Brigita's Blog: September 2007

Have you ever looked at listings and the photos and thought, "Wow!  This home looks perfect for one of my buyers!  It has 4 acres so that they can put a couple of horses on it and it has privacy."  The buyer agrees and you set up an appointment to go see it.  When you and your buyer go out to see it, both of you end up being disappointed.  This has happened to me on several occasions.   

Why are you disappointed?  As you approach the home, you start to see the real picture.  A dirt road with lots of pot holes leads up to the house.  Four wheel drive vehicle seems to be a good idea for this.  Approaching the home you see that the exterior needs cosmetic work.  Well, OK.  That's something that can be doable.  You walk up to the front entrance and you see that the lawn has not been kept up and the stairs need work.  All right, a little maintenance work.  As you go up to the door, you notice that the storm door is falling apart.  You ring the bell to make sure nobody is home.  Hey, the bell works!  One plus.  Upon entering the house, there is an odd smell inside.  Well, it could be pets (they did say they had a dog), or maybe not.  Couldn't identify it. 

Walking around the house we noticed it was in total disarray.  Books and papers lying all over the place.  Clutter in every room, including the attic and basement.  Not a good way to show a home.  We step out onto the deck.  Nice view.  Look around and OH, OH!!  You are not going to believe this!  There is a huge, and I mean HUGE, hornet's nest on the bay window on the deck.  And it is still active.  BIG no no. 

Walking around the property, you look at the swimming pool and deck.  That doesn't look like it's been used in quite a while.  Weeds are coming up everywhere.  Even though it has 4 acres, it is mostly mountain.  A mountain of rock I must add.  Not a single spot to safely put a barn, turn out and horses. 

By this time, you have noticed your buyer's expression and it doesn't look good.  Here they thought it was going to be the home of their dreams.  The discription did say that it needed a little TLC, but this was not what they expected.  They understood that a home would need a little work, but not this much. 

Photographs are sometimes misleading.  They tend to make the homes look better than they actually are, when taken at certain distances and angles.  I realize our job is to sell the real estate, but honesty is the best policy.  Let's not build up the buyers expectations of the home just to let them down when they see it in person.  It wastes everyone's time and the home will still be on the market.

Help!! Help!!  My sign has disappeared and it is nowhere to be found!!  Can anyone help me??

Right now you are all probably wondering "What the heck is that all about?  A sign just disappear?"  Well, that has happened to me. 

I recently acquired a 3 acre lot for a listing in Moore Township, here in the Lehigh Valley.  It is a very nice, wooded lot located at the base of the mountain on a very quiet street.  An elderly couple had inherited it about 25 years ago.  They were planning on building their dream home on it, but it never evolved.  Everytime they thought about it, something came up and weren't able to build at the time. 

After the selling contracts were signed, I put the sign on the property.  That weekend, my husband and I were out for a drive and he asked me to show him the property.  No problem.  We drove past the property and saw no sign on it.  What happened to the sign?  We got out to look for it and found it thrown into the woods.  OK, maybe the kids did it for the fun of it.  I put the sign back up and we drove away. 

Towards the end of the week, I happened to be in the area and thought I would drive by the lot to make sure everything was OK.  Lo and behold, the sign was down, again.  It was thrown into the woods again and this time there was also yellow caution tape crumpled all over the ground where the sign had been.  Now this is getting to be rediculous.  Put the sign back up and threw away the tape. 

I discussed this with my husband and he suggested we at least paint a tree with a flourescent paint construction workers use.  This way if the sign is down, I can at least tell the prospect buyers and their agents to look for the tree with the flourescent paint on it.  The next morning we went up to paint the tree.  Guess what?  The sign was up this time.  I was a little surprised about that. 

The following day my husband and I were running errands.  He suggested we drive up to the lot to check on the sign.  Sure, why not.  We drove up to the lot and, once again, the sign was gone.  This time, when we went to look for it, we could not find it.  We even looked a little further into the woods and up the road.  Nothing.  I can't believe someone would just walk off with it.  Or would they? 

It seems like someone does not want to have that lot sold for whatever reason.  Was the caution tape some sort of sign to me?  Has anyone had any sort of experience like this before?  At this point I don't know what to do.  I'm open to any suggestions  anybody would have. 

I recently read a post from Janie Coffey titled "Become a horse rescue mission Volunteer & Possibly help find a missing person!" which gave me the idea to write about a friend of mine who is in the PA Search & Rescue.

Kathy has been on the PA Search & Rescue Team for a many years.  (Don't remember exactly how many she said.)  She has also told me some stories about her adventures.  One in particular stands out in my mind when someone mentions PA Search & Rescue.

