Lewisburg and Greenbrier County WV

Be Safe ~ Not Sorry...
     When potential buyers look at a property, they are looking at the aesthetics not the functionality or safety features. When the untrained eye looks at the photo below, one sees a sees a cool looking stairwell, loft and a nice clean open space.

However, the trained eye of the home inspector sees something different.

     1. Even though this is an older property, the balusters (spindles) on the guardrail and handrail exceed the current 4” spacing required for child safety.
     2. The placement of the smoke alarms on both levels of the property are incorrect. Typically, they should be place within 12" of the ceiling.
     Properly placed smoke alarms are vital for the safety of you and your family. In most states, properties that have been rehabbed need to be brought up to current standards of safety. These are some of the issues found with this property:
     1. The alarms were not wired together – when one-alarm signals, all should signal.
     2. The alarms were not installed in the bedrooms. Current safety standards require all smoke alarms to be placed in each bedroom and hallway of in each level of the property.
     3. There was no function smoke alarm in the basement or the garage.

Did you know...
     · Smoke alarms monitor the air 24 hours a day, every day. After 10 years, it's been on the job for over 87,000 hours. At this point in its life, it stands a 50/50 chance of failure. Do you want to trust your life to an aged device?. If you don’t know how old your alarm is, or if it is more than 10 years old, replace it.
     · The battery back up in all alarms needs to be replaced annually.
     · Smoke alarms need to be tested monthly.
     · Vacuum the outside covers periodically to remove dust, dirt particles and insects.

For all your inspection needs in the Brentwood, Franklin & Nashville TN real estate markets

Call us today:

Complete Home Inspections, inc.

The guys with the hats...

615.661.0297

Brentwood, TN

Scan the QR code below for business card info

 

As a Real Estate Agent specializing in short sales and foreclosures, I know first hand how devastating this market can be to scores of hard working Americans.  As Realtors and as consumers, I think it's important to know the latest foreclosure developments.  Here are some of the lesser known stories, not typically covered by the major media.  Each title is a link that will take you to the original post:

Pulling Back the Curtain: Exposing the 1% Behind the 2011 Big Bank Bonuses:

The nation’s top six banks—Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs—paid out $144 BILLION in bonuses and compensation this past year, making 2011’s payday the second highest on record for these six firms.

Just half of the banks’ bonus and compensation pools would be enough to write down the principal on all underwater mortgages in the country. (video provided at the bottom of this post)
 
____

A Huge Housing Bargain -- but Not for You:

The largest transfer of wealth from the public to private sector is about to begin. The federal government will be bulk-selling the massive portfolio of foreclosed homes now owned by HUD, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to private investors -- vulture funds.

These homes, which are now the property of the U.S. government, the U.S. taxpayer, U.S. citizens collectively, are going to be sold to private investor conglomerates at extraordinarily large discounts to real value.

You and I will not be allowed to participate. These investors will come from the private-equity and hedge-fund community, Goldman Sachs(GS_) and its derivatives, as well as foreign sovereign wealth funds that can bring a billion dollars or more to each transaction.

In the process, these investors will instantaneously become the largest improved real estate owners and landlords in the world. The U.S. taxpayer will get pennies on the dollar for these homes and then be allowed to rent them back at market rates. 

____

The Foreclosure-to-Rental Screwjob:

And, why–in heaven’s name–would congress want to take on more risk when they can keep millions of people in their homes by simply reducing the principle on their mortgages to the present value of the house?

Did you catch that? Taxpayers are going to get slammed for another $750 billion. That’s nearly as much as Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the fiscal stimulus that added 2 percent to GDP and kept unemployment from rocketing to 13 percent. Bernanke wants to throw that same amount down a Wall Street sinkhole.

____

New York Federal Reserve Estimates 3.6 Million Foreclosures Will Occur In The Next Two Years:

While foreclosure rates hit a four-year low in 2011, the early signs for 2012 don’t look good when it comes to housing, as banks have begun to work through a backlog of foreclosures that were delayed by the foreclosure fraud scandal. In fact, the New York Federal Reserve anticipates that 3.6 million foreclosures will occur in the next two years, piling on to the 1 million in 2010 and the 800,000 last year. “The ongoing weakness in housing has made it more difficult to achieve a vigorous economic recovery,” said New York Fed President William Dudley. “Housing has inhibited economic activity through a number of channels.”
____

I'm a Realtor, not a home builder, but I certainly have a base-line understanding of home construction. I have watched how homes go up, how they are inspected, and how they have fallen down, literally.

