Everything we need to know, we learned in Kindergarten
It’s funny to think back to the days when we were just starting off. Our biggest problems were remembering the alphabet and our afternoon snack, counting backwards and saying please, and of course remembering the “rules”. Simple but important things that today we sometimes forget.  “Share and share alike, Don’t judge a book by it’s cover, Keep your eye on the prize, and Taking Time outs!”.  More importantly not stomping off in a tantrum when things didn’t go our way muttering “If you’re not gonna play my way I’m going home. 

We hopefully learned along the way: 

• Share everything.
• Play fair.
• Don’t hit people.
• Put things back where you found them.
• Clean up your own mess.
• Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
• Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.
• Wash your hands before you eat.
• Flush.
• Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
• Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
• Take a nap every afternoon.
• When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
• Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
• Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
• And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

In this weekend recap think about these simple principles and how they can apply to us all, not only in today’s real estate market but every day life.

For  “ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN” by Robert Fulghum.  See his web site!

The Grass isn’t always Greener:  In an article in the NY Times this weekend  Coveting Thy Neighbor’s Condo, Terri Rogers examines why buyers are pushing for deep discounts on older apartments when they cannot afford some of the new high end developments.

But buyers lacking patience or money are finding their tastes have gotten more expensive, as apartments that might have thrilled them five years ago have come to resemble throwbacks to an age of portable CD players.
In other words, said one real estate agent frustrated by her frustrated clients, it can be hard to shop at Bloomingdale’s after visiting Barneys.

Don’t Judge a Home by Its Photos Lisa Pandey shares some insight on the impact of photos, or lack of them and how it can be a indicator for a broker to find a good deal. A diamond in the ruff that has been passed by.

 …a study conducted by Point2 that monitored listings over a 30-day period found that homes with 20-plus photos received almost 10 times the number of leads and more than 15 times the number of showings as homes with only one online photo. That’s quite a difference!

• 1 photo = 70 days on market
• 6 photos = 40 days on market
• 6-19 photos = 36 days on market
• 20 photos max = 32 days on market