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Real estate broker, civil engineer and general contractor.
nevada county fair

Nevada County Fair Competition Handbook Now Available

Photo courtesy of Nevada County Fairgrounds
Photo courtesy of Nevada County Fairgrounds

By Wendy Oaks

Book includes all the information you need to enter exhibits in this year’s Fair

The Nevada County Fair’s Competition Handbook, which includes all the information you need to enter exhibits in this year’s Fair, is now available. If you can make it, bake it, grow it or show it, there is a category for you!

Why not showcase a talent, a project, a cooking skill, or a special creation.  Try one of the traditional categories like baking cookies or entering a prized photo; or one of the specialty contests designed specifically for this year’s Fair theme of “Barnyard Safari.”  Or, enter one of the specialty food contests – held each day of the Fair –for adults and children.  The Competition Handbook is filled with hundreds of categories for children and adults.

Copies of the free handbook are available at the Chamber of Commerce offices, county libraries, at the Fairgrounds’ Office, or on-line at www.NevadaCountyFair.com.  Area schools have also received a flyer with information about contests available to Nevada County youth.

It’s easy to enter! Look through the book, pick your favorite categories, and follow the simple steps for entering. You can even enter on-line at www.NevadaCountyFair.com.   This year, there won’t be any entry fees for most categories (yes, it’s free!), you can enter on-line or at the Fair office, there will be an extended entry deadline, and there will be some great prizes!  The deadline for submitting paper entry forms and on-line entries is July 20 at 4 pm.

This year’s Competition Handbook also contains information about discounted Fair tickets available now through August 7, discount days at the Fair, and nightly arena events.

The 2012 Nevada County Fair is August 8 – 12. For more information, visit www.NevadaCountyFair.com or call (530) 273-6217. You can follow the Fairgrounds on Facebook at “Nevada County Fairgrounds.”

Wendy Oaks
Publicist, Nevada County Fairgrounds
(530) 273-6217

wsoaks@gmail.com
Website: www.NevadaCountyFair.com
Facebook: Nevada County Fairgrounds

Nevada County Fair                          August 8 – 12, 2012

Draft Horse Classic                            September 20 – 23, 2012

Halloween at the Fairgrounds      October 27, 2012

Country Christmas Faire                  November 23 – 25, 2012

 

 

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John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
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(530) 263-1091
Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

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Hiking, Recreation

Hiking The Yuba River Independence Trail Going East

By Judy J. Pinegar

On Sunday, May  27, 2012 John and I went for a walk. Leaving the Flour Garden Cafe in Grass Valley, we traveled north on Hwy 49 to the parking lot for the Independence Trail. Studying the map, we decided to try the East Trail. We had Angel on a leash, and it seemed to be the direction she wanted to go, so we humored her.

The first part of the trail seemed to literally be at two levels, the main trail on a lower level, a smaller trail on the rise to the left of the main  trail. Occasionally those traveling the higher trail were forced to move down to the lower trail, where the trail narrowed or over bridges, but the upper trail continued for quite some way. For a while the trail seemed to follow the highway, but finally we turned to follow the river, and there was a beautiful green swimming hole.

 

Creek Crossing
Creek Crossing

Continuing, the trail turned into a bridge the skirted the side of huge rocks, no ground beneath our feet! And then a neat tunnel, a rock perched on top of twp or three other rocks, and you could pass underneath if with just a little bit of tucking out heads; there was no way around it, so if you wanted to continue the walk, you went under the rock!!

Oh and did I mention the poison oak??  You could tell they had TRIED to eradicate the stuff on the main trails, but it was still there, hiding a little way back from the trail.  As a person who is horribly allergic, I stayed in the middle of the trail and hoped John would keep Angel out of it (she was getting no pats from me until she had a bath!).

Posion Oak
Poison Oak

And speaking of Angel we had been forcing her to keep going on for about the last 15 minutes, for a strong, fierce looking dog, she really is a sissy in the wilds! After a good 45 minutes or so we met a couple coming back. They said they had walked for about an hour and hadn’t seen the river yet. We decided to follow Angels lead and come on back, next time maybe we will leave her home!

