Albany, Oregon Real Estate Agent – Kristin D Smith

Wow – I went on Broker tour yesterday & saw a great house!   It’s only 149,900 and has great character & charm.   Check it out on my website!

http://www.mlsfinder.com/or_wvmls/kristinsmith/index.cfm?action=listing_detail&property_id=621215&searchkey=2e3562c7-c23e-19f8-f496-13c69f40546a&npp=8&sr=1

So it’s been a little while since I’ve posted to this – and in essence, I’ve probably lost quite a few of you.   Anyway, I thought I’d attempt at resurrecting this great free & inexpensive family fun ideas blog.

So for today, I want you to check out www.frogsandpollywogs.com.   They’re my favorite toy store in Albany, OR and I love to take my kids there.   You can even play with the toys.   Oh, and by the way, no one asked me to post this – this is my personal feelings!

Friday, July 24th, they’re having the Weldon Express Railroad’s Dixie Ray Line at the Frogs & Pollywogs Depot!   You’ll find it at 222 1st Av. W, Downtown Albany.   It’s gonna be a fun time!

No seriously, it did.  

On Wednesday, I was out on a “normal” broker tour day, driving around and looking at different homes so I can keep up on the current “homes for sale” inventory.   It was at the last house that I had my problem – I couldn’t open the door!   Not the passenger door or anything easy.   It was my driver’s side door.   I  was faced with  the option to either A: climb over the console – mountain goat style – and exit out the passenger door, OR B: roll down the window & exit “Daisy Duke” style.   For the record, neither one is very good for a professional real estate broker in a skirt & heels.   I did opt for the “mountain goat” route though.   Turns out that this incident was a Godsend for me!

When it comes to cars, I’m a serious procrastinator.   I mean, as long as it’s driving, I’ll get the oil changed on occasion, and unless something physically prevents me from being able to drive (like not being able to open a door??!!!) I’ll just keep going.   Well, this was a bit of a problem.   Because I have a Kia, I don’t have a local dealership to work with.   The guys down at Knecht’s suggested I run to the Hyundai dealership and see if they can work on it.   Nope, I had to run to Salem to POWER and give them my baby.  

“How many miles are on your car?” was the question I was met with.   “Oh, about 70,000.” “Has the timing belt been replaced?” How would I know?   I’m the second owner!   So I called the previous owner after doing some backtracking and found out that, no, it hadn’t been replaced.   Apparently, that’s not a good thing.   I guess Kias have the type of engine that if your timing belt breaks, it throws the pistons through the top of the engine and you have to replace that!  

To make a LONG story short, my car is STILL in the shop, and I have a loaner from the awesome POWER dealership – thankfully –  but when I get it back it’s going to be in fantastic condition!  

Find properties, tips & more: www.callkdsmith.com
Free buyer & seller resources: http://kdsmith.yourkwagent.com

Well, if you’ve been reading my blog at all, you may have an idea of what I’m going to tell you.  

A while back I blogged about a family meeting that we had at our house.   At the meeting, the kids had presented their idea of getting a puppy.   Ok, so you know where I’m going.   We got a dog.   She’s a true rescue in the sense that we literally had to get a live trap to catch her!   She was running loose around a barn out in a field and had been there for almost 3 weeks.   Now, she’s loved beyond measure.

Here she is with Blaine, doing tricks already!   She says “Please” with her paws like she has them below, and she even dances for treats!   He’s doing well beginning to train her too.

Sharolyn is just loving having a little sweetie to play with.   Finally, she’s using all those doll clothes that she had from when she was little.   In fact, just the other day, she was at Dollar Tree & had to get Princess a rain coat!

Ok, so I’ll quit for today, but if anyone has some great blogging tips, I don’t know how I made it so readable for the first 2 pictures & not for the other one, oh well!   Have a wonderful day!

Find properties, tips & more: www.callkdsmith.com
Free buyer & seller resources: http://kdsmith.yourkwagent.com

How long has it been since you’ve dressed up just for the fun of it?   I’ll bet it’s been at least a year!   I don’t know why, but I have always loved to get in costume.   I’m not so big on the Halloween holiday, but it does give me an opportunity to step back & be a kid again.   This morning, when I put on my costume, my kids got so excited!   They begged their dad to put his on as well, because…well, let’s just say we’re a couple.  

