I have said it many times, I’m not a set-the-world-on-fire type of Real Estate agent. Instead I work on building a relationship with each one of my clients. They get personalized treatment from me because my clients become part of my life due to the relationship created with them. I handhold each one personally taking the stress away from the process of home buying or selling. I have tagged myself Your Real Estate Whisperer because I work for you making the experience calming and joyful. Most realtors consist of a “team” of agents shuffling you around that can’t be reached unless it’s a “call day”; that’s not me. I am here for you morning, noon and night. I’m ready to be a service to YOU and your real estate transaction – creating a relationship of a lifetime.
A closing day checklist for home sellers, Days before the closing of your home when you are selling, there are somethings to remember. Kristina Smallhorn, Your Real Estate Whisperer for Ascension Parish tells you some commonly missed items that sellers should be aware of before closing day.
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Kristina Smallhorn [email protected]
Your Real Estate Whisperer
eXp Realty LLC
2900 Westfork Dr. Suite 401
Baton Rouge LA 70817
225-246-1812
Office (225) 412-9982 ext# 149
Kristina Smallhorn is a licensed REALTOR® with the state of Louisiana
Wiring Fraud Alert!!!!! Don’t Let These Hackers Steal Your Down Payment! Watch The Video To See How You Can Protect Your Money!
Wiring Fraud Alert For Home Buyers has become a real problem over the last couple of years. Imagine having your life saving for a down payment for your new home being stolen from you just days before the closing. It’s been happening all over the country even in Ascension Parish. The scam works like this, the hackers get a hold of either the title companies email account, the realtors’ email account or even the home buyers email account after one of these accounts are infiltrated the hackers sit and wait. They monitor the activities of all the parties involved in the transaction days beforehand they inform the buyer that wiring instructions have changed and they need confirmation they received the message so they can send the new instructions. These criminals are clever, by this time they have copied or even cloned the email addresses of the parties involved they really make these emails look very official. Buyers are of course in a panic and rush to there bank to give them the new wiring instructions, but the thing about it is, they just lost all their down payment and very little can be done to get that money back.
There are some ways to protect yourself. One is to change your email password often and have two code authentification. If you do get an email asking to change wiring instructions prior to closing make sure to call your REALTOR® to verify the title companies phone number. Never follow the phone number that is posted in the suspicious email. Lastly, Instead of wiring the funds, if possible, just go down to your bank and get cashiers check, it may take a little more time but could save you tens of thousands of dollars.
eXp Realty LLC 2900 Westfork Dr. Suite 401 Baton Rouge LA 70817 225-246-1812 Office (225) 412-9982 ext# 149 Kristina Smallhorn is a licensed REALTOR® with the state of Louisiana
It’s Take A Tip Tuesday and in this weeks video, I discuss 5 big things that people should know when buying a home. Whether this is your first home or tenth home, these tips should always be helpful. In Ascension Parish, we have lots of people moving in and out an all around but people seem to forget what needs to be done when buying a home. Below I’ve listed 5 key tips to remember.
Get Approved!
I must say this about 1000 times in my past videos and I know if you have been following me for awhile I may sound like a broken record but I’m telling you, people jump the gun when home shopping and tend to forget all about being “pre-approved” prior to their home quest.
Size Doesn’t Matter!
This is another thing that some people can get hung up on. They want a HUGE home but did you know that if you have the largest home in a neighborhood you will get a lot less per square foot than your surrounding neighbors. Bigger doesn’t mean better and maybe an unwise investment.
Shiny New Toy Syndrome.
Imagine walking into a home that has all the bells and whistles, super thick granite, custom cabinets and all upgraded modern appliances. It’s your dream home but it’s over the budget you set for yourself. Delayed gratification can be better in the long run, especially for your wallet as well. Don’t get stuck with a home that you can barely furnish because you had to have the newest, latest and greatest.
Budget For Other Costs.
When you go on sites like Realtor dot com, Trulia, and Zillow, they will give you an estimated mortgage payment. Many of these sites do not factor in the other costs, like escrows, insurance, and taxes. Make sure you have more money set aside for these items.
Hire An Inspector.
I can’t say this enough, even if you are buying a brand new home you should have it inspected by a professional. Even though the new home has to pass building code inspections things get missed and the inspector you hire is looking out for your best interest. (To Read More About Inspections Click Here 3 Myths About Home Inspections)
I hope you found these tips useful If you’d like to read more about buying homes in the Ascension Parish Area, please download my free e-book https://goo.gl/ux3mYz. If you like to search for homes in the Ascension Parish Area Click Here. To watch all my tip videos please subscribe to my YouTube Channel by Clicking HERE!
