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Battle of the agents
I'm not satisfied with how things went the last 2 times I sold a house, and attribute it to my not taking enough time to pick the right realtor, so swung the pendulum the other way to OD on the screening this time and try to develop a better understanding of what makes a good agent.
I'm including a lot of detail below for those who may be treading the same path in the future, but I do want some input from all of you as well, to help us make our final decision.
I picked 10 to interview (yikes!) as follows:
1 contacted me from our FSBO listing
2 are recommendations from friends
1 is the agent we used to buy
3 are Dave Ramsey ELPs
1 is the only area discount broker (5%)
2 are super high performers
I called each and asked if they wanted to view and then return to present numbers and marketing plan or do it in one visit. 3 picked the one-visit option, but none of them would commit to a price during that visit and said they needed to come back.
Feedback was 100% positive on the inside, exceeding everyone's expectations, which were based on previous sales price and/or knowledge of home when it was listed before. They showed varying degrees of scrutiny vs. "enjoying the house" (I was more impressed with the former, because we want critical feedback.) Near unanimous feedback that the front doesn't scream high end, but only half came up with concrete, usable suggestions.
We eliminated 6 of the 10 agents we interviewed for one or more of the following reasons.
--Didn't have a specific marketing plan for our house, just the generic MLS listing + fluff.
--Way too heavy on the sales pitch/too little listening & too much talking/couldn't answer my concerns well.
--Couldn't explain the rationale behind their pricing recommendation, or were hard to pin down on what their recommendation was.
--Any random red flags, like fudging numbers to exaggerate their volume, or where their answer seemed contrary to accepted wisdom in the industry ("it's critical to advertise in the grocery store magazine!").
--Unimpressive listings, whether poorly edited photos, typos in the listing description, failure to pay for enhanced listings on realtor.com (2 said they were a "has-been" web site).
Here's a summary of the pros/cons & stats of the 4 finalists. Your opinions would be most appreciated.
Team H: Husband/wife team that have focused their strategy on picking off expired listings and FSBO, getting the sellers to do what's needed, pricing them right, and negotiating them well.
-Very solid presentation, the best at walking us through the details of how they'd bring it to market, market it to the agents most likely to have buyers, negotiating strategy, etc.
-Good grasp of the numbers, and transparent about info: ran live MLS reports while we were there, slicing by whatever we requested. Could envision a good collaboration with them over pricing, showing, market stats.
-#30 in # sold, #46 in $$ sold YTD.
-Avg DOM 109, 96% list:sales average
-6 current listings. Focus on the listing side, only take buyers if they've worked directly with them before.
-Not much experience with high-end (they focus on mid-range), potentially balanced with the attention they'd shower on it because it was their diamond listing.
-Photos/visual tours not knock-out, but could compensate with our excellent photos.
Agent S: Focuses on higher end buyers.
-9 years experience
-#22 in # sold, #10 in $ sold
-Solid presentation: clear, rational methodology behind pricing (similar to mine)
-Listened to concerns intently, clarified, responded
-Lots of experience with higher end buyers
-7 current listings, does 70/30 buyers/sellers
-Will hire pro photographer (has him picked out) to show our outside in the best light
-Had the most thorough critique, even came up with a couple minor things on the inside
Agent M: High performer
-#2 in sales in area
-Very businesslike and direct, not sales-y, felt on the same wavelength. Presentation/interview done in 1 hour without feeling rushed or truncated.
-Marketing background provides weekly stats on how internet listings were viewed, tweak photos or descriptions accordingly
-Team, but all seller contact with her.
-60-70% buyers, does lots of relocation, said 30% of sales are duals.
-Best answer to dual agency: hands buyer off to member of team so more arms-length.
Team C: Highest performer
-#1 in sales in the area, 9 years in the biz
-Mega type-A, competitive personalities. They took my simple questions and turned them into longer-than-needed answers, both talking over each other at times. That was annoying.
-Very hands-on, do their own open houses, stock their own fliers, call showing agents after each showing personally instead of relying on email.
-"Try everything for everyone" marketing approach: open houses, agent tours, print, internet. Don't know what works, so they just do everything, to exhaust all possibilities.
If it weren't for their sales history, their aggressiveness would probably take them out of the top 4. It still might, but they're still in for now.
So all of them except Team C I felt very comfortable with, and confident that we could work together collaboratively to sell our house (Team C could probably sell it too, I'm just not sure I'd enjoy working with them, and not sure how collaborative the process would be). I'm going to check references on all of them.
What think you about the differences? Do we want the hungry ones who are itching to prove themselves on a higher-end property? The high performer who may not have as much time for us? The doctor-schmoozer, who really knows what the market wants? All input is welcome.
Agent M stands out to me for one big reason: RELOCATION. This is a very good market segment for high-end homes.
Buyers are typically on a short time-budget and have to make a decision quickly ... no hanging back and seeing if the price will go down, or making an offer and getting cold feet later.
Their companies are most likely giving them some financial support, including closing costs, for the move, so they aren't going to nickel-and-dime you to death. For the same reason, they probably won't have a contingency clause in the contract.
take this in a good way... You are going to be a high maintenance seller in the eyes of an agent. Therefore, I would knock out C and M. Believe me, they won't have time to make you feel like you are being serviced like you want to be. This is not abad thing, but it will make your transaction feel miserable every step of the way. Not good, considering it could be a long haul.
That leaves H and S. Out of those two, use the three question guide I refer to and choose the correct one that makes you feel good.
I know which one I think you should choose.
Based upon the information given...I would probably choose S or M. Truthfully, I don't think marketing plans or expanded listings on realtor.com mean a whole lot. I do think it is important get on MLS, have a good professional listing with good description and photos. I think that having an agent who does a lot of relocations can be helpful...we sold one house on day 1 where the selling agent also represented a corporate buyer coming in for a day to look at houses.
You didn't mention what they said about wanting to price. In my experience, agents tend to want to list properties higher than what is really likely to result in a reasonably timed sale. I've gotten a lot of mileage the last couple of times asking an agent, after receiving initial pricing "If I told you that I really wanted to have a contract within 3 months what would you tell me to list at?" The answer and the reasoning is often illuminating.
I've worked with "team" agents and they can be very, very good. They are sometimes spread thin and you may not see much of them once they get the listing. That isn't necessarily bad since they often have good people working on the team. But, you need to be aware of it.
What exactly were you dissatisfied with the last couple of times you sold a house?
I presume you addressed each and every one of those concerns with all of the agents you interviewed by asking them "what would you do if . . ." and/or "what is your procedure for . . ."
Which agent/team answered those questions to your satisfaction? Pick that one.
I'd actually be very reluctant to be your real estate agent. You seem to have so little respect for the profession; I have a hard time imagining you being happy with any agent or even acknowledging their efforts should you get an offer under their banner.
Your house is on realtor.com - all those potential buyers, even transferees can see it and they are already doing with it what they will. I doubt an enhanced listing is going bring droves of buyers to the door. I'm not a real estate professional, but I happen to think realtor.com is a "has been" website for searching for houses in my area. It's the last search engine I would use if I were looking.
I don't know what the average market time is for homes in your area, but if it were me and my house was on the market from May to October without an offer, I'd be distancing myself from all the hard work I did to prepare the house for sale and I'd be listening very carefully to the realtors when they told me exactly what they thought my house would sell for. Then, I would take their advice and price it accordingly.
Kat wrote:
"You didn't mention what they said about wanting to price. In my experience, agents tend to want to list properties higher than what is really likely to result in a reasonably timed sale. I've gotten a lot of mileage the last couple of times asking an agent, after receiving initial pricing "If I told you that I really wanted to have a contract within 3 months what would you tell me to list at?" The answer and the reasoning is often illuminating."
True, you did not mention anything about what any of them said regarding pricing.
One of the choices above has a history of doing what, IMO, would be perfect for the type of seller you are. No one has mentioned it yet.
Thanks for the input thus far. NC: very astute observation, and it actually answers my question from another post about whether lots of listings is a positive or a negative. You're saying, in essence, that it's a negative in my case. The answer to all 3 of your questions is yes for all 3 of the finalists (not Team C).
Mama: my dissatisfaction from previous experiences was that it didn't seem like the agents did much besides put us in the MLS. Complaints include: lots of open houses, but never much feedback, and no good answer to "should we change X?"; poor pricing advice; chronic failure to keep flyer box stocked (we had relocated so couldn't DIY); offer-passer, not advising us well when they did come in despite our questions.
My admitted cynicism (low respect?) for the industry stems from the fact that from my outside observation, the only thing agents CAN do is help you price correctly, help you stage well, and put you in the MLS. (I understand that they birddog the paperwork process, but this can be done by an attorney or office person, as it often is with "teams" for much less cost.) Since I can do the first two sufficiently on my own, 6% seems an awfully high price to pay for access to a database. Flat fee MLS isn't available in my area, so we ended up going FSBO with a remote MLS getting us into realtor.com and me personally listing on zillow. Redfin isn't available in our area, and zillow and trulia are actually pretty recent additions.
