I know many folks think that Jack London is a man's author. There are probably far fewer women who cozy to his words. I am one that does!
From the first time I picked up a Jack London book, I was hooked. Visions invoked from his artfully crafted words came to life. "The Call of the Wild" - "White Fang" - "The Sea Wolf" - They grabbed my imagination and wouldn't easily let go.
Friday evening, I fell asleep thinking a little about his wanderings in life, especially along the Valley of the Moon - in beautiful California Wine Country.
I woke early Saturday morning - Napa Sonoma Wine Country, and its Valley of the Moon, needed a visitor.
Heading north and west from Sacramento approximately 60 miles, found me arriving at the threshold of London's footsteps. Napa, Sonoma, St. Helena and Calistoga, a perfect place to photo capture the color of the autumn leaves, and to treasure away a few special bottles of wine, for Thanksgiving dinner.
It is amazing how fall gifts Wine Country this time of year - the spectacular colors, smells, and crisp autumn air, create a dalliance of delicacy to pamper the senses.
Thinking of Wine Country immediately creates visions of glasses filled with the fine wines nurtured better in Napa Valley than most any place on earth. Cabernet Sauvignon, Gamay Beaujolais, Pinot Noir, Merlot - What are your favorites?
But Wine Country has other delights! In Calistoga, Doc Wilkinson's Spa, is famous for its mud baths and other spa treatments; or you can simply marinate your frazzled soul in the warm mineral pools. A special wine country weekend can take in a day of wine tasting, a stroll through the villages, a nice Italian dinner, and then off to a good night of sleep. Begin day two by finding your way to the mud baths, a spa or the mineral pools. By second day's end, you will be ready to face life's realities once again.
After leaving the Domaine Carneros Winery known for their sparkling wines, and its palatial location at the top of a magnificent Napa Valley hill, I traveled further along the road to Beringer Vineyards, next to the celebrated Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. The Culinary Institute offers classes for culinary arts as well as for wine enthusiasts. Charles Krug Winery is well placed across the road - helping make St. Helena, a powerhouse of Napa Valley wineries, and vintner mastery devoted to the grape.
Once finished with the shopping of wines, I drove to another area of the valley. Calistoga boasts its own "Old Faithful" Geyser. Not unlike its counterpart in Yellowstone, this "Old Faithful" periodically bursts a natural fountain, on a less than predictable schedule, averaging about every 40 minutes.
Along the road to the geyser, a slight breeze caused the colors, yellow, gold, orange, red, purple, brown and green to perform a tango on the vines without intermission.
Several Jack London quotes came to mind Saturday and applied to circumstance. They are as follows:
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but sometimes, playing a poor hand well.
One cannot violate the promptings of one's nature without having that nature recoil upon itself.
There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond, which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive.
You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.
I was in California's Wine Country yesterday. This morning I was going to present a slide show and narrative. However, in keeping with the Speechless Sunday theme, I'll keep it brief. This will also allow me more time to work with the images from my camera. I will be posting the photos and story tomorrow for the ActiveRain Photo Blogger Group. So stay tuned!
I take pictures for the purpose of remembering fond times. I do not impose copyright restrictions on this photo, so you may feel free to use, or distribute as you wish. However, should you need a Real Estate Professional in the Greater Sacramento area, I hope that you will contact me by email or by visiting my website www.myrljeffcoat.com - Thank You!
Jennifer Sarandow Schultz via The New York Times has provided a great article on the unfolding issues with imported Chinese drywall. Some clues that may help you determine whether you have a home with Chinese drywall, with higher levels of certain chemicals than domestic version are as follows. But first contact your home's builder, who may be able to immediately answer the question for you.
A sulfuric or rotten egg smell.
Corrosion (or blackening) of metal items like bathroom fixtures.
Health problems like itchiness, difficulties breathing and headaches.
On the Product Safety Commission website, there are images of what corrosion from faulty drywall products can look like. They also have a Q&A on the subject within its broader drywall information center.
Occasionally, the phone will ring, and I'll pick up to hear dreaded words on the other end of the line. It was no different yesterday morning.
The voice belonged to a seller I had as a client a few years back. His home had sold, and he had successfully made his corporate move. However, he is currently hoping to retire and move back to Sacramento.
The dreaded words tumbled from his lips, "Myrl, I really want to get a good deal, and I think that will be a "short-sale." The first questions back to Bob (not his real name - which is changed it to protect the guilty and even the innocent), "Bob, have you become anymore patient and handy than you were when I saw you last?"