Kristina Smallhorn [email protected]
Your Real Estate Whisperer
eXp Realty LLC
2900 Westfork Dr. Suite 401
Baton Rouge LA 70817
225-246-1812
Office (225) 412-9982 ext# 149
Kristina Smallhorn is a licensed REALTOR® with the state of Louisiana
White Chocolate Bread Pudding- Ascension Parish #43
Welcome to Ascension Parish Coffee Talk a weekly show where I talk about the people and places here in Ascension Parish. My name is Kristina Smallhorn, Your Real Estate Whisperer for Ascension Parish and this week I decided to switch things up since strep that has hit the Smallhorn Family. I thought this would be a perfect day to make this to soothe their girls healing throats with nice warm white chocolate bread pudding.
Here is the recipe.
A day-old French or Italian loaf of bread.
3 cups heavy whipping cream
2 cups whole milk
1 package white chocolate chips
1/2 package cream cheese
2 tablespoons real vanilla
3 cups sugar
3 whole eggs
Cut loaf into cubes and add them to a large buttered baking dish.
in a large saucepan add cream, milk, 1 package white chocolate chips on low heat. Add half of the package of Philadelphia cream cheese after the chips are all melted.
***Reserve 2 cups of melted sauce to pour over later on top of cooked white chocolate bread pudding.***
combined sugar, vanilla and eggs in a large mixing bowl.
Once the cream cheese has melted add that mixture slowly to the egg mixer you have in a separate large mixing bowl. When all ingredients are combined pour over a cubed large french loaf, an Italian bread will work just as well. Add a half a package of white chocolate chips to the now covered bread on the top. Let sit for a minimum of 2 hours (or you can let it sit for a whole day in the refrigerator, I’m not that patient)
When the bread has soaked the white chocolate mixer for at least 2 hours bake the white chocolate bread pudding for 35-45 min at 350 degrees Fahrenheit
Let completely cool before slicing, Pour reserved sauce on the top of each slice.
To Get More Recipes From Ascension Parish, Subscribe To My YouTube Channel Click HERE.
Are Your Buyers Going Blind ‘Cause They Can’t See?
It’s Take A Tip Tuesday!
Hi, I’m Kristina Smallhorn, your Real Estate Whisperer for Ascension Parish. We all know that we wanna show our house in the best light possible, but if the light can’t come through because your blinds are dirty, then that could hinder some buyer saying, “Wow, it’s dark in this house.”
I mean, let’s be honest. The blinds would have to be pretty filthy for that to be a real issue, but one of my clients has asked me to find the best way to clean your blinds. It would be, first of all, cheap, secondly of all, fast, and thirdly of all, easy.
Sydney my daughter, is out of school this week and she said she was going to help me find a way to clean the blinds. I figured since she’s a helper, that would help with time. We’re gonna try some different methods that people have suggested to clean your blinds in your house. Let’s get started.
***And We’re now off to the dollar store to get inexpensive supplies.***
We got our supplies at the Family Dollar and they wouldn’t let us film inside the Family Dollar. I don’t know why it’s a requirement not to film in the Family Dollar, but as soon as we walked in the store, she’s like, “You cannot film in our store.” I didn’t know it was such a top secret thing to not film in the Family Dollar. Okay, but we’ll show you our haul when we get home. Don’t tell them what we’re gonna do.
At the Family Dollar, we got plenty of things. Microfiber cleaning sponges, some tongs. How much did everything cost… A $1.00!
When we were at the Family Dollar, my husband suggested he had a very cool way of cleaning the blinds. I thought this would be a fantastic trick to share with everybody for cleaning your blinds. First, you’re gonna take two sponges. With those two sponges, you are going to cut a slit in them. These sponges are microfiber. What you’re gonna do is you’re gonna slide the sponge over the little tongs.
We’re gonna take the tongs and put them so it’s clamped onto a blind, and we’re just gonna slide it across by putting a little bit of pressure on it. This will get all the dust off underneath and above. Oh, look! You can see the dust. That worked really well. There’s one more method I’d like to mention. My mom used to take the whole blind off the wall, and then she’d go out into the driveway, put it on the ground, spray the whole thing with Fantastic, wait a couple minutes, then hose it off. I think that’s a great method for a blind that’s in the kitchen and you have a lot of grease that’s caked on it. But other than that, you can just leave them on the window and use the tongs with the sponges. I think that’s a super method.
Sydney and I, hope you found this trick useful. If you’d like to know more about selling homes here in Ascension Parish, you can always visit at YourRealEstateWhisperer.com. If you’d like to search for homes here in the Ascension Parish area, Click ***Here*** .If you’d like to know more about buying homes here in Ascension Parish, I have a copy of my free e-book***here*** .
