Geoff Scowcroft's (scowwolf) Blog

I've been using Vista since its beta days. There were numerous incompatibilities when it first launched.  Over time, many of these issues have disappeared. If someone is moving to Vista they should also make sure that they are using the latest version of any other software. Most software companie...

I have seen a few postings in the past on this issue, but it is worth bringing up again for the agents and consumers that haven't seen it.I received a couple of calls yesterday concerning a rental of one of my listings. The callers stated that they had found a rental ad on Craigslist with the pro...

 I recently responded to a blog asking about posting a PDF file on the Internet. This agent was looking to post a PDF file for others to view.We use a couple of different methods, depending upon the file size and type. For smaller files such as PDF, Word Documents, Spreadsheets, etc. we will host...

The following article discusses some of the positive signs that have been happening across the country. In the Los Angeles area we have been getting quite a bit of traffic during our open houses. It appears that buyers are looking, they are just taking their time to find the perfect home. Homes t...

Each year the National Association of Realtors in association with Remodeling Magazine sponsors a cost versus value report showing the average cost for home remodeling projects and the anticipated increase in value for homeowners. The report is available for nine different regions in the US and s...

The California Association of Realtors announced that a Carlsbad Realtor has won a jury trial where he was accused of failure to disclose other lower priced sales in a neighborhood where he sold a home. An expert from the article is below:Friday, April 11, 2008  Brought to you by the CALIFORNIA A...

Every profession has their entertaining stories.  Last week, I was sitting with a number of agents and we started to share our tales of the bizarre and ridiculous.  I love these reminisces because they remind me how fun this industry can be.One of my favorites occurred when I was looking for prop...

One of the more recent trends in web site development has been the growth of widgets. While they have been around for quite awhile, tools like Google maps, Zillow, Flicker and other tools have started to change the shape of websites.One recent widget that we started using is WalkScore (see www.wa...

Even with bold headlines heralding the bubble bursting and a credit crunch, 2007 was the fifth best year on record for existing home sales. While we are not seeing the incredible levels of appreciation common during the housing boom, many neighborhoods have remained relatively unaffected. However...

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) today released the maximum conforming loan limits that will be in effect through year-end as a result of The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. That legislation permits Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to raise their conforming loan limits in cert...