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Friday, May 10, 2013

25520 Maple St

That’s the name of a new blog devoted to selling The Frog & PenguINN although it doesn’t use that name, as that’s just what Grenville and I have named and refer to our classic Victorian home.

As most of you already know, we are selling our home to relocate closer to family and grandchildren. But, despite burying a statue of St Joseph in the front yard and being listed on many realty sites, showings have been far and few between. We’ve seen some folks stop and pick up a listing sheet this week,  so maybe something will happen soon (we hope).

The new blog  is titled after our street address and can be found at www.25520maplest.blogspot.com. Below is the blog header that was created in Picasa after reading some many online tutorials. Lots of folks also use PicMonkey for collage creation; I tried it too and it’s fun and free (if don’t get the Royale package).

1-Collages3This was my first time creating a blog from scratch and entirely in Blogger as Grenville previously set up The Frog and PenguINN template. I was always apprehensive about playing with templates and not sure why after “experimenting” in Blogger the past week. There were LOTS of issues and some LOTS of frustration, but searching on-line for solutions was a great help. Knowing others had similar issues and reading about their solutions was a learning experience. I even managed to manipulate the HTML coding when Blogger would not “play nice” with inserted photos. (More on that in another post.)

Microsoft’s Live Writer is is the software I use to prepare my Frog & PenguINN blog posts, including this one because it’s an off-line editor. BUT, it’s not available on the Mac platform and I wanted to be able to edit or add to the blog from my Windows and MacBook computers; also Grenville uses a MacBook exclusively. And while working on the 25520 Maple St blog, the settings were to keep it “private” and not available to search engines; apparently doing so prevented Live Writer from “finding” it. These settings were chosen so I could freely before going going “live.”

Unlike this blog, the 25520 Maple St blog does not allow comments. This is because we wanted it to describe the house and its “selling” points vs. getting feedback on pages. Aside from updating or making revisions, we are not planning to add new posts.  There is a link on the sidebar directing anyone interested in the home to contact our realtor. We thought about including an email address, but then would have to refer anyone interested, so why bother.

BUT, we could use YOUR collective help be letting us know what you think of the 25520 Maple St blog layout, information presented, etc. You can either include them on THIS post OR send us a separate email at our address posted on our profiles page.

Please be as honest as possible since this new blog is my first solo one everything is a learning experience, including feedback — THANKS everyone.

13 comments:

Ginnie said...

I think you've done an amazing job on your Maple St. blog. In my area a home like that would be $350,000 or more. Good luck in a quick sale.
...and Beatrice, I did not know you grew up in Plainfield ! It's a small world.

Out on the prairie said...

lots of luck with all

jp@A Green Ridge said...

You did an OUTSTANDING job! I love the header and wish I could figure out how to place pix in Picasa!!...:)JP

Anvilcloud said...

I think you should include interior shots. That's where people do their living.

MadSnapper said...

congratulations, the new blog is perfect, it tells/shows everything and i like the template and the format. the only thing i see is you have no labels for when people search. add a lot of labels, Fireplace, Victorian Home, workshop, anything someone might like...

Anonymous said...

It's very good!
I've never heard of anyone trying this before and I cross my fingers and hold my thumbs for good luck!

Times are still bad I guess, otherwise that house would have been sold long ago, everything is so beautiful!

Have a great day!
Christer.

Triumph said...

Wow! That is so inviting! You did a terrific job with this. The only concern I noticed is on the front page where you mention the cream and blue colors, the house looks grey and blue on my screen. There already are more than 300 views so maybe this will find your buyer.

Montanagirl said...

Very nice job! I agree with another comment, that you should probably show some interior photos too. People will be curious about that.

Connie said...

The blog to sell your house looks great. I hope it does the trick for you and helps you find a buyer. That is a beautiful home that you have for sale. Good luck!

Cheryl @ TFD said...

I like your new blog, you did a great job on it. Your home is beautiful, inside and out, and I would think you will sell it quickly. The price sounds good, too. I don't know your area, but even in my small town, houses like that are going for that price or even higher. Best of luck to you for a quick sale!
Happy Mother's Day to you!

Elaine said...

Looks good! All the links worked seamlessly and you covered the main points of the house. I noticed an extra "and" on the first page--"We have lovingly "and" renovated and....

You might perhaps include information on schools in your Onley section. Coming from an area with high utility costs, you might include something on that, assuming they are fairly reasonable. Perhaps it's redundant for your area, but if your main energy source is natural gas I would list that. Again, that's from the perspective of an area that has very little natural gas available, but you never know who might be looking. People move from our area because of the extremely high energy costs and low cost energy would be attractive.

I've got to say housing prices are much lower in your area than here! Hopefully you will have a successful sale soon!

Unknown said...

Looks lovely and sure you will attract the right buyer. It is not easy because you have a unique set up there so it's kind of a niche as was my uncle's home we finally sold in PA after 18 months on the market and multiple price markdowns. That area has little movement for real estate, don't want to discourage you but a good local realtor can tell you what's moving, etc. Now seems like optimal time of the year for people to move. We were listed with Howard Hanna a prime realtor in the Pittsburgh area and their website was all that was needed. Often, potential buyers visit the major realtor websites first. Good luck.

Rebecca said...

Good luck. It is terrible to be all ready to move and be stuck. Plus keeping a spotless house is very hard for me!