I Live with a Vampire!!!

It's an eerie feeling, living with a vampire.  A Vampire sleeps all day and has unending energy all night.  Vampires are difficult to hunt down. 

This one is 18 1/2 years old and he is on summer break before beginning college.  He has a job in a local beach restaurant which provides several day shifts and several night shifts for him to work or perhaps he'd sleep all day (except for a quick stop at the beach or the gym). 

Just how long can he sleep?  About as long as you'll allow it... 

But at night, he's a new man (very Vampire-ish). 

How long can he stay out at night?  About as long as you'll allow it...

Do you have a Vampire at your home?  Enjoy him or her and love them unconditionally.  This is a special time in their life.  A feeling of exhilaration from their high school accomplishments mixed with some fear of the unknown about the new life they'll begin at college.

Please email your thoughts or comments...

And Thank You for making Me Your Orange Couny Real Estate Connection.

Best regards, Michael Caruso

Adults Now Liable for Underage Drinking...

A warning to parents...Mission Viejo, CA just adopted a new law that makes adults liable for under-age drinking if they provide the location for it. The "Social Host Ordinance" is already in 24 cities in California and is sure to be seen soon in others around Orange County. Laguna Hills is currently drafting its own ordinance.

Parents may feel more comfortable knowing their barely legal children will be drinking at home, rather than sneaking out to parties--but time has come for consequences. An adult is now liable for under-age drinking if it occurs in their home. The primary goal of this law is to target "party houses". Officials hope to reduce the percentage of loud parties, underage drinking (and driving),and create a safer and healthier community.

With the summer in full swing, parents hosting backyard BBQs, graduation and going away parties beware...The law has a maximum punishment of $1,000 and 6 months jail time, and at the minimum reduced to an infraction. Each violation will be reviewed case by case and the city attorney will make sentencing decisions. Alongside penalties may be community service, which may be particularly focused towards organizations such as MADD.

What do you think about this? Will it help reduce the number of alcohol-related incidents?

I'm interested in your comments. Please email your thoughts and share with me if this is happening in your community.

And thank you for making me your Orange County Real Estate connection.

Best Regards,

Michael Caruso

Optimism Plunges Among Small Business Owners

Small business owners are the heartbeat of the nation.  And they are not happy.  In fact, they are worried...worried sick.

Small business owners' optimism has dropped off the table according to a survey from Wells Fargo Bank.  The optimism index - the sum of current and future expectations in six areas such as cash flow and hiring - plunged 35 points since January of this year to 48, the lowest level since the Index started in 2003.

The previous low was 69 in August of 2003 and the high was 114 in December of 2006 (I think that is when everyone was in denial).

Although optimism dropped in all areas, the greatest decline came in business owners' current revenue situation and future expectations for cash flow and financial situation.

Despite the seemingly woeful outlook, 94 percent of respondents said they feel successful being a small business owner, unchanged from the past, and 86 percent are satisfied being small business owners, unchanged from January. 

Thank you for making me Your Orange County Real EState Connection.

Best regards, Michael Caruso

Commonality in ALL Presidential Candidates...Firstborn = High Acheiver

People who study birth order will tell you that firstborns are most likely to be high achievers.

Firstborns are disproportionately represented in such areas and careers as astronauts, are members of the National Academy of Sciences are high standardized test scorers and thrive in other areas that demand high levels of academic success.

Nine out of the 11 candidates this year for President of the USA were firstborn or only-born of their sex in their family.  Now that we are down to the final two:

Barrack is an only child.  He has a half sister who is 9 years older, so in effect he grew up as an only child.

McCain is the firstborn son with an older sister and younger brother.

Oh yes...by the way - Hilary was a firstborn daughter with 2 younger sisters.

Go ahead and take an analytical look at your firstborn, then your next children.  Any differences?  The firstborns are the high achievers.  They are the ones who are the warriors, the perfectionists, the cautious ones.  They are the ones who are most likely to grow up to be the mathematicians, the architects, the engineers...or even the President of The United States.

Thank you for making me Your Orange County Real Estate Connection.

Best regards, Michael Caruso

Turnaround is the Bet for Investment Firm...

Are you betting on a turnaround in the economy anytime soon?  Well, someone is.  An investor has recently bought a $500 million stake of Standard Pacific to help get the builder back on it's feet.  This builder has experienced losses since the 1st of the year of roughly $1 Billion.

The concept here may be to position oneself for the turnaround, but that turnaround continues to escape some of the most brilliant minds in the country.  For now, nobody can put their finger on when or how this economy will turn around.

But this is a saving grace for Standard Pacific, whose credit relationships were on the rocks

Thank you for making me Your Orange County Real Estate Connection.

Best regards, Michael Caruso

Attention Boomers...Learn How to Communicate with Millennials

Millennials...it's tough enough for me to spell it, let alone learn communicate with "them"!

