Linda's Most Amazing Pizza Series #2

Linda's Most Amazing Pizza Series #2

Okay, so it's time for the next PIZZA REVIEW.  If you missed the first one, you can read itHERE.  I have always loved pizza in any way shape or form.  I even love the frozen kind so I can cook it crunchy like I like it!  Maybe it's because when I was growing up neither of my parents liked pizza so I could only have it when they were going out for the night.  Pizza is the next best thing to Mexican Food!

Anyway,  my husband's favorite pizaa is at a full-service Italian Restaurant called PIZZA N STUFF.  PIZZA N STUFF is located in La Verne - right in my neck of the woods.  I'm convinced that my husband likes it because he doesn't like to drive very far for anything.  We tease him about living inside of a 6-mile radius bubble.

The reason I like PIZZA N STUFF is for their pizza with lots of things on it.  You know when you go to a pizza place and they overcook all the veggies like bell pepper?  I HATE that!  But at PIZZA N STUFF the veggies come out just right, almost crunchy one would say.  (LOL)  We usually get pepperoni, pineapple (for my husband), bell pepper and onion.  It's really good, and you probably have to eat it with a fork as it's so think and covered in toppings.

My daughter and I love to get the house salad covered with cheese and their famous Italian dressing.  It's so good.  Besides, then we don't eat so much yummy pizza.

So, for more information on PIZZA N STUFF, go to THIS webpage.  And to try it, call me, we can always make a party out of it!

LA VERNE LIVING!

Warmest Regards,
Linda K. Mayer,
Realtor, Office Manager  
License # 01767321
A Realtor you can Trust!
(626) 824-8927 Cell
(909) 670-2711 Direct
LindaKMayer@live.com
Linda's Website

Claremont Real Estate Market Watch - September 3-8 2011

Claremont Real Estate Market Watch - September 3-8 2011

Market Watch

New Listing (8)
Price Change (8)
Back On Market (0)
Backup Offer (2)
Expired (7)
Pending (0)
Sold (5)

Better late than never - here is this week's CLAREMONT MARKET WATCH.  Not bad for a holiday week!

Eight new listings means that people are gaining confidence in the CLAREMONT REAL ESTATE MARKET.  And it seemd to me to be picking up as well.  And five have actually made it through the sale process and become a closed sale.  This is also good news, especially because it's hard to close during weeks with a holiday in them.

There are also seven expired listings which means that the home did not sell in the time allotted by the seller.  This could also mean that the home did not get approved by the bank for short sale and is being foreclosed on.  There could be many reasons for an expired listing.

This week there are no homes "back on the market."  Let me take a moment to explain this.  I strongly believe that homes are going back on the market due to the short sale process and the time it is taking for the banks to finally get around to making a decision.  It can take anywhere from 30 to 120 days to get an approval from the bank to go ahead with the short sale or decline it.  Now, let me say that this is a definite improvement from the "early days" of this real estate slump.  In those days (ya, like it was 50 yrs ago, right?!!?) some short sales were taking up to a year and sometimes even longer to go through.

So, needless to say, if you are a buyer and your offer is accepted by the seller (the homeowner) this does not mean that the sale will necessarily go through.  This means that the offer is submitted to the bank for an approval.  The bank may take up to four months (yes still) to give approval or denial.  

Instead of wasting time waiting for a specific home, buyers are putting in multiple offers.  If one home gets approval first, the buyer then backs out of other offers and therefore the property goes "back on the market". Of course, there are other causes, like loans that were denied, etc., but the main cause right now seems to be those crazy short sales.  So the fact that no homes in Claremont ended up "back on the market" is amazing and a good sign that things may been looking up for the real estate market.

And eight price changes, what can I say.  This is still an issue in Claremont and I have been harping commenting on this for weeks now.  But to be fair, sometimes the banks dictate the price on short sales and foreclosures so sometimes they request the price change.

And, as always, if you have real estate questions or need to buy or sell a home, please feel free to call me, a local expert.  I will be honored to assist you.

CLAREMONT LIVING!

Warmest Regards,
Linda K. Mayer,
Realtor, Office Manager  
License # 01767321
A Realtor you can Trust!
(626) 824-8927 Cell
(909) 670-2711 Direct
LindaKMayer@live.com
Linda's Website

La Verne Real Estate Market Watch - September 3-8 2011

La Verne Real Estate Market Watch - September 3-8 2011

Market Watch

New Listing (14)
Price Change (10)
Back On Market (2)
Backup Offer (6)
Expired (5)
Pending (5)
Sold (3)

Okay, so better late than never - here is this week's LA VERNE MARKET WATCH.  Not bad for a holiday week!


