Selling Your Home in Tulsa, Oklahoma: Digesting, Accepting & Benefitting from feedback – You’ve chosen your Listing Realtor, agreed on a list price and have prepared your home for sale. Now, prepare yourself for feedback. Realtors tend to be brutally honest with one another about their perception of your home and their Buyer’s feedback. Sometimes this feedback may be difficult to hear, but it is imperative that you listen with an open mind and react where appropriate. Hopefully when we prepared your home for sale, we removed as many foreseeable Buyer objections at that time. Your home should be de-cluttered, painted in neutral colors and is shiny clean. So what feedback might you expect? Did we leave a few things to chance? If two Realtors say they or their Buyers think the bathrooms lo... 08/19/2009

Welcome to Claremore, Oklahoma! Oklahoma is a great place to live!  Our housing values are strong.  Our people are friendly.  And you can get your tractor and your car tires and brakes serviced all at the same place!  For information about market conditions and buying and/or selling homes successfully, be sure to contact Bob Haywood, "Your Real Estate Results Expert!"  Specific areas of interest include:  Owasso, Collinsville, Claremore (where this picture was taken), Skiatook, Oologah, greater Tulsa, Sperry, Broken Arrow, Bixby, Jenks, Talala, Justis Tiawah, Sand Springs and other communities as well. Photo was taken by Bob Haywood and is copyright of Bob Haywood.  Permission must be obtained before using photo. Bob Haywood918-272-7272www.BobHaywood.com         08/19/2009

Warning!  There are scammers using real, but vacant houses for sale on Craigslist in Tulsa, Oklahoma and they're out to take your hard earned rent money! Apparently there is a real estate scam on Craigslist in the greater Tulsa, Oklahoma area whereby people are using real listings in order to cash in from unsuspecting people. As I understand it, what they do is gather the information from the Craigslist listing along with a few of the pictures.  They use only vacant listings to make the scam work.  They then make a fake ad saying that the house is for rent.  This ad might be placed on Craigslist, but here in our area typically shows up in the newspaper. Once someone responds to the fake ad, the scammer will tell the person to go by the property and to look in the windows because he or s... 08/17/2009

Getting your home ready for market – “Move-in Ready” is Key - Unless absolutely impossible, it is my preference to prepare my listings to be “move-in ready” BEFORE they go on the market. Because our inventory of homes is high and Buyers have much from which to choose, YOUR home needs to have the WOW factor. When the Buyer walks through your door, they need to say, “I can LIVE here. In fact, I could move in TODAY!” If they walk into a home with stained carpet, dirty walls and obnoxious paint colors, they’re going to turn around and walk out. It won’t matter if your home’s electric & plumbing is updated or that you have good insulation and low utility bills. Buying is an emotional decision, and if the Buyers can’t envision themselves living in your home, you will lose their interest. The ... 08/17/2009

Earnest Money – How Much and When Is it Cashed? -  If you’re a first-time home buyer and have a lot of questions, please do not feel embarrassed! If we bought homes OFTEN, we wouldn’t have 1st-time buyers! Probably the question I am most often asked is “How much earnest money is needed, and when is my check cashed?” I recommend that Buyers write an earnest money check in the amount equal to 1% of the sales price. So, on a $100,000 house, that would be $1,000 earnest money. The purpose of earnest money is to show the Seller that you earnestly intend to purchase his property. You are asking the Seller to take his home off the market while you conduct inspections and make provisions for your down payment, etc. and in return, the Seller would like assurances that you are earnest in your des... 08/16/2009

Selling Your Home in Tulsa, Oklahoma – Can you and your Realtor agree on Price? - Once you’ve selected the Realtor you believe can best market your property, you need to agree on the price at which to list your property. We have many “values” floating around. We have your taxed assessed value which is public record, and you may have a bank-appraised value. Then there’s the neighbor down the street who sold his home for $xxx, and you know your home is nicer than his. Then your son jumped on the internet and determined your home value on Zillow. We have a tendency to take the price we paid for our home, then add the cost of each improvement made – although some of those “improvements” would fall into the category of “maintenance.” Of course, we want to factor in an amount for sweat equity... 08/15/2009

Welcome to my new series called, "Selling Your Home Successfully in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area" This post is subtitled, "Get the Most Bang for Your Buck When Selling by Getting an Accurate Square Foot Measurement!" Now that's a mouth full isn't it?  If you're wondering what I"m talking about, stay with me.  It might just help you to sell your home successfully. Everybody knows that the size of a house is important when you're buying or selling your home.  That's why we list the square footage size in the Multi List System.  But sometimes the actual square footage of your home might not be accurate.  This happens when rooms are added, such as attic or garage conversions.  Anytime living space is added to an existing home, the county tax assessor is supposed to be notified.  But, of course,... 08/14/2009

