Kathy Wall

Open House Etiquette
December 7, 2010 · · 4 Comments

For the last 17+ years, I have been selling real estate and, for the first 16 of those years,  have hated doing open houses.   I love meeting new customers, but if it is a slow day it can be incredibly boring.    Nowadays, I enjoy them a lot more,  because I bring my computer and can accomplish quite a bit (well, alright, sometimes I play word games and don’t actually accomplish too much, but I’m a lot happier!)  

While doing my open house yesterday, I had plenty of time to contemplate, since it was pouring down rain and absolutely no one came.   Fortunately, the house I was holding open was warm and cozy, so it was pretty comfortable.    Since I had so much time, I began thinking about the whole open house process.  

I thought it might be helpful for all of the buyers out there if I shared a few thoughts about the etiquette of open houses.   A few helpful hints are:        Read more

Roweena Nastor

Refinance, Loan Modification or Short Sale?
December 17, 2008 · · 6 Comments

Refinance, Loan Modification or Short Sale?

This is the biggest homeowner question when I attended a Foreclosure Help Clinic this last weekend.  There’s no magic answer to this…it’s a case by case basis and really depends who the lender is or are when there’s more than one loan.  Each lender is different.

Refinance – when you owe more than today’s fair market value of your property or if your income status has changed for the worst then refinancing may not be an option for you.

Loan Modification – when you want to keep your property because it makes more sense to stay than rent; when your income status has changed for the worst due to illness, job lost or decrease income, death, divorce… Read more