Spice up your life!

Ah, it's finally the time when 7-11 has the pumpkin spice cappuccino! I stopped in today and got one on my way to work, it's like Thanksgiving in a cup! There's nothing I love more than the smell of pumpkin candles also. I use them all year round because they smell so good and they're not overwhelming. Lighting a nice candle or putting out a soft air freshener is a great thing to do when your home is on the market, but sometimes a candle isn't enough. Have a friend come over and honestly tell you if your home has an odor. Sometimes you can't smell it if you live there, it's true! Here are some useful tips* for getting your home smelling great for showings!

• 1. Take out the trash before showing. That simple.


• 2. Tell the children to keep stinky shoes in the garage.


• 3. Sprinkle baking powder on the carpet before vacuuming.


• 4. Vinegar - your new best friend. Use vinegar to clean floors, countertops, and bathrooms. (1/2 cup to one gallon of hot water.) A stronger vinegar mix dissolves hard-water scum on shower tile and glass enclosures.


• 5. Add essential oil drops to final rinse for floors.


• 6. Use essential oils in a diffuser instead of artificial sprays that some home shoppers may find offensive; they may think you're trying to mask a bigger problem like mildew, or even worse, they may be allergic to the artificial product and think your house makes them teary-eyed and sneezy.


• 7. Keep up with the laundry. Wash sneakers with a half-cup of added vinegar.


• 8. Wash all bed linens, even blankets, which hold odors. Use non-allergic scented fabric softener.


• 9. Check window coverings for musty smells.


• 10. Run a grapefruit or orange skin through your garbage disposal for a refreshing clean smell a few minutes before showing.

*Tips by Jeanette J. Fisher.

For more home staging tips, call the Atchley Group at 405-330-2626. We would love to talk to you about your Oklahoma City, Edmond, Piedmont and Deer Creek Real Estate needs!

Cleaning the Garage

This weekend my husband and I cleaned out our garage. Well, we did the best we could! We still can't actually park cars in there, but after a trip to the dump and a garage sale, it's going to happen!

What a mess garages are, they hold so many things, but usually not cars! I think that garages are one thing that home sellers can forget to take care of when staging and preparing the home for sale. That's where all the junk that was in the house went anyway! However, if a potential buyer steps into a junkpile in the garage, it's a huge turnoff. Get organized, sweep, buy some plastic tubs, hang your rakes, shovels and brooms on the wall. Whatever you do, get the stuff off the floor and be sure that you're able to actually park in there.

As for the garage sale, I've never actually held one, but it's a great way to get rid of the things that you can no longer use or may not need anymore. I looked it up and the city of Edmond does not require you to have a permit to hold a garage sale. Now that the weather is cooler it's so much more comfortable to spend some time in the garage going through things and deciding if there's enough for a sale. It also can make you some extra money, and that doesn't hurt! For more information about Edmond Real Estate, call us at 405-330-2626 and ask for the Atchley Group, we'll be glad to help you! Oh, and feel free to come to my garage sale!

Fun Friday Activities

If you haven't been to the Paseo area in Oklahoma City, you're missing out! The Historic Paseo Arts District, built in 1929, has served as Oklahoma City’s artist community since the 1970s. There's a big event going on this weekend if you love art! Information below was found on the Paseo website.

AN AUTUMN EVENT ON PASEO - This Fall event is scheduled for Friday, October 3rd from 6-10pm and Saturday, October 4th from 8am - 5:30pm. The North block of Paseo will be closed Friday evening and all-day Saturday. Most galleries on Paseo will feature a fine craft artist; on Saturday, the restaurants will have brown bag lunches for sale and a beer garden, all the while artists will be painting, sculpting, photographing and more, LIVE on the street. Music, and crafts for children will round out this beautiful fall day on Paseo. Artists are invited, free of charge, to paint, sculpt, wood carve, photograph, or throw pottery on the Paseo, Saturday, October 4 starting at 8am. There will be prizes, a quick draw contest, an auction and more.

OKC Is The Best!

In an article in Forbes magazine, Oklahoma City ranked number one as America's most recession proof city!

"Nationally, home prices are falling, unemployment is on the rise and the economy is expected to grow slowly--or even contract--in the first half of the year. But some cities are doing just fine. Take Oklahoma City, Okla. With falling unemployment, one of the country's strongest housing markets, and solid growth in agriculture, energy and manufacturing, it looks best positioned among the nation's largest metropolitan areas to ride out the current crisis."

So even if the ecomony scares you, be glad that you're in Oklahoma City, it's a great place to live.

The article also says, "Did someone say something about a recession? With one of the strongest housing markets in the country, Oklahoma City might not have received the recession memo, and it looks best positioned of the nation's metropolitan areas to ride out the current crisis."

Mortgage News

The following is information from the Atchley Group on-line October newsletter at -- http://realtytimes.com/nlprint/frame119/DebAtchley --to learn more about what's happening in the real estate world visit this hyperlink.

Rates Tick Up In Freddie Mac's results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.09% for the week ending September 25, 2008, up from the previous week when it averaged 5.78%. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.42%. "Mortgage rates followed Treasury bond yields higher this week amid market uncertainty over the current state of the economy," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. U.S. averages as of September 25, 2008: 30 yr. fixed: 6.09%15 yr. fixed: 5.77%1 yr. adj: 5.16% And while up, interest rates for 30-year FRMs are still more than 0.5 percentage points below this year's peak of 6.63 percent set the week of July 24th.

To learn more about Edmond, Oklahoma City, Deer Creek, Piedmont and Yukon home prices and local mortgage rates during this ever changing market, please call the Atchley Group at 330-2626. To check our current listings of homes for sale go to --http://www.atchleygroup.com/myhomes.asp?filter=yes&type=ALL.