"Well no - not really," was his reply!
After working as a Greater Sacramento Area Realtor for the past 28 years, I had wondered what it was about the current market, which had me, less than exuberant about working with eager buyers waiting to swoop up those apparent bargain priced distressed short-sale properties that have flooded the market these days.
Then I realized what it was. For all the hype promoting short-sales or bank repos, I realized much of the process ran counter to what I had been working toward in assisting - and especially protecting home buyers these past decades.
To provide an example - At the beginning of my career in 1981, real estate professionals often used a one-page contract to draw up an offer. There were generally NO disclosures.
However, over the years, the evolutionary trend became increasingly and rightfully, a slow steady effort to enlighten, inform, and especially protect the home buying consumer from financial harm when it came to making one of their largest monetary investments, if not the largest.
We began to see disclosures from the seller about known defects of the home. There were other standard disclosures about lead-based paint, flood plains, earthquake hazards, and other disclosures, in addition to suggested inspections, etc. The ole one page contract soon went to four pages, later to 10 pages, and now beyond that. Much of this activity dealt with informing and disclosing to the client.
Although in 1981 termite inspections and an occasional roof inspection occurred, we really hadn't seen any home Inspections and the multitude of other available inspections now available. But, these too became mainly part of the norm as years passed by.
From the beginning, I thought the more disclosures during a home sale, the better - Knowledge is power.
Fast forward to today's world of real estate sales, where in the Greater Sacramento area, the vast majority of home sales are either "short-sales" - or bank owned properties with little or no disclosures.
Add to this, that the "short-sale" homes, especially in the entry-level price range, often receive multiple offers creating a competitive feeding frenzy among homebuyers. This frenzy can create conditions that have buyers making snap decisions counter to their best interests.
It is not uncommon for the short-sale listing agent to send over a counter offer or addendum, stating that your deposit is non-refundable for periods of 60 to 120 days. It is important to understand that the sales agreement is between the Buyer and the Seller. BUT, there is a very important third party involved in a short sale, and that party - the existing lender(s) holds the lion's share of power in a short-sale transaction. The bank is provided the offer(s) only after the buyer and seller have reached a certain level of agreement; but EVERYTHING is subject to Bank Approval. Banks are often notorious for not making decisions on a "short-sale" quickly - and they can be fickle.
It is quite possible your non-refundable deposit is nothing more than a lottery ticket on purchasing a "maybe" rather than a house.
Couple that with the fact some short-sale seller agents require the buyer agent to agree in writing that they will not show the buyer any other homes that are currently on the market, or come to the market. If the bank ultimately bails, you could have spent weeks, and months while losing out on other homes being marketed.
Here's another wrinkle that can put buyer dollars at risk. While you "think" you may have purchased a house which may turn out to only be a "maybe" sale, you could be advancing dollars for a number of inspections to make certain your potential investment is sound. Because the clock is generally ticking on time-frames contractually set to perform and approve inspections and their findings, buyers are often required to make decisions regarding these inspections swiftly with not much time for thought.
These are dollars that can easily be lost should the Bank shakeout and scuttle your transaction. There have been cases where agreed upon "short-sales" have ended up at the auction block in the middle of what was thought to be a secure short-sale escrow. An alert agent can retrieve some of these transactions; but some transactions are not saved!
There have been a few really wonderful home sales that I have assisted buyers with in the last few years. The best experiences come after I have been wandering through vacant homes requiring much needed repair, with a buyer possessing little skills in rehabbing homes. It is a joy to then take them into a new home development, where everything is new, includes a new home warranty, and usually cash incentives that can be used for upgrades for carpets and other amenities in the home.
There are a few great builders in the Greater Sacramento area, who cooperate with me fully, and are a joy to work with. I appreciate what is told to the buyer during the home buying experience with the builder turns out to be concrete, straightforward and true. And the games often played during a "short-sale" are not present.
However, if you are one of those souls who feel life begins with "short-sales" I know a great "short sale" specialist in the Sacramento region, who makes blood sport out of that type of real estate transaction. I will be happy to refer you to that agent.
So the next question to Bob was, "Do you want to shoot craps, or do you really want to buy a house?"
Last year I was able to cross off an important entry to my "Bucket List." It was the dream of visiting Amish Country in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and going on a buggy ride. The vision of such a journey had been with me for a decade or more.
