Linda Kay -The Barefoot Realtor

Thursday, January 24, 2013

La Verne State of the City Luncheon 2013

La Verne State of the City Luncheon 2013

The 2013 La Verne State of the City Luncheon will be hosted on January 31 by theLa Verne Chamber of Commerce and the La Verne Rotary Club. It will be held at the Meeting House at Hillcrest Manor in La Verne, CA.

This year's address wil be by La Verne Mayor, Don Kendrick. It will include La Verne's past successes as well as touch on future plans for programs and services in the city.

The luncheon will be a Tuscan buffet. Registration will begin at 11:30 AM with the luncheon beginning at 11:45AM and the program at 12:30PM. This event is public. La Verne residents interested in information about their city must make reservations. If you wish to attend you can get tickets by calling Hillcrest Manor at (909) 593-4917 ext 0 no later than this Friday, January 25.

Serving the 210 Corridor - the cities of Monrovia, Duarte, Azusa, Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, Claremont, Upland, Pomona, Chino, Chino Hills, Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana.

Warmest Regards,
Linda K. Mayer, Realtor
License # 01767321
A Realtor you can Trust!
(626) 824-8927 Cell
LindaKMayer@live.com

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Bank of America's New Guidelines for Short Sales

Bank of America's New Guidelines for Short Sales

I see so very many posts right now about short sale information. At the beginning of this year, I saw a slow down on approvals from everyone on short sales. So my prediction and opinion I was relating to my clients was that the banks are going to slow down on approvals and move to the foreclosure option.

My opinion was based on the fact that when this whole mess began and Obama 'bailed out' the banks, he gave them a deadline for getting rid of bad debt (homes behind in their mortgage payments). The deaadline was December 31, 2013. Since short sales take quite a bit of time and many have a few false starts which also delays the process, it only made sense that the banks would have to start foreclosing instead of dealing with the short sale process.

And now, Bank of America has been the first to start this practice. You can see from the guidelines below that this is what they intend.

I also predict that home values have gone up due to a sharp decline in foreclosures and short sales when the banks stopped for the holidays. Since the prices have gone up, many sellers have taken advantage and are now starting to list their homes for sale. With the rise in homeowners selling and the rise in foreclosures, one can see that with supply and demand being what they are, the prices should drop slightly during the year.

Hopefully you can see, that this year, NOW is the perfect time to buy. Before the interest rates start to rise, before the prices get all out of hand again.

And if you are thinking of moving, definitely pick a local expert and someone you can trust. I will be more than happy to answer your questions or help you with your real estate needs.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Up Close and Personal - Digging Deep in January 2013 Or, What a CRAZY Year 2013 Was For Me!

Up Close and Personal - Digging Deep in January 2013

Or, What a CRAZY Year 2013 Was For Me!

Okay, so most of you who read my blog know that the craziness started in May of 2012 when I had an impacted wisdom tooth. I was down for the count for about a month, when low and behold, I broke my heel. Ya, if you've ever tried to think while taking Oxycodone, you know I was down for quite a few weeks. Thank God I didn't have to have surgery! So here I was thinking maybe this is God's was of telling to to slow down or stop and smell the roses...

I was just getting back into the swing of things when, low and behold, our house sold and we had to get ready to move. Moving is stressful at any time, but this was a short sale which was very disconcerting for my husband. And during this time, BofA starting selling books of loans and short sales were being canceled. Now, again, if you have read my blog, you know that my husband has to have a security clearance for his job and a foreclosure could be disastrous. So, once again thanking God, we made it through the crazy process and it was time to move.

The move was originally supposed to take place at the end of September but was moved to the middle of October as things progressed. That was fine except that my mother was supposed to have knee replacement surgery the first week of October. "That's okay, I can handle it", I thought. I can get her taken care of and then complete the move afterwards.

HA! Funny! I love my mother so very much, as most of you know. And I am the only child, so her care falls on me and my children. So immediately after the surgery, things started to go wrong. She had a TIA (mini-stroke) 2 days after surgery, which left her a bit dazed and confused. And they were having trouble with things such as her salt and potassium levels. This meant another couple of days in the hospital to get things stabilized. Finally, after surgery on Monday, she was transferred to rehab on Friday evening.

The rehab that had a bed for her was a really good one that I had heard of and I just knew they would take good care of her there. This was also the same weekend that we had the UHAUL truck and were doing the biggest portion of our move. So on Saturday, I went to visit her around 10:30 in the morning on one leg of my trip from one home to the other.

