We had a closing yesterday (yay!) and at the end of the closing, the seller pulls out a large ziploc bag.  She tells the buyers that all of the keys, garage door remotes, and care tags for the landscaping are in the bag for them.  On the outside, she has masking tape with her contact information.  She asks them to hold onto the bag and use it to collect any mail she receives and contact her when it's either full or if something looks important.

Have you ever seen anyone do this?  It was a first, but it was an extremely efficient way of handling several important items.

Tracie Cope
http://www.LCountyHomes.com

We have a haircolor emergency tonight.  16 yr old daughter wanted pink highlights in her hair.  We did this last summer, just a few highlights.  This year, she wanted more than last year, and now she's unhappy - too much pink.

Her hair is normally dark brown, and we lightened it 2-3 weeks ago.  We waited to do the highlights, so we wouldn't overdo anything to her hair.  This pink/fushia stuff is the same stuff we used last year, it starts out fushia, and over the course of 4-6 weeks, it lightens to a pale pink and eventually will look like blonde highlights.

I would definitely rather fix this at home and I'm not sure if just some medium brown haircolor would cover it?  I'm only willing to do it if someone who knows tells me what would fix it.  If there's a doubt about it, I'd rather take her somewhere to get it fixed.  I told her I don't want to attempt to fix it, only to make it worse and damage her hair to the point that it shouldn't be colored again.  BTW, her hair is super thick and very healthy normally, and doesn't appear to be heavily damaged by this coloring.

She's already washed it about 6 times.

Aaaaarrrggghhh! 

Editing to add:  We have blonde highlighting stuff, and dd just asked if we could just do that over some of the pink, she wants some pink - just not all of it.

Any suggestions on an e-mail provider?  Need something obviously reasonably priced and reliable.  I don't mind a spam filter, but I want the option of seeing the "spam" and the ability to flag things that are not actually spam.  I'd like to have unlimited alias e-mail addresses - but if there is a limit, I want more than just a few.  We are thinking that we'll purchase a domain specifically for e-mail.

For those of you using Point2 e-mail, does it do everything you want it to do for you?  Is it reliable for the most part?  I know there was an issue a couple of months ago where it was down, but other than that is it good?  I think I looked into it and it filtered spam for me and I didn't get to see it.  I can't remember the specific issues I had with it.

Internet Crusade/Real Town is $239/year of $19.99/mo.  and it has everything I want and need - so if it comes down to spending that much on it, then that's probably what I'll use.  Just want to check out all of our options before making a commitment.

My sister had an encounter that upset her yesterday.  She and her girlfriend, a gay couple, went to open houses.  One of the agents, after having them sign in and give contact information - proceeded to make suggestive comments.  He told them that his wife was out of town and that he was very interested in some specific activities.

 She wants to file a complaint and I really don't know where to tell her to start.  I guess I'm thinking it should begin with the broker and/or the local board - I think she wants to complain to everyone.

 Is this agent violating ethics?  Is he violating something?  I think it's unethical, but I know "sexual preference" is not a protected class - but this didn't have anything to do with him acting unethical in the course of representing a client.

I think he's sleezy AND unethical and want to see him get reprimanded.  He just better hope he doesn't contact them and give them proof or the "**it will hit the fan".

I was at an open house last night for a home that will be auctioned soon.  The owners have passed away.  I understand that the man passed away last year and the woman just recently passed.  When I had a slow moment, I looked around to see if there was anything I would want to bid on, since the contents are also being auctioned.  I felt a little sad, it's such a neat little house.  In one of the bedrooms, there's a book with a bookmark on chapter 2 - so I thought, "she didn't get to finish her book".

 There's a dog bed with toys in the living room, and a couple of dog behavior books, so I thought, "I wonder who took her dog".

 I couldn't help but think that this house looks like she could still live there, everything is just the way she left it.  There's still food in the cabinets.  Also in the cabinets, her recipe box.  Are you kidding me?  No one wants Grandmas Recipes?  I just have to believe that her sons really did come in and get some of the things that were important to them - something had to be important - right?

 Then, on the side of the refrigerator, I saw this poem.........

There Is No Indispensable Man
by Saxon N. White Kessinger, Copyright 1959

Sometime when you're feeling important;
Sometime when your ego's in bloom
Sometime when you take it for granted
You're the best qualified in the room,

Sometime when you feel that your going
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow these simple instructions
And see how they humble your soul;

Take a bucket and fill it with water,
Put your hand in it up to the wrist,
Pull it out and the hole that's remaining
Is a measure of how you will be missed.

You can splash all you wish when you enter,
You may stir up the water galore,
But stop and you'll find that in no time
It looks quite the same as before.

The moral of this quaint example
Is do just the best that you can,
Be proud of yourself but remember,
There's no indispensable man.

The poem was typewritten, the paper was yellowed like it had lived there forever.  I told myself, if that's how she believed and raised her sons, no wonder they can't get rid of her stuff fast enough.  Still sad though.

We've been considering subscribing to an 800 service to record details about our listings.

Have you ever used such a service?  Which company/companies would you suggest and which would you avoid?  Did your system generate many calls and did you get a lot of leads?

We do a lot of auctions, which generates a lot of inquiries and I think a system like this would free us up a bit.  If the only phone number published in the ads are this number for a recording, and then a direct phone number is given in the recording - then we would spend a lot less time repeating ourselves.

Tracie Cope

http://www.LCountyHomes.com