Judy J. Pinegar is a writer and her articles have appeared in many publications
John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
Civil Engineer
General Contractor
(530) 263-1091
Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

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Real Estate

Fighting Back Against Lowball Home Appraisals

Photo courtesy of Atlas Real Estate Appraisals
Photo courtesy of Atlas Real Estate Appraisals

Record-low interest rates are a boon for home buyers and for homeowners seeking to refinance.  But low appraisals are making it difficult or even impossible for some borrowers to take advantage.

  • Lenders report that “overly pessimistic appraisals caused by appraisers using distressed sales as ‘comparables’ are a key reason why deals are falling through.
  • Part of the problem is that home prices have plummeted further than many people would like to believe.
  • Another key factor is the appraisal changes enacted in the wake of the financial crisis that were designed to eliminate improper pressure on appraisers that often led to inflated valuations during the housing boom.  However, critics say those changes resulted in unnecessarily conservative valuations and the greater use of appraisers with little knowledge of local market conditions.
  • Additionally, accurate valuations can be difficult to come by when sales are thin and prices are just beginning to edge upward after prolonged declines.  Many borrowers are “in a holding pattern for extended periods” because it’s difficult to find comparable sales to support the appraisal value.
  • Despite these issues, there are ways consumers can improve their odds of getting a deal done.  For example, borrowers can look at comparable sales from the last three to six months before seeking a mortgage to know the range of home values in the area.
  • Secondly, although borrowers cannot choose their appraiser, they can accompany the appraiser during the inspection, pointing out improvements that add to the home’s value.  They also can provide the appraiser with comparable sales that can be used to support the valuation.
  • Borrowers also can request that the lender review the appraiser’s findings, though the chances of success are slim.  If the borrow thinks the value is unreasonably low, they should first look for factual errors, such as an erroneous number of bedrooms or miscalculated square footage.

Read the full story

 

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nevada county fair

Nevada County Fairgrounds Closed to Walkers & Bicyclists for One Week

Grounds to re-open on Tuesday, June 19

In preparation for the annual Father’s Day Bluegrass Festival, June 14 – 17, the Nevada County Fairgrounds will be closed to walkers and bicyclists during the entire week of June 11. The Fairgrounds will re-open its gates to walkers and bicyclists as usual on Tuesday, June 19. This closure does not affect the Main Office, which is open during its normal business hours of Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm.

At various times throughout the year the grounds are rented by organizations for large, community events like the Bluegrass Festival, the KVMR Celtic Festival, and The California WorldFest. During these times, it becomes necessary to close the grounds to pedestrians in preparation for these various events.

For more information about the Nevada County Fairgrounds, visit their website at www.NevadaCountyFair.com or call (530) 273-6217.

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Civil Engineer
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(530) 263-1091
Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

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Real Estate

Short Sales May Get Shorter

English: The Colonial Revival headquarters of ... The Colonial Revival headquarters of Fannie Mae, designed by architect Leon Chatelain, Jr. in 1956, located at 3900 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W., in the Cathedral Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beginning June 15, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, will require both agencies to give short-sale buyers a final decision within 60 days.

  • Under this same guideline, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac also must respond to initial requests for a short sale within 30 days of receiving the buyer’s submission.
  • According to one analyst, expedited sales as a result of the new directive will benefit the entire housing market.  They could also remove some risks for buyers – many of whom previously had to wait months for a decision and then ended up not getting the house they wanted.
  • Lenders favor short sales because they are less costly and more efficient than foreclosures.  Yet the homeowners, trying to exit as gracefully as possible, never know how long the process will take or how badly their credit will be hurt.
  • Although short sales have a reputation for being easier on credit scores than foreclosures, Experian says that is a “fairly common misperception.” If there is a difference in impact, according to Experian, it is slight.
  • Both short sales and foreclosures remain on the credit report for seven years, but foreclosures don’t appear until the legal paperwork is filed, and that could take months.
  • The effect was measured by an analysis by VantageScore, a provider of credit scores used by lenders.  The higher the credit rating a consumer has, the more points he or she would lose in a short sale.
  • If consumers started with an 830 score, they would most likely lose 100 to 110 points from a short sale, 120 to 130 points from a foreclosure.  But a homeowner with a 625 score, who is behind on his mortgage and some credit card payments, would lose 15 to 25 points from a short sale and 10 to 20 points from a foreclosure.

