Real estate is quite brisk right now!  Showings have picked up tremendously since Christmas and we are selling homes.  It always slows down during the holidays and I know that but every year… it’s like it never happened the year before.  Well, it did it again and once again in January, everything gets back to normal…. Did I say normal??? well, there is no normal in our market but definitely highs and lows.

This past month we have already listed 4 homes and sold 3!  Two of those homes were sold while we took a much needed break for our 40th wedding anniversary while Matt held down the home front.  He always does such a great job and I think our clients love him more than us anyway!

For all our listings, check them out on our website at www.NeviusTeam.com and watch our tours on each listing for even more information.

Here are our newest listings:

This listing is at 23 Burton Pl and listed for $96,000.  It is a little doll house!  Cute as can be!  The only bad news is… it’s already under contract!

This property is at 1301 Banner Ave and is listed for $155,000.  You really won’t want to miss out on this great location!  Close to shopping, schools, dog park and very easy access to I-35 and Broadway Ext for easy commute!  Need more info or want to see the tour of this home?  Go to www.NeviusTeam.com/478193 

Another new listing is located at 3421 Baird Dr.  Also a very wonderful location in SE Edmond and is priced at $165,000.  This home is also close to shopping, schools, dog park and very easy commute!  If you would like to see the visual tour on this one, go to… www.NeviusTeam.com/478291

Here is our latest listing and it is just beautiful!  Priced at $379,500 and located at 924 Caines Hill Rd in SE Edmond in the Creek Bend addition.  Check it out at… www.NeviusTeam.com/478122

While we have several listings that are not mentioned here, we would love to invite you to check out our website.  NeviusTeam.com

If you do not have someone to represent you in your buying or selling process, please give us a chance to sit down one-on-one with you and show you why we net buyers and sellers more money and how we can help you too.

Our numbers are:

Dennis 405-830-8500

Matt 405-831-1505

Judy 405-830-8501

or email us at moreinfo@NeviusTeam.com

Facebook for iPad – Hooray!

So very excited to have the actual facebook for my iPad! It will make life so much easier! Well, I’m not sure about life, but it will certainly make fb a lot easier on my iPad! None of the other apps really worked that well and I finally gave up and just made a shortcut to my online fb to use – that was much better. Well, I think I am going to really like the new app. Much easier to use. Let me know what you think too. Please post your thoughts.

Also, just a tip… I had trouble getting it on my iPad because it kept saying it was already there. Well, it just happens that it is actually the same app that we downloaded for the iphone and I just had to go into the apps and select it in the iphone apps and where it usually says downloaded (grayed out)… it said “update” and of course I was very happy to do so. Once I did that, it worked just great!

Don’t forget – let me know what your thoughts are too!

Things are heating up…

Things really are heating up and I’m not just talking about the weather …. but thankfully that is warming up too.  I am really looking forward to getting past this awful pollen in the air – maybe we will get some rain soon and it will wash it all out of the air.  We can only hope!

Well, now back to topic… the real estate market has certainly seen great improvement over the past several weeks!  We are definitely into the buying and selling season and you can tell by the number of listings that are beginning to sell and appointments for showings.  Consumer confidence seems to have returned to Oklahoma.

I would like to share one of our new listings with you today.  It is a fabulous home located in the Creek Bend neighborhood.  It is close to I-35 making it a very easy commute for work in the city.  This 4 bedroom home with 3 full bathrooms, a powder room, Formal living, family room as well as upstairs game-room and a beautiful office is not only beautiful inside but outside as well.  This yard is just gorgeous and well landscaped.  Here is the link to check it out  http://www.NeviusTeam.com/453536  It is priced at $420,000

Here are few pictures – if you happen to be interested, just give us a call – it is very easy to show.

 

1017 Gulmor Dr

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gourmet Kitchen with huge walk-in pantry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back view of home with nice large covered patio

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hopefully you saw something you liked and now you should go to http://www.NeviusTeam.com and check out all of our great listings.

Remember, it truly is a great time to buy or sell your home.  The interest rates continue to stay very low.  No one knows just how long we will see these wonderful interest rates so please, if you are thinking about a move, now is the time.  Don’t miss out on these rates.

