Murrieta Prop's C, D & E. VOTE NO! - 09/29/10 01:24 PM
If you live in Murrieta, in addition to a slate of candidates for City Council you will find 3 ballot measures on your card - Propositions C, D & E. As always, I encourage you to get all the facts and make up your own mind - but if you'd like a little help deciding what to do on these three - VOTE NO!
Measure C is a term limit proposal that would limit council members to two consecutive terms, then they'd have to take 2 years off before being eligible to run again. It's a solution in search of a … (0 comments)

Southwest California Legislative Council stakes positions on November Ballot Props - 09/20/10 08:15 PM
As you are aware, the California Association of Realtors does not take positions on ballot propositions that are not real estate related. On the November 2 ballot are a plethora of propositions but none that are deemed RE Related - so no official CAR position statements.

However, if you are curious, the Southwest California Legislative Council, a business advocacy group composed of business & civic leaders from the Temecula, Murrieta, Lake Elsinore & Wildomar Chambers of Commerce (and of which SRCAR is a founding partner), has considered each propositions during the past few months and has published the following positions:
… (0 comments)

August Housing Statistics for Southwest California - 09/20/10 01:53 PM
Here are the monthly numbers for the Temecula Valley, Murrieta, Menifee, Lake Elsinore, Canyon Lake & Wildomar. This months report includes recent comments on our market from economist Dr. John Husing on employment and housing trends he sees for the region. I've also included current foreclosure information from ForeclosureRadar.com for each of the 6 cities. The foreclosure data on this report is for Murrieta only - if you want to see the info for the other cities, follow this link back to SlideShare and pick the city you are curious about.
 
9 City Rept Murrieta View more documents from Southwest … (0 comments)

Whose money buys CA Governors race? - 09/17/10 02:22 PM
'Progressives' in California are calling into question Gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman's massive spending on behalf of her own candidacy. As of yesterday she surpassed New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg in all-time spending racking up over $119 million - mostly of her own money.
Liberals, trying to rally support for Moonbeam Brown, have tried to  portray her spending in a bad light - she's just trying to buy the election.
Well, apparently she can afford it, she has a helluva business record that obtained it for her and she believes she has the best plan to right the many wrongs of … (16 comments)

City Manager Panel welcomes us to our new Realtor home. - 09/14/10 08:43 PM
Yesterday our Association held our inaugural event in our brand new home. We closed escrow back in March and have been doing the TI's  since then  and completed our move just last week. There's still a couple areas under construction and we'll bring you more photos when we're all done.
But timing presented a terrific opportunity for our association to acquire a new facility, to own our own home free and clear and have a great place for our members to meet, to learn and to shop. As I tell folks, it's always a good market for somebody and in this … (1 comments)

Reverse Mortgage - Know What You're Signing. And to whom. - 09/13/10 08:58 PM
My wife and I were having dinner with her mother yesterday. Her mom's getting up in years and still lives in the big family home on an acre and has seen some decent appreciation even considering the recent bust.
Over dinner she asked if I knew anything about reverse mortgages? I told her I know 2 things about reverse mortgages -
For the right person a legitimate reverse mortgage can be a wonderful thng.
They are currently the most prevalent form of real estate fraud being perpetrated on elderly people.
Now Jan has had a reverse mortgage for 16 … (4 comments)

Have a Drink - it's the weekend. - 09/10/10 06:11 PM
Well Friends,  it's looking like another hot, dry weekend in Southern California. So I  headed out to my local emporium to pick up a few frosty beverages and ran across a few I probably won't bring home. 


I decided to avoid what has to be one of the most useless drinks on the aisle.




 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Then there's a whole 'sweat' genre of drinks that might be good mixers - but not for me. 

There's a variety of food based drinks that sound.... not good.
 
 
 

… (9 comments)

Banks 'Right of Offset' is not right for you. - 09/10/10 05:21 PM
 
If you missed my post a couple weeks back on your bank’s right of offset – you should be aware that if you have your checking account, auto loan and/or mortgage at the same bank and you get delinquent on one of your loans, the bank can step in an take the money from your checking account to meet the delinquency. It’s called the ‘Right of Offset’ and they don’t even have to let you know they’re going to do it or that they even did it. You won’t know until your other checks start to bounce. This can be … (0 comments)

