Mountain House is the best place to live, I think, especially if you have a family. We are getting ready to have our 4th of July parade. It's just like the one I remember growing up watching in Alameda. Afterwards there is an old fashioned community picnic in the park. If you are thinking about moving here, you should definately attend this! If Mountain House might be the place you'd like to buy a house then contact me. We'll do a free consultantion and application over the phone. DRE #01395691 06/17/2009

TOP 5 Reasons I DO NOT answer MY PHONE! These are mine..... what are yours........ 5.  Caller ID says it's your spouse's Mother on the other end of the line. 4.  You're riding in the CAR with Someone besides YOURSELF - your kids, spouse, a friend.  (OK I admit I do answer when in the car with kids, rarely with husband, rarely to never when it's a friend in the car with me.) 3.  You're in a meeting!  I was in a meeting the woman in front of me DID ANSWER HER PHONE. 2.  You are with clients. The NUMBER 1 REASON to NOT Answer your phone..... 1.   You  are in the BATHROOM --- yes someone actually DID answer their phone when I called, and YES they were in the bathroom - they told me!!! Come on add to the list.... I know you've got examples..........     I take pride in helping home buyers an... 05/24/2009

REGRET PRICE!What is that?  Regret price is the price you would regret if you didn't pay..... this philosophy can be applied to EVERYTHING, however it works especially well with BUYERS!You know Home Buyers.... who ask ... how little can I pay, I want the best deal..... is that really the issue?  NOPE.  How many times have you heard that then the buyer doesn't get the home, they wait until it is sold and find out what was paid .... what is always said ..... "Oh drat I would have paid that!"  That is the REGRET PRICE.Now when the property is sold, and they don't get the home, when they find out what it sold for and they think, "WOW, I would never have paid that for that property."  Again - the REGRET PRICE.I'm getting my clients to start thinking about their "REGRET PRICE"  for every hous... 05/13/2009

SCAM ALERT - BEWARE - THIS CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE!!! This happened right here in Tracy, CA........ I get a call from my 76 year old father.... """Susan we've got a HUGE problem, Tyler (my oldest) just called and he's in jail, got drunk, got in an accident and is Canada.  He needs $4,800 to get out as that is the damage to the car.""" Now, I can't express how panicked I was.  First, Tyler is supposed to be in Albuquerque, in the Air Force.  I quickly try to call him, Of course he doesn't answer his phone, (he's in jail); so next I send an email to his Military on base email - it simply said "Call me now".  He does - immediately. Bottom line - we was not in Canada, not in an accident, not in jail. This was a scam to cause you to panic and send money immediatley. The good news is my dad told... 04/22/2009

Top 10 Ways to KNOW if you are a Workaholic (Disclaimer, a colleague stopped by the office, her husband said "SO who's the work-aholic?" So what if it WAS Sunday morning at 10:00, I've never considered myself a work-aholic, but am I? Or Am I just trying to be available to my clients, day in and day out, 24/7?) What are your additions to the list...... 10) Your husband, what husband, oh yeah, I remember him......has to ask you out on a date 3 weeks in advance. 9) You hear your children say - Mom is always on the phone, she's always busy. 8) Your friends don't call anymore, they already KNOW you are can't go. 7) When you are with your husband, family and friends, they ask if you "CAN EVER put down that D*&* Phone". 6) You have to buy a bigger purse to carry your notebook, pen, phone, MLS ... 04/20/2009

Today when I was listening to an agent complain..... I have too many buyers, there is not enough inventory... What happened to last year -- the complain was "I don't have enough buyers, and there is SO much inventory." Is there a happy median?  Are we ever satisfied?   We should be - does it really matter if there is too much or too little inventory?  NOPE - it is what it is - the market is the market.  So now it's up to you to make it what you want it to be. Too many buyer, too few buyers - this you CAN control.  Too many buyers, refer them to someone in your office, that is a far better alternative ( a referral fee) than to let them find someone else.  Too few buyer -- get out there and find them.  Blog on Active Rain, do whatever you do best to attract buyers, and do it to mastery. 04/20/2009

