Hello Everyone... Im laughing so hard right now.....AWW! What a funny thing... YES IT IS A GOLDEN RAINBOW!!!! I just talked to Mona who sold this cutting to me...she just abbreviated it on the cutting....what a sweetheart she is...."Thanks Mona!!!" LMAO!!!! Im having a blonde moment right now.... At least i can laugh at myself....hold on..still laughing.. OK...Andrew....you will have a "Golden Rainbow" when i send out your package... Thanks Jen and Erika....LOL..still chuckling...see what happens when i was ina frezy!!! should have concentrated more....LOL... That made my mothers day!!! lol... Thanks guys for being such good people!!! Happy Mother's Day to you all.... Laura in VB

I think I like ya Dee...come move by us LOL I both sold a home from a fishing trip :) and bought one the same way. The home we sold was a townhouse with lake front access. An agent had a client interested in our other townhouse (actually on the lake) and he sent us a personal letter (not on stationary which I'd have tossed before reading). It was hand written and very nice so I called back with a polite "no" but told him that I had another which was going to to on the market in a few months though again, not on the lake. They asked to see it and I sold it that day, never listing it formally. We settled on a very low fee (since I hadn't engaged him) which was a benefit to the client and to us. It was a nice easy sale which took place in a down market, no money lost on the deal at all (small profit and we had use of the place while remodeling our other house which saved us thousands). Our victorian (we purchased in Nov 09) was never on the market. We looked at most of the big places in town and had negotiated for another one here for over a year. The owner was and is a stuborn old puke who will not receive what she expected her home to sell for. But I will say, we were willing to pay it in the end because we wanted the home and it was the best available. DH said "can you just call the James house?" (we'd had our realtor contact them a year before and she was politely rebuffed). To humor him I did and we bought the home 3 days later over coffee in a little local shop where i used to buy penny candy as a child. :) No agents involved. I appologized to our agent, but as a professional she said "it happens" and she wouldn't take a dime (as a professional would always do). And she's right, it does happen, and it's part of her job. We've refered two clients who have purchased since. Both houses never made a formal listing status. Both sales benefited each party involved and both were friendly sales. I think from now on I'm just going to ask people who have never listed their house if they want to sell verses looking at listed properties LOL So don't limit yourself to listed or formerlly listed....consider anything you like. We've only been here since Nov and I get offers about twice a month. They're not offensive :) We see them as a compliment and always respond politely. The only time I haven't been polite was once at our lake townhouse when a gentleman (I use the term lightly) wearing his shirt open to his waist with gold chains (I kid you not) came in his big pickup and stopped out front to tell me he was damned determined to buy our house for any amount of money. "Everyone has a price". I said our price was one million. He said it would never sell for that...to which I replied, "good cuz it isn't for sale anyhoo" and went in. So leave the gold chains at home when making inquiries? :oP

Today's LA Times has an article on Cash4Gold: Beneath Cash4Gold's shiny veneer, a dull reality Its offers to buy jewelry, touted in a Super Bowl commercial, don't always translate into big bucks for customers. They have lodged hundreds of complaints that the company shortchanged them. By David Sarno February 6, 2009 Cash4Gold.com, the metal refinery that offers fast money to those who mail in baggies full of jewelry, has hit on a formula that would make 13th-century alchemists weep: It's found a way to turn desperation into gold. And in this economy, that's a growth business. The Florida company ponied up enough bullion Sunday to buy 30 seconds of famously expensive Super Bowl airtime, capping an ascent from the basement of late-night "as seen on TV" marketing. But Cash4Gold's jewelry exchange doesn't always translate into big bucks for its customers, who have lodged hundreds of complaints with the Better Business Bureau and the Florida attorney general's office, saying the company shortchanged them. In one, New York resident Frank Poindexter complained to the attorney general that "he mailed in $150-$200 worth of gold," but "all he got back was a check for 15 cents." Thomas Valle of Colorado said Cash4Gold sent him $16.61 for gold and diamonds that he believed were worth $300. Unsatisfied, Valley requested the prompt return of his jewelry, as per Cash4Gold's terms. "They have not done that, and it has been a month," he reported. Cash4Gold Chief Executive Jeff Aronson said that those two complaints had been resolved and that the company stood by its satisfaction guarantee. He also said the company's website made it clear that trading in jewelry to have it melted down was "not always the right way for somebody to monetize." The airwaves and Internet are filling up with quick-money schemes, not just Cash4Gold and its competitors -- Dollars4Gold, GoldKit and GoldPaq -- but simple ways to make thousands a week at home, or wring a profit from the depleted housing market. But it's Cash4Gold, a 350-employee spinoff of Chicago-based Albar Precious Metal Refining, that has been able to buy its way into the cultural mainstream. Its Super Bowl commercial featured Ed McMahon and MC Hammer, faded celebrities known for their financial woes. Hammer, once a chart-topping rap artist, filed for bankruptcy protection in 1996, and last summer McMahon narrowly missed losing his Beverly Hills estate to foreclosure. "Heeeeere's money!" McMahon intones, in a less-than-enthusiastic reference to his "Tonight Show" heyday. He and Hammer then heft a series of "gold" objects they've decided to unload. For Hammer, it's his gold records and a medallion embossed with his own face; for McMahon, now 85, it's a "golden hip replacement" and a solid gold toilet. Cash4gold said traffic to its website multiplied by a factor of 10 in the wake of the ad. But beneath the shiny veneer lies a dull reality: Cash4Gold is essentially a buyer of scrap metal. And scrap doesn't fetch much on the open market. The Florida attorney general's office says it is examining nearly 60 complaints about Cash4Gold, including some from people who were disappointed by the amount of money they received in exchange for their jewelry. Cash4Gold's literature says its appraisal quotes are "based upon the current price of gold." But the exact price it offers on a given day isn't revealed in its literature, on its website or by its customer service representatives. An investigation conducted by the CBS program "Inside Edition" sent the company 23 pieces of gold that a jewelry expert had valued at close to $1,000. Cash4Gold sent a check for $209.81, an amount at which the expert scoffed. The Better Business Bureau has processed 269 complaints nationwide about Cash4Gold in the last 36 months. The pattern of complaints, the bureau's website says, is similar to what the Florida attorney general's office describes: Consumers allege that "the company is not offering a fair value for the jewelry," and that they've had a hard time getting their materials returned. Aronson, the CEO, said Cash4Gold provided a quick way for its customers to get some value from their jewelry. But, he said, "there are ways for them to make more money sometimes by reselling to pawnshops and jewelers," and that was what might account for some of the grumbling. Cash4Gold is not evaluating jewelry for its craftsmanship or resale value. Its website says the company pays "based solely on the weight and karat grade" of the items. "If you have the ugliest piece of gold or the most beautiful piece of gold, to me it's the same thing," Aronson said. He also said the company stood by its satisfaction guarantee, which promises to return items to customers who don't like the price they're offered. "If they're not happy, let them have it back," Aronson said. "The problem is people get upset. They think it should be worth more, and it's not, and they get angry." Aronson defended his company's track record, saying that 269 Better Business Bureau complaints in the last three years out of 700,000 customer transactions was commendable. "Tell me one company in the world that wouldn't die for that ratio," he said. But Southwest Airlines Co., which serves 100 million passengers a year, had only 212 complaints in the same time period, according to the Better Business Bureau database. Cash4Gold has tried on multiple occasions to pluck thorns from its side by pressuring bloggers who criticize its service. Joe Laratro, a Florida-based Web consultant, wrote on his personal blog last week that he'd been employed by Cash4Gold for 11 months to run what he called "a Reputation Management campaign." In one instance, he reached out to a website whose unflattering review appeared among the first few Google search results for "Cash4Gold." The owner of that site, Cockeyed.com, received an e-mail from Laratro in which he said Cash4Gold "would really like to make it worth your while to take it down or make it more positive." "Is it worth a few thousand to take it down?" Laratro asked. Instead of removing the post, Cockeyed owner Rob Cockerham posted Laratro's e-mail online.

