About Henrico County, VA

Today I was watching Good Morning America on ABC. Nina Garcia was being interviewed by Diane Sawyer about her new book The Style Strategy. In her interview she said there were three questions you need to ask yourself before going shopping. Although speaking about clothes her questions can apply to any type of shopping. Applied to purchasing a home get out a piece of paper and write down the answers to the following:

• What does your current home offer that you like?

It may be location, it may be a first floor bedroom, or it may be a laundry room on the second floor. Schools, shopping, friends. Get out a piece of paper and write down what your current home offers.

• Ask yourself what you really need in your next home.

Do you need a yard big enough for three Saint Bernard's? Is a garage necessary? Do you need to be on a bus line? What is it that you have to have and why? Lower tax assessment - whatever!

• And then write down what you would like to have in your next home.

These are the things that would be nice to have. Perhaps it is a double sink in the kids bathroom, or two closets in the master bedroom.

Now that you have these written down when you look at houses you can compare the house to your answers. What works, what doesn't, and why. Doing this helps keep emotion our of purchasing a house and reminds you of what you really need for your situation

Finally! A house came back on the market that was in the right price range, and apparently offers everything my client wants! Checking the MLS I called the owner, as directed by the Listing Agent, to set up an appointment. When the answering machine picked up I excitedly requested showing the house the next evening.

No return call.

Called again, and left another message

No return call.

Waited a day. Called and emailed the Listing Agent and requested his aid in seeing this home. (Here is where is gets good) After three days he forwards my email to his assistant.

Another day goes by.

Assistant leaves voice mail reply telling me to call owner.

Hmmmm

Call owner again and he picks up!!! YEAH! Here is the conversation:

"I would like to show your home this evening at 6:30"

"That is not possible, I have children and we cannot show the house in the evening"

"My client works from 8-5 when would be a good time to show it?

" I can only show it on the weekends"

"Okay, would 2 on Saturday be okay? "

" No, only Sunday after 11 and before 3".

I set up the appointment for Sunday at 2.

Now I see why it is "back on the market" instead of sold. To save others the aggravation I will contact the Listing Agent so he can put the information in the Agent comments. I wonder if the information will be added...I will wait three days and see.

P.S. This is NOT a discount broker

There are a couple of sentences when talking with new customers inquiring about one of my listings that I don't like to hear. When asked if they are working with a Realtor they reply:

• We are working with my aunt (substitute any relative as needed) who is a Realtor in Timbukto.

followed by

This usually means the relative is not living to our area, and although they may have their license in the state it is very likely they are unaware of the issues that are unique to our territory. This also means the relative may not have access to local MLS information (sales history, tax assessments, etc.) and will not understand the true value of the home based on sales in the area.

Understanding that the main reason for using a relative is to save on the commissions, or to support their business, I would like to suggest the following solutions to the real estate agent to ensure everyone is adequately represented.

• If you are not from the area, refer your relative to someone in the area to work for them.
• See if an agent in the area will work with you as a co-buyer's agent. You can give advice, write the contract, etc. but have a local representative with knowledge of the area to work with, present the offers to the sellers and show the properties.

In the end if you are want to give all of your commission to your relative you can, but make sure they get the best representation in the transaction!

How often I have walked through a sellers home and said "maybe you should have a yard sale". More often than not they give the stuff away before having a sale. Now I understand why!

This weekend my family held a garage sale at my parent's home. They have lived in this house for 22 years. With a full attic, and full unfinished basement, items would arrive and find a place to live in one of these spaces. It had gotten to the point where you could not walk in the basement except for a little path from the garage to the steps upstairs.

It took almost 5 full days to accumulate items, organize them and then price. Putting up signs, placing ads in newspapers as well as craigslist we were ready! The traffic was steady and we sold a lot of things. Was it worth the time and effort, maybe not. The only thing I can really say is it made my father realize something only has value if someone else wants to buy it. And when the things that did not sell were put in the truck to take to the Goodwill, we accomplished what we wanted to do - clean out the storage areas.

If you don't have the time, or energy, or desire take the stuff to charityl and forget the garage sale!

Aren't banks great! For as little as $30 per month they will make sure you have overdraft protection on your checking account! If you do not manage your money well, or have a fear of fees this sounds like a great idea. As the Federal Reserve shows this fee is much less than the cost of a bounced check.

So what is the potential problem? If you have a history of overdrawing your account, even with the overdraft protection, it shows up on your credit report. What the bank, looking at providing you with a mortgage, sees is irresponsible money handling. They may not give you a loan unless you can provide a letter that states why you allowed this to happen, and convinces them you will prevent overdrafts in the future.

My suggestion: Don't buy the overdraft protection plan. Learn how to manage your money! You can save over $300 a year just by not having the overdraft protection. That is a great amount to add to a future down payment on a home!