Harleysville-Lansdale Real Estate and More

Our family gets a real kick out of Tosh.O on Comedy Central; Daniel Tosh is hilarious (a little over the top sometimes, raunchy, and very politically incorrect).  He recently did a video of all the things he hates.  So now, when I think of something I hate, I think of Tosh.O and laugh.  Excluding things like dog-fighting, terrorism, politics, and Wall Street fat cats fleecing America, here is my short list of the innocuous things in life that I hate:

Easter grass (I'm not saying this just because it is the day after Easter.  I would say the same thing in mid-October when I am still finding it around the house.  It sticks to everything and is even worse than the Styrofoam packing peanuts that go everywhere when you get a package from Amazon).

Diet drinks (I know I am in the minority but artificial sweeteners are nasty - give me regular soda or give me water)

People who don't pick up after their dogs (Seriously? How rude and lazy can someone be?)

Using plastic bags to pick up dog poop (I know I seem difficult - at least it is getting picked up - but is it really necessary to encapsulate something as biodegradable as dog feces in plastic for the next however many zillion years in a landfill?)

A read a blurb on Facebook from another agent/friend that the net worth of the average homeowner is $200,000 and the net worth of the average renter is $5,000.  What a surprising statistic.  I suppose you could call homeownership forced savings.

We lost a deal last week because the radon test came back at 6 pCi/L.  Even though the seller was willing to install a radon remediation system, the buyers freaked out and "couldn't" buy the house.  We would like to run a radon test where they are currently living just to freak them out some more.  I hope they don't read our blog Why Lansdale-Montgomeryville Never Ranks Among the Best Places to Live in the United States.  These poor buyers will be fleeing for New Jersey or Maryland.

I think I have to add people who completely over-react to things to the list of things I hate.

Why is it that some of the "friends" I have made on Active Rain seem to have dropped off the radar?  I miss Bob Haywood, Diane Williams and Maggie Dokic.  I know life gets busy and priorities take over.  But if Amy Hahn or Kristine Ginsberg stops blogging, I am going to be really sad.

I have a dear friend who was blogging regularly to gain better visibility and a readership because she was working on getting a book published.  This was not Active Rain, but on Blogspot and her topics were not real estate but daily life and inspiration.  She is a wonderful and remarkable mother/writer, and she developed quite a following.  Her blog abruptly went quiet on April 5, 2010 with her last blog entitled, "Just Another Manic Monday" and her last twitter was "my stomach is growling so loudly in the waiting room that I'm tempted to be embarrassed. 469 days ago."  Is she sick?  Did she die?  Nope, she got the contract she wanted to publish her book.  What about her readers?  Couldn't she have tweeted a final tweet or done one last post explaining why her blog went quiet?  Once in a great while I check in like a lost puppy to see if she posted something new, but nothing.  I miss her blog.

My son had one of front teeth "killed" during a whitewater rafting trip last August.  Another boy's paddle hit a rock and got pushed backward right into my son's mouth.  We never realized the problem until early October when the tooth turned grayish-blue.  Luckily he was able to keep the tooth but he has since always been unhappy about the color.  Just yesterday when he was in for his 6-month cleaning, I asked the dentist about what could be done about the color.  30 minutes, $115 and an "internal bleaching" later, the tooth looks good as new.  Now why didn't the dentist mention that option when we had the root canal done last fall?

I do appreciate that our dentist never seeks to "sell us services" but it would be nice to know there are options to living with a gray tooth (that don't cost thousands of dollars).  I know there is a customer service lesson in there somewhere....

~Lisa

Contact Scott Loper, Associate Broker, Realtor®, RE/MAX Realty Group at 215-513-1333 for help buying or selling a home in Lansdale, Harleysville, Hatfield, Souderton, Skippack, Collegeville, North Wales and the surrounding areas of Montgomery County of Pennsylvania. To Search for Homes For Sale in Montgomery County Click Here.

Random Thoughts on a Tuesday - Copyright © 2011, The Scott Loper Team, All rights reserved.

I was inspired by Bob Stewart's random thoughts post earlier this week.  And decided to share a few random thoughts of my own:

The saga of short sales.  We saw two sales close last week but with very different outcomes.  It really makes me wonder about banks and short sales, where's the logic?

Short Sale # 1 - a townhouse with some minor cosmetic work required

Offer - $185,000

Appraised Value - $200,000

Outcome - Short sale declined, sold as a REO 1 year later for $165,000

Duration (initial list to close) - 632 days

Short Sale # 2 - a single family home in need of significant repairs

Offer - $259,000

Appraised Value - $315,000

Outcome - Sold as a short sale

Duration (initial list to close) - 183 days

Warren Buffett says, "Buy buy buy" and Suze Orman says, "The American Dream is Dead."  You can read the full article on Trulia.  A few years ago, we had a financial advisor still recommending to get out of the stock market when the Dow was at 7,000.  Anyone who listened then surely regretted it.  Warren Buffett is a billionaire and his message on the real estate market is both optimistic and realistic, so I am going with Buffett on this one.

Our daughter just got a full scholarship to spend her junior year of high school in France.  She leaves in August and won't return until June 2012.  I am so happy but sad at the same time - she is only 16.  She is already planning and applying to do volunteer work in Central America for six weeks upon her return in the summer of 2012.  Wow, have I raised a wonderfully independent and driven daughter or just a brave girl anxious to get as far away from her mother as possible?  I hope it is the first.  I think it is.  I hope so.  We have lots to do before she leaves.  She needs to take her SAT's, get her driver's license, renew her passport which is set to expire while she is away, get her student Visa in Washington, DC, visit colleges, get setup with a laptop, cell service, health insurance, debit/Visa cards, etc.  I am sure I am forgetting something.  And of course, there will be the bon voyage party!

My niece is getting married in Martha's Vineyard at the end of April - one day after William and Kate.  Not quite a royal wedding, but it will be a truly special event at Morning Glory Farm in Edgartown.  The bride's mother, my sister, just battled breast cancer and appears to be healthy and cancer-free.  We are so grateful to have this family "reunion" coming up.  Our daughter is especially happy about it.

The real estate market may be tough right now, but people are still dreaming, planning, living, and setting goals.  My heart breaks for the people in Japan, but I know that brides in Japan will still have their weddings at the end of April and students from Japan and France will come to North Penn High School next year as part of the same exchange program that my daughter is participating in.  Life goes on.  And that gives me hope.

It is a beautiful day here in Southeastern PA.  I think I need to get outside for a walk and clear my head.

TGIF - oh that's right, that doesn't apply when you are in real estate.  We have to work this weekend!

~Lisa

Contact Scott Loper, Associate Broker, Realtor®, RE/MAX Realty Group at 215-513-1333 for help buying or selling a home in Lansdale, Harleysville, Hatfield, Souderton, Skippack, Collegeville, North Wales and the surrounding areas of Montgomery County of Pennsylvania. To Search for Homes For Sale in Montgomery County Click Here.

Random Thoughts on a Friday - Copyright © 2011, The Scott Loper Team, All rights reserved.