When buying a re-sale home there seems to be a no-brainer mentality of inspecting a home, great! But when it comes to digging deeper or going new, there is a HUGE green barrier, called the dollar.

In Texas we have Licesned Real Estate Inspectors just like we Realtors are Licensed by the Texas Real Estate Commmision.

TREC Licensed inspectors for San Antonio, Texas can be found at SATREI.com by company or by name. They are required to use a particular form that has a standard check list and rating system. Some use the triplcate NCR forms, but most today use software that generates a .pdf report with photos and drawings with commentaries about the findings. This is a nice feature especially with the finding is rather complicated to explain as well as proof of the problem.

This became importantly recently as we had been in a drought, so during a home production for a recent client, the windows were left open to air out the recently painted master bedroom. Nobody thought that leaving the windows cracked would be a problem with the 90 day drought. Then BAM! It poured! The windows were only cracked, but none-the-less the raing came and soaked the window frame.

My client went by to check on the house and it looked terrible (below).  The builder graciously repaired the issue by replacing all the drywall, and cabinets. But there was still considerable concern. 

Fortunately, I had an inspector with experience in Moisture Meter testing.  Using his handy dandy Moisture Meter, he tested and found it to be negative. 

 

There are so many things that can potentially go wrong with existing homes and new homes.  That is one of the reasons why I strongly recommend an inspection even with the most reputable of builders I like to say it like this, "Why would you buy a car without taking it to a mechanic?"

The moisture issue was resolved easily and and we closed with a short delay on their part due to the repair. The moisture test was done as a favor by a new inspector I recommended so he was happy to do it to earn repeat recommendations by me. Normally, however, to do a moisture test there is a sir charge of as much as $100 depending on the extent of the testing area.

I shared this story today to highlight a couple things.

1.  Inspections are an important part of the buying process. They are highly recommended to avoid future issues, even if warrantied by the builder, before they get their money. It is part of the negotiation process as much of the discovery can be either repaired or discounted to the buye.

2.  There often is a need for additional inspections. Inspectors are more like a family doctor. If you were to have an irregular heart beat then you may want to see a heart specialist right? He does cost a bit extra since he's a not an inspector. He may be a roofer, a window installer, an electrician, or another contractor. But his specialized training makes him even more valuable. Don't let those extra fees stop you from hiring them when necessary. Time and time again I have seen or read somethign horrible that could have been prevented. 

3.  On the same topic, I also recommend an energy audit on older homes. Just because the current home owner has a utlity bill of $200 doesn't mean yours will be that. What if they like it 76-78 in the summer and you like it 72-74? It could cost you $100 more per month. An energy audit will tell you how much leakage and where. It's something you should know as a buyer.

If you are a home buyer, please let me help you by showing quality San Antonio homes and providing reputable inspectors and contractors to ensure that you are buying a home in its very best condition, or at least you've been notified of any potential hazards within professional guidance.

 

 

 

Thanks for reading my blog! 

I would love to assist you with the purchase or selling of your San Antonio, or surrounding area  Texas home.  Please contact me, CATHY BUREAU, GREEN Home Realty,  Realtor®.  I am ready to exceed your real estate needs!

 

CATHY BUREAU Broker/Owner

MBA, REALTOR, GREEN, SFR, ECOBROKER, SOLARAGENT

(210) 560-1891 Office

(210) 378-2489 Cell

www.GreenHomeRealtySA.com

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This is to advise you that you are using copyrighted and protected material on your website/blog. Your illegal use of any articles derived by Cathy Bureau or Green Home Realty is originally from my blog (activerain.com or sanantoniohomesblog.info). This is original content and I am the author and copyright holder. Use of copyright protected material without permission is illegal under copyright laws. You may print one copy for your own records not to be distributed without specific written permission. You may re-write the post to include excerpts with a link to the original content. You must credit the material specifically to me, as author, and my website.

