5 Things to Do Before You List your Home!!

There is some time to do a few things this winter to prepare yourself and your home to put it on the market.  Here are 5 really critical — and I might add — relatively inexpensive things to do to get ready:

1)  Get rid of your junk!! You don’t need it anymore.  You know that, give it away to someone else who thinks they need it.  Do it before the end of the year and you can get a credit for your tax deductible donation — hit the Hospice Thrift Store or the Salvation Army.

2)  Declutter your house. Invite a friend or better yet your real estate agent, over to give you their honest opinion of what needs to be out of your living room, bedroom or kitchen.  Sometimes it is difficult for us to see our own homes objectively.  Don’t get your feelings hurt.  Your friend or agent is just trying to help.  See above for suggestions on how to get rid of this stuff — if your child doesn’t want it.

3)  Paint, paint and paint — again.  Don’t do anything wild — no dark colored accent walls — just white or something like that.  You have enough time to take care of this between now and March — a room at a time.

4)  Spruce up your bathrooms.  This can be done with a minimal amount of $$$.  Some new sink fixtures or just some new towels and accessories.

5)  Clean out your kitchen cabinets and closets.  This is related to numbers 1 and 2 above.  You’ll feel better, especially when potential buyers open them and brooms and glasses don’t fall out.

The word for the year 2011 is SIMPLIFY!!! especially if you are thinking of selling.

A Vist to NYC & Ground Zero

I just returned from a vacation which put me in a hotel on a corner that fronted on the site of Ground Zero in New York City.  I was visiting my college friends and we had a wonderful time but this photo did add a bit of remembrance and sobriety to the occasion.  The picture was taken from my hotel room window.   They are rebuilding the site and the two squares you see in this photo are the actual footprint of the twin towers — look really small don’t they?  From what I understand the plan is to NOT replace these two structures with buildings but rather they are installing two reflecting pools.  Looks like they are just about finished.

The other photo here is that of Bryan a part owner of O’Hara’s Tavern which was also across the street from Ground Zero.  He is holding a photograph of what the bar looked like the day after 9/11.  He told us that the people who were there will never forget — hopefully none of us will either.

Bye Bye Vail’s Pharmacy

I drove by the Tahoe Forest Hospital inTruckee today and had to do a double take.  The building that has served as the hospital’s business office for the past 5-6 years was suddenly just a pile of rubble.  It is being taken down in order to make way for the new Cancer Center to be erected.   This discovery was particularly nostalgic for me since I have lived in Truckee for 30 years, and have seen the building morph through several different phases.

When I first got here, this was the location of the only pharmacy in town (well it wasn’t really a town then but nevertheless):  Vail’s Pharmacy.  The town did have a Safeway but that was in the day when Safeway was just a grocery story.  Well with the introduction of Longs over in the old Lucky center on Deerfield Drive, this little family owned pharmacy could not survive.  They saw the writing on the wall and when offered the opportunity, they sold their property to the Hospital.

People bemoan the changing landscape in small town America.  Well here in Truckee, as much as we try to prevent it, progress continues to march — forward (or backward?).  So long Vail’s. . . .

Beginning of the End

This is a photo of the first color change I have seen in Truckee. 39 degrees at 8:30 am. Days are getting shorter. The fall crowd of visitors are here. I love autumn in the Sierras!

FW: Harrah’s Desert

My girlfriend and I shared a wonderful dinner at Harrah’s in Reno last night. We did the show Nathan Owens Motown After Dark too. Dinner at the Steakhouse and the show was fantastic. A lot of
energy, talent and work went into both. Worth every penny!

« Previous Page — Next Page »