Archive for May, 2008
RE/MAX Ultimate Open House This Saturday!
May 16th, 2008 Categories: Real Estate News
FINALLY the gray shroud of cold and drizzle has momentarily lifted from our sunshine challenged town. We are on our second day in a row of mood enhancing, vitamin D producing, sunny blue skies! Dare we hope for a three-peat? Despite the lure of the beach on a sunny day, my fellow RE/MAX agents and I will be working this Saturday at our Ultimate Open House. We are holding 22 of our listings open on Saturday from Seaside clear to Knappa! Homes will be open from 10am – noon and 1pm – 3pm. Look for our ad in tonight’s Daily Astorian that has a full schedule of times and addresses for the event. We look forward to seeing you there!
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How did a Queen Anne Victorian in Astoria end up with English Bullion Glass?
May 14th, 2008 Categories: Fun Stuff, Real Estate News
I learned something new this month about the history of glass. It’s always a history lesson when entering the stately homes that are the heart and soul of Astoria. Keep in mind that Astoria is full of historic homes and each house has a story. It’s always a delight to be called upon to assist someone with a historic home sale. It’s the best part of being a Realtor in our fair city!
It’s a rare thing to find a house that has it’s woodwork, flooring and windows intact! We don’t get to see that often. Nor do we get the privilege of being in many restored vintage homes. Unfortunately, the term ’remuddled’ more often fits the bill than remodelled. Read the rest of this entry »
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Video Tour: 36142 River Point Drive
May 13th, 2008 Categories: Real Estate News, Video
With sites like YouTube getting huge amounts of traffic, creating over-night celebrities and brand awareness, you had to imagine real estate wouldn’t be far behind in bringing video’s to the web. Several sites are promoting online video tours of homes for sale, adding another tool to our collective agent “tool belt”. Here’s my first attempt at video, a video tour of my listing at the River Point neighborhood just outside of Astoria.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7625956282165292769
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Reality Check Courtesy of Citibank
May 11th, 2008 Categories: Life in General
Wednesday, as I sat sipping my coffee, fantisizing about watching Matt Lauer and enjoying the brief peaceful moments I have in the day after getting my daughters on the school bus and before I leave for work I got a call on my home phone. I screened it and ignored it as I always do since anyone who really needs to get a hold of me calls my cell phone, but the message on the answering machine perked my interest. “This is the Citibank Fraud department and we need to speak with you immediately involving some suspicious activity on your Mastercard account” My first reaction was ” Why don’t they understand that I live in a tiny town on the Oregon Coast without a Target or Nordstroms, of course I do a lot of online shopping, and sometimes it adds up….”, but I decided to call them back and check it out anyway. Imagine my suprise when the friendly and english speaking customer service specialist on the other end asked me if I had been overseas?,” Um NO” , “So you didn’t purchase a $1200. Air France airline ticket”, “NO, I wish, but NO”, “How about a overseas shoe store purchase” “NO”, and again an overseas cosmetic store…well could have been me but “NO”.
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Columnist blasts financial media about housing
May 7th, 2008 Categories: Real Estate News
A recent column in the Realty Times claims consumers aren’t getting the whole story about the state of our housing market and the economy. This doesn’t come as a surprise to me. The part that really drives home her point focuses on the Case-Shiller Index, often thought to be an accurate indicator of the housing market nationwide. It seems that the AP didn’t do their fact checking before writing their headlines: “The glaring discrepancy in this case is that 17 of the 20 metro areas posted record annual declines, and yet 78 percent of the 330 metropolitan regions that the NAR tracks reported price increases … .”
It’s apparent to anyone with a TV or internet connection that the market has slowed, but I can’t help but think the media has exaggerated just a bit.
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Kudos to the new Urgent Care facility at the Health & Wellness Pavillion
May 6th, 2008 Categories: Life in General, Real Estate News
We’ve all been watching the contruction of the new Health & Wellness Pavillion for months now. Many have been anxiously awaiting an alternative to the Emergency Room. Well, now we have it. Yesterday was opening day for the Urgent Care Clinic located at the western entrance of the Pavillion and as luck would have it, I found myself in need of medical care!
While going to the doctor could never be considered pleasant, I did find my visit to the Urgent Care clinic to be just that. Despite being their first day open and a waiting area full, Read the rest of this entry »
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Living on the edge or living off the grid during Astoria’s first hurricane?
May 5th, 2008 Categories: Columbia River, Life in General, Weather
A random series of events has awakend my inner green self. All disconnected events really. But the sum of all has changed how I think of my daily routine . When I first heard the phrase living off the grid I thought it was some new hip expression that my teenager had for a dangerous/crazy lifestyle. It was around that time that I saw the documentary Kilowatt Ours ( the documentary channel is my current PVR addiction) all about energy consumption. Enter the Advent Storm (really a hurricane but don’t tell the rest of the world that). Read the rest of this entry »
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Opening day of Sunday Market bigger than Opening Day of Hunting Season in Astoria?
May 3rd, 2008 Categories: Fun Stuff, Local Events, Where To eat
Mothers day in Astoria means the opening of Sunday Market! It also means brunch at the Silver Salmon for our family. After stuffing ourselves to the point that we need a nap we somehow find the energy to roll ourselves out the door and down the street. Usually live music greets us as we get within earshot of the hustle and bustle that IS Sunday Market. It’s a day to see old friends who have moved away but return yearly to see good ol’ mom on her special day. By the time we are done greeting all of our friends, family and assorted four-legged market attendees we’ll be packing some good stuff home. A bag of kettle corn for Jamey, fresh flowers for the kitchen table, homemade dog treats for Scout and a soft toy for G. I keep debating on which Bill Dodge print I am going to get for my office. I’m excited and hope we get some warmer weather next weekend to truly make the day memorable!
Astoria Sunday Market
Sunday 10 am to 3 pm
May 11- October 8th.
Rain or Shine.
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LaDeDa, LaDeDog!
May 1st, 2008 Categories: Fun Stuff, Local Events
LaDeDog is a new destination dog boutique at 120 Tenth Street in downtown Astoria. I had heard about it and read an article about it but had never took the time to visit it, until yesterday! What a nice surprise. The boutique truly lives up to it’s name and is a ’boutique’ in every sense of the word.
Wicki loves “Earl the Chicken”!
You will find gourmet treats, the latest couture and ‘bling’ as well as the more practical outdoor apparel & accessories. You are encouraged to bring your well behaved ‘best friend’ to sample treats from the bakery bar & to try on the latest fashions or peruse the large supply of squeaky toys! You can also shop online at www.ladedog.net
LaDeDog is sponsoring a “yappy hour” on Saturday May 10th between 5-6pm where special doggie treat samples will be available as well as human refreshments. They will be featuring the “Fence Puppies” and quilted dog portraits created by Ronni Harris. If you are interested in purchasing a custom canvas portrait, bring your dog in for a complimentary photo.
In my opinion, this boutique is truly worth visiting.
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Jennie