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There is so much concern and “Buzz” about Google shutting down Picnik.com, I decided to provide you with some alternative tools for editing and customizing your graphics, photos, and images.   While Picnik.com will be shutting down in April 2012, here are some other options you have available immediately.

FotoFlexer – Create some dazzling photo and image effects in your browser for FREE.  Use Animations, resizing, coloring, contrast and more.  Take a look at These 5 Demo’s for a quick tour of what FotoFlexer has to offer, you’ll love some of these cool features.  Smart Scissor is a favorite feature.

Pixlr – and for Picnik users, try Pixlr Express.  You’ll love the Editor, the Pixlr-o-matic, the Pixlr Grabber for Firefox and Chrome browsers, and the Pixlr Imm.io hosting, all of which are very robust and user friendly cool features.

LunaPic – This site will rock your world!  Lunapic offers more choices and options for photo editing and custom effects than some of the paid software applications I’ve purchased and used in the past.  Use vignettes, color bars, animated imaging, picture frames, retro color, collages, custom text, reflection animations, slide shows, and a ton more.  One of the most feature rich FREE online editors available.  You’re gonna love this site.

FreeOnlinePhotoEditor – A really simple and easy to use photo and image editor for those “quick fix and gotta go” graphics.  Very basic but simple and fast.  Some of the other online photo and image tools include:  OnlinePhotoTool.com: Online photo editor,  Automatically resize your images when sending it by email,  Create an Image from your RSS feed,  Create Image from your Tweet and Twitter account, and Create, save and email screenshots.

BeFunky -  Be Funky lets you do some pretty amazing things with your photos and graphics.  Most of the features and tools are focused on creating cool, fun, and funky effects and artwork.  The site’s name says it.  Some of the effects available would take hours to create in Photoshop or other high end and costly photo/image editors.

Definitely worthy of a visit and tour.

Photoshop.com – That’s right, you can use Photoshop online and for FREE.  You’ll need to register, but I promise it will be worth it.  The Photoshop tools are powerful and very easy to use.  Be prepared to spend a little time here, you’ll be amazed at what they have to offer and allow you to do online for free.  I’m not going to lie, this is one of my favorites and my personal replacement for Picnik.com closing down.

GIMP – GIMP is very similar to Adobe Photoshop except that GIMP is FREE.  It does require you to download the software but one huge benefit to that is it will never be bought and shut down on you.  It is a very powerful and feature intense program so unless you’re really experienced with editing and graphic design, or you have more time than it takes to close a short sale, you may want to stick with one of the others.

I personally like to use GIMP for graphic design more than image or photo editing.

Combine all these together and you’ll have more FREE editing tools and features than you’ll ever need or use and absolutely FREE.  Take a few moments to review each site, bookmark them, then give each one a try to see which one(s) best meet your photo and image editing needs.  Enjoy! 

 

 

          

 

Tutorials | Training | Mobile | Widgets

"May this blog be just one more planted seed of wisdom that helps you or your business blossom today!"

This will not be the last time you see changes here at ActiveRain. In fact, because we are fresh off a major overhaul to the underlying technology upon which ActiveRain is built, you should expect to see changes and updates more frequently.

That's very exciting for us. But we don't want it to come as a shock each time something new is introduced, so Nikesh (click that link and subscribe to his blog) will often give you a chance to test it out and give us feedback before it goes live.

In fact, last Monday Nikesh introduced a new look and feel for ActiveRain. For the last week our members have had a chance to play with the upgraded ActiveRain on our testing server, beta.activerain.com. We are really excited today to be releasing the first upgrade to the layout of the site in quite some time.

What all comes along with this new design? As Nikesh previously mentioned, here are some of the highlights:

1) New Logo & Design:

We have updated the design and header of ActiveRain to bring us into 2012. We also made some tweaks to the logo to modernize it and make it ring with the promise of ActiveRain as an aspirational community that is looking to connect, share and learn from each other.  We have moved the clouds & the sky to be part of the logo to represent the idealism that ActiveRain represents. 

2) Search Bar:  The search bar is now present across ALL pages on ActiveRain, since search is such a core part of using the Internet.  We will be making more changes to search on ActiveRain in the near future. 

