All posts by jd

Real estate broker, civil engineer and general contractor.
nevada county fair

Nevada County Fairgrounds Receives 25 Awards for Outstanding Work in Social Media, Fair Competitions

: Members of the Nevada County Fairgrounds team accept their awards at the Western Fairs Association (WFA) Conference. The awards were part of WFA's Annual Achievement Awards Program, which recognizes excellence in Fairs and successful Fair ideas.

The Nevada County Fairgrounds received 25 awards at the 47th Annual Western Fairs Association’s (WFA) Achievement Awards held in Reno, Nevada, at the end of last month. The Nevada County Fairgrounds took home first-place honors for the Fair video created by Gold in the Foothills; its 2009 Draft Horse Classic event and several of its promotional pieces; and its “Ugliest Dang Cake” exhibit competition. It also received first place in the Fair featured program, Social Media Madness, for its work in social media.

View the winning video httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxwDKn6260k

During this year’s WFA Achievement Awards Program, offered to recognize excellence and to share fair ideas and programs, the Nevada County Fairgrounds competed against more than 50 Fairs with similar attendance numbers within the Western United States and Canada.  At the WFA Achievement Awards Ceremony, the Nevada County Fairgrounds collected a total of seven 1st place awards, 11 2nd places, and seven third places. The Fairgrounds also received nine Honorable Mention awards.

Among the many awards received, the Fairgrounds received second place for the Fair’s “Name the Rabbit” contest; third place for its community outreach program with the Fairgrounds’ Job Fair; second place for its overall marketing program; third place for the Fair’s Kids Corner; and second place for its work with nursery schools and pre-schools in decorating theme-related cut-outs.

The Western Fairs Association is a non-profit trade association serving the Fair industry throughout the Western United States and Canada.

Source Wendy Oaks Nevada County Fairgrounds Publicist

Bits & Pieces

“FBI” Informs Me I won the Lotto In Nigeria!

According to an e-mail from the “FBI” and the Anti-Terrorist and Monitory Crimes Division I have won $10,000,000 in Nigeria.   The Central Bank is holding this money for me.  The e-mail goes on to say that the FBI and the Anti-Terrorist and Monitory Crimes Division fully checked into my winnings and all I have to do is send someone in Nigeria $550 and I’ll get my money.

But, wait a minute, if they know that I’m really the winner, how come they don’t know my name, address and my telephone contact number?

Oh, I’m also advised by the “FBI” that I should be careful and not fall into a scam!  Wow, the crook is telling me to watch out for the crook!   The sad part is that these people make millions of dollars every year from Americans.  So remember if it’s to good to be true, it’s not true.   Anyhow here is the le-mail, it’s funny indeed.

“Anti-Terrorist and Monitory Crimes Division.

Edward John(FBI SPECIAL AGENT)
Chief Information Officer:Zalmai Azmi
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION FBI.WASHINGTON DC.

Email: (Deleted)

FBI SEEKING TO WIRETAP INTERNET

READ CAREFULLY,

We the Federal bureau of investigation (FBI) Washington, DC in conjunction with some other relevant security Agencies here in the United states of America have recently been informed through our Global intelligence monitoring network that you presently have a transaction going on with the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN), as regards to your lotto winning payment award which was fully endorsed in your favor accordingly by the government of Nigeria.It might interest you to know that we have taken our time in screening through this lotto winning payment notification as stipulated on our protocol of operation,and have finally confirmed that your lotto award payment is 100% genuine and legal with due process of law, and it is as well free from all illegal activities,which you have the lawful right to claim your fund without any further delay.Having said all this, we will further advise, that you should go ahead in dealing with the Central Bank payment officials as FBI will be monitoring all their services accordingly

Continue reading “FBI” Informs Me I won the Lotto In Nigeria! →

Real Estate

FBI Cracks Down On Mortgage Fraud

By John J. O’Dell

The FBI is spending a lot of time investigating real estate fraud cases. In the hay day of the housing boom, with loose standards and banks wanting to make as many loans as possible, supposedly sophisticated people got greedy and tried to get rich quick. Now the boom is coming down on these people as in this case successfully brought to trial in San Francisco by the FBI.

According to Thaindian.com

“A mortgage broker and real estate developer on Friday were charged in San Francisco, California with conspiracy to commit a $19.6 million bank fraud, fraud, and money laundering, prosecutors said.
According to the indictment, Michael Ohayon, 41, and David Papera, 47, allegedly recruited thirteen straw buyers who used their good credit scores to nab $19.6 million in fraudulent mortgage loans from Washington Mutual Bank, with no intention of making either down payments or mortgage payments on the properties.