The question I've been trying to dig into, is what an agent can do besides the big 3 above, to sell my home better/faster/for more. If they can, I'm willing to pay for it. I've posted before and not gotten very satisfactory answers, other than a couple anecdotes about people that had realtors who "worked it" and sold it fast/well. I had 2 pages of interview questions, using roselover's list as a base, adding some about our house, and finishing up with some situational ones "tell me about a time when...." to see how they approach different situations and problems.
All these interviews have actually been very enlightening, and I've got a good understanding of what good agents CAN do to make things happen. They fall in the categories of positioning it, marketing it--primarily to agents--and negotiating it. Here's an example that impressed me, from Team H above:
-List the property on a Monday
-Price at an even number (not ending with a 9) so that it catches people for whom the price is both at the top and the bottom of their range
-Present to office on Tuesday with agent tour
-contact all agents with auto email lookers in my price range to let them know of the property and giving their buyers a chance to see it before the open house the upcoming weekend. Attempt to create sense of excitement/urgency to get in before the general public does, for potential quick offer(s)
-contact all agents who do relocation with the same message
-when an offer comes in, contact all the agents that have shown it, let them know there's an offer on the table, try to get another buyer off the fence with an offer
-work the issues and concerns, pitch in commission when it'll close the gap
They did a very good job of walking us through things they'd do that quite honestly we can't, because we don't have the info on who's who with relocation and high-end buyers. We actually left that meeting (and those with the other finalists) feeling optimistic about the potential of selling our house.
I had hoped that realtor.com would capture the eyes of relocators, but that's not been the case. My theories of why not: they're fully relying on their local agent to send them listings, and the agents are just pulling from the MLS. Or they're asking their agent about the listing, and the agent is steering them away (don't want to work with FSBO? Can't find it in the local MLS so assume it's an error?)
On the question of price, they all came in close to us. Most common advice was price it at 525 or 520, expect it to sell somewhere north of 500. Two recommended pricing it at 499. I dug into asking them how they arrived at the number, to ascertain whether they just stuck near our listing price to avoid offending us, or if they had a good rationale for it. I was impressed by those who didn't just look at a few comps and throw out a gut feel, as that's evidence that they'll advise me well through the process as we see more stuff sell and come on the market.
Which 2 recommended the 499? That is interested to me is that is the listing price that actually resulted in our house selling. We had been listed over 500k and experienced agents generally told me that they thought that 535 or so was a good number. I then asked what to price at to sell within 3 months and both said list at 499 as that brings in a different and much larger pool of buyers (around here over 500k is high end). I did that and we had a contract in 2 days. My experience has been that agents as a group tend to tell people to list high. I don't know if they really believe it or if they think it is what people want to hear. So, I tend to see those who suggest a lower price as usually being more realistic. Yes, I realize that may not always be the case but I would start from that standpoint and so would be most interested in the agents who told you 499. It wouldn't be dispositive but would be a major factor I would look at.
You are getting warm, IMO. Those things listed by team H are super... I especially like the fact that as soon as they receive an offer they go go back and send emails to all other previous lookers to entice them to come play ball. Even better, is to send this email out as soon as they hear from the other agent that a buyer is serious. Don't wait for the offer. That way you don't scare the potential buyers off by waiting until there is another offer on the table. This tactic does not always work, but it has worked for me a few times.
Team H also has something else going for them that still no one has pointed out that I think will make your transaction with them smoother than the others...
They deal almost exclusively with ex FSBOs and EXPIREDS!!!. Just like you are. They know the creature's expectations! They know how to please the people that are the hardest to please! And their entire business model is based around this fact. They must know how to listen to these people's concerns and know how to address them. That alone is worth much more than a ton of "fluff". I know it is hard to imagine.
Anyhow, that is what really caught my eye when I read your post. Again, I do not mean anything derogatory by meaning that FSBOs are hard to please. Most of the time, FSBOs are just DIYers like myself, who have realized that sometimes it is more cost effective to hire a professional. I do wish you luck no matter who you decide on.
Kats: The 2 agents that suggested 499 were Agent M and one that was near the bottom of our list (dithered a lot, hard to actually pin down). Your market sounds like ours: I don't think moving the price around between 520 or 510 or 530 will make a big difference. But dropping it to 500 would bump into more buyers' look range. Still not sure exactly how much bigger that range is, but it's got to be bigger than where we are. Right now there is only 1 other home listed between 500-550 in our zip code, so I want to keep it there. Plus it'll give a more controlled experiment in moving from FSBO: if we get in the MLS AND change the price and it sells, who knows which one caused it to happen (we could do a price drop on our own, and avoid a commission).
NC: Interesting point, and true in many ways, but I think I'd connect the dots a bit differently. I expect value from any purchase of goods or services I make, and believe that anyone charging money should serve their customers well (I operate under this philosophy in my own business, btw). Serve me well and I'll praise you (and others) to no end. Serve me poorly and I'll call you out on it. So someone wanting $30K to sell my house better convince me up front that they'll provide me good value. Based on past experience I hadn't experienced good value, so decided to DIY (FSBO). That hasn't succeeded, so I'm going to do all my homework before signing on the dotted line. And I'll stay involved to make sure that they're serving me well. If they do, I can see myself doing less hovering and trust that they're doing their thing and keeping me in the loop. That's how I am with employees.
Agent M and Agent S both included a page of references in their presentation material. Team H did not; I emailed them yesterday morning telling them they were finalists and requesting a list, including something high-end, something that took a long time to sell, and something that had problems getting to closing. I didn't hear back from them, so was about to ding them for non-responsiveness. This morning I had an email waiting for me saying they called all 20 of their YTD sales to get their permission, and included the entire list, with the 15 highlighted. That's the kind of transparency they've demonstrated throughout this process.
I wouldn't be so worried if they do not have any higher end clients to refer you to. There is not much difference in marketing a $100,000 property than there is marketing a $500,000 property. There may be a difference if marketing a niche property... like a large ranch, a large horse farm, or an airpark home. But then again, even those buyers will be looking online and in the MLS.
I like S because of the pro photographer. Possibly another realtor also had ideas for better exterior photos as well.
Different photos of the exterior will help a lot. You want to get people to view the inside. You must entice them with a nice exterior photo before they even take time to read the MLS listing.
So someone wanting $30K to sell my house better convince me up front that they'll provide me good value. Based on past experience I hadn't experienced good value, so decided to DIY (FSBO).
You think that the value isn't there in part because you base value on things like how they market the house, find buyers, etc. And you are right. None of what most agents do is worth $30k.
But I see value differently. I see it as basically the cost to get on MLS and have someone else handle the hassle factor and paperwork. And, getting on MLS is really, really valuable. Sure it would have been nice for you to find a flat fee broker that would do that for you since you don't mind the hassle factor and paperwork, but you didn't have that option.
Well, we called references on Team H and Agent S. We crossed off the hypercompetitive Team C (and one of the references told Mr. Weedy they were hard to deal with) and Agent M (may be too busy for us "high-maintenance" sellers and hasn't yet emailed me some data I asked her for Monday morning).
They both reinforced our impressions of them from their presentations.
Team H's references outlined execution of the same strategy that they proposed to us, with varying outcomes as to DOM, final price, and difficulty in coming to close. All of them said Team H works tenaciously to get things done, and they pitch in to do what it takes, but are easy to deal with in the process.
Agent S was praised for being professional, well-connected, honest/straightforward, and rational in negotiations. Two were people who had been through multiple realtors over several years and he sold them within a month or two. One reference that particularly resonated with me was a guy who self-described as high maintenance, by my same definition: expecting a high level of service. He said he was pleasantly surprised and not once felt like he needed to bug Agent S to do something.
If we were to summarize their apparent styles, Team H goes out and beats the bushes, and Agent S makes a few strategic phone calls. Agent S would smoothly shepherd this one along and Team H would work their butts off because we would be their biggest listing. They both welcome collaboration with their sellers. Both have about the same years in the business, similar sales and current listings, and had customers who said they provided a high level of service (late night collaboration over pricing strategy, negotiating while on vacation, etc.)
So here we are, down to the wire, needing to make a decision. Mr. Weedy and I both feel either one would do a good job and we'd be happy with them. Mr. Weedy leans ever so slightly to Team H because they sought us out in a non-pushy way, and were the first to come through and say "here's what we can do to sell your home more effectively" and he wants to reward that. I lean toward Agent S because I think he's got the mindset of a higher-end buyer, and can advise us along the way, whether in more curb appeal stuff, or the pro photographer who will capture it just right.
Any further thoughts? We will decide tomorrow and call them on Saturday to seal the deal.
Of course, you already know my thoughts. You keep saying that agent S will be able to sell your home faster because he has the mindset of a higher end buyer. What does that mean? And, again, don't take me wrong, but it is not like you live in a multi million dollar home located in some gated exclusive community where the agent is a member of the "club".
