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Magee and Associates Newsletter
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Our Real Estate Family's October Birthdays
Get On The Right Sleep Schedule
Are you a night owl? Most of us can pull the occasional all-nighter, but for some people getting to sleep before 2 or 3 a.m. is a real struggle, and getting up at 7 or 8 in the morning is next to impossible. It’s not laziness, or simple insomnia, but a condition doctors call Delayed Sleep Phase (DSP) Disorder.
DSP interferes with a person’s internal clock, or circadian rhythm. Approximately three in 2,000 adults, and 7-16 percent of teenagers, have trouble falling asleep within two hours of what’s considered a “normal” bedtime. The causes of DSP are unknown, and by itself it’s not a threat to health as long as one gets sufficient sleep. But people with DSP may have trouble accommodating a standard work or school schedule because of sleep deprivation. Some sufferers may resort to alcohol or sedatives to help them fall asleep, which can lead to other problems.
What’s to be done? Some of the most common treatments include:
Light/darkness therapy. Avoid bright lights for up to two hours before going to bed. When you wake up, turn on the lights, or get outside as quickly as possible to trigger more wakefulness in your body.
Chronotherapy. Try resetting your body’s schedule by gradually adjusting your bedtime. Go to bed 15-30 minutes earlier every night, and get up earlier by the same amount of time. (You may need to wait until you have some vacation time to attempt this.) Another strategy: Stay up all night, then go to bed an hour or so earlier than normal on the next night, and maintain that bedtime for a week. Repeat once a week until you’re on a regular schedule.
Medications. Melatonin is a common, naturally occurring compound that can help people feel drowsy if taken an hour or so before bedtime. Prescription medications are also available; check with your doctor (and remember that you don’t need a “sleeping pill,” as you’re not suffering from insomnia).
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Help Your Child Study
First suggestion for better study habits for your children is Correct Hightlifgting. In her book, Study Smart, Study Less, Anne Crossman suggest using different color markers for more effective notes, such as yellow for new information, red for relevant vocabulary, etc.
The Model Model. Build a 3-dimensional model of a cell when your child is learning about cell structure. Could be a fun way to get away from the textbook for awhile.
Consolidate Notes. Have your child take notes for a class period or a book chapter....condense them into one note card. Have him do this Each time he studies until he has a week's worth of cards, and then he can condense those into one. Put the daily cards in one box and the weekly summaries in another box. If he reviews his weekly cards each weekend, he will be prepared come test day.
The Model Model. Build a 3-dimensional model of a cell when your child is learning about cell structure. Could be a fun way to get away from the textbook for awhile.
Consolidate Notes. Have your child take notes for a class period or a book chapter....condense them into one note card. Have him do this Each time he studies until he has a week's worth of cards, and then he can condense those into one. Put the daily cards in one box and the weekly summaries in another box. If he reviews his weekly cards each weekend, he will be prepared come test day.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Little Newsworthy Note on Trends in Real Estate
First of all, where the jobs are and where companies are moving and building, you will see more long-term housing demands. Come on companies to our wonderful Sun-Belt to relocate your company to Texas!
Second, we are seeing people pursing a lifestyle…pursuing happiness. Growth is appearing in several areas because of the lifestyle: the climate in the Carolina’s are drawing people, the leisure trends in Colorado is attractive, and the cost of living in Texas should trigger a shift of where the markets should be improving first. So glad, Texas is in there. Now we just need these people that are moving to Texas to have jobs instead of taking our Texas jobs or coming here with no jobs.
ATTORNEY'S ADVICE - NO CHARGE
You will love them for these tips.
Read this and make a copy for your files in case you need to refer to it someday. Maybe we should all take some of his advice! A corporate attorney sent the following out to the employees in his company:
1. Do not sign the back of your credit cards . Instead, put ' PHOTO ID REQUIRED .'
2. When you are writing checks to pay on your credit card accounts, DO NOT put the complete account number on the 'For' line. Instead, just put the last four numbers . The credit card company knows the rest of the number, and anyone who might be handling your check as it passes through all the check processing channels won't have access to it.
3. Put your work phone # on your checks instead of your home phone. If you have a PO Box use that instead of your home address. If you do not have a PO Box, use your work address. Never have your SS# printed on your checks. (DUH!) You can add it if it is necessary. But if you have It printed, anyone can get it.
4. Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine . Do both sides of each license, credit card, etc. You will know what you had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel.. Keep the photocopy in a safe place.
I also carry a photocopy of my passport when I travel either here or abroad. We've all heard horror stories about fraud that's committed on us in stealing Name, address, Social Security number, credit cards...
Unfortunately, I, an attorney, have first hand knowledge because my wallet was stolen last month. Within a week, the thieves ordered an expensive monthly cell phone package, applied for a VISA credit card, had a credit line approved to buy a Gateway computer, received a PIN number from DMV to change my driving record information online, and more.
But here's some critical information to limit the damage in case this happens to you or someone you know:
5. We have been told we should cancel our credit cards immediately. But the key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to call. Keep those where you can find them.
6.. File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where your credit cards, etc., were stolen. This proves to credit providers you were diligent, and this is a first step toward an investigation (if there ever is one).
