Harp Light Homes SE Wisconsin Real Estate - Milwaukee, Franklin, Greendale, Greenfield, Oak Creek, Muskego, New Berlin » Experiences

Cold Stone Creamery Disappoints Yet Again!

Troy — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 19:44:52 +0000

So my wife was in the mood for ice cream and for what ever reason, decided that Cold Stone Creamery was going to be the destination to satisfy the craving. We have been to Cold Stone Creamery many times before so we knew pretty much what to expect. We opted for a location in Oak Creek, Wisconsin on Howell Avenue near the post office. We have never been to this particular location before and thought we would give it a shot. It has been quite common for us to be disappointed in the service and value at Cold Stone Creamery but the ice cream flavors and taste are definitely near the top in this indulgent food sector. Besides we had a coupon! We thought it was a buy one get one however, it turns out it’s buy two get one. This threw us for a loop. Who goes on a date in a party of three? Well, not to despair, we had a coupon for a free Love It sized ice cream. So we took our time and made our orders. Nothing special to note here. It was now time to pay. We presented our coupon and were told that since we had chosen a Love It Signature Creation and we were only entitled to a Love It that we were going to have to pay a dollar for that item. So our receipt shows two Love It Signature Creations and a discount of a LVCYO (I’m guessing that’s a Love It Create Your Own, but I’m not sure) The total was $6.22 w/tax. My wife was handed her ice cream and it was about 2/3 as much as mine. Mine was over-flowing the top of the bowl and hers was about 3/4 to the top. I inquired as to why there was such a difference in the two portions and the girl told me that she had “over-scooped” mine and that’s why mine had more. I was like, OK. So we went out to the table and chairs in front of the store and sat down to eat our creations. The tables were dirty and looked like they hadn’t been wiped down all day. A couple of boys came out and sat at the table next to us and right away I noticed that their ice creams looked to be just like mine, over flowing with product. I asked them what size they got and they said they got “Love It” sized. Hmmm….guess they were the beneficiaries of over-scooping too! What a joke. I then noticed an employee wiping down the tables in the store but was too bashful to wipe down any tables that had people sitting at them. We finished our ice cream and while it tasted good the experience was all but disappointing. I feel that when you are paying for a premium product or service that you should see the value in what you are getting. Clearly tonight the value was lacking. If we didn’t have the coupon it would have cost $10.00 for less than a pint of ice cream! We could go to the local custard shop and get full blown sundaes for that much. We could have gotten 1/2 gallon of custard for that much or even 3 pints of Ben and Jerry’s for that much! Sorry guys you failed us yet again! We used to come and buy fresh packed pints or quarts but they never seemed to be able to put in enough of any mix-ins requested to make it worth-wile. They also have pre-packed product and it has to be the most revolting stuff on the planet. I think the stuff in the gallon bucket at the grocery store tastes better! Will Cold Stone Creamery ever be able to provide value, service, and great tasting product? They have the last one down I have doubts that they can figure out the other two. Well, McDonalds has 49 cent ice cream cones right now. Sounds pretty good right? Cold Stone Creamery, are you listening? (see comments for their response and my response to their response)

Getting the deal done is real work in todays market!

Troy — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:11:12 +0000

Things have been picking up here in the SE Wisconsin real estate market. Buyers expectations have never been higher. Most buyers want to see everything in person they can. They are looking high and low for a great deal. Time is now on the buyers side and sometimes it’s days between seeing a home and writing an offer on it. Once the offer is written it is expected that there will be several counter offers prior to acceptance. I have one offer that was just accepted that took almost 40 days and 7 counter offers before the offer was accepted. Every buyer is writing a low offer as their opening play. No one wants to leave money on the table. If the buyer doesn’t find the terms to be acceptable they just move on to the next offer. Another buyer I am working with is now looking to write an offer on a fourth property. No fault of his though, the third property had issues after the home inspection. No deal seems to run smoothly any more. Every step of the way there are snags and hang-ups. Finding a property for the buyer seems to drag out a lot longer than before. Weather it’s the negotiating the initial offer to purchase or issues that arise from the home inspection these start to seem like small issues compared to the lending side of the deal. There is now more than ever problems with underwriting! Banks are so strict that it’s seems nearly impossible to get a deal closed. The rules keep changing and it seems like there is an ever growing list of items that need to be checked and re-checked several times before we even get to the closing table. I could understand if this was for a buyer that was under qualified. The truth is that these buyers have good solid jobs, good down payments, and great credit scores! These should be slam-dunk deals for the lenders. It will be interesting to see how or if things start changing now that interest rates while still historically low, have now shot up to the mid 5% range.

