nyonyamansor09

On Hobart's eastern shore sits this 4x2 - now begging for a bid at 440k.See nothing was forthcoming at an ambitious 500k and reality soon set in. Well not quite that much reality, this house is two weeks off chalking up six months on the market - one of those dubious milestones, that can only signal one thing - buyers must be stupid! That's what it is, right? Not your agent actually levelling with you, very bluntly and suggesting you're well overpriced. Or you actually considering your price might be too high. No it must be those morons who want you to give it away! Unfortunately, in these circumstances, modesty prevents a discount, because back in late 2007 the princely sum of $430k was paid. And we all know real estate only goes up, so how can anyone expect to sell for less than they originally shelled out? Things get very sticky around this point, with saving face the prime objective, but ask yourself a question - when Dun & Bradsteet reports that referred debts for ...

A rainy Monday here in Richmond which is great news for those of you who have already seeded your lawn. Not as good for those that haven't... power seeding comes at the end of the week at our house. Check out this cute home ...which is such a great buy for someone at the new price of $259,900 . Well-maintained by the owners, this house has new HVAC, Hot Water Heater, Windows, Washer/Dryer and Appliances. With an updated kitchen and bathrooms, move right in and call it home. Blogging Break...I got involved with HandsOn Greater Richmond last spring. I started as a volunteer for HandsOn Day and now have been hired as a contractor to manage one of the service projects at Maymont Pre-school. HandsOn Day is a city-wide day of service with over 1,000 volunteers and 40 projects. It takes place October 16 and there is quite a bit to do to get ready so I am going to take a blogging break until after the event. If you are interested in volunteering, click here .

In 2005 it probably seemed like a good idea - $560k for this 3x2 in Devonport. Five years pass and at $500k, no one seems to think it's a good idea any more.  This, after an initial listing at $569k, six months back. I can only speculate what was happening back in June 05 when over half a million was laid down for something, that frankly looks like a block of flats, but I suspect there was a lot of real estate agent bluster and a whole lot more of rampant house hormones on behalf of the buyer. It wasn't a $560k house then and it sure as hell isn't a $500k house now. So how did the owner find themselves thinking $560k was a good buy? It's here I'm reminded of a article written by Peter Schiff back in 2004. Schiff visited a rental house in Orange County, California. Out of interest, Schiff asked the agent how much the house was recently bought for. The agent replied 1 million dollars, Schiff then inquired as to the holding costs and taxes, adding them to the loan cos...

I pulled the covers down and flicked on CNBC this morning, just to catch trader, Mark Fisher being asked how he’d get the US housing market moving again. While I found his answer slightly odious, it was clear he’d nailed how to get anyone to buy anything. Make them believe it will be more expensive tomorrow and they’ll buy it today – which let’s be clear, also pushes up the prices today. Fisher’s plan was simple – hand out green cards to any foreigner who wanted to live in the US and intended to buy, and live in (no renting out), a house. If people had no incentive or concern pushing them to buy today, they wouldn’t – especially if they thought prices would be cheaper tomorrow. The idea green card would probably work – high net worth individuals having access to US residency on the purchase of a house, clearly there would be some house price pressure. Yet, it’s the psychology behind the ‘more expensive tomorrow’ idea that the real estate and building industries understand and conti...

I am in the market for some window boxes to help enhance the curb appeal of our home. In the meantime, I planted some bright pansies on the front steps over the weekend. One problem I have with my front steps is they lack direct sunlight. I am hoping the pansies make it. BEFORE AFTER In my dreams where I grow money trees in my backyard, I would purchase a six panel glass door like this one or possibly paint the front door yellow like this and paint the brick of our house and replace the aluminum siding In the meantime, window boxes will have to do...another project for the list.

It was a momentous moment. After four months and two discounts, the pictured house dropped below the 400k price level. Why is this so momentous? The house sits within one of Burnie's McMansion estates, where eight houses, equating to over 20% of this estate are up for sale, and all houses were listed over 400k. That was until this week. It's now at $399,000 (I'm sure that $1000 was a true psychological barrier for buyers) down from $425,000. Reluctantly this owner has seen the writing on the wall and offered a token discount, while no doubt the other vendors keenly observe. Only one other vendor has seen fit to discount, and this amongst a group of houses that have sat, without interest, from two to seven months. The pictured vendor may still walk away with significant gains, the house was purchased in 2002 for $179,500, but it's the newer owners in the estate who will be getting edgy. When you shelled out 400-600k over the past couple of years and the guy across the ro...

I have gotten into the fall spirit and Camille and I created a bat tree similar to the one above. It was pretty easy. I found this project in the Halloween Special Edition of Woman's Day. I did just have to relocate the tree to the dining room because it is of great interest to Clyde and to our cat. There was a bat template in the magazine that I looked at and then free-hand drew the bats. I used black posterboard from the Dollar Tree. After cutting the bat out, the edges were a little white so I went over them with a black magic marker. I found the branch from a dead bush in our backyard. I cut off some of the ends to make it the shape I wanted. I had the planter in one of my cabinets. I bought styrofoam from a craft store to put inside the planter. I printed the trick or treat from my computer. I burned the edges and then glued it on cardstock or leftover poster board. I cut small triangles from printer paper and hole punched eyes out of orange paper. Oh and we added spider webs...

