How to Blog With Video in MinutesWritten by: Doug Devitre e-PRO, ABR, GRI, CRS, PMNMost REALTORS® are afraid of technology because they will freeze when they see words like .jpeg, HTML, wiki and ping.  Ping... what the heck is a ping?  If you are in this category then don't give up yet.  Technology is changing our business very rapidly and the ones who adapt will be in it for the long haul.  Secretaries need to be retrained every five years or will not have the same skill set in order to keep up with the work load of a fast paced environment.   Real estate is no different.  In most cases it is more competitive.  Blogging is a new way to drive people to your real estate website, increase loyalty with consumers, and give the author the ability to create the tone and dialogue for its reade... 07/19/2007

I'm a country boy at heart, and as such, I love all things rural. So what would there be to interest me in St. Louis, Missouri?The answer is, a lot!St. Louis boasts an incredible number of resources for anyone wanting to get out and enjoy the outdoors, and has some of the most wonderful scenic areas and wildlife you'll find anywhere. While there are far too many options to mention in a short post, here are just a few:The Columbia Bottom Conservation Area is a 4318-acre urban conservation area that includes a view of the confluence of the Missouri, Missippi rivers, with 800 acres of forest, a 110-acre island, 3300 acres of cropland, and over 6.5 miles of river frontage!Edward "Td" and Pat Jones Confluence Point State Park, also at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi has 1118 a... 07/18/2007

To all buyers in Unincorporated St Louis County:  Beginning July 1, ALL of unincorporated St Louis County is requiring new occupants of a house, duplex or condo to obtain a residential reoccupancy permit before you move in.The inspection CANNOT be scheduled over the phone. You must apply in person at either the South or North County Government Offices or online at www.stlouisco.com.  Their website has good information about what the inspectors are looking for, etc.  From the homepage, click on the County Government tab to open the drop down menu and click on Public Works.  On that page you'll see a tab named 'Reoccupancy Permit System'. Or just click here: www.stlouisco.com/publicworks/.The cost of the ispection is $80 and includes one reinspection.  Any subsequent inspections will cost... 07/18/2007

It's 10:07 pm and I just sat down to write something, although I don't have the slightest idea what to write about.  Worked in the yard early this morning.  Then ran comps for a potential listing (?), and made several calls.  Then went to the Miami property and worked until 5:00 pm.  Came home and ate dinner, made a few more calls, and then went back and worked some more on Miami.  Painted the first coat of trim on the windows in the livingroom, diningroom, and both bedrooms.  The back bedroom trim was blue, so it's going to take at least three coats of white to cover it...Might show properties tomorrow.  If not, will be back painting over at Miami.  I need to get as much done as possible, as we are going camping this weekend - Thursday through Sunday.  This weekend is "Christmas in Jul... 07/17/2007

Saturday we were invited to go boating on the Mississippi River.  A friend has a large wooden-hulled boat and wanted to take a group of us out for the day.  The marina he's docked at is north of St Charles at Woodland Harbor.  It was pretty easy to find - about a forty minute drive from the city.What a terrific day.  The weather was beautiful and the scenery was fantastic.  We've driven the Great River Road on numeerous occasions and I often wondered what it would be like to be out in the river looking towards shore.  What great views as we passed Grafton and Our Lady of the Rivers at Portage des Sioux.After about three hours, we rode the jet skis.  I had never ridden one before, so I rode with a friend.  We flipped over just minutes after starting the ride.  We both leaned to far in th... 07/16/2007

Pamela Williamson | Keller Williams | pamelawill@kw.com | 314-600-2246 5412 Neosho St, St.louis, MO Handy-Man's Special! Like to work with your hands? This is the house for you. Conveniently located in the Heart of South City just a hop, skip, and ju 2 Bdrm Single Family House offered at $125,000 Year Built 1911 Sq Footage 931 Bedrooms 2 Bathrooms 1 full, 0 partial Floors 2 Parking 1 Car garage Lot Size 3,012 sqft HOA/Maint $0 per month DESCRIPTION Handy-Man's Special! Like to work with your hands? This is the house for you. Conveniently located in the Heart of South City just a hop, skip, and jump from Pueblo Solis--the best mexican food in town! If you like to walk around your neighborhood and hit the local Murdock Perk Coffee Shop,Macklind Deli, & Francesa's Antique Shop and others,... 07/15/2007

