Posted by Judy Orr on Saturday, October 7th, 2017 at 12:23pm.
Before putting any home on the market sellers need to declutter, de-personalize and "stage" their homes. This doesn't always cost money. Today's buyers have a selection of similarly priced flip homes and regular re-sell properties. Many times, even if the flip home is priced a bit higher, it's worth it as the new owners couldn't update a competitor home for less than the flip. Some flips are completely redone - almost like new construction. Other flips are very updated but might not include windows, roof, furnace, air conditioning, etc. Some flips are done very professionally with an eye for detail and somewhat or very upgraded materials. Then there are the flips where they use the cheapest materials and it's plain to see the shoddy work. This isn't about flips so I'll end here. But every seller needs to know what their competition could be.
If you don't hire a cleaning service your home might be dirtier than you think. Buyers won't look under furniture and shouldn't go into bedroom drawers, but they will notice dirt that you don't. I had a Orland Park home for sale that was beautifully decorated when I walked in the door. It was clean and showed great. But when I went into the master bedroom there was a raggedy bedspread and smudgy dirt around the master bath light switch. I asked these sellers to buy a cheap but new bedspread and clean around that bathroom switch. Two little things that made a difference and these sellers got a higher price than we expected.
Like the commercial, many people become "nose blind" in their own homes. I'll let you know if there are any offensive odors. Don't try to mask them with heavily scented home deodorizers. Do try to remove the odors with the newer "bead" type of deodorizers (that usually don't have a scent). Febreze works too in a pinch.
If there are pet odors you might have to hire professional carpet cleaners and they might need to work on your upholstered furniture. You might need to clean or replace pet bedding and blankets. Cat litter boxes might need a major cleaning or replacement.
In my prior home when I started de-cluttering I was amazed at how much I liked the look after getting rid of some of my decor. It opened things up and made rooms appear larger and cleaner. When I ask a seller to put some things in storage it isn't a personal criticism. I know what today's buyers expect, want and like. Whenever I ask a seller to do something it's to get a quick sale at top dollar.
This is the time to get rid of very personal items like family photos. Remember, when you do sell you're going to have to pack everything up anyway. Do it now. I can't tell you how many times buyers have spent more time looking at seller's family photos than the house itself.
I'll give you my personal advice when viewing your home. If cleaning dirt and smudges on walls can make a difference then that is one suggestion. But if the colors are very vibrant (hot pink, lime green, etc.) or old fashioned, then painting with a more neutral color will make a huge difference in how the home shows.
Many sellers will say "the buyers will want to repaint anyway." That's not always true! Buyers would love to be able to move in and not have to do much work immediately.
I'll give you some ideas on color. White isn't always the best choice. Today's colors are beiges and grays. They might be different a few years down the road, so painting is something you'd probably leave until you're ready to sell. To get an idea of popular color schemes, visit some new construction model homes.
Don't forget your front and back yards. The front of your home is the first impression buyers have. You might need to paint or replace your entry door. Planting some annuals can make a big difference in the presentation of your home.
The back yard should be clean and any yard furniture, pools and sheds need to appear well maintained. A garage or shed with peeling paint can break a buyer's financing, even conventional.
Now that your home is ready for sale and you've signed the Listing Agreement, it will be placed in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). This is how most real estate gets sold. There are a small amount of for sale by owners that are successful, but most end up listing with an agent and brokerage.
When we take a listing we have to enter it into the MLS within 72 hours. We don't wait that long unless there's a reason (seller is finishing up on getting the home show ready, for example).
The MLS is our database of properties for sale. It is where real estate agents and their brokerages cooperate with each other to show and sell properties. There are rules and regulations and ethics for us to follow. Those who don't follow those rules can lose their licenses.
Since I'm an experienced agent why do I need the MLS? Don't I know enough to sell my home on my own? As mentioned above, the MLS is where the inventory is. There are thousands of agents cooperating to show and sell properties. I wouldn't think of selling a property without listing it in the MLS.
One of the most important reasons to get your listing on the MLS is that agents share your listing with their interested buyers. I create an automated search from the MLS for my buyers based on their price range, areas they're interested in, minimum bedrooms and baths, etc. If your home fits their criteria, it will be sent to their e-mail as soon as it hits the MLS. Any change to your listing, such as a new price, will also get sent out to all interested buyers based on their data.
We are particular about the photos we use to market our listings. My son Matt is our photographer, and he's good. He takes photos at multiple angles and he works on each one to make it pop. Matt has taken our own listing photos.
We take as many photos as possible and go through each one and choose those that best portray each area of the home, inside and out. Our MLS is finally allowing as many photos as possible. However, that doesn't mean buyers need 50 photos of a 1,000 sq. ft. home. The larger the property, the more photos needed. But normally, even in a large home, 2-3 photos of a room is sufficient. You want enough to entice a buyer to make an appointment but not too many that it becomes boring and that will cause buyers to lose interest.
