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| March Happenings: |
We have to say - we're excited about the return of our normal mild, sunny winter weather  after last month's cold and damp weather. So visit Arizona and enjoy Spring Training and other outdoor activities. We're back to 70+ degrees.
- March 2-10 at WestWorld in Scottsdale – the Arizona Sun Circuit Quarter Horse
 Show
(We couldn't resist this Daylight Savings time change at Stonehenge in England)
- MARCH 10TH - DAYLIGHT SAVINGS - MOVE YOUR CLOCKS FORWARD (except for AZ and Hawaii; we don't change our clocks)
- March 19-24 Wildfire Golf Club at JW Marriott Desert Ridge LPGA Bank of Hope
 Founders Cup
- SEE BELOW FOR THE 2019 CACTUS LEAGUE SPRING TRAININGINFO.
- March – a good time to annually change your Passwords and check the batteries in your smoke detectors. And your Carbon Monoxide detectors – which you should have if there is gas on the property.
- Do you live near Desert Ridge? It hasn’t been well publicized but Mellow Mushroom (yes, the pizza place) offers a delicious breakfast. It opens at 7:00 a.m. daily and is located at 5350 E. High Street (near 56th Street/Deer Valley in Phoenix). Note: we’re not aware of any other Mellow Mushroom sites that open early for breakfast – so check your local restaurant before assuming it is open)
- Don't get stuck during the road widening of Loop 101 from the I-17 east to Pima. We did! We were going to Surprise on Saturday morning and didn't realize (we didn't check) that construction was underway already. It took us 45 minutes to go a few miles (and no place to exit). From now on - we'll dial 511 for ADOT updates or go to: www.511.com to see what roads are closed and/or detours are in place. Road widening on Loop 101 will be going on for a couple of years.
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| Home Seller's Guide: Top Do's & Don'ts for a Quick Sale |
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You want to sell your home quickly and for the best possible price, right? What's the secret to achieving this goal? There are several. Use these do's and don'ts to guide your home sale process. AND OF COURSE, CALL US TO HELP: 602-680-2791
What to Do
Leave During a Showing: When potential buyers view your home, they want to see your property, not you. Always leave the premises. The buyers will feel more comfortable and are likely to spend more time looking at your home and fully considering it if you are not there.
Put out the welcome mat: Go the extra mile to make your home show well. Declutter. Clean. Turn on all lights and open all window treatments before showings to create a bright, airy atmosphere. A little soothing background music is a nice touch.
What Not to Do:
Keep Your Personal Touches on Display: A home filled with personalized décor can turn buyers off. Neutralize your home to make it appealing to the maximum number of buyers. This might mean removing family photos or repainting your bright orange bathroom.
Crowd the skeletons: When you declutter your home, don't simply throw everything in the closets. Your storage spaces need to look large, useful, and inviting. Toss, donate or take to storage.
Overinflate Price: While you want to get the biggest bang for your buck, overpricing your home only delays your sale. Listen to your Realtor who will tell you the right price for your home based on features, location, and current market trends. The normal tendency is to think you can get more but be realistic on your value (location, condition, updating, maintenance) as compared to other homes in the area. |
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| Where Will Technology Take Us Next? |
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Products like smartphones and voice-command speakers used to be the stuff of Jetsons-esque fantasies. Then they became reality and altered our world dramatically. So, what's next? Here's a roundup of the emerging technologies with the greatest potential to change our lives.
Drones: These aren't just for taking Instagram-worthy aerial shots. Drones offer plenty of yet-to-be-fully realized potential. They're being explored as tools for farm crop assessment, law enforcement, and disaster relief.
Blockchain: This technology is much more than cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. By facilitating the distribution of digital information without copying, blockchain can power all kinds of activities, from providing financial solutions to unbanked people to auditing supply chains around the world.
Artificial intelligence: Computers with human smarts get a lot of flak for the scary side of their potential. But there's plenty of good stuff too, like an A.I.-powered system that analyzes a baby's cry to instantly diagnose birth asphyxia, a top cause of infant mortality.
Driverless vehicles: Autonomous vehicles are already here. When they become widely available, they could help those who are underserved by public transportation, reduce the space needed for parking, and improve road safety. |
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| Gary Sinise - Fighting for our Vets and a GoFundMe for a Viet Nam Vet |
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We were just reading an article about Gary Sinise, Musician, Director, Movie and TV Actor, but his true identity lies in his work for Veterans. He’s raised over $30,000,000 per year to benefit Veterans – many disabled. It started with his role as Lt. Dan, an angry paraplegic Vet in the iconic movie, " Forrest Gump." That role changed his life by inspiring him to help Vets – especially from the Viet Nam era. Today he continues raising money and visiting Vets in hospitals all over the country. We saw him a couple of years ago in Hawaii where he was a big part of the Pearl Harbor 75th Anniversary events – he was the Grand Marshall at the Pearl Harbor 7 5th Anniversary Parade on December 7th in Honolulu. Gary Sinise founded the Gary Sinise Foundation in 2011 to honor military personnel, veterans, and first responders. His philosophy is "Service is a great healer." To learn more about his selfless activities, you can click on this link: https://www.garysinisefoundation.org/. Gary also loves music so he started a band, Lt. Dan Band, named after his character in the "Forrest Gump" movie. They’ve entertained thousands of military men and women. Hat’s off to Gary Sinise for his outstanding efforts on behalf of those who have dedicated their lives to allow our citizens to have our freedom. You can read more in his new book called "Grateful American."
