Craigslist fame...

Every now and then I google my name to see what comes up and I was surprised to find myself the subject of this on-line article regarding Craigslist. I've been a big fan of Craigslist and I post both listings and rental properties there because it provides just one more source to get property in front of the market. Anyway, I had my rental house on Pin Oak "stolen" a couple of months back by somebody impersonating me. I had some hilarious calls from prospective renters who filled me in on the impersonation as well as a college friend who saw a warning posted about me -- that I was a fraudulent scammer. A few days later I got a call from a web reporter who ended up writing this on-line article at Webpro news about the story. Most of his facts are correct (except that I do still use Craigslist regularly). You can click on the link above if you want to read the article. And, by the way, I am the real Gwen Mathews and I am not in a hurry to get back to welding in Africa.

Have a great day!

...live from the Kentucky Association of Realtors

l'm out of town for a few days enjoying lots of educational opportunities at the Kentucky Association of Realtors (KAR) convention in Newport, Kentucky. While it's very pretty on the riverfront up here, it's no Lexington :-). The quick trip up here reminded me though of how nice it is to be so accessible to all the great opportunities just an hour up the road from Lexington. Last night, we had a great party at the Great American Ballpark complete with local Skyline Chili and those mini hot dogs that Will Mathews LOVES! I hadn't been to the new stadium before so it was great to finally see it and the Reds museum was pretty cool. I took a turn as an announcer and remembered how much fun I used to have with my brother Morgan listening to Reds games on our old pocket transistor radio...makes me feel a little old. Hmmm...has anybody who's been there noticed there's not much about Pete Rose there???

Although out of town, we have two price reductions to make note of: 440 Peachtree (great opportunity for an investor or first time buyer) is reduced to $97,900 and 745 Cedar Lake in Ewing is now listed at $144,900! Both of those are so competitively priced for the market and their amenities -- you can check them out under featured listings on my website at www.Moving2CentralKY.com. Both of them have virtual tours there as all my listings always do!

Have a great day!

Fannie & Freddie Takeover

Wondering what the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac means? Check out this link to lean more: http://www.realtor.org/gapublic.nsf/pages/gses_conservatorship?OpenDocument

Five offers...did someone say downmarket?

Wow, whoever says it's a down market doesn't have my listing at 1408 Pleasant Ridge. Just goes to show that the right house at the right price really can sell! We received five offers on this home in Timber Creek at the end of the week. Frankly, that beat my record of three offers on one house at a time. One of my favorite things about real estate, is that you never have the same day twice although I certainly wouldn't begrudge having that day twice! Plus, it ended with a wonderful Makenna event that in spite of the downpour was a fantastic time for everybody involved!

Thank you!

Many thanks to the wonderful clients who have completed surveys through the Quality Service Certified program. I'm so proud to have the highest Customer Satisfaction rating that an agent can achieve. I was recognized this summer as the "national Agent of the month" which was a huge honor and was named to the 2007 National Honor Roll last winter. Apparently, I have one of the highest survey return rates of the 30,000+ agents in the northern hemispere who are QSC certified. Pretty cool and a definite credit to the quality clients I've worked. Thanks for helping me be the best agent that I can be! I rate you all with a 5 out of 5!

Art of Making Miracles

if you are in town looking for something fun to do on Friday night, plan to attend the Makenna Foundation's annual Art of Making Miracles event. While I might be biased as RE/MAX Creative plays a huge role in sponsoring the event, the Art of Making Miracles is one of the best charity fundraisers we attend all year! Just the right mix of casual dress-up, great local food, music and super auction items (hope somebody bids a lot on the UK-Indiana b-ball tickets I donated!). The Makenna Foundation supports UK Children's Hospital and funds are helping to open the children's emergency room -- sorely needed I can tell you from having taken my own children to the UK hospital emergency room!

Click the title link to go to the Makenna website. Hope we'll see you there!

Lily Program

I'm so excited! I just came back from a walk with the dogs while waiting for the afore-mentioned plumber and my Lily Program questionnaire was in the mail. As soon as I get it turned in, we get our new Lily raintainer!

If you missed the Herald-Leader article about the Lily raintainer -- called the Lily Program -- the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Department of Environmental Quality instituted a pilot program to address storm water run-off. The "Lily" is an attractive rain barrel that attaches to your gutter collecting and storing rainwater from the roof. What makes it different from other rain collectors is that's really cute and has a spigot on the side with which to attach hoses or fill watering cans! Horrible gardener that I am, I'll be using my saved water to fill our fish pond and water my container pots. I think the fish will be really pleased although they don't know about the last batch I accidentally killed so they might not be as excited as they could be...but that's another story. In addition, it's many more gallons of water that stay on my property rather than draining through the yards and picking up pesticides and fertilizers on its way to the lake.

LFUCG only has five hundred available and the cost is $75.00 but I think it's going to be well worth it for the environment and my fish! If you're interested in adding one to your home, call LFUCG at 311 to register for the program. I bet there are still a few left!

Beautiful morning...

It's one of those mornings in Lexington that makes living here so worthwhile! Even though, I'm waiting for my plumber so that I can continue helping support his children's college tuition funds (oh the joys of living in an older home inside New Circle!), it's hard not enjoy life in Central Kentucky -- not too hot, bright sunny sky and wonderful late summer day.

I had a moment this morning too, to spend a minute flipping through Lexington's new Skirt magazine. It's a great addition to some of our local newspapers like Ace Weekly, Nougat and the Chevy Chaser. If you're trying to get a feel for our Bluegrass flavor, all of these publications offer a great insight into our local scene. I always recommend that newcomers pick up a copy of any of these to peruse while exploring the area.

UK is back in session so don't try any shortcuts driving through campus! And, we can look forward to the UK-UL game this weekend. I'm actually excited about UK football this year. Go Cats!

First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit!!!

Attention first-time home buyers, this is really big news! The President has signed into effect an economic recovery act measure that provides an up-to $7500 tax credit for qualified first-time home buyers. I don't know a lot about the details yet but I will be attending a seminar on Tuesday, August 19th to learn about this very important incentive. While like 99.87% of American, I'm tax illiterate (another great reason to be married to a CPA besides his good looks), my understanding of the tax credit is that it is the same as hard cash to the home buyer at the time that taxes are filed.

Check in with me after 3 p.m. on Tuesday, when I'm an expert!!!

Also, I understand this is retroactive for first-time home purchases after April 2008 and runs through purchases in 2009.

Mortgage Market News

Interested in knowing more about mortgage market news? Let me know, and I'm happy to forward a weekly market updated from Bluegrass Mortgage. It's a really informative and detailed resource!

End of Summer...

While this doesn't have a lot to do with real estate, it seems worthwhile to note that only four blissful days are left until Fayette County school children head back to class. Seems like summer just gets shorter and shorter and it makes me sad (not to mention the sad looks on my children's faces). We really need a couple more weeks to truly enjoy our summer -- we've had such a good one...travelling out west and just returning from our favorite beach destination -- Sullivan's Island.

I'm not alone in wishing for a later school start date and for anyone who cares there is a website for the promotion of legislation to legally change the start date of the school year to no earlier than the 4th Monday in August. The official website is http://www.savekentuckysummers.com/ .

First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit

In the continuing debate about whether it's a good time to buy, another argument goes on the pro side of purchasing a home. President Bush signed into effect a new housing bill that would give a $7500 tax credit to qualified first-time home purchasers. I'm including a link to a news article posted on the Lexington-Bluegrass Board of Realtors website. Essentially, this tax credit is like an interest-free loan for any qualified purchases made between April 8, 2008 and June 30, 2009.