This is one of my favorite bands in Nevada County. They play in some part of Grass Valley, Nevada City almost once or twice a month in Nevada County. You can find their schedule at their website Nevada County Regulators
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eOI6muBVxo
John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
Call today because I want to help you
in buying or selling real estate
or short sale or foreclosure questions
530-263-1091
Here’s the latest on the devastating earthquake in Chile. This quake is 700 times more powerful then the one that hit Haiti.
I guess if you need money you sell your real estate? How about the State of California selling some of their real estate to raise money? Do you think that’s a great idea? In the bottom of the real estate market, the State is selling two dozen buildings in order to raise $2 billion to pay off some of their long term debt.
Included in the sale is the Ronald Reagan building, which they will then lease back for the next twenty years.
According to the Los Angeles Times:
“Under the proposal, for example, the twin-towered Reagan state office building at 3rd and Spring streets would be purchased by an investor who would in turn lease it to the state. The state would pay the new owner an estimated $12.2 million a year in rent, according to the plan.
State officials will now accept bids on 24 office buildings on 11 sites in Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco, Oakland and Santa Rosa. Investors may buy the properties en masse or individually.
The planned sale comes during one of the worst real estate markets since the Great Depression. Commercial property values have fallen as much as 40% from their 2007 peak, according to industry analysts. Although the depressed market may hold sales prices down, it may also help the state as it negotiates how much to pay in rent after it leases back the buildings.
The recession drove up vacancy rates in many privately owned office buildings as white-collar companies contracted through layoffs or closed their doors. Landlords in most of the country’s major office markets have been forced to reduce rents to attract or keep tenants.”
Talk about a study in mismanagement, the State of California is one for the text books.
John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
Helping you in buying or selling real estate
Call today 530-263-1091
Oh my God, first it’s Lexus, Toyota Corolla, Corolla Matrix, Scion xD , Luxis and Prius have all been recalled. Now it’s their lawnmower. Take a look at this disaster that almost got this man killed!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B2e6D484v8
Los Angeles-Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. has joined the California Department of Real Estate (DRE) and the State Bar of California in warning Californians to avoid forensic loan audits, the loan-modification industry’s latest “phony foreclosure-relief service,” in which homeowners pay up-front fees for a forensic review of their lender’s practices, but are provided no actual foreclosure relief.
“Forensic loan audits are yet another phony foreclosure-relief service hawked by loan-modification consultants trying to cash in on the desperation of homeowners facing foreclosure,” Brown said. “The foreclosure-relief industry continues to be long on promises, but short on results.”
Individuals and businesses who offer forensic loan audits use inflated and misleading claims to convince homeowners to pay up-front fees for services that produce no actual foreclosure relief. Homeowners are encouraged to pay for an audit of their mortgage loan file to determine their lender’s compliance with state and federal mortgage-lending laws. This audit is pitched to homeowners as a tool they can use to gain leverage and speed up the loan-modification process.
In truth, there is no evidence or statistical data to support claims that forensic loan audits-even if performed by a licensed, legitimate and trained auditor, mortgage professional or lawyer-will help homeowners obtain loan modifications or provide any other foreclosure relief.
“The State Bar is committed to dealing with all aspects of loan foreclosure fraud involving attorneys,” said State Bar President Howard Miller. “We will continue to work with all the other government agencies to prevent fraud and to move for disciplinary sanctions against attorneys who violate their obligations to their clients.”
By law, all individuals and businesses offering mortgage-foreclosure consulting, loan-modification and foreclosure-assistance services must register with Brown’s office and post a $100,000 bond. It is also illegal for loan-modification consultants and businesses to charge up-front fees for their services.
Brown has sought court orders to shut down more than 30 fraudulent foreclosure-relief companies and has brought criminal charges and obtained lengthy prison sentences for dozens of deceptive loan-modification consultants.
Source Attorney Edmund G. General Brown, Jr.
John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
Here to help you in all your real estate needs
Numerous articles have reported that homeowners are underwater and that strategic defaults are increasing. However, a little known statistic by the Federal Reserve shows that home equity again is on the rise.
KEEP THIS IN MIND
• The Federal Reserve conducts substantial research on mortgage balances and home-value changes in hundreds of local markets nationwide and reports its finding quarterly. According to the Fed’s most recent “flow of funds” survey, homeowners’ net equity increased by nearly $1 trillion compared with the recession’s lowest point between the first and third quarters of 2009. From June 30 to Sept. 30, net equity rose by $418 billion.
• According to a report by Zillow.com, the overall negative equity rate among U.S. homeowners remained flat in the fourth quarter at 21.4 percent. This report, combined with other housing factors and studies, may indicate that the unprecedented reduction in home equity is shifting.