My name is Kristina Smallhorn, I’m your Real Estate Whisperer for Ascension Parish. We tell you all this “Because You Matter”!
It’s Take a Tip Tuesday. Does Your House Smell Like Dog Pee?
Hi, my name is Kristina Smallhorn, Your Real Estate Whisperer for Ascension Parish. And if you have animals, you may not even know that your house has a pet odor. And one of the worst odors you can deal with pets is when they have accidents and they have urinated in the house. You may not smell it, but buyers that do not have pets can.
There is a way to get rid of the smell, believe it or not. I discovered this trick from a client of mine who contacted me. She told me that her dog had left quite a mess after being left alone in a room for too long and they had the hardest time getting the smell out. So she gave me these great tips to get that smell out because I have dogs. I thought I would share that with you as well.
So, when it comes to old dog stains, and old dog odors, it seems like they even get stronger the older they get. I know that for this dog, she still is a puppy so we have accidents in the house and it happens. So what you’re going to want to do, if you haven’t caught it when it was still wet. If it’s wet you’re going to want to, you know, pull up the damp spot, but if you didn’t catch it when it was still wet, it’s not too late.
What you do is you take the spot that was dirty. Apparently, she wants to help as well. And you have a spray bottle which I just filled up an empty spray bottle with vinegar. And you’re going to, it’s just white vinegar, so you’re going to … Get out of here. Go. I’m shooting a video here, go. You’re going to spray that spot with vinegar and you’re going to get it pretty wet and of course it does smell like a salad, but it gets that dog urine strong smell out of the carpet. Okay. So of course what that does is kind of reactivate the dog pee. So you’re going to let that sit for a little bit.
Once it sits, for I would say a good 15 minutes, you’re going to take an old rag and you’re going to kind of push on that spot and get all that excess white vinegar out, and then after you have gotten all that excess white vinegar out, then you are going to sprinkle good old baking soda. Remember Mom’s baking soda? And you’re going to push that into the carpet where the white vinegar was. And I would put a good old healthy helping on here. And I kind of like take the rag and kind of push it back into the carpet really deep so it gets really into the carpet fibers there. Kind of like, make almost like a paste of this in there to get that really under the, if you have the carpet pad underneath as well. Let that sit on there until it makes like a crust, okay?
And then once it makes that crust, you’ll see that the baking soda has drawn up all that dog pee that was underneath at the bottom. And then all you do is vacuum it up and it’s done. And you do not have that smell anymore. It’s fantastic. It was a great trick, I was so glad that my client called me and told me about it.
So if you have a home that you have for sale, and the complaints have come in that they smell dog pee in the house, this is a great way, a cheap way to get that dog pee smell out, even out of old, old stains. If you’d like some more tips on selling your home here in Ascension Parish, you could always visit my website at yourrealestatewhisperer.com. If you’d like to get some information about buying homes here in Ascension Parish, you’re more than welcome to download by free e-book, I will put a link to the description above.
My name is Kristina Smallhorn, Your Real Estate Whisperer for Ascension Parish and I tell you all this “Because YOU Matter”!
Kristina Smallhorn
Your Real Estate Whisperer For Ascension Parish, Kristina Smallhorn.
Ascension Parish Coffee Talk #36, A weekly show where I talk about nothing but the people and businesses here in Ascension Parish. This week I talk with Alicia Wilson a new sales counselor for LEVEL Homes in Germany Oaks Subdivision in Gonzales. We meet at one of the model homes on 15133 Germany Oaks Blvd. A 4 bedroom 3 bath home.
Alicia takes the time to take us on a tour and discuss all the amenities LEVEL Homes has to offer. We begin in the kitchen where you’ll see that the standard home is above most standard homes in this price range, she tells us that you are able to choose the type of granite a buyer may want and appliance packages that are available. The tour continues with Alicia telling the Ascension Parish Coffee Talk viewers that granite in the master bath is standard as well even around the oversized garden tub. We then enter the Open floor plan living room area that boasts high ceilings and standard surround sound speakers. This particular floor plan has a massive dining room that is great for large groups, for entertaining. Off to the upstairs we go, the real wood stairs make it more durable over time. At the top of the stairs, Alicia shows a second living space or bonus room as some see it. Off from the bonus room area is two more large bedrooms and separate bath.
Ascension Parish Coffee Talk #36
Ascension Parish Coffee Talk #36
When we head back downstairs, Alicia explains LH Lending and how they can help finance your home and help assist in closing costs when using them to purchase your home. Along with LEVEL Homes preferred title companies as well.
