Canine Good Citizen Certification

My husband & I have volunteered for Southeast German Shorthaired Pointer Rescue(GSP) for the past 6.5 years.  We started by signing up as a foster family, and received our first foster dog a few weeks after becoming volunteers.  We had Sadie, our first German Shorthaired Pointer foster, for a little over a month before finding her forever family.  We then proceeded with our next foster, and next foster, and next foster until we became “foster failures.”  A foster failure is a person/family who volunteers as a foster with any rescue, who ends up adopting one of their foster dogs.  It’s a tongue-in-cheek term for failing to place your foster dog because you kept him/her.

Our 7th foster dog, Kota, came to our rescue from a breeder who was not providing adequate living conditions in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  The authorities seized all of the dogs & rescues got involved to place them in foster homes.  Kota traveled to Southeast GSP Rescue as a one year old puppy.  Once he arrived at our house, he made it clear he was keeping us, and we adopted him.

His demeanor is unlike a lot of GSPs.  He can be very rambunctious and wild at times like a typical GSP, but then in the next second be calm, quiet, and relaxing.  His affinity for human touch is evident when you first meet him.  He becomes very calm and will sit waiting on you to pet him for hours.  We decided to explore options of exercising his great temperament and found information on Therapy Dog International.

We contacted Sara Higgins, Positive Pups Dog Training, and she recommended we first try to achieve Kota’s Canine Good Citizen Certificate.  She worked one-on-one with us and provided great training tips for Kota’s Canine Good Citizen exam.

The steps in passing the Canine Good Citizen Test include:  sitting politely for petting, walking loosely on a leash, walking through a crowd, allowing grooming, sit & down – staying in place, coming when called, greeting another person with their dog, distractions, and supervised separation.

We worked with Kota on these test items and when we felt prepared, scheduled a time with Positive Pups Dog Training.  We met for our test at Robbins Park in Cornelius, where Kota completed & passed his test!

The next step is to take Therapy Dog Certification classes to polish his skills he exhibited during Canine Good Citizen Certification, plus a few other tests specific to medical facilities.  If he receives his TDI certificate, he will be allowed to complete these types of visits:

• Hospital visits
• Retirement home/Assisted Living visits
• Hospice Homes
• Schools, Colleges – can participate in “Read to Dog” programs
• Disaster Relief – provides comfort & emotional support for disaster victims & emergency responders

We are hopeful he will pass and can share some of his sweet personality with those who need it.  We are also excited to share with others how rewarding it is to adopt a dog from rescue.

Lauren Barker
Marketing & Business Manager, Kay Fisher and Associates

8501 Ceasars Head Drive Ready Now in Waxhaw!

New construction built by M/I Homes in Cureton- Ready to move in for the holidays!

Check out this home Ready Now in the beautiful community of Cureton in Waxhaw!

To view the virtual tour of this home, click Here.

For more information on 8501 Ceasars Head Drive in Waxhaw, NC, please click Here.

Awesome Schools!!

New Construction- Full Brick w/Stone Accents and 3 Car Garage Ready Now in Waxhaw! Nestled within desirable Cureton on established street, this open floorplan features scraped hardwood floors, large kitchen island, wall oven, gas cook top, granite counter tops throughout, tile floors and spa-like master bath. Thoughtfully designed floorplan offers private baths off 1st floor guest suite & upstairs 2nd bedroom, open loft & outdoor living area with covered deck. Cuthbertson Schools/Resort Style Amenities/30 year structural warranty.

This home is built by M/I Homes and comes with a best in the business Confidence Builder 30 year warranty! Check out M/I Home’s 30 year warranty here.

Lots of dining choices are nearby!

M/I Homes also builds Energy Star Certified homes and offers their Exclusive Whole Home program.  Check it out here.

M/I’s Whole home program gives you a clean, energy efficient environment for living.  Check out their website to see what all goes into their new homes to make them stand out from the rest!

The Cureton community provides residents with resort style amenities, great schools and convenience to all of the modern services buyers are looking for today.  Check out the convenience info graphic below for the Cureton Community!

Do Professional Photos Matter When Selling Your Home?

Real Estate agents have different strengths and weaknesses.  Some agents are great at getting referrals, others are great at pricing homes, marketing, negotiating or managing the transaction, among other things.   Depending on the situation, any or all of these things could be important for a homeowner in determining a good fit  as they search for a listing agent to sell their home.

Which brings us to one very important aspect of evaluating a listing agent- do they provide professional photos?  And, do professional photos matter when selling your home?  In my opinion, professional photos are one of the most important pieces of putting together an effective marketing plan.  Let's start by thinking about how you'll get people in the door to see your home.

As you can see in the chart below, the internet is the primary source buyers use in today's market...

Why do professional photos matter?

Whether it’s national portals like Zillow, Trulia or Realtor.com, or local sites like ours atKayfisherandassociates.com, the first showing you'll get will be online.   It drives me crazy to see a home with photos that are dark, obviously taken with the agent’s phone, and some even with the LIGHTS OFF!!!  Come on agents, at least turn the lights on!  I can’t imagine a world where I would think that’s o.k. as an agent.  Knowing how many potential buyers will just click through to the next listing makes me sick for these sellers who probably have no idea how many showings they are missing.

Professional real estate photographers know how to get the right angle and get the best lighting to capture the true feel of the room.  They also use a wide angle lens, which brings more of the room into the frame, making it look larger online while also showing more features of the home.  Your agent may be the best negotiator in the world or the best at working relationships, or even the agent with the most market knowledge of anyone around.  But in today’s world, buyers want to see high quality photos when looking at homes online.  Don’t give it to them and you suffer with less showings and as a result, a lower amount of offers.

In the end, the proof is in the results.  Here are a few examples of the same spaces, amateur vs professional photos:


Amateur kitchen photo-



Professional kitchen photo-



Amateur bath photo-



Professional bath photo-



Amateur great room photo-



Professional photo great room-



As you can see, the difference between amateur and professional photos is stunning!

What if I’m in a hot market or neighborhood, do professional photos still matter?

What if you are in a hot neighborhood where homes are selling in just a few days and prices are going up constantly?  I say that’s all the more reason to have an agent willing to provide professional photos.  The more bodies that walk in your door, the more potential buyers will see your home in person and fall in love with it.  And, if you get more showings, you’ll naturally get more offers.

Our marketing, with professional photos, has provided proven results for our sellers.  We are able to pull showing reports for our sellers from our local MLS showing service.  Using these reports, we were able to determine recently that one of our sellers was getting up to 7 times the average number of showings for their price point and location!  

What’s the takeaway?

So, the takeaway is this…  No matter how good your agent is at other aspects of their job, if they don’t offer professional photos, they are not focusing on what matters for sellers in today's market.  Regardless of the local market conditions, your affinity for the agent or the fact that everyone in the neighborhood uses them, you’ll simply get less showings.  Period.  That will result in a lower amount of potential buyers coming through the door and in the end, possibly a lower sales price.

Now that you know how crucial it is to have professional photos, keep in mind that doing things right takes time.  Be sure to allow time for your agent to arrange for professional photos.  They will be worth the wait and definitely result in more showings and hopefully a quick sale!