Did you get what you paid for?

Troy — Fri, 08 May 2009 16:32:38 +0000

I know that when I work with buyers and sellers they want value. They have expectations that they will get what they pay for. They look to me as the professional to provide them with solid factual information to base their purchase & sale decisions on. In turn when I become the customer looking to make a purchase I expect the same of the people I work with. You may know that I am a very mechanical person and that in my spare time I often work on my vehicle. Well, it was time to replace the ball joints and the tie rod ends on my truck. I went to the local Auto Zone store to get some prices and find out what my options were for replacement parts. This project required about $450.00 in parts. I expect that the person that helps me provides me with their undivided attention when I am working with them. Well, about 2 minutes into the process of looking up part numbers ect. the store phone rang. Guess what that sales person did? Yup, he took the call. He put me on hold, an actual person at the store ready to make a purchase, over a person that was calling in. Well, I left in disgust and went to the local Advance Auto Parts. The store was relatively empty and there was an associate there that was able to help me and give me his undivided attention. The manager got involved in the sale as well. I left with about $420.00 in parts and a happy customer.

Fast forward about 1.5 weeks. I am now starting the project on my vehicle. I get things apart and back together ect. I get to the point of replacing a pinch bolt and guess what? No pinch bolt. All the parts I purchased were supposed to be Moog Problem Solver parts. This particular part was different from the others in its packaging and lack of a grease fitting. I have never done this type of project before so again, I gave it no thought. I did however need a new pinch bolt. I went back to the store to find out that I was sold a TSW branded part and not the Problem solver part I had requested. They tracked down the right part and I was able to install it on the truck. I discovered something interesting in this process. First, TRW and Moog are owned by the same parent company. Second, in the auto industry there is something called “reboxing” this is were the company, I am not sure if this is the auto parts store or the parts manufacturer, puts parts with one name on it in a box that says something else. In effect, I got a part that was less expensive than the one I thought I was getting. Again, the store corrected the problem and the employees of the store had no way of knowing what was in the box was different than what they thought they were selling. In the end it is my responsibility as the consumer to keep the people I work with honest. In real estate, I too sometimes make mistakes and don’t know all the answers. I welcome it when buyers or sellers question me and keep me on my toes. It makes me a better agent. Yes this particular experience was frustrating and a pain but the in the end I got exactly what I needed. The employees that I worked with cared about providing me with a solution and because of the professional way in which this was handled I will continue buying my parts from them.

Notice the difference between these two parts. The Moog Problem Solver part is not painted black and has a much heavier bracket. The Moog part has a grease fitting and the TRW part does not. The Moog part comes with a new pinch bolt and nut and the TRW part comes only with a new nut. The Moog part comes with instructions and the TRW part did not. Notice that both have the same part numbers so the person pulling the part from the shelf has no idea that what they are pulling is different from what the customer is supposed to get. I was told that when the store switched from TRW to Problem Solver that the TRW parts were taken back to the warehouse and re-boxed into Moog boxes. While both parts come with a lifetime warranty, I did want to have the same line of parts on both sides of my vehicle. I am not one that likes to mix and match.

