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...