I love the movie Willow. If you get a chance to see please do. There is a point in the movie where Willow, a little person with a HEART OF SOUL, that the village is depending on faces a great challenges and a the sorceress tells him "Patience Willow" I do not know why that stuck with me so but it did. Willow was the underdog having to persevere all these great challenges, a heart of gold, fearless and yet so human. In the end he wins and the key was patience. It has all the great elements that you need in a movie.

The same holds true for a short sale. If you stay on track and make it your passion you will prevail.

I heard this morning that there will be 10 times more short sales next year. On the face of that it sounds bad but it is not all that bad. Consider the sellers, they will be in a better position and not ruin their credit in a foreclosure. The lenders will be dealing with this better. A couple already have. It will help stop a global collapse of the worlds economies. AND you get to know your Realtor really well after 6 months.

So with all that said I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving, if you eat enough turkey you may be able to sleep till your short sale closes!

Many people that read my blog find fun stuff, good information and get a better understanding of what makes me tick. My Real estate website is where you get the Real Estate info. Here you will learn more about me. Here you will also see why we are ALL so much alike. We all come from different backgrounds, religions and educations. I am not talking about this on a small scale either. This is a global statement of what binds us all together. That biding thing is THE BEST REAL ESTATE ADDRESS IN AMERICA.

SESAME STREET! Congratulations on a great 40th anniversary. I was raised on Captain Kangaroo and Sesame Street. You forget about those young years until you have children yourself and even then it may take a wake up call for you to appreciate it.

What woke me up was when my children were about 6 months old I was sitting there wiT them in the living room. They are twins who are now 14 years old. Their Mom was at work and I worked nights as a Chef at Equus Restaurant in Santa Rosa. I was sitting there ready to take them for a stroll in their stroller thinking WOW I have my hands full here when I looked at the TV and Sesame Street was on. Not only was it on but my favorite band was on it with Elmo doing the back up singing. It was Los Lobos singing ELMO and THE LAVENDER MOON. A twist on one of their top songs. It made me take a break watch it an think maybe this Dad stuff will turn out better than it has. I am glad to inform you the Dad thing has worked out real well. I am so proud of my kids and thank you Sesame Street for waking me up!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

This came to me last week but I failed to pass it on. It was a busy week with the kids and Halloween. I hope that you had a great time with your family.

Senators agree to extend homebuyer tax credit

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER (AP) - 56 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Senators agreed Wednesday to extend a popular tax credit for first-time homebuyers and to offer a reduced credit to some repeat buyers.

The tax credit provides up to $8,000 to first-time homebuyers but is set to expire at the end of November. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that new homes sales fell 3.6 percent in September, and some industry representatives blamed uncertainty about the tax credit.

Senators agreed to extend the existing tax credit for first-time homebuyers while offering a reduced credit of up to $6,500 to repeat buyers who have owned their current homes for at least five years, said Regan Lachapelle, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

The tax credits would be available to homebuyers who sign sales agreements by the end of April. They would have until the end of June to close on their new homes, according to a summary of the legislation being circulated among lawmakers.

Senators were still negotiating the expansion of a separate tax credit that lets money-losing businesses get refunds for taxes paid in previous years, providing them with an immediate source of cash.

Senators in both political parties were hoping to add both tax provisions to a bill that would give people running out of unemployment insurance benefits up to 20 more weeks of federal aid. The Senate could vote on the overall bill as early as Thursday, but lawmakers were still haggling over several unrelated amendments Wednesday evening.

Popular bills like the one to extend unemployment benefits often attract amendments that would have a difficult time passing on their own.

Republicans were demanding that they be given a chance to offer amendments to restrict federal aid to the beleaguered community activist group ACORN and on requiring that people receiving unemployment insurance be processed through E-Verify, an Internet-based system that employers use to check on the immigration status of new hires.

Majority Democrats have refused to add the amendments.

If the Senate passes the bill, it would go to the House, which passed a similar bill extending unemployment benefits last month. House leaders have also said they support extending the tax credit for homebuyers.

Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., has been negotiating for several weeks with Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., to craft an extended tax credit for homebuyers that would pass the Senate.

Lawmakers didn't release a cost estimate for extending the tax credit, though similar proposals were projected to cost about $10 billion.

Industry representatives said uncertainty about the tax credit is hurting new home sales. September's decline was the first since March.

It takes 45 days to 60 days to close on a house, making it unlikely a sale made today would be consummated by the end of November, said Lucien Salvant, spokesman for the National Association of Realtors.

"Buyers right now have an incentive to hold off, not knowing whether the credit will be extended," Salvant said.

About 1.4 million first-time homebuyers have qualified for the credit through August. The National Association of Realtors estimates that 350,000 of them would not have purchased their homes without the credit.

The tax credit for money-losing businesses is a favorite among Republican lawmakers. Businesses could get tax refunds by using losses from 2008 and 2009 to offset taxable profits made in the previous five years. Under current law, they can only offset profits from the previous two years.

The provision would help a variety of industries, including retailers, manufacturers and home builders, though it's expensive.

"It's clearly a way to put cash in the hands of some major economic players," said Clint Stretch, a tax policy expert at Deloitte Tax.

A similar proposal that was ultimately dropped from the economic stimulus package enacted in February would have cost nearly $20 billion over 10 years. Lawmakers are working to reduce the price tag.

"Because everybody is so cash strapped, this is a good way to get refund when businesses need it for operating expenses," said Rachelle Bernstein, vice president and tax counsel for the National Retail Federation.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

I was in downtown Healdsburg last night and saw the greatest thing. The Alexander Valley 4-H club has put up its annual display in the window at the south east corner of Matheson and Healdsburg Ave. Clearly the Brandt's have donated this space for the best work yet that I have seen from this wonderful club. I was a leader in this club for the past  years and I am always amazed at the work these kid's and all 4-H'ers do.

If you have kids and you want them involved with a great group check out 4-H, it may be just the thing for you. I know that it was one of the great experiences in raising my twins and it gave them a great foundation for so many things that they will run into in life.

I remember the first person that I talked to about this was Dave and Bunny Lewers. Dave said "Bob I could tell you a lot of great stories about our experience but this is something you need to live through to experience. Imagine it is Xmas eve morning and your kids 4-H sheep gives birth and you are all huddled around each other, It's cold, rainy and you are in the barn watching the look on your kid's face as the miracle happens. You will never feel closer to God and your family".

Dave was right! We spent a lot of hours taking care of our animals. My kids were into rabbits and chickens. It was a lot of work with endles rewards. We will never forget what 4-H did for us.

If you need any information about 4-H and how to get involved drop me a line. I would be happy to help and in the meantime stop by the window and see what the kids did.

Healdsburg Real EstateI have been involved in a few short sales and they are well lets just say, require some patience. If there is more than one lender then oh boy. I am in one now with a great agent on the other side of the deal, My transaction coordinator respects theirs. We have everything needed to make this happen and it is dragging on. That is with a perfect scenario. Short sales and REO's are not the only good deals out there. Good deals are everywhere but you have to really dig in to find them. You also have to come from a position of strength with excellent negotiating powers to prevail.

We are in the Fall season now and if sellers are not willing to negotiate they will still be standing there when the music stops. It is now more important than ever to identify the sellers homes as the ones that have to be sold. Many people in the $500,000. range want to sell but do not HAVE to. The first thing to ask in this market is why they are selling and work out from there.

Now is the time to write offers. Sellers will never know the real value of their home until it is in writting. Agents, lets not low ball, that helps nobody. Have that passion and the job will get done. Remember "God will move mountains, but bring your own shovel, God loves teamwork!"