If you or someone you know is thinking about trying to get a mortgage modified be sure to read the linked article.  If someone asks you for a big up front payment to help you modify run the other way.  Seems like there is always someone ready to take advantage of people's troubles.

Read the Article here:

Century 21 M&M and Associates is teaming up this year with News 10 ABC and the Coats for Kids program.  Our goal is to collect 2500 coats for area kids.

If you are in Stanislaus,  or Merced counties call me at 209-633-2839 or email me at JPatton@c21mm.com so I can make arrangements to pick up your coat donations.

Read all about the program at our company blog http://c21mmblog.com/ I look forward to hearing from you. 

Just a short drive of around 2 hours, in the opposite direction of my last destination (Yosemite National Park) is another one of my favorite places, Monterey California. 

This was the view from the window of the bed and breakfast I stayed in the last time I spent the weekend in Monterey.

It's always nice to get away for a day to the coast especially when it's 105° here and its a cool 70° in Monterey. Although I was there last January and it was in the 80's for several days in a row.  That was a great change from the fog we were experiencing in the valley at the time.

Monterey also has the world famous Monterey Bay Aquarium, great restaurants, great golf, Fishermans Wharf, and an Awesome Farmers Market on Tuesdays.

The Awesome and world famous Seven Gables Inn Bed and Breakfast.  Great views , great rooms, wonderfull breakfast.  The afternoon wine reception is fantastic and the evening fresh baked cookies and milk should not be missed.

Monterey has some great beaches for strolling or sunning yourself.  The water is a bit too cold for me to jump into though.  I must be getting old. 

An easy day trip from the Turlock area is Beautiful Yosemite National Park.  In just a couple of hours you can be in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

I usually take my bike with me (or you can rent one there).  Its a great way to see the valley.

One of my favorite times to go is in the spring time when the falls are flowing.  The picture above left is of upper Yosemite falls and above right is Half Dome. 

The picture to the right is of both the upper and lower Yosemite Falls.

Some of the Yosemite locals. 

If you go be sure to make as stop at the Iron Door Saloon in Groveland.  Its a great place to stop for lunch and the place is full of history. 

This is just one of the reasons that I like living in the Turlock area.  Living here you get to experience some world famous places with just a short drive.

Ive been asked the question before, "why would anyone want to live in Turlock?"  While it's true it can get really foggy in the winter and we usually have several days of 100 degree plus heat in the summer I love living in Turlock. 

Turlock has some great schools.  If you want, your kids can start out here in Turlock in Kindgergarten and go all the way to Calfornia State University Stanislaus. 

Turlock has some really great parks too.  You can enjoy a picnic at the very shaded Crane Park or feed the ducks and geese at Donnelly Park. 

When it comes to shopping, Turlock has just about everything you need.  There's really not much reason to head out of town for much of anything, and who really wants to with gas climbing back up to $3 per gallon.

Turlock has a great modern movie theater and if live theater is more your style just a quick drive to the Gallo Center for the Arts is right up the road in Modesto.

Turlock is small enough that just about no matter where you are in town and where you need to go its a quick trip.  You can drive from one side of town to the other in just a few minutes.

Another one of the great things about living here in the Central Valley of California is how close we are to a lot of great things.  In two hours or less you can be in San Francisco, Monterey, Yosemite National Park, Half Moon Bay, Sacramento or many other places.  All these places are easily accessible from Turlock and are close enough for a day trip or a weekend getaway. 

If you would like more information about Turlock, Ca. please feel free to give me a call or send me an email.  I would be happy to tell you about my town.

I haven't updated my blog in a while because I have been out selling houses.  Home sales here in Turlock are really up.  Check out the stats below.

December 2007

39 Sales   Avg Price $268,602  

December 2008

106 Sales   Avg Price $199,063

I have been receiving multiple offers on most of my listings.  Many buyers are first time buyers that last year had no chance of buying.  We are also seeing the investors get back into the market.  Despite all the gloom and doom you hear on TV and read in the Newspaper homes are selling.  I guess not everyone believes all that they read, and that's a good thing. 