Fourteen new listings means that people are gaining confidence in the LA VERNE REAL ESTATE MARKET.  And it seemd to me to be picking up as well.  And three have actually made it through the sale process and become a closed sale.  This is also good news, especially because it's hard to close during weeks with a holiday in them.


Pending homes mean that five homes are now in escrow and on their way to becoming closed sales.  There are also five expired listings which means that the home did not sell in the time alloted by the seller.  This coukld also mean that the home did not get approved by the bank for short sale and is being foreclosed on.  There could be many reasons for an expired listing.  Also, there are six homes that have offers submitted to the bank and are taking back up offers only.



And there are two labeled "back on the market."  Let me take a moment to explain this.  I strongly believe that homes are going back on the market due to the short sale process and the time it is taking for the banks to finally get around to making a decision.  It can take anywhere from 30 to 120 days to get an approval from the bank to go ahead with the short sale or decline it.  Now, let me say that this is a definite improvement from the "early days" of this real estate slump.  In those days (ya, like it was 50 yrs ago, right?!!?) some short sales were taking up to a year and sometimes even longer to go through. So, needless to say, if you are a buyer and your offer is accepted by the seller (the homeowner) this does not mean that the sale will necessarily go through.  This means that the offer is submitted to the bank for an approval.  The bank may take up to four months (yes still) to give approval or denial.  So instead of wasting time waiting for a specific home, buyers are putting in multiple offers.  If one home gets approval first, the buyer then backs out of other offers and therefore the property goes "back on the market". Of course, there are other causes, like loans that were denied, etc., but the main cause right now seems to be those crazy short sales. 

And ten price changes, what can I say.  This is still an issue in La Verne and I have been harping commenting on this for weeks now.


And, as always, if you have real estate questions or need to buy or sell a home, please feel free to call me, a local expert.  I will be honored to assist you.


LA VERNE LIVING!

Warmest Regards,
Linda K. Mayer,
Realtor, Office Manager  
License # 01767321
A Realtor you can Trust!
(626) 824-8927 Cell
(909) 670-2711 Direct
LindaKMayer@live.com
Linda's Website

San Dimas Real Estate Market Watch - September 2-7 2011

San Dimas Real Estate Market Watch - September 2-7 2011

Market Watch

New Listing (10)
Price Change (5)
Back On Market (4)
Backup Offer (0)
Expired (5)
Pending (4)
Sold (4)

Okay, so better late than never - here is this week's SAN DIMAS MARKET WATCH.  Not bad for a holiday week!


Ten new listings means that people are gaining confidence in the SAN DIMAS REAL ESTATE MARKET.  And it seems to me to be picking up as well.  And four have actually made it through the sale process and become closed sale.  This is also good news, especially for a holiday weekend.


 Pending homes mean four homes are now in escrow and on their way to becoming closed sales.  There are also five expired listings which means that the home did not sell in the time allotted by the seller.  This could also mean that the house did not get approved for short sale and the bank is moving to foreclose.  There could be many reasons for an expired listing.



And four more are what's called "back on the market."  Let me explain this to you.  I believe that homes are going back on the market due to the short sale process and the time it is taking for bank's to finally get around to making a decision.  It can take anywhere from 30 days to 120 days to get an approval from the bank to go ahead with a short sale.  Now, let me say that this is a definite improvement from the "early days" of this real estate slump.  In those days (Ya, like it was 50 yrs ago, right?!!?) some short sales were taking up to a year and sometimes even longer to go through. So, needless to say, if you are a buyer and your offer is accepted by the seller (the homeowner) this does not mean that the sale will necessarily go through.  This means that the offer is submitted to the bank for an approval.  The bank may take up to four months (yes still) to give approval or denial.  So instead of wasting time waiting for a specific home, buyers are putting in multiple offers.  If one home gets approval first, the buyer then backs out of other offers and therefore the property goes "back on the market". Of course, there are other causes, like loans that were denied, etc., but the main cause right now seems to be those crazy short sales.
  
And only five price changes, we are definitely improving in this arena!  This si exciting to me as I have been harping commenting on this for weeks now.


And, as always, if you have real estate questions or need to buy or sell a home, please feel free to call me, a local expert.  I will be honored to assist you.