I would always use a for sale sign. We still get calls on our signs. Many of these callers are working with another agent or just starting the process and want to know the price of a particular home to get an idea of the market. The for sale sign opens your home up to the neighbors and gets people talking.
Interested buyers will look the home up using the single property website url (using a sign rider) and/or listen to our Talking House that we offer. The sign gets their attention (we use large signs and now have the option of using signs that light up at night, although they have a specific size). Then they look the home up on their phone or tablet or at least write down the address to check it out on their computer when they get home. Sometimes, they call us directly.
Many buyers also use real estate apps such as HomeSnap. You can download this for free by clicking the link and putting your phone number in the download section to the right of the page - it's one of my favorite apps that I use when driving in different areas and see an interesting property. It's great when we're out-of-town where we don't have MLS access.
Not every agent offers these to their sellers. I think they are important. I believe that the single property website we created for our last home helped sell it. The buyer was raving about how she loved being able to send the link to friends and family all over the world.
These sites allow buyers to simply save the link and easily go back to that website to view a home they're interested in. They can share the link multiple ways - on social media, in e-mails, etc. We only use single property websites that are "responsive" - where they are viewable on a personal computer, any kind of tablet and cell phones. Click here to view a sample site we're currently using. This home is sold and closed and sold so quickly (1 day) we didn't have a chance to do anything but take photos.
We create 2 different single property sites for our listings. One has our contact information on it and this one is used for online advertising. The other doesn't have our contact information on it and this is the one we use in the MLS (they don't allow virtual tours/sites that have agent branding on them). We don't use just a video for our virtual tour in the MLS - we submit our entire website.
I'm on the fence about the necessity for videos. I don't think a professional video is necessary for most homes. I'm thinking of trying to create a quick, cellphone video for my listings but I'm not sure I'll like them. This means I didn't have a video for my prior home.
As a buyer, I would view a little portion of videos on homes I was interested in but if it was too long I'd lose interest and go back to the still photos. On our single property websites we offer a photo slideshow plus a photo gallery. Although most buyers enjoy the slideshows, sometimes they'd like to spend more time on particular pictures. So we offer both options on our single property sites. We can also upload a video.
I love today's technology. But I've tried 3-D tours on other listings and I found it to be clunky and it reminded me of playing a video game. I think imporovements have been made to these Matterport videos (the name of the camera that can create 3-D tour videos), and I would consider them on some large, high end homes. But for the average home I think it's overkill.
With that said, I was talking to someone about this and they made a point that today's younger folk, Millenials that will be followed by Generation Z, love these 3-D tours, so I might have to embrace them down the road. At this point in time, I don't think I'll have one when we sell our current home.
Once we put a listing in the MLS it gets sent to many Internet real estate portals. The idea is that you never know which portal your buyer will land on. It could be one of the big guys like Realtor.com, or it could be a website like this one, owned by an individual agent/team. The more we can syndicate your listing to other sites, the more eyeballs we can get on your home.
If buyers get automated listings sent to them by their agent, why would they be on these other portals and websites? Buyers are curious and they think their agent might miss something. And it can happen. I've had buyers send me a listing asking why it didn't show up in their automated search. Most of the time it is out of their price range (which they sometimes tell me to change), or they didn't notice that it only has 2 bedrooms when they want 3+, or another reason. But once in a while, a listing agent will enter the listing incorrectly. They'll omit something like a private laundry in a condo. So once in a while, a listing won't show up in an automated MLS search. This is why buyers also look on 3rd party real estate websites. Plus, it's fun!
Your home will receive as much Internet marketing as our own properties.
We are members of the best social media sites for real estate such as Facebook, Twitter, Instgram, Pinterest and more. We use these sites for our listings and we pay for advertising on Facebook. We get thousands of views on your listing from this paid advertising. The ad has a link to your single property website where they can get information and see all the photos and easily contact us if they need more or would like to set an appointment.
We can't always measure paid advertising because many buyers will see our ad and then contact their own agent to show them the home. We do know how many people have at least seen the ad, and it's usually thousands.
We will feature your listing on our own websites. Our main, long standing site is this site - you're on our blog now. We're surprised at the amount of people that read our blogs. And we share these posts on all of the social media sites we're members of. Our newer site that is driven 100% by pay-per-click advertising (PPC) is here. These sites are local to our areas we get many buyers from these sites.
We never sent any mailers out for our own homes. For one thing, who do you send them to? Do you send to the neighbors and/or our database (that consists of our friends, family, current and prior clients and sellers who had a listing that expired or are trying to sell on their own)? How many neighbors? Where to begin?
We already send out a monthly newsletter to our entire database. We use snail mail plus e-mail - so two similar but different newsletters are sent out every month to more than 2,000 recipients. We feature our new listings (or price changes, back on market, etc.) in these newsletters. So for our database we don't make a separate mailing.
