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April 28, 2005
Rates, Housing, and Other Musings
Here are a few little news tidbits.
According to Bankrate.com, mortgage interest rates were lower this week. The 30-year fixed-rate dropped to 5.33 percent, and the 15-year to 4.93 percent.
At the same time, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that existing homes sales climb by 1 percent in March to the third-highest sales pace on record. The median price for a home sold in March gained 11.4 percent from a year ago. This was much higher than most experts had predicted.
For those that are college bound, next semester's Business Ethics textbooks just got a new case study as the top executives at Homestore.com were indicted today on charges of defrauding investors. Homestore is the parent company to Realtor.com, the largest real estate website in the world.
And in the random thought category, after watching the NFL draft last weekend you just have to wonder how long it will be until Kyle Turley puts his St. Louis home on the market.
On the web:
Mortgage Rates- http://www.bankrate.com
NAR Story- http://www.realtor.org
Homestore News- http://www.inman.com/inmannews.aspx?ID=45963
Kyle Turley in all his glory- http://www.cracksmoker.com/NFL/NFL%20TurleyK.htm
Posted by at 11:57 PM
April 26, 2005
Thoughts on GMAC Realty, Ray Vinson's Dog, and the Dirt Cheap Chicken
One thing I’ve now learned about blogging: No matter how much energy and effort Kimberly and I put into writing lengthy, in-depth, time consuming “on-topic” real estate articles, it’s the 20 seconds I took to write the smarta**ed “St. Louis Celebrity Dirt” post last month on Ray “Mr. Nahndee-nahn, Nahndee-nahn” Vinson that has people coming back to the website. That and the title, "Hey, Your Basement Smells Like Urine!"
Go figure.
So to pander to those who like smacking around the local news, I encourage you to go read the story in the Post titled, "Shutting down" by Jack Naudi (04/22/2005). You can find the article on-line at www.stltoday.com.
Basically, it reads like the set up of an A&E Television “City Confidential” script. To summarize, James Andrew GMAC Real Estate was a fast growing local residential real estate company here in St. Louis that just went belly up last week (to the surprise of pretty much everyone involved in the company I’m told). The owner, James Thurman, is missing- as is $1 million from the St. Charles, MO-based Phoenix Title which Thurman also owned. The Missouri Insurance Commission, The Missouri Real Estate Commission, HUD, and I’m sure a few other local, state and federal agencies would really like to ask Thurman a few questions. Assuming they could find him that is.
So...
Things to think about while wondering where this guy will eventually show up…
How exactly do you resign from a company you are the sole shareholder of? Do you have to take a shareholder vote?
Wouldn’t it have great comedic value if the hand scrawled note Thurman used to resign from his own company with turns out to have been written on a used cocktail napkin from one of the more nefarious East Side adult night clubs?
Do you suppose HUD scoped out the Ritz-Carlton to see if Thurman was hiding out with Ray Vinson’s Dog? And if you have to be in the dog house, can you really think of a better one than Vinson's pooch has?
(With apologies, BTW, to Jeff Gordon of the St Louis Post's Sports Page for stealing his shtick).
My prediction is that for better or worse, this is going to be one of the more interesting local stories to watch unfold in 2005.
I don’t know any of the folks over at GMAC (Kimberly, for the most part, keeps me locked up in the basement working on marketing), but having lived through an implosion like this with a former employer, my sympathies go out to the workers of the two businesses who without warning now find themselves out of work (and probably stiffed on a paycheck or two). It sucks; I’ve been there.
The other folks to feel sorry for are the poor people who find the sale or purchase of their home caught up in this mess. For those keeping score, this is the second St. Louis title company to shut its doors in recent months. Capital Title shut down in January amid allegations of embezzlement (there’s about $12 million missing in that case). The investigation has held up hundreds of real estate transactions- wrecking the lives of a whole lot of homeowners in the process. (Read: The 4/24/05 Post Article “Title insurance business here may be most competitive in U.S.” by Jack Naudi on www.stltoday.com for more details.) This leaves you to wonder how long it will take local and state politicians to form a bandwagon and start calling for more state regulation of the title industry. (You know it’s coming…)
But on the positive side, I should probably stop and wish a warm welcome to the bus load of GMAC agents who have just made our home, Prudential Alliance, their new home. Welcome! This is the second wave of real estate agents to join our office this month. A few weeks ago a group of (now former) Blake and Davis Agents joined Prudential Alliance as well (again, welcome!).
But back to the Thurman/GMAC story. Hopefully for those involved this story has a happy ending somehow. Personally, I’m hoping the scandal somehow involving that Queen of Carpets chick, and ends with an FBI raid finding the embezzling money at the home of the Dirt Cheap Chicken. Now that would make for a good local gossip column!
