Happy Labor Day everyone!

Will you be laboring on Labor Day? I am sure we will, just not sure where yet. If no last minute clients need appointments this weekend, we may work at our own house! Our poor yard, and landscape, could use some attention. However, 100+ degrees, we will see!  At least the end is in sight, and cooler weather MUST be around the corner.

Lots of outdoor solar shades are being requested these days, as well as the best insulating window coverings we  have.  Only 12 more days of the best Hunter Douglas sales of the year, on their most energy efficient coverings..

Check out our before and after!

Photos are finally in, and posted to our online photo album,.  Click on the link on this homepage, or go to www.picturetrail.com/houseonpowderhorn.  

Fun project, taking this sadly neglected home and transforming it to a lovely, comfortable place for someone to live.  In a great , convenient location , we try to do the things we would want in our home. I think we have accomplished it. In this home, as we completed each step, it was, great, this is it!

Now, looking for the next home that needs us!

Top Headlines in Real Estate

	Wisdom of the professional crowd The week's most popular news: Real Estate See the Latest Headlines » Powered by + Real Estate Freddie Mac Warns of Short Sale Fraud - dsnews.com Short sales are quickly gaining ground with homeowners, lenders, and investors alike, and industry data released this week shows that these pre-foreclosure transactions are being pushed through at a faster pace. Freddie Mac... 8 shares  •  Read full story  •  Share REO, preforeclosure properties selling at a larger discount - inman.com The share of bank-owned homes and homes in some stage of foreclosure dropped 5 percent from the first quarter to the second quarter, falling from 36 percent to 31 percent... 47 shares  •  Read full story  •  Share Slowdown Impacts Commercial Real Estate Markets, Modest Improvement Seen - realtor.org Commercial real estate vacancy rates are flat and projections for growth have been moderated because economic growth and job creation have been weaker than expected... 16 shares  •  Read full story  •  Share Proposal to bulk sell REO could hurt home prices: Radar Logic - housingwire.com At least one housing analyst is pushing back against a government proposal to dispose of the government's real-estate owned properties through bulk sales to investors. Quinn Eddins, director of research at data firm Radar... 18 shares  •  Read full story  •  Share Pre-Foreclosure Short Sales Jump 19% in Second Quarter - dsnews.com Short sales shot up 19 percent between the first and second quarters, with 102,407 transactions completed during the April-to-June period, according to RealtyTrac. Over the same timeframe, a total of 162,680 bank-owned REO... 51 shares  •  Read full story  •  Share See the Latest Headlines » Better. Faster. The New LinkedIn Mobile App for iPhone and Android. Don't want to receive email notifications? Adjust your message settings LinkedIn values your privacy. At no time has LinkedIn made your email address available to any other LinkedIn user without your permission. © 2011, LinkedIn Corporation

Winding down, photos to come

The final accessories are placed, and photos taken for the "transformation" album, and the realtors listing. We will have the photos in the online album by tomorrow, and will include the link on this blog after that.  What a transformation! You don't realize how far you have come until you look at the before photos!  That is the coolest part.

Today, we installed some Hunter Douglas Designer Roller Shades in a new home just outside Marble Falls.  The colors we chose were a great match to the wall colors, with blackout shades providing total privacy in the bedrooms, and translucent shades cutting out the very strong sun in the other rooms, but still allowing a softly filtered view of the beautiful Texas countryside.  It was immediately 10 degrees cooler in the rooms when we installed those shades.  What a great product, I love it!

We attended a Builder's Association mixer tonight at the American Bank of Texas in Marble Falls.  Lots of good friends, great food and drink, and fun was had by all.

Top Headlines in Real Estate

	Your daily dose The week's most popular news: Real Estate See the Latest Headlines » Powered by + Real Estate Existing-Home Sales Down in July but Up Strongly From a Year Ago - realtor.org Existing-Home Sales Down in July but Up Strongly From a Year... 40 shares  •  Read full story  •  Share Mortgage rates plumb new depths - inman.com Mortgage rates plunged into uncharted territory this week as fears that the U.S. and Europe might be headed for another recession had investors moving funds out of stock markets and... 35 shares  •  Read full story  •  Share More mortgage servicers bypass foreclosure delays with short sales - housingwire.com Mortgage servicers contending with attorney general investigations and extended foreclosure delays turned more to short sales in the past year. In August 2009, short sales accounted for 8% of all liquidations of distressed... 25 shares  •  Read full story  •  Share Perry Made More Than a Million on Real Estate - bloomberg.com Texas Governor Rick Perry, who has never been paid a government salary of more than $150,000, became a millionaire while in public office through well-timed sales in the Texas real estate market. 5 shares  •  Read full story  •  Share Housing Inventory Declines but Slow Sales Pace Adds Staying Power - dsnews.com There were 3.65 million existing-homes available for sale at the end of July, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). That tally is down 1.7 percent from June, but the time it will take to clear the supply from... 13 shares  •  Read full story  •  Share See the Latest Headlines » Don't want to receive email notifications? Adjust your message settings LinkedIn values your privacy. At no time has LinkedIn made your email address available to any other LinkedIn user without your permission. © 2011, LinkedIn Corporation

Undercabinet Lighting - Must Have Tip of the Week!