But, here are some ideas on how to talk or communicate to those cry-baby, tech savvy Millennials.  Next time you encounter one of them and have to talk to one of them, try any of the following language antidotes to perhaps communicate more effectively:

1) Bacn: impersonal emails that you have chosen to receive, such as alerts and newsletters.

2) Bershon: the angry/bored/too-cool-to-care look that 12 to 18 year olds seem to sport in their family photos.

3) Compunicate: to "chat" with a co-worker using Instant Messenger when you are in the same room, rather than speak to them.

4) Defriend: to remove someone from your established list of contacts.

5) Lifestreaming: posting an on-line record of a person's dailey actvities, such as some blogs.

6) Meatspace: a reference to the physical world, such as being the opposite of cyberspace or virtual reality.

7) Moofer: derived from the acronym for "mobile out of the office".  This is someone who between meetings abandons their office with a laptop and Blackberry to stop at Starbucks or anyplace else they can escape talkative co-workers.

8) Passion Bucket: a metaphor for a job or endeavor that can fulfill one's sense of mission and ambition.

9) Porntastic: great, but slightly racy and edgy.

You can practice and use these communication techniques for your Millennial encounters or call me for a normal conversation!

Good luck...and by the way, these were culled from magazines, web sites and blogs - so go figure!

Thank you for making me Your Orange County Real Estate Connection.

Best regards, Michael Caruso

New Sony Deal Could Mean "The End" for Cable Boxes...

Ahh Yes...the set-top box.  Many have built their custom entertainment centers with a custom slot for this appendage.  And those who haven't , still see the set-top box as a necessary component of cable viewing for more than several decades now.

Well...the set-top box is nearing extinction.  A leading television manufacturer, none other than Sony Electronics, Inc. and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association said recently that they had signed an agreement that would allow viewers to rid themselves of set-top boxes, yet still receive advanced "two-way" cable services, such as pay per view movies.

This marks quite a significant meeting of the minds between cable companies and and makers of consumer electronics.  The two industries have been is disaccord for about a decade on how to best deliver cable service to customers.  The agreement now is between Sony and the nation's six largest cable companies (collectively they serve 82% of all subscribers), but no word as to when the new TV sets would be available in stores.

Last time I checked, I had to rent my set-top boxes, so now I'll have some extra bucks to pay for gasoline price increases?!?!  It never ends....

Thank you for making me Your Orange County Real Estate Connection.

Best regards, Michael Caruso

Obesity Plateaus Among Kids...

There are some encouraging findings pertaining to obesity among kids, though the new stats are a bit premature and very hopeful.

The percentage of American children who are overweight or obese appears to have leveled off after a steady 25 year increase.  These new stats offer a glimmer of hope in an otherwise dismal battle and it is the first encouraging news received.  It may be too soon to know if we're beginning to make significant inroads into this epidemic and we hope this is not a statistical fluke.

In 2003-04 and 2005-06 roughly 32 percent of children were overweight or obese and 16 percent were obese (stats from Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).  Those figures held steady after rising without interruption since 1980.

We need a substantial decline in order for the full impact of this childhood epidemic to continue to mount in the coming years...this is because it can take many years for obesity-related complications to translate into life threatening events such as kidney failure and heart attacks, a spokesperson said.

Let's all work toward making this subject a matter of increased awareness.  Perhaps it can help.

Thank you for making me Your Orange County Real Etate Connection.

Best regards, Michael Caruso 

Famous Names Closing Stores...

Cool Stores, Cool names...Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy.

Gap Inc. has announced plans to close about 115 stores for fiscal 2008.  The corporate owner of Banana Republic and Old Navy said that they will close 65 Gap stores, 20 Old Navy stores and 15 Banana Republic stores in North America and another 15 stores internationally.  The announcement did not specify where the closures will be.

In Orange County, we have 13 Gap stores along with 12 Old Navy stores and 4 Banana Republic stores.

Signs of the times...

Hang in there Target!

Thank you for making me Your Orange County Real Estate Connection.

Best regards, Michael Caruso 

25 Million TV Views Not Ready for the Future...

Maybe this is a GOOD thing because there is no great news on TV these days, but statistics show about 10 million TV viewers still using analog sets - and they'll go "dark" on February 17th.  In all households, there are about 25 million with at least 1 anaolg set that won't be working after February 17, 2009. Well, at least they'll be able to see the Super Bowl before going dark.  Think there will be any flat screen sales in January?

Seriously, do TV manufacturers expect 10 million people to run out and buy high definition TV's or flat screen TV's in this economy?  I doubt it...and if people wait till the last minute to go out and buy a compatible TV to make the "switch" there could be a potential drop in TV ratings.  Too bad isn't it?

Hispanic and black households make up 20 percent of those completely unready for the switch, according to Neilson Media Research.  Same old story, and this is not a TV story is it?

Thank you for making me Your Orange County Real Estate Connection.

Best regards, Michael Caruso