Read the full story

 

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John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
Civil Engineer
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(530) 263-1091
Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

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Real Estate

Pending Home Sales Up Strongly From a Year Ago

English: staff photo of Lawrence Yun
Staff photo of Lawrence Yun (Photo credit: Wikipedia)


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pending home sales retrenched in April following three consecutive monthly gains, but are notably higher than a year ago, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.

The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, declined 5.5 percent to 95.5 from a downwardly revised 101.1 in March but is 14.4 percent above April 2011 when it was 83.5. The data reflect contracts but not closings.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said a one-month setback in light of many months of gains does not change the fundamentally improving housing market conditions. “Home contract activity has been above year-ago levels now for 12 consecutive months. The housing recovery momentum continues,” he said.

Yun notes home sales are staying well above the levels seen from 2008 through 2011. “Housing market activity has clearly broken out at notably higher levels and is on track to see the best performance since 2007,” he said. “All of the major housing market indicators are expected to trend gradually up, but a new federal budget must be passed before the end of the year for the economy to continue to move forward.”

The PHSI in the Northeast rose 0.9 percent to 78.9 in April and is 19.9 percent higher than April 2011. In the Midwest the index slipped 0.3 percent to 93.0 but is 23.0 percent above a year ago. Pending home sales in the South fell 6.8 percent to an index of 105.7 in April but are 13.3 percent higher than April 2011. In the West the index dropped 12.0 percent in April to 94.9 but is 5.1 percent above a year ago.

The housing forecast has been upgraded, with existing-home sales expected to reach 4.66 million this year, compared with 4.26 million in 2011. The outlook for 2013 is now 4.92 million, but could vary significantly depending on two scenarios.

If lending returns to normal, the 2013 outlook for existing-home sales would measurably improve to 5.3 million. However, a fiscal cliff scenario of higher taxes and sharp spending cuts beginning in early 2013, which is an unlikely event but still worth noting, would lower the sales projection to 4.5 million.

Because of measurably lower inventory supplies, the forecast for home prices has been upwardly revised with the median existing-home price projected to rise 2 to 3 percent this year and 4 to 5 percent in 2013, with wide local market variations. Miami and Phoenix will easily achieve double-digit price growth by year end.

Yun said the price gains will measurably reduce the number of underwater homeowners. “For example, a 5 percent national price gain means the number of underwater home owners would fall to about 9 million from current estimates of around 11 million. A 10 percent gain, say over the next two years, would reduce the underwater status to about 7 million households out of 75 million owner-occupied homes,” he said.

About 25 million homes are owned free and clear without a mortgage.

Though the proportion of distressed properties is still high, the numbers have been falling over the past two years. “The diminishing share of distressed properties is another reason for higher home prices in upcoming months,” Yun added.

Source: National Association of REALTORS®

 

 

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John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
Civil Engineer
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(530) 263-1091
Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

DRE#00669941

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Community Events, Construction, Government

NID System Improvements Coming to Cascade Shores, Nevada County

NID System Improvements Coming to Cascade Shores taken May 2012 taken with my cell phone Samsung Galaxy Note
NID System Improvements Coming to Cascade Shores taken May 2012 taken with my cell phone Samsung Galaxy Note

Residents of Cascade Shores east of Nevada City will be getting a larger, more reliable public water system, under actions taken Wednesday (May 23) by the Nevada Irrigation District Board of Directors.

The board voted to purchase 4400 feet of new eight-inch pipeline to replace deteriorating and undersized 4-inch and 6-inch main lines installed in the 1960s and 1970s by the developer of Cascade Shores. The new pipe will be purchased from low bidder Groeniger & Co. for $129,800.

The system improvement is planned along Cascade Loop, Cascade Drive and Artic Close and also includes nine new fire hydrants. NID maintenance crews are slated to begin installing the new pipeline in June.

