About Josephine County, OR

How To Avoid the 10 Biggest Mistakes Home Sellers Make

You'll sell your home faster - and for more money - if you avoid these common pitfalls.

You Will Need

• A thorough housecleaning
• An open mind
• Home improvements

Step 1: Declutter your home

Get rid of as much clutter as possible. Stuffed closets, extraneous furniture, exercise equipment in living quarters, crowded countertops, overflowing cabinets, and endless knickknacks make homes seem smaller than they are. Consider putting some things in storage.

Step 2: Hide your pets

Hide all evidence that you own animals. Just because your potential buyer loves his own pets doesn't mean he wants a house that reeks of yours. Get rid of pet stains and odors (pay a professional if you have to) and send the four-legged family members to a neighbor's house when you show your home.

Step 3: Be scarce yourself

And, while you're at it, make yourself scarce during home showings. You know how you feel about those annoying salespeople who follow you around the store, making you uncomfortable? That's how potential home buyers will feel about you.

Step 4: Don't discount the first offer

Think carefully before you reject the first offer on your home; studies show it is usually the highest bid you get. And the longer you hold out for a better offer, the lower your chances are of getting it, because people start to think that something must be wrong with a house that's been on the market for so long.

Step 5: Always negotiate

Don't take lowball offers personally, or you'll lose a lot of potential buyers. Instead of viewing them as insults, look at them as starting points for negotiation.

To attract the most buyers, list your home a few thousand dollars below a major round number. If you're hoping to get about $200,000, for example, list it as $199,000, not $205,000. You don't want to miss out on buyers who have set $200,000 as their cutoff point.

Step 6: Out with the old

Toss or change anything that makes your home look tired - worn carpeting, old throw rugs, dirty light switch covers. Give every room a fresh coat of paint in a neutral color. Don't let cost deter you; this is truly a case where you've got to spend money to make money.

Step 7: Remember curb appeal

Don't discount the importance of a good first impression from the street. Trim hedges, reseed the lawn, plant some flowers, wash the windows, scrape and repaint the front door and windowsills, and put some oversized potted plants at the entrance.

Step 8: Depersonalize your home

Rid your home of all your treasured personal touches - family photos, the kids' artwork on the fridge, religious artifacts, bowling trophies, your ceramic pig collection, the shrine to Elvis. They will only make it more difficult for potential buyers to imagine themselves in your home.

Step 9: Aim for light and bright

Because home buyers are nearly unanimously looking for a light, bright house as opposed to a dark, dreary one, do what you can to make that happen. Ditch the heavy drapes, take down dark wallpaper, put in high-wattage light bulbs, and get rid of wood paneling.

Step 10: Fix anything that's broken

Fix whatever is broken before you list your home. It's almost always cheaper to do it yourself than to let the buyer use it to bring down the price.

The Weather Outside Is Frightful! - Grants Pass, Oregon

Or is it? Remember the saying; "It's an ill wind that blows nobody good." So what is good for somebody about winter storms?

I was reminded of this by the ninety plus mile an hour winds that just pounded our northern Oregon coast.

I know there will be a lot of beachcombers for whom the ill wind will "blow good!"

We've all seen the Japanese glass floats in the gift shops, but did you realize that they haven't been made of glass for years and years? Many of them have been floating around the Pacific for ten or twenty years before they wash up on a beach somewhere!

The secret (the experts tell me) is to get out right after the storm and search carefully along the beaches. Don't forget that the higher the waves are driven during a storm will deposit the oceans' treasures higher up on the beach.

If nothing else, you will find bottles written in foreign languages and a lot of items that may very well have been swept off an Asian beach and spent years getting here.

Coffee Girl - Astoria Oregon.  Many people who know me, know that I am a huge coffee lover.  From the first time  I visited Portland Oregon in 1987, I fell in love with the atmosphere and ambiance of Oregon's coffee houses.  Little did I know then, that I would eventually move from  southern California to southern Oregon. 

It's been 10 years since I walked into the Dutch Bros Coffee House in Grants Pass Oregon for the first time.  The atmosphere was a bit funky and eclectic, but nonetheless warm and inviting.  After tasting a Dutch Bros mocha, triple shot topped with whip cream, I knew I was hooked.  It didn't take long for this coffee girl to acclimate to her new surroundings. 

