THIS IS A MUST SEE! Over 2900 sq ft home on a quiet Cul-de-sac lot with open floor plan. So Many Features, to list a few: Dual CH&A with smart vent feature,  Granite countertops and Custom maple cabinetry throughout, Built-in stereo speakers in kitchen, family and game rooms. Porcelain tile flooring, Upgraded carpeting, Ceiling fans in all bedrooms, kitchen and family rooms. Beam central vacuum system. Recessed lighting throughout. Gourmet Kitchen includes:  5-burner gas stove, Warming drawer, Trash compactor and Wine refrigerator, Decorative wood hood over stovetop, Lighting above and below cabinetry, Breakfast bar and dining space. Kitchen also has Built-in pantry. Whole house Central vacuum including kitchen sweep inlet. Library or 4th Bedroom option with built in maple book shelves. Family room has gas fireplace, built-in media center and speakers for surround sound. Formal Dining Room with built-in buffet and storage closet. Master Suite feels like a tree house with Sweeping Local views and Dual walk-in closets. Master bath with jetted-tub and dual vanities. Upstairs Laundry Room has a Utility sink and Mini refrigerator. Laundry is Plumbed for gas. Large downstairs Game room. Oversized two-car garage with full size Pass through garage door to backyard, Built in garage cabinetry and Epoxy flooring. Front yard is landscaped with drip irrigation. Finished Rear landscaping with built-in sprinklers. Backyard made for entertaining with built-in gas firepit, Surround sound speakers and it is Plumbed for sunken hot tub. Side yard RV parking plumbed for sewer and electric.

Second Virtual tour: Click Here 

I am trying to decide between the Brian Buffini  program with and without coaching vs. By Referral Only.

Some of you may have seen the dialog during a post where someone wanted to know if By Referral Only was a scam where I told him about me going to the ½ day course with By Referral Only and as a result of that half day event I went to the 3 day the Main Event.

I have a very close friend who swears by the Buffini system. I believe I see the benefit of both but I need help from those of you that have greater experience.

It seems that with the By Referral Only program that you get a lot of "stuff" included such as the IVR system, the tracking system, all the downloadable flyers and postcards in addition to the dialogs.

With Buffini,I like the style of the item of value with the letter and matching note cards too!

Help me out please; leave your constructive criticism or positive experiences either way.

I have been approached to advertise via selective placement on this search engine Red Zee www.redz.com. I would like to find out if anyone in Rain land is using this and to what degree of success if any. The placement fee is pretty low but I don't just want to through more stuff on the wall.

I tried the Search 2 feature which was different but hard to return to the actual search. Help Please!

Do you know what the Veterans Hall in Folsom CA is?

I have been driving from my home in Antelope CA to my workplace at 400 Plaza Drive in Folsom CA for over a year, each day passing signs "Veterans Hall" with an arrow going each way on Folsom Boulevard near the new Folsom Bridge. Every time I passed those signs I wondered just what is the Veterans Hall and what do they do there?

The first time I took the time to drive down Forrest Street I only went through the parking lot. I still was uncertain what it was. The sign on the front of the building only states the obvious VETERANS HALL. There are a couple of beer signs in the windows so I started thinking it must be a VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars). I can't explain why you would think that but you would have to either be a member or have been around the posts to assume that.

A couple of weeks ago on a Friday my curiosity got the better of me, so I stopped on my way home. As you enter the front door there still is no certain evidence of what this place is. To the right of the entry there is a bar so I go in there and ask the bartender if this is a VFW. He replies that it in fact is. I start to get a seat at the bar and offer him my life membership card when he asks me to sign in. I signed their book and am then able to order my adult beverage. I guess I got there about 6:00 p.m. and the place was pretty busy with a diverse group of people all seeming to know each other.

The mystery is solved; the Veterans Hall houses VFW Post 6604 of Folsom California. Their complete address is: 1300 Forrest Street, Folsom CA 95630. For some reason none of the mapping programs show its exact location, but it is at the end of Forrest after the curve in the road. I didn't get a chance to ask but from some of the bulletin board information it looks like the local chapter of the American Legion meets at this location as well.

The VFW is a service organization that serves veterans as well as our communities and states where the Posts are located. It is a member's only organization, but we are allowed to have guests. The bar in a VFW is called a canteen. I could go on and on but if you want to check it out further I have provided a couple of links for you. Here is a link for membership qualifications.

Pastor Norton woke up Sunday morning and realizing it was an exceptionally beautiful and sunny early spring day, decided he just had to play golf.
 
So... he told the Associate Pastor that he was feeling sick and persuaded him to give the sermon for him that day.  As soon as the Associate Pastor left the room, Pastor Norton headed out of town to a golf course about forty miles away.  This way he knew he wouldn't accidentally meet anyone he knew from his church. Teeing up on the first tee, he was alone.   After all, it was Sunday morning and everyone else was in church!
 
At about this time, Saint Peter leaned over to the Lord while looking down from the heavens and exclaimed, "You're not going to let him get away with this, are you?"

The Lord sighed, and said, "No, I guess not."