• Some homeowners, especially those in areas with high foreclosure rates, are choosing to strategically default on their mortgages, even though they can afford the mortgage. Many homeowners who choose this approach do so because they do not see an economic rationale in continuing to make their mortgage payments. Homeowners considering this option should be aware of the negative effect it will have on their credit status. Foreclosures can remain on credit reports for up to seven years, likely increasing the interest rates the consumer pays for credit, and making it more difficult to receive approval on a new mortgage loan.
To read the full story, please click here: Washington Post
Another building bubble? Yes, but this time it’s not the US that has a building bubble, we are way past the bubble and on the path to recovery. This time it’s China, with banks making as many loans as possible to get the mortgage upfront fees. (Does this sounds familiar to you?)
Flipping properties, factory owners are more interested in buying and selling property then production. Get this, even manufacturing in China is going out of country because of high labor prices!
According to the Star.com:
“Frenzied developers with access to cheap money are creating a glut of premium office space and luxury apartments, priced at about 80 times the average income of the city’s residents. Prospective middle-class homeowners, in panic-buying mode, are snapping up two properties at once, hoping to flip the second one to finance the first. Civic officials are encouraging the building boom.
The sale of vacant lots bolster their municipal coffers.
Banks eager to reap upfront fees are granting mortgages to all comers. Even factory owners are in on the speculation, generating more profit from flipping property than from traditional manufacturing, which increasingly is moving offshore to Vietnam, Malaysia and other nations with lower labour costs.”
Read the full article at TheStar.com
John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
Your real estate specialist
Call today 530-262-1091
This is a great video about our Nevada County Public library.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReH7wBAOoPc
By John J. O’Dell
Are we finally be nearing the bottom of the market? I understand in talking to some real estate agents that inventory in some areas of Placer County are starting to get thin. Accoridng to Trulia.com, price reductions of homes on the market declined 21 percent as of February 1.
This is a significant decrease compared to November 2009, when 26 percent of homes had at least one price reduction
The total dollar amount cut from home prices dropped to $22.6 billion as of Feb. 1, down from $28.1 billion in November, a 19 percent decrease.
The average discount for price-reduced homes is holding steady at 11 percent off the original listing price.
Here are the cities with the largest decrease in listings with price reductions between last November and this month, according to Trulia.
• San Francisco, -46
• Oakland, Calif., -43
• Sacramento, -42
• San Jose, -40
• Indianapolis, -39
• Seattle, -37
• San Diego, -33
• New York, -33
John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
General Contractor
Civil Engineer
Here to help you buy or sell real estate
Contact me at e-mail jodell@nevadacounty.com
By Lisa J. Lehr
Would you like to have more communicative employees—or be one? Have a more effective sales force, or be a trainer with phenomenal presentation skills? Be a more confident, competent leader? Be persuasive, inspirational, and/or entertaining?
That’s what 235,000 people around the world are doing right now, and it’s called Toastmasters International.
This might sound like a shameless plug for Toastmasters…and perhaps it is, because I’ve been a member of Toastmasters for over 10 months now, and I love it, and so do my fellow Toastmasters, and we’d love to have more company!
Toastmasters is an international organization that provides training in speaking and leadership that is on a par with expensive and extensive professional training programs, yet at a fraction of the cost and time commitment.
Nevada County is lucky to have four different Toastmasters Clubs—unusual for a community of our size. Mother Lode Toastmasters meets Monday evenings; Early Risers Toastmasters, Tuesday mornings; Penn Valley Club, Wednesday evenings; and the club I belong to, Empire Toastmasters, meets every Friday at noon at Trolley Junction Restaurant (at the Northern Queen Hotel) in Nevada City.
We’re a small, friendly, supportive group dedicated to helping each other improve at a comfortable pace, wherever we each currently are with our speaking and leadership skills. Our meetings are open to anyone who is interested. Come as a guest; you’ll be invited (but not required!) to participate in Table Topics, in which participants each speak impromptu for about a minute on a given theme. It’s often the highlight of the meeting, and almost always provides the most laughs. Lunch is $14 and reservations are not required.
My fellow Toastmasters and I are available to do a presentation for your business or organization that will explain the program in much greater detail. My own personal and professional growth through Toastmasters has been nothing short of astonishing in less than a year, and my fellow club members have similar stories to tell about being “the shyest person who ever lived”—but no more, thanks to Toastmasters!
Visit this link for more information about the local clubs:
Lisa J. Lehr is a writer and copywriter living in Grass Valley. She can help you promote your business with a full range of online and offline marketing pieces. A member of Empire Toastmasters, she’s available to speak to your business or professional group. Visit her website www.justrightcopy.com for more information, opt in for a message series, and receive a free Marketing Guide.
Lisa J. Lehr
I write words that make you money–just ask me how.
Visit my website and sign up for my fr~ee marketing tips.
New! No~cost Marketing Guide now available at my website.