Getting a deal to closing isn't always an easy task.Today with short sales and REOs - bank owned properties - it isn't like the good old days. Everything doesn't fall into beautifully into place. There aren't eager sellers to pretty up the homes, plant colorful flowers out front and make sure the place smells delicious.

In Southern California-Temecula/Murrieta - we are just thrilled that the banks are paying to turn on the water and pay for yard service! The people that are trying to short sale their homes have neither the money or the inclination to stage their homes. It is so hard to know you are leaving your home under not great circumstances.

All of this add up to buyers that want the great prices that this economy afford but need extra babysitting from agents to help them see the great potential in the homes they are buying. Especially the long time lag on the short sales are very stressful. That is when you see what kind of agent you have.

You need an agent that can think like a nervous buyer.You need your hand held every step of the way, with all of the steps explained and reexplained. After all of the stress of the sale is over, many of your agents disappear. They seems to only to be able to put their energy into one or two things at a time. That is only the beginning of what you need your agent for. You should be able to call them any time to ask about Home Warranty, taxes, neighbors, carpet cleaners, bee removers, painters, roofers-----and so on and so on.

If they are interacting with you, you can be kept up to date about property values in the area. It is very nerve wracking to have more and more home go up for sale on a street you just invested in---

It is very important for me to be the kind of agent that a buyer can depend on AFTER the sale. How about you --- ?

Is the glass half full or half empty? We have all known people that are eternal pessimist that will never see anything but the half empty glass---even in the best of times in the Real Estate market. You know the type, the sellers that weren't happy with "just" a two hundred thousand profit, in the good old days, because "I'm not giving away this home---do you think I'm that stupid?" They conveniently forgot that they pulled out a hundred thousand for personal use and now they were still going to get $200,000 on top of that!

Now our homes here in Temecula and Murrieta are no longer piggy banks but homes again. There isn't the stress of wondering when you should take the next huge step into a larger home that is going to up the stress even more. Also now is the time for buyers to get into a great home at an "affordable" price and interest rate----better than we will ever see again in our lifetimes.

With the tax breaks for first time home buyers, I feel like finally the glass is beginning to look like it might be getting half full!

Wow! This has been a wild time here in Southern California. We have seen real estate hit magnificent highs and plummet to about half of their top values. We have more than our share of "bank owned" homes in our market---in fact, they make up most of our market right now.

Here in Temecula/Murrieta - one hour north of San Diego - we are a town - city - with a middle to upper-middle population. When I talk to people, I have realized that these aren't the "dead beats" that were caught in "sub-prime" loans. There are basically two stories here. First there are the home owners that used their home as a "Bank Account"  that allowed them to have "extras"----boats, pools, hardscape, RVs---that their income didn't provide for. One day they they went to the bank and realized that they were overdrawn and they had to pay back the "overdraft". The other half just have had their income cut -- many because they were in some aspect of the real estate business - or have lost jobs! These are good, good people - smart people that can't can't make house payments, or any other payments, without a paycheck.

Normally in this kind of situation, people just sell their homes, and move to another area where they can find jobs---but this is not normal times! Homeowners are upside-down in their homes and businesses are cutting back across the board. But this too will pass and someday all of this will seem like a bad memory that has changed all of us.

Real Estate is a hard master! It wants you to be there night or day.  Now here is the problem, this weekend I am out of here for not a just a weekend but for two entire weeks!

I'm taking my son to college this weekend. Yes I am devastated! He is my youngest and my heart. Now both he and his older brother will be in Texas and . . . I'm in Southern California. What is it with these kids? I would have killed to go to college in Southern Cal! I'm not saying that I didn't love you - UT, but California has beaches, palm trees, and flowers.

We are driving my son's car - two and a half days - to school. By then my clients will be in cardiac arrest! You can imagine them by the end of two weeks. Yes I have someone covering for me, but you know how that works!

The last time I was gone for just a week, I got a call you wouldn't believe --- my seller wouldn't move out of the house! I called immediately and what did she say, "I'm not moving, they can't make me, my house isn't ready yet." The new owners called the police finally and still no luck! She wouldn't come outside so they couldn't do anything. Well, about 50 calls later - I reasoned with her, yelled at her, you name it - finally as I was about a mile from home, she moved out ---only 7 days past her COE + 2!

After that being gone two weeks in Real Estate scares me to death. Things are slow now but that makes it even more important. I don't know about you, but I need to hang on to all the clients possible. I can't put a dollar amount on the time with my son but . . .

Will I have a career when I get back?

Today as I was thinking about my business this year, a lot of question came up.I have been so lucky - lucky, or maybe just a lot of hard work - the first part of the year. I have been so busy with lots and lots of "old" clients. By old I really mean "sphere of influence" or repeat clients.  Homes got sold, homes got bought, families got moved and all is good in our part of Southern California - the Temecula Valley to be specific.

Now everyone that could possibility move, that I have any contact with, is all fixed up! Where do I start now?

Our area - one hour north of San Diego, is an absolutely gorgeous area, with an Old Town Temecula full of neat little antique shops and neat restaurants, beautiful wineries, seven championship golf courses, and a fancy, think Las Vegas style, casino.

I'm okay with listings but I can't help my Sellers if I can't manage to stir up some buyers. Can anyone help me brainstorm ideas for getting ahold of Buyers?