  Is it a Buyer's Market or a Seller's Market?  This questions was recently asked me via a "Twitter" My answer is YES! YES! YES! This is especially true in my local area of Tracy, Mountain House and the Central Valley of California. The buyer opportunities are amazing, interest rates are the lowest they have ever been in history.  Prices are at an 15 year low.  Why shouldn't buyers be buying? As to Sellers, there are so many opportunities for buyers that many buyers are buying.  This leads to fierce competition for well priced, maintained 'tier' one properties.  Sellers are seeing multiple offers on properties, over asking price is common, and most properties are selling within the first 30 days on the market. So the SIMPLE answer is YES! If you're not in the "game" why not?  What are y... 03/23/2009

First of all, I would just like to say that I am now affiliated with Connect Realty.  After a year with Prudential (which I'm going to miss some of the agents and my old broker), I am sad to say that I have found another brokerage where it is willing to offer a high split than what I am or was getting with Prudential.  I like it, when I'm doing most of the hard work and I'm getting most of my commission split.    03/23/2009

The easiest 'virtual tour' I've ever done. I had some photos, and I use Picasa to keep my photos organized. If you upload your photos to PicasaWeb, you have the option to "make a movie." You can add music to the movie, and then voila - you create the movies. Upload to YouTube (this is the first one I tried, it's photos of my son golfing) and you are DONE. All this in less than 10 minutes. 03/17/2009

When did this ball BOUNCE?  I can tell you --- it bounced when it hit bottom and started back up. There is an old saying, "buy low".  This is TRUE- however - no one has EVER said "Buy Bottom". Why not -- why not "Buy Bottom, Sell TOP?" Because we don't know know where Bottom is?  We don't know where TOP is either. So here is the best advise I can give..... AIM LOW! Weigh all the facts, the interest rate, the current price of homes and when you think it's LOW enough for you, get off the fence and BUY. I do know this --- there are going to be a lot of people in a few years who said "I wish I had bought that house in 2009, it was ONLY $XYZ. "  We've seen it before, we'll see it again. AIM LOW ----- BUY LOW-----   03/15/2009

Attention First Time Home Buyers!!!! I spoke to a client - and shame on me - for not telling y client myself -- his tax person had no idea about the tax credit available for First Time Home Buyers.  SO --- to redeem myself - Im going to tell everyone... If you purchased a home between April 9, 2008 through June 30, 2009 (yes it can be retroactive) and you have not owned a home for the past 3 years, you qualify. If you are single or married filing jointly the govenment will give you an interest free loan of $7500.  Your payments will be $500 over the next 15 years, and will be paid via your tax returns yearly.  THis credit is REFUNDABLE which mean even if you don't owe taxed you get the money. There are some income stipulation and if you should sell or refinance the loan would need to be... 02/05/2009

Home Buyers -- Investors --- it's 2009!!Everywhere you turn you hear about gloom and doom of the economy.  However, out of the Great Depression came more new Millionaires than every before.... and we are still so much better off than that era.  Every buyer wants to buy at the bottom, get the best deal, not pay a single cent more than necessary. No one can predict the futher, I can tell you that the prices today are at about 1990 levels and interest rates are lower than anyone has seen in 20 years.  I will know that we have hit bottom the second you are calling saying "Susan why didn't we buy a house last week, month, year?" Here is a quick chart of the real estate market. As I study this chart I picture a rock skipping along on a lake, bouncing along, up and down.  How low will the mark... 02/01/2009

YES I DID!  October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month! Ironically I was diagnosed with breast cancer October of 2004. But first let me go back in time- I had participated in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life event in Tracy in honor of some friends & family who survived cancer. Little did I know that in the following months I would be diagnosed with breast cancer, and be back the next year as a cancer survivor myself. The thing that bothered me the most was that my broker's wife (who I used to play softball with) had died of breast cancer the month before (Sept 2004) I was diagnosed in Oct of 2004. I was still getting over the grief of her death. She was only 42 yrs old. I never thought, "Why me? I thought, "Why now?" My husband and I were planning our retirement - there's so m... 01/15/2009

