The Alfano Group's Blog

30 Incredible facts and stats about the U.S. economy.   Give it away.  1. Since 2008, U.S. citizens have donated $19.1 million to our Treasury to help pay down the national debt.   2. The U.S.A and its citizens contributed $298 billion to charity in 2011, more than the GDP of all but 33 countries...

15 Tips to buying your next vacation home.   Vacation homes are hot, hot, hot! - gaining in popularity at least 10% per year since the real estate recovery, with median prices up about 23% annually.  It may be the perfect time to buy your dream destination home but it can be a far trickier proces...

One of the best things about Sacramento is its diversity, not only in cultures but in historical influences, threads as old as California, itself, woven together to form a rich textile.  There's no greater example than in our architecture, with residential homes built since the mid 1880's in jus...

Last week, we shared part 1 of our list of 21 negotiation strategies that will help you close any deal like the best sales pro in the world.  Today, we cover 11-21.  We hope you find these helpful whether you're negotiating a sale with a customer, a price on a new car, or even negotiating with y...

Neighborhood and City Spotlight – Folsom, California.   ProfileFolsom is a city in Sacramento County, California, only 23 miles from the Sacramento proper.  It’s situated in the foothills of the Sierra Mountain range, and a short drive to Lake Tahoe.  Folsom has a total area of 24.3 square miles....

21 Negotiation tactics that will help you close any deal! Part 1 (1-10)     We negotiate just about every day, whether we realize it or not. We may be negotiating salary with a new employer, with a contractor to fix something in our home, or even negotiate for our children to brush their teeth an...

The disturbing facts behind mortgage and real estate fraud.     What is mortgage fraud? Mortgage and real estate fraud entails deliberate falsification, misrepresentation, or action with the aim of financial gain through illegal, illicit, and unethical means within mortgage and real estate transa...

50 Fun facts about soccer's 2014 World Cup!   1. The 2014 World Cup is scheduled from June 12 to July 13 in Brazil.2. Games will be played in 12 cities in Brazil - Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Cuiaba, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Manaus, Natal, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Sao Paulo.3. 32...

Solar Roads will shine brightly in their failure.   "There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept." ~Ansel Adams Maybe, just maybe, they’re on to something big.  That’s what people say when they see the images on Facebook; synthetic highways the color of AstroTurf, a trail of brig...

Real estate’s inventory paradox.   The storyline wasn’t supposed to go like this.  As the real estate market crawled out of its darkest hour, there were going to be plenty of hurdles; rising interest rates, unemployment, tightening lending standards, and even over caution.  But even the most pess...