Getting Your Home Ready to Sell in Tulsa - Select a Listing Realtor right for the job – Questions you should ask
Not all Realtors are the same.
It doesn’t seem to matter if my Buyers are looking at $80,000 houses or $300,000 houses – we will run across listings with no photos, no virtual tours and little information on MLS. And, Buyers will totally rule out looking at homes that they can’t preview from their home computer. So, before you sign up with a Realtor to SELL your home, be sure to ask where and how your home will be marketed.
Individual Realtors offer different services, and we pay to advertise your home out of our own pocket. We don’t regain that investment until your home sells.
In order to select a Listing Realtor who will properly market your home, ask lots of questions!
Questions you want to ask your Realtor include: does your Realtor offer the enhanced advertising on realtor.com that allows more photos, extensive verbiage and virtual tours?
On which web sites will your virtual tours be displayed? Ask them to send you links of their other listings on Realtor.com, Trulia, Yahoo and Zillow so you can be sure of what type and level of exposure you can expect for YOUR listing. [links to trulia, zillow, etc.]
84% of Buyers are searching for homes on the internet before they ever contact a Realtor, so if your photos and virtual tours are not plastered on YouTube, Realtor.com and a dozen other popular web sites, the number of Buyers NOT seeing (and considering) your home is almost unquantifiable.
Select a Listing Realtor right for the job – Questions you should ask - Will your Realtor be honest with you about the needed updates to prepare your home for sale? Is your Realtor looking at your home through a potential Buyer’s eye?
Does your Realtor offer an electronic keybox, so that your showings can be accurately tracked and does your Realtor follow up with cooperating Realtors to get feedback? Will your Realtor provide good directions to your home so that Buyers and Realtors can easily find you? 
What staging services will your Realtor offer and will your Realtor go over comparables to price your home competitively? What steps will your Realtor take to promote a sale within a reasonable time frame? Will your Realtor present you with his/her marketing PLAN?
How often will your Realtor communicate with you? You probably know how often your home is being shown if you occupy your property. Establish expectations from day one, and you’ll be less frustrated.
Lastly, ask for references. I display testimonials on my web site, and am happy to provide you with phone numbers of previous clients.
Your home will sell if it is in top condition, priced correctly and marketed aggressively. Choose the Listing Realtor that understands this selling strategy.
Marketing your home is expensive, but priceless.
Tulsa's TW's-AFAB Catering – Anything for a Buck - I’m helping my friend Kalyn plan her September 5th wedding, and we are interviewing local caterers for a brunch to have in her home the day after the wedding. The bride is expecting many out-of-state guests, so we will have a lovely brunch the day after the wedding for at least 150 people in her home before escorting everyone to the airport. 
In April, my husband and I attended a baptism at our church, Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox church, and afterwards attended a luncheon in our friend Barbra’s home. This was catered by TW’s-AFAB Catering, and all the food was delish.
In fact, they made one pasta salad that my husband asked me to taste and duplicate – I have revised their original recipe and think my version is now better than theirs. Long story short, my husband was so impressed with their food that he asked for a business card which has come in handy now.
Tulsa's TW's-AFAB Catering – Anything for a Buck
We met owner, Tim Williams, and partner Terry McDaniel in Kalyn’s home the other day and the first question I had to ask Tim was, “what does ‘AFAB’ stand for?” He smiled and answered, “anything for a buck.”
I suppose there was a time when Tim’s business was more challenging and he may have felt that way – I a
ssure you, there’s not much you can purchase from his catering business now for a buck!
Our menu sounds amazing, and I'm anxious for our "tasting." We are having a crepe bar with both sweet and savory fillings; salmon with cream cheese, capers and a rasberry sauce, grilled citrus chicken strips, egg frittatas with spin
ach and eggplant filling, in-season fruits (mangos, melons), Greek pasta salad (this is the recipe I revised), and much more.
Tim has been in business for over 25 years and has expanded to have facilities in Oklahoma City. They work with many event planners in both areas and have been recommended to me by more than one friend. And, of course, I’ve tasted their food already personally.
Please do call Tim and Terry the next time you need a caterer. As always, you can find them on MY Preferred Vendor list!
