Who Says You Can't Get Blood Out Of A Seller?

Can't get blood out of a seller? Or a buyer?  Or how about a real estate professional, a lender or even a turnip?  Well, yes you can.  OK, maybe not the turnip.  But you can get blood out of the rest of the above - and from yourself.
 
As part of its ongoing community service activities, Preview Properties in Brighton, Michigan is hosting a blood drive for the American Red Cross on Tuesday, January 29th from 11 am to 4:45 pm.  Donating is easy and you get the chance to potentially affect the lives of 3 people in a positive way.  And while supplies last, donors will be getting coupons for a free donut from Dunkin' Donuts.  So if you know any policeman that can swing by, this might be right up their alley!

You can sign up and schedule your appointment at http://redcrossblood.org (Sponsor Code is PREVIEW) or call 1-800-RED CROSS. You may also call Lisa Bohlen at 810-220-1505.   Appointments are honored, walk-ins welcome if space permits.

And Preview Properties is a major drop off center for the Cell Phones for Soldiers program, too, so bring along any old cell phones you may have to help the members of our Armed Forces.

LED Faucet Sets With Temperature Control

LED faucet sets with temperature control?  Hmm.  Perhaps for the geekiest of people, these faucet sets and shower heads are battery operated and react to the temperature of the water to go from blue to yellow/green to red.  The kitchen faucet set works with a couple of watch batteries and is simply an adepter that connects to your existing spout.  Bathroom faucet sets and shower heads need AA batteries.

I haven’t been able to track down the manufacturer, but they are probably made in China.  No word of how long the batteries last.  Most likely these are pure ‘conversation pieces’ and novelty items right now, but we said the same thing about electric hand dryers and motion sensing faucets once upon a time, too. 

 

Here's a couple of links for the various fixtures.  

http://goo.gl/uSRz5

http://goo.gl/3DVZG

Know anybody that has one?  Are you going to try them?  In either case, I’d appreciate it if you drop me a line and let me know what you think about LED faucet sets with temperature control. 

Image courtesy of prettydarncool.co.za

Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act Extended Through 2013

This is really good news!  Congress has extended the Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act as part of the fiscal cliff deal.  What does it mean to you?

Well, really, nothing unless you’re going to sell your home as a short sale this year. Or, perhaps if you have a neighbor that needs to do a short sale.  What the Act did was to prevent the homeowner from being taxed on the forgiven debt that was part of the short sale.  Prior to the Act going into force in 2007, if you were forgiven $20,000 worth of debt on the sale of your home, the IRS treated it as income and you had to pay taxes on that amount.  Tough to do when you could prove a hardship and couldn’t make your mortgage payment to begin with!

It was anticipated that without the extension of the Act there would be no incentive for consumers to go through the stressful and rigorous short sale process and it would likely result in more ‘walk aways’, i.e., strategic defaults.  Not good for the homeowner, not good for the neighborhood. It’s always better to have homes occupied rather than sitting vacant.

As an aside, did you know that ‘fiscal cliff’ was one of Lake Superior State University’s entries on its annual ‘Banished Words’ list this year?  It sits alongside other terms like “kick the can down the road,” “boneless wings,” and “bucket list.”  See the list here.

And while you’re reading the list, feel good that the Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act was extended – even if ‘fiscal cliff’ has been banished.