Really, like you said, both agents will probably work just fine. I just think like your husband... team H has already done something more above and beyond anyone else. They took initiative to contact you for your business. AND, they make their business dealing with ex FSBOS.
Good luck with your decision, and it would be very courteous to call the agent that did not get the job and let him/her know personally.
Your home isn't an upper end home. It's a higher priced mid range home. That's been it's problem all along. It's priced higher than average for the market, but it's not an estate. You don't need a realtor with estate experience. That's not your market. Your market is a mid range buyer who maybe wants a bit of land or water exposure and is willing to pay for that. The 450K crowd. Not the 800K crowd. Having a realtor who has experience with million dollar homes isn't going to help here. You want someone who will work really hard to be creative in getting those mid range buyers to see the additional value that your home gives above others in it's range. Not the person who is trying to convince the 1M crowd that they could take your home and create an estate out of it. That's part of the comments you've been getting about your landscaping. An estate priced home buyer expects a LOT more than your property offers, and there is no use attempting to chase them. Concentrate on the mid range, and price it right. 500K is where you need to start, and be willing to settle for less.
live wire oak: I'll grant you that we're not a lush million-dollar estate. But the top 10% of the market here starts at $450, so I disagree with your characterization of it as a mid-range home.
I would appreciate some further enlightenment (and I do mean this respectfully) on how a $500K buyer (or property) isn't that much different than a $100K buyer (or property) as far as marketing it goes. I mean, I get that if you're selling a lush estate or luxury NYC penthouse you do something different to attract potential buyers. But a first-time entry-level buyer has different wants/needs/expectations than a doctor or relocating executive, no?
BTW, I emailed both Team H and Agent S this morning asking them to address the items that the other one was a little higher on. I'd hate to tell Team H that they lost out because they didn't have a pro photographer lined up, or Agent S because he didn't articulate a detailed marketing strategy when Team H would have been willing to hire a pro or Agent S was perfectly willing to share his strategy but we never asked.
I think it's about the house, not the price. We have houses in our neighborhood that up to $1.5 million, but they are still just a nice family house, not a specialty high end home. I know it all has to do with where you are buying, but a $500K house generally has all the same components as $100-200K house, just larger and more modern/better finishes - maybe an extra bedroom and an extra bathroom.
A true higher end house that would require a special agent and special buyers will probably have multiple specialty rooms (conservatories, media rooms, etc) and separate buildings like pool houses or guest houses. Kitchens and spaces are designed to work around caterers rather than family cooks. It's not whether it has land, but whether the land is landscaped in a way that requires a professional to keep them up. To me it's more of a "vibe" than the size of a house. A high end house is one that requires help to keep it up. A family house can be operated by the family or with help.
I think your house is a family house.
Higher price doesn't always equal high end.
This isn't meant to be hurtful, just a realistic assessment of your home from a viewer from a distance looking into the market.
Your house is a nice home, but it doesn't have luxury home bones. It is a basic box with vinyl trim on the exterior and a lot of volume for the interior, but little true architectural features for either. And yes, it's already been beat to death, but it has a front load garage like it's on a 50 foot wide basic lot and not the property it sits on. The landscaping bears more resemblance to a brand new builder grade entry level home than it does to one in the top 10% of any market. A brand new luxury home builder would have sprung for several mature trees and a professional landscape package to give it the proper setting.
It's a slightly above average quality larger sized house that the homeowner is overvalueing because of the amount of work that has been put into it and is adding to the price. A classic story, really.
mama: thanks for the explanation of the difference. That helps me understand where some of you are coming from. This is definitely not a high end home by that definition, though in fact there aren't many homes like that around here. We're in a small midwestern city that doesn't have much of that going on like bigger cities would. I'll use "higher price" in my language from now on so we're on the same page.
The local houses in the 500-999 range would still be considered "family homes" by your definition, and they come with fancier trimwork, an office with beautiful built-in bookcases, typically walk-out basements with bars/kitchens, and media rooms. But not kitchens built for caterers or guest houses or conservatories.
holly: I will take issue (though not offense) at your characterization of our house as "slightly above average" when compared with the locality, which is what counts. I've been in gazillions of homes around here learning the market, have had it professionally appraised (without telling the number I had in mind) and I've now had 10 professionals tromp through. I think I've got a decent handle on where we fall relative to comps. And our price has nothing to do with how much we have in it; it's purely based on our best estimate of market value.
Are there things to improve upon? Absolutely, particularly with the outside. We'll keep plugging away at that stuff as we can until it sells. We'll see if our new agent can save us the trouble. :-)
You truly can not judge what is low and high end by price alone, specially when we try to judge other US markets based on our local markets. Weedy's house would be around $500/sq.ft in my town and sit on less than 1/4 acre. Price and quality doesn't always match up here!
Weedy, Good luck!
Are you competing with new construction? I think that it's harder to find a buyer when you are competing with new construction. In my town, you can tear down a house and build a custom family home (my personal definition) starting at about $950,000. So, the houses priced $400 - $800K are competing against each other, but when you get higher than that, people may say - why buy a resale house where there's always something that's not exactly right, when for the same price or a "little" more I can build one where everything will be just the way I want it. The $1mil+ houses, even though priced right, often sit for months here, while the $500K ones are snatched up as long as they are priced right.
Weedy -I've been following your home selling saga for awhile and I just have to say that you have been EXTREMELY receptive of the criticism that you have received on here. I'm not sure I could be as receptive :)
We too, have been trying the FSBO route. We tried to sell by FSBO from 2007-2009 -not realizing the bottom was falling out in the market. We took it off the market to take a break. We don't HAVE to sell, we want to get into a bigger house. We put a FSBO sign about a month ago and haven't had much response (we did a flat fee listing previously)
Next Friday we are going to list it officially with a realtor. I would not have believed that a realtor wouldn't show your house unless it was on the MLS with a realtor but have experienced that bias first hand. This is not a slam on realtors. We are choosing the realtor we are going to be using b/c she is the only realtor who brought 2 very serious potential buyers to our house when we had it listed before. She has never been pushy. I totally get your viewpoint on using a realtor vs FSBO.
It sounds like you have 2 very good realtors to work with! Here's hoping for a quick sale for you!
Weedyacres, seems like you have overanalyzed this to the point of genuinely losing sight of the most important fact: your house isn't selling at the price you are asking.
You spend hours-days-weeks endlessly scrutinizing agents while making it clear you don't think any of them can do what you cannot: sell the house. This follows hours-days-weeks of scrutinizing your landscaping and external appearance which is, I agree with others, that of a big box plopped onto a field. I recall you spent hours-days-weeks agonizing over a very lengthy, very detailed and effusive homemade listing of the house when you originally decided to sell FSBO.
And today, what is the result of all that? The house is still for sale. When you say you've done so much analysis and you know the house is priced right--obviously it isn't or someone would have bought it!
It seems that your perception isn't matching the reality of your situation. As pointed out, you are getting a ton of disinterested and neutral feedback, most of which you seem to dismiss. I'm particularly impressed by the feedback from actual *realtors* who are taking time to try to tell you their professional judgment, although again you don't seem to be able to accept what they are saying to you as helpful and useful advice.
So, perhaps now it's time to work on one of those 'life lessons' which usually turn out to mean doing something different and not too comfortable: hire the realtor, then LET THE REALTOR DO THE JOB. Frankly, I wouldn't want to be your realtor but that's neither here nor there.
Good luck,
I usually try to blow off the snarky remarks, but this one left me a little flabbergasted, and I feel the need to respond.
You spend hours-days-weeks endlessly scrutinizing agents
Our agent selection process has taken exactly 2 weeks, and only took that long because I'm only in town on weekends to meet with them. That hardly seems unduly long for a $30,000 purchase from someone I've got to work well with. I take that long to hire employees. I have contemplated hiring an agent during the period we've had it listed FSBO, knowing that FSBO was a risk; perhaps that's why you're thinking it has been an endless process.
while making it clear you don't think any of them can do what you cannot: sell the house.
Based on my past choices of agents, they haven't done a good job; hence my jadedness. The fact that we're now hiring an agent indicates that we do think someone can do a better job than we can. I was thorough in my interview questions and actually learned a lot about what a good agent can do. I've got a lot better handle on how to pick a good one and what my expectations of them should be. I was actually pleasantly surprised by some of the interviews, and left them thinking "wow, they could sell our house!" It has definitely changed my view (not of all of them; there are plenty of doofuses out there, but there are some solid ones too).
This follows hours-days-weeks of scrutinizing your landscaping and external appearance which is, I agree with others, that of a big box plopped onto a field.
And instead of asking others' opinions and figuring out what the best thing to do was, I should have done what, exactly? Or is it the fact it didn't happen in two days?
I recall you spent hours-days-weeks agonizing over a very lengthy, very detailed and effusive homemade listing of the house when you originally decided to sell FSBO.
Again, are you saying I shouldn't spend time getting the right photos and good descriptions for our website? Or that the result was poor? Several of the realtors we interviewed said it was the best website they've ever seen from a FSBO. And all of them wanted to use our photos (at least of the inside; we acknowledge we need something better for the outside).