Sid Cameron
Posted by at 11:59 PM
April 25, 2005
New Home Listing
The spring home selling season is definitely upon us. We have several new home and condo listings about to come on the market.
Today, we picked up a new listing for sale at 7127 Glades Avenue. Since I've been working on the direct mail marketing piece for it for the past hour or so, I guess I’ll make it the topic of today’s blog.
Nestled in a historic Richmond Heights neighborhood, this updated 3 bedroom, 1 bath home is an ideal place to live. Location is convenient to Washington University, University City, Clayton, The Galleria, St. Mary's Hospital, Forest Park and Downtown via Highways 40 & 44. Features include new carpet and light fixtures throughout, crown molding in Living Room, updated bathroom with shower/tub. Kitchen offers new 12 inch ceramic tile floor, new cabinets, countertop, refrigerator, dishwasher, sink & faucet. All windows have been replaced for improved insulation. There is a rear door off the kitchen leading to a small deck which is ideal for a BBQ in the Summer or relaxing on a nice Spring evening. You will also find a washer/dryer included in the basement. Residents have access to The Heights Recreation Center and all that they offer. This charming home is ready and waiting for you to move in!
Directions: Highway 40 East to Bellevue Exit (South/Right) to Glades Ave (Left/East). Home on Left/North side of Road. From Clayton Road: Take Bellevue South to Glades Ave.
Price: $168,900
We should have photos and the listing on our Featured property section within the next day or so. If you have questions or would like a tour, call Kimberly at 314-267-2691.
Posted by at 11:57 PM
April 21, 2005
Spring Real Estate Market
Spring has sprung! The real estate market is heating up. There is no better time than the present to consider marketing your home or finding a new home.
If you would like a complimentary Comparative Market Analysis on your home in the St. Louis Market or schedule an appointment to discuss marketing your home, please contact me today at 314-267-2691. My team and I are here to help achieve your goals.
All the best,
Kimberly (Shallenberger) Cameron
The St Louis Agent Team
RE/MAX Properties West
16100 Swingley Ridge Rd
Town & Country, MO 63017
(314) 267-2691 Cell
(636) 386-8827 X161
Toll Free: (800) 573-5276
http://www.stlagent.com
Posted by at 11:32 PM
April 20, 2005
Change in Name
Just a quick FYI. I mentioned this two days ago, but it was at the bottom of a long blog...
Kimberly Shallenberger has officially changed her name to Kimberly Cameron.
So you know, Kimberly and I were married on April 9th.
All of Kimberly's contact information will remain the same- including Kimberly's e-mail address which is kimberly@stlagent.com.
Darin "Sid" Cameron
The St Louis Agent Marketing Director
(the other half)
Posted by at 11:59 PM
April 19, 2005
Rates Lower a Bit
According to Bankrate.com, long-term mortgage interest rates continued to decline a bit last week.
The 30-year fixed-rate average dropped to 5.41 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate sank to 5.01 percent.
On the web at:
http://www.bankrate.com
Posted by at 11:45 PM
April 18, 2005
Hola Amigos, We are Back
If you are wondering why there hasn't been a blog in two weeks, Kimberly and I got married on April 9th and the week of the wedding was a long and brutal week for the two of us.
Somewhere along the line Kimberly and I got the great idea to hold the rehearsal diner at our house for the wedding party and 100 or so out-of-town guests (and turn the house into a meeting place for out-of-towners to gather throughout the weekend). I’m pretty sure it was originally conceived as a money saving idea…
It wasn’t.
To pull off the rehearsal party, I naturally had a long list of home remodeling projects from hell which went down to the wire (the last project got checked off the list on Friday morning, hours before the rehearsal). In fact, my last blog entries on the weekend of April 1-3 were sanity breaks from dry walling our kitchen ceiling- which had to be unexpectedly gutted and raised because a new butler pantry was two inches too tall to fit in our 1970’s dropped ceiling kitchen. This was one of those “simple 2-3 hour jobs” that escalated into a crew of construction workers taking up camp in our home for a couple of weeks to repair some old structural damage from years ago which was uncovered once the drywall of the old ceiling was removed. Thankfully we rated as an “emergency” in the eyes of our contractors who pulled off of other jobs in order to help get the project(s) done in time for the wedding. However, after April 3rd I didn’t get enough sleep until after the wedding to write a coherent blog entry (or even check e-mail for that matter). Somehow I survived on 3 hours of sleep a night for an entire week. (Thanks TempurPedic!)