Call us and we will sit down and discuss your specific needs and see if this just might be the right time for you to buy or sell a home.

Have a great week!

The Nevius Team

405-830-8500

moreinfo@neviusteam.com

 

……watch for more great listings coming soon

 

What you’ve all been waiting for….

They say it is the next big thing!  Well, I of course LOVE technology and can’t seem to get enough of it.  Do I understand most of it?…. of course not but it is lots of fun to try!

QR codes have been around for a while but are just starting to catch on.  With the flood of smart phones and apps, we are seeing more and more people use them for fun, work, shopping and much more.  I have had  several apps on my phone that can read or scan the codes (more on those scan apps later)  for quite a while now and have not really used them much.   I originally downloaded them for fun.  Also, they used them quite a bit at our national convention this past November but I’m not sure just how many people really did it while we were there.  In fact, I have to confess, I scanned one and it took me to their sales page and that didn’t seem to be really all that useful and they just wasted my time.  So, as a result, I didn’t scan many more while we were there.  Shame on me! I’m the one that missed out.

It wasn’t until just lately, (nearly 4 months later) that I got interested in them again.  I have researched and experimented with them a bit and found that they are something that I can put on my flyer’s (I’m in real estate – just in case you didn’t know that!) and all our techy clients can scan them and see the visual tour of the listing right then on their phone.  I have discovered that if you are going to use a QR code, then it needs to be useful and take you somewhere you really want to go!  In my business, I think the tour is the best landing place right now and until I can come up with a better use – that is where I will be using mine.

Now of course, you might just be interested to know that some of them will take you to coupons and/or discounts;  video of a product demonstration;  to customer review; a map of a company or restaurant or tourist site;  —- my personal favorite… a trailer for a video or movie!;  a news segment;  to another mobile app???; or a place to compare prices on products that you are interested in.

As a realtor, I think I could use QR codes on sign riders, in the newspaper ads, videos that our team might do on helpful hints for our clients???; the homepage of my blog (which I intend to do right away!) and on my virtual tours (Yea for my visual tour provider – they already allow us to do that in an easy to use format and I have been taking advantage of that just lately)   I think I will add it to my email signature too?

What are your thoughts on using QR codes?  How to you think you would use them.  I would really like to know.  That’s right… leave a comment.

Oh, and I shouldn’t forget to give you the names of apps that work.  Here are the top three I have found that work on various types of scans.  They are easy to use and I can recommend them to most everyone.  The first on I ever used was:

Shop Savvy – currently 1.99 at the app store.  Here is what they say about it:  Find the right product at the best price! New release. Now the fastest, most accurate and most comprehensive scanner around. It won’t find everything in the world, but it is close.

Red Laser – FREE at the app store and here is how it is described:  RedLaser ―― Impossibly accurate barcode scanning.

And now, my personal favorite:

Yep – here’s my favorite and it is called ScanLife and it is also FREE.  Here is what they say about it:  ScanLife turns your camera phone into a all-in-one bar code reader – one of the only apps that can scan QR Codes and UPC Codes found on products.

OK now you know how to read QR Codes but would you like to make your own to use on your website, flyers or most anywhere you like???

Here is the site I use.  For your very own QR Code Generator – go to:  http://qrcode.kaywa.com/

Type in your website address and pick your size and click GENERATE – that’s all there is to it.  Now you can make your own and put them all over the place – you can even tatoo it on your forehead if you like.  Have fun!

Don’t forget to leave some comments or tweet my blog for others. NeviusTeam.wordpress.com

Be sure to tell us how you might be using QR codes  - till next time…..

Free Tax Help – everyone’s dream post!

I know none of us really enjoy tax time – especially me! But… just in case you have to prepare your own taxes, this information might be helpful!

Are you not completely sure what number goes in which box on what form (and why)? I know I don’t!

Little known fact: You can get free help from the IRS:

The IRS Website, www.irs.gov has most forms and publications available for download. The site also includes information on the latest tax laws, as well as, frequently asked tax questions.

You may also be able to prepare and file your return electronically, for free, from the www.irs.gov Website.

