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Financial literacy workshops for teens At the Jackson Branch of the Ocean County Library

09-04-09
Robert Rauf
Robert Rauf: Loan Officer in Toms River, NJ
  • view my blog
  • Office: (732) 223-1630 x102
  • Mobile: (732) 740-0175
  • Secondary: (732) 740-0175

This is one near and dear to my heart. For years I have been saying that our schools fail at teaching basic Money and Finances to our children. Here is an opportunity right at your local library to give your kids a head start on how to manage their money

Library

What: free financial workshops for teens

When: 2 Tuesdays, Sept. 22 & Sept 29 @ 7 p.m.

Where: Jackson branch, 2 Jackson Dr.

CONTACT: Freda Lehman, (732) 92804400, ext 3833

flehman@theoceancountylibrary.org

Financial literacy workshops for teens

JACKSON - The Jackson branch (2 Jackson Drive) of the Ocean County Library will present "Dollars and Sense: Financial Literacy for Teens" on Tuesdays September 22nd and 29th at 7 p.m.

The session will help students in grade 7 through 12 prepare for a lifetime of managing their money wisely.

Finance specialist Murray Blasz will present a two-part course on credit, savings, budgeting and more! Teaching materials will be provided by The National Endowment for Financial Education. The workbooks will be used during the two sessions of the program, and then given to the participants to keep, free of charge.

This program is free and open to the public but registration is required. Please register in-person, by phone 732-928-4400 or online at www.oceancountylibrary.org.

Have a great week

Rob

Robert Rauf

Mortgage Banker

www.RobertRaufHomeLoans.com or my blog: http://activerain.com/blogs/rrauf

(732)223-1630 x102

Since 1987 I have been helping my clients fulfill their dream of home ownership!

Real Estate Mortgage Network

REMN

NJ Mortgages, New Jersey Mortgages, Mortgages in NJ, mortgage in New Jersey, Mortgages in New Jersey

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This Old House has 22 Ways to Go Green

07-15-09
Matthew Genovese
Matthew Genovese: Real Estate Agent in Jackson, NJ
  • view my blog
  • Office: (732) 364-0099 x24
  • Mobile: (732) 684-4166
  • Secondary: (732) 684-4166

The person behind the Coldwell Banker Twitter feed (@coldwellbnkr) passed along this great article about 22 Little Ways To Go Green from the folks at This Old House.


It is a really good read packed with tons of tips. Some of them are a bit obvious (like replacing your shower head to a water-saving one or unplugging your power tool) and some are unique but smart (like putting food coloring in the tank of your toilet to see if it is seeping and you are wasting water!) and some are just good solid tips to avoid waste that you may not have thought about (like mixing all of your drips and drabs of white paint--come on you know you've got them, we all do--into one can and using that to paint your workshop or garage.)

Definitely worth checking out and saving to save a few bucks in waste!

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Coldwell Banker's Interactive Billboard in Times Square

07-09-09
Matthew Genovese
Matthew Genovese: Real Estate Agent in Jackson, NJ
  • view my blog
  • Office: (732) 364-0099 x24
  • Mobile: (732) 684-4166
  • Secondary: (732) 684-4166
In yet another innovative use of mobile technology, Coldwell Banker has launched an interactive billboard in New York's Times Square.
By texting "homes" and the zip code where you are searching to 30241 the billboard will display available homes in that area on the giant billboard.
Here is a demo:
It is a great way to remind people about Coldwell Banker's mobile web optimized home search that I blogged about here.
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Pay No Attention To That Man Behind The Curtain!

06-29-09
Matthew Genovese
Matthew Genovese: Real Estate Agent in Jackson, NJ
  • view my blog
  • Office: (732) 364-0099 x24
  • Mobile: (732) 684-4166
  • Secondary: (732) 684-4166

I read a headline on Inman News today titled: "It's time for MLS consolidation" and I smiled. I couldn't agree with that sentiment more. And in thinking about writing this blog it made me think of the Wizard of Oz quote that I used in the title...the MLS system is a lot of smoke and mirrors hiding some real inefficiencies and head-in-the-sand mentalities


The real truth that most Multiple Listing Service groups (and even most REALTORS) don't want buyers and seller to know is that the clients have greater access to listing information than REALTORS do in some situations.

How could that happen, you ask? Because of bureaucracy, fiefdoms, an inability to see the big picture or at the very least an unwillingness to acknowledge the cold hard fact that time and technology has passed these REALTOR boards and their antiquated systems by.

It used to be that REALTORS held the holy grail of property search. They had, in their offices, a binder with all of the available properties in one easy to find place. So if you were a buyer--or a seller that wanted to have their house seen--you had to go to those offices and seek theircounsel.

Then along came the internet...now virtually every house listed for sale (whether it is listed with a real estate agent or for sale by owner) is listed somewhere on the internet. So buyers don't need to come to our offices and prostrate themselves and beg for our assistance; they simply have to do a search on google or go to one or two reliable property search sites likeREALTOR.com or Active Rain

The point I want to make, though, is that even though that fact has been shown to the REALTOR associations that run the various MLS systems time and again it hasn't changed the fact that they still believe that they own their listings and don't need any help from anyone and don't need to partner with other MLS's to share information.