As I entered the weekend before the wedding with a home covered in debris, dirt and dust, with a trashed-out kitchen, exposed electrical wire hanging from rafters in two rooms, two of the three bathrooms out of commission, several unfinished landscaping projects, and no interior doors on our main level (yeah, those were being replaced too), I was thanking God that Kimberly had shipped out of town for a bachelorette party. Thanking God, that is, until Kimberly came home Monday night from the bachelorette party bedridden with the mother of all flu’s.
The bride barely made it down the isle. The more she worried about being sick, the sicker she got. Suffice it to say, she wasn’t in a bloggin’ mood either. Thankfully, a grandfather, uncle, and college friend are all three doctors, so she was well medicated with scripts being written on the fly the day of the wedding. We also had an array of friends, coworkers, and family who came out of the woodwork to help finalize details that were starting to fall through the cracks- like the Prudential Alliance “After Hours” Party to fold wedding programs, or the bridesmaid who was planting flowers until 10 pm the night before the first guests arrived in town. I could go on for pages, but suffice it to say there are a bunch of people in our lives who are awesome.
Our house was finished, kitchen and all, just in the knick of time (it really looked great). The rehearsal dinner went off without a hitch, and for the most part so did our wedding. The truly funny side to this story is that within hours of the last guests leaving Sunday afternoon, and hours before we were to leave on our honeymoon, the water heater, second refrigerator, and the air conditioner all three “simultaneously” died. It was as if the house was trying to hang on until after the parties were over and then let go a big sign of relief.
R.I.P. old friends.
(Fortunately we were registered at Home Depot, so we have a lot of Home Depot Gift Certificates!)
As I'm writing this, we've just returned home from our honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The other reason why there hasn’t been a blog in two weeks is our hotel in Mexico didn't have the wireless internet access we were promised. Instead they had two old desktop computers which we could rent 30 minutes of time on for 50 pesos. Had they not had a Spanish keyboard with no conceivable way to make a "@" sign, it wouldn’t have been so bad. The challenge of using a Spanish operating system and software (without actually knowing Spanish) was actually kind of fun (although not fun enough to spend 100’s of pesos to write a blog entry, sorry). It was probably a blessing that there wasn’t internet (or cell phone) access on the honeymoon because it gave Kimberly a chance to get well (and me a chance to get sick with her flu!)
Anyway, Kimberly just stumbled up to bed after trying to sort through dozens of voice messages and 150+ e-mails. After a night of work, I’m down to 93 unread messages in my inbox. If you’ve sent either of us an e-mail over the past two weeks, and we haven’t responded, rest assured we’ll be working to get to your message this week. Give us time.
Finally, I should also point out, Kimberly Shallenberger is now a whole lot easier to type and spell (it’s now Kimberly Cameron). As she said the day of the wedding, “gaining a husband isn’t as important as loosing six letters in my name.” It’s the little things that make you feel the love you know!
Sid
Posted by at 11:56 PM
April 03, 2005
NCAA Visitors Guide to St Louis Part 3
Well, it’s Sunday. Part III of the NCAA Tournament Visitor’s Guide to St. Louis. I figure half of you are now setting in your hotel room pouting, waiting for the next miniaturized American Airlines plane to give you the 18 inches of seat space back to your riot strewn college town. But for those of you who still feel like exploring, and for those of you who didn’t trek up to Champaign for the day, here’s some things to do.
Culture; it’s a good thing, really.
THE GOOD…
St. Louis is a grand old city bursting with a lot of fine museums and other cultural things to do. However knowing that you are all beer drinking sports fans, I won’t waste a lot of time writing about them; I’m a realist. However, the history museum does have a baseball exhibit going on, so that’s something. (Although I feel the urge to point out that the baseball exhibit going on during the basketball tournament is St. Louis’ way of reminding you that basketball is a second class sport to our city’s first love. Take any guided tour of this city, and it’s bound to loop around Busch three or four times before ending up at the former site of Sportsman’s Park.)
My pick, however, would be the City Museum. Before you stop reading, the City Museum isn’t exactly a Museum. It’s really more like Salvador Dali on drugs. I was there on a Friday night (after midnight) a couple of weeks ago, and the place was filled with teenagers. What other Museum could boast of that? It’s a very hands-on, quirky, strange, yet compellingly fun place to visit. It’s also on Washington Street near the dome for those of you luck enough to get downtown hotel rooms.
Also in the downtown area is the Science Museum. It has an OmniMax Theater which is a great time after those free beer samples from the brewery tour. I would recommend the brewery tours as well, but I’m not sure if they run on Sunday- contact your hotel’s front desk for that.