 Enjoy your evening, be safe & send me your great costume ideas!   Especially those that we can make with stuff we already have on hand!

Kristin D Smith, Broker, Keller Williams Realty Mid-Willamette
Renting? Find your perfect home! http://kdsmith.yourkwagent.com
Looking to sell?  www.callkdsmith.com
Integrity, Honesty & Trust.   My commitment to you!

Ok,  first of all  I think I should do a bit of explaining about where I’ve been for the past 6 weeks.    I had gotten into a  great habit, was posting to my blog on a regular basis, and then started an intense training program.   Needless to say, I was so overwhelmed by the program that my blogging got put on the back burner.  

So now I’m back!   Here’s a sample of what we did with some of our pumpkins  

OK, so I did this one – it took about an hour but looks so cool!

 It’s amazing what a 50% off coupon at Michael’s – by the way, they honor competitors (JoAnn’s) coupons! – can do for family fun time!   My kids have had a blast carving pumpkins with their dad & I.  

So what about you?   Do you have pictures of any of the pumpkins that you’ve carved?   Email them to me at kdsmith@kw.com and I may feature them in a “best pumpkins” post!   But most of all – have fun with your family!

Find properties, tips & more: www.callkdsmith.com
Free buyer & seller resources: http://kdsmith.yourkwagent.com

Hi all!   So, here’s what my kids & I have been doing lately.   They’ve been out in the front yard selling pumpkins!   These creative little entrepreneurs thought that we could sell some carved & others whole & they’ve done quite a bit!   I’m amazed at their creativity.

Have any fun holiday ideas?   Email them to me, at kdsmith@kw.com and I may feature them in my next blog!

Find properties, tips & more: www.callkdsmith.com
Free buyer & seller resources: http://kdsmith.yourkwagent.com

Ok, so I’ve never been a fan of “family meetings”, but I decided to do one on Tuesday.   Shocker – it was fun!   I have just started some pretty strenuous training & thought I’d better prepare the rest of the family for what was to come in the next 6 weeks & let them know what was playing on WIIFM radio (that’s What’s In It For ME )  

 To my surprise, Sharolyn asked if they could say anything at the meeting.   Of course, they could!   So she & Blaine ran upstairs to create their “presentation” (their words).   They were so tickled when we were willing to listen to them and they felt so important giving us reasons that they should have a puppy.  

I’m not promising that we’ll be getting a puppy anytime soon, but they had a budget plan on saving money for one, etc.   I was really impressed!   Don’t underestimate your kids!   They’re usually pretty amazing.  

Who knows, maybe when they grow up they’ll focus that and end up selling houses too.

Find properties, tips & more: www.callkdsmith.com
Free buyer & seller resources: http://kdsmith.yourkwagent.com

If you’re like me, you’re probably just getting into the swing of things again, now that school is back in session.   I don’t know about you, but as I walked into the office after dropping the kids off on their first day, I was singing!  

There are so many fun things that you can do with your kids when they get home from school.   This week, I’ll be posting some of the fun stuff we’re doing.

MAKE COOKIES!
Here’s my favorite sugar cookie recipe.   I hope you like it as much as we do!   One of the blessings of having kids that are 9, is that they can do some of this stuff on their own, while I can “supervise” from the other room as I work.   Don’t forget to steal some of the dough!

Thick & Soft  Sugar Cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream together:

• 3/4 c. shortening
• 1 c. sugar

Beat in:

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Slowly mix in:

• 2 1/2 c. flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt

Roll out 1/4″ thick, cut into shapes.   Bake 7-9 minutes – don’t overbake!   ENJOY!

Find properties, tips & more: www.callkdsmith.com
Free buyer &  seller resources: http://kdsmith.yourkwagent.com  

Have your kids ever wanted to take a ride in a small aircraft?   Last year, my kids took advantage of the Young Eagles flights at the Albany Art & Air Festival.   They’re super popular with the kids, so if you want to go, make sure that you get there early to sign up.   Children have to be between 8 & 17 years old, and they will have 20 minutes of basics of  flight class, followed by a 20 minute flight.   My kiddos had a blast last year!   Hope to see you there!

Check out the Young Eagles website: http://www.youngeagles.org/

Remember, if you know of anyone looking to buy or sell a home, I would love to talk to them!  

Find properties, tips & more: www.callkdsmith.com
Free buyer & seller resources: http://kdsmith.yourkwagent.com