Melinda Peterson Grants Pass Southern Oregon Real Estate Cafe

The Grants Pass, Oregon Caveman - A Bit of History. Yes it's true, the City of Grants Pass, Oregon has a giant Caveman guarding the Chamber of Commerce building at the north end of town. There's no missing the 17-ft tall Caveman (almost 20-ft with pedestal) clutching a club and dressed only in animal skins.

The statue was erected in 1971 by the Grants Pass Caveman Club. The group was formed by local business people in 1922 to boost awareness about the town of Grants Pass and the nearby Oregon Caves. It is said that the local business people wore shaggy animal skins to welcome such visiting dignitaries as John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.

Sadly, on July 4, 2004, two vandals lit the caveman on fire, severely damaging his fiberglass body. After much debate over repairing the Neanderthal, a local business owner paid $2500. to have John Stripling, of Summer Breeze Kayaks, repair the damages.

Today, the Caveman proudly stands at the north end of town in front of the Grants Pass Chamber of Commerce, and is considered the current day mascot for Grants Pass High School.

Ladies Night Out at Shop River Rock in Grants Pass, Oregon!

It was a fabulous evening of music, wine, and tasty hor'dourves at Shop River Rock in Grants Pass, Oregon this evening. The 8th Annual event, sponsored and hosted by Hellgate Excursions owner Robert Hamlin, was an opportunity for "Ladies Only" to enjoy a night out on the town. Staff was dressed in tuxedo style vests, serving champagne, wine, and yummy hor'dourves throughout the evening. 25% of all tickets purchased for the event were donated to the Oregon Army National Guard Food Bank. The Grants Pass event is by invitation only and sold out again this year! Thanks Robert, for a fabulous evening!

Cheater Cheater - Pumpkin Eater. Ever since I started blogging, I have begun looking at every thing in a different light. I am forever in search of new blogging material and always thinking to myself, "I should blog about that!" You may call it Blogging OCD (I know many of you share my disease), but whatever the case, it makes me smile and it lends for a daily dose of fun and laughter. Today, is one of those days!

At approximately 10:30 pm last night, I was blogging on Active Rain when I received an interesting text message on my cell phone from a number I didn't recognize. The message read;

"Jill - When you get back to the hotel, send more naughty text pics as I'll be at the office late into the evening... I'll reciprocate..."

Oh my my... My initial response was, Who's Jill? Then I thought, Why do they have my cell phone number? At that point, my curiosity was piqued! I decided to Google the phone number and up popped a picture of Mr. XYZ (let's just say, he'll remain anonymous for now). The biggest surprise is... He's a Realtor in another state! A complete stranger to me, but none the less, a fellow colleague.

What I did next, surprised the heck out of me. I sent him a text message back (no naughty pics included) and said; "Mr. XYZ (I used his first name), does your wife know about the naughtly text pics?" OMG, I couldn't believe I just said that. I suppose I was in rare form for the evening!

But, to my greater surprise, Mr. XYZ texted back a message saying; "Jill is my wife..." I thought, hhmm, an innocent exchange of naughty pics between spouses on a school night, okay. I logged off AR and went to bed. When I woke up this morning, I was thinking about Mr. XYZ's answer. As innocent as it may appear, I still didn't understand how he accidentally texted me instead of his wife. Think about this for a second, most of our family member's phone numbers are saved in our cell phones alphabetically. If that is true, then the letter J isn't even close to M alphabetically. Unless of course, Mr. XYZ has a pet name for his wife labeled "Meow" on his phone. But that still doesn't explain how he got my number.

So, I did the unthinkable, I sent Mr. XYZ another text this morning and said; "If that were true, your wife's phone # would be saved on your cell phone, so you wouldn't "accidentally" be texting me. Very entertaining though!" Low and behold, another text arrived from Mr. XYZ that read, "It is saved as part of a database real estate profs on my phone! Huge botch. Sorry."

So, the plot thickens and the mystery remains. How did Mr. XYZ "accidentally" text me instead of his wife? Perhaps a simple faux paus, or a HUGE BOTCH, as he called it. Is Mr. XYZ a cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater, had a wife and couldn't keep her? Perhaps.

A note of thanks to Mr. XYZ for providing a good laugh and some blogging material. I hope you were able to find your way to the office without your moral compass!

Craig Schiller offered some excellent staging advice in his post Picture What You Preach. I thought it was worthy of a re-post Practice What You Preach - With Great Pictures! I think we Realtors could learn a few things too! Thanks Craig!

Because the end result of a staged home can be a great visual impression, home staging is seen as an image industry. Image companies in the fields of advertising, interior design, and landscaping have for long known that to sell and grow their own businesses; they must present a good visual image of themselves. As image businesses they know and rely on their logos, business cards and websites to communicating their knowledge and creative skill to apply basic design principals in their respective fields.

If home stagers are going to sell to home owners the need and importance of investing money to beautify their homes, which is the product they are selling, then the stager needs to invest money in to do the same for what they sell... which is their staging services To be competitive, a home stager needs to invest in their business image. A stager's image, communicated through a business card, brochure, website and portfolio, must demonstrate knowledge of and skill to apply basic design principals. Doing anything less is hypocritical.

Home stagers also need to practice what they preach to Realtors. If stagers are going profess and advise the importance of using good photography to capture and present a home for sale on-line, then again, a stager needs to do the same for photography they show of the their work on-line. A stager's on-line portfolio is a key, yet often overlooked, tool communicate quality, skill and ability.

Stagers can maximize their on-line credibility is by addressing the following 3 points with their portfolio.

• Show Versatility & Proficiency - Every market is different and a stager's work should represent the types of homes being sold in the markets they serve. However the more depth and diversity a stager can show the better. The most compelling portfolios will show staging work that was done in both big and small homes, vacant and occupied homes, low to high end homes, and the ability in to work with a variety of design styles.
• Use the Same View Point - Proof of a stager's skill and ability is often shown in Before & After photographs. But quite often the Before photo is taken from a totally different position in a room, from the After photo. The best sales testament and visually dramatic impact Before & After photography will have is when the Before & After photo is taken from the EXACT same angle.
• Take Quality Photos - While it may not be possible to take perfect and compelling Befores, the After image needs to be well photographed. Over flashed, under flashed, and blurry photos will hurt even the best staged After transformation. Stagers that invest the time and money to take quality photos visually communicate their commitment to their profession.

Practice What You Preach - With Great Pictures!

Stage It Forward...

Southern Oregon - A Beautiful Place to Visit and Live!

Medford, Oregon is the center of the Rogue Valley and Southern Oregon's largest and most diverse City where you can shop tax-free and experience nature at its best! Start your day off golfing, fishing, rafting the Rogue River, hiking the Table Rocks, exploring the Oregon Caves and Crater Lake, or enjoying a scenic wine or agricultural tour. In the evening, take in a premier live performance at the Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater, sit under the stars and enjoy the Britt Music Festival, and feast on a culinary delight from one of Medford's fine dining establishments.

Southern Oregon - A Beautiful Place to Visit and Live!