Kathy was called out, along with other volunteers, to search for a missing person lost in the woods.  They had been called out late in the day, so they were still searching after the sun had set.  All the volunteers and their horses have reflective gear, which they wear when it gets dark, plus they carry flashlights.  So, they are quite visible even in the darkness. 

Anyway, Kathy and her horse, Sahara, were riding next to the road.  Kathy saw a car speeding towards her and Sahara.  Kathy tried to signal the driver to slow down, but the driver didn't seem to either pay attention or notice.  Not only was the car speeding, but it was also zig-zagging in and out of both lanes of the road.  The car was headed towards Kathy and Sahara.  Kathy was expecting the worst.  As the car zipped past them, Sahara had turned and Kathy thought they were just nicked.  She dismounted to check on Sahara and saw that Sahara was hit on her rear, just below the flank.  Once they got to a well lit area, Kathy checked out the injury and saw it was worse.  She took the hit for Kathy.  If she hadn't turned, Kathy would not be here today.  Sahara saved Kathy's life.

Later on, Kathy found out that the woman that was driving was going through a bad divorce and was in tears and didn't even know she had hit anybody or anything.  Her mind was not on the surroundings and never even saw Kathy and Sahara.  Fortunately, Sahara was nursed back to health and Kathy did not press charges.  She figured this woman has gone through enough and Sahara had survived.  She probably would have pressed charges if she lost Sahara.  All Sahara has left is just a small lump where she had been injured.

It was Sahara's bravery that saved Kathy.  This goes to show you that horses will protect the ones they trust and love. 

The Pennsylvania National Horse Show will once again be held at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg.  It will begin on October 18, 2007 and run through October 27, 2007.  There are many fun things to do here. 

The show will have Hunters, Jumpers, Roadsters, Draft Horses, Driving, Saddle Seat riding, and Grand Prix Show Jumping.  It will also have many different shows to see, such as the Budweiser Clydesdales and the Valley Forge Military Band.  You can also stroll around the complex and see the many different vendors and purchase some good food.  You can also walk around the stable area and see them get their horses ready.  You can also observe them warming up for their competition.

Saturday October 20th is  Kid's Day where children under 12 get in for FREE.  Pony rides will be available to the children that day, also.  The Grand Prix Show Jumping will be the finale to the show on Saturday, October 27, 2007.

So, everyone, young and old, is invited to see the Annual Penn National Horse Show in October.  No matter when you go, you will enjoy yourself.

FMI click onto www.panational.org

A couple of weeks ago at one of my 4H meetings, I was quizzing the members on the parts of the horse and saddle.  One of the members finally asked me the question of "Why do we need to know the parts of the horse"?  That was a good question.  So, I gave her this explanation:

Let's say your horse received an injury while being out in the field with other horses.  You bring him in and you see that he will need a veterinarian's attention.  You call the veterinarian and tell him your horse was injured.  He in turn asks you where is the injury.  Then you tell him the injury is on the leg on the whatchamacallit near the doohicky.  Are you able to decipher that?  I wasn't and neither is your vet.  If the vet does not know where the injury is, how can he tell you what to do until he gets there?  He may be tied up with another call and not be able to get to your horse right away.  If he has an idea as to where the injury is located, he would be able tell you what to do until he can get there.  If he has no clue where the injury is, he is unable to help and your horse will suffer in the meantime. 

It's pretty much the same case with Real Estate.  You need to learn the terms in order to be helpful and knowledgable.  When someone mentions to you about eminent domain or if someone asks you about ingress and egress to a property, will you be able to answer them?  Or how about if the property lies near a body of water and you're asked about riparian rights.  Will you know how to answer that question?

This is why it is so important to learn the terms, no matter what your specialty or occupation.  If you are knowledgable in your field, people will in turn trust and respect you because you know what you are talking about.

I'm sure all of you have had one of those days where things just went wrong.  Yesterday was one of mine.  I had a few appointments scheduled and I was also trying to contact a few clients in between appointments. 

Well, first off, an offer was put on one of my new listings.  I have been trying to get a hold of the sellers with no success.  I have called and left urgent messages, and nothing.  The sellers are an elderly couple.  Maybe they went out of town figuring the property wouldn't sell right away.  Anyway, I wish I had another way to contact them.  (By the way, they don't have a cell phone nor a computer.)

Next, at one of my showings, I had gotten to the home before my buyers.  So, I opened the home expecting them to be there at any moment.  (The home was vacant.)  I then hear some sort of commotion going on at the driveway.  I look and see my buyers looking at their car.  They were backing into the driveway and ended up going off the edge and into a runoff ditch.  The car was teetering on the edge of a cement slab.  We managed to push it out (at least it was a small car) and went on to view the home.

