What:
LakeFrog.com will soon be extending services into Canada and needs your help!  We’re looking for willing Canadian real estate professionals or home owners to help test our new platform.

How:
When it’s ready, we hope to have a team of trusted testers – to play around with the site, enter their listings and let us know of any errors or suggestions they might have.

Why:
Every trusted tester will receive free featured listings placement when the Canadian site launches!  Featured listings appear to the right of each page giving them optimum exposure on map and organic searches.

When:
Soon!  Interested parties send an email to support@lakefrog.com for more information.

If you or anyone you know is a Canadian real estate professional or has property listings in Canada, let them and us know!  We’re signing folks up now for this opportunity.

Thanks!

~ LakeFrog.com

Lake Hickory is a recreational lake, allowing boating, jet skis, water skiing, swimming, tubing, fishing, and other water activities.

Lake Hickory was created in 1927 with the completion of the Oxford Dam.  The dam parallels the NC Highway 16 bridge over the Catawba River between I-40 and Taylorsville. It is 122 feet high, with an overall length of 1,200 feet. The spillway section of the dam is 550 feet long. The Lake has 105 miles of shoreline, totaling over 4200 acres of surface area. Full pond elevation is 935 feet. Lake Hickory is a reliable source of water for the nearby cities of Hickory and Longview, North Carolina.

The attractive shoreline of Lake Hickory is one of its greatest assets. Duke Energy, the owner of the lake, has kept over 20 miles of shoreline for natural areas. The rest of the shoreline consists of homes, ranging in size from 1,500 to 5,000 square feet.

Many great homes are available for sale along Lake Hickory.

Lake Hickory also offers 16 public boat launches and six marinas.

Posted by Mike Kelly Jr. Hickory NC

www.MikeKellyJr.com

Email: MikeKellyJr@charter.net

The Lake Arrowhead Film Festival will be kicking it off again this year at the Lake Arrowhead Resort.  This is an awesome opprotunity to feel apart of Hollywood and the glitz of it all.

April 22-25 2010

Tickets are:
$160 for a platinum pass which includes, Includes everything except the Friday night Gala. (All film screenings and seminars, the Thursday Filmmaker Meet and Greet and the Sunday Award Luncheon).

$125 for the Friday Night Gala
$75 for the movie pass which includes the opening night film
$60 Sunday Award Luncheon
$50 Thursday Night meet and greet film makeres
$15 Opening Night Film

If you want to jump in and be a part of history and see the stars come out this is the place to be.

First Night ~ Join us for this rare opportunity to mix and mingle with some of the industry’s most talented filmmakers and aficionados. Hosted by legendary TV and film star June Lockhart, this special Opening Night event will be held in the spectacular lobby of the Lake Arrowhead Resort.  The price of admission includes the party, drinks, delectable hor-doeuvres and the Opening Night film!  Attire is “dressy casual.”

There will be an awards Gala Dinner and Award Luncheon ~  For more information please check out the film festivals website at http://lakearrowheadfilmfestival.com or call 909-337-7587

Posted by Kim Kelley, Realtor
www.arrowheadlifestyles.com
Kim@ArrowheadLifestyles.com

East Lake Cove is an upscale, gated, and lakefront community located in tranquil St. Cloud, Florida. The panoramic view of Lake Tohopekaliga (Lake Toho) is stunning from the neighborhood, and watching the sunset over the lake is absolutely stunning. These impressive homes have the most intricate and magnificent accents and design details, and each residence has been planned created with the utmost care. The community amenities feature a community lake dock, a tennis court, a basketball court, children’s playground, volleyball court, shaded picnic areas, ponds with illuminated fountains and a natural preserve park. Live in East Lake Cove’s nature-surrounded ambiance with the city close by!

The schools zoned for East Lake Cove are Hickory Tree Elementary School, St. Cloud Middle School, and St. Cloud High School.

East Lake Cove is conveniently located off North Narcoossee Road and East Lake Cove Blvd., 14 minutes to State Road 417, 38 minutes to Interstate I-4, and 37 minutes to downtown Orlando.

To see East Lake Cove homes for sale visit East Lake Cove Real Estate. Or see our communities page and learn about the best communities around Central Florida.