And today, what is the result of all that? The house is still for sale. When you say you've done so much analysis and you know the house is priced right--obviously it isn't or someone would have bought it!
Actually I disagree with your conclusion. It hasn't sold because we haven't had much traffic through it. And that's because we're not in the MLS. Not all buyers looking for something like our house know about us.
It seems that your perception isn't matching the reality of your situation. As pointed out, you are getting a ton of disinterested and neutral feedback, most of which you seem to dismiss.
Do you mean from the showings we've had? I haven't done anything about the things I can't change (house was too big for one, one didn't like the steepness of the slope down to the lake, one needed a first floor accessible suite), but when I got feedback from a realtor about the curb appeal, I posted the feedback here, sought input, and we re-did the front landscaping. How is that dismissive? Because we're not redoing the facade or planting $1000 trees? Or does it feel that way because I'm not saying "I know, I hate the front as much as you do?"
I'm particularly impressed by the feedback from actual *realtors* who are taking time to try to tell you their professional judgment, although again you don't seem to be able to accept what they are saying to you as helpful and useful advice.
I listened carefully to all the realtors that came through, and asked them for specifics on what they'd change. As a result, in the past 2 weeks we sealed the circle drive, painted the shutters and re-seeded a large patch of barren ground. Where are you getting that I'm not accepting what they're saying? Are you talking about pricing? 8 of 10 said we were fine, and several commented that they usually have to dash sellers' high expectations in that regard.
So, perhaps now it's time to work on one of those 'life lessons' which usually turn out to mean doing something different and not too comfortable: hire the realtor, then LET THE REALTOR DO THE JOB. Frankly, I wouldn't want to be your realtor but that's neither here nor there.
Uh, ok, that's what we're doing, no? I'm not willing to just randomly hire a realtor without careful investigation, and I do not apologize for that. Nor do I apologize for making one of my criteria an expectation of a high level of service from them. You may choose to do otherwise if you like, but I won't.
Weedy......I am usually a lurker on this forum, but felt the need to respond to runninginplace's criticism of your approach to selecting a realtor. You are one of the most intelligent, thoughtful, and wise persons I have seen on this forum. I applaud the thorough and analytical process you are using to insure you get the best realtor possible in your area. Good luck in selling your house.
Weedyacres, I apologize. I regret my message to you was rude and not helpful.
This internet sure makes it easy to be anonymously nasty to someone online, but that's no excuse. I hope you have good luck with your sale, and that your realtor choice proves to be a positive experience.


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He's Just Not That Into You's Greg Behrendt on Living With David Cross: "We Lived Like Two Dainty Old Men"
Categories: Comedy
Before Behrendt lands at the Fort Lauderdale Improv this weekend for a string of shows, he took some time to talk with New Times about his true passion, and it's not sitting on Oprah's couch.
New Times: Personally, I have some trouble pronouncing your last name. Is that still affecting you or am I the only one left?
Greg Behrendt: No, you are not alone. It's continual, this thing that I should have fixed before I got into show business, but didn't, and now I am stuck. I wasn't smart enough to come up with a stage name. Coming up in the early standup days, my friends Janeane Garafalo and Zach Galifianakis kept their real names, but theirs are phonetic and mine is just confusing. Even my dad was like, "You should have changed it."
I read that you were roommates with the great David Cross. Did he always leave his dishes in the sink?
Cross and I were roommates for over a year and we were like, so clean. We lived like two dainty old men.
It was one of the most harmonious living situations I have ever had, with a guy that really has his own rhythm. He was a nut but he was a great guy and incredible roommate. That was the time when I first started getting sober, and Cross was a really great friend to me. The only thing is, he would always talk to me when I was on the phone. And this is before cell phones, like, "There is a big piece of plastic, it is at my ear, I am talking into it, and you are really trying to talk to me?"
Just a great guy overall, except for his complete inability to recognize when I was on the phone.
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Theories of Outfits
Even while carrying concealed, your gun has to be concealed, and if your shirt lifts up, or your jacket opens, revealing your gun, you can encounter charges.
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2. Wear Specialized Conealed Carry Clothes
Sporting Normal Outfits Effectively
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Concealed Carry Tops
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Return to Injuries & Player Updates
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by albanese » Tue Jul 04, 2006 4:54 pm
by duckbillgates » Tue Jul 04, 2006 5:00 pm
by rentz » Tue Jul 04, 2006 5:05 pm
duckbillgates wrote:I've only been watching the box score, but I believe there was a rain delay. They probably didn't want him going back out to risk anything.I'm this close to dumping him for Bedard, so I was hoping this start could help me make that decision.
by jake_twothousandfive » Tue Jul 04, 2006 5:11 pm
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I just want to say that Daniel Kahneman's behavioral economics theory discusses the idea of nudge behavioral economics which means that people are flawed and need a little help in making the right economic decisions.
Obama is from this school of thought which is why there is so much governmental control in his administration.
This form of thinking is condensing because each individual should make their own choices and suffer the consequences good or bad for those choices.
The government has made plenty of mistakes. A perfect example of this theory is in the Cap and Trade bill. The government is going to force us to drive these tiny egg cars because they think it is a better use of our money than buying an SUV. I love SUV's and will never drive anything else.


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[video] Quick Take: The American Consumer, Strapped for Cash
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- All three major U.S. stock indices are higher on Tuesday, but concerns are mounting over the American consumer's spending. TheStreet's Joya Doss spoke to Keith Bliss, senior vice president of Cuttone & Company, about the implications of lower consumer spending.
Bliss said that weather has helped soften the blow on weaker-than-expected corporate earnings and economic data. To some degree, the weather has certainly impacted those two events, he said. But to what degree?
Consumers are less likely to head to the mall when the weather is poor, but it doesn't explain why online sales are down as well. Bliss argues that after a strong holiday season, U.S. consumers are simply tapped out at the moment.
He added that wage growth has been virtually nonexistent in the past four years, which isn't helping the cash-strapped consumer in spending.
Housing data have not been as impressive either. Bliss noted that housing starts are down, which can be attributed to the weather, but permits were also lower. The lower permit applications is concerning because it indicates that homebuilders are less optimistic in the coming months. In an economy where 70% of the GDP is made up of consumer spending, it concerns him that a slowdown could have a severe trickle-down effect. -- Written by Bret Kenwell in Petoskey, Mich. Follow @BretKenwellCheck Out Our Best Services for Investors
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Burke's campaign records show that he made payments of $500 to his sister Denise Johnson and $300 to an old girlfriend, Sandra McPhaul, in November 1993. Both expenditures are noted as payments for "information accumulation for March affair."
When asked recently about what she was paid for, Johnson, who lives in Waycross, Georgia, said, "We did some advertising and talking and spreading the word," both in Georgia and in Miami. She could not remember what the "March affair" was. Reached by phone at her home in Savannah, Georgia, McPhaul was equally vague about her payment. "I can't recall exactly," said McPhaul, the mother of Burke's eldest daughter. "I did some research for him. Exactly what it all entailed, I can't remember."
Burke explains the vague responses by saying the women were just being protective of him. "I think both of them were concerned about who was calling," he says. The matter is simple, according to the commissioner: He had asked McPhaul and Johnson to search their family photo albums for old pictures of him, his children, and his grandchildren; he was compiling a photo-essay of his life that he planned to capture on video and show at a 46th birthday-commission campaign party. He says that although he never completed the project, he paid the women for their research time.
Campaign records also indicate October 1993 payments of $175.04 for "reimbursement" and $450 for "event planning services," both made to a former commission and campaign staffer.
When asked about the specific payments, the former staffer, Courtney Beacham, said she recalled having been given checks to pay a phone bill and an electric bill for the campaign office. After reviewing a copy of the expenditure report, Beacham refused any further comment to New Times.
Burke expresses surprise at Beacham's response. "I know I had her pay some, it was two bills that was paid or something, and so she went ahead and paid them and I gave them back to her. And the event planning had to do with, I guess, a discussion about the picnic or whatever."
The commissioner says he and his accountant will discuss the expenditures. One source of confusion should be immediately evident to anyone who peruses Burke's campaign reports: They are rife with inconsistencies and typographical errors. For example, one consultant's name appears alternately as "Mimi Tribe" and "Mirieille Tribie." (Her name is Mireille Tribie.) And Marcia Burke's address is alternately given as 1320 West Trail in the 33132 zip code, and 3220 West Trail in the 33133 zip code. There is no West Trail in Miami.
All candidates who run for office in Dade must file such forms with the Metro-Dade Elections Department. According to Gisela Salas, assistant supervisor of elections in Dade, it isn't up to her office to ensure completeness, accuracy, or truthfulness. "We're basically ministerial in function," says Salas. "We accept whatever is given to us. We make sure a person's name and address is listed and make sure the documents are signed. We don't look at the actual body to see what they're disclosing. If someone wants to question it, they have to file a complaint."