Getting Your Home Ready to Sell in Tulsa - Select a Listing Realtor right for the job – Questions you should ask Not all Realtors are the same. It doesn’t seem to matter if my Buyers are looking at $80,000 houses or $300,000 houses – we will run across listings with no photos, no virtual tours and little information on MLS. And, Buyers will totally rule out looking at homes that they can’t preview from their home computer. So, before you sign up with a Realtor to SELL your home, be sure to ask where and how your home will be marketed. Individual Realtors offer different services, and we pay to advertise your home out of our own pocket. We don’t regain that investment until your home sells. In order to select a Listing Realtor who will properly market your home, ask lots of questions! Qu... 08/13/2009

Tulsa's TW's-AFAB Catering – Anything for a Buck - I’m helping my friend Kalyn plan her September 5th wedding, and we are interviewing local caterers for a brunch to have in her home the day after the wedding. The bride is expecting many out-of-state guests, so we will have a lovely brunch the day after the wedding for at least 150 people in her home before escorting everyone to the airport. In April, my husband and I attended a baptism at our church, Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox church, and afterwards attended a luncheon in our friend Barbra’s home. This was catered by TW’s-AFAB Catering, and all the food was delish. In fact, they made one pasta salad that my husband asked me to taste and duplicate – I have revised their original recipe and think my version is now better than theirs. Lo... 08/11/2009

WaterStone Cleaners - high quality dry cleaning and laundry valet services in Tulsa -  I found out about WaterStone Cleaners  through my dentist, Gary Kuenning – his daughter and son-in-law started this business and he had flyers displayed at his office. Of course, my preference is to give business to locally-owned companies, so I decided to investigate. Okay, so they pick up and deliver – that is a definite PLUS for me! I investigate further and discover that they use an environmentally-friendly cleaning process – they do not use perchloroethylene. Their cleaning solutions are odorless and do not harm our health or the environment. Now, I’m REALLY getting interested, because I care about our earth’s water, air and soil – and WaterStone does too! So, I called to sign up for their servic... 08/10/2009

Twitter and Text-Messaging: Abbreviations you should know! -  I thought I was becoming a pretty fast 2-thumb texter and was familiar with many of the abbreviations used on Twitter and text-messaging. I know IMO (“In my opinion”), ROFL (“Rolling on the floor laughing”) and BFF (“Best friends forever”), LOL (“Laugh out loud”) and OMG (“Oh my God”) among others. Yesterday my Mom sent an e-mail with something WAY too personal and I responded, TMI! Mom e-mailed back to inquire about the meaning of TMI (Too Much Information)! My husband is working on a project setting up a new hire's PR for Twitter, Facebook, etc., and he sent me a press release to proof. He had, "Visit Kim on Twitter!" I immediately phoned my husband to correct him that it should read "Follow Kim @ Twitter!" My husband, BTW,... 08/07/2009

Tulsa’s Garden Deva reminds us, “Home is where the Heart is” -  I don’t know if every town has a “Garden Deva,” but we have one in Tulsa. And we’re darn proud of her. Tulsa's Garden Deva is local artist, Lisa Regan. Lisa began cutting metal twenty years ago and after becoming somewhat successful touring art shows, she finally quit her “real job” and plunged into her art business full-time. She now owns a large studio east of downtown, which doubles as a venue for other local artists to show their wares from time to time. We have Devas all around Tulsa, as our community has embraced her spunky, cheerful, whimsical creatures, almost as a symbol of who we are in Tulsa. Her work can be seen all over Tulsa; in schools, libraries, parks, shopping centers, schools, restaurants, youth centers, ... 08/07/2009

CAUTION! Common Hand Sanitizer Can be Dangerous for the Kids! as reported in the greater Tulsa Oklahoma area! Yesterday I got an email about a 4 year old child in Oklahoma who had to be rushed to the Emergency room after licking or eating hand sanitizer.  It seems that the teacher had given the children some of the hand sanitizer to clean their hands before lunch. The email goes on to say that the child was displaying very strange behavior in the emergency room and that when it was discovered that she had ingested the hand sanitizer, the doctors tested her blood and found that her blood alcohol level was 85 percent.  Well, that obviously can't be true because nobody can survive if their blood alcohol reaches 85% saturation.  There was a link in the email to www.truthorfiction.com where ... 08/07/2009

