Free at last, Free at last

Well, it's been 6 months+ since my last blog.  So much has happened since then.  When I first decided to revamp my book, "House Hunting the Smart Way", find it at smartwayservices.com I figured probably two weeks.  Then as I found more positive changes to make, I realized it would be around six weeks.  It is now going on 7 months and I'm "almost done".  All that is left now is to contact the 100+ real estate agencies that I "borrowed" pictures of listing from and invite them to share links.  Since I'm presently out of town (again), I'll wait until Monday or Tuesday to start that process.

As I said, a lot has happened, since my last blog in January.  With much sadness, I finally turned in my resignation to Home Depot.  Unquestionably, my time with Home Depot, was one of the highlites of my working career.  I started out servicing all the stores in Montana, Coeur d'Alene and Spokane.  Then I managed to cut it down to 3 days in the Kalispell store and 2 days a week at the Missoula store.  Finally, after 4 years of driving Hy 93, I decided the other drivers out there had their chance to kill me, so became full time with the Kalispell store.  Made lots of friends everywhere I went, and miss them all terribly.

Getting used to not working (I started working when I was 12) has not been easy, but I have found (or should I say Sherry has found) much to keep me busy.  A membership at the Wave (which I attend at least 5 days a week) helps me to get back into shape.  Still a long ways to go, but I've come a long ways as well.  One of the classes I take, lead by David Calebretta is Tai Chi. I highly recommend this to anyone.  David presents of form of it adapted and sponsered by the Arthritis Foundation..  Lots of moves to remember, but ever so relaxing.

Now another big change...Sher officially retired as of last Monday.  She, like myself, has worked most of her life, so this is a great change for the both of us.  We celebrated by taking, what was going to be a four day trip, but now has extended to 6 days (so far).  We tried something we've never done before, we rented a townhouse in Coeur d'Alene for 4 days.  Beautiful, beautiful place.  The owner, Vonda, has thought of everything possible to make your stay as comfortable and pleasing as possible.  If you are interested, contact me and I'll give you the info on it.  Located within walking distance to a beautiful beach on Lake Coeur d'Alene, another direction takes us to a well maintained park, and yet another takes us to downtown, where, particularily the night life on the steets would rival the same in Honolulu.  Very friendly people. This particular townhouse will sleep 4, so the cost would be less than $50.00 per person per night.  Try finding a motel for that, particularly in Coeur d'Alene.  In case you are wondering, there is nothing in it for me, other than sharing a great experience with my friends, in these recommendations.

As I write this, we decided to spend a couple of nights in Missoula at our favorite Motel, the "C'mon Inn",  If you've never been here, don't let the cheezy name fool you.  It's a bit pricey, so we only come here maybe twice a year, but if you plan far enough ahead to be guaranteed a room that faces the Courtside, which consists of a large swimming pool, various hot tubs and even a waterfall, you'll not be disappointed.

Driving from Coeur d'Alene to Missoula is normally a piece of cake.  And today was no exception except for the last 50 miles.  We drove through 4 storms that were right out of the Wizard of Oz.  I'm not sure, but I think I saw one of my old school teaches flying by while pedaling a bicycle.  The winds and the rain, each in only (thank God) about a two mile area were so hard, it was difficult to see and keep Sherry's little Hundai from joining the school teacher.  Then we would come out of it and the sun would be shining and just white, fluffy clouds.  A few miles later, we would see this grey wall up ahead, and here we would go again.

Aw, it's things like that that make life interesting.

Well, its been a long day and I''m tired.  So, love ya all my friends.  More in hopefully less that 6 months.

I believe some of the people in my head are here illegally.

I decided, due to all the changes with the economy, to pull my book "House Hunting the
Smart Way" off the market and bring it up to speed. I figured, oh, a couple of weeks. No big deal. That was a little over four months ago.
Granted, part of the problem is cause my eyes go out of focus for a while, every couple of hours or so. I tried to update the Moses thing by parting the cement floor at work with my head from six feet up. But the real reason is trying to get a working grasp on what's going on with the economy.
It's damn difficult to explain to folks how they still can get financing for a home without too much difficulty and still convince them that they are able to make demands that will save them thousands of bucks as they pay the thing off.
Even more difficult is explaining to folks how to live within a budget when our leaders have credit cards that have no limit.
But I also came to realize that, even with the funny, little stories I included, the over all book was, well, ahhh...BORING.
So, what to do? Well, take a click on this link http://smartwayservices.com and I hope you will get a bit of a kick out of it. In particular, get past the sales pages and look for the link that gives you the first chapter free (about half way down the page).