Speaking generally about FEC investigations, Michael Cochran, assistant general counsel for the state's Division of Elections, says if investigators turn up "probable cause to believe that a willful violation has occurred," the FEC holds a hearing and has the authority to impose a civil penalty of up to $5000 per violation. Investigators forward all evidence of possible criminal violations to the pertinent state attorney's office. James Burke knows the process well: In 1984 the FEC fined him $3600 for numerous violations of campaign financing laws. (About that case, Burke says the FEC sent its hearing notice to an out-of-date address; he chose not to contest the fine, he says, because he felt the additional publicity would provide fodder for his political opponents.)
Disorganization, it would appear, has bedeviled Burke's recent life. On August 26, for instance, the Florida Department of State's Division of Corporations dissolved his consulting corporation because he failed to file the company's annual report as required by law. The document had been due May 1. (Asked about the dissolution of his corporation, Burke's mouth drops open in surprise. "American Destiny? Are you sure? That's like telling me there's no gas in my car and I have a business chauffeuring people.")
The Florida Bar, too, is discovering a certain inattentiveness to detail. In March Burke filed a petition to be reinstated with the Bar. (He had been suspended in 1991, after the Florida Supreme Court criticized his handling of a $150,000 settlement in a wrongful death case. Justices criticized him for "extremely sloppy accounting procedures." It was the second suspension of his career.) In a reinstatement petition, the petitioning lawyer has the burden to prove he has had a rehabilitation of character; it stands to reason that an attorney will do everything he can to prove it.
According to Florida Bar records, though, Burke has been slow and incomplete in his responses to the Bar's requests for information. Arlene Sankel, the attorney handling the inquiry for the Bar, has taken the unusual step of filing not one but two "motions to compel," in which she has asked a judge to force Burke to provide documents. Among the requested records are Burke's tax returns and bank records.


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World Premieres (Multimedia)
News & Events
Some of the university's most talented student filmmakers squared off against nearly 1,000 of their peers from across the nation at the 11th annual Campus MovieFest Hollywood Awards. CMF is the world's largest student film festival.
Earning a spot among the "Top 25" films at the event was "Heretic," directed by [b]Robert Morton[/b], '12, who traveled to Hollywood with fellow crew members and classmates [b]Cam Lamothe[/b], [b]Matt Charette[/b] and [b]Mac Capen[/b].


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You are here: Main / Customer Services / Public Communications Division / 2008 / Mayor Hannemann Sets The Record Straight On Rail Funding Plan |
MAYOR HANNEMANN SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT ON RAIL FUNDING PLAN Mayor Hannemann today reiterated that he plans to begin construction of "This has been my consistent position regarding federal funding from day one," Mayor Hannemann said. He said he greatly appreciates that The delegation is fully cognizant of the project's financial plan and has been unanimously supportive. The FTA has also been duly informed every step along the way, and has given no indication that Just last week, Senator Daniel Inouye called the rail project "our best hope to reduce traffic gridlock" from west Oahu to "It is a sound investment for Other key members of Congress have also been very supportive. In March, Rep. Jim Oberstar, chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, visited Honolulu and declared that he would "vigorously support" awarding $900 million in Federal Transit Administration funding for the project. He reiterated his strong support for Mayor Mufi Hannemann said he is very disappointed that former Governor Ben Cayetano has aligned himself with opponents of rail transit and attempted to create unwarranted controversy by making reckless public statements about the likelihood that "The former governor is wrong in accusing me of being deceptive about federal funding, and it's very selfish and irresponsible for Cayetano to try to undermine all the hard work of Hawaii's congressional delegation by injecting himself into an issue that he knows little about and had been completely absent from until recently," Mayor Hannemann said in response to statements Cayetano made yesterday at a news conference with members of an anti-rail group. "Frankly, their blustery news conference yesterday presented no actual news, because nothing has changed regarding the favorable status of our transit plan," Mayor Hannemann said. "Their news conference was simply a desperate and shameful attempt to manufacture controversy. Our very effective congressional delegation came through consistently for Ben when he was governor, and they have been coming through for "We have seen nothing but green lights from the federal government, so it really makes no sense for Cayetano to wade into this issue now with such a negative and pessimistic attitude," Mayor Hannemann said. -30- Contact: Bill Brennan, 527-6928 |
Tuesday, October 14, 2008 |


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News..Exclusives..Relationships..Everything You Need To Know & YES The Word of God
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Ngozi Nwosu Still Needs N4m For Surgery in UK
Critically ill Ngozi Nwosu says Funds being raised for her Kidney and Heart operations is now N2m. She gives thanks to the ordinary fans and the media for helping to raise the funds required for her to go for the kidney and heart operations in UK.
Ngozi says the love being showered on her in the last few days by the fans who have been giving their widows mite has encouraged her greater and has renewed her strength to want to live and fight on till all is well.
She thanked the media for the support they have shown so far especially online bloggers who have used their medium to show her condition to the world and also the producers of who wants to be a millionaire whose invitation has helped so far. She concluded by begging Nigerians to please help her raise the remaining N4m balance so that she can proceed to UK as fast as possible for the operation in January.
You can send your widow's mite to Ngozi Nwosu GTB 0052851673. May God bless you and all that you take important as we rally round to save beautiful actress.
27 comments:
I really feel for her. It could truely happen to anyone. Please can u publish her account details where we can send the money to?
ReplyDelete- Anonymous29 December, 2012 19:00
But dis world is wicked ooo,how come dis actresses forget dis lady like dis and yet spend millions on birthday and cars some fools even have I million to spend on a flopped show God is watching on a 3D
ReplyDeleteReplies- Anonymous29 December, 2012 19:38
spoke my thoughts exactly!
Now, people will understand what Stella Damasus was complaining about!
DISGRACEFUL! IBINABO......STOP UR HOGWASH AND ACT NOW!!!!! not forming busy, movement without motion
- Anonymous29 December, 2012 20:55
It is sad that AGN can't raise this money on her behalf. WHY CAN'T THEY TAX THEMSELVES
ReplyDelete - Anonymous29 December, 2012 21:24
Na only AGN? What about the marketers. They are rich and hardly help
ReplyDelete - Anonymous29 December, 2012 22:56
Please,let's try n raise dis moni,even if it's 2k per person. God bless you all.
ReplyDelete - abiola29 December, 2012 23:28
Nawa o ....al dis celeb can b heartless....dis money can't be compared to what they have now
ReplyDelete - LLB. No 1 Fan30 December, 2012 07:09
If Genny,Omo T, Ini,Mama Gee,Kate,Uche Jombo and 2 more actresses contribute 500k each d money will be complete! Biko,appeal to them na,abeg
ReplyDelete - Anonymous30 December, 2012 07:55
Simple maths..-if 2000 nigerians can donate N2000 each, the N4m will appear.No long story. Please we can do this for her.let's save a life.
Ninnyjibs - Anonymous30 December, 2012 08:45
Someone like me can give her my 2000naira conveniently. If 2000 of us can do it like the anon said that would settle it
ReplyDelete - Anonymous30 December, 2012 10:21
If any thing happens to this woman, all actress should cover their face in shame
ReplyDelete - Anonymous31 December, 2012 15:37
Does she have any UK account, we can transfer the money in ?


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@titans62 - I agree, I feel like Nebraskans do not really care what people think about them and they choose to hang together as one group of people and embrace their culture.
Although people can make fun of the people from Nebraska, they live in a unique state that separates themselves from the rest of the country. I actually find that having a culture and a unique aspect is a lot better than not having a unique part about a state and that Nebraska is a great example of this aspect.
By adopting such a unique nickname and unique identity it allows the state of Nebraska to separate themselves from the rest of the county and show that they are proud to be from the state that they choose to live in.


text:
12 Avenue Des Spélugues, MC 98000 Monte Carlo, Monaco – Show map
Excellent location – rated 9.4/10! (score from 748 reviews)
Rated by guests after their stay at Fairmont Monte Carlo.
Location, restaurants, shops, staff friendly and professional, good size and functional rooms, everything in good working order
United States of America
Staff and location are lovely.
United States of America
The hotel is very pretty with a welcoming staff who greeted me by name at every turn. The room was a good size with a very comfortable bed. TV options in English were nice to have.
United States of America
The rooftop pool and restaurant have stunning views and are very relaxing. Our room was well appointed, clean, spacious and very comfortable. Staff was kind and helpful.
United States of America
The room had a nice water view and Nobu was excellent.
United States of America
It was The Grand Prix weekend and everything was handled to perfection.
United States of America
Without exception, all staff were very welcoming and accommodating. It was a pleasure to deal with them.
United States of America
Can't beat the location in Monaco
United States of America
Very well staffed. Staff always attentive and eager to help. Lounge was very nice with excellent selection of food and beverage.
United States of America
Gym is good, nobu really good, bar was very good and concierge was very good to
United Kingdom
With its rooftop terrace offering views of the Circuit de Monaco, this hotel is set between the Mediterranean Sea and the Casino of Monte Carlo. It has a pool, restaurants and a spa. A complimentary shuttle service leads to 4 nearby Monaco beaches that have special agreements with the property.
