The "BUZZ" w/ Stinger

I am going to plant, fertilize, water, and harvest a few vegetables this year.  Perhaps you should consider joining me. Here is why: During World War II, people's spirits were troubled and life was complicated. Supplies were short and people were worried. The Hoover administration asked families to help America by planting vegetable gardens in their backyards, churchyards, city parks, and playgrounds. These small and essential gardens became known as “Victory Gardens”. Victory Gardens were important because families worked together and they felt the satisfaction of nurturing and watching their vegetables grow. Not only did their gardens sustain them, they also allowed families to share with their neighbors and promote a spirit of giving. Victory Gardens gave Americans the opportunity to focus on something other than the war.    83 years after the first Victory gardens, Life is again difficult, with a pandemic, inflation, high fuel prices, etc, etc. Perhaps ...

Get Pre-approved :  Find and use a local Home Mortgage Agency.  Local, because it will strengthen your offer.  Listing agents like to work with Mortgage professionals they know and have access to.  If your Mortgage Company is out of NY, CA, etc. that's a disadvantage. Local Realtors Matter:   Use a Realtor that lives in Cowlitz County, they know the area,  the people, and they have connections that outsiders are not going to have. Look for Designations: Those funny letters you see on a Realtor’s business card after their name are called designations.  Realtors that take their craft seriously pay money and invest time into improving their skills through education. Always look for Realtors that stay educated. Ask Friends:  Ask friends and family for recommendations.  It’s always a good place to start Interview Multiple Agents :   I love when potential clients interview me against other agents.  I am comfortable connecting with clients...

  Castle Rock is such a beautiful little town in the Summer time! The flowers are amazing. CR is was the first “Proven Winners” Signature city. They’ve won multiple America in Bloom competitions. Castle Rock Blooms is made up of many volunteers. They do a great job keeping the town vibrant with color!🌻 Highly recommend taking a stroll down the streets if you haven’t! Here's a little video touring around downtown.

  BEING A REAL ESTATE AGENT  The good, bad and ugly (PART 2)       THE BAD! A Realtor, You wake Up Every Morning Unemployed. Thinking about selling real estate?  It can be very lucrative     or       not.    In 2021, there were a record number of real estate agents in the United States, according to the National Association of Realtors.  More than 156,000 people joined their ranks in 2021 and 2020 combined  — nearly 60 percent more than did in the two years prior.  Studies estimate that  87 percent of real estate agents will fail within the first five years . That is  success rate of just over 1.3 of 10. So, know going in that it will be difficult. Why do so few make it? There are three primary obstacles to success. 1.  Branding:    It takes time for strangers, friends and family, to know that you sell  Real Estate. I've heard said that every person has 2 realtors...

So Jerry, what do you do?  "I'm a Realtor, I sell Real Estate".  That always perks people's attention and they have questions.  They have always wanted the opportunity to peek behind the curtain and here is their chance.  Everyone at one time or another has thought to themselves,  "I should sell Real Estate.  It can't be that hard, I'm great with people, I would be so successful.  Joe Smith is a Realtor and Lord knows his cruise ship is missing a few lifeboats, if he can do it I know I can"   It's true isn't it, you have thought about it? So to all of my curious friends; here you go.  I am going to BLOG about being a Realtor.  With apologies to Clint Eastwood, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Real Estate.    Part #1     THE GOOD Real Estate is a flexible profession that allows you to often arrange your calendar to provide opportunity to go to your kid's baseball games and other life events. I am not punchin...

My Son Rylan turned 21 a few days ago and my daughter is getting married in a few months.  Time, where has it gone? John Mayer is one of my favorite singer songwriters.  On his Continuum Album he has a song that has come to have meaning to me as I have gotten older.  The song is called "Stop This Train".  The lyrics describe a young (rising in fame) John Mayer who is feeling the pressure of the world and he dreams of going back home to a more simple life but the train he is on is moving too fast, he can't stop the train. He sings "STOP THIS TRAIN, I WANNA GET OFF AND GO HOME AGAIN".  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS2o4q7vRFM As we get older the speed of the train keeps increasing.  I'm sure John Mayer's train was a rocket as his stardom rose.  Everyone wanted  a piece of him and the pressure must have been overwhelming. John Mayer uses the song to describe his understanding that his life is changing, he is getting older and taking on the respons...