Yes homes in Turlock are selling.  Homes all over the area are selling, not just in Turlock.  More and more first time buyers are stepping up and buying. 

This home pictured here I listed on  Friday June 1, 2008.  After being on the MLs for a total of 3 hours I had my first offer.  By Monday morning I had 3 very good offers.  We are now in escrow and the buyers are thrilled.

The statistics from Metrolist MLS prove that homes in Turlock are selling.   In May of 06 48 homes sold and in May of 07 49 homes sold in Turlock.  In May of 08 65 homes sold in Turlock. This had been a trend since February. 

In May of 07 there were 56 homes under contract (pendings) and in May of 08 there were 98 homes under contract.

In May of 07 the average price of the homes sold in Turlock was $344,418.  In May of 08 the average price of the homes sold in Turlock was $242,338.  Lots of people that had no chance of buying a home 2 or 3 years ago are now able to qualify to buy a home.

What's driving the current market and makes all of the headlines are the bank owned homes.  With the large supply of bank owned homes in Turlock the right home for you might just be out there.  Many of the bank owned homes that are priced right and are in good condition are only lasting a few days on the market and are getting multiple offers. 

Click on this link to search for homes in Turlock .  If you have been thinking about buying your first home or first investment home or any other home in Turlock Ca , now just might be the time for you to do it.

Good luck in your search!

Heres an idea for a closing gift or something you may want for yourself.  Check out this website www.birdhousebydesign.com to see these custom made birdhouses.  You just send in some digital pictures of your home or a home your client just bought and the master craftsman makes a replica birdhouse for you.

House # 1   

Birdhouse #1

House #2    

Birdhouse #2

Be sure to check out the website so you can see the detail that goes into these works of art.  www.birdhousebydesign.com 

In the interest of full disclosure the master craftsman is my brother and, no I am not compensated for this promotion of his product.  Thanks for looking.

Here's probably something you have not read in the paper or saw on the TV news.  Homes are selling in Turlock CA!  Here are some facts:

Pendings:   March 07 -  55            April 07 -  45

Pendings:   March 08 -  77            April 08 -  79

Sold:   March 07 -  51          April 07 -   48

Sold:   March 08 -  77          April 08 -  47

While the sales havent seen a huge increase the number of homes under contract has.  These are homes that will probably close in May or even June. 

Another big difference is the amount of months supply of homes on the market in Turlock.  In April 07 there was a 12 month supply of homes on the market and now in April of 08 it is down to 4.6 months.  The homes that are really starting to sell are the ones that first time buyers can now afford, the ones they couldn't qualify for 2 years ago.  There are a lot of well priced , clean homes out there now.  If you want to search for homes for sale in Turlock go to http://jpattonhomes.com/Turlock_CA_homes_for_sale.shtml .

The Oakland A's had a cool promotion on Thursday  (May 1,2008) night.  The game was in Anaheim against the California, Los Angles, So Cal, Disneyland, Angels of Anaheim.  For every hit the A's got that night the ticket price for a select group of seats at Sundays game against the Rangers would drop one dollar.

So what did the A's do?   They proceeded to go out and rack up 20 hits.  So  those $24 dollar second deck tickets were now $4.  With ticket prices that low I could probably afford a second beer at the game.   So a few minutes after the game ended I got on the A's website and tried to purchase some of those tickets.   Well as you might guess it was pretty much impossible to get through to purchase the tickets.  I tried for about a half hour and kept getting the server is busy try again later message.

I tried again Friday morning but the seats they were offering by then were way out in center field.  On Friday nights broadcast of the game , Ray Fosse talked about what had happened with the tickets.  The A's had set aside 2500 seats for the promotion, never thinking in thier wildest dreams in a game against the Angels they would get 20 hits.  Those first 2500 seats sold out in 20 minutes.  They released two more sections of seats and ended up selling a total of 7300 seats at the $4 price.

I dont know if Oakland is the first team to do this or not, has anyone else heard of a team doing that?  If not , I suspect that you may see this promotion coming to a team near you.