Back to School - Fresno Unified School District - Fresno, CA  School begins August 22, 2011 for all Fresno Unified students.  Fresno Unified is the largest school distric in Fresno,CA and the 4th largest school district in California, serving more than 73,000 students.   District Calendar   08/12/2011

Back to School for Central Unfied School Disctict in Fresno, CA starts earlies than other districts.  School started on 8/10/11.  Our kids have been in school for three days already.  Summer is officially over for Central kids.   Here is the distric calendar   08/12/2011

Today I went to a class on What is a Stigmitized Property in Fresno CA.  It was pretty interesting.  The class focused on what and how to market a stigmitized property.   A stigmitized property is a property that may have a bad rep or something associated with it that may make the value less than it should.   Take for instance some properties we have here in California.  The Nicole Brown Simpson condo sold for less than comparable properties in Brentwood CA.  As did the Scott Peterson house in Modesto CA.  An agent made the note that since the murder of Simpson took place outside the condo should that have made all the condo's undesirable and sell for less and the Peterson case never proved where she was killed, yet the homes still carried the stigma.   A death in the house, natural or ... 08/12/2011

Could Short Sales be Getting Easier?  I am working a short sale in Fresno CA.  First and Second with Wells Fargo.  Listed it on 6/13/11 only to get short sale started.  Did not put active in MLS.  Had it in a temporary hold so I could print a MLS printout for the lenders.   Wells Fargo had to go through the HAFA qualifcation process even though we knew it would not qualify.  On June 29th, two enterprising Realtors found the listing hidden among the "temporary holds" and called me on it.  They both wrote offers asap on it and the seller accepted one of them.  Went through the entire HAFA process only to get the denial.  Had to reenter everything into equator and finished this last week.    Today I received approval on the first and the negotiator increased the $5,000 I was offering to th... 08/12/2011

How to Install a Dishwasher   If you are wondering how to install a dishwasher as I was this weekend, I can share what I learned during my first experience.  I did buy a home warranty through American Home Shield and they offered a $306 credit towards a new unit of our choice or they would come and install a brand new unit with the same features as our old broken unit as well as dispose of our old unit.  Since our old unit was black and we wanted to upgrade to a stainless steel unit with additional features to ensure that our dishes were spotless after a wash, we chose to take the $306 credit and go buy a unit of our liking.  I was able to find a nice stainless, Kenmore floor model at OSH Hardware that was significantly reduced as it was last years model and they needed more room on the... 08/09/2011

Here are the latest market statistics for Single Family Homes in North and NW Fresno and Clovis, CA for July 2011 per our local MLS as of 8/8/11                             Active          Pending        Sold      Total     Avg Sales Price       DOM 93722 -                 62                  136         108       306    $150,717                  76 93723-                    9                   12           9         30      $222,956                  41 93711-                  39                   30          28        97      $258,162                 100 93720-                  38                   54          54       146      $236,208                 158 93730-                  12                   17          11         40      $381,636                  60 93704-                  21... 08/08/2011

Motivated Seller, well you don't say.  I ran across this in the agent remarks of our local MLS today and I really laughed out loud.  I said to myself, really, their motivated, gee is that why they listed their house?  I love it especially when it is on a short sale listing.  Yes, they are motivated but is their bank(s)? I had a seller asked me once to put this is his listing as it was 30 days on the market without an offer.  I asked him if he was willing to do a price reduction and he said no.  Really, so what is your motivation?  Just by using these words is not going to make the buyers say "Gee honey, Mr. Seller is really motivated to sell, let's make a full price offer now" Another great one is "Priced to Sell".  I think it would be fun to put on the overpriced listings, "Priced to s... 07/21/2011