Well, we finished the undercabinet lighting for our kitchen today, and what a difference!  Makes the glass deco glisten just right and brightens the whole area. If you have never had undercabinet lighting, you will be amazed at what a difference it makes!! Lots of bang for a little buck!

 Finishing the trim on cabinets, landscaping finished, will be ready for market this week. We have started staging, a few pieces that we could move ourselves.  Monday will finish with the larger pieces, and make this house a home!

On a personal note, the family got a preview today. The grandkids loved it, from the family friendly hardwood floors to the curved tree in the back yard that is perfect for climbing , or as my grandson said, just right for sitting in the tree!

Photo album, houseonpowderhorn, is now posted as a link on this blog.   Mostly before photos, the after photos will be posted as soon as the furnishing and accessorizing are completed.

Top Headlines in Real Estate

	Have you read and shared your news today? The week's most popular industry news: Real Estate See the Latest Headlines » Powered by + Real Estate - inman.com Oops. It looks like we're having some minor technical difficulties. Please bear with us. We'll be right back. 54 shares  •  Read full story  •  Share Mortgage rates plummet to new lows on market concerns - housingwire.com Mortgage interest rates plummeted to new lows this week as the economy felt the stings of European debt concerns and investors rushed to U.S. Treasurys, a scenario that pushed long-term yields lower. The 30-year, fixed-rate... 20 shares  •  Read full story  •  Share Foreclosures fall for 10th straight month - money.cnn.com Fewer Americans are falling behind on mortgage payments and losing their homes to foreclosure. 38 shares  •  Read full story  •  Share Nevada Law Makes Foreclosure Property Damage a Crime - dsnews.com The Nevada legislature has set an October 1 effective date for a new law aimed at dissuading homeowners facing foreclosure from vandalizing the property. The law prohibits the destruction of real property that is subject to... 13 shares  •  Read full story  •  Share Home Price Monitor: July 2011 - realtor.org The Home Price Monitor Series reviews national home prices by examining several widely cited national measurements. 5 shares  •  Read full story  •  Share See the Latest Headlines » Don't want to receive email notifications? Adjust your message settings LinkedIn values your privacy. At no time has LinkedIn made your email address available to any other LinkedIn user without your permission. © 2011, LinkedIn Corporation

The Grass is Green!

It was 107 degrees and our wonderful landscape guys were out laying the sod, and making our front yard beautiful!  Now, for the water to hold out til it rains again, and for the deer to stay away from those tender, green plants we put in...

Our realtors stopped in today, to see how we were doing.They agreed, what a change!!  Tomorrow, working on the punch list finishing up little things, landscapers finishing the yard and getting ready for market.  Furnishing,, staging with a few pieces add to the home-like feel, and is my favorite part, really. The finishing touches, icing on the cake as it were.

We will be looking for the next project very soon, but we are very pleased with the outcome of this one, and hope some lucky homeowner will feel the same.

Luminette Modern Draperies Wow!

We started installing the new Hunter Douglas Modern Draperies for the Living Room. As a Priority Dealer, we got samples, order to size and color, to try out,learn installation technaques, etc  They look so amazing with the new tobacco color hardwood floors in the spacious living room.  I can hardly wait to start staging for sale, what a great backdrop.  Photos as soon as we finish the installation.



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Little things that make a difference

Doors are hung, carpet is installed and the beautiful new hardwood floors are 50% cleaned. We will finish the rest this weekend.  New oil rubbed bronze door hardware , proper light bulbs in all light fixtures, new tub faucets, and the landscape crew starts Monday morning.

This weekend will be spent doing all those little things that a prospective buyer won't notice if it is done, but will definitely notice if it is not done!!  Cleaning, painting a/c grates, cleaning windows , hanging shower curtains and planning the staging furniture placement.

Later....

Top Headlines in Real Estate

	What your CEO will expect you to know about The week's most popular industry news: Real Estate See the Latest Headlines » Powered by + Real Estate Home ownership hits lowest level since 1965 - money.cnn.com America is changing from a nation of home ownership to one of renters. 12 shares  •  Read full story  •  Share 10 metros with fast-moving real estate - inman.com Denver, Tampa top Realtor.com list for lowest age of inventory. Realtor.com has released a list of metros with the lowest median age of inventory at the site -- a measurement of how long a property from those market areas... 45 shares  •  Read full story  •  Share Dennis Hopper's Venice Home Back on Market - online.wsj.com Dennis Hopper's Venice, Calif., compound comes back on the market, a Miami Beach waterfront lot sells for $15 million and a Manhattan townhouse owned by the late Malcolm Forbes gets a price cut to $13.5 million. 13 shares  •  Read full story  •  Share Realtors Increasingly Dissatisfied with Servicers Regarding Short-Sales - dsnews.com Realtors continue to be dissatisfied with short-sale transactions, with 77 percent categorizing short sales as difficult or extremely difficult according to the California Association of Realtors’ (CAR) most recent Lender... 20 shares  •  Read full story  •  Share Home ownership hits lowest level since 1965 - money.cnn.com America is changing from a nation of home ownership to one of renters. 8 shares  •  Read full story  •  Share See the Latest Headlines » Don't want to receive email notifications? Adjust your message settings LinkedIn values your privacy. At no time has LinkedIn made your email address available to any other LinkedIn user without your permission. © 2011, LinkedIn Corporation