Cathy Arzola's Blog

The Cat & The Dryer

Cathy Arzola (Arzola's Asset Management) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 10:40:04 -0800

No, it's not what you think, but have you ever driven up to a home that you have listed, know that the hom is unoccupied but when you pull into the driveway, sitting there in the window sunbathing is a cat? Well my first thoughts were I am at the wrong house, and my clients are going to think I am crazy. Then after taking a second look

around making sure I am at the correct address and my sign is out front. I realize that this is my listing and that I have a problem.

Once inside I found that the only way the cat could have gotten in was through the hole in the floor where the dryer vent should be, but the vent pipe was gone and access to the crawl space was very apparent.

Nothing can be more embarrassing then for an agent to show a home that has an issue that the agent was unprepared for. An agent must be prepared for anything including cats in the house and the odors that are accompanied with them.

What are some of your unexpected moments when showing a home?

Cathy Cooper-Arzola

PS - I always make sure that all my vacant homes now have the dryer vent access covered when no dryer is included.

DPA - Will it stimulate the housing market?

Cathy Arzola (Arzola's Asset Management) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:37:30 -0800

DPA or Down Payment Assistance has been a major concern to many of us agents who work with first time home buyers or those individuals who require some assistance but may have a good credit back ground. In a rural location selling homes, USDA Rural Housing has been very good to the first time buyer by now providing a 100% loan. At this time this is the only program available that will help with down payment.

I have been hearing from some mortgage brokers that the DPA programs are trying to raise its head. After being proided a link to check out the lastest information on DPAgroundswell.org, I wanted to share it with others who may be interested and haven't heard about i yet.

This link http://www.dpagroundswell.org/index.cfm will take you to the DPA Ground Swell and give information regarding the down payment programs and the effect on the current economic conditions. According to a senator in TX, there is minimal success rate in those individuals who put down their 3% and those who receive 3% in funding from non profit organizations such as Neimiaeh.

Check out what the information provides and send a letter to your congressman if you think we should keep the down payment assistance programs.

I feel that these programs can provide a boost in the current real estate down turn and help to bring back buyer confidence.

Cathy Cooper-Arzola

Why did my Agent lie to me about the future value of my home?

Cathy Arzola (Arzola's Asset Management) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 12:40:42 -0800

As we all know, the US and many other countries are in an economic downturn. This was not the case back in 2004, 2005 when homes were increasing in value fom 1-5% depending on location. I was a big advaocate of first time home buyers investing in a starter home and holding onto their investment for 3 to 5 years and resaling at a 1% to 5% increase. Bu I could not have forecasted what has happen to the economy today.

Today we even see the "Realtor" stating that buying home increases its value. There is data that can show how some areas of the country can still achieve this type of return but in Indiana with all the repo's that are on the market or soon to be on the market, it's hard to find homes that can be used as comps not only for real estate agents but appraisers too.

As a specialist in "Affordable Housing" the mnufactured homes are starting to take a beating from the financial companies. Currently all double wide manufactured homes on lots attached to the poured concrete foundation, 2 car attached garage, and front porch are considered to be unfinanceable. These home are less affordable in th Indiana area and required less fix up then the repo homes, but no bank will touch them unless the home in brand new.

Our "Brand New" 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car attached garage, poured concrete foundation, sidewalk, driveways, and covered porches and patios are being financed by USDA, Rural Housing with 100% financing available if home appraises. This is the only way we are currently able to sell manufactured homes (Affordable Homes). Guess what these homes are appraising and I am ableto provide affordable housing to first time home buyers. But I won't be able to tell my new buyers that there homes will increase in value within the next 5 years, because who knows if there were be any banks or financial institutions loaning money on these new homes for $89,900.

No more forecasting the future, the future will only tell.

If you want more information about "Affordable Housing" check out www.manufacturedhousing.org or www.stardusthills.com

Cathy Cooper-Arzola

Thanksgiving Pie

Cathy Arzola (Arzola's Asset Management) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:18:20 -0800

Pumpkin pie is a tradition around Thanksgiving, and some people like it, while others don't. I have to admit that I love pumpkin pie with whipped cream on top. When you really think about it, who would have ever thought to take a vegetable that grows in the garden and make it a desert?

