NAR Pres-elect Moe Veissi Talks Turkey - 01/31/11 03:48 PM
Take-aways from our recent California Association of Realtors Mid-winter meetings.
From NAR President-elect Moe Veissi -
Six of the past eight recessions have ended due to increasing strength in the housing market. The other two were due to wars. That seems like an easy choice. We need to get behind housing. This battle against housing is counterproductive and the attack on the mortgage interest deduction is an attack on one of the basic foundations of the American Dream.
Similarly we should seek to preserve the basics of the GSE's.They can certainly be improved upon but their services are vital to home … (16 comments)

Sunday Funny - SEGA Introduces Urinal Games - 01/30/11 03:17 PM
In yet another sign of the end times, it was reported today that the SEGA video game company, (remember SEGA!), is introducing a new product onto the market called Toylets. Yep, that's right. They mount sensors in the basin and put a video screen at eye level for a series of games based on strength and accuracy of stream.
Among the first games to be introduced...
Mannekin Pis - where you simply measure how strong your stream is. You can log this accomplishment and try again next time.
Sumo Wrestling - where the goal is to squirt your opponent out of … (7 comments)

Murrieta Men Agree to Prison in Fraud Case - 01/26/11 11:11 AM
Murrieta men agree to prison in fraud case
The headline was exciting yesterday when news of our long-time resident scam artists started to trickle out. The authors of a $142 million dollar ponzi scheme & investment fraud have been in jail awaiting this moment for the past 1 1/2 years and now start to look forward to doing the rest of their time.
Long-time readers will be familiar with the Stonewood case, wherein these perpetrators enticed hundreds of people to invest in real estate. But not just invest - they were talked into buying homes for $100,000 or more … (3 comments)

Jerry Brown Runs True to Form - protects his union buddies, stumps for taxes. - 01/25/11 05:38 PM
The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association just published a report responding to Jerry Brown's budget proposal. If you listened to his speech and read the copy, you'll notice a few items Jerry has omitted from his request for cuts - namely his old buddies in the public employees unions. Oh, there's a chance if he makes good on his threat to cut 10% across the board for state employee salaries there will be some impact to the rank and file of state workers. But no real cuts to personnel, and no cuts to the over staffed committees, commissions and redundant bureaus that plague … (6 comments)

Realtors® Discover Content - Can Control Be Regained? - 01/24/11 06:14 PM
Friday's Wall Street Journal contained an interesting article entitled 'The Airlines Discover 'Content''. 
The article begins, "Air travelers are asked to pay for everything nowadays. So goes a common complaint, though the natural rejoinder is that passengers always paid for everything. Today a traveler who doesn't want a blanket and pillow doesn't have to subsidize those who do. One who travels light doesn't have to subsidize his fellow traveler who can't leave home without the entire contents of his closet."
The article goes on to quote Delta CEO Richard Anderson. "The industry has to evolve to a model of other industries … (5 comments)

Realtors Efforts Could Be Next Wave of Fundraising - 01/23/11 03:49 PM
Great article in the Politico yesterday entitled 'Realtors' effort could be next wave in fundraising' 
A year ago this week, the Supreme Court freed corporate America to fully engage in campaigns, prompting dire predictions that Big Oil, Wal-Mart or even foreign firms would suddenly flood the political marketplace.
That didn’t happen. But at least one industry sector quietly and without controversy became a major player in the 2010 midterms – in a way that some campaign-finance experts believe could be the wave of the future for 2012 and beyond.
The model: the “Realtors’ Party,” the moniker the National Association of Realtors … (2 comments)

Grants & Loans for Homebuyers/Owners in Temecula - 01/21/11 03:00 PM
The City of Temecula has several programs in place to assist your clients, existing homeowners and prospective homeowners. Starting with their First Time Home buyer Program - designed to help people who have not owned a home in the previous 3 years. If you're buying a home but need some repairs to make it move-in ready, check out their Residential Improvement Loan Program. There are also grants available to Seniors to help with repairs for their homes - with no repayment required!
And their newest program is the Residential Energy Efficiency Program. This program is available in amounts up to $15,000 … (5 comments)

Identity Theft - Be Careful what you post and where. - 01/13/11 07:27 PM
SACRAMENTO - A Citrus Heights computer hacker pleaded guilty to seven felony charges for breaking into hundreds of women's e-mail accounts, the sort of identity theft crime that Californians should take steps to protect themselves against, according to Attorney General Kamala D. Harris. "This case highlights the fact that anyone with an e-mail account is vulnerable to identity theft," Attorney General Harris said. "One of the major goals of my office is to track down and prosecute every criminal who would stoop to stealing people's identities." George Samuel Bronk, 23, of Citrus Heights, faces six years in state prison after entering … (5 comments)

Spirit Cleansing - How to move that house that just won't sell. - 01/13/11 05:00 PM
Move over Feng Shue, look out Wabi Sabi,  there's a new process home buyers and sellers are turning to in an effort to make sure a property is livable - spirit cleansing. I kid you not. 
We've always known that some homes appear to be haunted - heck I own a 120 year old home myself that some folks will swear has a spectral resident. There are entire industries that have sprung up around that phenomenon including exorcisms, TV shows and movies. 
But there's a new form of home that's appeared on the market - the house of bad vibes. Apparently what we in … (5 comments)

The Best Picture of the New Year - 01/06/11 01:09 PM

Nuff said.
… (4 comments)

TeamViewer - Great FREE app for mobile computing. - 01/06/11 12:54 PM
A couple weeks ago I took the plunge and picked up an iPad for use in my travels. My current laptop is smaller than my previous laptop which was smaller than my previous laptop which was a whole lot more convenient to pack around to meetings than my old desktop - but the iPad is a whole lot easier and the battery life is even better for long plane rides.
But what to do about the documents I might need when I'm on the road that I have at home? Well, a friend turned me on to Drop Box, an online … (1 comments)