Outside of those suggestions, downtown has a zoo, the arch (which you’ve probably already seen), and a really large park (since it is a nice day and all).
THE BAD…
What’s more exciting than spending your Sunday afternoon watching exciting Blues hockey? Well, pretty much everything, really. But for those of you who love low-scoring, defense-oriented, keep-away Coach Q hockey, this is the year the Blues will finally NOT choke in the first round of the playoffs. For our town, that’s something anyway. However if you get a chance, go over to the large train station (Union Station) near the Savvis Center and spend a buck or two on fudge or something. Those businesses are reeling from the loss of hockey and would be grateful for your support. (If you reread my first entry of this visitor’s guide, you will be reminded that you are obligated to spend money while visiting our fair town). Plus, there’s a Hooters.
THE UGLY…
Or in this case, the beautiful… There was a St Louis rock band decades ago whose name summed it all up- Head East. For those of you who truly want to avoid culture, our near East Side (i.e. Illinois) is home to pretty much any vice you could want or hope for (legal or otherwise). Get a copy of a newspaper called the Riverfront Times and page through the back sections to find what you want. If you want to keep it simple, right across the bridge is a town named Sauget (Pronounced SAW-jay, with a soft J- almost a Z sound) which is home to a bunch of 6am liquor licenses and the Sauget Ballet- i.e. strip clubs. I haven’t checked, but I’m sure they’re open for business on a Sunday with this much tourist $$$ in town. It's just the place for you 23 year old testosterone driven Michigan State fans to find solitude after yesterday's loss.
Now, if you are sick of hot dogs and “game food”, let me recommend some fine places to dine.
Soulard Area (down by the brewery).
There's a place on every corner.
Lagniappes (http://www.lanyaps.com) is one of my favorites. Try the Gorgonzola Steak.
1860’s Hardshell Café. The Red Beans and Rice are pretty good, although I can’t name the place I like better…
McGurks. Irish Stew. Mmmm...
Lafayette Square (near Soulard around Jefferson and I-44)
The Chocolate Bar. Something Chocolate.
Delmar Loop (see yesterday’s blog for directions).
Saleem’s. Assuming you like Garlic. Lot’s and lots of Garlic. It’s Kimberly’s favorite place to go.
Cicero’s. Good hardy Chicago-style pizza that’s hard to find in the thin-crust-loving world of St Louis.
I’ll stop there. Those places are all easily accessible from downtown. If you’re hotel is somewhere else, I guess you’re going to have to find your own place- or suffer through another #3 at Micky D's.
Sid
Posted by at 05:04 PM
April 02, 2005
NCAA Visitors Guide to St Louis Part 2
By now you're probably sick of the crowds around the dome and are looking for someplace to run off and get those souvenirs that proved you were actually here. So let’s talk about St. Louis shopping for a minute.
THE GOOD…
Gringo Jones (Take I-44 to Vandeventer, then turn left on Shaw). Website: http://www.gringojonesimports.com, Phone: 314-664-1666. Basically, it’s a tiny old building with winding hallways and narrow staircases chocked to the rafters with assorted stuff imported from Mexico. Think of it as a Pier 1 with attitude, a lot of attitude. It’s an adventure in shopping, and a long way from the boring and predictable stores in the mall. I’ve purchased some great stuff there over the years.
Soulard Market (basically it’s a Saturday Morning farmers market down by the brewery). Lot’s of neat stuff being sold. Probably the most interesting thing we’ve purchased there would have to be our half-breed $20 dog named Gracie who has the body of a black lab but the legs of a wiener dog.
Central West End (I-64 to North on Kingshighway, right on Maryland) and/or University City “ Delmar Loop” (I-64 to North on Big Bend, Right on Delmar). First let me clarify, the map calls it I-64, but locals call it Highway 40. Same road.
The West End is made up of several little areas of shops mixed among some fantastic turn of the century homes. It’s the original wealthy neighborhood of St Louis. This includes some great art galleries, fine antique stores, and several great places to eat (too many to name). The Coffee Cartel is a great place to go for Ice Cream and late night coffee (open 24 hours). The West End has it’s own website http://stlouis.missouri.org/cwe/.
The Loop is a LOT more bohemian than the West End. In the heart of University City, brimming with college kids, the loop has an eclectic mix of shops from art galleries, to funky clothing, to furniture. With the exception of the @#$%ing Starbucks that sets smack dab in the middle of the place, it’s a vibrant cool neighborhood that has spilled over into the city.