Warmest Regards,
Linda K. Mayer,
Realtor, Office Manager  
License # 01767321
A Realtor you can Trust!
(626) 824-8927 Cell
(909) 670-2711 Direct
LindaKMayer@live.com
Linda's Website

MADE IN AMERICA - COULD IT REALLY MEAN LA VERNE?

MADE IN AMERICA - COULD IT REALLY MEAN LA VERNE?


Okay, so a while I ago I watched a segment on a television new program (I know, not another article!) about jobs and manufacturing in America.  What the segment did was take an average American family and kick them out of their home.  The show then replaced their entire home with the same stuff, just all Made in America.  It was really cool to see the family come home and inspect their new things.  The show also talked about how hard it was to FIND things made in America let alone replace everything.  Made in America is really expensive here and some things were not available at all.  Kinda sad.


So, when I came across this ARTICLE (you knew I was getting here didn't you) about a manufacturere right here in LA VERNE, I was excited.  GAINEY CERAMICS has survived this far on a little piece of property (six acres) on one of the main drags here in town.  And when I read the story, I was really excited to share it with you guys.


GAINEY CERAMICS has been in business for nearly 65 years.  The had, at one time 180 employees, but have had to cut back to 15.  

The company is owned now by a third generation Gainey, Steve who is passionate about the family business.  It's probably due to him that the company is still in business.  he has been on the leading edge of ceramic innovation always coming out with new products so the business doesn't get stale.  He has even been studying old drawings from the early days to come up with a vintage line.  Local artists have been asked to collaborate for new ideas and designs. Steve is one reason they have survived.  

But Steve is a man on a mission.  He drives from his home at the beach all the way to LA VERNE five days a week.  He says he wants to win and he wants America to win again.  Manufacturing needs to stay here.  Part of the issues are equipment permits.  So Steve has been actuvely writing the AQMD here and has finally had two responses from the 15 member board saying they will look into the matter.  Way to go, Steve!



So, if you're looking to buy ceramics of any kind or a unique gift, GAINEY has opened a new retail showroom open from 10-5 Monday-Saturday.  It's the place to go and help keep manufaturing jobs here in America where they belong!


GAINEY CERAMICS is located at 1200 Arrow Highway in La Verne.  For more information please call (909) 593-3533 or visit www.gaineyceramics.com

Bonita Unifed School District - Home of the Rising Test Scores

Bonita Unifed School District - Home of the Rising Test Scores




Okay, so I was excited to see yet another article today... I know, I know.  This one was about Bonita Unified School Districtwhich covers the cities of BOTH San Dimas and La Verne.  And I was excited to see that the district is making progress in those STAR testing scores.


Personally, I don't think this is a great test of how a school district is doing.  There are plenty of kids who freeze up when you say test and can't think straight.  I know because I have one of those in my home.  What about the drop out rate, what about the graduate/fail rate.  To me those are much better indicators of how things are coming along... but I guess that's beside the point.

Bonita scored 854 which was a 15 point increase over last year.  Pretty good, huh!  And the school with the largest growth,SAN DIMAS HIGH - Let's hear it for the Saints!  Way to go, guys!

Anyway, you can find your school's test scores at THIS LINK.  Let me say, that this link is specific to California.  But from what I can tell, you can change it to be more specific to your own state.


So, if you are looking to move into this area and have questions about just about anything, please give me a call.  And of course if you need to buy or sell a home, please use me, a local expert! I will be honored to assist you.

Warmest Regards,
Linda K. Mayer,
Realtor, Office Manager  
License # 01767321
A Realtor you can Trust!
(626) 824-8927 Cell
(909) 670-2711 Direct
LindaKMayer@live.com
Linda's Website

High School Football - The Smudgepot Game

High School Football - The Smudgepot Game

Okay, so tonight and tomorrow night are the annual SMUDGEPOT GAMES between rivals San Dimas High School and Bonita High School of the Bonita Unified School District!  Tonight are the junior varsity games and tomorrow night the kicker - the varsity match up!  You can find more info about BONITA here.  and the schedule for SAN DIMAS is here.

Now, you've heard me tell my story before about how I fell in love with HS Football. So for me and local sports enthusiasts, it's a fabulous time of the year.  And because there are so many fans, this is the first year that both games will be played at the Cirtus College stadium.

So come on out and support you loca team, BONITA or SAN DIMAS, whichever you prefer.  Remember, it'a all about the kids!

Warmest Regards,
Linda K. Mayer,
Realtor, Office Manager  
License # 01767321
A Realtor you can Trust!
(626) 824-8927 Cell
(909) 670-2711 Direct
LindaKMayer@live.com
Linda's Website