Now here's another FREE OFFER. The testimonials that I have listed on the sales page are getting pretty old (2007). For the next 10 folks that email me at: certifiedwarrantyservices@yahoo.com I will give you the url to paste in your address bar at the top of your search engine. This get you a free copy of House Hunting the Smart Way as an ebook. I will ask that you PROMISE me that you will actually read the thing and send me your feedback and any questions or suggestions. Also I will give you a code number and by sending that code number (specifically assigned to you) back to me, that will be your permission for me to use your FIRST NAME ONLY and your town in new testionials. Now I'm going to be totally honest and up front. As much as I want and will respect your candid comments, I will only (duh) publish the positive ones. Let's face it, what fool would try to sell a book ...well, you get the idea. But I will take all your comments to heart (unless they are so bad I have a heart...attack).

Thanks, and will back in a few days. My company is sending me out of town to see another specialist who is going to try to unscramble the inside of my head. Love ya all. Gary

Waisting away in Margaritavillie

Well, Sher and I are in Los Cabos, Mexico. After 3 days of rain, it finally cleared up just in time for her and me to take a snorkeling cruise. As a matter of fact, we just returned to our temporary home base, Hotel Solaris, located at the top of the Sea of Cortez.

This is my first excursion into this great country and I can't help but wonder why it has taken me this long. Beautiful country, beautiful people.

I'm not nieve...I do realize that I happen to be in a posh area, and much of the country is not like this. This hotel is enormous, covering, I would guess, at least 10 acres and, (again my guess) probably employs at least 200 people. Many of them, I'm sure, having worked a full day at this posh resort, return to their homes that are, what we would consider, well below the poverty line.



Every day, as we head to the beach, we make our way through the miriade of vendors trying to get us to buy their various "treasures". They are not allowed onto the hotel property. It kinda reminds me of a game we used to play as kids where two teams were formed and each team joined hands to form a barrier, while facing the other team. The object was to pick one member of the opposing team to try to break through your line of defense. Anyway, I'm sure most of you remember the game. That is almost what it is like here, except, while definetly trying to get you to buy their wares, they, in no way constitute what I would consider harassment.

I said all of that to get to my point. It seems that one of the biggest commercial activities here is Time Shares. From the moment we stepped from the plane we have been bombarded by folks wanting to sell you a time share. Even the clerks at the local mall. Sher and I discoved just how extensive this is when we finally made it to the mall and while in one of the department stores, a sales lady asked if she could help us. She directed us to the proper area, and then asked if we were enjoying our stay. Mui Bueno, we replied...except for all the people trying to sell us time shares. "Oh, they are terrible" she replied, (watch out for them...there are many theives". Then she added, "But I have the best time shares that you could ever want and can give you such a deal on them".

One the many great things that has come out of this experience for me, personally, is I now realize I left a chunk out of my book House Hunting the Smart Way, and that is on Time Shares. So I'm actually going to allow myself to be swept up in this wave just to learn, first hand, what makes this industry so popular, in spite of it's horrific reputation.

However, right now the surf is up. Gary

Simple notes from a simple guy

For those of you who care enough to read my prattling, (and don't already know), you're going to discover that I am a pretty simple guy. A "friend" informed me once that "the world got complicated and I stayed simple". I'm sure he meant it as a compliment, anyhoo, that's the way I take it.

My focus for the last couple of years has been on helping folks who either are getting ready to buy their first home or, have done so in the past and this time really want to do it right. So, I'm going to be posting little titbits of information that, hopefully, those of you who fall into this category can use. As I explained in both this blog and my book "House Hunting the Smart Way", my knowledge comes from previous experiences and mistakes I made in buying and selling many, many houses in my life.

I invite you to ask questions, make suggestions, give testimonials and even criticize or dispute things I have written. All I ask is that we stay on track, keep to the subject, and obey the rules that these fine folks who provide this opportunity set before us.

