Bargain Home Prices Continue to Attract Sonoma County Buyers During Third Quarter

First-time buyers and investors continued to take advantage of extremely favorable mortgage interest rates, home prices and a large inventory of bank-owned and short-sale single-family detached homes on the market in the urban areas of Sonoma County during the third quarter of 2008, driving a 46 percent increase in homes sold compared with the same period in 2007, according to a report by the research division of Prudential California Realty based on an analysis of MLS data. Home sales leaped a whopping 89 percent year over year in Santa Rosa, 61 percent in Rohnert Park and 36 percent in Petaluma as homebuyers took advantage of a large inventory of bank-owned homes and short sale offerings in the communities along the Highway 101 corridor. At the same time, sales fell by 35 percent in Healdsburg, 29 percent in Sonoma and by 25 percent in Sebastapol, which faced a drop in inventory. Sales also declined in more rural areas of the county, such as Forestville (-57%) and Guerneville (-23%). Overall, the time a home spent on the market prior to sale decreased by 12 days to 74 days as banks became more adept at moving short sale and REO properties and homeowners not motivated to sell in the current market moved to the sidelines. Homes marketed and sold during the third quarter of 2008 generally found stiff competition from aggressively priced bank-owned homes, resulting in an across-the-board decrease in the median price of homes sold in each of the communities included in the report. Cloverdale (-41%) saw the greatest year-over-year price decline, followed by Sonoma (-37%), Forestville (-36%), Rohnert Park (-34%), Santa Rosa (-33%) and Petaluma (-28%). With many foreclosed single-family detached homes now priced in the $200,000 - $250,000 range in many parts of the county, agents are seeing multiple offers on the majority of newly listed REOs. Observers anticipate the Sonoma County real estate market will continue for the foreseeable future to be dominated by efforts by banks to reduce their foreclosure inventory. That should ensure that first-time buyers and investors who can meet tighter lending standards and make substantive down payments will continue to experience extremely favorable buying conditions in most parts of Sonoma County.

The flu season normally runs from December to March, and one of the best ways to prevent the flu is by getting a flu shot.

get a vaccination?Wash your hands - Wash your hands often, or use an instant hand sanitizer. If you are unable to wash your hands, rub them together very hard for a minute or so. This helps break up most of the germs.Don't touch your face - Viruses enter the body through the eyes, nose or mouth.Drink plenty of fluids, especially water - Water flushes your system, getting rid of the poisons as it re-hydrates you.

Typically, adults need 64 ounces of fluid each day - not counting caffeinated or alcoholic beverages.Get fresh air - Regular doses of fresh air are important. Central heating dries you out, making your body more vulnerable to viruses. Also, in cold weather, people spend more time indoors, which means more germs are circulating in crowded dry rooms.

Get regular aerobic exercise - Aerobic exercise speeds up the heart to pump larger amounts of blood, makes you breathe faster, helps transfer oxygen from your lungs to your blood, and makes you sweat once your body heats up. This helps increase the body's natural virus-killing cells.Eat yogurt - Some studies show that eating a daily cup of low-fat yogurt can reduce your susceptibility to colds by 25%.

Researchers think the beneficial bacteria in yogurt may stimulate production of immune system substances that fight disease.Relax! - If you can teach yourself to relax, you can activate your immune system on demand. Evidence shows that when you put your relaxation skills to use, your interleukins - leaders in the immune system's response against viruses - increase in the bloodstream.

late payments. The other 65% is comprised of various other factors, about which people are less informed. The second

largest category is that of available credit balance, which comprises 30% of the score. As an example, if an individual had

$25,000 in credit card debt spread out over 2 credit cards with maximum available limits of $15,000 each, this particular

consumer would be severely penalized because they are using $25,000 of their $30,000 of available debt. If that same

person opened up 3 more credit cards with credit highs of $10,000 each and then spread those balances over the 5 cards

they now own, with a total available credit high of $60,000, that same $25,000 in debt would significantly reduce the penalty

on their credit score. This is why consumers are often advised not to close credit cards, because this could negatively

impact their score. By closing credit cards, the consumer effectively reduces the amount of available credit and increases

the ratio of used credit versus available credit, which is a big no-no.

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