I’m pleased to announce that we are no longer a part of the Realty World, Northern California franchise. No longer being part of the corporate world, we are back to being your home town real estate company, locally owned and operated. We are also using our original name, O’Dell Realty. Please go to our website John ODell Realty There you can search for all the MLS listings, foreclosures or put yourself on a free mailing list of homes with your own criteria to find exactly the home or land that you are looking for.
With the advent of the world wide web, there is no need for being a part of a corporate franchise. Along with our own web site, we can provide you with large exposure on many other websites, such as Realtor.com, Trulia and others, to mention just a few. Of course your property is also listed on the Nevada CountyMultiple Listing service. We also have direct access to all of the Bay Area MLS’s and beyond, along with most of the Northern California MLS’s. Currently we are working with clients buying property in the Bay Area, along with our clients here in Nevada County.
We want to thank our clients that has helped us to be successful for these many years.
I never did like to rent a home, it seems like I was just throwing money out the door every month and paying off the landlords mortgage, plus putting some money in his pocket.
I realize that we had a run up in home prices that put almost everyone out of the market or they bought more house than they could have afforded. Times have changed and there are some really good bargains out there.
The bargains are getting so good in Nevada County, that the lower price homes often have multiple offers. I’ve placed several offers for clients in homes that were from $200,000 to $500,000 below the original price. Yes, $500,000 that’s not a typo. A lot of homes are now selling below replacement costs. It’s time to buy now, to own your home and not pay off some land lords mortgage.
And finally, a home is an investment. When you rent, you write your monthly check and that money is gone forever. But when you own your home, you can deduct the cost of your mortgage loan interest from your federal income taxes, and usually from your state taxes. This will save you a lot each year, because the interest you pay will make up most of your monthly payment for most of the years of your mortgage. You can also deduct the property taxes you pay as a homeowner. In addition, the value of your home may go up over the years. Finally, you’ll enjoy having something that’s all yours – a home where your own personal style will tell the world who you are.
In a very unusual accordance, Canadian folk singer Taylor Mitchell, 19, was killed by coyotes in a national park in Nova Scotia, according to a park spokesman.
Taylor Mitchell, 19, was at the beginning of the Skyline Trail in Cape Breton Highlands National Park on Tuesday afternoon when she was attacked, according to Chip Bird, the Parks Canada field unit superintendent for Cape Breton.
Bird said hikers saw the coyotes attacking Mitchell and called 911. She was airlifted to a hospital in Halifax, where she died about 12 hours later, he said.
For those of you who have been reading my blog, I wrote about my dog, Angel, being attacked by coyotes. This happened sometime ago when I let her out of my backyard. When she did not come back right away, I started calling her and she finally came up the stairs all bloody, with torn flesh and puncture wounds, completely wiped out. After a visit to the vet and a routine of antibiotics she recovered completely.
This led me to a little research about coyotes and it is indeed rare for coyotes to kill anyone. The last recorded killing of a human by coyotes was in Los Angeles, when an 8 year old girl was killed in 1980. However, coyotes carry all kinds of diseases, including rabies. So don’t feed them, they become used to human beings, resulting in future attacks of humans. Here are some more facts about coyotes:
A typical coyote attack to a sheep or goat is to bite the throat just behind the jaw and below the ear, causing death from suffocation and shock.
In the rare event that a coyote attacks you or someone near you, yell at the coyote to make it back off. Don’t run away since a coyote can outrun you (unless you can run faster than 30 mph!). (Los Altos Town Crier 7/24/96; Coyote Fact Sheet)
I don’t know about you, but I’m getting really tired of hearing the phrase “in this economy.” As in: “Everyone’s trying to save money…in this economy.” “Who can afford this, that, or the other thing…in this economy?” “Good luck getting a job, making a profit, running a business…in this economy.”
It’s as if “this economy” is a catch-all excuse for failure, inaction, and stuck-ness. Okay, certain things are out of our control. But let’s not throw everything that is within our control into the same hopeless bag. If you’re a business owner, there’s a lot you can do to secure an advantage over your competition who’s given in to the doom-and-gloom mentality of “this economy.”