The overall project is budgeted at $350,000 and is part of a systematic program to upgrade aging water infrastructure in four Nevada County residential communities developed in the 1960s and 1970s. An initial project was completed in Alta Sierra last year, an upgrade is now being completed in Lake of the Pines and an improvement at Lake Wildwood is planned for 2013.

Directors also awarded a $732,600 contract to T&S Construction, Inc. of Sacramento for construction of a new transmission main line along Highway 49 in North Auburn.

The water project will provide for more water and fire flow along the Highway 49 corridor from Locksley Lane to Quartz Drive. Work is expected to begin in June and be completed before winter.

Source: NID press release

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John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
Civil Engineer
General Contractor
(530) 263-1091
Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

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animals

Kitten Marshmallow at Four Weeks Old

httpv://youtu.be/Jeg3QM1Ysq8

Marshmallow was born on March 1st with low birth weight (~60% of the normal expected weight at about 66g or 2.3 oz). A month later, Marshy is breaking one pound, about 7 times the birthweight. At this point, we’re just thankful that she’s made it through the first month. What a blessing she is.

Below are some notable changes in Marshy’s behavior:

She refuses to stay in her nest box, rebelliously clawing and crying murder when she is placed there. Marshy is also able to regulate her body temperature better now to the point where she no longer needs a heating pad or “rice socks” to keep warm when mama Mochi is not around. We used to place a heating pad beneath the nest box to cover about ½ of the surface area, so Marshy could keep warm, but also move off the heated area if she felt hot.

With her head held high and steady, Marshmallow has become more photogenic as well, often times staring curiously straight into one’s eyes, a move that would melt any stone heart.

Source of text Youtube
John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
Civil Engineer
General Contractor
(530) 263-1091
Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

Real Estate

Home Sales Increasing And Prices Are Bouncing Back

Seal of the United States Federal Housing Fina...
Seal of the United States Federal Housing Finance Agency. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve noticed an increase in sales in Nevada County.  A recent article which I’m republishing here indicates that  home prices are increasing nationwide.

“The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported that nationwide home prices posted their first gain in the first quarter since 2007. While the gain was modest at 0.6 percent, housing experts note it’s still another sign that the housing market is gaining momentum.

FHFA’s housing price index is calculated using home sales price information based off Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae-backed mortgages.

FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly index rose 1.8 percent in March over February, which is the largest monthly increase in at least 20 years. Year-over-year, home prices increased 2.7 percent, FHFA reports.

“Increased affordability and a somewhat smaller inventory of homes for sale are positively impacting house prices,” says Andrew Leventis, FHFA’s principal economist.

Price increases were the highest in Hawaii with a 10.3 percent increase, and in Washington, D.C., which saw a 9.8 percent gain, according to FHFA.

Still, Number of Underwater Home Owners Remain High

Despite recent improvements in home prices, the percentage of underwater borrowers has shown little improvement in the last year. More than 30 percent of home owners in the first quarter remained underwater on their mortgage, owing more on their home than it’s currently worth, according to a new Zillow housing report.

A year ago, 32.4 percent of all borrowers had negative equity on their loan compared to 31.4 percent during the most recent quarter, Zillow reports.

Yet, Zillow notes that nine out of 10 underwater borrowers are current on their mortgage payments.

“[It’s] important to note that negative equity remains only a paper loss for the vast majority of underwater home owners,” says Stan Humphries, Zillow’s chief economist. “As home values slowly increase and these home owners continue to pay down their principal, they will surface again.”

The highest share of underwater home owners continues to be in Las Vegas, where 71 percent of home owners are underwater, followed by Phoenix (at 55.5 percent) and Atlanta (at 55.2 percent), according to the Zillow housing report.

Source: “U.S. Housing Prices Rise,” UPI (May 23, 2012); “Home Prices Rose Most in Two Decades in March, FHFA Says,” Bloomberg News (May 23, 2012) and “More than 30% of Mortgage Borrowers Still Underwater,” CNNMoney (May 24, 2012)

 

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For all your real estate needs
Email or call today:

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
Civil Engineer
General Contractor
(530) 263-1091
Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

DRE#00669941

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