If we did decide to send a Just Listed postcard, it would be to immediate neighbors of the property. And the reason to do this is twofold. One, we'd like to invite the neighbors to promote the listing. Second, we're introducing ourselves to these neighbors. We're showing them something we'd do for their home. But we'd only want to do this if we specifically wanted to work in this particular area in the future. This brings us to the reality that most advertising done by real estate agents is to promote themselves.
Print advertising has been dead for a long time. This is why many smaller newspapers have shut down or merged with others. Why look at a tiny photo with little information in a newsletter or small real estate magazine when you can get the whole description plus multiple photos, slideshows, etc. online?
There really is no age limit for Internet users. My 93 year old mother has a tablet to play Solitaire on. She doesn't use the Internet. She won't be selling her current home, either. She still lives on her own, and she'll be in that home until the end. Same thing happened with my mother-in-law. My husband and his family ended up selling the home Mom lived in since the '60's.
Most seniors that are selling and buying another home have computers and smart phones. The only time I see people pick up real estate magazines are out-of-towners that are in a destination area. They like the area and are just curious about local home prices. They have no intention of buying anything. This same curiosity occurs online, probably even more so.
So why do some agents still advertise in print? Many of them are older agents that haven't grasped Internet advertising. Or they're just trying to get their name out there in as many advertising vehicles as possible. Most of us feel there is no return on investment and stopped print advertising years ago and have embraced Internet advertising. We go where the most buyers are.
Bottom line, I wouldn't spend a penny on print advertising for my own property.
I haven't done an open house in many years and I didn't do one on my last house. Why? Only 1% of homes sell because of an open house. In the 34 years I've been in the business, I've had many open houses. I advertised the opens in a multitude of ways, trying to get as many interested buyers to attend. I've sent out invitations, I've partnered up with other agents that had listings in the immediate area to have a "multi-open-house" setup. I've been thousands of advertising dollars and put out many open house signs (that get stolen or broken and have to be constantly replaced). I've served food and drink.
With all of this time and money, I never had one of my listings sold because of the open house. The closest I've come is a buyer who had already seen the house with his agent and was ready to write an offer. He drove past the house and noticed it was open so walked in to take another look.
The problem with open houses is that anyone can walk in. They are probably not even looking for a home but enjoy looking at other people's decor. Most will not be financially qualified. Some are neighbors that want to see the inside of the house down the street. And then there are the bad people that want to case the home to see if there's anything worth robbing. They get to see the floor plan and any escape routes. Multiple agents have been mugged, raped and murdered in open houses.
Do you think they're worth it? Open houses do work in some areas better than others. I've sat many open houses that had all the necessary advertising where not one potential buyer showed up - not even a neighbor. I've seen the same couple come to a $50,000.00 condo and then show up to a $350,000 single family home. This is what they did every Sunday, they were not buyers. This was their "HGTV" show - they loved looking at other people's homes, decor and furniture.
Reality is that open houses are to bring agents unrepresented buyers that they can work with. We know it's highly unlikely we'll get your house sold from an open, but we'd like to continue working with the potential buyers that come through if they're not working with an agent already. That's why many times a listing agent won't be in the open house. It will be a new agent that volunteers to sit other agent's listings so they can meet buyers.
Why do builders have them if they don't work well? Having model homes open is different with a builder vs. a resale seller. These are for people interested in building a new home. Buyers interested in new construction know that model homes are open for viewing and they want to see floor plans and the quality of the builders. They know they can go to the new subdivision and view multiple models, or at least nicely drawn floor plans. They are able to get base prices and the costs of most upgrades. Unlike a resale house, they can make adjustments to most models to make the house as close to what they want as possible.
With new construction, you don't get all the information in the MLS (for those that list with a brokerage). There's no way an agent can list prices for every upgrade, although they could include a photo of an upgrade list if the builder provides it. But most buyers want to meet and talk to a builder or their representative. They want to walk away with a folder of flyers and price sheets. So builder open houses are expected by buyers of new construction.
I've sold new construction and we still got looky loos and people who just enjoy looking at model homes. Models are open to all and many buyers aren't qualified for the prices of new construction, but they like to dream.
In the past, many builders didn't list their homes in the MLS. That has changed, and most builders will list their homes with a brokerage. Even if they don't, they will cooperate with an agent that has interested buyers. So you don't have to attend a model open house to view new construction. You can have your agent set an appointment and accompany you. This way you will receive 100% representation from your agent who will work with you and the builder (or their listing agent).
We don't just put your listing in the MLS and a sign on your lawn. We do much more to attract the most buyers possible for your home. We know what works and what doesn't.
We won't ask you to do anything we wouldn't do ourselves to sell our own home. We stand by our motto, if we can sell your home, nobody can!


