All posts by jd

Real estate broker, civil engineer and general contractor.
Real Estate

Funny Real Estate Pictures

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gleaming through the internet, every once in a while you come across real estate pictures that are just too funny.

 

house-with-lemonade

Buy a glass of lemonade for $6.2 million and you get the house for free.
Picture by allspice1

giant-tree-house

Now this is what I call a tree house. If anyone knows where this is, let me know.

 

ugly-house-sign

If you have an ugly house, you might as well tell the world.
Picture by whatarogue

strange-house-and-hotel

A house and a hotel. The architect must had one trip too many.
Picture by Miki216

If you have pictures of unusal or funny house pictures, e-mail them to me.

Real Estate

Nigerian 419 Scams – Real Estate Transactions, Lonely Hearts and Work at Home

nigeria ripped off

I don’t know how many 419 scam letters I’ve received, promising me untold wealth if I would just communicate with them and send them all of my bank account numbers. I would than receive 30 percent of $48,000,000. Not bad, but why do they always pick $48,000,000? I’ve guess they’ve taken a marketing course and never say it’s $47,999,999.99, because they’re trying to give you something, not sell you something.

Believe it or not, they’re having a hard time. Their income of $30,000 to $60,000 a month has been cut in half or more due to the worldwide downturn in the economy. Americans are just not putting out the money like they use to.

The scammers make their income from promising brides who some how never appear because someone stole the plane fare money at Western Union and would you please re-wire me some more money? I’m very anxious to meet you and marry you, so please send me more money, resulting in some of our fleeced victims losing over $25,000 US. US, you notice they always say US? They want your American dollars not Nigerian coins.
Continue reading Nigerian 419 Scams – Real Estate Transactions, Lonely Hearts and Work at Home →

nevada county fair

Famous Classic Draft Horses Coming to Nevada County

draft-horses-fair

Majestic Draft Horse performances, breath-taking competitions, seeing a Draft Horse “up-close,” a clogging jamboree, and a world class lumberjack show are all part of the festivities at the 23rd annual Draft Horse Classic and Harvest Fair, September 24 – 27, at the Nevada County Fairgrounds in Grass Valley.

Tickets for this must-see annual event are on sale now. Purchase your tickets early and save! If you purchase your performance tickets before the Draft Horse Classic begins, you will receive $3 off the ticket price you’d pay on the day of the event. There are six performances featuring the magnificent Draft Horses – Thursday and Friday at 6:30 pm, Saturday at 10 am & 6:30 pm, and Sunday at 10 am & 4 pm. Tickets can be purchased by calling, faxing or visiting the Fair Office by Wednesday, September 23, at 5 pm.

Although there is a charge for the Draft Horse performances in the arena, admission to the Fairgrounds is free so all can enjoy the many activities of the Harvest Fair. The grounds are alive with western music, Harvest Fair agricultural competitions, world-class lumberjacks performing for the crowds, a live shoeing competition, crowds enjoying Treat Street goodies, and a world-class art show. Plus, you don’t want to miss the opportunity to visit the barns and meet the famous Draft Horses up-close.

On Saturday, enjoy the Fall-like weather underneath the tall pine trees for “A Taste of the Gold Country,” featuring food from an abundance of local restaurants and wineries.

For tickets and information, call the Grass Valley Downtown Association at (530) 272-8315, or visit Historic Grass Valley

For Draft Horse performance tickets, purchase them before Wednesday, September 23, and tickets are $18 for general seating and $21 for reserved seating. After September 23, performance tickets are $21 for general seating and $24 for reserved seating.

The Fair’s Office is located on McCourtney Road in Grass Valley, just 50 miles northeast of Sacramento. The phone number is (530) 273-6217 and the FAX number is (530) 273-1146. Visit Nevada County Fair for more information.

Business

Someone Stole My Credit Card Number!

credit card theft

Well, it happened to me. I received several e-mails from PayPal, and thinking that is was another scam to get my password, I ignored them. In fact, I put them in the delete folder and would have deleted them if I had not received an e-mail from American Express at about the same time.

The e-mail from American Express wanted to know if I had made a $2,419.49 charged to a large merchant store in Los Angeles. Trusting as ever, I did not call the number on the e-mail and instead looked up the telephone number for American Express on the internet.