Here are some starters:
Figure out your USP, and tell everybody what it is. If you’re not sure if you even have a USP, it means “unique selling proposition.” So what makes you so special? If you’re not the biggest, the oldest, or the closest, you must have something else that no one else has. Dig it out, polish it up, show it off. Hint: what do your best customers say about you?
2 Make sure your website is as good as it can be. Please don’t tell me you don’t have a website! (Okay, do tell me…I can help.) Forget the flash and snazzy graphics. You need a clean, easily navigable, informative website. The more content, the better—both for getting more web traffic and for making your readers know, like, and trust you. People who know, like, and trust you will buy from you! And on that website
3. Put an opt-in form in a prominent place. This simple tool can literally bring in 90% of your sales. If you’re not sure what this is, I’m sure you’ve seen them on other websites: people enter their name and e-mail address and give you permission to keep in touch with them. Voila, when they need the product or service you offer, guess who’s top-of-mind—you!
4. Be famous. Not celebrity-famous—but establishing yourself as an expert in your field will put you light-years ahead of your competitors. This means you offer articles, news releases, blog posts, case studies, white papers, even an informative Yellow Pages ad—all kinds of free, no-obligation content that gets your name “out there” and convinces people you know your stuff. Secondary benefit: all that “free stuff” makes people feel indebted to you—and more likely to choose you over your competitors.
5.Have materials to hand out. Called “marketing collateral,” these are all the print pieces that support any sales messages you have: brochures, free articles, point-of-sale take-home pieces, catalogs, magalogs, white papers, and so on. These offline pieces have a “stickiness” that online content doesn’t have: people will keep, re-read, and pass along to others informative reading material. Make sure your contact info (including your web address!) is on everything.
5.Advertising can be expensive. And that “I can’t afford to advertise…in this economy” mentality has led to the failure of many businesses…especially in this economy. But the above relatively simple and inexpensive strategies will give you the visibility, authority, and distinction you need to remain competitive in your field. Even in this economy. Especially in this economy.
Lisa J. Lehr is a writer and copywriter living in Grass Valley. She can help you promote your business with a full range of online and offline marketing pieces. A member of Empire Toastmasters, she’s available to speak to your business or professional group. Visit her website www.justrightcopy.com for more information, opt in for a message series, and receive a free Marketing Guide.
I building a barn for clients whom I built their home in 2002, than a workshop last year and now they have decided to build a barn. We lost a lot of time last week because of the rains. We finished putting the roofing on today, finished the rough plumbing and actually screwed in a lot of the interior walls which are plywood. It takes a little more time to use screws in set of nails, but if the client in the future wants to remove some of the walls or put blocking in, it will make it easier for them.
Today we get inspection for the framing, rough plumbing and hold-downs. Hold downs are so to speak, anchors into the foundation with brackets that attach to the framing. We should be close to finishing next week, and actually, the clients are putting hay in the barn this Friday. They can do that and not be in our way at this stage of the barn building.
The Nevada County Fairgrounds Foundation is hosting a carved pumpkin contest and a scarecrow contest at its Barn Raising Celebration on Saturday, October 31, from 2 – 5 pm at the Whitney Pavilion at the Nevada County Fairgrounds.
If you’re interested in entering the contests, your carved pumpkins and scarecrows should be dropped off at the Fairgrounds, at the Barns near Gate 5, after 10 am on October 31. Winners will be announced at 4 pm. Additionally, a costume parade and contest will take place at 3 pm.
There will be games and treats for kids and even a cupcake walk! A live and silent auction will be happening throughout the day. We’ll be serving hamburgers and hot dogs and there will be toe-tapping live entertainment for all to enjoy.
It’s all happening, rain or shine, on Saturday, October 31 from 2 – 5 pm at the new Whitney Pavilion at the Nevada County Fairgrounds. The cost is only $5 per person and includes food, treats and entertainment! Parking is free. Tickets can be purchased in advance at the Nevada County Fairgrounds, at all Citizen’s Bank branches, at the Book Seller in Grass Valley, or on the day of the event. Call 530-273-6217, or visit www.NevadaCountyFair.com.