How I Became A Pirate – First Stage Milwaukee

Troy — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:16:09 +0000

The family and I went to opening night for “How I Became A Pirate” at the First Stage Children’s Theater in Milwaukee Friday. The play was introduced as a “World Premier” of the show. As usual, I found myself really enjoying the production. The music was cute and the story line progressed and kept my attention. The thing that kept my interest was Captain Braid-beard. His antics and interaction with the cast was especially funny to me. There were plenty of surprises to make you wonder what would happen next. My wife thought it was good but was not nearly as into the story as I was. You really have to let go of your adult sensibilities and let the child within take over to enjoy the show. My hats off to the director and cast as they did a great job taking this short children’s book and bringing it to life.

After the show we went over to the cast party and enjoyed some cake and swedish fish. When we arrived we were invited to do an interview on camera for the website. Julia and my wife provided their comments and it will be interesting if they make it to the first stage blog. If you are looking for a fun night out I definitely encourage you to consider the children’s theater.

Synopsis: From First Stage Web Site http://www.firststage.org/

AARRRRGH! Really, who doesn’t want to be a pirate? When young Jeremy Jacobs and his exceptional digging skills are recruited by Captain Braid Beard for treasure burying purposes, Jeremy thinks the pirate life is for him. Until he realizes that the simple things in life, like a kiss and a warm tucking in at night are those that are most important. A story of adventure and finding one’s own heart – a path that can’t be found on a treasure map.

Through the eyes of a 10 year old

Troy — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 20:39:00 +0000

So my step daughter was really disappointed when she discovered Gilligan’s Island and Brady Bunch were missing from the 6-7pm time slot on ME-TV a couple of weeks ago. I told her that if it was that important to her, she should write a letter to the TV station. To my astonishment she spent about a half hour writing a really nice note explaining her disapproval of the schedule change. I spent some time trying to find the address of the station, after a little searching on the Internet I found what seemed to be the address we were looking for. About a week or so later while flipping through the stations Julia discovered that her shows were back on tv! Could her little letter have made a difference? She was happy, my wife and I were amazed. What was the likelihood that her letter was the reason for the change. Would we ever know? It wasn’t important because the end result was the important thing right? Well, 2 days ago we got a letter from the TV station. In it we were told that the change was made to accommodate the March madness basketball tournament that was being covered by CBS-58. Now that the tournament is over normal programming has resumed. Getting a letter from the tv station was the highlight of Julias day for sure. She learned a good lesson that voicing your opinion is important if you want to be the stimulus of change.

Do you want to show your house or not?

Troy — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 15:25:06 +0000

I have a buyer that was looking to see a new listing that came up for sale. I called the office per the showing instructions to set up the showing. The showing instructions said that the seller only wanted showings after a certain hour of the day. Since we respected this request, I figured we would be able to show the home on that Sunday, a prime time that buyers use to look at homes, without issue. I was called back about 5 minutes later to be told that the showing could not be accommodated. I then proceeded to call the listing agent to find out what the deal was. I was not trying to be pesky but the home was only on the market for 4 days with this agent when we requested the showing. Didn’t the seller know that people would want to actually see the home? Besides I had to answer to my buyer so the more I knew about the situation the better. Well, the agent never called back. Go figure! I relayed the info to my buyer and was told that maybe we should try for mid week. I again called the office to make the arrangements. I was called back 5 minutes later with the ok to show the property and was given the lock box combo ect. Great I thought, the seller must have just had plans for the weekend or something. About an hour later I get another call from the office asking me if we could reschedule our showing. The seller was having wallpaper removed from several areas of the home and it was in what they deemed an unshowable state. They would be ready by this weekend for showings if it worked into our schedules. Hmmmm…..lets see, yeah, I have Easter Sunday open to show homes…..what are you nuts? Of course I didn’t say this, I was only thinking this, but gee whiz, this seller sure is not clued into todays market. I was told that worst case scenario that I would be able to show the property on the Wednesday I had wanted to but, the weekend was preferable at all cost. I talked to my buyer and was given the go ahead to set something up for the following week after Easter. I must say that I thought I made it clear to the office taking the showings that I would get back to them with a re-schedule, but apparently the message never got back to the listing agent. At about 9pm that night I got a call from the listing agent asking me to reschedule if I could. I said that we were already looking at when that might be. I guess my biggest question, is with this agent that took the listing. Why not put in the showing instructions that the home is not available for showings until after a certain date. This way it saves everyone hassle and headache. Is this too much to ask? Better yet, why not list the home when it is ready for showings. Wouldn’t that make more sense?

