Real Estate
Staging for fast sale
Some very sad circumstances recently put us in the position of having to sell a house in another state. Unfortunately, it was about 4,000 square feet and full of several decades’ worth of barely-organized things. Also, we only had a few weeks before we had to return to Alabama to go back to work. Also, […]
The New Bathroom, Part 2
You know the deal: Living in Midtown Montgomery often means living in homes that are historic. As such, we traffic in tales of domestic bliss, often involving home upkeep and repair. About six weeks ago we posted saying that we’d reveal our new bathroom the following week. We didn’t, strictly speaking, need a new bathroom — […]
I Live in Cloverdale…or Do I?
When the phone rang, I was sitting at my desk working on getting a home sold. The memory is as vivid as if it were yesterday. “I want to speak to that woman in the hat,” barked the voice at the other end. “This is she,” I replied (and drew in a breath, as I […]
Old House Expo Celebrates Historic Neighborhood Living
May is designated National Preservation Month by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and this year’s theme is Discover America’s Hidden Gems. Montgomery, like many communities from coast to coast, is filled with unexplored historic treasures — and May’s the month to celebrate them! Decades ago, here in Montgomery, a few neighborhood preservationists put their […]
Not My First Rodeo
What I know about rodeos can be fit into a few fleeting experiences as a spectator and one “celebrity ride” on which I wore a silk pants suit — slick as ice — and nearly slid off onto my backside! And what I do know about the phrase “not my first rodeo” is that it […]
Foreclosures: Help Your Neighbor and Yourself
Recently, I was sitting at my desk doing what I normally do first thing in the morning Monday-Friday: calling friends and clients (many of whom are both) to say happy birthday. It gets my day off to a great, positive start; and I hope it sets the tone for them as well. One of the […]
Year of the Landlord?
Will 2012 be the “Year of the Landlord” in Midtown Montgomery? You rarely hear a news broadcast or read a news report these days without encountering a reference to declining rental property vacancy rates. On Wednesday, NBC’s popular Today Show carried a report calling renters “the next victims of the housing market.” The problem of […]
Real Estate Fortune Telling
Midtown Montgomery Real Estate: Where We’re Going and Where We’ve Been Midtown Montgomery produced 325 home sales in 2011. To put that in perspective, our peak year of recent memory was 2004 with 781 homes sold. Clearly, 2011 was a tough year for Midtown. The entire Montgomery area didn’t fare much better. 2011’s dismal 3,255 […]
Knowing What You’re Getting Into
Those of us who are somewhat regular at meetings of the City Architectural Review Board are quite accustomed to seeing someone on the agenda who has begun work (or worse) on their historic district home without the prior review and approval of this important group. And we can almost anticipate the defense: “We didn’t know […]
Sailing the Good Ship
At a special focus group meeting of the Atlanta Federal Reserve last week, I was privileged to hear from some of the brightest in the business. Topics discussed included insurance, housing and commercial developments. It was an incredibly informative day. While I did not hear any overwhelming positive news, I did leave the session heartened […]
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