THE BAD…
Famous-Barr downtown. Not that this is a bad store. It’s a grand old downtown department store that has weathered a lot of bad years (decades actually) when downtown became a ghost town back in the 60’s and 70’s. To their credit, May Department Stores kept it alive to give the downtown something to cling to. Naturally as things are starting to turn around down there, those rat bastards from Federated have made an attempt to buy out our beloved May Co. and every rumor points to the closing of this store. So shop it while you can. After that, two words: Boycott Macy’s.
Speaking of department stores, if absolutely must shop in a mall the Galleria is right off of I-64 and Brentwood. It’s easy to get to, has plenty of shops, and is a great place to buy those gifts you could have bought in a shopping mall back home. There’s even a Wal-Mart down the street off of Handley for those truly unique souvenirs.
THE UGLY…
The gift shop at the Gateway Arch. It’s not the “World’s Largest McDonald’s” in Vinita, Oklahoma (where Kimberly bought all of her family Christmas gifts a few years back), but it’s close. After a few beers it’s easy to imagine dear old mom always loving the $4.50 Gateway Arch Snow Globe, but I’m sure the folks expecting souvenirs back home truly want better. If you have to do gift shop gifts, I suggest hitting the Budweiser store at the AB Brewery, or the gift shop at the Science Center (the funky building with a skywalk over I-64). However the Arch gifts shop is one small step above the gift shops at Lambert Airport right as you’re leaving town.
More to come Sunday…
Sid
Posted by at 11:52 PM
April 01, 2005
NCAA Visitors Guide to St Louis
With the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament in town this weekend, I thought I would give my take on things to do and see in St. Louis for all the visitors out there setting in their hotel room reading local blogs looking for ideas on things to do and see. (Hey, everyone is doing it…)
First off, let me say, stop playing around on your computer reading local blogs you big geek and go start spending money! It’s been over 25 years since this tournament was in St Louis last, and a whole lot of local tax money has gone into sprucing up the town so you think we’re a swell place to hang out. Like it or not, that means you are now morally obligated to spend wads of cash.
So spend. Buy lots of souvenirs. Eat. Drink. Then take out those credit cards and buy more souvenirs. You can never have enough miniature replicates of the Gateway Arch, you know. If you have a problem with this, bitch at your basketball team. They’re the overachievers who have landed you here…
Now, at some point during this weekend you’re going to be standing outside the dome (a.k.a. “The Ed”) trying to figure out what you can do (like eat, drink, or party) that’s within walking distance. Here’s your options:
THE GOOD…
You have two choices, go East (toward the river/arch) and you will end up in an area called Laclede’s Landing. The Landing has been a good solid place for tourists to enjoy St Louis nightlife for a long time. Thanks to it’s proximity to the arch you can easily stumble over and take your mandatory Arch photos then stumble back. One thing to note, however, is after a lot of beer those trees on the arch ground may look like a nice option over the long lines at the port-o-potties. DON’T DO IT. Being a national monument, public urination on the Arch ground is a FEDERAL crime. I don’t know the specifics but I think its several hundred dollars and/or jail time in a federal prison. (Bet you didn’t get that tip from the Post!)
Your second option is to head straight West down the street in front of the dome (Washington Street). You probably won’t hear a lot of locals tell you about Washington Street, because most locals don’t realize it exists yet. Up until the past year or so, Washington Street was a bunch of empty warehouses mostly suitable for crack-heads to live, mixed with empty storefronts, a few low-rent businesses, a never ending road construction project, and a handful of St. Louis’ edgier nightclubs (think fetish night).
After 25 years of promises, Washington Street is finally taking off as a Loft District. It’s still a little bit of a work in progress, but there are a lot of great places to eat and drink. In fact, when I was down there two weeks ago I spotted a half-dozen places that weren’t open when I was down there last January. My pick for dining is Kitchen K, but there’s a Sushi place a block down the street that really wasn’t half bad either (if you’re into sushi that is). As far as drinking goes, pick a spot… If you go to Washington Street and have a good time, make sure to spread the word and tell a local about it. We need to know it exists.
THE BAD…
Just South of the dome you will find a shopping mall (called the St. Louis Centre). Forget about it. It was built 20 years too early (before people started moving back to downtown again). Maybe someday it will sprout life again, but for right now even the McDonald’s has closed up shop. The best it will offer is a chance to duck in on a way to a game and grab some fast food from an off-brand chain that will be cheaper than Dome food.
THE UGLY…
North of the dome. Don’t go there. And don’t wonder too far off of Washington Street either. There’s nothing down those side streets. Buy a compass if you are directionally challenged.
I’ll continue this blog on Saturday!
Sid
Posted by at 11:33 PM