A lull in family activities and business presented a perfect opportunity for me to jump on a plane, fly to Philadelphia, rent a car and make the drive out to where I could fulfill this dream.
I rose early on a Monday morning, drove from my hotel in Lancaster City, out to the Amish farm country, a few miles away. It wasn't long as I traveled along the road that I saw a little wooden sign that simply said, "Abe's Buggy Rides" nailed to a tree in front of a delightful looking house in the village of "Bird In Hand".
Hansie was the most delightful Amish buggy driver I could have hired that day. About half way through the ride, I asked him if it was ok to take his picture. Many Amish won't allow it. He appeared slightly hesitant, but then quickly agreed, while admonishing that should we approach other Amish, I should always ask to take their picture first.
During the ride, he seemed as curious about me, as I was about him, his family, his way of life. He could not believe I traveled alone, all the way from California to take a buggy ride. "Where are you from," he asked. When I responded, California, I quickly learned that he meant my ethnicity. I explained that my people were in this country in the early 1600s, and were Dutch. . .and hesitantly, I told him English too! The Amish are very distrusting of the English - but all "outsiders" are considered the English!
I don't really know how to explain to outsiders that in Lancaster County, there are curious names for their townships; "Bird In Hand" - "Intercourse" - "Virgintown" and "Blue Ball" . . . but I don't judge:-)
It was beautiful springtime weather, and even Daffy, the horse was enjoying the day! As we passed beneath the bridge, her steps made delightful music, which echoed from the walls.
I will easily remember that it was a Monday, because Monday is washday in Amish country, and lines of freshly hung laundry blew colorfully in the breeze as a testament to the day's work and accomplishment. When you dwell in a place that has a day of the week for all life's tasks - who would need calendars.
We stopped at a few Amish farms along the way. Nearly all have one cottage industry or another - Quilts, root beer, cheese, furniture, crafts, and one larger farm that had a large fence making enterprise going on.
Although many Amish don't have electrical power in their homes, they may tolerate it in their shops. I was fascinated riding down the roads, seeing power poles at the road, with no lines being connected to the houses along the way. Pennsylvania Power and Light must have a visceral disdain of those folks:-)
In the Amish village at Bird-In-Hand, they have restored the area. And the local Amish crafters and furniture builders, have furnished it. Note the price tags on the various pieces. So, once again the Amish use a simple solution of combining a museum and cottage industry together, allowing the community to flourish a bit with the talents they are so recognized for.
Near the end of the ride, Hansie asked, "Well is it everything you expected?" "No," I replied. . ."I can honestly say that it isn't - it's FAR more."
After I first posted a blog titled "Animated Blogging" last April, I continued over the following months to receive requests asking about the process I use to create the slide shows like the one pictured above. With the advent of the new ActiveRain Photo Blogger group, tools for enhancing blogs for Photo Blogger devotees becomes even more of an interest.
The process I use is rather straight forward and simple to use, when using Paint Shop Pro with it's Animation Shop "wizard" function. The screen captures below will walk you through it.
Open the Paint Shop Pro program. Go to "File," scroll down and select "Run Animation Shop." When Animation Shop comes up, go to "File" and select Animation Wizard. Your first screen will come up which looks like the following. For the animation illustrated at the top of this page, I used photos all of the same size: 640 pixels wide, and a 480 pixels height. After you have input your size dimensions, hit "next."
When I do these animations, I generally select "Transparent" for my background color, and then hit "Next."
The following screen capture demonstrates the way I usually fill in the selections. I then hit "Next."
When reaching the following screen I select "Yes,repeat the animation indefinitely" so that it repeats. I also choose 300/100ths of a second (equates to 3 seconds) for each picture to display. Remember to multiply the number of seconds you wish to display each picture by 100 to get the timing you desire. Then hit "Next."
The following screen will allow you to add the images you wish to have as part of your animation. You select these files from your hard-drive, etc. Once you have selected all desired images, you hit "Next."
When you see the following screen, you are nearing the end of the process. Select "Finish."
Once the Animation Wizard has completed the building of your animation, you will see a series of frames as viewed below.
Once you see your frames as above, you can hit the little button indicated by the red arrow on your tool box. This will allow you to preview your animation.
To save your animation, hit "Save As" and the following screen comes up. I prefer to select "Better Image Quality" and then hit "Next"
After hitting "Next" the program begins the "optimization" process, and when complete provides you with the "optimization" results. I then select "Finish". Paint Shop Pro will save your animation as a "gif" file.