I've helped so many first time buyers buy thier first home this year.  I can not tell you how honored I am every time that these great people have chosen ME to help them with such a HUGE memorable experience. I wanted to compile a short list of things you as a BUYER need to know.... 1) Your Good Faith Deposit - Ernest Money - is not deposited until the offer is accepted by the seller.  This deposit is APPLIED to your downpayment. 2) In Tracy California which is in San Joaquin County, closing costs, all the extra fees, prepaid amounts etc usually runs 3 - 4%.  As of right now, December 22nd, many sellers, even Bank Sellers are willing to pay these fees.  What's included in this 3% --- Prepaid Taxes, Prepaid insurance, Points for your loan, Appraisal, Inspection Fees, Home Warranty and ma... 12/23/2008

Am I the only one who is infuriated with Home Owners, or should I say Mortgage Holders, or Landlords - the one who's RESPONSIBLE for paying the mortgage.... remember them..... I'm sure the RENTER who is renting their property, who's paid the rent on time every month for fear of eviction would call them something else. This situation just ticks me off.  I've gone to far too many homes, to do Cash For Keys, only to find a renter in the property, completely surprised that they have 3 weeks to find a new place.   They asked the landlord about the notice on the door "It was a mistake, We took care of that, etc" was what they heard. So WHAT CAN A RENTER DO? Is it illegal to take the rent money, first and last months rent, security deposit and not pay the mortgage.  One couple had only lived i... 12/23/2008

  Listen Carefully and I will tell you the story of "How the Market Fell". The home on the left was for sale you see sold 13 days only in 4/06 for $425,000 woah wee. Fast forward now to December 2008 to see what will be this homes fate. Will it sell for more, will it sell for less? I'll bet you won't have to think hard to have a correct guess. New CMA, New BPO, a new REO is how this will be sold. The price will be much less we're told than the price it was in 2006 if we're lucky it'll sell for $146K So as you can see our market's declined to a state where we wonder will it we ever survive. Houses can't go much lower "they" all say I hope not I think as I kneel down to pray. I pray for the people that thought they bought the American Dream is what they sought what they found was a night... 12/23/2008

I LOVE LOVE LOVE having unlimited minutes on my phone! Best thing I ever did. If you don't have unlimited minutes you should, I think all the carriers offer it now.   12/22/2008

I've helped so many first time buyers buy thier first home this year.  I can not tell you how honored I am every time that these great people have chosen ME to help them with such a HUGE memorable experience. I wanted to compile a short list of things you as a BUYER need to know.... 1) Your Good Faith Deposit - Ernest Money - is not deposited until the offer is accepted by the seller.  This deposit is APPLIED to your downpayment. 2) In Tracy California which is in San Joaquin County, closing costs, all the extra fees, prepaid amounts etc usually runs 3 - 4%.  As of right now, December 22nd, many sellers, even Bank Sellers are willing to pay these fees.  What's included in this 3% --- Prepaid Taxes, Prepaid insurance, Points for your loan, Appraisal, Inspection Fees, Home Warranty and ma... 12/21/2008

I decided to take my 11 year old daughter to see some Christmas lights --- WOW the options we have living in Northern CA.  CLick on any photo for more information about THAT House.  Have fun!   For a complete list of all Must See Displays in Northern CA Click HERE! to get to the Lights of the Valley Web Site.   One of the best and closest Holiday Display to Tracy, California is this house in Manteca, CA.  Manteca is about 15 miles east of Tracy.   Then there is the home below, which is right here in Tracy, complete with snow and music you listen to through your radio. Here is one more home with Christmas Lights in Tracy, CA   Enjoy! Susan Christmas is one of my favorite times of year, driving and looking at the lights is just fun, even if no one will go with me. 12/20/2008

Ok, you probably read my first blog about WAMU's negotiation process in short sale.  This is an update... I recently received a counter-offer from the negotiator and I think it is ridiculed.  According to the appraisal report, WAMU countered the buyer's offer $40,000 more without any credits to buyer.  Plus, the realtor's commission is only 4.5%.  I don't know what appraiser did WAMU used, but I know for sure that that house isn't worth $320,000.  I've sent another comparables to the negotiator and asking her if she could renegotiate.  Hopefully, it will not take another 30-days of waiting.  12/18/2008