Just then Pastor Norton hit the ball and it shot straight towards the pin, dropping just short of it, rolled up and fell into the hole.
 
It WAS A 420 YARD HOLE IN ONE! ! !
 
St. Peter was astonished. He looked at the Lord and asked, "Why did you let him do that?"
 
The Lord smiled and replied, "Who's he going to tell?"

THE BOTTLE OF WINE

For all of us who are married, were married, wish they were married, or wish they weren't married, this is something to smile about the next time you see a bottle of wine:

Sally was driving home from one of her business trips in Northern Arizona when she saw an elderly Navajo woman walking on the side of the road.

As the trip was a long and quiet one, she stopped the car and asked the Navajo woman if she would like a ride.

With a silent nod of thanks, the woman got into the car.

Resuming the journey, Sally tried in vain to make a bit of small talk with the Navajo woman. The old woman just sat silently, looking intently at everything she saw, studying every little detail, until she noticed a brown bag on the seat next to Sally.

'What in bag?' asked the old woman.

Sally looked down at the brown bag and said, 'It's a bottle of wine. I got it for my husband.'

The Navajo woman was silent for another moment or two.

Then speaking with the quiet wisdom of an elder, she said:

'Good trade.....'

Market Snapshot for Folsom CA 95630  October 16 2007.

I wanted to share with you that the doom & gloom reported by the media may be a bit extreme.

370 - Active listings of homes available for sale

43 - Of the total active listings homes that are in "Short Sale" status*

20 - Of the total active listings that are REO*** (Bank Owned Repo's) (officially known as Real Estate Owned)

The better news:

Some Sacramento CA area locations have much higher REO inventories.

39 Homes sold within the past 30 days which means we have slightly less than 10 months of inventory available. That is up by about a month over the last time I reported market conditions for Folsom CA. On 6/13/07 there was just over 7 months of inventory. It is normal to have a bit more inventory during the fall and winter periods.

8 Short sale homes are pending indicating some of the banks are starting to accept reasonable offers as apposed to foreclosure.

Depending on where you get your information it costs the banks anywhere from $40,000 - $50,000 to complete the foreclosure process. Some reports say it can be as much as 1/3 of the mortgage amount owed. In California I believe it is closer to the 1/3 figure.

*Short Sale means the property is being offered for sale for less that the total amount of the mortgages owed by the seller. The asking price on a short sale means absolutely nothing. Some Realtors® set the price unrealistically low to try and get potential clients to look at the property. Unfortunately, the system is set up where the loss mitigation department** at the bank will not consider a short sale until an offer has been made and presented to the bank. The sellers normally cannot make any money from the sale of their home.  

**Loss Mitigation Departments try to minimize the loss taken by the bank prior to a full foreclosure.

***Cheryl Cook has assembled a fact filled info sheet on the REO process and how to make offers on bank owned properties. If you would like to have a copy, click here to send her an email. Put REO Fact Sheet in the subject line and we'll get it right out to you.

Cheryl Cook and I held REO (Real Estate Owned) open house at xxx Silberhorn Way in the community of Lexington of Folsom CA. 95630

About half way though our 5 hour open house a guy comes in and asks me if those are my open house signs out front. I proudly admit they are indeed mine. I thought initially we may have placed a directional sign on his property. Lets call the guy "Bill", Bill is rather flushed and agitated and proceeds to tell me that the style of our open house signs are degrading his neighborhood and that our signs suggest that all or at least some of the people who live in his "exclusive" Lexington neighborhood are irresponsible borrowers. Bill proceeds to tell me that he has been putting up with this for months and that he has had enough. The style of our open house sign is what has him most disturbed. We use a very cheaply made sign spray painted using a stencil.

I proceed to tell him that I understand his concern and that if I were not in the real estate business, and the signs were in my neighborhood, I might feel the same way.

Bill goes on to tell me he wants me to have his address so we can come by after the open house to pick up our signs because he intends to pick them up.

I respond that I would like his info so I can pass it on to the broker so the company knows what is going on. He again tells me the only reason for me to have his address is so that we can come by to pick up the signs he intends to confiscate.

We have a bit more dialog and he kind of calms down where I tell him the cheaper the sign the more people come to see the house. He then proceeds to tell me he is in marketing for his employer and he totally understands the process but he just doesn't want them in his location. Bill tells me he is fine with the dead grass in front of the REO's and broken windows, just get the signs out of his neighborhood. It seems to me that he would rather get them sold and then all would be better at least until the next REO comes up.

At the end, he tells me he won't pick up the signs today but he will the next time he sees them. Bill recommends we use professionally prepared signs and put them where Realtors would put them, meaning only one sign per turn as apposed to leading the turn with several. (During this whole dialog I was wearing a badge Bob Nowack, Realtor, e-PRO). I originally wanted him to know about the amount of signs we are supposed to put out to have a good open house but decided it was no longer worth spending any more breath for this guy.

Cheryl and I decide we are done with his neighborhood anyway. There are so many REO's now why put up with one other hassle when trying to do open house.

I guess in the end Bill gets his way, at least for now.