Posted by Road House Realty

LAKE TANSI is a fully developed 5,000 acre active lifestyle community located just off I-40 in Crossville, Tennessee, approximately half way between Knoxville and Nashville. Right within the “Golf Capital” of Tennessee that is Crossville, residents can enjoy any of the stunning 17 courses only 30 minutes away. Crossville, Tennessee has been chosen as one of the top 10 best locations to retire by Bizjournal magazine, Rand McNally, and several other publication. Discover the Lake Tansi lifestyle.

Nestled atop the Cumberland Plateau, with over 5,000 beautifully wooded acres of property on top of a 2000 foot elevation, discover an exceptional way of life in Lake Tansi. LAKE TANSI absolutely has every amenity you can imagine, with 4 lakes, a 100 slip marina, indoor and outdoor pools, paddle boats, 18 hole golf course, canoes, pro shop, lakeside cabins, nature trails, tennis courts, restaurants, and many more. Downtown Crossville is only 10 minutes away with every type of retail for your every shopping need, including Wal-Mart, Lowes, Staples, a mall, 10 screen theater, many restaurants.

Among the many amenities to take pleasure in is the Lake Tansi Lake which is the largest lake on the Cumberland Plateau at 550 acres. Two miles long, with over 10 miles of shoreline, it is one of the top 5 fishing lakes in Tennessee. It supports a wide variety of water sports, including, fishing, water skiing, swimming and paddle boating. There are also 3 additional recreation and fishing lakes located in Lake Tansi; Lake Mohawk, Lake Geronimo, and Lake Hiawatha. LAKE TANSI has a wonderful lakefront beach with spectacular sandy beaches and children’s play areas. Also available for your enjoyment are shuffleboards and volleyball, picnic tables and charcoal barbeques. The Lake Tansi Marina & Bait Shop offers a complete selection of boating services, including boat / pontoon rentals and Tennessee Fishing Licenses. Residents can definitely enjoy a profusion of water activities here in Lake Tansi.

The Recreation Department at LAKE TANSI provides plenty of recreational facilities. There is also the Thunderbird Recreation Center located off Deer Run Circle where many of the dances and parties at Lake Tansi is held annually. Here, you will also discover pool tables, a juke box, video games and snacks available at specific times throughout the year. The Thunderbird also hosts a variety of craft activities for both adults and children, as well as some of the local clubs. Another recreation center you will find here is the Hiawatha Community Center situated on Country Club Drive. It is home to the indoor pool, Lake Tansi Library and a meeting room.

LAKE TANSI also boasts of a full-service Health & Racquetball Center which is open six days a week to members and guests. It features two racquetball courts, a full-service weight room with free weights, treadmills, Universal machines, and stationary bikes. Aerobics classes are given in the aerobics room for those looking for a way to burn those calories. Resident can also choose to relax on the tanning bed or in one of the saunas or hot tubs, to be found in the women’s or men’s locker rooms.

With its own 24 hour police force, and its own fire department and 911 emergency services, Lake Tansi is a very safe crime free community. Lake Tansi Emergency Services are consistently ready to serve and to protect and is able to sustain the needs of the residents of the Lake Tansi community 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. The Lake Tansi Emergency Services include the Lake Tansi Security Enforcement, Cumberland County 5th District Volunteer Fire Department and Cumberland County Emergency Medical Services. You know you owe it to yourself to enjoy a life of leisure, recreation and security. Make LAKE TANSI your new home.

Guest Post by:

CHOICE REALTY OF TENNESSE, LLC

www.choicerealtyoftennesse.com
www.choiceoftn.com

Dear LFDC Members,

We continue to see solid growth at LakeFrog.com and with your feedback, we’re happy to say that we’re developing the best in class products for you and the potential lake home buyer. So as we continue to develop, we’re gradually shifting focus to extending efforts to “spread the word” and let folks know of the available free resource!

And in that area, we’re asking for your help! For a limited time, LakeFrog.com is accepting referrals in exchange for free Featured Listings placement! Featured listings are shown to the right of each page on LakeFrog.com and give the user optimum exposure for their properties on map and organic searches!

The conditions are simple: we’re offering 5,000 featured listing impressions in exchange for each qualifying referral. A qualifying referral would be a new LakeFrog member sign up, that lists at least one property on the site. That’s it!

So tell your friends, your friend’s, friends and have their friends tell their friends. If you think you know someone that could benefit, just send a message to support@lakefrog.com with “Sign me up!”. Once you have a qualified referral, just send us an email with their name and the the property listing you’d like to be set up as a Featured Listing – we’ll verify the new member, and let you know when you’re set up!

