I went to a Real Estate Photography Seminar about how to take pictures that sell houses. I learned that by spending another five extra minutes per shot I could get 5 times better pictures and sell more real estate.

How to use the Natural Light in a shot and not to use Flash!

How to create a “Moment” in a shot that will have viewers want to notice, stop and draw viewers in to want to check out the rest! Put the Buyer in the Shot by adding a Human Element!

How to make each picture convey THE MOST that it can- Be all you can you be- INFORMATION!

Make the viewer WANT WHAT YOU'RE SHOWING IN THE PHOTO- INSPIRATION!

Take the shot so that the viewers SEE THEMSELVES in the picture- INVITATION!

Use your ZOOM to see the whole picture.

Level the Camera- the lines of the building should be parallel with the sides of the Camera!

Remove Clutter, stage your pictures if you have to and Focus your camera!

Take some shots at sunrise or sunset when lighting is better!

Practice, Practice and more Practice!

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Steve White is the Owner/ Webmaster of SDW Realty of Cape Cod.com website and agent of Ocean Blue Realty, LLC of Falmouth. He has over 30 years of Administrative, Military, Computer and Web Experience. He has lived on Cape Cod since 1974 relocating from Medford Ma near Boston. He is a full-time realtor working with both buyers and sellers. He has earned his E-Pro Internet Professional and ABR Accredited Buyer Representative Designations. He has actively participated and blogged on Active Rain since February of 2008. He is an active member of the Cape & Islands Association of Realtors CCIAOR, National Association of Realtors NAR, and the Massachusetts Association of Realtors MAR.

Im just starting since last summer to get into the game of Golf. Cape Cod has over 50 golf courses, both 9 and 18 hole courses with a variety of distances for holes, sand bunkers, trees, greens and fairways, practice putting greens and driving ranges.

Ive been sorting out my clubs, taking ones I dont use out of my golf bag, cleaning up the ones I do use and regripped a Iron after finding a local golf shop. I just bought a driver after figuring out that I needed to have one for the longer holes. I had been using my 3 wood to get me out into the fairways but of course a Driver will get me out even further. I find that most people only use a couple of different clubs- a driver, a 3 wood, putter of course, a sand wedge and a 9 iron being the most common depending upon your expertise and skill level.

Golf is great for concentration, positive focus and taking your mind off of everything else (including real estate). Great for real estate networking as well! If you have any Golf tips/ stories / comments for me please let me know. 

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Steve White is the Owner/ Webmaster of SDW Realty of Cape Cod.com website and agent of Ocean Blue Realty, LLC of Falmouth. He has over 30 years of Administrative, Military, Computer and Web Experience. He has lived on Cape Cod since 1974 relocating from Medford Ma near Boston. He is a full-time realtor working with both buyers and sellers. He has earned his E-Pro Internet Professional and ABR Accredited Buyer Representative Designations. He has actively participated and blogged on Active Rain since February of 2008. He is an active member of the Cape & Islands Association of Realtors CCIAOR, National Association of Realtors NAR, and the Massachusetts Association of Realtors MAR.

I've been wondering if any agents here on AR have had popcorn ceilings experience that had been tested by a lab or home inspector for Asbestos. I understand that not all popcorn ceilings have asbestos. Evidently they were very popular back in the 60's and 70's!

 Here's an article about popcorn ceilings, how to test them for asbestos, and how to remove at:

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/paintpopcornceiling

If a ceiling does contain Asbestos, removal can be very messy and a lot of work!

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Steve White is the Owner/ Webmaster of SDW Realty of Cape Cod.com website and agent of Ocean Blue Realty, LLC of Falmouth. He has over 30 years of Administrative, Military, Computer and Web Experience. He has lived on Cape Cod since 1974 relocating from Medford Ma near Boston. He is a full-time realtor working with both buyers and sellers. He has earned his E-Pro Internet Professional and ABR Accredited Buyer Representative Designations. He has actively participated and blogged on Active Rain since February of 2008. He is an active member of the Cape & Islands Association of Realtors CCIAOR, National Association of Realtors NAR, and the Massachusetts Association of Realtors MAR.

The following info was written and sent to me by my local Mortgage professional and I have her permission to post this info:

The Federal Reserve held the line on Tuesday-leaving the Fed Funds Rate at 2.00% for the third straight meeting. The decision, however, was anything but cut-and-dry.

Earlier in the week, the Personal Consumption Expenditure data indicated that inflation climbed 0.8% overall in June, which is the highest inflation jump in 27 years. In addition, the report indicated that inflation now sits at 2.3%-above the Fed's desired range of 1-2%.

Although the Fed ultimately left interest rates unchanged, inflation obviously remains a concern and the recent rise may lead to an interest rate hike by the Fed in the near future.

What Does This Mean to You?
Many experts believe the housing market is nearing the bottom and may even be set to bounce back up. For now, home prices remain low, personal incomes are high, and interest rates are still very attractive.

If you've been weighing your options and waiting to see how things shake out, this is the ideal time to act-especially when you consider the new Housing and Economic Recovery Act benefits for home buyers:

Tax credits. First-time home buyers who purchase their primary residence between April 9, 2008 and July 1, 2009 are eligible for up to $7,500 in tax credit, as long as they haven't owned a home in the last three years. The credit is actually a generous interest-free loan, so we'll have to talk about some income parameters and payback terms. But if you're a new home buyer - or know someone who is renting or in the market to buy - this is a huge benefit that we should discuss.

Lower rates for larger loans. In the past, mortgages of $417,000 or more have been considered "jumbo" loans that were more expensive to finance. Thanks to recent provisions, however, those jumbo loans were able to qualify for better financing rates in some parts of the country. Although those provisions were set to expire, they are being extended-with a minor change to the maximum amount eligible. This is great news that may save you a ton of cash, so call me to find out how this impacts our area, and if it could help you.