Once the animation file is complete, it will be important to upload the file to a web domain, and not directly upload it to ActiveRain. The reason for this, is that the animation will remain static and not slide from picture to picture otherwise.
When adding the animation file to your ActiveRain blog, click on the "insert picture" button, but rather than the "upload" option, select the URL or web address for the animation file instead.
*Note from Myrl: There are other slide show tools out there that I haven't yet explored myself, but produce wonderful results. I highly recommend that if you have an interest in Photo Blogging or Photo Slide Shows that you join the ActiveRain Photo Blogger group.
If you were to take Jackson Road-Highway 16 out of Sacramento, while traveling mostly east, but a tad south for a half hour or so, you would come upon the delightfully rural community of Sloughhouse.
Although the community is quiet and somewhat small, it does enjoy rich history.
As Sacramentans and other visitors to the area shuffle through Sloughhouse today, they often stop at the Davis Ranch Farmer's Market for ears of corn, which is prized among locals as being the best available. The area is a popular stopping off point for Sacramento County folks hoping for a pleasant drive up the highway further to Gold Rush Country. A few miles beyond Sloughhouse, you can take Highway 49 (the Gold Rush Highway), and travel on through Amador City, Sutter Creek, Jackson, and destinations beyond - making for a delightful day trip.
Sloughhouse is a verdant valley which acts as a floodplain for Deer Creek and the Cosumnes River. Prior to becoming known for its corn growing capacity, its land was mainly tended for the growth of hops. Traveling back in time a generation or so, would have you revisiting the area and finding trellises of hops growing up V shaped wires 20+ feet or so.
Early history records that on a summer evening in 1840, William Daylor, one of John Sutter's cooks became one of the first noted white men to visit the area. Daylor came upon the valley while conducting a search for some of the livestock belonging to his boss.
The area was found populated by Miwok Indians. Daylor later returned to the area with a friend, Jared Dixon Sheldon, who in 1844 acquired a Mexican land grant of approximately 20,000 acres. Sheldon had a reputation for getting along with the Indians.
For more history on the area you can click on the following link: Sloughhouse History
I take pictures for the purpose of remembering fond times. I do not impose copyright restrictions on this photo, so you may feel free to use, or distribute as you wish. However, should you need a Real Estate Professional in the Greater Sacramento area, I hope that you will contact me by email or by visiting my website www.myrljeffcoat.com - Thank You!
I just want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a fun filled Halloween today and this evening.
In the Greater Sacramento area, there are a number of activities, which your family may enjoy to help celebrate the day.
There are several Haunted Attractions in Sacramento, for those of you who feel no Halloween is complete without having the "beejeepers" scared out of you! Some of these attractions are "relatively" kid friendly. They can be accessed via: Haunted Attractions in Sacramento.
There are also area pumpkin patches which offer last minute fun for the whole family to be enjoyed. These are listed at Sacramento Area Pumpkin Patches.
Above all - Stay Safe! Have Fun! and Enjoy the Day!
As far as the current housing market is concerned, every cloud has a silver lining, and the rise in California home foreclosures is no exception - especially if you're hunting for a good deal when purchasing a home.
Investing in foreclosures is no low-risk venture. You often need to act quickly, have ready cash to buy, and may need to earmark money for repairs to make properties sellable.
Here are some distressed home buying strategies:
Identify properties: An important tool in locating distressed or foreclosed homes is to connect with a trusted real estate professional in your area who has access to the MLS and other resources to search for properties meeting your criteria.
Options to buy include:
Short sales: When borrowers are unable to keep current with mortgage payments, some lenders agree to allow the sale of the property for less than the loan balance. Frequently, you can find such deals through real estate professionals representing troubled homeowners.
Auctions: Auctions typically offer the best buys, but the risk to you is greater. You must research liens against the property and decide on your maximum bid price. You're also required to have cash on hand; remember, you're bidding on homes you haven't inspected and competition can be stiff.
REOs: These are properties that have been taken back by banks. You can contact banks' REO or asset management departments to locate properties. Such homes are frequently listed in the multiple listing services, so REALTORS® can assist you with purchase. Unlike at auctions, you'll be able to inspect properties and banks may have made repairs to a home.
More Information regarding foreclosures and distressed properties there are a couple books or publications I can recommend:
(1) Foreclosure Investing for Dummies and (2) The Pre-Foreclosure Property Investor's Kit: How to Make Money Buying Distressed Real Estate--Before the Public Auction.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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