Sue36: The assets of the estate have to fulfill the debts of the estate first and the wishes of deceased second. As I have stated earlier, my parents want their sons buried in the six family plots on our St. Sava Eastern Orthodox Church property in Libertyville, Illinois if possible. They knew that marriages, distant lives, and other situations may not make that possible. Even if my brothers objected to the prepayment of funeral expenses,which they have not, I would move to carry out the request with all the power, assets, and will to make it happen. It is a nonissue with my brothers and not something that has ever been a consideration with my brothers wives, ex-wives, or children. The point you make about giving too much money to lawyers on this matter is a good one because the matter and the estate would be at greater jeopardy and suffer a reduced value if anyone wanted to fight the relatively low cost of prepaid funerals compared to the high cost of infighting with attornies. It is simply a nonissue because my brothers know anyone not buried in Libertyville will simply be allowing our church to retain the funds. Our cemetery does not give refunds or allow you to resell grave plots once you buy them. You either use them or surrender them back to the church with no compensation. It is a nonissue. The matter of right of first refusal for the heirs is not for the purpose of reducing or deflecting my fiduciary obligations, but will be a part of the process so that my brothers will have a chance to buy a solidly built all brick home at three-quarters of the price of the highest offer because they have a one quarter interest already built in. I have already stated that unless I strike gold somewhere, I am in no position to purchase the house at any price. My oldest brother and my second youngest brother could. My youngest brother, who is currently 51 years old, is an irrepairable drug addict who will probably blow his share of the estate on drugs if one of his associates doesn't kill him for it. I sold my parents last home with the help of an estate attorney and did not pay any brokers and I don't feel a need to bribe someone that is supposed to be working for and being paid by their clients who are looking to buy a house. There will not be that many "looky-loo" types because the terms for the professionals will be too "lame"?, and the escorted tours will be too short and too few per day for the penniless dreamers. Thanks for the concern, but the last time around I got good advice from a good lawyer and it cost us about $500.00 for his services to sell the home in West Allis, Wisconsin. I know the lawyers fees will be higher this time around, but as a percentage of the selling price it will probably be less. Joobee: At least your opinion is with the majority, but realtors value is highly overrated by those not smart enough to talk to a real estate attorney. A regular auction would bring less money for the home. Dianemargret: Why do I get the impression you write to penpals in prison for henious felonies? I will not be running a fake Dutch auction that will stop at a certain price, but one that will go on until the house is sold. On that basis, yes I want to get the highest price possible but if it is not a high price, it doesn't matter. It is not a matter of the house going to the less advantaged, but simply a desire to have interested parties start accrueing money if they wish to get involved. This will put more interested wannabe homeowners in the pool. A lot of people who do not have substantial assets at hand may have the ability to get financed and the advance notice will give them time. Sorry Dianemargret, I am old school and I have not given you or anyone permission to insult me, so why waste my time answering questions that are not important to me. I do find your behavior toward me interesting, but not surprising in a world with so many "politically correct" wussy men. Minibim: Responding to opinions and questions hardly constitutes attention seeking. Maybe we read different books. If I live long enough to execute this plan, I will be back to advise anyone still around about the results, and I will be honest whether I win, lose, or draw. Thank you for the well wishes. Ruudman