Source: Wendy Oaks, Publicist, Nevada County Fairgrounds
Coming home late from the office the other night, late enough that it was pitch dark, I saw a black bear crossing Banner Mountain Quaker road. Fortunately, I was driving slowly so I did not hit the bear and I got a good look at him. What a beautiful animal, big, with huge feet. From the back, other than its feet, it looked like a giant long haired black dog.
Black bears are fairly common in Nevada County and every once in a while they get a little ornery. One of my neighbors had his garbage can pilfered several times, dumping garbage all over the road. So he thought well, I’ll just strap the cover down and the bear will not be able to get into the garbage can. The next morning, he found his garbage can down the side of the mountain with big claw marks on the can. The solution was to put the garbage out first thing in the morning instead of the night before garbage was to be picked up.
The American Black Bears are from 5-6 feet in length and about 2.5 to 3 foot tall. They can stand as high as 7 tall which would be enough to scare anyone away. They can weigh as much 600 pounds for the male and about 400 pounds for the female. There have been reports of a male bear that weighed 880 pounds, but that is unusual.
Most of the time, they are as scared of you as you might be scared of them, so they tend to run when approached by humans. However, be careful if you come across of a female with cubs, then it is different story. They’re out to protect their cubs at which point they can become aggressive. If it’s any consolation, there are only 56 documented cases of black bears killing humans in the United States in the last 100 years.
“The cubs are generally born in January or February. They are very small, about 283 to 397 grams (10 to 14 oz), and are blind, nearly hairless, and helpless when born. Two to three cubs are most common, though up to four and even five cubs have been documented. First-time mothers typically have only a single cub. The mother nurses the cubs with rich milk, and by spring thaw, when the bears start leaving their dens, the cubs are fur-balls of energy, inquisitive and playful. By this time, they are about 2 to 4 kilograms (4 to 8 lb). When their mother senses danger, she grunts to the cubs to climb high up a tree. They are weaned between July and September of their first year and stay with the mother through the first winter. The cubs become independent during their second summer (when they are 1.5 years old). At this time, the sow goes into estrus again.
Cub survival is totally dependent on the skill of the mother in teaching her cubs what and where to eat, how to forage, where to den, and when and where to seek shelter from heat or danger.”
There have been numerous sightings of black bears in the Cascade Shores Subdivision, in which I live. I had one standing on the road in front of my house last year during the night. Have you seen any black bears around your house or had some experience with them?
Are we in a recovery or not? You know, you can get ten economists in a room together and get ten different answers as to how the economy is doing.
But it seems like the roomful of economists are starting to come together and agree that we are bottoming out and coming out of the recession. The stock market has recovered 54% of its value from it’s low point and lower price homes are getting multiple offers.
According to the OCRegister, Kerry Vandell, head of UC Irvine’s Center for Real Estate stated that “The economy is recovering more rapidly than I would have guessed”
He went on to state that the residential market has began to recover but, there are some obstacles still in recovery’s path which he said are the following:
Massive wave of foreclosures is yet to come.
Banks are delaying “taking the hit” on those devalued properties.
Credit is still very tight.
Unemployment is still increasing.
State spending cuts will offset federal stimulus in California.
Prices and rents are still high.
So there you have it, we are recovering according to Kerry Vandell, but we’re not quite out of the woods yet. What do you think, are we recovering or not?
It’s somewhat of an American tradition to bash teachers in songs: “No more pencils. No more books. No more teachers’ dirty looks.” Anti-teacher songs were common as I grew up. The Coasters’ sang about “Charlie Brown,” the kid in school who caused trouble. “School Days,” by Chuck Berry, complained about getting up each morning just to go to school. Pink Floyd pictured school kids as, “Another brick in the wall.” Other songs sang of kids unhappy with teachers.
So, I decided to write a song about a teacher unhappy with a student. Since I taught at Oakland High at the time, this song has an urban setting and street lingo.
During the 1980’s, I sang teacher activist songs along with rock ‘n roll. This song started when I was in Washington D. C. at the National Education Association’s teacher’s convention. A group from Pennsylvania proclaimed themselves to be “United Mind Workers.”
I condensed this to “Mindworker” and began working on a song that would become the title cut to my first CD. As with most songs, it grew out of my own life experiences.