Pumpkin comes from a Greek word that means large melon, which indeed it is one of the larger melons. According to history and the pumpkin patch, The origin of pumpkin pie is thought to have occurred when the colonists sliced off the pumpkin top, removed the seeds, and then filled it with milk, spices and honey. The pumpkin was then baked in the hot ashes of a dying fire.

According to History.com the largest pumpkin pie ever baked was in 2005 and it weighed 2,020 pounds. I wonder how many people had a piece of that pie?

How do you like your pumpkin pie?

Who Do We Believe?

Cathy Arzola (Arzola's Asset Management) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 09:34:13 -0700

I have read that when we are blogging to say what we feel, so here I go. In regards to the mess in Wall Street and the current bank failures I realized that there is a lot of talk but no real solutions. One side wants to be understanding and if you were go enough to get the loan to begin with then the banks should continue to work with you. The other side says we don't care that your credit was once good we must make a change.

I am the first to say that a listing is a great way to increase sales if the home is priced right. But these individuals who are loosing their homes by the millions can't all be bad. At some point they had credit but they their American Dream was shattered, but the CEO's and Wall Street Markets filled their pockets on the backs of other American Dreams.

I am not saying that the other side says they should have known what they were doing and it is their own fault that they are losing their American Dream. Life has no gurantees and this is America and there are plenty of opportunities to work and bring in the money for those mortgages.

I see both sides but I can say that I saw something coming when homes were getting appraised for 20-30% more than market value along with the change here in Indiana taxes to go from assessed value to market value. So in Indiana not only were the mortgage companies taking advantage, so was the government jumping on the band wagon to get more money too. Now we have homes that are assesed at a market value from two years ago at the height of the indulging that cannot be sold for what the government wants the homeowner to pay in taxes. Does that make sense?

Will these efforts by the government help to set all this indulgence right? I don't think so. I think we just will all have to hang on and see what happens and whether we believe one way or another isn't going to make much difference.

Cathy

Hispanic Internet Usage

Cathy Arzola (Arzola's Asset Management) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:19:39 -0700

I was recently looking into the Hispanic marketing and how to attract that market via the internet and found some interesting facts.

According to U.S. Government Education (http://usinfo.state.gov/infousa/education/overview/computeruse.html#table1) survey, lower income hispanic families' students rely heavily on school computers at 50% and are the third highest in using someone else's computer. Survey states, "However, several groups of single location users-those from households where no parents have education beyond a high school credential, those from monolingual Spanish households, those in poverty, those with family incomes below $35,000 per year, those living outside metropolitan areas, and Black and American Indian students-rely more heavily on access to the Internet from school than on access from any other single location."

This is a very interesting statistical table that shows evidence of hispanic computer usage in school and also relies on the education of the parent and income. It also shows that 80% of hispanics use school computers versus 48% use a home computer where 85% of white students use school and 78% use a home computer.

Another study done by Bureau of Labor Statistics (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ciuaw.nr0.htm) shows that the hispanic employee uses at a computer at work at 31.9% use a computer at work and only 19.6% use the internet at work. It seems logical due to hispanics are less educated and work in labor jobs more than office jobs where computers are needed. The report states that mostly managers and professionals are the main users of computer and the internet.

According to Ad Virtuoso.com (http://www.advirtuoso.com/opportunities.html)
11.1 million Hispanics are currently online and Hispanic consumers are spending more time online than the average non-Hispanic consumer - 9.5 hours per week at home, reports the first annual U.S. Hispanic Cyberstudy.

Ø U.S. Hispanics and Technology Usage, 2003

Internet Users	$17.6 million
Internet Penetration	49%
E-commerce Spending	$8.1 billion
E-commerce Per User	$2,683
Internet and Expenditures	$1.0 billion

Other stats:

Hispanic teens hold $19 billion in spending power; most of this is spent on clothing and jewelry. Other areas to which Hispanic teens allocate this money include music and entertainment, food and snacks, savings, gas and automobile expenses, and gaming and hobbies.

Ø The average Hispanic teen spends $320 a month, 4% more than the average non-Hispanic teen spends. Shopping malls (84%), supermarkets (80%), and discount chains (78%) are the most popular retail destinations for teens of Hispanic descent.