Level Homes, also known as Level Construction and Development, was established in 2000 to bring high-quality homes and neighborhoods to Baton Rouge, Louisiana and other leading Louisiana markets. Headquartered in Baton Rouge, Level Homes was founded by a visionary real estate developer, Todd Waguespack. Principals include John Engquist, Chairman; Todd Waguespack, Managing Partner; Ric Rojas, President; Ryan Engquist, Vice President and Charles Landry, Chief Legal Counsel.
Level Homes expanded to the Raleigh – Durham area of North Carolina in 2013, with homesites and well-located neighborhoods in the economically resilient Research Triangle Park region. The builder continued to grow in the North Carolina and Louisiana markets and was named to Business Report’s 2015 and 2016 Edition of Best Places to Work in Baton Rouge. In the summer of 2016, Level Homes was proudly recognized as both a Top 200 Builder in the nation and named to the coveted list of “Next 100 Fastest Growing Builders in the United States” by Builder Magazine. In the fall of 2016, Level Homes was named in the Triangle Business Journal (TBJ) Fast 50 List, recognizing the company as one of the fastest growing private companies in the Raleigh – Durham North Carolina area based on a revenue growth and profitability formula analyzed by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Developing communities and building a wide array of homes ranging in price from $169,900 to $600,000, Level Homes exceeds customer expectations in all phases of the home buying lifecycle, from first-time buyers to those moving up, to empty nesters. The award-winning company employs a knowledgeable and friendly team to assist in the home buying process from beginning to end, instilling a culture with its associates that promote’s homebuilding as a high-level customer service industry. From the day customers first walk into a model home or sales center to the day new home buyers receive the keys to their new home, the Level Homes’ team strives to make the experience seamless and enjoyable.
If you like to know more about LEVEL Homes you can visit their website @www.levelhomeslifestyle.com and if you like to know more about Germany Oaks, you can visit their Facebook page with the same name “Germany Oaks”
To know more about buying homes here in Ascension Parish download my FREE Ebook @https://goo.gl/ux3mYz
To look at all the homes available here in Ascension Parish visit my website @ https://goo.gl/TKYsDQ or yourrealestatewhisperer.com
And I Tell You All This, “Because YOU Matter”
Kristina Smallhorn [email protected]
Your Real Estate Whisperer
eXp Realty LLC
2900 Westfork Dr. Suite 401
Baton Rouge LA 70817
225-246-1812
Office (225) 412-9982 ext# 149 FACEBOOK TWITTER INSTAGRAM YOUTUBE
PHRESH Is Back On Ascension Parish Coffee Talk #35!
Back in March of This Year PHRESH opened up and they allowed me to feature them on Ascension Parish Coffee Talk (to see the original show click here PHRESH SOAP CO. #2) I thought it would be time to check back in with them to see how things are going here in Ascension Parish. Cheri Wilson took time out of her busy schedule (no joke this woman also is helping open a new restaurant in Prairieville “Industry Grill” right next to the old Check Engine building, FYI that opens November 10th) to share with us how the store looks now since the opening and some of the new products they have brought in since March.
If you are unaware of PHRESH you have to check it out their fantastic selection of bath bombs, fresh cut soaps, body butter’s, sugar scrubs and lip balms that will make anyone smile. With the holiday season creeping up on us soon enough, it would be a great time to stock up on stocking stuffers. If you have teenagers they LOVE bath bombs and we all know how tough it can be to choose the right kind gift for them. You can’t go wrong with PHRESH’s bath bombs and body butter’s that smell absolutely heavenly. They even have some shaped like cupcakes, always a great way to make a bath time fun. If you want to take a look at some of their unique products you can visit their website @ https://phreshsoap.com/ or if you favor social media they post on Facebook often @ https://www.facebook.com/phreshsoap/ they also have an Instagram account @phreshsoap
PHRESH Soap location in Prairieville is in The Ultima Plaza
37459 Ultima Plaza Blvd.
Suite E
Prairieville, LA 70769
To Call Them Directly (225) 677-7627
They also have a kiosk in the Mall Of Louisiana in the lower level of the mall
Ascension Parish is growing by leaps and bounds, PHRESH soap is another great business making our area a wonderful place to live. If you’d like a home close to PHRESH you can visit my website @ yourrealestatewhiserer.com. If you’d like to know more about buying homes here in Ascension Parish please feel free to download my FREE ebook @https://goo.gl/ux3mYz.
My Name is Kristina Smallhorn, Your Real Estate Whisperer For Ascension Parish, And I Tell You All This “Because YOU Matter”
Kristina Smallhorn
Your Real Estate Whisperer
eXp Realty LLC
2900 Westfork Dr
Baton Rouge LA 70817
225-246-1812
Office (225) 412-9982 ext# 149 FACEBOOK TWITTER INSTAGRAM YOUTUBE
Dirty Grout Lines Making You Crazy When Selling Your Home?