Each guest room and suite is air-conditioned and equipped with a work desk and interactive TV. All rooms feature a private marble bathroom and private balcony. Guests can choose a room with views of the sea or the garden.
Nobu, the hotel's restaurant, serves both traditional Japanese cuisine and South American specialties.The Saphir 24, lounge and bar, is open 24 hours a day.
The Fairmont's rooftop pool is heated and offers views of the Mediterranean Sea. Guests are invited to use the Willow Stream Spa, which has a fitness center and offers a variety of beauty treatments.
We speak your language! Hotel Rooms: 602, Hotel Chain: Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. This property has been on Booking.com since Nov 24, 2009.
Room Type | Max | |
Premium Double Room with Sea View | ||
Fairmont Room | ||
Double Room with Partial view over the Formula 1 Race | ||
Double Room with full view over the formula 1 race | ||
Economy Double Room | ||
Deluxe Room Garden View (2 Adults + 2 Children) |
Deluxe Room with Sea View | ||
Riviera Suite |
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18 properties in Monte Carlo
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748 verified reviews
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Fairmont Monte Carlo's staff speaks: Russian, Japanese, Italian, French, Spanish, English, German
Booking is safe
When you book with us your details are protected by a secure connection.
Outdoor Pool (all year), Grounds, Terrace
Sauna, Fitness Center, Solarium, Spa, Massage, Turkish/Steam Bath, Bicycle Rental, Casino
Food & Drink
Restaurant, Bar, Breakfast in the Room
WiFi is available in all areas and costs EUR 19.95 per 24 hours.
Private parking is available on site (reservation is not needed) and costs EUR 50 per day.
Room Service, Packed Lunches, Car Rental, Airport Shuttle (surcharge), 24-Hour Front Desk, Express Check-in/Check-out, Currency Exchange, Tour Desk, Ticket Service, Baggage Storage, ATM on site, Concierge Service, Babysitting/Child Services, Laundry, Dry Cleaning, Ironing Service, Shoeshine, Meeting/Banquet Facilities, Business Center, Fax/Photocopying, Hair/Beauty Salon, Souvenir/Gift Shop
Paid WiFi, Newspapers, Safe, Shops (on site), Non-smoking Rooms, Facilities for Disabled Guests, Family Rooms, Elevator, Soundproof Rooms, Heating
Russian, Japanese, Italian, French, Spanish, English, German
From 3:00 PM
Until 12:00 PM
Cancellation and prepayment policies vary according to room type. Please enter the dates of your stay and check what conditions apply to your preferred room.
Children and Extra Beds
All children are welcome.
One child under 18 years stays free of charge when using existing beds.
One child under 2 years stays free of charge in a crib.
One older child or adult is charged EUR 72 per person per night in an extra bed.
The maximum number of extra beds/cribs in a room is 1.
Any type of extra bed or crib is upon request and needs to be confirmed by management.
Additional fees are not calculated automatically in the total cost and will have to be paid for separately during your stay.
Pets are allowed. Charges may apply.
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Le Méridien Beach Plaza overlooks Monte Carlo and the Mediterranean Sea.
Score from 640 reviews
Port Palace is a 4-star boutique hotel in Monaco overlooking Port Hercule. It features a location at the center of Monaco's legendary Grand Prix circuit and the Monaco Yacht Show.
Score from 523 reviews
In the heart of the Principality of Monaco, Novotel Monte-Carlo is a short walk from the train station, Place du Casino and Grimaldi Forum.
Score from 1153 reviews
Very good
Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort On the Larvotto peninsula, this hotel with 4 restaurants is surrounded by 10 acres of gardens on the sea front.
Score from 422 reviews
Gym is good, nobu really good, bar was very good and concierge was very good to
Didn't like the breakfast nit much choice and service was slow
Fantastic location - great staff - very good restaurants - comfortable rooms with balconies - nice pool area on the roof.
Rooms and corridors could use a refurbishment.
room excellent, location superb, staff friendly and helpful,
the prices !
The view is magnificent with seagull dropping by your window .... the breakfast is good
Need some touch in the interior of the lobby
The staff were excellent, very helpful and quick to resolve a problem with our booking.
The bathroom wasn't very clean.
Location, restaurants, shops, staff friendly and professional, good size and functional rooms, everything in good working order
Check-in and check out a bit slow (it is a fairly big hotel). Lacks a bit of personality, exterior looks cheap. New Years eve rates too high
Staff were happy to help with anything we wanted. Breakfast although expensive was excellent. Location is ideal for the casinos and cafe de Paris. We would definitely stay again.
Service, location and cleanliness. Kids had a ball in the heated rooftop pool with attentive lifeguards. Highly recommend this hotel.
Staff and location are lovely.
Paying for wifi. Really?
Its a beautiful hotel, great entrance, huge spacious lobby all overlooking the sea, the location is excellent, the breakfast with the sea view, the very polite and attentive staff.
Great location
Hotel a bit dated and would benefit from being brought up to date. Breakfast in a busy lounge doesn't really do it.
There was no heating and heating despite our request was not repaires!!!!!
Jean- Francois the manager was very helpful and made it all work well for me, the business needs him around! Sea Views are fab, Nobu is great.
You shouldn't have to pay for wi fi in the 21st century. I didn't as Im a member of the Presidents club. Tip is to join the presidents club!
The hotel is very pretty with a welcoming staff who greeted me by name at every turn. The room was a good size with a very comfortable bed. TV options in English were nice to have.
This is probably on par with a hotel that would be $250-$300 in the US--and I paid twice that. The taxi stand employees completely ignored me and I ended up trying to walk around the extremely confusing city alone.
Beautiful hotel lobby/ restaurants and rooms/ great facilities/ fabulous surrounding area. Perfect for a romantic getaway! Warm swimming pool with great views out to sea :)
Come with a passport and Channel handbag! I came without the passport and I was almost disregarded by the receptionist as if I wasn't worthy to be there, totally unacceptable! Everything is extra price, I don't mind paying but pleeease within reason! 20 euros for 24 hour wifi I stayed 1 night and as you cant check in until 3pm, its actually 21 hours wifi, facts please!! The only tv channels in English were news channels, as I am a solo traveler I wasn't out late therefore I paid another 14 euros for a film just to break from the news headlines, I am not a politician don't force me into being into one Fairmont. Also the swimming pool doesn't open until 9am, an early morning swim would be nice to offer guests at 650 euros per room???
Nice and comfortable Hotel in a very good central Location.
Beautiful hotel stayed in garden room which was spacious , we'll appointed and very clean. Air con fantastic and certainly no noise problems. Lovely balcony with views to the casino. Enjoying drinks in the sapphire bar watching the boats or evening piano music was really lovely.Didn't eat in main restaurant as a little pricey and a lovely selection of cheaper restaurants 500 metres from hotel- turn right ,down hill cross road and a variety of places to eat with lovely ambience. Roof top has music and lounge chairs really lovely on a warm evening. All staff from reception to cleaners were friendly and welcoming. Used the buses as cheap and frequent. U can get day pass for 5euros. Car lovers paradise Ferrari, Porsche, mercedes, bentleys -everywhere ! A beautiful hotel for special occasion.
The scenery, the food, the Nikki Beach Club and the ambience. Very romantic and beautiful place to stay. We got upgraded as the room we were given was on floor minus 1 and was like the staff quarters. We were given a suite..fab
The prices for a soft drink...10 Euros for small water, a cheese baguette for 26 Euros, the room we were first given and the amount of complaining we had to do to get moved
The best location in Monte Carlo, 1 minute walk distance to the casino, facing the sea without any distance, you can even hear the sound of the sea. Nice atmosphere, the whole holel looks like a cruise ship.
room and balcony ocean front was excellent
Thank you for your wonderfull hospitality ... We were crlebrating our anniversary and were given a better room and found a cake in the room !!!! Great staff !!! Freindly helpfull .... Thank you !!!!
Beautiful views from Seaview rooms with lovely balcony. Great pool with plenty of sun loungers to laze the day away. Casino right next door. Just a short stroll to town or catch the bus over the road.


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Chris Lakey
Friday, October 12, 2012
Don't you just love the way football fans can find a shred of comfort in the most difficult of times? Norwich fans on the way back from Stamford Bridge last weekend were offered some free emotional soothing, thanks to Ipswich Town's 2-1 home defeat by Malky Mackay's Cardiff City.
Just as City are struggling, the Tractor Boys are too – but while it's heresy to compare the two clubs, the manner of Town's struggles do ring a very noisy bell. A manager who hasn't perhaps gained universal popularity with supporters, a chief executive who holds a similar position in the polls, and a squad that is being increasingly added to by the presence of loan players.
For Paul Jewell, Simon Clegg and co, read Glenn Roeder, Neil Doncaster and co.
