All posts by jd

Real estate broker, civil engineer and general contractor.
Travel

Costa Rica Vacation Day One, San Jose

Post office building San Jose, Costa Rica
Post office building San Jose, Costa Rica

 

By Judy Pinegar

Well, really day two, but getting in last night an hour before midnight doesn’t count!! The trip didn’t start too well as they held us for an hour in Sacramento while they fixed some computer problem. This caused us to miss our connection in Denver to go to Houston. When we got there we were told we had been rescheduled on Continental, but arriving at that gate we found it was NOT reserved. We were then put on “standby” but luckily got on anyway. Then somebody had a medical emergency (heart) on our plane, but (also luckily) there were 3 Doctors on board.

The Hotel Aranjuez in San Jose is very nice and inexpensive too. Wonderful FULL breakfast included with a double room (actually two beds and a bath) for US$ 48.00. It is within walking distance of the main downtown, which is what we did today. …oh and RAIN…did I mention it was raining… (pouring) most of the morning? John and I were prepared, but several hours into it Ted realized his windbreaker was not waterproof (duh)…but tiendas (shops) abound so we found a nice waterproof Adidas jacket with hood.

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Rafael Angel Calderón Museum

Our walking tour started with the Rafael Angel Calderón Museum, Costa Rica’s (CR) President from 1940-44, and the social reforms he helped to create in that time period. Educated in Costa Rica and Belgium as a medical doctor, Calderón soon turned his back on the conservative coffee elite to address widespread poverty and poor health conditions among the working poor. He became the first Central American president to primarily focus his attention on poverty and deteriorating social conditions.

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Real Estate

Residential Real Estate Prices in Nevada County 2010 – 2011

By John O’Dell

How’s Nevada County’s residential sales going?  Let’s take look at the years 2010 and 2011 from January to October of each year and compare the two.

The Year 2010 from January to the end of October.  There were a total of 1,619 listings. Total sales in that period were 750. Average list price of unsold properties was $453,771 and the average price of the properties that sold was $310,793.  Average days on the market of sold properties were 97 days.

For the year 2011 from January to the end of October. There were a total of 1,446 listings. Total sales in that period were 859 which is an  increase in sales of 14.5%. Average list price of unsold properties was $395,080. The average price of properties that sold was $260,463 a decrease in sales price of 34.1% Average days on the market were 144 about 48% longer to sell a listing.

So how does future look? Foreclosures were up 7% in October but down 31% for the same period last year. Until the foreclosures are cleared by the mess Wall Street and the banks created by their greed, I think we will see a further decrease in sales price going well into the end of next year.

Thinking of buying or selling?
For all your real estate needs
Email or call:

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

Education, Hiking, History

A Tour of Granite Quarries – Griffith Quarry, Penryn, CA and Rocklin, CA


By Judy Pinegar

John and I wanted some exercise so we went to Griffith Quarry Park and Museum in Penryn, CA.  This site is listed on both the National Register of Historic Places and the California Landmark Program. The surrounding 23-acre park contains ruins of the first polishing mill built in California and some of the quarry holes from which the unique Penryn granite was taken. It is a wooded area with trails both close to and wider around two large former quarries. The walk starts at the parking lot, where the museum is the same building that used to house the Quarry Office, and the parking lot itself used to be the main Yard and polishing buildings.

Here is a picture of what it looked like circa 1881.

Click on picture to enlarge

As we walked John took pictures of several areas of interest in the park.

museum

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Office and museum

Click on picture to enlarge. Click on picture to return to page.

The Penryn stone is dark gray biotite granite, uniform in color, and there was also “black granite,” a very dark granite one mile east of Penryn.  This stone is used mainly for cemetery monuments and buildings.

Then we went to the Museum, and learned more about the quarry, established as Penryn Granite Works, by Welsh immigrant Griffith Griffith in 1864. Mr. Griffith formerly worked in the famous slate quarries in Penrhyn, Wales. He quarried granite at Folsom, but in 1864 he came to Penryn, which he named after his Welsh home. Here he remained, and he and his descendants quarried granite from that time until about 1906. The museum contains some of the original office furniture of the Penryn Granite Works and information on the Griffith family, the granite industry, and the history of the Penryn-Loomis Basin area. While there, talking to the volunteer we heard about the Rocklin History Museum, which had some old mining tools in the basement.

Since that is just a few miles down Taylor Road, we went there next, where they display Rocklin’s history of “Rock, Rails and Ranches”. They have a timeline of the small settlement of the 1850’s to the thriving community of today. There also was a lot of information about when the Central Pacific Rocklin Roundhouse provided engines to power the Transcontinental Railroad over the high Sierra. When they grew out of space in Rocklin, they moved the whole roundhouse to Roseville along with some of the houses!

