Merry Christmas!

Max's shirt says "Save a Tree! Step 1: Plant a tree; Step 2: Hug a tree; Step 3: Repeat Step 1 & 2. He is wearing this in front of our artificial Christmas tree. Happy Christmas, everyone! Have you hugged a tree today? :)

No words

There are no words. All I can do is squeeze my baby and kiss him as many times as he will let me. While at work this morning, I learned that one of my child's peers in his child care room had passed away last night. He was only 15 months old.

Hug your babies. Give your loved ones your time. Let your house go. Order take-out. Life is too short to worry about those things that can be taken care of some other day. The ones you love will not be here forever. The time we have with our loved ones is precious and borrowed. Use it wisely and treasure it.

House Hunt

Some tips for people selling their homes:

1. Please do not smoke in your home if you ever intend on selling. It immediately turns off potential buyers.

2. If you have pets, please shampoo your carpets so there is no pet odor....or include a flooring allowance to have the flooring replaced.

3. Leave your house when the agent brings clients over. It is difficult to voice what you do not like about the home when the proud home owner is within ear shot! Sometimes buyers can give you some feedback that will help you sell your house if they are not intimidated about hurting your feelings if you hear what they say while in your home.

4. Take out the GARBAGE! Do not let garbage accumulate in your garage....especially garbage that is garbage. We saw a home with 20+ bags of garbage sitting right in front of the door to the garage. Gross.

5. Do not put your pets in a bedroom and post a sign on the door "Do not enter, Dogs in Room!". Buyers want to view every room in the house!

6. When you add rooms to your home, think about resale. Buyers do not necessarily want a huge Busch Beer wall-sized mirror in their finished basement.

7. Do not leave your pool table....pool tables only appeal to a few people who are looking to buy a new house.

8. Clean your house. Clean your oven. Burn some candles. Plug-in air fresheners would be nice, too!

9. Do not leave murals of Arnold Schwartzenegger up in your basement. It freaks people out.

10. Swimming pools may seem like a good investment, but people with babies/children may want the extra yard space for entertaining and playing catch.

So...anyone have any tips for me to sell my house?

Home for Sale!

We placed our home on the market on Monday, November 30th. Some people may think it is a bit odd to place your home on the market right smack in the middle of the holidays and the beginning of winter, but we have our reasons why we chose this time to do it.

1. Tax credits. The tax credit will be ending in April, 2010 and we would like to have the opportunity to persuade a first time home buyer to purchase our home and receive that tax credit!

2. Less inventory on the market. People tend to take their homes off of the market during the holidays because they don't want to mess with keeping their home "show ready" in the middle of the holiday hub-bub.

3. We figure it may take a while to sell! We've seen homes on our street on the market for 4-6 months already. There is one For Sale By Owner that has been on the market for over a year on our street! I think that person is in desperate need of the HGTV show "Real Estate Intervention"!

4. People looking for homes this time of year will be more serious. Who really looks for a house in the middle of the holiday season with everything else going on? Only people who are REALLY looking and REALLY in need of a move...that's who...and those are the people we want to sell to!

So...if you know of anyone interested in purchasing a 2 bedroom, 1 bath villa near the 370/270/70 interchange in the St. Louis area, send them our way! Let's make a deal!