The indictment further alleges that Ohayon, with Papera’s knowledge, told the straw buyers that an entity controlled by Ohayon and Papera would use the loan proceeds to make the down payments and mortgage payments. Ohayon and Papera created and submitted to Washington Mutual Bank loan applications with numerous misstatements as to the straw buyers’ income and assets.
The maximum penalty for each count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud is 30 years in prison, a $1,000,000.00 fine, and restitution. The maximum penalty for each count of money laundering is 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and restitution.”

I seem to read a case like this almost every day. It’ll be interesting to see when this if finally over. What do you think?

John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
General Contractor
Civil Engineer
Here to help you with buying or selling real estate
Contact me!

Environment

My Prius At 107,000 Miles, Still Going Strong

By John J. O’Dell

I bought my Prius in 2005.  Since then, I’ve racked up 107,000 miles and the car is still going strong. Am I happy with it?  Yes, and although I’ve had a couple of small problems with it, the small problems were expensive.

The first major problem was that my driver’s side headlight went out. No problem, right? No, it’s a major problem. Although one brochure put out by Toyota stated that the headlights should last 15 years, it went out after 3 years. My model Prius has the optional xenon high-intensity discharge (HID) headlights.  Replacing the one headlight cost, are you ready for this, the Toyota dealer charged $443.75. Yes, the light bulb is over $300 and the rest is labor.

The second problem was the small battery in the Prius gave out and had to be replaced. That’s not the $3,000 plus big battery, but the small auxiliary 12 volt battery. How could I tell it was going, well, the car just started running funny, since the battery was only putting out about 6-8 volts and things just started getting weird. A couple of times I had to get the car jumped to start and the electronics were acting up.

Of course, the 12 volt battery is hidden under the trunk in back of the car. This means that it’s a special battery with special venting built into the battery. This is because there is no air coming into the battery space unlike most cars were the battery is under the hood. That replacement by my Toyota dealer cost $374.91.

Toyota is getting a bad rap on their recall situation. I can certainly understand the frustration on that point.  About six months ago I received a notice from Toyota that my floor mat might create a problem with a stuck accelerator pedal. The notice said that I should remove the mat and Toyota would notify me when they have a replacement mat.  Yep, here we go with the accelerator pedal sticking. I called a Toyota dealer yesterday and asked if they had a replacement mat that would not create an acceleration problem. The service manager told me that Toyota was working on it, and they still don’t have a solution. Six months later, no floor mat, no solution, way to go Toyota!

The good part is that I have not had to replace the brakes yet. I don’t know how long the brakes are going to hold up, but I just had the tires rotated and the tire dealer said my brakes were fine. That’s because when you slow down to brake, the wheels are powering a generator to recharge the main battery on the car, which in turn does most of the braking for the car.

Another positive about owning my Prius is the gas mileage. My other vehicle is a 2002 four wheel drive Chevy truck.  It gets an average of around 10-12 miles to the gallon compared to my 42-44 miles to the gallon when I’m driving in Nevada County. I get better mileage in the flat lands, but let’s stick with 42 miles per gallon.

So let’s do the math.  At 107,000 miles divided by 12 miles per gallon, that’s 8,917 gallons of gas burned if I had used my truck.. At 107,000 miles divided by 42 miles per gallon that’s  2,547 gallons of gas using my Prius.  The difference is  6,370 gallons of gas. If you use $3 as the price of a gallon of gas, that’s a savings of $19,110. If you use an average gas price of $3.50 in the last 5 years that’s $22,225 saved in the last 5 years, either way, it’s a great savings.

So in general, I’m happy with my Prius and I’m keeping it for another 50,000 miles or more. Maybe by that time I’ll get a new floor mat. What do you think?

By the way, the Auburn Toyota dealer might have got to me on my bulb replacement. Read the following article if you have a Prius and need a  new headlight bulb All About Prius

John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
General Contractor
Civil Engineer
Here to help you in buying or selling real estate. E-mail me at jodell@nevadacounty.com

Real Estate

Fannie Mae Announces 3.5 Percent Seller Assistance on HomePath® Properties

Incentive Part of Ongoing Effort to Stabilize Neighborhoods

Fannie Mae (FNM/NYSE) announced that people purchasing a Fannie Mae-owned HomePath® property will receive up to 3.5 percent of the final sales price to be used toward closing cost assistance or their choice of appliances. The offer is available to any owner-occupant who closes on the purchase of a property listed on HomePath.com before May 1, 2010.

“Attracting qualified buyers to the market and reducing the inventory of vacant homes is critical to stabilizing neighborhoods and helping the market recover. Many families are taking advantage of the federal homebuyer tax credit to buy a new home so this is a great time for Fannie Mae to offer some additional help,” said Terry Edwards, Executive Vice President of Credit Portfolio Management. “Homebuyers have the option to choose between financial assistance toward closing costs or new appliances for their home.”