When you are healthy, you sweat a lot: however, when you are weak, you do not sweat.
Your body feels lighter when you sweat from various activities: that is because your constitution requires a lot of perspiration.
Therefore, enjoying hot baths all the time is a good practice for your health. Mountain hiking and moderate speaking are good.
Having higher blood pressure than average is a healthy state for you.


text:
Frank Lisle (1916–1986) was a British painter and art teacher, who numbered a young David Hockney among his pupils when he was Head of Art at Bradford College of Art.

He was principal of Jacob Kramer College from 1970 to 1977.

Among his portrait sitters were another pupil, Donald Rooum, and Alice Bacon, MP for North-East Leeds.

His work is in collections including those of The Hepworth Wakefield, and Leeds City Council.

References

External links

 Biography

1916 births
1986 deaths
20th-century English painters
English male painters
British art teachers
Artists from Bradford
20th-century English male artists

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


As you get ready to ask for a raise, you should be doing your homework. You'll need to provide tangible examples of your accomplishments and value to your workplace. Try to keep your feelings and emotions out of it. This is all about how you benefit the company, not about how a raise will benefit you.
Come in with a prepared number, but make sure that's it's realistic. As you do your research, you'll find what people in similar positions are making. Take that into account along with your years of experience, skills, and the area in which you live. If you ask for something above your market value, your manager may be more likely to deny your request.
Don't treat asking for a raise casually. It isn't something that should be done in an email, around the watercooler, or when you run into each other in the hallway. Set up a time with your boss that you can come into their office and discuss the situation. Treat it like a job interview or any other important meeting.
If you know that a co-worker makes more money than you, do not use this as reasoning as to why you should get a raise. You don't know why they make more money and there may be a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why they do. Also, you run the chance of looking petty or jealous in front of your boss, and you don't want that to happen.
Obviously, when we ask for a raise, we hope we get it. But what happens if you don't? Come up with a plan in case you don't get the answer you're hoping for. Ask for feedback on why the answer is 'no' and what you can do to make it a 'yes.' If your boss says it's something you can look at in the future, try to pin down a specific date. You'll also need to decide if you're you willing to continue working for your employer at the same rate or if it's time to move on.