Rocklin was the “Granite Capitol of the West” over 40 quarries were in operation at one time. The Rocklin granite quarries were first opened about 1861. The Big Gun granite quarry is located behind the Rocklin City Hall building, and John and I walked across the street to see it. Rocklin stone is biotite granite, lighter in color than the Penryn granite.

For further information:
Rocklin Historical Society Presentation Big Gun Granite Quarry: Past, Present, Future
 (Very large PDF file)

Judy Pinegar is a writer and her articles have appeared in numerous publications

 

View Larger Map to see the location of the quarries

Thinking of buying or selling?
For all your real estate needs
Email or call:

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

nevada county fair

Create A Ginerbread House And Win At The Nevada County Fair

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By Wendy Oaks

Submit your entry form by Friday, November 18

 

Now is the time for holiday bakers to think about the creation of a magical Gingerbread House to enter into the 9th annual Gingerbread House Competition at the Country Christmas Faire, held November 25 – 27 at the Nevada County Fairgrounds.

Houses, bungalows, cottages, and castles fashioned from spicy gingerbread will be displayed for holiday shoppers to enjoy at the Nevada County Fairgrounds in Grass Valley during the Thanksgiving weekend festivities.

Competitors may enter any of the 11 categories, including children, teens, adults, special needs, families, groups and businesses. There’s even a category for children under 8 years of age who want to enter a house made by a kit.

Prizes and ribbons abound for all. First through third place winners will receive award money, and the Best of Show will win $100. A special gift basket from Tess’ Kitchen Store will be awarded to the Best of Show winner and the People’s Choice Award.

Entry forms must be received at the Fairgrounds by Friday, November 18; the actual gingerbread house entry must be delivered to the Fairgrounds on Tuesday, November 22.  The cost is $2 to enter, and all Gingerbread House exhibitors will receive two free passes to the Country Christmas Faire.

Entry forms and a complete list of rules can be picked up at the Fairgrounds office on McCourtney Road, or downloaded from the Fair’s website at www.NevadaCountyFair.com.

The 27th annual Country Christmas Faire begins Friday, November 25, and runs through Sunday, November 27.  The hours are 10 am – 5 pm on Friday and Saturday; and 10 am – 4 pm on Sunday. Admission is $4 for adults, and children 12 and under are free. Parking is $5; however, Faire-goers will receive one free admission for each paid parking pass.

Talented artisans fill the Fairgrounds exhibit buildings with quality hand-made crafts and unique gifts, so you can get all your holiday shopping done in one location. Visitors to the Faire will enjoy strolling live entertainment, festival foods, wagon rides, and a community bon-fire. Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus will be on hand to greet children and a photographer will be available to capture the special moment with Santa.

Free babysitting will be offered so parents can drop off their children while they enjoy holiday shopping, and errand elves will be available to assist shoppers throughout the event.

The Nevada County Fairgrounds is located at 11228 McCourtney Road in Grass Valley. For more information, visit www.NevadaCountyFair.com or call (530) 273-6217.

 

 
For all your real estate needs:
Call or email

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
Real Estate Broker

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

DRE #00669941

animals

Guide Dog For Blind Dog

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Click on picture to enlarge, click on picture to return to normal view.

A friend of mine sent these pictures.  It’s so touching, I had to put it on this blog.

Lily is a Great Dane that has been blind since a bizarre medical condition required that she have both eyes removed. For the last 5 years, Maddison, another Great Dane, has been her sight.

The two are, of course, inseparable.

 

 

 
For all your real estate needs:
Call or email

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
Real Estate Broker

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

DRE #00669941

 

Real Estate

Handling High Mortgage Costs

New York Times
Closing costs can increase the price of a home by as much as $10,000, sometimes more.  Borrowers who are “cash-poor” can ask for assistance, or talk to their lender about a lender credit toward closing costs.

  • Some lenders advertise that if borrowers agree to accept a mortgage interest rate from a quarter to a full percentage point higher than they would ordinarily qualify for, they can receive credit toward their closing costs.
  • These mortgages are sometimes called no-closing-cost loans, though the term is misleading.  The credit usually covers only fees charged by the mortgage broker or bank, like the loan origination fee, the underwriting expense, and the appraisal.  That generally leaves title insurance, mortgage-recording taxes, insurance, and escrowed taxes to cover.The amount of credit depends on total closing costs and other loan details.  Generally, for every one-eighth of a point increase in interest rate, borrowers receive a credit worth half a percentage point of the principal amount.
  • While these mortgages can be helpful to some, borrowers should carefully review all the details.  There are pluses and minuses to these loan types.  A downside is the higher rate and monthly payment remain in place through the life of the loan.
  • Doing a side-by-side comparison of loans with and without the credit can be helpful.