WaterStone Cleaners - high quality dry cleaning and laundry valet services in Tulsa - I found out about WaterStone Cleaners through my dentist, Gary Kuenning – his daughter and son-in-law started this business and he had flyers displayed at his office. 
Of course, my preference is to give business to locally-owned companies, so I decided to investigate.
Okay, so they pick up and deliver – that is a definite PLUS for me! I investigate further and discover that they use an environmentally-friendly cleaning process – they do not use perchloroethylene.
Their cleaning solutions are odorless and do not harm our health or the environment. Now, I’m REALLY getting interested, because I care about our earth’s water, air and soil – and WaterStone does too!
So, I called to sign up for their services. They pick-up and deliver to my zip code on Mondays and Thursdays. They provided us with a garment hook to place cleaned clothing on and provided two bags with their logos for us to leave out dirty clothes – our bags are personalized with our names and unique bar code.
My husband drops his shoes in occasionally to have them cleaned and they have also repaired one pair that he will wear another twenty years. 
WaterStone Cleaners - high quality dry cleaning and laundry valet services in Tulsa
A full service dry cleaner and laundry, they go a few steps further by picking up and delivering dry cleaning to and from your home or office. They also shine shoes, repair shoes, perform alterations and clean most household items.
Last and nice convenience – they send me a monthly bill, which I pay by check, although you can put a credit card on file if you like.
Locally owned and operated. Environmentally friendly cleaning process; free pickup and delivery and easy monthly billing. How could they make my life any easier?
I really recommend that you try them. They are, among others, on my Preferred Vendors list!
Contact: 918-270-1488 or jwaters@waterstonecleaners.com. Please tell them Lori referred you!
Twitter and Text-Messaging: Abbreviations you should know! - I thought I was becoming a pretty fast 2-thumb texter and was familiar with many of the abbreviations used on Twitter and text-messaging. 
I know IMO (“In my opinion”), ROFL (“Rolling on the floor laughing”) and BFF (“Best friends forever”), LOL (“Laugh out loud”) and OMG (“Oh my God”) among others. Yesterday my Mom sent an e-mail with something WAY too personal and I responded, TMI! Mom e-mailed back to inquire about the meaning of TMI (Too Much Information)!
My husband is working on a project setting up a new hire's PR for Twitter, Facebook, etc., and he sent me a press release to proof. He had, "Visit Kim on Twitter!" I immediately phoned my husband to correct him that it should read "Follow Kim @ Twitter!"
My husband, BTW, has learned to READ my text-messages, but still hasn't figured out how to respond to them.
Twitter and Text-Messaging - Abbreviations
So, for you new texters or for those of you new to Twitter (posts limited to 140 characters), here are some text-messaging shorthand abbreviations you should know:
And resources are available for newbies or parents. Check out these abbreviation translation sites: NetLingo and Urban Dictionary.
C u on Twitter 2day or better yet, FOLLOW ME!
Oklahoma Sales Tax Holiday will be held from Friday, August 7 - Sunday, August 9, 2009.
Oklahoma Sales Tax Holiday will apply to clothing and shoes priced at less than $100.
Beginning at 12:01 am on Friday, August 7, 2009, and ending at twelve midnight on Sunday, August 9, 2009, Oklahoma will hold its third annual sales tax holiday giving shoppers the opportunity to purchase certain clothing and shoes free of sales tax. This includes state, city, county and local municipality sales taxes.
“The sales tax holiday provides Oklahomans with the ability to save money on clothing and other items which are included while supporting their local retailers,” said Paula Ross, Oklahoma Tax Commission spokesperson. Retailers are required to participate and may not charge tax on items that are legally tax-exempt during the sales tax holiday. The sales tax holiday exempts the sale of clothing and shoes priced at less than $100 from sales taxes.
Oklahoma Sales Tax Holiday Set for August 7-9, 2009
For more information and answers to common questions on the sales tax holiday, as well as a listing of sales tax exempt items please refer to the Oklahoma Tax Commission website.
Frequently Asked Questions regarding the Sales Tax Holiday in Oklahoma.
Now, let's start shopping for those back-to-school clothes. Wear your armor at the mall!!
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A full-service, residential Realtor with Chinowth & Cohen who offers professional & personable service -- serving buyers & sellers in the Tulsa Oklahoma area, midtown, Jenks, Owasso & Broken Arrow!
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