Friday the 13th....  Following are the market statistics for St Louis City for the past week.  These statistics are gathered from the local Multiple Listing Service:There were 120 New listings on market, with list prices ranging from $34,500 to $1,000,000.There were 27 Contingent/Option listings, with list prices ranging from $45,000 to $1,300,000.There were 72 listings that went Pending, with list prices ranging from $10,000 to $474,900.There were 49 listings that SOLD, with sold prices ranging from $10,000 to $309,000.72 listings Expired, with list prices ranging from $14,500 to $819,000.33 listings were Withdrawn from the market, with list prices ranging from $32,800 to $550,000.I've been lazy with my blogging as of late.  I've been really busy with the two family flat on Miami.  Our... 07/13/2007

St. Louis Missouri SpotlightSubmitted by: Kimberly Grant, Huntsville Real Estate AgentHuntsville/Madison AL Real Estate BlogHave you ever been to St. Louis??  Well, I have had the opportunity to travel to St. Louis on two separate occasions.  I can say that St. Louis is definitely a city of charm and distinction.  I am also willing to admit that back in my sports watching days I used to love the St. Louis Cardinals and also the Rams. There is just SO MUCH to do in St. Louis that it is one of those places you could visit over and over again and have a different experience each time.   Of course everyone knows about the fantastic St. Louis river front.  I couldn't stand to go up in the arc with my friends but I did take a ride on a riverboat that was phenomenal!  I also got a chance to se... 07/12/2007

Saint Louis West End Real EstateWe here at the Coldwell Banker Gundaker-CWE continuously monitor local real estate statistics to keep our clients informed and ahead of the real estate trends.  Below you will find St. Louis West End real estate statistic for the 1st week of July 2007New homes on the market: 2Number of homes entering escrow: 1Number of homes closing escrow (sold): 0Number of homes expiring: 3Avg Days on Market: 12To find the value of your home with a free, over-the-net home evaluation, please visit: www.VictoriaSmall.biz.If you would like a free list of homes for sale in this area/neighborhood, would like more information about Saint Louis West End or would like to be the first to know about hot new listings before other buyers do, then give me a call at:Victoria A. Small... 07/10/2007

Saint Louis DeBaliviere Place Real EstateWe here at the Coldwell Banker Gundaker-CWE continuously monitor local real estate statistics to keep our clients informed and ahead of the real estate trends.  Below you will find St. Louis DeBaliviere Place real estate statistic for the 1st week of July 2007.New homes on the market: 2Number of homes entering escrow: 3Number of homes closing escrow (sold): 2Number of homes expiring: 2Avg Days on Market: 440 (New Construction)To find the value of your home with a free, over-the-net home evaluation, please visit: www.VictoriaSmall.biz.If you would like a free list of homes for sale in this area/neighborhood, would like more information about Saint Louis DeBaliviere Place or would like to be the first to know about hot new listings before other buy... 07/10/2007

Saint Louis Skinker-DeBaliviere Real EstateWe here at the Coldwell Banker Gundaker-CWE continuously monitor local real estate statistics to keep our clients informed and ahead of the real estate trends.  Below you will find St. Louis Skinker-DeBaliviere real estate statistic for the 1st week of July 2007.New homes on the market: 2Number of homes entering escrow: 7Number of homes closing escrow (sold): 0Number of homes expiring: 2Avg Days on Market: 47To find the value of your home with a free, over-the-net home evaluation, please visit: www.VictoriaSmall.biz.If you would like a free list of homes for sale in this area/neighborhood, would like more information about Saint Louis Skinker-DeBaliviere or would like to be the first to know about hot new listings before other buyers do, then g... 07/10/2007

Saint Louis Central West End Real EstateWe here at the S & S Realtors continuously monitor local real estate statistics to keep our clients informed and ahead of the real estate trends.  Below you will find St. Louis Central West End real estate statistic for the 1st week of July 2007.New homes on the market: 11Number of homes entering escrow: 11Number of homes closing escrow (sold): 6Number of homes expiring: 5Avg Days on Market: To find the value of your home with a free, over-the-net home evaluation, please visit: www.VictoriaSmall.biz.If you would like a free list of homes for sale in this area/neighborhood, would like more information about Saint Louis Central West End or would like to be the first to know about hot new listings before other buyers do, then give me a call at:Victor... 07/10/2007

Not only does it look beautiful and give you fresh ingredients to cook for, it's easy. You will need pots ( at least 6 inches in size) , well draining potting mix, plant food, and your favorite herbs. I chose sage, chives, parsley, and rosemary. You could plant all of these in one large container, but they are easier to care for if they are in seperate smaller containers. Make sure there is room for the roots to grow and drainage holes at the bottom of the containers. You will need to feed your herbs every month or so. Make sure the fertilizer you use is for edible plants (thank goodness for Lowes helpful employees). Remember to water your plants if they are dry...the easy way to tell is to stick your finger about an inch into the soil..if its dry all the way through..water your plant. ... 07/09/2007

