Israel's Big Bear Blog

I woke up this morning, looked over at my beautiful wife and daughter, and took a moment to just appreciate how very lucky I am to live in Big Bear. As I was thinking, it struck me how quiet it was. I didn't hear any traffic, noisy neighbors, or anything else to spoil my tranquility. As much as I...

On March 18th at 7:36 in the morning,my life changed forever. My wife and I were blessed with our first child. Keely Irene Barden came into this world, and immediately took over my whole life. Despite having nine months to get prepared, I was anything but. Until you have to stay up all night with...

Earlier today, my coworker Joe was looking at RealtyTrac  and commented on the difference between the number of REO's listed on the site and the number actually listed on our MLS. Typically, it takes a little while for the homes to show up on the MLS after they are foreclosed on. We talked about ...

"He is strong! If I die, I have to go before him, and he will ask me, 'What is the riddle of steel?' If I don't know it, he will cast me out of Valhalla and laugh at me." ... "That's Crom, strong on his mountain." ~Conan the BarbarianMy favorite movie of all time, Conan The Barbarian, was on tele...

On every deal I have done over the past year or so, the same thing keeps coming up over and over again . The agent representing the seller is unwilling or unable to provide a signed FIRPTA form properly filled out with the sellers social security number. Even though it is agreed to in The Purchas...

SHORT SALES IN BIG BEARThese days it seems like interest in REO's (bank owned properties) has gone through the roof. Every other client I get wants to know everything they can about which bank owned properties are on the market and what kind of a deal they can get for them. When I tell them that ...

If you were to ask most visitors to Big Bear Lake the reason for their visit, you would in all likelihood hear something along the lines of "Just getting away from it all".  With the two best ski resorts in Southern California and a beautiful lake, Big Bear offers all that and more. What many fol...

Dealing with Short Sales can be so frustrating. My clients made an offer around three months ago, on a short sale property here in Big Bear. We knew it was going to take the bank some time to accept or reject our offer, but three months? Then, when they finally gave us their acceptance, they dema...

Today, at our weekly meeting, our Broker asked us what inspired actions we were going to take to make March a great month for us. I thought about what my answer would be. All kinds of ideas were bouncing back and forth in my head, when I realized, it all boils down to one thing. I am going to out...