Mona Lisa Matthews's (monalisamatthews) Blog

Went home for a visit to the Pleasant Valley/LaGrange, New York area.  I stayed at my niece's home in Millbrook, which is an absolutely beautiful small town.  Many "stars" have estate homes here since it's only an hour and a half to NYC down the Taconic Parkway.  (Mary Tyler Moore, Liam Niesen, a...

Went home for a visit to the Pleasant Valley/LaGrange, New York area.  I stayed at my niece's home in Millbrook, which is an absolutely beautiful small town.  Many "stars" have estate homes here since it's only an hour and a half to NYC down the Taconic Parkway.  (Mary Tyler Moore, Liam Niesen, a...

Just a real quick blog request to everybody out there who leaves a phone message:  please leave a complete message.  The very first thing to leave is your name, your company or how they know you, and your phone number (said slowly enough to understand and write down, please), then followup with t...

Have you seen the announcements that Philip Morris is leaving Concord, NC, and moving to it's larger plant in Richmond, Virginia?  This phasing out will take place over the next three years according to a customer of mine who works there.  There was a large article on the front page of The Charlo...

Recently, the Cabarrus County Commissioners decided to increase, not just increase but DOUBLE, developers fees for each lot to $8,000.   I can remember back in 2003 when they debated the first such fee under the "adequate public facilities ordinance" requiring these fees among other things from d...

Real estate is one of these unique businesses where your friends and family are your clients.  Then, they refer their friends and family to you if you serve them well.  All your business is conducted around your family a great deal of the time, especially if you are a Mom.  Once your children rea...

My life revolves around baseball in a major and minor way.  At least being a Realtor, we have compatible busy seasons.  You see my husband is a Major League Baseball Scout who covers North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.  He travels a great deal in the Springtime as you can well imagine....

Just a short note to give all of you a tip for surviving a drought in the garden and yard.  You can go to Lowes or Home Depot to the plumbing section and buy a small pvc pipe adapter for the drain line from the air handler on your air conditioner.  You know, that little line from your air conditi...

We are all trying to save money on our taxes and protect ourselves from liability, so our accountants recommend we operate our real estate businesses under an S Corp.  This is great, but don't forget that in the state of NC, you will need to get a Firm License with the NCREC.   A regular Broker's...

My life has become more complex by joining RE/MAX.  For years I have merrily gone along using AOL, even paying to use AOL, as my email address/provider.  Two years ago, I became a RE/MAX agent, then this past year RIMS leads came along:  my difficulties have multiplied.  I am finding more and mor...