Yes, 3 more contracts in escrow due to Docusign!  !)   I have a buyer serving our country in Iraq right now who is buying a home from me so it makes it slightly hard to meet to sign contracts and disclosures.  He has signed everything through docusign and it has made this very easy and painless for him. 2)  Received and offer on one of my listings today.  Never met the seller who lives out of town.  She signed the listing and purchase contract through docusign.  Easy Peasy. 3)  Even my first time home buyers are in escrow using their docusign contract.  We got together to complete and review the first time they submitted the offer.  Then after that one did not get accepted, they wanted to only use docusign as they thought it was the neatest software ever. Docusign can make your life eas... 07/21/2011

I received an interesting phone call yesterday, from a buyer who was looking at one of our bank owned properties in Fresno CA.  She said, "Stephanie, my name is Jane and I do not appreciate my picture being taken, my cars picture and license plate being photographed" I asked if she was a Realtor and she said no that she is a buyer and has a Realtor.  Apparently she was looking through the front window of a home that her agent was going to show her the next day and the neighbor came out asked her name, took her picture a picture of her car and license number.  I apologized to her and told her that I could not control the neighbors actions.  She said based on that she didn't even want to look at the house.  I actually received a call from the neighbor when we first put the home on the mar... 07/17/2011

As a home staging professional I have worked with many hard working, enthusiastic real estate agents. We have collaborated our efforts to sell many a home. Some agents have been so convinced of the value of staging that they have even pitched in and gone above and beyond the call. One painted a room for a client and the other helped the homeowner, a widower, clean his kitchen. In both instances the work was grueling, but well worth the effort. One real estate agent told me that he liked having a home stager advise his clients so that he did not have to appear critical, or be the "bad guy." He could concentrate on selling and let the stager help the client spruce up the home for sale. I am not advocating that all agents go as far as cleaning and painting. Some with whom I have networked ... 07/13/2011

Just received this email from BofA.  Very exciting news!  BofA Short Sales - Now You Can Substitute a New Buyer for One Who Walked Without Restarting. As an example of our commitment to improving the short sale process, Bank of America now allows real estate agents to submit a backup offer on a transaction if the original buyer has walked away from the sale.  This means you will no longer have to initiate a new short sale; instead, you can continue with the original transaction in Equator and still work with your same short sale specialist.  This change will save you time by not having to repeat a number of process steps. When a Backup Offer Is Ready You should send a message to your short sale specialist via Equator when the original buyer is no longer interested in the property.  Your... 07/12/2011

Unfortunetly no where in California is on this list. To find cities with the most jobs and lower costs of doing business, you'll have to venture to the heartland, according to Forbes' 13th annual Best Places of Business list. Eighty percent of the top 25 regions on Forbes' list this year are from the center of the United States. Forbes' rankings evaluate 200 metro areas, factoring in job growth (past and projected), costs (business and living), income growth, projected economic growth, and educational attainment. Demographer Bert Sperling says the heartland's success is largely due to its "extractive industries," such as oil, gas, and mining and record-high crop prices that have added jobs. "These economies run in cycles, and these booms and busts are often decades in the making," Sterl... 07/12/2011

Using Docusign makes life easier for buyers, sellers and especially Realtors.  I have been using Docusign for the past 3 or 4 years and I love it!  Docusign is an electronic signature software.  I use it to send contracts to buyers to sign, istings to sellers to sign and disclsoures for both.  I always meet with my first time home buyers to write up the contract however in this market, buyers usually need to write more than one offer before they have one accepted.  In that instance I send the next contract to them via docusign and they love it!  We also do counter offers this way.  There are a few times the buyers lender will not accept the docusign signatures so we just have the buyer initial and sign right next to their e-signature. I had disclosures that needed to be signed and one o... 07/12/2011

On a short sale, who does the arms lenght affavadit pertain to?  I was reading a blog on another site and there is a BofA short sale where the Realtor is representing both the buyer and seller.  The seller happens to be her sister.  It is unknown if this was disclosed up front to the sellers lender.  The file was at the stage of investor review when BOOM, it was denied due to seller and Realtor being related.  There was a lot of feedback from Realtors on this.  Some feel that the arms lenght does not apply, escpecially if the relationship was disclosed and it should be fought.  Some say that no related party can benefit from a short sale.  So Active Rainers - whats your take? 07/10/2011