Down Payment Assistance...going, going, not gone yet. Another provision of the legislation eliminates some down payment assistance programs later this year...but they are still available right now, and depending on your circumstances, we may be able to take advantage of them to double your benefit as a home buyer.

Bottom line...now may be the ideal time to put together a purchase strategy based on your unique situation. 

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Steve White is the Owner/ Webmaster of SDW Realty of Cape Cod.com website and agent of Ocean Blue Realty, LLC of Falmouth. He has over 30 years of Administrative, Military, Computer and Web Experience. He has lived on Cape Cod since 1974 relocating from Medford Ma near Boston. He is a full-time realtor working with both buyers and sellers. He has earned his E-Pro Internet Professional and ABR Accredited Buyer Representative Designations. He has actively participated and blogged on Active Rain and his own website since February of 2008. He is an active member of the Cape & Islands Association of Realtors CCIAOR, National Association of Realtors NAR, and the Massachusetts Association of Realtors MAR.

Ive seen this on the news recently and Ive got an online article about Granite countertops emitting Radon posing a possible health risk to homeowners. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer (after smoking) and supposedly some granite countertops has been tested positive emitting some levels of radon. But evidently these concerns are nothing new and have been in the news before. Here’s the article at

http://www.webmd.com/lung-cancer/news/20080730/granite-countertops-a-recipe-for-danger

What you can do to protect yourself: http://www.webmd.com/video/radon-dangers

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Steve White is the Owner/ Webmaster of SDW Realty of Cape Cod.com website and agent of Ocean Blue Realty, LLC of Falmouth. He has over 30 years of Administrative, Military, Computer and Web Experience. He has lived on Cape Cod since 1974 relocating from Medford Ma near Boston. He is a full-time realtor working with both buyers and sellers. He has earned his E-Pro Internet Professional and ABR Accredited Buyer Representative Designations. He has actively participated and blogged on Active Rain and his own website since February of 2008. He is an active member of the Cape & Islands Association of Realtors CCIAOR, National Association of Realtors NAR, and the Massachusetts Association of Realtors MAR.

August 8th the 2008 Olympics will be starting in Beijing, China with track and field, swimming, gymnastics, basketball, tennis, and volleyball to name a few sports with amateur and some professional athletes from all over the world. This is a truly unique international event with the worlds best athletes (and disabled athletes) competing at their best levels against each other.

The spirit of course is friendly competition between brothers and sisters from countries all over the world for gold, silver and bronze medals for their respective countries. Lets hope that this years Olympics all goes well and in the true spirit of the Olympics (which dates back thousands of years to the ancient Greeks.) Beijing is one of China's oldest and most celebrated Cities! The world will be watching!!

 

The Barnstable County Fair held off of Route 151 in Mashpee opens today running thru July 26. This annual event has just added Professional Bull Riding and a Demolition Derby. Check out their website at http://www.barstablecountyfair.org for scheduled music and events. Amongst the entertainers this year are the band "Survivor" and "The Village People"! Celebrate your childs birthday at the Fair! See you there!

Ive heard on a local radio the other day that a lot of animal owners here on the Cape are giving up their pets because of their financial hardships. Taking care of Dogs, Cats and other animals can be very expensive with trips to the Veterinarian becoming very costly for shots and medications. There are animal homeless shelters here on the Cape for Dogs and Cats that are non-profit organizations that let people adopt their homeless animals. 

This is yet another sign of our hard times, along with $4/ gallon of gas, higher food prices, foreclosures and workers losing their jobs around the country! It doesnt sound like those rebate checks put any kind of a dent into helping homeowners or animal lovers being able to make ends meet in these hard economic times!

Happy 4th of July. This year its a long three day holiday starting this friday with parades, fireworks and neighborhood parties here on the Cape. Its sure to be a very busy weekend with a lot of people coming to the Cape to celebrate our country's anniversary of signing of the Declaration of Independence from England in 1776!

 

 

Did you know that in 1776 the Declaration of Independence was initially signed on July 2 by John Hancock the presiding officer and Charles Thompson the secretary. The rest of the needed signatures would have to wait. Two days later Congress approved a revised version and ordered it be printed and distributed to the states and military officers. Hence our celebration on the 4th!

I made a sales call this past weekend to a young first-time homebuyer from California who couldnt believe that she could buy a 2 to 3 bedroom, year round home here on Cape Cod for $225K to $250K at excellent % interest rates. Prices out where she is in Southern California are outrageous comparatively.

Prices here have been on the decline here for over two years while interest rates are very good at around 6.25% (now less than 6%) with plenty of mortgage money available for first-time homebuyers from FHA, Fanny Mae and Massachusetts Housing loans to name a few. Of course mortgage requirements are much stricter than in the past with a good percentage down payment (3 to 5%) needed and full documentation required by buyers- tax returns, W-2's, etc. Yes most mortgage people will tell you that 100% financing with no down payment is long gone. Many a buyer took advantage of that great giveway while also ending up in foreclosure as well!

Steve White is the Owner/ Webmaster of SDW Realty of Cape Cod.com website and agent of Ocean Blue Realty, LLC of Falmouth. He has over 30 years of Administrative, Military, Computer and Web Experience. He has lived on Cape Cod since 1974 relocating from Medford Ma near Boston. He has earned his E-Pro Internet Professional and ABR Accredited Buyer Representative Designations. He has actively participated and blogged on Active Rain since February of 2008. He is an active member of the Cape & Islands Association of Realtors CCIAOR, National Association of Realtors NAR, and the Massachusetts Association of Realtors MAR.