The sun shinning, the palm trees are blowing in the breeze, the flowers are a riot of color and . . . the streets are covered with For Sale signs. Which homes will sale? 

It would be great to have a magic ball we could check to find out all of the answers. It would seem that the families that NEED and WANT to sell their homes the most, would be the homes that sell! But---that is not necessarily what happens! Can I tell you how much it upsets me when a great family that needs to sale, doesn't seem to WANT to sell?

In today's market, it doesn't make sense for someone who desperately needs to sell, to refuse to lower the home price because ---"We need XXX dollars to put down on another home!" It is better to only have half of something than to completely go under and end up with nothing! Is it okay for a Realtor to shake a client???

I want you to succeed! I'll help you make your home look as wonderful as possible. I'll even pay for a storage unit for you to empty out all of your extra clutter! All I can't do for you is make you understand it is up to you to really want to sell!

If you really, really want to sell, it will happen! It is a decision that Realtors can help with but only Sellers can make.

A few months ago, I had a call from a good client that I have helped buy and sell several homes. It was one of those calls that catch your heart and makes you want to put your arms around the family. They just can't make it any more - a job was lost, no insurance and everything was going from bad to worse. They couldn't afford their home and they owed more than it could sell for. 

I listed the home as a Short Sale. The market kept falling, more and more Short Sales and Foreclosures were appearing and fewer and fewer buyers were coming. We haven't been able to sell the home. :-(

Now we are looking a either Deed In-Lieu of Foreclosure or Foreclosure. Could someone tell me the disadvantages and/or advantages or each?

Today as I was wheeling around town, I saw one busy intersection papered with signs saying - BANK REPO INFORMATION! All of the signs were pointing to one of the larger agencies here in Temecula/Murrieta California.

I was very put off by the signs. I felt that consumers (Home buyers) were being pointed in the wrong direction. I realize that the normal consumer "thinks" that they can get the best deal on repo, or bank owner property but as Realtors, we almost always realize that this is not true!

Bank owned property is often priced HIGHER than it was while it was still in Short Sale mode! There are often repairs to be made and the home come with no "Disclosures" since the bank never lived in the home and cannot be responsible for disclosing information they don't know! This week on our Realtor Tour we saw a repo that had all of the carpet and baseboards gone - there was a empty pool that the surface was going to have to be redone! All of the money to redo this home would be coming out of pocket!

I often see Short Sales that are a good value. The people haven't been out of the home so long that everything is dead and if it has a pool - it is still viable. (A Short Sale situation exists when a home is being sold for less money than the previous owner owed on the home --- a realtor neogates with the bank to work out a win/win situation before the bankrupcy takes place.)

Does anyone see the same things I am seeing on the value of the REPOS or are they a better deal in your part of the country?

Alex on Neatorama threw out an open invitation for bloggers to write about their home towns. "Lastly, an open invitation to anyone who want to write 4 Neat Things About My Hometown (format up to you) - let me know, and I'll link to your blog. If it's particularly funny or interesting, I'll put it on the front page so here goes! 

1.Temecula  Wineries --- We have great, beautiful wineries. South Coast, Falkners, Miramonte, Leonesse Cellars, Finsinger, Ponte, Weins Family Cellars, Bella Vista Cilurzo, Mount Palomar, Hart, Callaway, Keyways, Maurice Carrie, La Cereza, Long Shadow Ranch and Winery, Thornton's (a champagne winery), Stuart Cellars, Churon, Wilson Creek (you must try their Almond Champagne). Drive down Rancho California Road and see the beautiful rolling hills with rows and rows of vines and one beautiful winery after another.

2. The infamous Temecula Duck Pond --- What a wonderful small town thing to see! Our neat duck pond with walks surrounding it so people can stroll and feed the ducks! Neat bronze bronze statues and families with their cameras---You don't see things like that in your big cities.

3. Pechanga Casino and Resort --- Pechanga is our Indian Casino right here in town. It can give any casino in Las Vegas competition. The building is large and flashy and wonderful. It has a club that looks like it should be in Chicago or New York City and of course it has a great hotel as part of the casino. Sooooo, put everything on red and let it ride----or----get your bag of nickles and get ready to rumble. Oh did I forget to mention all of the celebrities that have shows at Pechanga?

4. La Cresta, Murrieta --- Our own answer to the Beverly Hills---only better, in my opinion, of course. Gorgeous homes on five acre parcels. Rolling hills with lots of white rail fences, horses, and even one helicopter! Every different type of architecture--all great---You will find everything from multimillionaires to regular working class folks but the most amazing thing is how all of the residents fit together so well---Nice people who are welcoming and gracious. There is no differences or exclusions there---how many areas can people even say that they know their neighbors---much less in an area of 5 acre parcels? 

The Pechanga Band of the Luiseno Indians held their 12th annual Pow Wow June 30 thru July 1st. The Pow Wow was held on the Pechanga Reservation near the popular Pechanga Casino and Resort. For more than 10,000 years, the Pechanga people have called the Temecula Valley or Southern California home.

The event began with a celebration of American Indian culture, heritage and tradition. The three day event began with the gourd dance. There were dance and drum contest with firework display Saturday night.