Today I visited my "Aqua Office", where the real work gets done.  Yep, that's right, the aqua office is my pool.  I did some paperwork, computer work, posted to Craigslist and finished up around 2:00 so I decided to visit my aqua office since I did not have any clients scheduled for the afternoon.  I always have my phone, ipad, pad and pen with me.  Today while relaxing in the pool reading my book, my phone decided to ring 4 times.  (It did not ring all morning while I was in my home office).  2 were buyers who I made appointments with for tomorrow and Monday, one was an out of town agent with a referral and one was a seller calling on a craigslist ad.   I think I should spend more time at my Aqua Office and let the calls keep coming in!  By the way it was only 99 today in Fresno, CA.  ... 07/09/2011

I ran across this quote today and felt it was very meaningful and wanted to share. As I go through all kinds of feelings and experiences in my journey through life -- delight, surprise, chagrin, dismay -- I hold this question as a guiding light: "What do I really need right now to be happy?" What I come to over and over again is that only qualities as vast and deep as love, connection and kindness will really make me happy in any sort of enduring way. - Sharon Salzberg This quote is so true in my life and  I am sure in others.  We all know that life is a journey and it does not always follow the path we thought it would.  Our business and personal lifes have issues that we have to deal with daily.  I always try to remember that there is somebody out there with much more challengind issu... 07/08/2011

Well I am back with a big broker and learning how to adjust.  It has been a week since I moved my license to the largest broker in Fresno, CA - London Properties.  I had been with two other large brokers and then hung my license with some broker friends for the past year and half.  All was great and I was working on getting my own brokers license.  I have some really great relationships within my new broker and after seeing everything they have to offer I bit the bullet and made the decision to move.  It has been a week and I have to say I have learned a lot so far.  Just hearing some of the litigation that has happened over the years and why their contracts are written they way they are was an eye opener.  I have never had a seller sign a short sale approval letter but my broker requir... 07/07/2011

When Texting, Do You Not Have to be Courteous?  I have a small condo listing in Fresno, CA that is only $50,000.  It is tenant occupied and I have in the MLS that tenant would like to stay for another 2 years and currently pays $900/month.  Showing instructions state, "offers subject to inspection only"  Seller would prefer not to inconvience the tenant with showings.  Now most of the time I do not even bother showing these listings when I run across them in the MLS however I took this short sale listing as this complex has only 3 different models and most agents are familiar with them.  Last night about 8:00 pm I receive a text message that said "Stephanie, make arrangements with tenant, I want to show at 4:30 tomorrow, Dan."  It took me a few minutes deciding how I wanted to respond. ... 07/03/2011

Here are some of the Fourth of July Happenings in Fresno and Clovis, CA Fresno Fourth of July Fireworks ExtravaganzaAlways one of the biggest nights of the year, Monday, July 4th brings not only the largest fireworks show in the Valley with the Fourth of July Fireworks Extravaganza, presented by Save Mart Supermarkets and ABC30, but also the Grizzlies' Highway 99 Showdown Series rivals, the Sacramento River Cats. Grizzlies players will don special Independence Day hats, which will be available in limited quantities in the Grizzlies TeamStore. Fans that purchase their Fourth of July tickets will have the option of purchasing a $5 ticket of equal value to either the Tuesday, July 5th fireworks night or Friday, July 8th Pack-the-Park fireworks night.Where:  Chukchansi Park in Downtown Fres... 07/02/2011

Here are the latest market statistics for Single Family Homes in North and NW Fresno and Clovis, CA for June 2011 per our local MLS as of 7/2/11                             Active          Pending        Sold      Total     Average Sales Price     DOM 93722 -                 83                  148         88       319      $141,037                  68 93723-                  12                   14           4         30      $208,225                  48 93711-                  30                   37          40       107      $313,405                  94 93720-                  54                   65          45       164      $253,118                  63 93730-                  19                   19          10         48      $417,483                  48 93704-                  ... 07/02/2011