 

 

 

 

 

3) MyHome: This is where you will see the majority of the changes.  MyHome on ActiveRain has consistently been the single most visited page on ActiveRain, but was the least optimized for the core activities that we want members to engage it.  From an ActiveRain perspective, we want members to CONNECT with other members, WRITE/COMMENT, and READ.  

 

We also have made the "Activity Feed" the core content of the MyHome tab.  Over time, we will move blog post content and group posts into your activity feed as well, so you can see them all in one area.  

 

Making MyHome cleaner and more focused required us to move links around.  We have moved links up in the navigation that promote managing your profile, writing a blog post, viewing the traffic to your blog, and seeing your points.  All the links that were on the left side of MyHome should still be on MyHome.  Some of links which were used less frequently have been moved to "Blog," "Setting" or "Other."  You can click on the arrow to see all the links.

 

4) Settings: In the upper right now, you will see your name (or part of your name that are including your city & state in your name field).  When you click on your name, it will show your settings and billing information.  Only YOU will be able to see your billing information.  Some members have added more text to their first name and last name in the upper right.  For example, if you made your first name in the system, "Bellevue's Home Buying Expert" and your last Name "Bob Stewart, Specialist at Keller Williams Bellevue,"  the system will only show the first 20 characters.   Again, ONLY YOU see this.  Consumers do not see the name in the upper right.

 

Listening to Feedback:

For the last week, since the release of the update to our Beta server, we have been listening to the feedback of members who have been using the new version of the site. Have we made some adjustments? You bet we have. We've found that the collective brain power of a community like ActiveRain is always capable of making improvements. If you have ideas on making ActiveRain better based on this new upgrade, or just based on anything you've thought up, we would love to hear that feedback. 

I'm sure, many of you are receiving emails from political refugees, long lost relatives and government agencies reporting unclaimed funds on your behalf.   

Below is a message I received referencing the latest money for which I’m entitled:

"The Cyber Crime Division of the FBI gathered information from the Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) on how some people have lost outrageous sums of money to these impostors. As a result of this, we hereby advise you to stop communication with any one not referred to you by us. We have negotiated with the Federal Ministry of Finance that your payment totaling $5,900,000.00(Five Million Nine Hundred Thousand Dollars). will be released to you via a custom pin based ATM card with a maximum withdrawal limit of $15,000 a day which is powered by Visa Card and can be used anywhere in the world where you see a Visa Card Logo on the Automatic Teller Machine (ATM)."

 

To get this money, all I have to do is send them $200 for customs. Really??!! This would be more believable if they negotiated $5,900 instead of 5 mil. Also, I’ve always wondered, if they have money ear-marked for me, why don’t they take whatever fee’s they require to process the money and then send me the remainder? If you’re tired of these annoying insults to your intelligence, like I am, simply forward the messages to the Federal Trade Commission at spam@uce.gov

Further, If you have been a victim of this type of scam or any other cyber crime, you can report it to the FBI's IC3 (Internet Cyber Crime Complaints) office at www.IC3.gov. The IC3 complaint database links complaints for potential referral to law enforcement for case consideration. Complaint information is also used to identify emerging trends and patterns to alert the public to new criminal schemes.

Dont be a victim, STAY VIGILANT!!!

ActiveRain HINTS

This morning I was talking with someone about how I felt like a blind pig finding an acorn when I started on ActiveRain.  After someone had told me about AR, I thought, "I'd like to blog someday," so I signed up for a year. 

Several months later, after having received a few emails from AR, I wrote my first blog post, and was so excited that I got four or five comments on it.  I kept wondering where in the world those people had seen it to comment on it.  I was in awe, but could never figure out how to do it again.  I often imagined it as a party behind closed doors, and I was standing in the entryway waiting for someone to open the doors so I could see what was going on.

Months would pass before I would write again.  Karli at ActiveRain called me one day last March and held my hand and talked me thru it, and it has been a whirlwind of writing since then.  Being creatures of habit, we do what we know.  Sometimes we will venture out and find new things, but for the most part, it is often an AHA moment when we stumble upon something we didn't know in our comfortable venue.

Often I will get phone calls from AR friends who will say, "Well, if you go (here) you can do (this)."  Kathy Streib has been the best at teaching me tricks that really aren't tricks, basics that probably everyone else knows.  But since I didn't know them, there may be a few others that don't know some of them either.  