Title Compliance Office - Homeowner FRAUD Alert - 09/09/10 06:01 PM
I posted an article about the Title Compliance Office Scam back in April. It currently sits at #2 on Google thanks to ActiveRain. But what's even better news is the responses I continue to get from people who have read it and avoided getting scammed. Not only did they save $167 but they avoided sending a copy of their signature in to scamsters who would proceed to do who knows what with it.
So to make it even easier, I've put a warning notice up on YouTube describing the problem. It's not just Riverside County, where I live, but people have … (2 comments)

California Legislative Summit features Walters, Vranich & Wunderlich. - 09/09/10 01:52 PM
On October 5th the Temecula Valley Chamber of Commerce together with the Southwest California Legislative Council will present the 2010 Legislative Summit - 'Reclaiming California'. As usual, the event promises to sell out the Pechanga Ballroom as we examine the issues confronting California today. I will be moderating the event and our focus will be on water & other natural resources, job creation and retention, environmental regulations & restrictions and growth vs. decline. 
I will be joined on stage by Dan Walters, long-time political columnist for the Sacramento Bee. Dan has spent more than 40 years in the newspaper business and … (0 comments)

New 'Short Refinance Program'. A Bigger Leaker Than HAFA, HAMP, TARP? - 09/07/10 06:18 PM
The news media has been brimming with one Obamannoucement after another the past few days. Apparently after dodging the issue the people are most concerned about thus far, it has finally dawned on him just before election day that it's all about the 'JOBS'. Faced with the very real prospect of losing both the House AND the Senate, Barry has decided it's time to 'deal with the issues'. As his party stalwarts will tell him, a day late and a trillion sort.
So we get another BIG announcement tomorrow of the new 'short refinance program', dubbed 'the most ambitious effort yet … (4 comments)

31634 Loma Linda Road - Standard Sale in Temecula - 09/04/10 12:52 PM
Tired of sort sales that are anything but?
Had it with bidding wars over REO's that need a ton of work?
Here's the solution - a STANDARD SALE home. You remember those? A pride-of-ownership property with real people living there, keeping the lawn alive, who can respond to your offer in minutes rather than months.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Then don't miss an opportunity on this turnkey home located right outside Redhawk on the southern edge of Temecula. Convenient to the freeway and close to award winning schools, shopping, parks, golf plus fine dining & entertainment at the … (2 comments)

Realtors. Are Your Rich? Joe Biden Thinks So. - 09/03/10 04:21 PM
Are you rich? I suspect the answer from most of us, especially given the events of the past couple years, would be a resounding "NO". Most of us might even take that up a notch to "HELL NO".
But if this administration allows some or all of the current tax cuts to expire at the end of this year, you might be surprised. For  example, according to the most recent NAR statistics, the median income for a licensed broker/broker associate in 2010 was $49,100. Does making just under $50k a year qualify you as rich? Well if the tax cuts … (13 comments)

Right of Offset..Yet Another Trick Up The Lenders Sleeve - 09/02/10 03:32 PM
Bob only got 52 comments on this post. EVERY Realtor in the country should be aware of this and make your clients aware. I always used to recommend that my Buyers start with their own bank for a loan first due to the relationship etc. etc. In hindsight that may not have been the best advice. Fortunately most of my clients ignore me anyway.
Via Bob Hertzog (Summit Home Consultants):
Right of Offset..Yet Another Trick Up The Lenders Sleeve
Folks, this is scary stuff.  Yesterday, I received a call from one of my clients, telling me that her bank recently withdrew money out … (6 comments)

The Santa Rosa Plateau Fire - 9/1/10. - 09/02/10 03:12 PM
Driving home yesterday afternoon I spotted a plume of smoke boiling out of the hills above Murrieta. It's that season and when it's in your back yard it's always scary. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A few months back there was a fire on the hill directly across from my home. Two weeks ago a fire burned up the hillside at the end of the street from my home. The fire yesterday was a few miles away but still awesomely visible from my backyard. 

Yesterdays fire … (3 comments)

Dancing with the (local) stars for a good cause. Watch me Rhumba! - 09/02/10 02:08 PM
When they asked me to do it I thought they were joking. "Have you ever seen me dance" I asked? Because that's something I rarely do and people who have seen me still snicker openly decades after the spectacle. My own children brutally mimic me to the delight of complete strangers. If you've ever seen Elaine dance on Seinfeld - you get the picture. Except I'm 6'2", 275 and have two left feet - both size 13. 
But the cause was right so when the local YMCA approached me for a 'Dancing with the Stars' event to celebrate their 10th anniversary … (0 comments)