Real Estate Staging

Archive for August, 2008

Question: Is it possible to buy an organic, hobby farm in Texas without going through a real estate agent?

I am a Health Coach, interested in teaching young people the benefits of eating, growing and preserving organically grown food. Since my organisation is non-profit and still in infancy stage, I can't afford agents' commission, or profiteer's prices. Someone out there knows who I can contact.

Answer: the real estate agent is paid by the seller, not the buyer. if you can find a property on your own and the seller hasn't already enlisted the help of an agent then you are all set, there's no need for an agent.

Los Angeles Real Estate Update - Staging a Home

Question: Car travel with cats?

We have 2 cats. One isn't quite a year old yet and the other is 13 and partially blind from cataracts. The older one has traveled quite a bit--he used to be my mom's cat and rode 25 miles to the vet and rode down from Oregon to Los Angeles. He has lived with us since--2003. the young one hasn't been left longer than a few hours and is still in his 'into everything - destructive' stage. We will be car traveling and our destination is 3 hrs away, staying in a hotel room and they won't be alone in the room more than a couple of hours (closed in the bathroom). The alternative is they stay home with someone to feed and give them fresh water every day. But, she isn't a cat person--one of my friends who is a cat person will visit at least once to check on them but, she lives 30 miles away. I am worried about boarding them because the blind one gets disoriented--he feels safer when he is with us but, he is very familiar with home surroundings. All answers/suggestions welcome!!!

Answer: If you are going to be gone for more than 2 days, I would take them with me, if I were you. If you have found a hotel that lets you bring the cats, it should be fine. As far as the travel goes, the younger one will take his stress cues from the older cat and it should be fine. You can probably help things a bit if you can take them out together a few times for some local driving around (no purpose). It doesn't have to be for long. I'm reluctant to leave cats with people who have no cat experience.

Los Angeles Home Staging

Question: Boston College anyone?

I really really want to go to Boston college...do you think i have a good chance? Honestly.
I have an overall 93.5 average..which i think is a 3.5 GPA? I am a junior. I take AP Biology, Honors English, I skipped a year of math so now i'm in College Calculus. I am on the Forensics Team, editor of my school's newspaper, in the art club, secretary in student governtment for a year, stage crew at my former elementary school, Model UN, Tennis Team, I take dance classes at a local studio, internship at Liberty Tax, never had a job, Interact club, Drama club [did school productions], the morning show at my school, volunteered at a hospital for 3 months, Habitat for Humanity [went away for a week to build homes]. My scores on the PSAT were terrible..1540 overall. I'm planning to study by myself and take a couple of SAT prep classes. Thanksss:)

Answer: Okay, as a senior currently applying to college, I have some general advice before I even get to BC. First, familiarize yourself with your GPA. It is a VERY important number. On a 4.0 GPA scale you have a 3.75 GPA. This is excellent, especially considering the intensity of your classes. Taking AP Bio and Calc as a junior will definitely help you stand out. Secondly, learn to navigate collegeboard.com. They have LOADS of information on pretty much every board certified college and university in the US, including average GPA and SAT scores of accepted students. VERY useful.
Okay, so on to BC. With a GPA like yours and those difficult classes, your transcript should be a non-issue (assuming your recommendations are good). collegeboard doesn't have any stats on BC's GPA acceptance rates, so I checked my naviance account, which shows me those rates from my high school specifically. 3.5 is the average GPA of accepted applicants from my school, so you're set on that front. Your SAT score will need to improve, although the PSAT is not always a good indicator. Try to shoot for 2000 or higher to get into BC. Classes will help with this. However, I also noticed that there were a number of rejected applicants who had GPA/SATs that fit or even were above BC's standards. This suggest that they place a strong emphasis on non-transcript pieces of your application, like essays and interviews, so prepare well for those.
Good luck, hope I helped.

Sharon Terry speaking at the Genbank 25th Anniversary