I live in Painesville, Ohio, a small town about 22 miles east of Cleveland. In a recent survey, Cleveland ranked sixth in the nation for courteous drivers, even when traffic was backed up. I'm so glad to see Cleveland receiving positive recognition. The survey was conducted by a company based in Connecticut.

The article has some great advice... drivers should take a deep breath, slow down, be aware, and be careful.

Good advice no matter where you live! Especially for us Realtors who always seem to be in a hurry.

Find local treasures, shop for great finds and seek out amazing bargains at Painesville's annual community garage sale!

Christine Howlett of Howard Hanna Smythe Cramer (http://www.christinehowlett.com) and Jan Urbanick of Artful Hands Studio (http://www.artfulhands.com) are co-chairing the Great Community Garage Sale in Painesville, Ohio on Saturday, June 21, 2008. This event will be held from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, and is sponsored by the Downtown Painesville Organization (http://www.downtownpainesville.org).

Participation in the garage sale is open to residents of the 44077 zip code, or employees of city/county government offices, employees/owners of city businesses, Painesville school system, churches, and civic and youth groups. Sale locations may be at residences, or tables may be set up in the parking lot of Job and Family Services, located at 177 Main Street in downtown Painesville. Shoppers from all over the area are invited to come and shop!

For information, please call Chris at 440-812-4001, or Jan at 440-392-2787.

Registration forms and instructions are available at Artful Hands, 170 Main Street, or online at www.DowntownPainesville.org.

I'm very glad to report that things are picking up at the Howard Hanna Smythe Cramer office in Mentor, Ohio. Just in the past couple weeks we have seen a huge increase in phone inquiries, open house numbers, and showings. The office is HOT.

To convince those who live in Lake County, Ohio, this last month, April 2008, our office sold 18 more homes than we sold in April 2007.

We've turned up the heat to "212 degrees" and are ready for your business. Don't sit and watch for the pot to boil! It's already boiling!

I'm here at the Hilton Inn in Columbus, enjoying all that the OAR 2008 Spring Convention has to offer. Today, I attended several roundtable discussions led by experts on each subject, learned more about "green" construction at the Professional Development Forum, was brought up to date on many new real estate technologies and websites at the Business Technologies Forum, had a "lunch box" lunch at the Economic Issues and Trends Forum, and finished the day at the Realtor Idol Competition.

I've learned so much today, my head is spinning. It's been a day of inspiration, networking and fun! Don't you wish you were here?

Howard Hanna's biggest real estate event of the year will take place on Sunday, April 27 from 1 to 4 pm as we host 2008 open houses on one day. This is our annual "Open House Extravaganza!"

We are offering fantastic opportunities for home buyers to tour a variety of home styles in different price ranges and locations throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York. Several finance managers representing Howard Hanna Mortgage Services will be on hand at many of the offices to pre-approve buyers, answer questions about the home buying process, and discuss Howard Hanna's innovative financial programs and services.

Howard Hanna Mortgage Services and Barristers Title will be providing every open house visitor with up to $400 in discounts...just for showing up and registering.

Please sure to attend an open house this weekend! If you have any questions about the open houses, or buying and/or selling a home, contact me:

Christine Hart Howlett, REALTOR
Howard Hanna Smythe Cramer
440-812-4001
corkyhart@hotmail.com

Howard Hanna Real Estate Services is the 5^th largest full-service real estate company and the 3^rd largest privately held real estate company in the United States. The full-service company specializes in residential and commercial brokerage service, mortgages, closing and title insurance, land development, appraisal services, insurance services and corporate relocation. The company has 122 offices across Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York and West Virginia, and employs more than 3,600 sales associates and staff.

Visit http://ChristineHartHowlett.howardhanna.com/ for more information.

For many Ohioans in trouble, help is on the way! Nine mortgage servicing companies promised Ohio state officials they would try to help struggling Ohioans avoid foreclosure.

They agreed to the following:

- Work with adjustable rate and subprime mortgage holders to modify their loan terms when help is needed.

- Identify, evaluate and make good faith attempts to contact at-risk or defaulting borrowers as soon as possible.

- Modify loans to the extent permissible within existing fiduciary and legal obligations, following mortgage lending and servicing practices.

- Create incentives for staff and foreclosure lawyers to modify loans rather than seek foreclosure.

- Report progress to the Ohio Department of Commerrce.

- Make a nonbinding agreement with Ohio through June 30, 2009.

For many, this comes too late! For others, let's hope this will turn things around and get real estate sales back on track.

What do you think?

If you live anywhere near Ohio, please plan to join us for the Painesville Party in the Park. PPITP began over 25 years ago as a small community event, and is now a huge three-day festival attracting 40,000-45,000 people. The kickoff is Friday, July 18 and it ends on Sunday, July 20.

Check out the scheduled bands at...

http://www.myspace.com/ppitp

As a member of the Painesville Community Improvement Corporation, the host of the festival, I am always happy to answer questions about how to get to Painesville, where to stay, other things to do while you're here, and anything else you'd like to know.

After reading several articles this evening about short sales, foreclosures, uncooperative buyers and sellers, I asked myself, "Isn't it time to go on vacation?" Though I take my laptop and stay current with the happenings of my business, I spend much less time thinking about real estate when I'm away.

For the past several years, Don and I have spent our vacations in Maine. It started eight years ago, when for our 25th anniversary we did a two-week tour of New England. We stayed in gorgeous inns, went on a whale watching trip, took a carriage ride in Acadia, ate seafood until we could eat no more, and in general had the time of our lives. Awesome trip. We both especially liked Maine, so every year since we have returned. Last year we spent three weeks in Maine during leaf peeper season (Sept.-Oct), and this year we will spend at least three weeks, if not more. We're staying in Cape Porpoise, Camden and Bass Harbor, each for a week. Maine is my escape, my sanity.

So, I was wondering if other people have a special place, somewhere that calls them back year after year. I'd love to hear your stories and I'm sure others would love to read them, if only to escape from this crazy reality called real estate for five minutes.

Are you thinking of adding a dog to your life. What a wonderful gift you'll be giving yourself. I am a dog lover, and am particularly partial to Golden Retrievers. They are known for their willingness to please, their gentleness with children and elderly, and their overall good-natured temperament.

We currently have Dudley, aged 12, and just added Buddy to our fold. Actually, Buddy is a heartworm-positive foster we are caring for while he recuperates. He is an absolute delight. I have no idea why someone would have given him up, let along not providing him with the monthly medication necessary to prevent heartworm.

The reason for this post is to promote our local Golden Retriever rescue organization, G.R.I.N. A strictly volunteer organization, they were able to save and find homes for almost 200 Goldens in 2007 alone. The area covered by G.R.I.N is basically NE Ohio and a portion of NW PA. Check out their website at: www.grinrescue.org. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.