Free tickets to the Home & Garden Show!

Hey club members! I have some tickets left for this weekend's Maricopa County Home & Garden Show being held THIS WEEKEND at the University of Phoenix Stadium. I sent out an email a while back and had a really good response but we still have tickets left. This is a really great show. You will get tons of cool home improvement tips and ideas. If you would like to go and would like some FREE tickets, "Just Call Nick!" .

Nick's kids are going green!

Many of you, my friends, seem to enjoy the fact that I occasionally put pictures of the boys in our newsletter. I thought this little video of them showing grandma their garden was pretty cute. Kind of fitting since they are growing like weeds. Funny thing, they are even learning about trends in the real estate business. If you care to read about that, just click here. :-)

Maricopa County Home & Garden Show

Since we have a Home Improvements and Helpful Hints link on our web site, I thought it would be a good idea to add some information about the Maricopa County Home & Garden Shows that occur a few times a year at the Fairgrounds and at the U of P Stadium. According to their web site, this years schedule is as follows.

January 11, 12, 13, 2008 - Arizona State Fairgrounds
April 25, 26, 27, 2008 - Arizona State Fairgrounds
August 1, 2, 3, 2008 - University of Phoenix Stadium
September 26, 27, 28, 2008 - Arizona State Fairgrounds

You can always get a lot of good information and ideas at these shows. Home Improvements and re-modeling are big business as many people are deciding to invest in their properties in many different ways. It might be a park-like back yard, a gourmet kitchen or anything else.
You can talk to all kinds of industry experts for your home improvement ideas and should also be able to come away with some very helpful hints.
Of course, you can always stay tuned to my blog and to the web site as we promise to add a lot more info in the future.

The Wood Door? - A Cool Home Improvement!

In this challenging real estate market we are in, it can be helpful to "spruce up" your home before selling. A cool trend in many upscale neighborhoods has been adding wooden garage doors for a new look and feel. These doors can run thousands of dollars and normally require a little more maintenance than other doors. A friend of ours owns a company that can actually come to your home and paint your existing door. The painted garage doors look just like the "real thing" but for (normally) a lot less money! How cool is that?! You can even get front entry doors done. Cheryl has painted many doors here in the valley as well as some cabins up in Northern Arizona. Visit the Wood Door web site for more ideas and information. We also have their link on our web site along with tons of other information that might be helpful. As always, when you are thinking of buying or selling real estate.. "Just Call Nick"

For more Home Maintenance and Home Improvement tips, you can always visit this link on our web site..

Bob the Builder might need a new gig.

I read an interesting article recently about home repair and the amount of women tackling "small fix-it jobs and home-improvement projects."

Fannie Mae, (the largest guarantor of mortgages) predicts that, by 2010, there will be 32 million female homeowners.

Another interesting quote from the article mentions that 3 out of 5 women would prefer advice from Bob Villa, than from Dr. Phil! :-)

I would like to go on record as saying I am not sexist! :-) The following list of 12 items is mentioned as "common tools to aid women in fix-it projects." In my opinion, they are just handy things to have around any home!

1. Hammer - 16-ounce claw hammer

2. Screwdrivers - 1/4 & 1/2 inch flat head and No. 1 and No. 2 Phillips heads.

3. Pliers - Vice grips, needle nose, slip joint and standard pliers.

4. Handsaw - (power tools are more fun)

5. Tape measure -

6. Volt meter - (warning.. electricity can bite!)

7. Pipe wrench - (can also be used as protection from bad guys)

8. Cordless Drill - (my wife is dangerous with these)

9. Circular saw - (warning.. this can cut you!)

10. Jigsaw - (see above warning)

11. Dremel tool - (versatile and kind of fun to use.)

12. Stud finder - I'll refrain from my comments on this one. :-)

Everyone should keep their home in good repair. Routine maintenance items can turn in to large and costly projects. Stay tuned for more maintenance and home repair articles in the future. As always, feel free to contact Nick for any help/advice.