Finally, let me be very clear...I AM NOT A LAWYER NOR A LICENSED REAL ESTATE AGENT. Since fully one third of our U.S. Congress is made up of lawyers, they have developed very harsh penalties to anyone who passes themselves off as a lawyer. Having said that, allow me to strongly urge you potential home buyers (and sellers) to not only engage the "right kind" of real estate agent (I'll explain more later) but the "right kind" of lawyer as well.

One of the points I'm going to be dwelling on abit is that until you sign that buy/sell agreement (and in some extreme cases, after, you have the power. You call the shots! (Huh, where did I hear that before)? At this point in time, there is a tremendous amount of flexibility to be found in the cost of big ticket items. Cars, boats, wives (no, no, no, I didn't mean that...just checking to see if you're paying attention...oh, lighten up), and of course homes.

Again, I realize that there are some of you who are just absolutely in no position at this time to go out and buy a house. But you know what? If you start watching for the opportunities that, not "might", but will come your way and learn how to grab them and work them, you will probably be in a position to buy one sooner than you think.

I do hope that you will consider checking in on me occasionally. Who knows? In all my prattling, there might just be something that you can use.

Oh yah, my comment about using the right kind of real estate agent...keep in mind that when you see a property advertised by an agency, that agency and in particular that agent is employed by the seller. Unless the agent is working for you under a Buyer Agency Agreement, that agent is working for the seller. That does not mean that the agent is going to do anything dishonest or shady just to get that house sold. What it does mean is that, being reputable that agent is duty bound to represent the seller to the best of his/her ability. If you find such a situation, my advice is to make some calls and find an agent that is willing to function as a buyers agent, to represent you when dealing with the listing agency.

Enough for now. I look forward to any comments. Take care and God Bless. Goodbye Walter Cronkite...you are the last of a special breed..a newsman who reported the news as it was, not as he wanted it to be.

You have the power damnit! Grab it and use it!

I believe power comes to us in a cyclical way.

No, I'm not talking about planets and stars and old Sputniks lining up in some special way. What I am saying, is there are numerous times during our lives that certain situations present themselves. It is during these times, these places, these circumstances, that, if we could recognize them and know what to do with them, we could work them far to our advantage.

And therein lies the problem. Failure to recognize the telltale signs that are shouting out to us to grab hold, take charge and make ourselves better for having done so.
And that is exactly what this blog is about. It is to teach you, as was taught to me, what to watch for and how to handle it.

For starters, I'd like to refer you to my latest book called "House Hunting the Smart Way". It is an eBook and yes there is a charge if you want to download the whole thing, but the introduction and the first chapter are free. From that alone, you can get an idea of what the heck I'm talking about. But let me warn you. If you have no room for humor in your life, then this book is probably not for you (or maybe it actually is what you need). Anyway, check it out. Just go to smartwayservices.com.

In the days and weeks ahead, I 'll be posting more ideas and suggestions to this blog. Some will be from House Hunting the Smart Way, some will be from my present project, a book tentatively titled "Never Burn Your Bridges". "Bridges" is about the interpersonal relationships amongst blue collar, middle echelon workers. The focus is how to deal with the sometimes moronic and silly obstacles that are handed down from upper management and again, how to turn these situations to your advantage. On the surface, this sounds rather boring, but in reality, it is turning out to be one of the funnest, and funniest works I have ever done.

Another reason this book is so much fun is because it is the culmination of my fifty plus years of learning different trades, working for over twenty different companies and creating my own little world in each of these. I've been everything from a professional photographer to an accountant (handling over a million dollars a week), to a technical writer for an international IT company to a forklift driver for a trucking firm. I've been a newspaper feature reporter, a lab technician, a field representative for a federal government program, as well as a go-between with the country's largest railroad and GSA in Washington D.C. And the thing I'm most proud of is that, although going into these and other jobs, for the most part without a clue, I learned how to work the job (OJT) and grab the opportunities that came my way. And (although threatened a couple of times), never once got fired from any of them. And guess what? I'm not that smart!

So this is where we're going. But a word of warning...I am getting old, (I may be dead, but I don't have the time to check it out), I still have two businesses, I work full time for a major home improvement chain and a bunch of other stuff. So please forgive me if I'm not adding to this or replying to you as quick as you would like.