Locally-Owned Business: Steve's Sundries, Tulsa Oklahoma - The Charms of the Neighborhood Shop Steve's Books and Magazines - also known as Steve's Sundries is still within our midtown boundaries – in the shopping center at 26th & Harvard where the Broken Arrow Expressway crosses Harvard. And it’s next door to Southern Agriculture – also locally owned. The many Tulsans committed to supporting local businesses have fond memories of Steve’s Sundries. My friend Marina Metevelis remembers “I am very familiar with Steve's Sundry store because when I lived by TU (Tulsa University), I would walk over with my neighbors and spend afternoons visiting with Steve and drinking a soda or lemonade, looking at the latest books and magazines. He always had something new in his store. He was located on th... 08/05/2009

Antair Blackberry Spam Filter makes it so you'll never see Spam on Your Blackberry Again! This is written in response to a comment by Chris Olsen Broker/Owner - Olsen Ziegler Realty (Olsen Ziegler Realty) on a blog written by C Tann-Star concerning Spam within the ActiveRain Realtor community website. To read her post, click here. I felt for Chris because apparently, he's about to throw his blackberry against the wall due to the amount of Spam coming in each day.  I too had this problem.  I too was furious and frustrated and ready to flush my Blackberry, but then I discovered the Antair Blackberry Spam Filter. The Antair Blackberry Spam Filter works...and works well, because it does not depend on Outlook redirection or filtering settings.  Instead, it stops spam where it counts -- direc... 08/05/2009

Home Staging to Sell your Home in Tulsa Oklahoma -  Following is an article home-stager Susan Atwell shared with me. As a listing Realtor who likes to get in/out, and get the job done, I can't emphasize enough the importance of home-staging. After signing listing paperwork the other day, my Seller told me he hoped for a quick sale because his wife would force him to make his bed every day their home was on the market. Although he was half-way joking with me, the truth is that it IS inconvenient to have your home for sale, and this home-stager explains why. I'm sure many of you who currently have your home on the market can relate to this, so ask yourself these questions to see if you're truly ready to sell. And another home-stager, Amy Boxer, Owner & Co-Founder of Welcome Home Furniture... 08/04/2009

Memories of My Childhood Home in Memorial Estates in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Our house wasn't much different than any of the other houses in the Memorial Estates neighborhood when I was a boy, but to me, growing up in the 70's; it was the center of a fantastic universe!  And it was a safe place where things were in order...at least most of the time!  Located at 8217 East 38th Street, Tulsa, Oklahoma, the house was a typical three bedroom, two bathroom two car garage single floor house.  It had a living room, den, breakfast bar, dining area and the most awesome yard a pre pubescent boy could ever want.  There were so many good days in that place that I hardly know where to begin describing them.  GI Joe and I fought many a hard won battle in our backyard fortress.  We would dress for battle, g... 08/04/2009

Remodel Designers, Distinctive Designs -- Architectural Wonders right here on SOuth BOston! Let me introduce you to the dream team that designed Demetrius’ and my kitchen remodel! Note, Distinctive Designs is on SO-BO (SOuth BOston, and our home is on SO-CHEY (SOuth CHEYenne), so we're neighbors! Remodel Designers -- Distinctive Designs was formed in 1997 by owner, Melisa (Mel) McCelvey. The company was inspired from a love of residential architecture and design. Distinctive Designs, a member of National Association of Home Builders  and the Home Builders Association of Greater Tulsa, Is a full-service, residential design firm specializing in the design of production homes, custom homes, remodeling and room additions. There is a long list of popular and well-known builders in the Tulsa ... 08/03/2009

Home Sale Pricing Strategy – What’s your strategy? My formula for selling a home never changes, regardless of price range: (1) get home in move-in condition and remove any anticipated Buyer’s objections before putting it on the market; (2) price it correctly, and (3) market it aggressively. Whether it’s an $80,000 or $400,000 home – that’s my selling strategy. I’m listing a house for sale today at $300,000. That’s exactly what I think it’s worth based on comparables and condition of the home. If I had determined the value to be $298,000 or $302,000, I would still price it at $300,000, because that is what I consider a searchable “price point” and if I’m that close to it, that’s where I’m going to price it. People tend to search from $275,000 to $300,000 or $300,000 to $325,000 for examp... 08/02/2009

Anner’s Wellness Works – Organic Groceries in Tulsa, Oklahoma -  My friend Anner owns an organic food coop at 19th & Boston – Tulsa’s First Organic Food Coop – just a few blocks from our house. I think everybody in Tulsa knows Anner! She’s owned restaurants and groceries over the years and is known for her commitment to organically-grown foods, nutrition and her amazingly cheerful nature. Clients pay a nominal annual fee to be members of the coop and can purchase weekly “share” bags filled with fruits, veggies, spices, cheeses and meats. Anner e-mails notices out as to what will be in next week’s share bags and we place our orders – pick-up is on Thursdays. In business with her husband, Ed, and partner, Jill, Anner provides recipes to go along with whatever may be included in the weekly... 07/30/2009