It ain’t the guns nor armament,
Nor funds that they can pay,
But the close co-operation,
That makes them win the day.

It ain’t the individual,
Nor the army as a whole,
But the everlasting team-work
Of every bloomin’ soul.

From the team here at Ralph Roberts Realty, here’s wishing everyone reading this blog entry a happy, relaxing and safe Fourth of July/holiday weekend.

If you’re out an about this weekend and are looking to find some of the most affordable deals anywhere in the country, give us a call at (586) 751-0000, or drop us a note at RalphRoberts@RalphRoberts.com.

Feel free to laugh along:

Q. Did you hear about Robin Hood’s house?
A. It has a little John.

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When a real estate agency had not sold our house, we decided to do it ourselves. I placed ads in the local papers; spray painted a “For Sale” message on a signboard, and posted it outside our house.

When my husband came home that evening, he told me, laughing, that my sign was the most truthful one he had ever seen. Confused, I rushed outside to look. In my haste I had printed - “For Sale by Ower.”

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Q. Why do appraisers carry a wasp in their hand?
A. Value is in the eye of the bee holder.

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A new homeowner got into his grubbiest clothes on Saturday morning and set about all the chores he had been putting off for weeks.

He cleaned the garage, pruned the hedges, and was halfway through mowing the lawn when a neighbor pulled up in front of the house and yelled, “Say, what do you get for yard work?”

The fellow thought for a minute, and then answered, “The lady who lives here lets me continue living with her.”

When you’ve been in the real estate business as long as I have, you start to develop your own language. In my new book, Flipping Houses For Dummies (ISBN: 0470043458 / John Wiley & Sons / November 2006), I cover how the housing market follows the law of supply and demand, and why its important for flippers to pay close attention to supply and demand-related trends.

I also introduce readers to the “Dontwanner”… a property that the owners don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t want so much that they?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢re willing to do anything to get rid of it, including offering it for sale at a deep discount. Think of a dontwanner as a ?¢‚Ǩ?ìYour Trash Is My Cash?¢‚Ǩ¬ù opportunity. As I tell my readers, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

If you look hard enough, you can find dontwanners in nearly every town in the United States. Locally, in the Warren/metro-Detroit area, we have more than our fair share of dontwanners. For more information on dontwanners–or any other type of home for that matter–give my office a call. Our talented agents and staff are ready, wiling, and able to make your next sale or purchase a fast and pleasant experience.

Thanks for visiting our Blog. This is where you’ll find the latest information about our company, our employees, and real estate trends and issues that have the potential of impacting the Warren/metro-Detroit real estate market.

If this is your first time on a Blog, here’s what this is all about. The term “Blog” is a blend of the terms “web” and “log”. A Blog–that’s what this section of RalphRoberts.com is–is a frequent, chronological publication of thoughts and links, presented in reverse chronological order, with the option for anyone to leave a comment.

Authoring a Blog, maintaining a Blog, or adding an article to an existing Blog is called “blogging,” and right now, our chief blogger is our company founder and president, Ralph Roberts. The individual articles you’ll find on our blog are called “posts” or “entries”.

In the days, weeks, months, and years to come, we’ll be blogging about all sorts of interesting topics. Feel free to chime in with a comment or two, or not… it’s entirely up to you!