At that time, she told me that earlier she had had pains and trouble breathing. She said she was better, that they had come in and moved her body position around and she just had a little bit of chest pain. So I left as she was better. Around 3PM, I spoke with her and she said she was still hurting but guessed it was due to the positioning of her body still. About 6:30PM, my aunt had talked to her and she was crying because her chest hurt so bad and they rehab "wouldn't help" her. She was very distressed. She then called me crying. She said they told her she was just upset because of the move and wouldn't help her. I told her to hang up and tell them to call 911 right away.

Like 20 minutes later, a man called my cell from the rehab asking my "permission" to take her to the hospital... REALLY???? Like they need my permission! He acted like I was crazy for giving it, as if she needed it! She has a mind as sharp as a tack!

I can't believe they wasted so much time and let her lay there and have a heart attack! Crazy! Needless to say, she was in the hospital for a couple of weeks and then went to a friend's house to recuperate.

It was like five weeks of craziness, what with the move and all. And real estate? HA, that's a good one! But in the end, God is amazing and protected her from a situation that could have been much worse. And I made it through and even got my house in order to have my husband's company Christmas party and our family Christmas Day!

Happy New Year to all, and now, I'm back in the real estate saddle once again!

(Momma, Christmas 2012)

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Being Proactive - Being Prepared Ahead of Your Emergency

Being Proactive - Being Prepared Ahead of Your Emergency

Once Again, I feel a need to reblog this post. After watching Hurricane Sandy and the aftermath and then with the crazy Guatemala earthquake right on it's heels, I just can't help but SCREAM again, BE PREPARED! In fact, with this hurricane we all heard people who are counting on the government and/or the Red Cross to take care of them. Sometimes you just have to take care of yourself for a while!

THE DISASTER PLAN: THINGS WE NEVER THINK OF

Okay, so one of our local Dj’s, Pete Demetriou, formerly on KFWB news radio met me at one of our local Red Cross Shelters. In the course of our discussion, he let me know that he had a great plan for any sort of evacuation he and his wife would have to do in the future. It’s actually kind of brilliant, especially the part about how to have cash on hand.

When I see most people on the news talking about their evacuation, they always say the same thing: They got family, animals and pictures. Most of us have never been in a catostrauphic event where our state’s infrastructure has been compromised. We have never had to go without an ATM for cash, and we simply don’t think of these things. I think with all of the crazy things happening around the world, the floods, fires and earthquakes, now more than ever we need to be ready to take care of ourselves. So, without further ado: The Plan.

DOCUMENTS TO HAVE ON HAND IN THE EVENT OF AN EVACUATION, BY PETE DEMETRIOU REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION

Make three copies of the documents - ALL copies should be in color. One in the Home in a secure location. One in a local Bank Safety Deposit Box. One in an out of State Bank Safety Deposit Box.

In the Home Copy, include a packet of cash for travel or other needs. For 2 people…it should be roughly $500 dollars (10, $20’s, 10, $10’s, 20 $5’s and 100, $1.00’s. NO $50’s or $100’s) to last for 48 to 96 Hours.The reasoning here is that the stores will be full of people and if you have an exact payment, you will be helped before those that need change.

Copy of Birth Certificate Copy of Social Security Card Copy of Driver’s license

Copy of US Passport Financial Information (including institution, account numbers, passwords, etc): Checking Accounts, Savings Accounts Money Market Accounts, Retirement Funds, Stocks, Bonds. (Annual Reports from Stock Brokers are also fine.)

Photocopy of Credit Cards. On attached sheet, include (from each card) CCV number from back of card, account number, expiration date, name as listed on account, Card Company’s toll free number

Safety Deposit Box information, copy of key

Copy of recent tax documents (includes paper and or CD copy of State and Federal for past 2 years)

Copy of Property Tax Bill, Title Documents for Home.

Copy of Auto Title (Pink Slip or Bank Lien)

Documents related to Wills, Trusts, Durable Power of Attorney, Medical Directives

Copies of insurance policies (life, health, home, car) including the contact information (phones and or websites) of the Carriers.

A short (10 numbers at most) list of emergency Phone numbers of Relatives or Critical Personnel

I hope everyone who reads this will have some sort of plan – especially an out-of-state plan – just in case we should ever have a huge, catastrophic event.