The song begins with a teacher confronting a hostile student in the classroom. This is nothing new if you’ve taught inner-city kids. And, as in every fictional piece, the story quickly began to define itself.
As a songwriter, I know to keep it simple. Consider The Beatles. Their songs are full of words like love, arms, hold, lips, kiss and other monosyllable words, repeated with melody, harmony and a beat. It sounds simple. There are not, however, many musicians out there singing Beatle songs because of the complex interaction of the chords and lyrics.
Some words don’t sing well but I used them anyway: “Don’t make me the target of your vulgar darts. I’m gonna drive your mind right out of the dark.” Target … vulgar darts. These are not common words for lyrics but I wanted to get the sense of conflict across.
I used street language to characterize the young student: “You better lighten up dude, get outta my face.” Again, most inner city teachers soon come to understand, and sometime use, the inner city students’ vernacular
The song has somewhat of a surprise twist when the Mindworker tells the student, “I was a more sarcastic kid than you.” And it twists again when the student gets up for another confrontation with the teacher but instead says, “Hey man, you know, I mean like, thanks.”
Writing the song is only the beginning. I worked with an LA producer, Paul Chiten, who added the Beatlesque complexity to the tune. He built a solid instrumental foundation. I shared my music writing credit with him. When it came time to record in San Francisco, Chiten wanted to use David La Flamme, from It’s A Beautiful Day, to do the lead vocal instead of me.
It was kind of like being fired from singing my own song. However, I quickly agreed because David (who appeared at the Psalms in Winters on Sat. Oct. 17th) has sold millions of records, including his hit, “White Bird”. My lifetime total sales were more like 210 albums to relatives and friends.
Mindworker - By Paul August
Paul August is a local writer and singer.
He also writes for the San Francisco Chronicle and The Union
You may buy his song Mindworker at cdbaby.com
There is an amazing story in the August 2009 issue of the California Bar Journal about the growing number of complaints against lawyers and law firms offering mortgage help to homeowners. From investigating nine such complaints for all of 2008, the California State Bar is now investigating 391 complaints against 140 attorneys. What is causing this huge increase in the number of borrowers complaining about attorneys?
With the rise in the foreclosure rate over the past few years, it seems that many lawyers have gone into the foreclosure assistance business. Even in states like California, where loan mitigation companies are no longer allowed to charge an up-front fee from borrowers, attorneys can still charge a multiple-thousand dollar retainer fee before any work is done for a homeowner. This makes the foreclosure business very lucrative, and very attractive for the corrupt.
Also, what happened to all of the lawyers providing mortgage services during the boom for lenders, title companies, and home buyers? Many states require that borrowers and sellers both have an attorney at closing to represent them. With the falloff in new closings and refinances, these attorneys may have decided to enter the other side of the business — helping homeowners escape the predatory loans the lawyers should have warned about in the first place.
Many homeowners were given loans that were either misrepresented to them or were simply not explained at all. Too many lawyers hired to make sure the borrowers understood the terms of the contracts did very little other than collect several hundred dollars at the closing table. The law requiring legal counsel before a real estate closing had more to do with injecting unnecessary legal fees into the housing market than creating educated borrowers.
Some of the complaints against these lawyers now providing loan modification services are the same ones homeowners routinely file against loss mitigation companies. Some of the complaints involve no service being provided, up-front fees that are collected but no work is done, no refunds even though no work is done, instructing homeowners to stop contacting their lenders, even attempting to transfer money directly out of a borrower’s bank account.
This indicates that some lawyers have entered the loan modification business essentially just to steal money from desperate homeowners. Too many companies or law firms take payments from borrowers and then never provide any work — it is one of the most common foreclosure scams around, and one that homeowners keep becoming victims of as they try to save their homes.
But none of this really explains the shocking rise in complaints against attorneys offering foreclosure help. From nine in 2008 to close to 400 in the first seven months of 2009, it seems that more factors than just legal industry corruption are involved. Or, have attorneys in large numbers made the move from other less lucrative practices into the foreclosure business, where they can prey off the huge numbers of people struggling to keep their properties?
