Last week, reporters for Long Island’s Newsday reported an Oyster Bay real estate item that attracted national attention due to its sellers’ identity. Singer/songwriting legend Billy Joel had put his “Middlesea” estate on the market, listing it for a nifty $49 million.That sum would purchase the 5-bedroom, 8-bath, 20,000 sq ft mansion, as well as a 3-bedroom beach house, bowling alley, in-ground swimming pool, and the helicopter pad that enables avoiding those irritating Long Island summertime traffic jams. But a quick sale may be far from a done deal. BJ once tried to sell it for $10 million more than the $22 million he paid for it in 2002, but Newsday writes “no one would put bread in the Piano Man’s jar” back then—so it was withdrawn from the market until last week.The scarcity of re... 05/25/2023

Even for homeowners who moved into a new Douglasville house as recently as a few years ago, the pace of technological advance is such that it’s easy to lose track of many fledgling household products that use technology in new and useful ways. Whereas earlier introductions often qualified as little more than nifty, fun-to-mess-with gadgets, many newer arrivals are well worth looking into:· More than just a cold storage unit, some smart refrigerators can sport touchscreens that put recipes right there where the ingredients are kept. They allow grocery list inputting—and make online grocery ordering quick and simple. Once Douglasville users get used to the convenience, it’s easy to see why running the household kitchen with a dumb ol’ fridge may one day become a relic of the past.· Smart ... 05/25/2023

The advantage that is tapped into when an owner decides to engage the services of a professional Powder Springs staging firm has been demonstrated time and again, so you’d think that most sellers would choose to claim that resource. Although no one tracks the Powder Springs statistics, you can bet that the majority of local sellers don’t even interview a professional stager, despite the proven value their service brings. That fact will come as good news for those who do—it creates an advantage that puts them ahead of the crowd.The reasons may include reluctance to grant the power to make decisions about how the property is to be presented to the buying public. After all, it’s THEIR house, not the stagers’! But most owners will agree that the whole point of hiring a pro is to take advant... 05/25/2023