Sunday - Cavanna Pasta and Homemade Sauce from our freezer. Monday - Angela's Awesome Enchilada's Tuesday - Pork Chops with Maple Mustard Sauce , Risotto & Spinach Wednesday - Black Bean Soup, Salad, Blueberry Muffins Thursday - Not sure yet :) Black Bean Soup Saute medium onion in olive oil Add 2-3 cloves garlic Add: 1 can diced tomatoes (I use tomatoes with jalapenos) 1 can chicken stock + 1 can water 2 cans black beans 1/3 - 1/2 cup salsa Chili powder - to taste Cumin - start with 1 tsp and taste dash cayenne Simmer for 30-45 minutes. Serve with any or all" Sour cream Shredded cheese Taco Chips Scallions

Some worrying stats regarding family violence were released this week, these could be linked to any cause - if you were so inclined to draw long bows. So like any blogger worth his salt, I'll interpret them on behalf of the barrow I'm pushing. Overpriced housing. Reports of family violence in Tasmania are up 500% in the past decade. Scary statistics, but thankfully Ruth Forrest MLC was on hand to interpret the reasons for the rise. Predictably, unemployment and drug use got a run, along with the vague and redundant term 'life pressures'. If you can't be more specific, why bother giving throw away quotes to the media? Considering Forrest sat on the Housing Affordability Select Committee, you'd expect she may be able to offer a little more insight as to what 'life pressures' consist of. During those hearings, in 2007, the HIA acknowledged that: ...Tasmania is now sitting around seven times the household income so we are actually rated as one of the least a...

I purchased this dressing table at my friend Becky's yard sale a few months ago. I really like the lines of it and the scale. It fits perfectly between my closet doors. It needs some TLC and I am trying to determine what color to paint it. Here are some inspiration photos. I would like to find a stool just like this one to put under. I am searching yard sales and craigslist. (Source: Little Green Notebook ) (Source: Good Bones Great Pieces ) Blue is one of the main colors of the room so I was thinking of painting it a pale blue color. I would also love to find some cool and interesting new knobs. Hopefully, I will get to this project in the next few weeks. Stay tuned. Oh and if you have suggestions...let me know.

It was an act of treachery, the likes of which this country had never seen. In the midst of a global financial crisis, investment banks were falling, countries were going broke and people were losing their life savings to scam artists. Just at this time, the leadership of the country decided to throw $14,000 packages out of the trenches, into the battlefields, and hope its most financially illiterate citizens would chase them. It worked. Thousands chased the money, chased up house prices and grabbed themselves a big debt backpack right when interest rates were at extreme lows. Of course in defending this, we found that truth was not the first casualty of war, truth became the first casualty when Kevin Rudd and Tanya Plibersek opened their mouths. Gone was the talk of the first home owner's grant causing unaffordability, now it was the one thing helping kiddies buy their own house. And most nearly anyone with a dollop of grey matter between their ears knew what the real game was - p...

Monday - Chicken Broccoli Casserole Tuesday - leftover Lasagna (from the freezer) Wednesday - Cheddar Bacon Ranch Mac & Cheese (carryover from last week) Thursday - Chicken Parmesan Just realized as I typed this...lots of chicken this week! I had a great open house yesterday on W Grace Street. Lots of people out and about looking at homes. Check out my new listing link to the right of the page.

Being the simpleton I am, it be-hooves me to ask a lot of questions. Maybe I'll come to an understanding, maybe I won't, but people are less likely to spin a line if you want a couple of facts to back up what ever excrement is dribbling down their chin. Apparently there's a housing shortage in Australia, which in turn must mean there is a housing shortage in Tasmania. Well, if you're a real estate agent and you want to snag that sale and justify that price tag, just throw that one into the mix. Putting the fear of god into a buyer, subtly hinting their commodore station wagon could be their long term abode, is a good way to close the deal. I had the misfortune of stumbling across this blog , which as it happens, is probably infinitely more well read than mine, but thanks to the 4 people who've stopped to visit. A short summary, if you're too lazy to look, we were graced with the regular staples: - now is the time; - property is low risk; - use the equity in your...

Yesterday was my birthday. I had a great day that included lunch with my mom, grandmother and sister as well as some bargain shopping at Marshalls, Ross Dress for Less and Forever 21. My day ended with a great dinner at Zeus Gallery Cafe with Michael. Here is a picture of my birthday dinner outfit.... Necklace...Forever 21...$8 Tank Tops...Old Navy...bought earlier this summer Jeans...7 for All ManKind Roxanne...$99 at Marshalls Shoes (not wearing in the picture but they were ballet flats in a pinkish metallic color)...Old Navy...bought last spring for $14.99 Clutch...Forever 21...$3.80 I also got the clutch in silver. They were so cheap and perfect for an id, phone and lipstick.

