Greg has posted this weeks short list of nominees for the Odysseus Medal competition. As usual, it's a brilliant collection of posts from across the RE.net.

One of our posts on the Aaron Anglin tragedy, Tragedy Begets Triumph: Why I Love this Community, was nominated. I've never voted for one of my own posts before, nor encouraged anyone else to do so.  

But this week I'm going to ask for folks to at least consider voting for this post. Why? Donations to Aaron's family have basically dried up since Friday. When it comes to something like this, any publicity is good publicity as every single dollar helps. If we can get this in front of more people, maybe more people can donate.

We've done a lot of good for Aaron's widow and babies, but it's a mere band-aid on a gaping wound.

You can vote for the "People's Choice Award" here.

Technorati Tags: Odysseus Medal, Aaron Anglin

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Into The Box TV, brought to you by Rachel Natalie Klein — a New York City Realtor Video Blogger (vlogger) — has some interesting video clips on New York real estate. The latest is titled, “Cool Commodes”…. yep, “high end” toilets are becoming all the rage.

Now I love remote controls, but I honestly don’t really think I need one for my toilet…For more info on the “Toto Washlet” featured in the video, click here. And if you’re really curious, here is a product feature comparison chart… The S400 with auto seat open/close is the obvious choice. Prices start at only $1,890.

Hat tip to Rudy for the Into The Box TV tip!

So a couple of days ago, Jim Cramer is on the Today Show, saying “Don’t you dare buy a home now, you’ll lose money”.

Fine, his opinion. He’s clearly entitled to an opinion and has never been shy about sharing one.

Personally, I think it is silly to make a blanket statement like that — swiping a wide brush across the country and every possible buying situation — and proclaiming “you’ll lose money”.

Does Cramer really think if someone purchases a home today, lives in it for say 5, 7, 10 years or more and sells it that they’ll lose money? Or is he thinking that if someone buys any home today, anywhere in the country, that next week the home will be worth less? (Which of course is a paper loss, not a real loss)

Who knows, it’s Cramer.

And to be honest, I don’t really care what he says. It’s an opinion, and by definition, that can not be wrong.

What is wrong is this New Jersey Realtor group getting all whiny and wanting their members to send letters to the Today Show to whine and cry about what Cramer said.

Get over it people. The guy’s a talking head who gets paid (very well) to create controversy.

He’s just doing his job.

Maybe you should try doing yours. Houses are bought and sold every day. Quit wasting time bitching about what people say and get out there and educate your clients and sell a freaking house. For the love of Pete I’m tired of Realtor associations stumbling over their own words and sobbing over other’s words. It’s the real estate market. Deal with it or seek employment elsewhere.

Here’s the video. Think Cramer is going to retract / apologize?

Hat tip to Morgan at Blown Mortgage for the video linkage.

I grow weary of realestatemindset.info stealing my blog content.

Let's see how long they take to steal this. Posted at 7:09Pm Friday , Sept 28.

Sploggers are annoying. They can be shutdown, but it requires a lot of energy. And more just follow behind them. 

"Givesdap.com" is another splogging lowlife, just like realestatemindset…

Will these bozos ever go away? 

Update:
Question: How long did it take them to scrape and steal this post?
Answer: 29 minutes….

You learn something new every day (hopefully…)

Ever had a ‘fridge that slowly over time gets warmer and warmer?

Here’s a handy tip that may save you roughly $94 on a service call….

If the freezer is cold, but the refrigerator isn’t, you have an air flow problem.

The most likely cause is a “blocked damper” — the little flapper thing that controls the flow of cold air out of the freezer and into the refrigerator. The most likely cause of the blockage is frosting.

The most likely cause of the frosting is a teenager leaving the freezer door cracked open for a couple of hours before you notice it. This causes condensation in the damper than leads to frosting.

Fixing this is EASY (assuming you realize it’s a problem).

Here’s a picture, with simple step-by-step instructions:

1) Remove ice maker container
2) Unscrew bolt attaching damper cover to freezer wall (see arrow — yours may look slightly different, but it’ll be close.)
3) Clean out the frost. A damp paper towel works just fine.
4) Bolt the cover back on.
5) Put ice container back in.
6) Shut freezer door (completely).

Approximate repair time = 1.5 minutes.

How do I know it’ll cost you $94 to have a repairman do this?

Trust me, I know.

What’s worse than spending $94 for a 90 second repair?

It’s Friday night and all the beer is warm.

Technorati Tags: teenagers, EZ refrigerator maintenance