the world need your help. I'm sure the facts and figures from here are echoed in other areas.
In AZ, over 900,000 Arizonans live at or below the poverty guideline. which for 2009 is $22,050 for a family of 4. One in f AZ children (338,000) live in poverty and the average age of the homeless in AZ is 9. That's right, 9!
Of those receiving emergency food in AZ, 41% are children and seniors.
Be kind to others as you have opportunity.
In AZ, over 900,000 Arizonans live at or below the poverty guideline. which for 2009 is $22,050 for a family of 4. One in f AZ children (338,000) live in poverty and the average age of the homeless in AZ is 9. That's right, 9!
Of those receiving emergency food in AZ, 41% are children and seniors.
Be kind to others as you have opportunity.
Monday, May 25, 2009
How NOT to sell a house
Mary's Funny Real Estate Stories: I went to do a listing presentation to a lady who raises exotic birds. There were cages from floor to ceiling on all the walls of every room in the house, obviously making all the rooms much smaller than they actually were.
The noise from the birds was deafening, sort of like being in the rain forest. There were feathers flying everywhere, and her fans were just causing them to fly and land on every surface. There was also a good amount of bird poop and bird seed everywhere. Some of the birds were out of their cages and flying around, landing on me, my paperwork, my briefcase, etc. It was complete chaos.
I gently tried to tell her that buyers wouldn't be able to even see the house, because there were so many birds and feathers etc. around. She was hurt to think I might suggest that she move the birds to another location while the house was on the market. She was offended when I said that perhaps there were lots of people (like me) who wouldn't be thrilled to have birds squawking and flying around while they were viewing the house. I turned down the listing. Can you even imagine how difficult it would be to hold an open house there?
Don't hurt your chances of selling by being too rigid in your views of your pets or other stuff after your realtor gently asks you to change something. She is not trying to offend you, but tell you what buyers want to see when they look for a new home.
The noise from the birds was deafening, sort of like being in the rain forest. There were feathers flying everywhere, and her fans were just causing them to fly and land on every surface. There was also a good amount of bird poop and bird seed everywhere. Some of the birds were out of their cages and flying around, landing on me, my paperwork, my briefcase, etc. It was complete chaos.
I gently tried to tell her that buyers wouldn't be able to even see the house, because there were so many birds and feathers etc. around. She was hurt to think I might suggest that she move the birds to another location while the house was on the market. She was offended when I said that perhaps there were lots of people (like me) who wouldn't be thrilled to have birds squawking and flying around while they were viewing the house. I turned down the listing. Can you even imagine how difficult it would be to hold an open house there?
Don't hurt your chances of selling by being too rigid in your views of your pets or other stuff after your realtor gently asks you to change something. She is not trying to offend you, but tell you what buyers want to see when they look for a new home.
How NOT to sell a house
Mary's Funny Real Estate stories: How not to sell a house-- I was showing a house, and the first turnoff for my clients was a large cage of mice. We couldn't imagine why anyone would want to keep common field mice, but we continued to tour the house. When we got to the master bedroom, there was a large heavy shelf above the bed, with an enormous fish tank on it. In the tank was the bigest boa constrictor I had ever seen, and for a snake-o-phobic, like me, it was at least 118 feet long. We figured out what the mice in the cage were for, and beat a hasty retreat.
Another house (not the same buyers, thank heavens) had a reptile room downstairs. Snakes, tarantulas, gila monsters, lizards, etc. My clients walked out and said they would always be afraid one of the reptiles would have escaped and they would find it in the wall or coming up thru the toilet.
Get rid of pets like these before the house is shown. In 99% of cases, people don't like reptiles, and we can't just advertise for those who do, and hope they will show up to view the house.
Another house (not the same buyers, thank heavens) had a reptile room downstairs. Snakes, tarantulas, gila monsters, lizards, etc. My clients walked out and said they would always be afraid one of the reptiles would have escaped and they would find it in the wall or coming up thru the toilet.
Get rid of pets like these before the house is shown. In 99% of cases, people don't like reptiles, and we can't just advertise for those who do, and hope they will show up to view the house.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Green products you can make at home
I have mentioned that vinegar and water for glass cleaning, along with newspring for drying, are an excellent and cost effective way to cut down on commercial cleaning products in your home.
Another good product to keep on hand is ammonia. Ammonia and water can be used for various cleaning jobs around the house, but my favorite is for cleaning jewelry. Take one third ammonia, one third dish washing liquid, and one third water. Mix together in a water tight jar, and store in a safe place away from little children. Use a soft brush like an old toothbrush (don't forget to keep the old toothbrush away from young children too) and clean gold jewelry and gemstones. Rinse well with water after cleaning.
NOTE THIS DOES NOT WORK FOR SILVER OR COSTUME JEWELRY-- ONLY GOLD AND GENUINE GEMSTONES.
Another good product to keep on hand is ammonia. Ammonia and water can be used for various cleaning jobs around the house, but my favorite is for cleaning jewelry. Take one third ammonia, one third dish washing liquid, and one third water. Mix together in a water tight jar, and store in a safe place away from little children. Use a soft brush like an old toothbrush (don't forget to keep the old toothbrush away from young children too) and clean gold jewelry and gemstones. Rinse well with water after cleaning.
NOTE THIS DOES NOT WORK FOR SILVER OR COSTUME JEWELRY-- ONLY GOLD AND GENUINE GEMSTONES.
Green Cleaning Products Best
Our 10 year old granddaughter's science fair exhibit is the topic today. She wondered if all the hype about green cleaning products was just hype, or if there was really something to it.
My idea of cleaning windows is to use vinegar and water, and wipe with newsprint. Works better than most commercial products, costs less, and is easy to find lying around the house. Vinegar also works just fine on mirrors and any glass or porcelain surfaces.
But back to the science project. She used white porcelain floor tiles, and smeared them all with ketchup, mustard, dirt, and black markers. Then she scrubbed each tile with several regular commercial cleaning products, and also with several brands of "green" cleaning products. All the products are available at major grocery stores.
Her findings were that the green cleaning products cleaned faster and took off more grime than the regular products did. The price for the green products was only slightly more than regular ones, but the ease of cleaning, a cleaner job, and less time to scrub, more than outweighed the extra cost.
And she got an A+ on the project. If we teach our younger generation about saving the planet, maybe we can actually save the planet.
My idea of cleaning windows is to use vinegar and water, and wipe with newsprint. Works better than most commercial products, costs less, and is easy to find lying around the house. Vinegar also works just fine on mirrors and any glass or porcelain surfaces.
But back to the science project. She used white porcelain floor tiles, and smeared them all with ketchup, mustard, dirt, and black markers. Then she scrubbed each tile with several regular commercial cleaning products, and also with several brands of "green" cleaning products. All the products are available at major grocery stores.
Her findings were that the green cleaning products cleaned faster and took off more grime than the regular products did. The price for the green products was only slightly more than regular ones, but the ease of cleaning, a cleaner job, and less time to scrub, more than outweighed the extra cost.
And she got an A+ on the project. If we teach our younger generation about saving the planet, maybe we can actually save the planet.
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