  Yesterday, my son and I went to see the movie Father Stu. It's the story of a man that grew up in a dysfunctional family of divorce, alcoholism, death of a sibling and other difficulties. The movie follows his journey in life as a boxer, wanting to be an actor, friend to some and the bearer of a terminal muscle disease, all the while pursuing God and ultimately his ordination as a Catholic Priest.  It is a raw movie that depicts Stu as a real person, a person that did not grow up in the Catholic Church, a person that didn't know God at all. Stu didn't know to clean up his language around religious people and he didn't allow room for religious double talk. Stu pressed in way past the point of discomfort. His pursuit of God was real and honest. it wasn't sanitized, there was no soft-shoe in the dance. It was often a hard movie to watch but the pursuit of God at all cost was so refreshing.  I was amazed that left leaning Hollywood allowed a movie this quality to be m...

Spring is a beautiful time of year in Longview, WA with the flowers beginning to bloom and the cherry blossoms showing off their color with vibrancy.   Longview is a planned city from the visionary Robert A Long. Trees are an important part of our City. In fact, Longview is part of the Tree City USA program. All of the trees in our community are known and cared for by the City of Longview.  The cherry blossoms lining the streets are a beautiful sight in the Spring. Right now, the trees are just beginning to bloom. Check out the video below for a quick tour.

"Jerry, Zillow says my house is worth 3 million dollars, there's no way you can say my house is only worth 850K!" I often hear the words, "Zillow says, the 'Zestimate' is, Realtor.com says." What’s the value of your home? Have you looked on Zillow, Redfin, Homesnap or other real estate search engines lately? These sites can be great tools, but use caution when using them to determine the value of your home. Their home values are generated through algorithms & can often be inaccurate (too high or too low).  In fact, I often advise my clients to look up their home on many different sites & most likely all the estimated values will be different. The best way to get the truest value of your home is to have an experienced real estate agent come over to take a look at your house and put a detailed analysis together. 

And just like that, we're through the month of February. Here's a look at our local real estate numbers from last month.📈 We saw a slight uptick in new listings in the last month. We're still seeing multiple offer situations, with sellers (on average) receiving more than asking price for their home. With interest rates creeping up we may see more homeowners decide it's time to sell.

A  Jack pine  has a "serotinous cone", this cone is covered with a thick resin that must be melted by a forest fire in order for the cone to open and release seeds.  So often in life we are disappointed by  trials and  tribulations.  We get angry and wonder why this negative experience landed on me?  Over the last few weeks my 60 year old surgically repaired knee has been causing me pain.  For too many years now I have been overweight and have placed a lot of strain on my joints, but rather then doing something about it, I waited till there was pain and  consequence.  I'm now hobbling around on crutches and its slowed me down, giving me time to focus on my life and my health and to start making progress toward a better me.  My pain has helped me to make a decision to lose weight (intermittent fasting) and to give up drinking (with all of its empty calories).  I am happy to say I am making progress and am resolute to contin...

You know that your life is evolving for the good when you stop looking at style and instead seek comfort.  Remember your youth and those popular, in style shoes (that killed your feet) but they make a statement that you were a part of that cool group of people, (you know) those people that you mistakenly thought mattered.  You would cram your feet into those overpriced shoes and put on a brave face for the world, falsely stating your importance and your ability to be with that "IN" crowd.  But by days end you were dying, your feet were raw hamburger but the you kept telling yourself the pain did not matter as much as the statement you were making.  Fast forward to 50 years old.  That "IN" crowd of people that mattered don't any longer.  You finally have the freedom to wear shoes that feel good on your feet.  Age does have a few advantages.

 What happened to the NFL?  I am not tuning in to hear, read, or to listen to politics.  We the fans should not have to read the back of player's helmets touting their beliefs, nor should the end zones have politically driven slogans printed on the turf or the goal posts.  This is football, it's not church, it's not a political party or a social activist group pushing their views.  Fans are not tuning in to subject themselves to this ridiculous over step. The NFL used to be about team competition and providing America with a reason to cheer.  NFL, stop taking advantage of your viewership.  You had better be careful, you are about to step out of bounds.  The yellow flag is about to be thrown.  Your viewers are long time fans who are not tuning in to be preach at.  Get back to just Football, stay out of the game of politics and social activism, just "Play Ball".