And a story of a Viet Nam Veteran...TV Reeves
We all hear stories about Vets after their years in the service who end up facing multiple health issues. Ironically, after reading about Gary Sinise’s work for Viet Nam Vets, we found out about a GoFundMe Page for a Viet Nam Vet we’ve known for years. His name is TV Reeves (US Navy ret). We’ve had many lunches together where he keeps us laughing – a great attitude no matter the pain. We met him a number of years ago when he did construction work on rental properties we were handling. He served in the Navy during the Viet Nam War era on a ship in the China Sea as an AIC (Air Intercept Controller – meaning air traffic control in combat situations) guiding planes on and off his ship during the Fall of Saigon.
After his service, he could have become an Air Traffic Controller domestically, but the memories of Viet Nam made him follow other dreams. He spent years in LA as an actor, his major dream; doing movies and television while also working with his hands doing remodeling/construction. Life was perfect. But when family health issues occurred, he gave it all up to move to Phoenix to care for his ailing mother. He’s continued doing remodeling here, along with acting whenever he can. In fact, we have season tickets at the Arizona Broadway Theater so we’ve seen him as Flo Ziegfeld in "Ziegfeld Follies", as the General in "White Christmas" and the Captain in "South Pacific." He’s also taught acting classes for the City of Glendale.
Sadly, due to a series of severe health issues, TV has been unable to work full-time for about a year which has depleted his savings. For months he’s been in constant pain from several surgeries – and now he’s facing hip replacement at the VA Hospital in April, so he won’t be back in action probably until June. As we all can imagine, any self-sufficient person would be mortified to be unable to provide enough to pay his bills – it would be terrifying and embarrassing. His son (also former Navy) came to Arizona from Mississippi to help his Dad during one of the recent surgeries and became aware of the financial situation so he created this GOFUNDME account to give his Dad short-term help until he’s back on his feet.
Here is the link: to a YouTube from 1975 regarding the Fall of Saigon (filmed by an onboard sailor on TV’s ship). (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocpvF_3M2AQ) which is a very old clip which is hard to see and interpret..
Here’s the GOFUNDME page if you know anyone who’d like to help a Vet. We’d never ever contemplate sharing a GOFUNDME if we hadn’t known TV Reeves for years and years...we know this is real. https://www.gofundme.com/f/this-vet-helped-save-7000-can-you-help-him-now . YOU CAN FORWARD THIS NEWSLETTER BY GOING TO THE UPPER LEFT UNDER SHARE THIS NEWSLETTER, TO ANYONE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN THIS STORY.
THE GOFUNDME page tells in glorious detail what was going on that final day of the Fall of Saigon (which helps make sense of the video clip) When we watched the clip, it looked like people were jumping out of the helicopters onto the ship; then the sailors were pushing them into the China Sea – since this ship wasn’t a Carrier, they had to get rid of the helicopters to make room for more survivors coming in every few minutes – escaping the horrors of war. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me [seeing helicopters being pushed overboard] until reading the whole story. The GOFUNDME donation information is at the very bottom of the story.We thought if we shared this story, perhaps military folks, as well as others might be inclined to send a few dollars. We're not asking anyone to do this; we're just trying to help a friend/Veteran in need by sharing his story. The rest is up to the reader.. |
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| Simple Formula for Living (Author unknown) |
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- Live beneath your means.
- Return everything you borrow – or don’t borrow.
- Respond promptly to invitations
- Respect your elders
- Stop blaming other people.
- Admit it when you make a mistake.
- Give what you can to charity.
- Do something nice and try not to get caught.
- Listen more; talk less.
- Take a 30-minute walk every day.
- Strive for excellence, not perfection.
- Be on time. Don’t make excuses.
- Don’t argue – it’s better to be happy than right.
- Be kind to unkind people.
- Take time to be alone.
- Cultivate good manners.
- Be humble.
- Forgive
- Understand and accept that life isn’t fair.
- Know when to keep quiet and not utter your thoughts.
- Don’t discuss politics or religion – you’re not going to change anyone’s mind. Those subjects are your personal beliefs; let others have theirs.
- Go an entire day without criticizing anyone.
- Learn from the past. Plan for the future.
- Live in the present.
- Be kind and give your smile away to brighten someone’s day.
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| 'Dear Seller' Letters Offer Unique Negotiation Strategy |
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You're probably familiar with letters to Santa. You've most likely heard of letters to the editor but have you heard of a home buyer letter? In some areas, buyers are including these communications when they submit offers to purchase a home. If the trend grows, these messages could become common documents among real estate paperwork.
 To be honest, I sent letters to sellers/listing agents as standard procedure back in the 80's before we had electronic documents. Back then, Buyer's agents would actually visit the seller's home to personally present the offer and "sell their buyer's qualifications to the seller." The object was to share with the seller information about the buyer and family, their financial capability and why they love the home. Rumor has it that in some parts of the country, this concept is a brand new idea. Hmmmm...maybe what's thought to be new is truly an old idea revisited. But, if it works, it's all good.
Today everything is electronic - The Buyer's agent forwards the offer electronically; the Seller's agent reviews and explains the offer's basic information. Often the offer (and/or Counter) and subsequent documents are e-signed. Today, when we present a Buyer's offer, we may not write a formal letter but we do make sure the listing agent knows what a great offer we've written and do our best to share why their Seller should accept our offer.
The presentation by letter can be especially helpful if there are multiple offers.
These letters are designed to make a buyer's offer more personal and appealing to the seller. |
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