I'm an active dawg, but the other day my humans woke me up way too early. It was still dark out and they made me get into the truck. We hadn't done that for a while since we got to Colorado in June.
"WOW! WHEEEE!" Duuuuuude! Things went from morning to night . . . and the back again!
Uh guys, where'd the sun go?
That was worth getting up early for, don't you think?
You are THE most handsome and best Eclipse Dawg Gawker on the Planet!
Thank you for sharing your adventure AND great photos! It was so interesting to all the phases!
Awww. Love you back Sally! I wish you could have seen it.
98 pawcent is pretty good Michelle! Glad you got to enjoy some of it.
What a super lucky dawg you are Wyatt Ray, to have seen such a good 'clips'! Pretty awesome pictures too and do you ever look cool in glasses! You should wear them more often!
And did I mention what a gorgeous boy you are?!
Stewie wants to say thank you for all of the support that you show him Wyatt Ray! He couldn't have done as well without you guys!


text:
Q: Using shift_level_max() function in time series - R When I use shift_level_max() to find the largest mean shift between two consecutive sliding windows of the time series.
data("AirPassengers")
air.ts <- AirPassengers

library(feasts)
shift_level_max(air.ts)

The output is following:
  shift_level_max shift_level_index
             62.6             127.0

could you tell me what shift_level_index  (127) means? Or which period is it in the data?

A: From the help file for feasts::shift_level_max():

Value:
A vector of 2 values: the size of the shift, and the time index of the shift.

So the second value shows that the largest shift in level occurs at the 127th observation of the data set.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Pasar Market Café brings a healthier choices of vegetarian dishes using the local produces at Holiday Inn Resort Bali Benoa.
Named after the Indonesian word for local market, Pasar Market Café is inspired by these typical selling and buying food centers around which the local life revolves. Bringing a breath of new air to the restaurant, Chef Raffaele Dadone, has curated his own menu which focuses on the natural simplicity of the local produces in Bali. Each dish from the vegetarian menu is loaded with flavorful, colorful and tasty ingredients.
Launched on 6 September 2018, the new vegetarian menu will feature the freshest seasonal ingredients in imaginative creations, such as crunchy quinoa, zucchini, lemongrass, eggplant, Kalamata olives, combined with tomato, mushroom and a variety of delicious vegetables. This new vegetarian menu consists of 39 dishes that are divided into a selection of vegetarian sandwiches, wraps, salads, thin crust pizzas and pasta dishes, it provides one with plenty plant-based options to choose from.
Included into the mains are the delicious Spicy Tomato & Fresh Turmeric Vegetable Curry, a Fun Vegetables Tempura Basket, Vegetable Brochette, Paneer in Makhani Sauce, Char Veg Kway Teow, Cap Cay and not to forget the all-time Indonesian favorite Vegetarian Nasi Goreng and Vegetarian Mie Goreng.
A zesty Oriental Quinoa Salad consisting of organic quinoa, diced root vegetables, selected baby herbs, thinly sliced red onion sprinkled with orange sesame is included in the salads. The result is a crunchy texture infused with salty, sweet and sour flavors with a hint of bitter.
Creating a breakthrough of the plant based culinary journey, Chef Rafaelle brings the sumptuous delights from his beloved home country, Italy. Savor your palate with a Vegetarian Pasta and The Benoa Thin Crust Pizza Selection. The mouthwatering Vegetarian Lasagna will fill your mouth with cheesy and creamy sensations and the healthy benefits of spinach.
Holidaying with healthier options to indulge in is indeed a great experience one could try at Holiday Inn Resort Bali Benoa. For further information on these menu, kindly visit www.balibenoa.holidayinnresorts.com.