City, in attempting to reverse what was a steady decline into obscurity, went for a 'name' manager who ended up being a square peg in a round, rural hole, attempting to rescue perhaps his own reputation as much as his own club's cause with a succession of decisions that proved only to be a case of stepping in one cow pat after another.
Roeder's loan policy was more miss than hit – it kept City away from the bottom rung once, but for every Leroy Lita goal there was another poor Antoine Sibierski performance, and when the jaws of relegation opened again, Roeder was told to leave before the situation became irretrievable.
That was in January, 2009. Whoever makes the decisions at Portman Road would do well to consider what happened that season.
Bryan Gunn was brought in on a wave of emotion that it was assumed would create a sleeves-rolled-up work ethic that would pull City out of trouble.
But Gunn had no track record to point to when it came to such situations and his own loan signings served only to take City in the opposite direction. Chris Killen, Alan Gow, David Carney could not be expected to have a commitment to the Norwich City cause that would mirror the needs of the supporters. They weren't Darren Huckerby or Iwan Roberts.
Are Ipswich on the same course? The suggestions that loan players are a short-term fix is an incorrect one... fix means mend, and that isn't always the way. Jewell had a plan for long-term security, but in a time of crisis has tried to add experience and leadership, on a temporary basis.
Danny Higginbotham and Richie Wellens have joined for a month, Southend United centre-back Bilel Mohsni for three, a signing that took Town to seven loan players. Fortunately (or otherwise), the rules say all seven can feature on a match day because a couple – St Etienne's Guirane N'Daw and Celtic's Daryl Murphy – are with foreign clubs.
The abandonment of his policy leaves Jewell with a mish-mash of players who, just as they get to know their team-mates' names, are back at their parent club, caring little about whether Ipswich go down or not. And if you are struggling to coach a stable squad, what on earth is going to happen when instability creeps in?
The question, of course, is do Town stick with Jewell or do they get rid of him before it gets any worse? Neither guarantees success.
Six months after Roeder left, Gunn left too. So did Doncaster, and his chairman. In came David McNally as chief executive and Paul Lambert as manager. No one needs to tell Ipswich fans what happened next.
And before anyone says, "yes, but City are struggling as well now", think again. They are playing some of the best teams in Europe, they have restored financial stability off the field and they have rescued a tarnished reputation.
Things could be a lot worse for Norwich City.
I suppose it was inevitable, but Chelsea fans' vocal support for John Terry last weekend proved that while there are many ills in the game, the obstacle of sheer, blind faith is one that will be difficult to overcome.
One assumes that not all those who sang Terry's name were endorsing his stance on his racist abuse case which has cast a desperate shadow over football this year. But their support does prove that even those principles which many adhere to can be cast aside on a Saturday afternoon.
In another walk of life, a work-mate 'convicted' of racist behaviour might well be given the cold shoulder.
Meanwhile, Anton Ferdinand – the 'victim' – can expect dog's abuse any time he goes near a Chelsea fan. I hesitate to say it's a funny old game, because it clearly isn't.
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Consumers Businesses
The following product safety recall was voluntarily conducted by the firm in cooperation with the CPSC. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.
Name of Product: 1-X Bicycle Suspension Seat Post
Units: About 1,480
Manufacturer: Cannondale Bicycle Corporation, of Bethel, Conn.
Hazard: The seat posts may have been improperly manufactured, which could cause the seat post to fail prematurely. A failure could lead to a crack in the bicycle seat post, which may cause the rider to fall or crash.
Incidents/Injuries: No incidents or injuries reported.
Description: The recall involves Lee Chi model 1-X bicycle suspension seat posts. The seat post was manufactured by a component manufacturer for Cannondale and installed on various 2005 model year Cannondale brand bicycles. These seat posts have a natural anodized aluminum finish, a 1-X logo is laser etched on the outer tube, and a black, yellow and red instruction booklet with the 1-X logo is attached. Lee Chi is also known as Promax, but the seat posts are not marked with either name. Specific Cannondale bicycle models with affected seat posts are listed in the table below. Model names are printed on the top tube of the bicycle frame.
Sold at: Authorized Cannondale dealers nationwide sold bicycles with affected seat posts in December 2004 for about $800 to $1,600. Manufactured In: TaiwanRemedy: Consumers should stop using the bicycle immediately and contact their local Cannondale dealer for a replacement seat post at no cost to the consumer. Authorized dealers have the exact models and serial numbers of bicycles with affected seat posts. Consumer Contact: Call Cannondale toll-free at (800) BIKE-USA between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death associated with the use of thousands of types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $1 trillion annually. CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical or mechanical hazard. CPSC's work to help ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters and household chemicals -– contributed to a decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 40 years.
Federal law bars any person from selling products subject to a publicly-announced voluntary recall by a manufacturer or a mandatory recall ordered by the Commission.
To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury go online to www.SaferProducts.gov or call CPSC's Hotline at (800) 638-2772 or teletypewriter at (301) 595-7054 for the hearing impaired. Consumers can obtain news release and recall information at www.cpsc.gov, on Twitter @USCPSC or by subscribing to CPSC's free e-mail newsletters.
Times: 8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. ET; Messages can be left anytime
Call to get product safety and other agency information and to report unsafe products.
Please use the below phone number for all media requests.
Phone: (301) 504-7908
Spanish: (301) 504-7800
View CPSC contacts for specific areas of expertise
We are still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product.
Report a Product on SaferProducts.gov
The link you selected is for a destination outside of the Federal Government. CPSC does not control this external site or its privacy policy and cannot attest to the accuracy of the information it contains. You may wish to review the privacy policy of the external site as its information collection practices may differ from ours. Linking to this external site does not constitute an endorsement of the site or the information it contains by CPSC or any of its employees.
Click Ok if you wish to continue to the website; otherwise, click Cancel to return to our site.


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The Missouri DOT (MoDOT) has launched an ambitious bridge rehabilitation plan to repair and replace hundreds of troubled structures by 2012.
The Safe & Sound Bridge Improvement Plan has targeted 800 bridges. The goal: to find a single contractor that can design and execute the bridge upgrades, then maintain the bridges for the next 25 years.
"There are more than 10,000 bridges on Missouri's state highway system, and too many of them need work," says MoDOT director Pete Rahn. "We need to do something dramatic to get them in good shape quickly."
MoDOT's first step is to target the 800 bridges most in need of repair, then accept bids and select a winner by the summer of 2007. The cost is expected to reach up to $600 million. Visit www.modot.org
Bridges and Culverts
PUBLIC WORKS Staff
With federal highway funding expiring May 31, seems just about everyone in Washington's...
Bridges & culverts
To meet the unique factors in constructing mass concrete elements on the bridge,...
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The Rockies come home to a skeptical fan base. |
On Thursday afternoon in Miami, the Rockies blew a three-run lead and lost to the hometown Marlins in front of about 35 screaming fans.
The Rockies bullpen--specifically Matt Belisle--the Rockies righty faced eight batters in the 8th inning, allowing four singles and a walk. That damage resulted in three Marlins runs being scored, which secured the series victory for the hometown team and put the Rockies in an awkward spot as they come home to nearly 50,000 fans who will pack out Coors Field with skepticism on their minds.
The Rockies owners, Dick and Charlie Monfort, have long been criticized for caring less about wins and losses and more about the revenue that comes from fans packing the seats at 20th & Blake. This is an easy conclusion to arrive at, however it isn't accurate. The reality is, the Monforts want to win, they simply have no idea how to do that. Listen to Dick Monfort address the media. His lack of baseball knowledge is so pronounced that even the common baseball fan outpaces his knowledge.
On Wednesday afternoon, Monfort gave the media a tour of the new ill-timed party deck in right field. As the guys from local radio show Denver Sports Nation on 94.1 FM pointed out, Monfort actually compared the Rockies acquisition of Brett Anderson to the Broncos acquiring Peyton Manning.
World Series here we come!
A wise man would place a bet that at this time one year ago, the older Monfort brother couldn't have told you what team Anderson played for, let alone whether he threw right handed or left handed.
The sad reality is that this is one of the four members of the decision-making team for the Rockies. Monfort, along with Dan O'Dowd, Bill Geivett and Walt Weiss are the four the make up the brain trust of team decisions, at least according to Geivett's Twitter Q&A with fans less than two weeks ago.
While the focus should be on a team that is actually very talented, statements like Monfort continues to make are so disheartening to Rockies fans that it is hard for them to even pay attention to the struggles of the team on the field. And, quite frankly, those struggles on the field are hard to ignore.
After two of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history, the Rockies have once again tried to convince their fan base that they have good reason to be excited about the direction of this club. While four games doesn't give reason enough for strong opinions to be made, the Rockies look discombobulated early. They look lost on the mound and seem to be struggling to figure out what pitches to throw.
Instead of a team excited to get the regular season started, the Rockies look like a team that just showed up to spring training and got thrown into game action without the proper time to prepare.
