I do business with a colleague that employs “sign shakers” – at least that’s what I call them. You know the guys who
dance on the corners twirling signs, spinning and shaking to whatever they are listing to on their iPod. There is a guy in Sacramento that dresses up like Spiderman. I saw a Mr. Pickles dancer the other day – that kind of freaked me out. My friend’s sign says “Cheap Foreclosures” – that’s it. In Sacramento, a cheap foreclosure might start at $40,000 (yes, this type of home is a dump in need of much work).
Check out this video about a sign shaker. I kept thinking it was a Saturday night live video spoof, but it is legit. Sign Shaker Video. I love the quote, …what are you feeding that boy?
Enjoy,
Keith Klassen
Real Estate Broker
I like this kid’s spikes
The boys making some art!
Shout out to Darby
for distinctiveness or convenience of locale, people should spend a good amount of time getting a feel for where they are buying and what they are buying into. When I purchased my first home in Sacramento, I knew that I was not just buying a house, but a neighborhood too. I just had a gut feeling that my little East Sac. home and neighborhood was a winner, even though I did not know much about it. However, I found out, over time, the people no my street kept to themselves and were a bit cold. At the first meeting of my direct neighbor I said, “Hey, we’re thinking about having a BBQ to get to know everyone on the street. I’ll let you know when we plan it.” She quickly replied, “Oh, we won’t be coming to that.” I was speechless. “Uhhh, okay. I guess I’ll see you around.” I couldn’t believe it!
I’ll never forget the first woman I spoke with… “Are you looking to buy that house?” the neighbor asked. “Yes, we are in contract,” I replied. She went on to introduce herself and tell me all about the neighborhood. The former owners told us that they were saddened to leave because they’d grown so close to their neighbors. The evening we finally got everything moved in, our neighbor across the street brought us freshly baked cookies and apologized for only bringing a particle ½ gallon of milk! The next day a man from down the street dropped off brownies he made for us. A few weeks later our other neighbor gave us a bundle of kindling for fire wood. After only several weeks I knew we had move onto a unique and special street.
The word “porch” originally derived from “the Latin word porticus, or the Greek word portico, both of which signify the columned entry to a Classical temple”(Kahn 1). As history unfolded and the Middle Ages arrived, the porch came to represent a cathedral’s vestibule, “where worshippers could gather to socialize before and after the service”(Kahn 2). By Victorian times, the word “porch” became interchangeably used with the words “veranda,” “piazza,” “loggia,” and “portico,” each of which could connote individual meanings. From this period until the second half of the nineteenth century, “the word ‘porch’ itself most often described a small, enclosed vestibule or covered rear entrance” (Kahn 1). At this time, at the end of the nineteenth century, the word “porch” began to represent its present meaning. This meaning, in its American sense, generally refers to a “roofed, but incompletely walled living area”(McAlester 52) contiguously attached to the frame of a house. Generally, in America, this area would be found attached to the front of a house, offering a covered and shaded area for an array of uses and would be known as the American front porch.
Sacramento Real Estate Reflections 