I was reading the paper and learned that St. Louis has the best tasting drinking water in the country. Wow! Now that is really something to boast about. But on the real side, buyers and sellers in St. Louis are being misled by all the media hype that the market has slowed and home prices are lower than they were this time last year. Now it is true that homes are languishing on the market but it has nothing to do with B, C, D etc Lenders closing up shop. What is affecting the St. Louis market is the OVERPRICED house. Sellers are not being made aware by their agent or are not willing to follow the advice of their agent that only well PRICED homes are the homes that are selling in less than 30 days at near asking price. What do I mean by a well priced home? I mean a home that is priced wit... 07/07/2007

  If you can save anything from a landfill, that's a good thing, but when you also have a connection to the past.... thats even better. The beauty of salvaging stained glass windows, pedestal sinks, clawfoot tubs, filigreed door knobs, doors, numbered theater seats, or any other jem you might find is that you can add a touch of timelessness to a new building and in some small way salvage some of the past. In a day and age when global warming looms over us and we all agree we must make some changes so our children's children will still have a planet to live on it makes perfect sense that architectural salvage is experiencing a newfound popularity. Thank goodness! It's based on an appreciation of the craftsmanship of eras gone by and an eco-friendly planet. Reuse over refuse. The creativ... 07/01/2007

The general real estate blog is a fantastic tool. This blog is specialized only as much as being about St. Louis Missouri Real Estate. Currently my blog Lofts in the 'Lou has been a voice about the realtors perspective in a specific neighborhood. While that has been fulfilling to me, as a realtor that works throughout St. Louis Missouri, I often times have information to be posted that doesn't specifically involve downtown St. Louis. It is for this reason that I am hoping to launch this page to include more general real estate experience. For more information, visit my website, or my monthly newsletter. 06/27/2007

"Mound City" has much to offer People tend to think that St. Louis is in Missouri, but geographically St. Louis is in the area between the Ozark uplift of southern Missouri and the synclinal basin of central Illinois.  Saint Louis area's main attraction then, and still a major attraction now, is the confluence of the Missouri River (North America's longest river) and the Mississippi (North America's biggest river).  If you are looking for information on what there is to do in Saint Louis you can check out the Explore Saint Louis website.  For example you can plan a group tour by checking on local dining or a list of the local attractions.  Saint Louis Discount Real Estate and Mortgage Expert ValueList Real Estate Services is the largest full service/discount real estate and mortgage co... 06/27/2007

If you are in St. Louis area looking to buy or sell a home I would strongly suggest you explore ValueList Real Estate Services, the largest full service/discount real estate and a full service VA approved mortgage lender.ValueList offers home sellers a flat-fee listing program where the home seller pays Valuelist a flat-fee and in case another agent from a different company sells the house a commission is paid to that agent buy the home sellers.ValueList Real Estate Services also offers many services to the home buyers. The goal of the agents at ValueList is to make your home buying experience a relaxing and memorable occasion. Here is just a list of a few informative pages you will find on their website:An Over-View Of The Home Buying Process.   First Time Home Buyers. Who Pays For Wha... 06/26/2007

Alright, so you've made your calls and have talked to a real estate agent who referred you to a competent loan officer who is willing to take you on as a project.  Cool!  Did you get some of their business cards to pass out for them?  If not, call them back up and have them get you some!The second step in this process, after finding a qualified loan officer, was to have the LO pull a tri-merged credit report with public records checked.  As I mentioned in the first post, "Credit Repair....the first in a series",  getting a tri-merged report with public records checked is very important.  One of the free ones that you get online won't cut it.  It won't cut it because there is too much of a chance that you'll miss something that was on a different bureau or in the public record.  In order... 06/23/2007

I recently wrote a post on credit repair that was over-whelming in the lack of response that I got.  I wrote a follow up post on the fact that I didn't get any comments on the first post and it was pointed out to me by Broker Bryant that it might have been too long, considering the amount of detail that I had to go into.That said, I'm going to break it down into at least three, easy to digest segments:Today's Topic:Hook up with a "for-real" loan officer.  Not someone who wears a head set and plays nerf basketball for some 800 based or internet based mortgage company.  If you are a member of the public reading this and not a real estate professional, get on line and find a real estate agent that does a fair amount of business in your area.  Call them, tell them what you're looking to acc... 06/22/2007