The Rockies have a shot to make this a very impressive season. The talent is there. That has been said over and over again. Plenty of Rockies fans would enjoy every bite of crow, and ask to wash it down with some purple Kool-Aid if they were able to see the Rockies prove them wrong. However, there simply is no reason for fans to believe that things are going to be different in 2014 then they were in 2013 or 2012.
Everything about April says that the attitude should be positive. Baseball is a sport that allows even the worst of teams to think that when the beginning of April rolls around that they have a chance in the new season. The game is designed that way. Any team can beat any team on any given night. However, despite the talent, Rockies fans are in a Missouri state of mind. They need to be shown results before they are going to believe in potential.
If the Rockies were hoping to show that right out of the gate in 2014, a four game set in Miami to kick things off certainly didn't help their cause.
Opening Day is always a fun event. Rockies fans should arrive early and enjoy the festivities that go along with the day. Juan Nicasio gets the honors of starting for the Rockies. He will oppose Randall Delgado from the Diamondbacks. If the Rockies can find a way to make a statement, the large crowd may find that it is more fun to watch the actual team on the field rather than spend time on the party deck in right field ignoring the action.
Follow me on Twitter @RockiesReview. Like me on Facebook, search "Rockies Review"


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Hey Carillo, Nice work, but I've already created a darkside Boot screen...
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[Re-Release] Media Center Edition Winntbbu
Started by
, Oct 12 2006 02:45 AM
Posted 20 April 2007 - 08:32 AM
Posted 20 April 2007 - 08:34 AM
Posted 20 April 2007 - 09:35 AM
Yea sorry... thats what I meant lol
I've taken the bitmaps from windows 2003 setup screen. Don't get that funny square around the bullet points with that.
I've taken the bitmaps from windows 2003 setup screen. Don't get that funny square around the bullet points with that.
Download XPize Darkside 2.1 here!
Posted 20 April 2007 - 10:40 AM
Those squares are normal, i get them in XPreview also with the original Antonio's blue winntbbu but they don't appear during windows setup. Byezzzzz
Posted 01 January 2008 - 09:57 AM
Here's the German, English, and Polish MCE Winntbbu.dl_ in one file:
Edited by spitf1r3, 01 January 2008 - 11:25 AM.
Posted 05 February 2008 - 03:09 PM
This works on a Dutch Windows XP MCE 2005 also? Because it looks much nicer then the normal.
Posted 18 March 2008 - 04:32 AM
Posted 17 July 2008 - 08:52 AM
Not able to open it with any utility is it locked???
resoure tuner fails and said use peexplorer
peexplorer fails
resoure tuner fails and said use peexplorer
peexplorer fails
Posted 18 July 2008 - 09:51 AM
Posted 18 July 2008 - 10:11 AM
Posted 22 January 2011 - 09:12 PM
i freakin love it with mce logo it goes well with my mce 2005 windows...can you make another one if it is possible with better cool stuff.....
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text: | Life without my carJanuary 16, 2013 - Pam RodgersLast Tuesday, I was initiated into a very exclusive group, "The Deer Slayers." Most of the members are willing, outdoorsy type people who hunt deer recreationally. I, however, was press-ganged into service when I hit a deer with my car on the way home from work. Now the deer has passed on and my car is in the shop with more than $5,000 worth of damage. Yikes! It was one of the more traumatic moments of my life. I honestly never saw the deer coming. I travel Garwin Road almost every day, and I know that the road is littered with deer of all sizes. In the lovely winter months when it gets dark at 5 in the afternoon, it makes it more difficult to spot the pesky animals as they try to cross the road. Add some hills and drove of trees and it's like dodging land mines out there. Luckily, I was able to keep it together and not put my car in the ditch. I drove to safer part of the road and pulled off to inspect the damage. Nothing could have prepared me for the sight of my mangled bumper and hood. I know it could have been a lot worse, but I find little comfort in those words. I wasn't the only one in a state of shock. My car was very confused. The only idiot light ... I mean warning light that came on in the car was "check head lamp." Believe me that was a least of my worries. But I suppose "front of car is messed up" wasn't an option. A very nice gentleman stopped to see if I was OK. I didn't get his name but I appreciated that he took the time to stop and check. Physically, I was unhurt but I was an emotional roller coaster at the time. I wanted to take a second and thank that man again in my blog. I didn't want to leave the car on the side of the road. I had some personal belongings in it that I wanted to take out before the tow truck came the next day. It was drivable enough to drive the two miles to my house. Let me tell you, I got some strange looks as I turned into town. One car at the all-way stop visibly slowed down in the middle of the intersection to do a double take. Thanks for that. Like I didn't already know my car was broken. Once the car was safely in the garage. I let the waterworks go for about 10 minutes. I'm not a crier but sometimes you need it just to get all of the horrid emotions out of your system. The next step in this process is a lot of phone calls. I called my insurance claims department, talked to the adjuster and the appraiser, multiple times. I called the car garage three times and the tow service several times to be sure my car got to the right place. It seemed never ending. I also called a rental car agency to see how much it would cost to rent one from the time my car was being fixed. Since it's going to be a month before I get my car back, those prices were a bit out of my budget. So now I'm and driving my parents' car. I'm so nervous it's not even funny. I have been driving 45 miles per hour (or slower) at times on Garwin Road to make sure I don't hit another deer. Sorry to any cars who are following me! I have to put most planned weekend trips on hold. I'm pretty much counting on holing up in Garwin unless my parents take me somewhere. It's junior high all over again. I can't wait to get my car back! Now I'm just waiting on my official acceptance letter from "The Deer Slayers." I wonder if it will be delivered by owl like in Harry Potter. | Blog Photos |


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Waldorf Miami Beach
Leopard-print thongs, rollerblading grandmas, body-painted dancers...Miami's South Beach scene may be known for a lot of things, but cheap Art Deco beachfront living ain't one of them. Until now: Welcome to the waterfront, Waldorf.
Room Mate Hotels' latest budget boutique, opening this spring, was renovated from the bones of the 65-year-old Waldorf Towers (no relation to Astoria). The 44 Art Deco rooms have been given a funky overhaul, with an airy Miami vibe that hits the right balance between comfy and sleek.
The spunky Spanish chainlet attracts a young, hip set willing to trade large rooms for prime location, free breakfast and Wi-Fi, and comfy beds at affordable prices (from $139)--kind of like crashing in the (very cushy) guest room of a savvy friend. And like a good friend, Room Mate is giving you a break: 25 percent off Web rates on five standard and five deluxe rooms from the hotel's opening through October 15, 2011 (minus Memorial Day weekend). Book using code rmwaldorf, and tell 'em we say hola.
Photo: Courtesy of Room Mate Hotels


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Our notable Parker Living line of upholstery features comfort and quality that is surpassed by few in our industry. Within each of our uniquely crafted designs, you will find a wide range of sofa groups and sectionals to add superior dimension to your living area. Each frame is carefully constructed with durability and style as our primary consideration.
Parker House Entertainment collections accent the beauty of your living area with a wide array of designs that are sure to compliment your home space. Our Entertainment collections offer durable wood construction in numerous adaptable finishes. Mindfully crafted for media devices, our entertainment units offer an abundance of TV and storage space.
Parker House collections are as stylish as they are functional & are the perfect addition to any home.
Our Library and Home Office collections offer a wide variety of custom storage options with countless configurations to suit your individual and household needs.
We proudly offer these collections as multi-functional Entertainment Centers, Home Offices, Bookcase Walls, & Entertainment Bar Walls that make social get-togethers simple and enjoyable. Our furniture offers
innovative construction and design that allows you to connect your home with our tradition.
Parker House Furniture is proudly family owned and operated. A third generation of furniture makers, we opened our first upholstery factory in downtown Los Angeles in 1946, providing furniture to the Southern California Market.
Today, Parker House offers a wide variety of Living Room, Home Entertainment and Home Office furniture nationwide, as well as several international countries. Our goal is to offer our customers the best value in the furniture industry.
We strive to achieve the highest quality, service, engineering, and product availability. We are grateful for loyal customers that look to Parker House to provide the style and excellence they expect.
Please contact us to find a distributor in your area.


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I've noticed that many women in their sixties and older go for short haircuts. I imagine that this is mostly because short hair is easier to deal with, but I have a feeling that the change in color and texture might have something to do with it.
My mother keeps her hair just long enough to hold a perm, and once it has been permed, it appears to be only a couple of inches long. The perm draws up the hair quite a bit.
However, she doesn't have to do anything to it but wash it and put a little bit of hair gel in. She doesn't blow dry it, and she never has to use any other heating tools on it.
The only drawback is that she has to keep getting it trimmed and permed again every few months. Otherwise, she'll end up with hair that is half curly and half straight.


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We will listen to your ideas and use your objectives to create a customized solution. GSL is in business to help your organization succeed on the Internet. By defining your vision, GSL will create a solution that is tailored to your needs and one that clearly characterizes your organization's objectives.
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Building a web presence is important for any organization in today's Internet driven world. Whether establishing a presence through a website or providing your organization with web-based software applications, GSL is unparalleled in providing customized Internet solutions.
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