The feel and look of ActiveRain is going to be changing (dramatically) soon, including our logo (so says our Fearless Leader).  We are going to have to learn new things to be able to navigate (I will not resist change, I will not resist change, I will not resist change).  So before that happens, I wanted to share some basics that I recently learned.  (Old timers will know these things . . . )

• When you want to comment on someone's post, hit the "END" button on your computer keyboard to get to the end of the comments.  This is helpful if it is a Featured post and you don't want to read all of the comments.  Conversely, you can get back to the top by hitting the "HOME" button on your keyboard
• To activate additional points on your posts, you need three comments from others and you need to respond with at least one comment
  
• Your comments that you make on other people's posts must be at least 50 CHARACTERS (not words) for you to receive your 25 points for the comment, up to 250 points per day (10 comments).  You may, of course, comment on as many as you would like per day, but only get points for 10
  
• Your blog POSTS must be at least 50 WORDS to get credit for the post
  
• The ActiveRain logo in the upper left corner of the page is a link to the Feature Board (am I the only one here who didn't know that?)
• If you click on "BLOGS" in the blue AR toolbar at the top, you get links to the people to whom you are subscribed down the right column.  BUT if you hit "MY SUBSCRIPTIONS" on the upper left side under "BLOG POSTS," then you get a three-line summary of the current post of the people you follow (again ~ DUH)
• The "CHANNELS" arrow in the blue tool bar allows you to study areas of expertise more thoroughly.  From Training to Tactics to Technology to Tools, there are wonderful things to be discovered there
• If you want to know how many Featured Posts someone has, hover your cursor over the Gold Star under their picture in their signature (or comment).  The number will become visible
  
• So now that I've been here for almost ten months, I won't even begin to tell you the convoluted trails I have followed to find people to whom to send referrals.  The little "STATES" button in the blue upper toolbar breaks down Agents by not only States, but also by Cities!  Double Duh!
• If you want your blog to stream down the middle of the page and not run from side-to-side across the page, making it more difficult to read (yes, Fearless Leader's blog is an example :) ~ all in good fun, Niki, all in good fun), then go to your Home Page, upper left corner under BLOGS > ActiveRain > (Customize) and insert any color or picture as your Background Image.  If you don't want fru-fru, just make the Background Image WHITE and it will at least narrow up your writing, making it easier to read
• When you comment on posts, the author will often respond.  On the lower left of your home page you have a link called "MY COMMENTS."  If you click on the link, it will take you to a list of where you have commented, and then when you click on each one, they are anchored to take you to exactly where in the post you commented so you can see if the author has replied (My Comments for Your Comments)
  
• Inviting others gets you lots of points when they join, and 10% of everything they make while they're here.  Towards the bottom of the Home Page on the left side is an "INVITE OTHERS" link.  Here's the kicker ~ be sure to use the LINK so that you get points when they sign up.  Joe Cuchiara got me involved, but because he told me about it over the phone and I didn't know to link to him, he is not reaping the rewards :( (Sorry, Joe, I've tried several times to rectify it!)
• Did you read a post today that you really liked?  At the very bottom of the post under where it says who the article was written by is a little link that says "BOOKMARK."  You can click that to save the post for future reference.  When you want to read your BOOKMARKS at a later date, the link is towards the bottom left of your Home Page entitled "BLOG BOOKMARKS"
• OH! And when you are writing your (at least 10) comments on posts each day, or in writing your own posts, in the upper part of your Comment Box where you have the options for making your writings BOLD or Italics or Underlined or Striking Through, on the RIGHT SIDE of that bar is a SPELL CHECK (ABC with a checkmark).  Who Knew???? :)
  

 I feel somewhat silly in even sharing some of these things, but I figured if I wasn't aware of them, this may help someone else.  And if you are looking for a safe haven to share real estate stories, life lessons, and learn new things, be sure to SUBSCRIBE to my blog. :) 

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If you would like to Search for Homes for sale in Colorado Springs, CO, or for any of your other real estate needs, please contact your Colorado Springs Realtor

 

 

                                                                  

   

Selling homes throughout Colorado Springs, Old Colorado City,

Manitou Springs and surrounding areas with a

Specialty in Victorian and Vintage Homes in
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