***THIS IS A REGULAR SALE***

 Are you tired of unresponisve banks , REO properties and endless short sales? Then look no more!!!Cozy, well kept starter home. Perfectly manicured yard in a perfectly manicured neighborhood. You will be immediately struck by the care and craftsmanship of your new home. True hard wood floors in hallway and bedrooms. The living room allows in soft light through a large bay window, and also features a warming fire place. This opens into a huge den that makes this home perfect for family and guests. There is a separate laundry room conveniently located off of the kitchen. The yard has been lovingly cared for. Both front and back have mature, beautiful shade trees. The back yard is very large and is secured with block walls. The view of snow capped mountains is included in the price. You'll be amazed at how well kept the entire neighborhood is as well. You are literally walking distance from the lush grounds of California Baptist University and a very short drive to schools, shopping and freeways. You won't regret making this your choice.

Offered at $127,000

2 Bed/ 1 Bath/ 1247 sq. ft.

Immaculate Riverside bungalow perfect for new home owners. The neighborhood is as immaculate as the home itself. This has all the charm of 1950's Southern California.

I have been around pretty much since the advent of dirt. And I have to be honest, I recieved a reply from yesterday's blog entry, ATTENTION LISTING AGENTS ,that left me speechless. Being of Irish decent, I don't find myself afflicted with that problem very often. Luckily, it didn't leave me fingerless, so here I am. Please take a moment to read that blog entry above. The following is the actual reply I received from it.  

Now, here is my reply to Mr Amiri:

I would love to know how you feel about this?

OK, I normally try not to vent here. But I'm afraid that if I don't, the top of my hairless head may very well blow off. So here goes:

Attention Listing Agents!!! Attention Listing Agents!!!...

The slightest bit of professionalism would be greatly (and at this point, refreshingly) appreciated. You are not any busier than anyone else. We all have a million things to do. And the rest of us don't care what your office assistant is up to.

GOD, I feel better. Now here's what led up to my momentary meltdown. Yesterday, I was setting some showing appointments (say that a few times fast). On one, the instructions were to "Call listing office for key" . Well now THAT seemed easy enough. When I called the listing office, a woman that sounded suspiciously more like a grandmother than a receptionist answered the phone. Why, do you ask, would I draw such a conclusion? It was a combination of her voice tone...AND THE SCREAMING BABY SHE WAS OBVIOUSLY HOLDING WAY TOO CLOSE TO THE PHONE. So, through the teething screams of a toddler, I explained that I was calling to find out how to get a key for showing. The very pleasant, patient, elderly woman then informed me that I needed to call the listing agent's cell number...HUHHHHH?

Attention Listing Agents!! Attention Listing Agents!!!...

If you instruct us to call your office (?), make sure that your baby sitter, I mean receptionist and you understand who we are to call, and where YOUR key is. And just as an aside, you might have her put the baby down when answering the phone.

Soooooooooo, I call the listing agent's cell phone at about 11:00am and got a voice message. I explained who I was and why I was calling. I asked if she could call back and give me instruction. May I see a show of hands out there of the people who think she actually called back?? Anyone...hello? No? I decided to email her as well. Keep your hands down. That didn't get returned either. At 7:30 last night, I decided to text this agent. It was the only electronic medium left for me to pursue. At 8:04, I got a text back...Yiipeeeeeeeee!!Whooooo-hooooooo!!! She's Aliiiiveeeeeeeeeeee!! The message read:

" I'm sorry. I've been so busy today. We've had tons of offers on that property. I thought that was already on hold". I kid you not. If this were an isolated case, my Irish wouldn't have gotten up so much. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Literally more often than not, REO/Short Sale listing agents are very,very long on excuses and very, very short on professionalism.

Southern California is seeing steady, month over month gains in housing appreciation. If you enjoy reading that as much as I do, I'll write it again, just so you don't have to go back.

Southern California is seeing steady, month over month gains in housing appreciation.

  What is even more impressive is that these gains were realized in what has historically been two of the worst months for sales, November and December. The link below is from today's Los Angeles Times. Positive headlines are incrementally, but steadily showing up more and more. Keep your head's up. You just might see the price of your home doing the same thing.

  Southern California housing market strengthens in December - latimes.com

How many of you have been out house hunting and seen some bank owned properties that look like this:

They are usually the ones that the "creative" REO agent describes with terms like " Needs a little TLC" or "Handyman's Delight". In reality, the description should be "Bring your own hand sanitizer. This ones a dump".

The problem is that if an investor buys that lil gem,fixes it up and sell it, he's labeled as a "flipper".  In today's market that's equivalent to sporting a scarlet letter A from years past. The punishment for such a heinous act is that, as a flipper, you aren't allowed to re-sell that renewed, improved property for 90 days. If your reaction is ...HUUUHHHHHHH???... you're not alone.Luckily, FHA has come to its senses..well at least on this point. Starting 2/1/2010, and with a couple of minor exceptions, a flipper can buy, fix up, and re-sell that property to you immediately. If you qualify, you can get an FHA loan to buy it. So instead of needing some "elbow grease" on the above property, you can now put an offer in on something like this:

Several months ago when it originally came to light,I addressed this problem in a previous blog post:

Why We Need More Investors In This Market    

In a surprising move, The Federal Reserve of New York has apparently hired all forward thinking rocket scientists currently available in the U.S. Further proof of this was an article appearing in today's Wall Street Journal. To the shock of the banking world, home loan modifications are actually more successful when a permanent solution like...ohhh, I don't know...balance reduction is granted.

I know what you're thinking, "God, it must surely take those of superior intellect to come up with a solution we mere mortals couldn't !" Below is the article that backs up my Rocket Scientist proof:

http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2010/01/04/ny-fed-most-successful-mortgage-modifications-reduce-borrowers-principal/

Call me traditional(it sounds a lot better old-fashioned), but I don't get the generic, 'Merry Christmas...Hope The Season Brings You Great Joy", mass texed ( what IS the past tense of "text" anyway) messages. Other than an 800 number that would follow, there's not much difference between that and the company trying to sell me stock tips, siding, or the hot short sale property the out of area agent just listed.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate a simple card, call or email. 'Even if the card is just signed. At least I know the sender put a moment's effort into signing it. But much like the "family update-brag about my fudge receipe-isn't our new dog cute" newsletter insert, I find  the text thing kind of annoying.

...Personally, the answers are "Could Be" and "Like A Mosquito Bite In the Middle of My Back"

TARP profit at least $16 bln so far: Treasury - MarketWatch

 Don't look now, but TARP ( Troubled Asset Relief Program) is getting re-paid, and may actually turn a profit! Before I go any further, let me give my normal disclaimer here: I am not a bleeding heart liberal, nor did I vote for Obama. BUT, I am also not a Limbaugh-Palin-Beck, arch-conservative either. I happen to think good ideas can come from either side of the aisle. Blasphemy, huh? As it remains to this day, TARP has been pilloried in large part because the guy in office lights up the blue states on that annoying CNN Expando-Map. God, I hate that thing! But that's a blog for a different time. The premise of TARP is distasteful. But I think far less so than an entire financial & economic meltdown. Big banks are still big, and their CEO's are still getting bonuses. However, I haven't noticed any soup lines popping up either. And TARP is actually making money. If you are one that despises anything to do with the Obama administration just because...well, he's Obama, I'd love your input on this.