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Yesterday the Senate announced that it had reached a bipartisan compromise on a plan to aid families facing foreclosure. This is good news as the lawmakers have been unable to reach agreement on some of the key provisions already passed by the house.

The compromise includes: ·         Foreclosure aid. A $4 billion package to aid communities hard hit by foreclosures and mortgage delinquencies. Local governments could use the funds to buy and rehabilitate foreclosed homes at a discount. ·         Government-backed mortgages. Increased loan limits for FHA- guaranteed mortgages. ·         Financial counseling. About $100 million in new funding for housing counseling for troubled families. ·         Tax credit. A $7,000 tax credit, over two years, for… Read Full Post

It's April 1st again and that means there are some crazy things flying around the Internet. Some of it is difficult to tell if it a joke or not but most of it is fun. Here is a list I found earlier with links to some April 1st jokes.

·         The BBC's Flying Penguin's - this one is the best April Fools' joke out there this year. You can watch the video here . ·         CNET has TechCrunch acquiring TigerBeat and renaming it CrunchKids. ·         Google and Sir Richard Branson launched Project Virgle and plan to colonize Mars. See also the Google Blog announcement. ·         PizzaHut has become PastaHut. ·         Search the future with Google Australia's gDay technology. ·         Too busy to search? Let someone Google for you. ·         Catch… Read Full Post

Wow, we just reduced our 53rd Street listing in Sacramento down to $137,500. This is property that is worth looking at by first time home buyers and investors. Not only does it have curb appeal in a rapidly improving neighborhood but it has a double size lot with a cottage in the back. The small cottage has a private driveway off of 20th Avenue and the two structures are separated by a privacy fence. The house needs some work but has the potential to be a real jewel. 

Speaking of nice homes on the market, check back later today and check out our newest listing on Meghan Way in Sacramento. Read Full Post

As you may know we have recently been working on a number of short sales here in the Sacramento area. This includes working with both sellers and buyers. They clearly add a level of complexity and administrative work to each transaction and require an extreme level of patience from everyone involved.  Each lender has their own process and requirements which is understandable but some are so much more difficult to work with. Wells Fargo in particular seems to be at the top of the “wish we didn’t have to work with” list. They appear to employ a delaying strategy which I don’t understand. Everything you fax to them gets returned asking for one more piece of information. When you place the date in wrong place they send it back. When you correct that they… Read Full Post

The news and commentary from my National Association of Realtors has not always been something to be proud of. More often than not they have, in my opinion, been guilty of delivering propaganda than telling readers the truth. That may be a bit harsh, but clearly they can find a way to put a positive “spin” about some very negative trends in our National real estate market. 

I naturally read their news releases and carry the requisite salt so after reading a story this morning, “Existing-Home Sales Rise in February,” I did some quick looking at our Sacramento market to see if there was any correlation with what the NAR was saying about the National market., Take a look at my column, “Something is Happening” over at Rocklin & Roseville Today and see what I… Read Full Post

As you may know I spend a fair amount of time and money on maintaining a web presence. I believe that more and more people are using the internet to find everything from soup to nuts. That includes homes, where a recent report by the National Association of Realtors said a huge percentage of homebuyers search for a home online before contacting a Realtor. 

I know from experience that some of my clients first learn about me from my website. More often than not they are directed there by one of the search engines but more and more seem to be finding me through some of the articles I have written and published on various other sites or from some of my on line social networking that I enjoy.  I have run a few advertisements, mostly over at Rocklin &… Read Full Post

As you know this year, Easter is this Sunday. Why is it so early this year? Easter always comes on the Sunday after the first, or Paschal, full moon following the first day of spring.

Spring arrives on Thursday and the moon will be full on Friday, the earliest Paschal moon since 1913. And that means Easter, the Christian holiday marking the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is this Sunday. It won't come this early again for another 220 or so years. By the way, it turns out my “Irish Luck” story I posted on St. Patrick’s Day is not true, at least according to snopes.com. Oh well, it was a great story and we can now attribute it to some Irish blarney.  Sacramento real estate The wonderful weather we have been enjoying the past few weeks appears to have… Read Full Post

Irish Luck. His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog. There mired to his waist in muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.

The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman’s sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved. “I want to repay you,” said the nobleman. “You saved my son’s life.” “No, I cannot accept payment for what I did,” the Scottish farmer replied waving off the offer. At that… Read Full Post