Well I'm back in Miami with the Cleveland Orchestra for a one week concert tour and it's very nice to get out of Cleveland's weather for a few days! I'm happy to say that one of my listings went under contract just before coming down here and I just put a beautifully staged University Heights home on the market a week before leaving, so things are slowly improving. I even managed to get my taxes done before the tour!
We're playing this week with Costa Rican conductor Giancarlo Guerrero, who is a very affable and happy person so it's a pleasure to make music with him. He substituted for Lorin Maazel last year, conducting Maazel's Ring Without Words (an arrangement of Wagner's greatest hits from the Ring operas) and did a fine job. For this tour we are offering Fandangos, by Puerto Rican composer Roberto Sierra (which audiences are loving), the Tchaikovsky violin concerto with Midori as soloist, and Moussourgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.
We started the tour in St. Petersburg (Florida, not Russia!!) and the rest of the concerts are in Miami at the new Knight concert hall. On Saturday the orchestra will have a joint rehearsal with members of the New World Symphony on Strauss' Ein Heldenleben. The New World Symphony is a professional training orchestra that is top-notch, so the rehearsal should be good and that means I have to practice my part or the students may give me a hard time! It should be a lot of fun. Before coming home this weekend we will make a stop in Columbus, Georgia where we will perform in the River Center for the Performing Arts.
I'm planning to see some properties in South Beach later today, so I'll keep you posted on what I find out. I hope the weather has improved in Cleveland and I promise to file an end-of-tour report.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Cleveland Dreary Winter goes on and on....
Today's huge snow storm only added insult to injury to our dreary winter. Between the storm, the bad economy, and geopolitical events, I wonder if I should have stayed in bed today. After all, I couldn't really go anywhere today and the Cleveland Orchestra cancelled it's concert tonight (the first time I can remember that happening after playing in the orchestra for almost 30 years!), and on top of everything else, I had water damage to the walls in my house due to ice dams! In case you are wondering how they form and what you can do to prevent them, click here: http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/housingandclothing/DK1068.html
Other than that I'm excited about a property in University Heights that I'll be putting on the market sometime towards the end of next week. I am fixing up and staging the home and it's going to turn out beautifully. It's a typical 3 bedroom, one and a half bath home with new counter tops in the kitchen and a huge family room that can serve as an office, media room, music room, family room, or anything else the buyer wants. It connected to the kitchen so the layout is excellent. Be on the lookout for this one.
Despite the weather, the market seems to be slowly picking up and the raise in FHA limits should be a major boost to the real estate market. Since my last post I spent two weeks in Miami with the Cleveland Orchestra and had a great time. It was so nice to enjoy some warmer weather and sunshine and I even had a chance to go snorkling in Key Largo with some rather mean looking barracudas! The orchestra returns to Miami for a week of concerts at the end of this month. Hopefully by then Cleveland's winter will have abated.
If you are thinking about buying a home, this is probably one of the best times in recent history to buy. Rates are low, there are plenty of nice homes to buy, and seller are eager to sell. Make sure to get pre-approved for a loan first, since many realtors are reluctant to drive people around to look at homes who haven't showed they are really serious about buying by getting a pre-approval. With the cost of gasoline it's hard for agents to take people around who are just "sight-seeing". Pre-approval also puts the buyer in a much stronger negotiating position, since the seller knows that the sale won't be contingent on financing.
If you are thinking of selling, it's a great time to start fixing up your home for sale. March, April, and May are the best months to put your home up for sale.
I hope you weathered the storm well.....
Other than that I'm excited about a property in University Heights that I'll be putting on the market sometime towards the end of next week. I am fixing up and staging the home and it's going to turn out beautifully. It's a typical 3 bedroom, one and a half bath home with new counter tops in the kitchen and a huge family room that can serve as an office, media room, music room, family room, or anything else the buyer wants. It connected to the kitchen so the layout is excellent. Be on the lookout for this one.
Despite the weather, the market seems to be slowly picking up and the raise in FHA limits should be a major boost to the real estate market. Since my last post I spent two weeks in Miami with the Cleveland Orchestra and had a great time. It was so nice to enjoy some warmer weather and sunshine and I even had a chance to go snorkling in Key Largo with some rather mean looking barracudas! The orchestra returns to Miami for a week of concerts at the end of this month. Hopefully by then Cleveland's winter will have abated.
If you are thinking about buying a home, this is probably one of the best times in recent history to buy. Rates are low, there are plenty of nice homes to buy, and seller are eager to sell. Make sure to get pre-approved for a loan first, since many realtors are reluctant to drive people around to look at homes who haven't showed they are really serious about buying by getting a pre-approval. With the cost of gasoline it's hard for agents to take people around who are just "sight-seeing". Pre-approval also puts the buyer in a much stronger negotiating position, since the seller knows that the sale won't be contingent on financing.
If you are thinking of selling, it's a great time to start fixing up your home for sale. March, April, and May are the best months to put your home up for sale.
I hope you weathered the storm well.....
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