Properties eligible for this incentive are listed on HomePath.com and most listings include detailed property descriptions, photographs, community and school information and more. In addition, many Fannie Mae-owned properties are eligible for special HomePath Mortgage and HomePath Renovation Mortgage financing which offers homebuyers an opportunity to purchase with as little as 3 percent down.

Source: Fannie Mae

Real Estate

Nevada County Home Sales January 2009 Compared to January 2010

By John J. O’Dell

The median sales price for homes in Nevada County dropped 25 percent from January 2009 compared to January 2010. Median price in January of homes sold was $320,000. In January of this year, the median price was $240,000.

Inventory dropped this January to 968 homes compared to 1,094 in January 2009. Interesting is the fact that the median price for new listings in January of this year was $329,000, indicating that perhaps some listings are being put on the market at a listing price that is too high.

Number of homes sold this January were 55 compared to 47 last January.

The median price of expired listings was $349,000 last January, maybe indicating that the listing price were too high also.  However, the homes under contract in January 2010 have a median price of $291,250.

Housing inventory dropped in January of this year compared to January 2009.  Last year we had 15.6 months of housing inventory. This year in January 2010 we had a 12.9 month inventory of homes which is an improvement.

Where’s the market going from here? Buyers are still coming into the market. Remember, although we may have an unemployment rate of around 10 percent that means that 90 percent of the people are still working.  Prices are so low in the housing market that many more people can afford to buy a house.

Data source  BrokerMetrica®

John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
General Contractor
Here to help you buy or sell real estate

Real Estate

Why It’s a Great Time to Buy a Home

By John J. O’Dell

You hear from real estate agents that this is the housing buying opportunity of a lifetime.  I’m not sure if it’s explained fully why it’s a buying opportunity.  Since I’m a real estate broker and a general contractor, I can offer my reasons why I think it’s a buy of a life time now.

To begin with land prices in Nevada County have not dropped in proportion to housing prices. A good building site is still in the upper $100,000’s.  In building a new home, you have to buy land, have plans drawn up and apply for a building permit.  The permit fees and mitigation fees can be  between $15 to $30 a square foot, depending if you are in the county or city limits. Then of course there are utilities hookup fees to pay for, the actual construction costs, and finally landscaping. When you are all through, with land, utilities, construction and landscaping you are at least $300 a square foot or more for construction of a new home.

Now houses are selling in the $75 to $150 a square foot price ranges. Houses are selling for less than you can reproduce them. Buying an existing home means you get land,  utilities are in, permits are paid for, in most cases landscaping is complete and you have no construction costs.

Having been in business for a long time, I remember well the saying (I think I made this one up), when times are good, people think it’s going to be good forever. When times are bad, people think it’s going to be bad forever. Times get bad and they get good.  Anyhow, that’s why I think it’s a great time to buy a home, investors think it’s a great time to buy a home, what do you think?

John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
General Contractor
Here to help you to buy or sell real estate

Real Estate

Banks Short Sales Equals Very Long Sales

2 Comments

By John O’Dell

I wrote an article last year that the banks were trying to make short sales shorter.  That post was based on news at that time that banks were streamlining their short sale process. Well, I think that was propaganda that was just made to make people think the banks are acting responsibly. Nothing has changed since the banks press release.

You can wait six months and not hear anything from a bank on a short sale. They even put the property in foreclosure in the middle of a short sale! I can give you several recent examples that I had with short sales, none of them good.

A 5,000 square foot house in Nevada County was a short sale. Listed at over $800,000, than dropped to $599,000, than $499,000, than finally to $399,000. One of my clients made a full price offer, but was in a backup position.  The buyers in first position, that is they made the first offer. The bank listed the property at $399,000, but then started negotiating with the buyer. The bank said (verbally)  OK we’ll take $450,000, but once the buyers said OK, the bank changed their mind and said no we want $475,000 and got it!  So much for fair dealing. By the way, 60 percent of the  buyers in second position are the ones that get the home, since the buyer in first position gives up and buys somewhere else.

I have several offers in for my clients in second position and several months later, we have not heard anything. We have an offer in for another client on an REO (bank owned home) in San Jose and we are in the second week of finding out if our offer has been accepted. The response we get from the listing agent is that the bank’s asset manager is over whelmed. I can’t give you the offering price, but you know real estate in San Jose is not cheap, yet the bank is “over whelmed”.

So what has been your experience in dealing with your bank?

John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
Here to help you with your buying or selling of real estate.