Help! I am getting overwhelmed!I have a Real Estate blog that focuses on the "Green" aspects of the business. I have always been an environmentalist, but the amount of information available to me these days vs. even five years ago about environmental issues, problems, things to change, is startin
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04/13/2008
I got my “Primer” on the new FHA loans that are available. This is a really interesting loan offering so listen up! Previously FHA was not a good product for our area due to price restrictions on the purchase price of homes. It has been difficult to find homes that meet the profile. But this is t
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03/17/2008
Conversations about plastics...The Green Guide, a National Geographic website has some of the most detailed information about going green. This morning's email newsletter discussed FSH hardwoods and the types of hardwood substitutions that are available for building.I had to link to the page on p
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03/12/2008
We took the weekend and traveled to Santa Cruz. My son loves to skateboard there, or maybe just the idea of it. I have been there many times but what I noticed this time is how the main shopping district is set up as a walking neighborhood, including sidewalks wide enough for flower kiosks and c
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03/07/2008
Flower vendors on the street encourage interaction and connectivity. Two years ago there was a large neighborhood planning conference for the future of the MacArthur corridor in Oakland held at Mills College. This is an area that people drive through on their way TO somewhere. But actually ther
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03/07/2008
Recently I've been talking about some of the reasons that I think it is a good time to buy. Most people people are still waiting, trying to “time the market.” This is due in part to scary news about the economy coming out every day. One thing I do know about real estate is that if you would lik
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03/05/2008
There sits an empty lot.It has been empty for as long as I have been familiar with it. Today I was stopped at the light and a man (the owner, I presume) had a five-gallon tank of pesticide that he was systematically spraying inch by inch over the lot.I embarrassed my son by hollering out the wind
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03/05/2008
Fannie Mae announced today that California would be approved for the increased jumbo loan limit of up to $729,750. This is a one-year fix for a problem that is potentially multi-year in scope, but it is a good start and we welcome the changes in FHA backed loans.If you haven't financed a home rec
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03/05/2008
Bruce Johnson is an amazing sculptor that I just discovered. He does public and private commissions and sculpts in reclaimed and recycled hardwood and found objects. Form and Energy
03/03/2008
I call it "The Conversation."It's a difficult one in this market.How much do you think this property X______ will sell for?The media has the home-buying consumer looking for blood in the water. Sellers are hesitating to put prized properties on the market.The fact is, there isn't much "inventory"
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03/03/2008