Upon searching the Web for various Oregon attractions, I stumbled upon a video of the Coffee Girl in Astoria, Oregon.  Another quaint coffee house with catchy music, scenic ocean views that are simply spectacular, and some of the most artful barista coffee swirls I have ever seen.  I have yet to visit the Coffee Girl in person, but it is on my bucket list of things to do in the near future.  In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the video.  If you are not already a coffee lover, be prepared to be converted :)

The secret to success and healthy living... Enjoy a mocha today and every day ~ Melinda Peterson

 

Myers Creek - Grants Pass, Oregon

Finding an old growth forest in the land of logging is a pleasant surprise. It's just off the Briggs Valley Road outside of Merlin, Oregon. This beautiful area is just a few miles north of Grants Pass and lies about 12 miles off the over-the-mountain road that goes from Merlin to Gold Beach on the Oregon coast.

Stopping at Big Pine campground and following the well maintained trail leads you through a magnificent old growth forest. In the midst of all these beautiful trees is the most majestic Ponderosa pine.

It stands 250 feet tall and at its' upper stories, it branches into two huge trees! It is almost 18 feet in circumference.

This beautiful creation is around three hundred years old. It was a full grown tree when America earned her independence from Great Britain.

Here is a Ponderosa that has fallen recently quite near our celebrity tree. Who knows why this monster gave up the ghost. It seems around 200 feet long, but it's hard to tell because when it fell, it broke into several pieces. Walking along the top, it seems to go on forever. You know the old saying "that if a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a noise?" I guarantee this baby did!

Here I sight both ways and the top is so far into the brush I lost interest when I hit the first major break as it's a lot more fun walking on the huge log highway than fighting my way through the brush.

The hole left by its' roots would make a shelter for a few hibernating bears if it weren't so close to a campground.

Another beautiful Ponderosa reaches toward the sky.

And the next tree is another monster with a right-angle branch which I have found quite often in the forests of Oregon, but it is always a curiosity because it is not a normal growth pattern.

Do you suppose that some human being bent this branch a couple of hundred years ago when this tree was a sapling, causing a right-angle arm on this great pine?

Myers Creek is tame in late fall, but the Steelhead salmon lay their eggs in these mellow waters and the young fish will grow strong here for their future journey to the Pacific.

Southern Oregon has so much beauty to offer, I don't know how it is where you live, but can you imagine being able to go into the beautiful mountains in the the middle of November and enjoy leisure hikes amidst the colorful flora and fauna? On this trip, as we pulled into the area, a huge buck deer casually loped across our trail and up a hill. They seem to have a sense of where they're safe from hunters.

There's plenty of land left for more people, and we welcome you to move here.

Cause for Pause. As I was walking to the Grants Pass MLS office, which is located only a few short steps away from my office, I had a cause for pause. You see, there is a resident homeless man who camps out on the side porch of our local MLS office. As I was walking on the sidewalk, he called out to me saying; "Watch your step, you don't want to trip, like the last time."

Initially, his comments startled me as I didn't see him right away. My next reaction was to focus on the sidewalk which was barely visible this time of year due to the fallen leaves from the trees, There is a raised section of the sidewalk that has buckled from an over-grown tree root. I had taken a tumble there once before, which was witnessed by the homeless man. He offered to help me then, but I quickly said no thanks, and went on my way.

On this day, I chuckled at his comment and said; "You remembered when I did the Superman slide on the sidewalk?" He laughed too. We exchanged smiles and I went on my way. But for several days after that, I couldn't stop thinking about our brief conversation. I wondered what caused this man to become homeless. I have seen him many times over the past year, but this was the first time I was able to look past his ragged dirty clothes and see a man who smiled and had a sense of humor.

Just a few days later, I asked him if he would like half of my tuna sandwich, and he said yes with a smile. It was a bit chilly that day with the temperature being somewhere in the low 40's. When I walked back to my office and made myself a cup of coffee, I thought he would probably like a hot cup of coffee too. When I offered it to him, I asked if he liked it black or with cream and sugar. He replied; "black," with another big smile on his tan weathered face. Once again, I went on my way.

It didn't occur to me to ask his name, but I hope to do so in the near future. For now, he is the homeless man who camps out on the side porch of our local MLS office. Today, I had a cause for pause. I will no longer ignore what is staring me straight in the face; the raised sidewalk, the superman slide, the kind words of a homeless man, and Loving Thy Neighbor as Thyself :)