Calling American Express, I was put through an alphabet of computer choices, in which the automated computer voice asked me if I wanted to know my credit balance, do I want to make a payment, do I want to raise my credit limit, and finally, having too many choices, I hit the telephone with a hammer a couple of times and got through to security.
Continue reading Someone Stole My Credit Card Number! →

Real Estate

First-Time Buyer Tax Credit Extension Possible

first_time_home_buyer

There are a lot of things driving the real estate market in California. The affordability index has increased to 67%. That is, 67 percent of potential buyers can now afford to buy a home. Prices driven down by short sales and foreclosures, have a dark side, but have created buying opportunities for investors and first time home buyers.

Another incentive for first time home buyers is the $8,000 tax credit. Due to expire on November 30, bills to extend the tax credit are pending in both the U.S. House and the Senate.
Continue reading First-Time Buyer Tax Credit Extension Possible →

Real Estate

Residential Sales in Nevada County by Area

Nevada County, CA
Nevada County, CA

The Nevada County Multiple Listing Service (MLS) breaks Western Nevada County into various areas. As a result, I can give you sales data for different regions of Nevada County. The data that I give you below represents the time period difference in sales from July 2009, to the same period last year. Different areas of Western Nevada County depreciated faster than other areas, with some areas decreasing in value as much as -27%

Here’s the residential sales data broken down by areas, July 2009 (current period) July 2008 (one year ago):

Continue reading Residential Sales in Nevada County by Area →

animals

Dog Dreams and Angel

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I love dogs and dogs do dream. Angel my pit bull dreams like the dog in this YouTube video all the time.  Sometimes I think she is having a dream about the experience she had when coyotes attacked her.

httpv://youtu.be/xBoRilB7lRY
 

I normally let Angel out in the morning, fix my breakfast, watch the news and wait for Angel to come back upstairs. I usually give her a pigs ear as a treat, fresh water and she’s ready to start the day.  That morning she did not come back in her usual time frame.  So worried, I called her several times, no response. I started down the stairs, when all of the sudden, she hobbled up, blooded, with skin torn and puncture wounds all over her.

Panicked, I picked her up, getting blood all over me and took her to the vet. The vet confirmed that she had been attacked by coyotes and said she was lucky to get away from them, since they usually work in pairs. The vet sewed up her torn skin, gave her anti-biotics and she made a full recovery.  I must say she it took her several weeks to get back to herself, which is probably quicker than my recovery if I had been attacked by coyotes!

If this video did not play on your computer, you need to download Adobe Flash, its free

Real Estate

Residential Prices Continue to Fall in Nevada County

chart sales up

Prices in Nevada County residential property continued to drop overall from July of this year compared to July of 2008. Overall, there was $290,919,175 in residential sales compared to $355,118,054 for the same period last year. The median price dropped from $414,858 to $347,989. Sales decreased only 2% compared to a median price drop of 16% for residential sales.

Sales in Nevada County have continued to increase in the last few months which is the other side of the coin.  As prices drop, homes become more affortable, creating an affortable residential market. Investors continue to be a large part of the residential sales.

Continue reading Residential Prices Continue to Fall in Nevada County →

nevada county fair

Nevada County Fair Community Partnerships a Success

Food-Bank-photo-(2009)

Beautiful weather, a successful canned food drive, more than $400,000 raised for Nevada County youth, several charity benefits, and an increase in overall attendance made the 2009 Nevada County Fair – “A Hare’s Magical A-Fair” – a huge success. Below are some fun Fair facts.

At Sunday’s canned food drive, 1,240 pounds of food were collected for the Food Bank   of   Nevada County. This is enough to feed 550 – 600 families. 
  Continue reading Nevada County Fair Community Partnerships a Success →

Real Estate

New rules for Refinancing That You Just do not Hear About

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refinancing

Let me try to help you make sense of the Government Home Affordable Refinance program. Believe me it can be very confusing.

Under the federal government’s Home Affordable Refinance program the plan is confusing and confounding. For example, under the program, lenders are supposed to refinance loans with mortgage insurance. But they are evasive about whether they will.

Another example: Last month, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced that they would refinance mortgages at up to 125 percent of current market value. Sounds great — but borrowers will have to wait.
Continue reading New rules for Refinancing That You Just do not Hear About →