Take A Tip Tuesday- How To Fix The Problem.
If you are thinking of selling your home and happen to be doing “the BIG clean” to get your home ready for the market, you may have noticed that your grout lines (especially where people walk most) are exceptionally grimy. There are many products out there that claim to clean them, but I know from personal experience many of these can damage the tile itself, making the tile lose its shine if the cleaner seeps away from the grout and onto the tile.
To get grout lines clean is a difficult task. In my last home, I had tile countertops, keeping those grout lines clean was nearly impossible. I fought with it for years. By the time we went to sell the home I decided to replace those countertops with granite so I didn’t have to fight the battle any longer. I wished I had known this simple cheap trick to get them clean.
I recently had a client contact me to share her great find to get those grout lines back to new.
All you need is:
A pair of gloves
A bucket of warm water.
Lysol Power Gel
Cleaning Rags
**** Dupont’s Grout Sealer****
You are going to want to put on the gloves first since this is a chemical. Apply the Lysol Power Gel to the grout lines carefully, if it does get on the tile its okay but you don’t want to waste your product. Let the Lysol Power Gel sit on the grout lines for 10 to 15 minutes. You’ll see the grout lines bubble up, that’s how you know its working, getting all that years of grime out of those cracks. When the 10-15 minutes is up you’ll have your bucket of warm water ready and clean cloth rags. You just simply wipe away the Lysol Power Gel and voila!, Good as new grout lines.
Now that your grout lines are back to new you are going to need to reseal the grout. If you don’t you’re really going to have a mess on your hands. I suggest Dupont’s grout sealer, you can pick this up at any hardware store.
I wanted to share this great tip with you, Why? “Because YOU Matter”
If you are looking for information on buying a home here in Ascension Parish, be sure to download my FREE E-Book Click Here>> Free Buyers E-Book To Ascension Parish
If you like to do a full home search of Ascension Parish you can visit: “Full Home Search Here”
To read my weekly blogs with videos you can visit: My Weekly Blogs
My name is Kristina Smallhorn, Your Real Estate Whisperer For Ascension Parish, And I Tell You All This “Because YOU Matter”
Kristina Smallhorn
(Your Real Estate Whisperer)
Cell 225-246-1812
Office 2254129982 ext#149
Website www.yourrealestatewhisperer.com
Email [email protected]
eXp Realty LLC.
2900 Westfork Dr.
Baton Rouge LA 70817 Kristina Smallhorn is a licensed REALTOR with the state of Louisiana, USA.
Ascension Parish Coffee Talk is a weekly show featuring nothing but the people and businesses here in Ascension Parish. This week I thought it would be a great idea to meet up with one of the many great builders here in Ascension. Mike Smith of S&B Construction tells us a little about his company and all the subdivisions he has been building in. Some of them I’m sure you have driven past, like Oakland Crossing, Maplewood Estates, and Oak Alley Estates to name a few.
I met up with Mike at his newest fully constructed home that happened to be in the Parade of homes this year, Oakland Crossing in Prairieville. Mike takes the time to give us a small tour of the home showing the features that his company S&B Construction offers as a standard. Many builders would consider these items as an upgrade but S&B Construction likes to go above what others call “standard”. Each room in this spec home looks anything but spec, from the high-end appliances with standard wine chiller to the extra care to add detailed herringbone accents in the flooring, more details flow throughout the home including tongue and groove ceilings under the porches, with their signature outdoor kitchen. You can see why people would want to see more of this home in Ascension Parish.
If you’d Like more information to S&B Construction you can visit there website sandbgroup.com they are also on Houzz: To Visit Their Houzz Page Click Here
If you are looking for information on buying a home here in Ascension Parish, be sure to download my FREE E-Book Click Here>> Free Buyers E-Book To Ascension Parish
If you like to do a full home search of Ascension Parish you can visit: “Full Home Search Here”
To read my weekly blogs with videos you can visit: My Weekly Blogs
My name is Kristina Smallhorn, Your Real Estate Whisperer For Ascension Parish, And I Tell You All This “Because YOU Matter”
Kristina Smallhorn
(Your Real Estate Whisperer)
Cell 225-246-1812
Office 2254129982 ext#149
Website www.yourrealestatewhisperer.com
Email [email protected]
eXp Realty LLC.
2900 Westfork Dr.
Baton Rouge LA 70817 Kristina Smallhorn is a licensed REALTOR with the state of Louisiana, USA.