text:
Dickey's Barbecue Pit Drops a Bomb New 'Cue Creation
30 janv. 2023 14h31 HE | Source: Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants
Dallas, Jan. 30, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dickey's Barbecue Pit is adding an atomic level of spice to its tender, hickory wood smoked barbecue chicken with a new offering at your local...
Dickey's Barbecue Pit Announces a 'Cue Creation That'll Have You Stuffed
Dallas, Jan. 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- While Dickey's Barbecue Pit isn't getting in the business of Taco Tuesday, it's adding a Tex-Mex favorite to the barbecue joint's signature sausage line up....
Dickey's Barbecue Pit Announces International Expansion into the Philippines
Dallas, Jan. 23, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dickey's Barbecue Pit is continuing its smoking-hot development streak across the globe as the iconic Texas-born brand announced their expansion into the...
Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth at Dickey's Barbecue Pit for National Blonde Brownie Day
Dallas, Jan. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Whether you're craving a taste of Legit. Texas. Barbecue™ or just looking for a delicious deal on decadent desserts, Dickey's Barbecue Pit has got you...
Bring Home Legit. Texas. Barbecue™ with Dickey's Build Your Own Big Yellow Box
Dallas, Jan. 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Barbecue lovers, rejoice! Dickey's Barbecue Pit is introducing an easy and convenient to go box that is perfect for any gathering. Visit your local Dickey's...
Celebrate 2023 at Dickey's Barbecue Pit with Kids Eat Free
Dallas, Jan. 04, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- What better way to ring in 2023 than by bringing the family to the world's largest barbecue concept Dickey's Barbecue Pit, where KIDS EAT FREE all January...
Dickey's Pitmasters are this Season's Catering Experts
29 déc. 2022 07h00 HE | Source: Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants
Dallas, Dec. 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Let the world's largest barbecue concept help you avoid all the stress of cooking this weekend at your big New Year's party! Our experienced pitmasters at...
'Tis the Season for a Festive Holiday Meal from Dickey's
Dallas, Dec. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Whether you're decking the halls or cheering for your football tailgate party, Dickey's Barbecue Pit is taking the hassle out of cooking this holiday season...
Dickey's Reveals New Packaging in Brookshire's Stores
Dallas, Dec. 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dickey's Barbecue Pit's fan favorite specialty sausages now has a modern look! You can get your hands on our authentic barbecue meats, conveniently located...
Give the Gift That Keeps on Giving with Dickey's "Behind the BBQ" Cookbook
Dallas, Dec. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Need the perfect present for your barbecue foodies, friends, and family this time of year? Look no further than the best barbecue restaurant, Dickey's...
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Survey Says: Gray Seals Are Back
BY Kate Horowitz
Andreas Trepte, Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 2.5
Scientists have used Google Earth to count New England's gray seals, and the news is good: The digital survey spotted tens of thousands of animals, far more than previously estimated. The researchers published their findings in the journal Bioscience.
The same features and behaviors that help gray seals survive—their snow- and ice-colored coats, along with their strong swimming skills—can also make them hard for scientists to find. It's important that we find them, and not just because they're so very cute.
Accurate surveys of wildlife populations are crucial not only to scientific understanding of how the world works but also in creating policy measures that will help keep that wildlife safe.
Historically, researchers have done their counting the old-fashioned way: first on foot, seal by seal, then by motor vehicle, then by flying planes over the hauled-out seal families as they lay on the beaches and ice.
Previous aerial surveys of New England populations spotted about 15,000 seals off the southeastern coast of Massachusetts. But scientists were pretty sure they were overlooking at least a few animals.
For a different perspective, they tapped into Google Earth and scoured the beaches, the ice, and the frigid waters where the seals spend so much of their time. They overlaid these images with radio tracking data, and the combination provided a far fuller view of the seals' world.
Google Earth/Duke University
Reviewing the results, the researchers discovered that the aerial surveys had, in fact, missed a few animals. All right, more than a few—more like 15,000 to 35,000. The Google Earth/radio data survey easily doubled and could triple previous estimates.
"Computer-based assessments of seal populations such as this hold great promise in terms of accuracy and repeatability," study co-author David W. Johnston of Duke University said in a statement.
"This is a conservation success that should celebrated."
News oceans science