We completed the showing and were getting into our vehicles to continue onto our next showing.  As I was backing out of the narrow driveway, which had a ditch on the one side of it and a couple of trees on the other, I was trying to be careful driving out.  I was watching out for the ditch and all of a sudden I hear "CCCRRRRRuuuuuunnnnch"!!!!!!!  Oh, no!  What did I do?  (FYI I own a Chevy Tahoe, so it's rather high up.)  I look into my rear view mirror.  There, I see a tree branch from one of the smaller trees had broken my one rear window.  Darn, what rotten luck!  We continued on to the last showing and that completed my day.  At home, I showed my husband the damage, and of course he wasn't very happy about it.

Needless to say, I have to get estimates for the damage today.  Believe it or not, the couple is interested in this home.  I guess we'll see what happens.

I've been meme'd by Janie Coffie.  Thank you Janie!

OK, here I go!

1. I enjoy sketching.  I used to do a lot of sketching (when I had more time), mostly of animals.  I have had no official training in drawing.  I just seem to have a natural ability for it.  I wanted to major in art in college, but my parents didn't want me to become a starving artist.
2. I learned about horses and bought my first horse as an adult.  I was born and raised in the city and always loved horses.  My parents always thought that it was a phase I would grow out of and, therefore, never really allowed me to learn about horses.  I saved my allowance money to take lessons and when I saw a roadside pony ride, I always bugged my parents to stop.  Well here I am as an adult and I still haven't grown out of horses.
3. I'm a jack-of-all-trades.  Over the years I have had many different jobs.  I started working in a bank in customer service, then I worked in a music store working in the office and giving piano lessons.  I have been a pet groomer, veterinarian's assistant, worked in shipping and receiving, inventory control and several different types of office jobs.  I was also a judge for low level horse shows and held a few barn jobs.  Of course, add Realtor to the list.
4. I play piano.  I took 10 years of piano lessons when I was a child.  Never liked it at the time.  Now I like to play whenever I get the chance.
5. My husband is a construction worker.  This is where I get a lot of helpful info when it comes to checking out homes for flaws.  I have learned a lot from him.

Well, here you have it.  Five things you didn't know about me, but now you do.

Here are the ones I meme'd:

• Cindy Stys
• Lizette Fitzpatrick
• Brian Warden

Tag, your next!

Many parts of the country are seeing developments going in.  It seems like many want new homes and they are using up our open spaces.  I know this is an often talked about topic, but is the development really good for the area?  Now that we have many areas developed, why are we having so many floods?

I guess what I am trying to say is that areas that never flooded before are now flooding out.  Think about it.  When we had the open spaces and farmland, whenever it rained, the water soaked into the ground.  Now that the farmland is disappearing and homes, shopping centers, blacktop and concrete are replacing the soil, where do you think the water is going? 

Before development, these areas never saw flooding.  I know the developers claim it is not their fault because they do construct run offs for the rain water.  Where do you think the run offs lead to?  The nearest creeks, streams and rivers.  Now, with extra water flowing in, they tend to overflow their banks.  And what happens when the banks overflow?  You guessed it.  FLOODING!                  

As we continue to develop our farmlands and open spaces, we are definitely going to see more flooding happen.  Our streams, creeks and rivers are slowly widening.  Those of us living near these waterways are suffering because of the building.  When are they going to realize that they are causing more harm than good with the developments?

I have had many different types of buyers, but take a look at this one.  This one came up to my porch checking out the house I had.  I don't think many of us have dealt with buyers like this one. 

                 "Hmmmmmmm.  Doesn't look like there are any leaks here."

                                                "Nice large yard with some shrubbery."

Unfortunately, I lost this buyer.  Needless to say, he opted to live in the tree in the yard, instead.  What can I say, I tried.  At least I can say that I don't discriminate.

Six years ago today, we all lived through a tragic event, that will stay in our minds for the rest of our lives.  It was the destruction of the Twin Towers in NYC, attack on the Pentagon and a plane crash from a hijacking over PA.  This is not something that we have read in history books.  It is one that has touched us in our hearts in one form or another. 

This was the day some saw and spoke to their loved ones for the last time.  Others were fortunate enough to escape with their lives.  It was a time the country united and became one.  All eyes were focused in disbelief on the tragedy that was happening before us.  No one ever imagined something like this could happen.  Here was a time that we were all comforting each other, helping each other, instead of battling one another.  The world stopped everything and became silent after this tragic incident.

We need remember the heroes of this tragedy that gave their lives and to all that spent many hours to help the survivors.  We should continue this unity and live as brothers and sisters.  Continue to help each other.  It shouldn't be that a tragedy brings us all together.  It should happen ALWAYS.  We must work things out in a civilized manner and live our lives peacefully. 

REMEMBER 9/11