Home Staging, Making Your Home Stand Out In A Competitive Market

Troy — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 19:20:33 +0000

Many people think they know what needs to be done to display their home in its best light. One thing that first comes to most peoples minds is to declutter and simplify each room in a home prior to listing and marketing it. I have a client that held a rummage sale the week prior to listing their home to generate some extra cash as well as eliminate unwanted items. I have another client that is renting a storage unit for about $80.00 per month to store things that are not currently needed but don’t wish to depart with. While this is a great beginning point, having a professional home stager come in and spend a few hours going through your home, helping you see things from a different point of view, may just take your home from ordinary to extraordinary! I am not an expert in the area of design and design elements. As such my comments are often refuted as unnecessary or unimportant. Little can be disputed when a design expert tells you what looks bad and what looks good. Marcia Brown of The Home Staging Solution is someone that has helped me with my personal residence, office and several clients. She has been a great resource to us in taking our listings and presenting them in a more competitive light. Often it’s the presentation not the product that produces sales. Home staging makes properties appeal to the masses vs. the individual home owner. This is important as we want the homes we sell to appeal to as many people as possible. I have a buyer that I am working with that has a difficult time visualizing color changes when viewing properties. Often this buyer gravitates toward the homes that are the best decorated or utilize the color schemes that appeal and seem the most inviting. Wall paper is another thing that many buyers point out and sometimes is cited as a reason a property is found to be unappealing…pardon the pun. Spending a few hours working on your home and making smart cost effective changes often gives the feeling of value that buyers are looking for. When a client lists with me I offer the services of The Home Staging Solution because I feel the value outweighs the cost of the service. Few real estate agents offer the unique service of home staging as part of a comprehensive marketing package. If you have questions or comments regarding home staging in the SE Wisconsin please feel free to share them with me.

Single Family Home Sales Statistics for Milwaukee & Waukesha Counties February 2009

Troy — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:20:06 +0000

February Single Family Home Statics are an improvement over January but leave a lot to be desired. I would expect that with the new home buyer stimulus plan coupled with the low interest rates that we will see the numbers get progressively better this year. The only thing that is keeping this all in check is that banks are still requiring people to actually have a job, money down and a good credit score. Hard to believe!

194 Single family homes sold in the City of Milwaukee in February 2009
- 90 for under $49,999
- 37 between $50,000-$99,999
- 43 between $100,000-$149,999
- 16 between $150,000-$199,999
- 5 between $200,000-$299,999
- 3 between $300,000-$600,000
111 Single family homes sold in the balance of Milwaukee County in February 2009
- 13 for under $99,999
- 21 between $100,000-$149,999
- 37 between $150,000-$199,999
- 17 between $200,000-$249,999
- 12 between $250,000-$299,999
- 8 between $300,000-$399,999
- 2 between $400,000-$499,999
- 1 over $500,000
157 Single family homes sold in Waukesha County in February 2009
- 5 sold for under $100,000
- 8 between $100,000-$149,999
- 39 between $150,000-$199,999
- 40 between $200,000-$249,999
- 22 between $250,000-$299,999
- 23 between $300,000-$399,999
- 17 between $400,000-$699,999
- 3 over $700,000

As of 3/30/08

There are 2240 active Single Family Homes for sale in the City of Milwaukee
- 899 are priced under $100,000
- 1341 are priced at $100,000 or more

There are 1643 active Single Family Homes for sale in the balance of Milwaukee County
- 364 are priced under $150,000
- 1279 are priced at $150,000 or more

There are 2403 Single Family Homes for sale in Waukesha County
- 326 are priced under $200,000
- 2077 are priced at $200,000 or more

