Christina Moock, REALTOR Cutler Real Estate

For a few weeks now I've been talking with my mom about the possibility of listing her house and helping her downsize into a smaller less expensive home. She moved into and built this home about 3 years ago. She bought the house spontaneously, despite our efforts of trying to talk her out of it. She built a 2 story home that was probably at the top of her price range. She has bad arthritis and can't go up and down steps very well, however there was a first floor master so it would be ok. She's now regretting building this home, but at the same time doesn't want to leave it. She told me the other day that when she walked in the door at her old house (the one we lived in for 26 years) it just didn't feel nice. She said that she really loves the new house and truly doesn't want to leave it.

She asked me how I felt when I walked in the door of my own house. Was I like ahhh, it's so good to be in my home and it's so special to me or was it like oh, this is my house. Sadly, my reply was somewhat like that oh, this is my house. I bought my house in 2004 when it was a seller's market and homes were flying off the market. Every-time we wrote an offer on a house so did someone else. Finally we learned that we had to make sure we outbid everyone else by offering at or above list price. At the time, this house was the one that best fit our needs. I think what attracted us most to this house was that our bedroom furniture would fit in the bedroom (we drove our Realtor crazy trying to measure the bedrooms) and I loved the swimming pool. The house needed some updating. Upon getting possession, we immediately painted almost every room in the house and remodeled both bathrooms. Sadly a few, ok, a lot more items still need done 4 years later.

Truthfully what makes a house a home isn't the amenities it offers, but the feelings you get from being there and memories you make as a family. We've made many memories here... like the times my family would come over to swim, my mom and Jay getting in water fights with each other in the pool, getting the yard regraded due to the water intrusion, finally getting rid of the ugly bushes, my brother having to be the only person who ever showered in the old yellow tub, bonfires out back with friends and family, 3 new sump pumps in our first year of home ownership, illegal waterproofing from previous owner, family dinners, family cookouts, sitting on the front porch drinking lemonade, neighborhood power outage, etc.

We've had several fun years in our home and hopefully many more to come! Hopefully when you think of your house it feels special because of all the happy memories you've made there!

The results are in.... a total of 254 homes were sold in March. This included residential, condos, multi-family, agricultural etc. I was surprised to find that the number was slightly lower than last month's total number of sales- by about 6. Things really seem to be picking up at the office, agents going in and out, closings happening left and right. I think April will be even better!

If you are interested in buying or selling a home, please contact me! I'd be happy to meet with you and discuss the process. 330-936-2519 or email chrissy@chrissymoock.com.

View all available homes and open houses 24/7 at http://www.chrissymoock.com/.

My family has a tradition of playing April fool's day jokes on each other. When we were kids the jokes would be something silly like putting a rubber-band around the sprayer in the kitchen sink so when you turned the water on you would get sprayed. My brother tried this trick a few years ago on my mom and he forgot about the rubber-band and ended up spraying himself, twice. Over years, these jokes have evolved into more serious tricks.

For those of you who don't know, my mom, sister, and brother all work in the medical field. Their conversations almost always revolve around medical things. On Sunday we were at my mom's house and my brother started having a few heart palpitations (his heart started beating very rapidly). This morning my mom called me and said that my brother went to the doctor and they immediately sent him to the hospital because he was having such serious palpitations. He was going to have to stay there overnight and get a heart cath. She was packing his clothes and going to see him. I was sitting there in disbelief when she finally replied it was an April fool's day joke. So now, I have to think of a good trick to get her back with. Anyone have any ideas?

Do you play any April fool's day jokes on anyone? What was your best joke?

Buying a house is probably one of the biggest financial decisions you will make in your lifetime. It's important to do some research before you jump in and make your purchase. It's also important to work with a buyer's agent who will represent your best interests. Your buyer's agent will walk you through your purchase every step of the way and can explain to you the home buying process.

Please visit my website at www.ChrissyMoock.com and click on free reports. I have put together some reports that may answer some of your questions about buying a home. If you still have questions, please contact me by email chrissy@chrissymoock.com or phone 330-936-2519. I'd be happy to help you! Together we can make your first home purchase a smooth, stress free transaction. Hope to hear from you soon!

It's been a pretty interesting weekend so far. Yesterday around 10:00 snow began to rapidly fall. I had heard the weather reports for the weekend about the snowstorm that was headed our way, but I didn't believe it. I mean lots of times the weather reporters are wrong, right? Well, this time they were right on! We even heard thunder and saw some lightening in the middle of the night last night. My husband cleverly called it a "thundersnow".

This morning I had to cancel a house showing as I was not even sure I could make it out of the drive, even after it was shoveled. My mom called about 12:30 in a panic because my brother discovered that there was an inch of water in the basement. She asked us to come over right away to see what the cause was and to help carry stuff upstairs. We tried our best to get there, she only lives 4 minutes away, but we couldn't drive up her road. The snow plows hadn't been there yet.

I had 2 open houses scheduled for tomorrow, but both sellers have cancelled. They can't make it out of their own drives to go over and shovel for the open house.

In the meantime, I've been able to get some much needed cleaning done in the office. I am now able to see my desk! Before it was covered with real estate paperwork. I now have a place to set my new laptop down.

Here are some snow pictures from today. It's still coming down!

There is a road out there somewhere!

Hopefully we will get unburied soon! How is the weather where you are?