By Phone:

• TeleTax (recorded messages on tax topics) – 1-800-829-4477
• Forms and Publications – 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676)
• Help Line for Individuals – 1-800-829-1040
• Help Line for Businesses – 1-800-829-4933
• TTY/TDD Line – 1-800-829-4059

In Person:

IRS offices all over the country offer free tax help. To find the office nearest you, check www.irs.gov. You can also get free help from Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) or Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE). To find the location of these services, check your local newspaper, IRS office, www.irs.gov, or 1-800-829-1040.

Your tax return may be a bit more involved if you purchased a home (especially for the first time home buyer) this year, so go ahead and be sure you get some professional advice before you complete your return to be sure you are getting the maximum tax benefit of your home purchase.

Just a side note: I’m not sure why anyone would want to tackle this on their own, so my advice is to at least seek help from free sources if you do your own or…. do like I do and fork over the money and have a professional do yours! It’s worth it!

That’s it for TAX TIME!

Now don’t let this happen to you! Get some help and get it done right!

REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE RECOVER RESTORE RECLAIM

Eco Friendly: For our future

Have you asked yourself how eco-friendly you are in your day-to-day life? The truth is, you don’t have to take extreme measures to make a significant difference in the world. Even small measures add up when you think green.

If every household replaced just one roll of regular paper towels with 100% recycled ones, more than 500,000 trees would be saved.

If everyone used composting to reuse trash, the average personwould reduce waste from 1,500 ppounds to 375 pounds annually.

If every shopper brought reusable bags with them instead of using plastic, more than 500 billion plastic bags would be eliminated per year worldwide.

If every American used rechargeable batteries, 1 billion kilowatt-hours of power would be saved per year.

If every home installed faucet aerators, more than 250 million gallons of water would be conserved every day.

Just the Facts:

If every family in the U.S. planted just one tree, more than a billion pounds of greenhouse gas would be removed from the atmosphere every year by the new trees. For information on the purchasing and growing of trees, visit the National Arbor Day Foundation at www.arborday.org or call 1-888-448-7337.

When you are ready to look at saving money on purchasing a home, be sure to call The Nevius Team. We are the experts and we will not only save you money and get you the best deal, we will guide you through the process of getting a very low cost loan – Now is the time to buy with rates at all time lows! Give us a call 405-830-8500 today.

Tweet ideas!

 

 

Here are a few helpful hints when working with a twitter account.  You may find them helpful too!

10 Do’s and Don’t's for Maximizing Your Twitter Account By Stephanie Andre RISMEDIA, October 26, 2010–So by now, you might have a Twitter account, but are you maximizing it and using it properly for your business? If not, now is a good time to start. Soon enough, consumers will start expecting this form of communication from you. Are you prepared? Here are some Do’s and Don’t's from nFusion, a company that specializes in advertising and interactive marketing strategy, for what you should, and more importantly, shouldn’t be doing with your Twitter profile. Do’s 1. Download a Twitter client. A Twittter client, like TweetDeck, will give you quick access to your tweet timeline, your followers’ timelines, and search for topics that interest you. Then you can complete your profile and start gaining followers. 2. Monitor discussions on relevant subjects. Twitter conversations happen in real time and you need to be ready to jump in and respond before the conversation stops. Find these discussions using the Twitter Search feature and enter a subject. 3. Tag your tweets using a hash tag when talking about popular subject matters. A hash tag is created by using the pound symbol (#) followed by the subject name. Anyone who searches for that particular subject will then be alerted of your tweets. 4. Tweet frequently. An update to your Twitter account is referred to as a “tweet.” The more often you tweet, the more opportunities you’ll have to grow your follower base. 5. Re-post others’ tweets or links using the retweet (RT) tag. Retweeting shows you’re engaged and associates you with good content. To retweet, just use the “RT” tag, as in “RT@dave1: CNN reports meteor shower.” Don’t’s 1. Don’t only tweet about your product or service. There’s nothing wrong with discussing your company’s latest news, but if all of your Tweets are about your business others will consider you a spammer. 2. Don’t tweet 10 times in a row and be done for the day. Conversations are happening at all times of the day, so don’t limit your reach by engaging users for just a short period of time. 3. Don’t be afraid to disagree with other users. Disagreeing publicly is a great way to get attention. But always be respectful. Tweets can be indexed by search engines and referenced by the public. Make sure your response is appropriate for anyone who might read it. 4. Don’t stop finding people to follow. To increase the likelihood of users finding your profile, you need to follow them first. Use Twitter’s search function to discover people who share your interests. 5. Don’t include lengthy URLs in your posts. Because Twitter allows posts of 140 characters or under (spaces included), it is sometimes helpful to use a URL shortener such as kl.am to convert long addresses.

