Two Thoughts About Twitter and Relationships from the Royal Wedding - 04/29/11 06:07 PM
I have a confession to make. I woke up at 2 a.m. (Pacific Daylight Time, USA) today and watched the Royal Wedding. (Vows were exchanged about an hour later.) No, I didn't set my alarm clock to ring. And no, I didn't plan it. I just happened to not be able to sleep (no lie), turned on my wife's computer and there it was live streaming ~ Prince Charles and Camilla (Parker Bowles) entering Westminster Abbey. After that came Queen Elizabeth in an all yellow dress. (Quite striking.) And then not too much later came Kate Middleton, the bride to be. … (0 comments)

Mother Lode "Must Reads" for April - 04/28/11 06:39 PM
This blog post is the next in a continuing monthly series where I'll pass on some information of interest that you may not get the opportunity to see otherwise. It won't take long for you to check out the following four articles covering real estate and technology.
Live Mortgage Free By Turning Your House Into a Billboard by Tom Royce on The Real Estate Bloggers website.
Rental Prices Are About to Blast Off by Michael on the California Pacific Brokers website.
Upgrade Your Life: Amazing free software by Jared Spurbeck on the Yahoo!® News site.
Top 5 … (0 comments)

What to Do When You're the "Goat" - 04/26/11 02:08 PM
The screaming line drive was hooking wickedly towards the right field line. There was only time for a quick dive out of my shoes from a crouched and ready position. The ball would hit against the tip of my glove and roll. All the way to the fence.
One run scored. Two runs. Three. Four. An inside-the-park home run! It overcame a 3-run lead and won the softball championship game in the bottom of the seventh with two outs ~ but for the other team.
Ouch.
My initial response? I picked myself up off the ground. I walked … (0 comments)

Great Housing News! (Or Is It?) - 04/20/11 04:40 PM
With the Dow rising and the media falling all over itself you'd think the real estate market had come back from the dead. (No pun intended this Easter week.)
And I guess what I'm really wanting to say here is you can really shape the thinking of people (good or bad) when you "forget" to include some of the facts. (That's a nice way of putting it.)
According to an article on msnbc.com:
Investors drove up U.S. home sales last month (in March), plunking down cash to grab cheap homes at risk of foreclosure.
It continues:
The National Association … (1 comments)

5 Tips that Will Help You "Stick" to Your Budget - 04/19/11 03:22 PM
If there ever was a time to budget, that time is now. (Oh, you're saying, "What's a budget?") A budget is simply a plan. It's a plan on how to spend your money and keep from going broke. (Now you're saying, "Why didn't you tell me this earlier?")
Everybody should have a budget. Families should have a budget. Businesses should have a budget. Churches should have a budget. Governments should have a budget. (When it comes to that fourth entity, we can only dream.)
But it goes beyond just having a budget. (Right?) One needs to stick to his … (0 comments)

Japan Tsunami Video (heartbreaking) - 04/18/11 04:57 PM
Your heart will break over this one. (Water actually reaches hill overlook at approx 4 min mark.) 3.5+ million views.

(If you can't see this video, click here.) … (0 comments)

6 Safety Tips When Showing A Home - 04/14/11 04:33 PM

The news of a murdered real estate agent in Iowa has shocked us all. It took place during an open house. Police are suspecting another agent may have been involved. (For continuing story, click here.)
So what precautions do you take as a realtor® when showing a home? (Feel free to leave answers in the comment section below.)
We only need to go as far as common sense to find an answer...
6 Safety Tips When Showing A Home:
1. Ask a co-worker, family member or friend to be there with you.
2. If you have to be alone, don't … (2 comments)

Beating Blogger's Block (plus 11 places to get writing ideas) - 04/13/11 01:27 PM
So you're a blogger? (Or aspiring to be?) And you've got your blog site all set up on WordPress or Blogger or Tumblr or Posterous (maybe all four?). And you've been at it for about a week (or two or three?). And now you're hitting the proverbial "wall." (Hmm?) Now you're staring at a blank computer screen with nothing to say, write, rant about, opine on. (Ouch.) Network newsflash (beep beep beep): You're normal. (You can sigh with relief now.) It happens to the best of them. We run out of steam. Our thoughts are just not there. We have nothing … (2 comments)

10 things to Love or Hate about Tax Day - 04/12/11 12:17 PM
Tax day. Hearing those two words can send chills up some people’s spines. And there are just a whole lot of things to hate about Tax day (of course). But I was thinking, “There are some good things about Tax day, too.” So I came up with 10 things to love or hate about April 15th/Tax day. (It's been changed to April 18th for this year.) See if you agree (and send me some of your own love/hate's if you think of any)…
10 things to love or hate about Tax day:
#10: It gives us another chance to … (0 comments)

Mother Lode Area Real Estate Stats (March 2011) - 04/11/11 03:46 PM
I've got the latest Mother Lode market numbers for you to look at today. To begin with, you'll notice the overall sales picture including all sales classes. CLICK HERE to view March 2011 compared to March 2010. CLICK HERE to view January-March 2011 compared to January-March 2010. You'll also want to notice the graphs including the Mother Lode Residential Unit Sales through March 2011 graph versus the previous five years (clickable picture 1 on the above left) along with the Mother Lode Residential Volume Sales graph versus the previous five years (clickable picture 2 on the right) and the Mother Lode … (0 comments)

Season Schizophrenia - 04/08/11 01:02 PM
… (1 comments)

All That Glitters is More Than Gold - 04/06/11 03:44 PM
For his kindly heart, King Midas was granted one wish. And so he asked that everything he touched be turned to gold. That's when the problems started. His flowers turned to gold. His food turned to gold. (It actually was a good weight loss program.) His daughter turned to gold. His water, bed, clothes, friends and palace turned to gold. The "Midas touch" wasn't so golden after all.
And each of us I'm convinced are susceptible to falling into the trap of thinking that every thing we do (every business deal, etc) ought to (quote) "turn to gold." It should … (0 comments)

46 Things That Bug People (plus one bonus) - 04/04/11 12:56 PM
Well, of course, this is probably mostly a list of things that bug me, but I'd imagine the better part of you are bugged by these things, too. See if you agree with...
46 Things That Bug People: (feel free to include what bugs you in the comments) 
1. Liars
2. Somebody answering their cell phone in the middle of a conversation with you
3. Snoring
4. Their wallet (or purse) being stolen
5. People not showing up for appointments
6. Body odor
7. The toilet seat being left up (if you're female)
… (0 comments)

Test Your Knowledge of April Fool's Day - 04/01/11 01:20 PM
The day of the prankster is upon us again. I'm talking about April Fool's Day in particular. Sometimes we play along with things from childhood on up without any knowledge of why we're doing what we're doing. Let that end here for you for this first day in April. Do you know much about April Fool's Day? Find out with the following questions (you can check your answers below)...
1. Not much more than just theories exist as to the origin of April Fool's Day. Which of the following is the most popular theory?
(a) It was an annual … (0 comments)

 
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Mother Lode Real Estate Master

Sonora, CA

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Real Living Sugar Pine Realty

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