Read the full story

 

For all your real estate needs:
Call or email

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

DRE #00669941

 

Real Estate

How Long Are Loans Delinquent in Foreclosure?


Loans in foreclosure have been delinquent an average of 624 days — a record high, according to Lender Processing Services’ September report.

The time loans spend in foreclosure continues to increase. For example, 40 percent of home owners with loans in foreclosure have failed to make a payment within two years, and 72 percent of home owners have failed to make a payment in a year or more.

The time from the last payment to foreclosure sale has been found to be even longer in judicial states, in which foreclosures must be approved by the courts. The time span in judicial states is averaging 761 days, six months longer than non-judicial states, LPS reports.

While loans are spending longer in foreclosure, the number of foreclosure starts is decreasing. Foreclosure starts decreased 11.2 percent in September compared to August, and foreclosure starts are 15 percent below a year earlier, LPS notes in its recent report.

The states with the highest percentage of loans in delinquency or foreclosure are:

  • Florida
  • Mississippi
  • Nevada
  • New Jersey
  • Illinois

The states with the lowest: North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Alaska, and Montana.

Source: “LPS: Foreclosures Delinquent an Average of 624 Days,” HousingWire (Nov. 1, 2011) and Lender Processing Services

Thinking of buying or selling?
For all your real estate needs
Email or call:

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
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Email jodell@nevadacounty.com

 

 

 


Real Estate

Troubled Homeowners Get A Lifeline

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The government is changing its Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), making it easier for homeowners to refinance their underwater, high-interest mortgages.

Making sense of the story

  • Although HARP has helped more than 890,000 homeowners nationwide by reducing their monthly mortgage payments, there are still millions of homeowners who are too far underwater to participate.
  • Under the new rules, homeowners who owe more than 125 percent of the market value of their homes will be allowed to refinance into new loans.
  • The program also streamlines the refinancing process for homeowners who are current on their mortgage payments and reduces or removes fees that previously hindered them from refinancing.
  • Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac also will reduce the fees they charged in the past to enable borrowers to better afford the new loans.  Among the fees that will be reduced or eliminated are those for appraisals, title insurance, and closing costs.
  • Fees also will be waived for some underwater borrowers who are refinancing into 20-year or shorter-term loans.
  • HARP is only open to borrowers who are current on their payments for the past six months with no more than one missed payment in the past 12 months.  The loans must have been originally issued before May 31, 2009, and purchased by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

Read the full story

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John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
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Real Estate

Obama’s New Mortgage Plan To Help Homeowners


 

President Obama announced Monday a plan to ease eligibility rules for home owners who want to refinance to take advantage of ultra-low mortgage rates and lower their mortgage payments. The administration hopes that by broadening its requirements for the Home Affordable Program that about 1 million home owners will now be able to qualify.

Here are more details about the newly announced changes to the program:

What is HARP?

It’s a program started in 2009 that allows home owners to refinance their mortgages at lower rates without having to meet the typical requirement of having at least 20 percent of equity in their home to do so. Under current guidelines, many underwater borrowers have been ineligible for the program because their home values had to be no more than 25 percent below what they owed their lender. Also, some home owners were unable to afford the closing costs and appraisal fees to participate.

What’s changing?

Many of the extra fees to participate in the program have been waived, and home owners’ eligibility won’t be contingent on how far their home’s value has fallen.

Who’s eligible?

  • Home owners with loans backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac can participate. (Home owners can visit: freddiemac.com/mymortgage or fanniemae.com/loanlookup to determine if their mortgage is owned by either).
  • Home owners must be current on their mortgage.

When will it take effect?

The changes could take effect by Dec. 1. HARP also is being extended through 2013 to allow more home owners the opportunity to qualify.

How successful will this be?

The administration hopes that by home owners being able to lower their monthly mortgage payments (with an average annual savings of $2,500 expected), they’ll be more likely to stay current on their mortgage and avoid foreclosure. Also, the administration hopes that it will then free up household money to start spending more on other things, which could provide an overall boost to the economy. However, the administration says it realizes that aiding the housing market requires much more than a refinancing plan.

“This is only one piece of a broader strategy to help the housing market,” says Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan. Donovan also notes federal efforts to help home owners who are delinquent on their mortgages and the unemployed.

Source: “A Guide to Administration’s New Mortgage-Refi Plan,” The Associated Press (Oct. 24, 2011)

 

 
Thinking of buying or selling?
For all your real estate needs
Email or call:

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