That is particularly true here in NJ where just about each county has its own Association and its own MLS. New Jersey is densely populated, but it isn't that large geographically. So it isn't unreasonable to think that an agent in Atlantic City would take a listing here in Jackson. But what happens when that agent does that is, in most cases, they go back to Atlantic City and put that listing in their MLS not the MLS we use here in Jackson. When that happens buyers see the listing on REALTOR.com in their search for Jackson. If they are my clients they call me and ask me for more information...guess what? I don't have any more information than they do, because that agent wasn't thinking and s/he didn't put that information into my local MLS...so all I know about the property is what is on REALTOR.com. Doesn't give my clients much faith that I am a the professional that can assist them does it?

If the MLS's were consolidated (or at a minimum shared their listing information freely among the other associations), no matter where that information was inputted I would be able to see it and assist my clients better. But unfortunately that isn't what happens because the MLS's are afraid to understand the realities and move forward! But PAY NO ATTENTION TO THAT MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN!! I AM THE GREAT AND POWERFUL WIZARD OF OZ!

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Tips for Installing Shower Doors Yourself

06-27-09
Matthew Genovese
Matthew Genovese: Real Estate Agent in Jackson, NJ
  • view my blog
  • Office: (732) 364-0099 x24
  • Mobile: (732) 684-4166
  • Secondary: (732) 684-4166

Before you list, it is always a good idea to finish off those home improvement projects you've been thinking of doing or, more likely, putting off for some time. As I've written about here before there are a fair number of improvement projects that will definitely add enough value to make it worthwhile tackling before you consider selling. Kitchen & Bathroom projects are definitely on that list. In that vain, here is another good Do-It-Yourself article from Inman News:

Shower doors offer choices galore
Installation can be a DIY job if you have the patience
By Paul Bianchina, Inman News

Tired of your ragged old shower curtain? Sick of hassling with that old shower door with the worn track and the missing rollers? If it's time to start thinking about a new door for your shower, you'll find a wide and beautiful assortment of options awaiting you.

Whether you have a tub/shower combination or a dedicated stall shower, there are essentially three different types of doors available:

Horizontal sliding doors: By far the most popular of the door styles is the horizontal slider, which can be used with either tub/shower combinations or with wide stall showers. A horizontal overhead track is supported by two vertical frame pieces at either side of the opening. A pair of doors then hangs from the overhead track on nylon rollers. Both of the doors are operable, with one door sliding horizontally past the other door.
Swinging doors: Swinging doors are designed specifically for use with stall showers of virtually any width. The door is mounted onto a vertical frame using a continuous hinge and swings out away from the shower (shower doors never swing into the shower stall because of the difficulty in opening it to get to a person who has fallen or otherwise become trapped inside the stall). Swinging doors can be hinged to swing in either direction, and for showers over about 3 feet in width, there is typically one or more fixed panels next to the swinging door so that the door doesn't have to be as wide and heavy. Swinging doors are also used in combination with glass panels and a metal framework to make up a corner shower unit.

Accordion doors: Designed for both tub/shower combinations and stall showers, vinyl accordion doors hang on a track and fold up against one wall in small sections. This particular door style is no longer particularly popular, given the difficulty in cleaning all of its multiple panels and parts.

KNOWING WHAT TO LOOK FOR

When shopping for a new door, you have more options than you probably realize, primarily in color and style. Your first priority is to look for a door with a good solid frame and heavy-duty rollers, hinges and other hardware. The glass is required by law to be tempered, and doors with acrylic panels are no longer allowed in most areas. Be sure and look at a full-size, operable example of the door you're interested in before you buy it.

The basics aside, the choice comes down to one of appearance. For the frame color, you'll have a choice of chrome -- typically the least expensive -- gold-tone, white, almond and a variety of other colors. For the glass, the least expensive option is opaque or frosted, but you'll also have a choice of clear, smoked, bronze-tinted, or clear or frosted glass panels with any of a variety of etched pictures. If you opt for clear glass, there are little shower squeegees you can use to quickly remove water from the glass after your shower, which helps greatly in preventing a buildup of water spots.

Some glass shops also offer doors with custom etching. You can bring them a picture, message, logo, or other artwork, and they can have the art etched into one or more of the doors or panels. This will obviously add to both the cost and the ordering time.

THE INSTALLATION OPTIONS

You've got two options here -- do it yourself or hire it out -- and the choice is directly influenced by your level of patience. Installation of a sliding or swinging shower door set requires the assembly of the frame and its installation in the shower, followed by the hanging and adjustment of the door(s), sealing of the frame, and installation of the weatherstripping.

Most shower doors are available in kits for the do-it-yourselfer, and contain all of the necessary hardware and instructions, usually with the exception of caulking or sealant for sealing the frame in the opening. Typical tools you'll need include a screw gun, hack saw, level, caulking gun, and a couple of different sizes of drill bits -- including masonry bits if you're installing the frame against ceramic tile.

Shower doors are sold through most glass shops, as well as home centers and larger hardware stores. Given the number of options, you'll probably only find the most common sizes and colors in stock; others will typically require a special order and, depending on the style and color, will take anywhere from a couple of days to several weeks for delivery.

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