But here's what is perhaps most important of all : (I never even thought to do this.)
7. Call the 3 national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and also call the Social Security fraud line number.. I had never heard of doing that until advised by a bank that called to tell me an application for credit was made over the Internet in my name...
The alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen, and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit...
By the time I was advised to do this, almost two weeks after the theft, all the damage had been done. There are records of all the credit checks initiated by the thieves' purchases, none of which I knew about before placing the alert. Since then, no additional damage has been done, and the thieves threw my wallet away this weekend (someone turned it in). It seems to have stopped them dead in their tracks..
Now, here are the numbers you always need to contact about your wallet, if it has been stolen:
1.) Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
2.) Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888- 397-3742
3.) Trans Union : 1-800-680 7289
4.) Social Security Administration (fraud line):
1-800-269-0271
We pass along jokes on the Internet; we pass along just about everything.
If you are willing to pass this information along, it could really help someone that you care about.
Read this and make a copy for your files in case you need to refer to it someday. Maybe we should all take some of his advice! A corporate attorney sent the following out to the employees in his company:
1. Do not sign the back of your credit cards . Instead, put ' PHOTO ID REQUIRED .'
2. When you are writing checks to pay on your credit card accounts, DO NOT put the complete account number on the 'For' line. Instead, just put the last four numbers . The credit card company knows the rest of the number, and anyone who might be handling your check as it passes through all the check processing channels won't have access to it.
3. Put your work phone # on your checks instead of your home phone. If you have a PO Box use that instead of your home address. If you do not have a PO Box, use your work address. Never have your SS# printed on your checks. (DUH!) You can add it if it is necessary. But if you have It printed, anyone can get it.
4. Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine . Do both sides of each license, credit card, etc. You will know what you had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel.. Keep the photocopy in a safe place.
I also carry a photocopy of my passport when I travel either here or abroad. We've all heard horror stories about fraud that's committed on us in stealing Name, address, Social Security number, credit cards...
Unfortunately, I, an attorney, have first hand knowledge because my wallet was stolen last month. Within a week, the thieves ordered an expensive monthly cell phone package, applied for a VISA credit card, had a credit line approved to buy a Gateway computer, received a PIN number from DMV to change my driving record information online, and more.
But here's some critical information to limit the damage in case this happens to you or someone you know:
5. We have been told we should cancel our credit cards immediately. But the key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to call. Keep those where you can find them.
6.. File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where your credit cards, etc., were stolen. This proves to credit providers you were diligent, and this is a first step toward an investigation (if there ever is one).
But here's what is perhaps most important of all : (I never even thought to do this.)
7. Call the 3 national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and also call the Social Security fraud line number.. I had never heard of doing that until advised by a bank that called to tell me an application for credit was made over the Internet in my name...
The alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen, and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit...
By the time I was advised to do this, almost two weeks after the theft, all the damage had been done. There are records of all the credit checks initiated by the thieves' purchases, none of which I knew about before placing the alert. Since then, no additional damage has been done, and the thieves threw my wallet away this weekend (someone turned it in). It seems to have stopped them dead in their tracks..
Now, here are the numbers you always need to contact about your wallet, if it has been stolen:
1.) Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
2.) Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888- 397-3742
3.) Trans Union : 1-800-680 7289
4.) Social Security Administration (fraud line):
1-800-269-0271
We pass along jokes on the Internet; we pass along just about everything.
If you are willing to pass this information along, it could really help someone that you care about.
Evidence of Success
We Made a Match!
We had been showing David Craig some lower priced homes so he could refurbish and put his Mother in temporarily, while her boys were remodeling Mom’s house.
David was referred through his family, Boyd Craig’s Heating and Air, who I use and refer and met through the Plano Chamber of Commerce. We were just seeing very messy, foundation work needed, just unfit properties that would require an awful lot of work. Made several offers but some other party would come in higher and knock us out. It was getting a little frustrating.
Then, entered Jeff and Teresa Wallack. Jeff was referred to Gena, our Buyer’s Specialist, from a mutual friend. We went over to look at Teresa’s Dad’s house that was completely fixed up by Jeff and Teresa and it looked very nice and very clean. It was vacant since her Dad died so they were fixing it up to sell it. Since David had come up on his price since we couldn’t find anything that was liveable in that lower price, Gena decided this house would work for him.
Showed the house to David and yes, it was right and he bought it! We don’t have the opportunity as much as we would like to match a current client to a current listing but we did it in this case, making it a win, win situation for all parties!
If you or someone you know is looking to buy, we might just have the perfect match for them in our inventory. If not, we can find it for them with all of our other sources! We will certainly work hard for you to accomplish that.
Market Report
As you can tell from the August Statistics, we had a wonderful August in all of our cities with the number of sales exceeding what we had at the same time last year, even our average sales price being higher, more pending sales and less inventory. Of course, the tax incentive had expired by August, so our figures should be looking better than last year.
I have sold several of my listings but it does appear we are still getting showings and interest on our properties. We should be since rates are still down closer to 4.25% and below! Our prices haven’t increased across the board but some areas have had a better re-sale. The builders are out of the market so that allows the pre-owned properties to be more inviting, especially when they have been updated and well maintained and are clean.
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