There are currently 311 pending single family home sales in the City of Milwaukee
- 228 are priced under $100,000
There are currently 164 pending single family home sales in the balance of Milwaukee County
- 63 are priced under $150,000
- 101 are priced at $150,000 or more
There are currently 182 pending single family home sales in Waukesha County
- 23 are priced under $150,000
- 159 are priced at $150,000 or more

*All information gathered using the Metro-MLS 3/30/2009

SWAT Southwest Aquatic Team – Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Troy — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:24:05 +0000

There has been a lot of negative news coming out of Greenfield with the breaking story this weekend about a swim coach that worked in several SE Wisconsin communities. I just wanted to reflect and take a minute to say that during my high school years I spent 3 years swimming for the Whitnall Boys Swim Team and I also swam with SWAT-Southwest Aquatic Team. My coach Mark Schrank and assistant coach Dave were some of the most influential people that I associated with during my high school years. I look back at the time I spent in the pool as a truely transformative experience. The guidance, leadership, dedication and camaraderie, helped our team win several conference championships during my time in the program. I still enjoy showing off the team conference photos hanging in the halls at Whitnall High School when I have the chance. I still attend the annual alum meet that is held at the high school when I have the chance. I look back on the early morning swim practices, the christmas day and new years day practices with fond memories. I still on occasion see Mark and his Brother Dale I see several times a week when walking my daughter to and from the grade school. It’s great to get reports on the things that are going on with the programs they are involved with. Dave was telling me today that the Marquette High School Boys Swim Team finished 5th at state this year out of 33 teams. I was just looking on the WIAA website and it shows that Whitnall finished 11th in their division out of 31 teams.

Public Storage – My Experience 12 March 2009

Troy — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 19:41:38 +0000

I have a client that is in the process of preparing their home to sell. We decided that getting some off site storage was a good idea. After looking around we settled on a 10′ x 10′ storage unit with Public Storage. I called and made a reservation and got a reservation number that held our spot for 1 week. Today I got a call from the storage company and was asked when we were looking to come in to rent the unit. I said that we would be there in less than an hour. We got there and had to wait for a few minutes for the on site staff member to return from some errands. The first thing they did was take us out to the unit to make sure that it is going to work for our needs. We were driven in a golf cart out to see the unit and then brought back to sign the papers. The first paper that was presented was an insurance policy paper. There was a chart that showed the rates of the policies and the coverage offered. I said that we wanted to decline the insurance. I was told that insurance was not optional and that they would not rent us a unit unless we got insurance. I persisted and said that insurance was not mentioned when I made my reservation and discussed pricing with the person on the phone. She said that they should have told us about it. I suppose that most people would have just accepted this and paid for the insurance or left and took their business elsewhere. I was not going to relent so easily. I asked where in the rental agreement it was specified that insurance was mandatory? She said that it was not in the agreement but it was their policy non the less. I said that we had homeowners insurance that covered our stored contents and that this additional insurance was not necessary. She asked if I could provide proof that we had coverage. I called the insurance company and the agent said in fact that my clients policy did cover the contents of a storage locker. I put the agent on the phone and had her explain this to the Public Storage employee. After the phone call the Public Storage person then took a copy of our insurance card and had a change of heart in requiring us to purchase additional insurance we neither wanted or needed. We finished the paperwork and paid for the unit after which we went and deposited the first items we had with us to put in storage. This was my first experience with Public Storage. In the end I feel that Public Storage offers a good service at an affordable price. They have no long term contract and you can pay month to month. Access at this particular facility was good 6am-9pm 7 days a week. I would definitely recommend this storage as an option. Just make sure that you aren’t sold a bill of goods you don’t want. In the case of insurance make sure you have proof of insurance so you aren’t charged for a frivilous policy that in the end just adds to the businesses bottom line. If you do want or need insurance that is a different story all together. Let me know of any experiences you have had with Public Storage or any other storage facility I’d love to hear from you.