 Have you ever seen those random letters on a REALTOR's business card that make no sense (right after their name)? What are they? Are they important? They're called "designations." Designations are credentials that can be earned through special courses and training. They require extra time, study & money.   It's important to hire an agent that is constantly learning and looking for ways to sharpen their skills. The extra effort put in to earn designations shows that your REALTOR is willing to go the extra mile for you. My 3 designations are: * ABR:   Accredited Buyers Representative * CRS:  Certified Residential Specialist (only 2 in Cowlitz County) * MCNE:   Master Certified Negotiation Expert (only 2 in Cowlitz County)

Starbucks OB#1 The Baristas all yell out "good morning" to every person that enters through the doors.  It's nice and it makes for a more intimate experience.  Well done! OB#2  The music is terrible, some type of electronic funk music (Pep Rally: Missy Elliott).   I wonder how far along this set is?  Should I wait for the next set?  Maybe I'll get lucky and it will be 70's or 80's classics.   OB#2  I've notice that in a number SB remodels they are using long tables and removing many of the 4 seat tables.  What is purpose, most people don't want to sit next to people that they don't know and if they are forced to they will always leave a empty seat or two between them so the seating efficiency is lost.  Also in a covid world are long tables better or worse?  I like my smaller tables. OB#3 The lights above the long table shine directly in your eyes, just a slight tilt will help.  OB#4  Dare I talk about a home...

 I love great concepts, ideas that are so simple that we all ask ourselves, "Why didn't I think of that"?  Ideas like the YouTube web series  HOT ONES.  Hot Ones is a simple premise, take 10 bottles of hot sauce, mild to lava hot and using the Scoville heat units (SHU) order the bottles 1-10.  Apply from each bottle a generous  amount of hot sauce onto an individual chicken wing. Lights, camera, action.  Now invite the biggest "A List Celebrities" to eat these hot wings (1-10), while answering questions about their lives and careers.  It's amazing, the world's most famous people are lining up to participate in this exercise in pain.  They have body sweats, nose draining like a downspout, bloodshot eyes that water like a Spring rain, lips on fire. Their stomachs make sounds that scare small children.  All of this as they are trying to answer questions on camera.  The tension builds as they eat their way up the wings of death.  Y...

 REAL ESTATE 🏡 December 2021's numbers are in! Again we saw a very low inventory of homes (.6 months of inventory). A balanced market is somewhere between 4 to 6 months of inventory. The median home sale price was 362K with sellers receiving (on average) over 100% of listed price. In 2021 we had a strong year in real estate with home prices averaging a 17% increase from 2020.  All indications say we're on track for another strong seller's market in 2022!

Recently, I wanted a new pair of Jeans.  So I started looking online.  Big mistake, because as soon as I started browsing, ad, after ad, after ad "Spywared" onto my screen.  Ads for every variety of jeans known and unknown to mankind.  Ads for Slim jean, Skinny jeans (like there is a difference?) and Athletic jeans. Hello, just cut to the chase, "FAT guy jeans", "Dad jeans".   Athletic cut, a kind (yet cruel) way of saying your plump, stout, heavy, solid, meaty and my Grandma's favorite for me as a young growing into myself young boy, Husky.  Over time this barrage of denim derailed my appetite for jeans.  I stopped looking,  I think I'll just continue to wear my favorite Khakis. (you know the ones with the hidden elastic in the waist brand) or as I like to now call them "Athletic Cut" with comfort stretch.

The Old West Side is one of the most historic neighborhoods in the Longview/Kelso area. This area was all part of Robert A Long's, president of the Long-Bell Lumber Company, vision to create a planned city. Most of the houses in the Old West Side are built in the 1920's. Each house is unique & very few look the same. Follow along as we drive through the historic streets alongside beautiful Lake Sacajawea. We even caught Longview Community Church bells ringing at the 1 o' clock hour. Click to watch a driving tour of the Old West Side

 So here are a few strange thoughts from a strange man (ME).  I now and again make my Grandma's recipe for Chicken N Dumplins.  A group of our friends meet each Friday night for food and fun.  We call ourselves the Friday Night Fun Group.   I will not go into details because more detail could get us arrested (but I digress).  We have food theme nights and one night I brought a pot of Grandma's Chicken N Dumplins and it was a huge hit.  It got me thinking about my Grandma.  Edna was from Oklahoma and she grow up in a time when a chicken dinner required you to go outside selected a chicken (perhaps a laying hen that was not producing) wring its neck, plunged it into a hot water bath for 1 minute, which allowed the fat around the pin features to soften making it easier to pluck the features.  All this work and you have not even started cooking the bird yet.  Can you imagine!  Let bring this to modern day.  "Hey kids what do y...