Some good news! Finally!

While the following article isn’t real estate related, I thought it could add some needed positiveness to a somewhat dour last few months. If you let the bad news get to you regarding things like housing, the economy, the environment etc. it is easy to lose perspective on the good things that are happening out there. This is a Forbes article that relates a recent break through in converting solar energy into hydrogen and oxygen. If the discovery pans out and has legs outside the laboratory, it would mean limitless low cost energy for everyone. Take that greenhouse gases!

Here is the link:
http://www.forbes.com/2008/07/30/nocera-solar-power-biz-energy-cz_jf_0731solar.html?feed=rss_news

Blogging from my iphone

I am testing out the new wordpress blogging app that I just installed on my iPhone. This is really amazing. The ability to update oceantopeaks from pretty much anywhere is very cool. Not sure how I will be putting this to use, but I am sure that I will find a way. My only concern: no spellcheck

How to Sell a House, When You Have to Sell It Now

This is a really great article published in a recent WSJ: How to Sell a House, When You Have to Sell It Now
Seven tips for homeowners who can’t wait until the market turns around

By DAVID CROOK
July 14, 2008; Page R1

http://www.wsj.com/article/SB121553612650836199.html?mod=fpa_mostpop

If you really want to sell your home, you need to think and act like a salesperson. Most important, you must separate your emotional attachment to your family home from your financial interest in your family’s largest asset. Selling a house is business, and you must approach the sale in a businesslike manner.

Here are seven points to keep in mind:

1. DON’T WAIT AROUND.

Even in the better housing areas, it’s taking a long time to sell houses; and in the hardest-hit metro areas, inventories of unsold homes are stretching well past 180 days.

So, don’t try to sit out the market. That’s what hundreds of other timid sellers are doing, each of them hoping — somehow, some way — that hanging on the sidelines will improve prices and, ultimately improve his or her chances for selling success. It won’t. Not if you expect to sell anytime soon. If you want your place sold, the best way to make sure that happens is to put it up for sale.

Obviously, you should take advantage of your local market cycles — early spring is usually better for selling in much of the country — but otherwise don’t try timing the market. You won’t have any better luck than a stock trader who’s always holding out for the market highs or lows.

2. FIX IT UP AND CLEAN IT UP.

Buyers are taking your house out on a date. It has to make a good impression.

Don’t spend a lot of money — absolutely no big-ticket renovations — but do see that everything is in good repair. And give the place a new paint job and a general sprucing up. (Caution: This won’t necessarily give you any pricing advantage over less fixed-up places, but it will attract buyers and keep them interested.)

As you get closer to the date that the house actually goes up for sale, start moving out by decluttering the place. No buyer wants to see a house filled to the rafters with other people’s things. They want to imagine their stuff filling the place. “Stage” the place with only enough furniture to make it look livable; put the rest in storage. [Read more]

Green Building in Montecito

Forbes has an interesting article on a Montecito couple and their green building site. The headline of the article . “When Green Building Does Harm” is a bit misleading as the article doesn’t really talk about green building being harmful. Instead it talks about how to differentiate between truly green materials and those that are wannabes. The primary resource cited is Greenopia, a site run by Montecito residents Gay and Tony Browne. To read the Forbes article, click here.