And if you are thinking of moving, definitely pick a local expert and someone you can trust. I will be more than happy to answer your questions or help you with your real estate needs.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

The Ten Commandments of Lending

The Ten Commandments of Lending

Okay so one of the guys here in my new office brought this flyer in to me. It's a very useful tool for buyers to make sure they don't sabotage their own loan while in the process!

1. Thou shalt NOT change jobs or become self-employed until after closing

2. Thou shalt NOT buy a car, truck or van unless you plan to live in it

3. Thou shalt NOT use your credit cards or let payments fall behind

4. Thou shalt NOT spend any of the money you saved for your down payment

5. Thou shalt NOT buy furniture before you buy your house

6. Thou shalt NOT originate any new inquiries on your credit report

(Don't test drive cars as they sometimes pull your credit without you being aware...)

7. Thou shalt not make any large deposits into your bank account(s)

8. Thou shalt NOT change banks or bank accounts

9. Thou shalt NOT co-sign for anyone

10. Thou shalt NOT purchase anything until after closing

So a big thank you to Steve Chavarria for providing this useful tool and for giving me permission to use it!

If you are thinking of moving into my area of Southern California, please don't hesitate to contact me for more local information and listings. I will be more than happy to answer any questions and get you on the right path to homeownership!

The Other Side of The Coin - Part 2

The Other Side of The Coin - Part 2

Okay so here's my second post on our personal experience of short-selling our home and finding a home to lease. It's always nice for a seller or buyer to know that we understand what they are actually going through and how they are feeling. And I especially now can understand the buyers perspective and the sellers perspective from a whole new viewpoint. (If you missed Part 1, click it to read the first installment.)

My husband, in all his wisdom, has decided that he needs to read every piece of mail offering to short sell, modify or otherwise help with our house situation. He even sits through the continuous phone calls to hear their spiel in order to help tell me how to better do my job. (Like I haven't been doing this for a long time now...).

Honestly, at first he made me upset - I guess the stress of having to short sell your home is frustrating anyway. I mean after the like 50th call and the 100th piece of mail, you get a little sick and tired... but he saved me this one piece of mail that he really liked. It had some wonderful ideas of what to say and how to say it. What a great guy to put up with it all!

So by now, I am totally positive that the pieces of junk mail and the phone calls are extremely overwhelming to the seller/buyer. It's making me stop and think from the other side of the coin. Game changer, maybe. We shall see!

Stay Tuned for PART 3.

If you are thinking of moving into my area of Southern California, please don't hesitate to contact me for more local information and listings. I understand where you are coming from as a seller/buyer/renter, and I will be more than happy to answer any questions and get you on the right path to homeownership!

Serving the 210 Corridor - the cities of Monrovia, Duarte, Azusa, Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne, Claremont, Upland, Pomona, Chino, Chino Hills, Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana.

Warmest Regards,
Linda K. Mayer, Realtor

License # 01767321

A Realtor you can Trust!

(626) 824-8927 Cell

LindaKMayer@live.com

Linda's Website

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

The Other Side of The Coin

The Other Side of The Coin

Okay so, most of these blogs have been written from the Realtor's perspective. But since we are in the middle of short-selling our home, I decided to write about it from a sellers/renters perspective. It's always nice for a seller or buyer to know that we understand what they are actually going through and how they are feeling.

Let me start with trying to lease a house. For starters, we looked at like 15 homes in the area we wanted to be in. My husband gets easily tired of doing the same thing, so this was broken up in to different days and times. And we finally narrowed it down to two. We submitted an offer on choice number one about a month ago. No answer, no answer, no answer. Finally I had to threaten to go to another home if I didn't get an answer. REALLY? How do some agents stay in business? And the things he asked for to lease the house... pictures of the dogs, pictures of the family, he came over and took pictures of our current home... again I ask, REALLY?

On home number two, the agent kept contacting me. What a difference. He suggested three or four different homes for us to preview. He texted me repeatedly letting me know he was really trying to help us out. He never asked to see the dogs or come to our home. He was courteous and friendly.

Anyway, long story short, we got our home and will be starting to move October 15th... the dogs will be happy, the kids are excited and we got a DEAL.

Stay tuned for part two!

So if you are thinking of moving into my area of Southern California, please don't hesitate to contact me for more local information and listings. I understand where you are coming from as a seller/buyer/renter, and I will be more than happy to answer any questions and get you on the right path to homeownership!