In the port side city of Burnie, someone's had a gut-full of being a landlord. Two and a half months ago these two units were listed for sale at $315,000 and potential buyers were being lured with the promise of a  property that represents income plus growth . While the income remains, that growth has quickly become the stuff of Santa Claus, the tooth fairy and a reformed Brendon Fevola. Like sands through the hourglass, so are the discounts on this property. $315,000, quickly became $299,000, quickly became $290,000. And with that, evaporated the chance this vendor was going to experience any growth. Previous purchase price? $282,500, back in early 2008. Factor in the $10,000 or more in closing costs and the agent fees this time around and I'm not sure all those tax deductible, negative gearing losses are quite working out on this one. Just remember, this is water off a duck's back. And you'll be reminded of such, next time you see a property story on news.com.au - aft...

How many times can I blog about J.Crew flip flops...I guess one more time. My friend, Lindley, found these flip flops for me at the J.Crew outlet in Lynchburg. Yea...they were $10! She was so sweet to remember that I was in the market for some new flops. And speaking of the J.Crew outlet, click here to learn about the new online outlet they are launching this month. I am excited to check it out.

Fairfax is losing trust and respect at an alarming rate, leading more readers to question if they are bought and paid for by the real estate industry, a new survey has shown. Only a quarter of readers and potential readers surveyed in the Media Landscape Confidence Index thought Fairfax still had any credibility on real estate matters, down from half the respondents in 2009. "The vast majority of readers find Fairfax real estate reports to be little more than comedic, myth filled love letters to the real estate industry. An indictment on those writing the reports and an indictment on Fairfax itself for giving column space to industry 'experts' to push sales," the report found. By any measure, spruiking is on the rise as the real estate industry pushes into spring, attempting to jump start the market, through fear, paranoia and even blame on the buyers themselves, for not chomping down enough housing debt at the peak of the market... And so the so the story goes. As an...

Sunday - World's Best Lasagna (this is the highest rated main dish recipe on allrecipes.com) Monday - leftovers Tuesday - Pepperoni Calzones (variation on this recipe ) Wednesday - Bow-tie Pasta with Sausage Thursday - Chicken Chilaquiles (I am going to put this in tortilla's instead of serving over tortilla chips.) Friday - Bacon, Ranch, and Chicken Mac and Cheese

Over the weekend we've been dealt divergent stories on the Australian real estate market. One essentially misplaced from the daily horoscopes, Libra and Scorpio: buyers will be madly snapping up houses in Sydney over your birth months. The other regarding Queensland's dying property market and the resultant carnage ripping through real estate offices, with many agents now dead on the battlefield. According to Andrew Carswell and Vikki Campion in the Daily Telegraph (yep, it took two minds to cobble this tale together) MORE than 100,000 Sydneysiders are waking from winter hibernation ready for a spring home-buying spree that experts predict will jump-start Sydney's property market.  Real estate agencies are anticipating a record flood of inquiries in coming weeks. What follows is a series of quotes from agents, one more laughable than the next, based on their hunches and assumptions. The kind investment analysis you'd hear at the bar after four pots, is now passing for n...

There's a terrible misconception out there: real estate agents stretch the truth. So whenever you hear that falsehood in the future I expect you to furiously step into bat for the poor reputation of real estate agents. Afterall, the pictured house sits in Shearwater a beach retreat not far from the city of Devonport. The going price for that pointy 4x2? $565,000. Now about this truth... Well, how the hell does the agent market something so insanely priced? Just like this: Looking for families - 1,2 or 3 to purchase this great home. Yep, when you're faced with such unaffordability it's straight down the line, you may as well tell the truth - it's going to take 2 or 3 families to buy this one. Of course the cynics out there will cry "inadvertent balls up by the agent, too stupid to even understand what they've written!" But only the truly jaded could think such a ridiculous thing. See, despite being described in another listing as a 'tightly held locat...

As the agent says, it's a prime investment - for the vendors. It cost them $47,000 in 2001, no you're not reading that wrong. Mind you, this was way back when houses were somewhere you lived and not something you got an erection for, then ran to the bank asking for 30 years to life. See things were a little different in Tasmania, there was honour, innocence and common sense. You bought a house, you sold a house, you might have even lost a couple of bucks, but it was only ever a couple and it didn't matter - because your neck was never on the line. Then credit exploded and mainlanders arrived, buying up every house they could and renting them back to the locals. That's how someone had the audacity to ask $319,000 for that heap just over six months ago. Thankfully no one is that stupid and it's just been knocked down to $265,000. Still, there can only be one loser in this situation - the buyer. Cause it's important to see where this house has come from, then ask ...