Fall is full of good things...

Fall is full of good things...
Tigers beat the Yanks, Lions winning some games...

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Uno de Juno... Can I make up my own holiday?

Not to minimalize Cinco de Mayo, but I like the sound of my new holiday better. I'm betting about 70% of those that read this aren't reading it today (Uno de Juno), but are more appropriately either recouping from, or extending one of the best Memorial Day weekends I can remember in about 15 years. That's no problem, you can wish me a belated happy holiday when you get back to the grind.

As for Memorial day... it is one of the few days the feds set aside to honor those that have made the supreme sacrifice in defense of this great nation. Not many days pass that I don't consider our armed forces, and their contribution to my freedoms. Keep memorial day alive 365 (another slogan... dang I'm full of 'em today)

As we expected, the April 30 deadline on the first time home buyer credit slowed the traffic a bit. The good news is that estimates show a pretty good clearing out of a lot of old inventory in the local housing market. Offers written by the deadline, have to close by June 30th, so we won't know until then the full impact the credit had on the market.

That said, I am working with several buyers, so traffic for me personally has been steady. I've submitted 3 offers in the last 2 weeks, and have 2 closings coming up in the next 2 weeks. Steady traffic for the first half of the year. Keep the referrals coming. I truly appreciate the trust you place in me with your friends and family...

Speaking of family :0)

We are rapidly approaching the wedding month. Lots of busy work getting ready. We had the Detroit bridal shower/golf outing last week, and the Chicago shower/golf outing this coming week. Too many pics to do justice posting them here... you can go to facebook for the full review if you want. If we're not friends already, send me an invite... I stay realtor neutral there.

Austin is growing like a weed... he is almost sitting up on his own. Kind of funny in a mean way watching him sit there until he face plants on the davenport (facebook friends will get that). Bella turned 4 last month, but I swear i think she's 14. She can touch the bottom of the pool this year... and keep her head out of the water... at the same time.

Kel & I are doing well. We've had the bikes out for a few rides, I've been golfing a bit, and my softball team is off to a great start with a 5-1 record... and only a couple minor injuries (if you don't count a broken arm by one of the players).

Thanks again for a great start to 2010... can't do it without a little help from my friends :0). See you in July.

Dave

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Spring is here...

May has turned into a crazy month these days... May 2, 3 and 4 we have Anthony's Bellas and Dave jr's birthday. May 8th Kelly & I celebrate our 29th wedding anniversary, It's hard to believe I'm that old, but Kelly??? for sure. UPDATE - Kelly just noted it is 28 years not 29. I suppose now I am going to need the extra year to save up for the really nice trip I'm going to have to plan for our 30th to make up for my poor math skills :0)
May 9 is Moms day (in case you haven't bought your cards yet, and May 27th Jessy's birthday (not to mention Memorial day). All this activity is one of the reasons the blog is a couple days delinquent... sorry about that.

I was going to blather on about the history of Cinco de Mayo, but I missed my opportunity by a day. Besides I was informed by a cab driver in Puerto Vallarta a couple years ago that it's really not a national holiday in Mexico. From what I can gather on the internet, it is celebrated in one state in Mexico, and at numerous bars in the U.S. Any reason for happy hour and a buritto I suppose.

Gordy is still living with us. I haven't reached the end of my rope with raising a puppy quite yet. Although, if anyone has any suggestions for curbing his need to dig all the plants in the back yard up, I'd love to hear it.

The countdown to the wedding is well under way. A shower this month, another in chicago next month, then the big day For Anthony & Jessy in July. Jessy is feverishly applying for work in Chicago. She has had a few interviews already, and feels pretty confident with her prospects.

Dave, Lauren, Bella and Austin are great. Bella has really accepted her new brother into the fam with open arms. She's lightened up on G-diddy a bit. I can even walk in and say hi to Austin first without being shunned. Sorry no new pics this month, we had sort of a snafu on the computer... all my files mysteriously disappeared (pics and all). I was able to recoup the important ones, and I had backed up a bunch of stuff last month, but we have about a one month vortex.

Golf league started this week, and Dave jr and I have a softball team that has a record of 2 - 1 already. Just trying to keep up with the young guys, but it's getting harder each year.

As for Real Estate... The first time home buyer credit expired April 30th. There was a huge flurry of activity for about 3 weeks prior to that. Needless to say I am off to a pretty good start for 2010. It doesn't appear that there will be an extension of the credit, so the industry has a wait and see attitude right now about the affect the expiration will have locally.

The good news is, I think we saw a pretty good amount of homes flushed from the system. Now if we can just keep steadily improving, we should be in good shape moving forward. I picked up 3 new listings this week, and still have buyers in the pipeline... all is good with the world.

As always, I truly appreciate the referrals you graciously give me. Hopefully you know by now, your family and friends are my family and friends.

See you in June.

Recommended professional services

  • Golden Eagle Productions - Video projects, weddings and events - Thomas Belian
  • Riff Lab Studios - Voice overs and other recording needs - Dave Kuprianiak
  • Sheilas Cleaning Co. - Sheila Figurski - 586-747-2690
  • Hotfood2you.com - 248-305-5160 - Catering and delivery service
  • Greenline Lawn/Landscaping Service - 248-765-1626
  • RD Weis - Flooring Solutions - Kerry Eldridge - 248-548-8434 - keldridge@rdweis.com
  • Gary Grochowski - Commercial Real Estate Broker - L Mason Capitani - ggrochowski@Lmcap.com - 248.637.9700
  • Pradip Sengupta - IPS Technology Services - IT consulting - 248-835-9895 - pradip_sengupta@ipsts.com - www.ipsts.com
  • Melissa & Paul Patrash - Premier Designs High Fashion Jewelry - 586-306-1468 - melissapatrash@comcast.net
  • Len Brunkey - Investment advisor - lbrunkey@kfsonline.net
  • Michael J. Doran - Financial Services / life insurance - 248-259-8920
  • Ryan L. Malloch, Innovative Investment Services - 248-556-4600 - rmalloch@multifin.com
  • Brad Saarela - Somerset Lending Corp. - Mortgages, pre-approvals, re-fi, construction - 248-608-3991 - brad@somersetlendingcorp.com
  • Randy's Eli of Troy Menswear- 248-689-2010
  • Doug Budden - Woodlake Construction - 248-643-9590
  • Expert Moving & Storage - John - 248-554-0842
  • Nu-Era Maintenance - Carpet cleaning - Bill - 248-393-4460
  • Ever/Ready Carpet Cleaning - Mike Allen - 248-650-2808
  • Jeff Smith Painting - 248-798-7858
  • Fairway Tile & Carpet - Dennis - 248-588-4429
  • Pennington Collision - Ed - 248-689-0345
  • Keller's Automotive - Chuck Keller - 586-731-5378
  • Golf Tec - Golf instruction - Joe Garrisi - 248-588-4653
  • Ye Olde Wine Shoppe - Denny Walsh - 248-852-5533
  • The Point After (embroiderie) - Mike Lacoursiere - 313-885-1274