DISNEYLAND Fireworks Every Night - 06/26/08 11:52 PM
Disneyland Fireworks can be heard nightly here in Southern California.  That's a good thing and helps us be taken away in our thoughts of fun and interesting times with family and friends.


My wife Christi and I live at our home in the Turtle Rock area of Irvine, South Orange County, California, about 15 miles south of Anaheim and Disneyland.
It's a beautiful time of year here.  We experience some of the best weather in the world with warm sunshine during summer days and ocean breezes at night. 
While writing a note here at my desk at home, I feel a bit of the pacific ocean … (3 comments)

Get Over the 'NIMBY" Attitude When It Comes to Our Need For More Fuel and Energy - 06/25/08 12:44 AM
A primary challenge for us in business here in California and the US is high gas and fuel prices.HERE IS AN IDEA TO IMPROVE THINGS FOR BUSINESS AND REAL ESTATE.Jonathan Lanser at the Orange County Register says that people need to temper their "NIMBY" (not in my back yard) attitudes. We agree.Our need for plentiful and cheaper fuel and energy is clear. However, many folks object to it being produced in their home towns and back yards.Industry here in the U.S. can build clean, efficient plants that produce and transport fuel and energy. It's OK to have them near your town … (2 comments)

It's Good For Real Estate that FHA Suspended its 90-day Rule Against Flipping - 06/19/08 10:03 AM
Foreclosed and abandoned homes harm neighborhoods and delay a community's recovery.WE'RE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING GOOD TO HAPPEN IN REAL ESTATE.
In order to help facilities sale of bank-owned properties, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has temporarily suspended its 90-day rule against flipping of properties. Under that anti-flipping rule, the FHA does not insure a mortgage loan if the sales contract is executed within 90 days of the seller's acquisition of the property. Effective June 9, 2008, the anti-flipping rule has been waived for one year for properties acquired by lenders, their subsidiaries, and their outside vendors.
The FHA still requires homes … (1 comments)

Let's Increase Drilling and the Supply of US Domestic Oil and Get Price at the Pump Down - 06/16/08 11:20 PM
All Business people (including Realtors and brokers) must recognize that we have a serious problem in the US with the price of oil and gas at the pump.The Democrats in US Congress are keeping us from exploring and drilling for domestic oil. And they are helping to limit our domestic supply.The U.S. House and its appropriations committee (lead by Democrats) refused during the week of June 11, 2008, to lift the ban on oil exploration on the outer continental shelf (at least 50 miles from American shores).We need to get more domestic oil. We need to increase US oil production and … (9 comments)

U.S. Congress Should Work To Improve Our Domestic Oil Supply & Get Decreased Prices at the Gas Pump - 06/12/08 07:13 PM
THE GASOLINE PRICE AT THE PUMP CRUNCH is rough for all of us.
Supply has not kept pace with demand, and so prices rise. Many of steps taken in the U.S. for reduction of demand are being negated by increased demands for oil in foreign countries including India and China. The best step we can take to decrease prices is to INCREASE SUPPLIES of oil here in the U.S.U.S. Congress and Senate (both controlled by Democrats) has instead proposed legislation that would allow the U.S. to sue OPEC for suppressing oil production. What?We criticize other countries for curbing their oil production, … (1 comments)

McCain & Obama as U.S. Presidential Candidates Different Positions on Housing and the Economy - 06/10/08 07:01 PM
John McCain and Barak Obama, the two U.S. Presidential candidates for election 2008 have different approaches to housing and economic issues.
Senator John McCain:
1. Proposes to spend up to $10 billion to allow some home owners to trade high-interest, adjustable-rate mortgages for fixed-rate loans.That sounds good. 2. Proposes a suspension of the 18.4-cent federal gas tax and 24.4-cent diesel tax during the summer. That sounds good too. 3. Supports a middle-class tax cut by doubling the personal tax exemption for dependents to $7,000. This also will be good.4. Calls for a simpler tax system with two tax rates and a … (11 comments)

California Sales Tax Should Not Be Expanded to Include That For Services - 06/10/08 09:58 AM
The State of California and legislature and Board of Equalization is considering sales tax expansion to include that on services, such as fees for real estate agents, physicians, dentists, lawyers, accountants, architects, gardeners, landscapers, babysitters, and so many others.There is an obscure rule of the Board of Equalization, the state's tax collecting agency, that would allow such consideration. This elected board is itself governed by 3 Democrats and 2 Republicans. We recognize that the state of California is in financial trouble with estimated budget deficit of $17 billion. The state should focus on reducing its mammoth payroll and pension obligations, stop giving … (0 comments)

Challenges for Real Estate Investors In This Declining Home Value Market - 06/06/08 09:50 AM
Some losers in this residential real estate declining market are buyers of second homes, investors who are now involved with income tax debt challenge. Some of these people will lose their properties through short sale or foreclosure and make it to bankruptcy under the weight of a income tax bill. While U.S. Congress has granted some tax relief to people who lose their primary homes, there is no such aid for investors who fall behind on payments on 2nd homes.If a person buys an investment home, and it they are unable to make payments and forced to short sale that property, … (5 comments)

NAR Approves New Model Rules For MLS About "Short Sales" - 06/05/08 12:31 PM
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) board of directors has recently adopted new policy for disclosure of short sale listings in a multiple listing service. The NAR directors "approved new model rules for Multiple Listing Services (MLSs) that would enable practitioners to alert one another to potential short sales and put them on notice about the sharing of any reduction in gross listing commission required by a lender. MLSs are given the authority to decide whether or not their participants have to disclose reasonablyknown short sales." All MLSs must provide their members with the means to disclose that a given listing … (3 comments)

What Does the NAR v. DOJ Case Settlement Mean? - 06/04/08 01:03 AM
The U.S. Lawsuit vs. the National Association of Realtors Online Listing Policy Is Being Settled as of May 27, 2008, which calls for the adoption of a new online listings policy. Source: settlement proposal (United States v. National Association of Realtors, May 27, 2008)The lawsuit had challenged the NAR policies governing the online sharing and display of property listings, including Virtual Office Web site (VOW) and Internet Listings Display (ILD) policies.The biggest win for NAR was the DOJ's concession that MLS members must be actively engaged in real estate transactions, which is defined broadly include brokers who make an effort to … (2 comments)

An Old Fashioned Way of Determining Value of a Home - 06/02/08 01:42 AM
Value of housing has many variants.  The value of a certain home is determined by lots of factors specific to that property.  It's difficult to asign economic value to each of these factors.  This is especially true when buyers and sellers do not not have complete information about each factor. Some web sites (like S&P and Case-Shiller) use mathematical weighting formulas to come up with opinion on home value.However, these sites don't consider whether buyers have actually seen or previewed the houses and the neighborhoods.  These sites and indexes are incapable to accurately determine economic value or price of a home. Lenders don't … (6 comments)

 
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Harrison K. Long, business, REALTOR®, GRI, Broker

Harrison K. Long

Irvine, CA

More about me…

Coldwell Banker Previews, Irvine, South OC

Address: 6833 Quail Hill Parkway, Irvine, CA, 92603

Office Phone: (949) 854-7747

Cell Phone: (949) 701-2515

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