 

Brought to you by Lowe’s Daily news – Tuesday, October 26, 2010

 

LowesRealtorBenefits.com LowesMoving.com Lowes.com RISMedia.com Thursday, Oct 28th, 2010 Brought to you by  and sponsored by

 

 

 

Politics and Religion…. Oh no

Those are two things I have been cautioned not to blog about, but hopefully, this post is acceptable to most everyone!

Have you ever wondered just exactly who is running for what in your next election? Well, if you are an iphone, ipod touch or ipad user, wonder no more!  I found this app today and I think it will be very helpful!  Just download, find your polling place, the election calendar, register to vote (this may be a bit late for the upcoming election) and best of all find out about the candidates and who is running against who!

AT&T has launched a free new app designed to encourage and help voters get to the polls this midterm election season.

VoterHub

VoterHub debuted Saturday with an array of features that includes an online voter registration form.  However, given that many states require registration 20 to 30 days in advance of election, that particular function might be late for many users.  Other features might prove more immeidately useful.  Voters can find out where their polls are and learn about their state’s procedures for advance or absentee voting.  Users can also find brief bios on candidates for Congress, governor and local legislative races (although the information, where available, is limited to resume-type data instead of political positions), and take a closer look at their state’s election calendar.

VoterHub is compatible with any iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch running iOS 3.1 or later.

(Posted on Oct 19, 2010 9:49 am by Joel Mathis, Macworld.com)

I love this one and I think you will too!

If you have a favorite app that you would like to see promoted here, just let me know!

2010 Oklahoma Realtor of the Year announced!

We attended the Oklahoma Association of Realtors conference the last two days in Tulsa Oklahoma.  It is always a great event for realtors and a great time to pick up continuing education credit as well as celebrate a few awards with our fellow realtors.

This year was especially exciting for me because my husband of 39 years was given what I think to be the highest honor an Oklahoma realtor can receive.  He was selected the 2010 Oklahoma Realtor of the Year and was awarded a plaque, a very beautiful pin for his lapel and most of all the honor of serving as this year’s Realtor of the Year for the entire state.  They played a great video for him after it was announced and several of his family members as well as his local broker and her husband came as a surprise to him to see him receive this award.  Our beautiful grandchildren even got to participate in the video and that was especially touching!

I am so proud of Dennis as he has served on his local board for many years as well as at the state and national level.  He has always felt that it as especially important to give back to a profession that has been so good to him.  If you have a minute and would like to wish him well, please go ahead and give him a call!  He would love to hear from you.  His number is 405-830-8500.

http://www.youtube.com/v/jb5wQefT9RQ?version=3

More pics from that day!

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Do credit scores baffle you?

In today’s market, it can be harder and harder to qualify for a home loan and that is why you have to be especially careful of your credit score!

Here are a few tips to improve your credit score:

• Having no credit cards can be as bad as having too many.  Even if you’re someone who’s more comfortable paying in cash, obtain and use at least one credit cared to prove you can maintain and manage a line of credit
• Since good credit is partially based on length of credit history, avoid closing out long-term credit cards, even if you haven’t used them in years.  Instead, simply destroy the card.
• Avoid opening all of the department store credit cards you’re offered.  Even if you get that 10% or 20% discount, you may pay far more with marks on your credit history, especially if you’re opening too many in a short period of time.
• Keep on top of your credit history by requesting your score periodically.  You can request your credit report for free every 12 months without negatively effecting your score.  Check all three major reporting companies at www.annualcreditreport.com, a government-sponsored site.

If you have trouble understanding your credit score or how it could affect your buying power, call us and let us visit with you soon.

THE NEVIUS TEAM

Keller Williams Realty

405-830-8500 Direct

405-330-2626 – ask for The Nevius Team