We’ll hope you’ll find value in this proposal! As we truly believe that our growth will benefit you as well.

As always, thanks for using LakeFrog.com!

The LakeFrog Team

Greetings from LakeFrog.com!

Once again, we’ve been working on some improvements to make your experience on LakeFrog.com even better!  With the housing market showing increasing signs of rejuvenation, we continue to strive towards enhancing the resources available to real estate professionals as well as the home buyer.  New features include:

• Improved image gallery functionality and views – you can now upload up to 15 images to your property listing!
• Home Finance Tab – easy access tools for evaluating the current market and assisting with the home buying decision – more to come…
• Real Estate Agent directory – Locate agents by State and lake name
• Customized account preferences for the home buyer, home seller & real estate professional
• Child account capabilities – home sellers now have the option to create “child accounts” for contacts.  Child accounts will have the ability to log in & out and manage the properties assigned to them with their own user name and password
• Faves – mark and keep track of your favorite properties on LakeFrog.com
• Saved search capabilities for the home buyer – create and save property searches and receive email alerts when new properties are added that match your search
• MyLakeFrog Report section – monitor the most viewed listings on LakeFrog.com, manage your favorites and properties similar to your faves
• Free Monthly Newsletter – log into your account to sign up!

We’re also excited to announce that LakeFrog will soon be launching capabilities to list rental properties and extending our services into Canada! Stay tuned…

We hope you find these new features useful, and if you have any questions or comments, be sure to let us know at support@lakefrog.com.

Thanks!

- The LakeFrog Team

As a heads up to our California based Real Estate Professionals, effective as of July 1, 2009, California real estate licensees will need to have their license number displayed on “all solicitation materials intended to be the first point of contact with consumers…”. This includes “business cards, stationery, advertising flyers, and other materials designed to solicit the creation of a professional relationship between the licensee and a consumer… .” This is in accordance with Senate Bill 1461 sponsored by the Department of Real Estate.

The idea behind this legislation is mainly to protect the homebuyer from paying any unlicensed person for performing real estate services. We at LakeFrog believe this to be a good thing. Therefor, in the coming weeks we’ll be launching a new version of the site which will include a field for “License Number” when creating new contacts. The field will be optional for all states, except for California where it will be required.

Stay tuned for more information on the new launch! In the meantime, if you have any questions concerning the details of this legislation, be sure to let us know. And thanks again for using LakeFrog.com!

Every once in a while, we like to share some of what we’re reading here at LakeFrog. One blog that we’ve recently come across is Sellsius Real Estate Blog.

Sellsius looks at all aspects of real estate, with a focus on marketing, technology, innovation and social media. Whether riffing on LinkedIn, introducing us to TwitterSnooze, or describing Convertible Balconies, Sellsius consistently delivers great info.

Check them out at blog.sellsiusrealestate.com, and tell them LakeFrog sent you.

Good landscaping can be the difference maker when it comes time to sell your house. It can also add beauty and value to your house that your family can enjoy for years to come. However, the cost of professional landscaping may not be in your current family budget.

We found the below do-it-yourself tips that will save money over hiring a professional, but won’t take up your entire summer weekend:

Banish the brown

We all know we should water regularly through dry spells, but there’s another secret to greening up the lawn. Mow it to a height of at least three inches. This enables the grass to retain more moisture by keeping the soil shaded and cooler, which allows the roots to grow deeper, so they can find their own water.

In fall, feed the lawn with a fall fertilizer blend (about $40 for a half-acre lot), which will improve the turf’s water-seeking abilities next year. Also, thanks to trees getting larger (or being pruned), your sun exposure may have changed. Sprinkle a sun-and-shade seed mix ($5) over problem areas.

Whack your weeds

If your mulch beds have turned into weed beds, spray the unwanted plants with Roundup (about $20), which will kill weeds in about 10 days, says Chris Valenti, a Lewes, Del., landscaper and vice president of the National Landscaping Association.

Next spring, head off the problem by using a product that prevents weeds from germinating at all, such as Preen (around $25). Or try a nonchemical solution: Lay red rosin paper (sold in the paint aisle at home centers; $15 for a three-by-140-foot roll) over the planting beds before mulching.

More tips can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/mqfdb6

Would love to hear your tips in the comments!