Check out schools, services, and other statistics Besides driving around, you can ask co-workers or friends from church to recommend areas that they like.  Where do your friends live?  What do they like best about their community?  What are the downfalls of particular neighborhoods?  Start by researching these neighborhoods on the internet. It’s always wise to select a home in a good school district.  Property in a great school district is more valuable, so research the school ratings carefully.  You can find information about schools at www.GreatSchools.com. You can ask your real estate agent for neighborhood suggestions, but she may not be able to give you all the answers you are seeking.  The reason is that real estate agents must obey certain laws, so they cannot “steer” you toward ... 09/24/2014

Once you apply for a mortgage loan, be careful not to disturb the loan process. If your loan qualifications change during the loan process, you may lose your loan approval. It is important to avoid the following until AFTER your loan has closed escrow.1. KEEP YOUR MORTGAGE CURRENT.It is critical to keep making your mortgage payments or rent on time. The loan approval depends on your payment being current.  2. DO NOT APPLY FOR CREDIT.Buying a new car, or applying for credit, impacts your ability to buy a home. A large monthly debt payment can affect the amount of home for which you qualify and make it difficult or impossible to get your loan approved.  Also it will ding your credit score.3. DO NOT CHANGE JOBS.Changing jobs before or during the loan process may disqualify you for the loan... 06/06/2014

Even better, once you pay off your mortgage, you own your home “free and clear”.  So whether you have a 15-year, 20-year, or 30-year loan, you will eventually pay it off and then you would not have any more loan payments at all!  Whereas if you are a renter, your rent will never be paid off and you will continue being a renter the rest of your life, http://tinyurl.com/dy2wjx4. What is great about America? It is the American Dream, of course. It is the idea that we are in control of our own destiny, free from harsh government sanctions as in some other lands.  It is the rights and the freedoms that so many other countries do not have. Sometimes we take our basic values for granted, including home ownership, which is a luxury not afforded to residents in some other countries.Millions of p... 05/08/2013

It’s important to affiliate ourselves with top producers.  If you hang-out with the top producers, you’re going to be a top producer.  If you hang-out with people who aren’t very active in the business, that’s probably where you’re going to be.  So it’s all about affiliating with people who are where you want to be, and where you want to go. We recommend participating in a formal Apprentice Mentor Program.  For the apprentice, ask yourself “What would you like to learn?”,  “What can you contribute?”  You can just ask yourself those questions.  For  mentors – “What can you teach to others? “. Each of us can be an apprentice and we can each be a mentor because even the people who are top producers in the business have a coach.  They have a mentor.  They have someone they’re learning from.... 06/23/2012

In San Luis Obispo County, we've been blessed with well over normal rainfall this past two months. What this means is that the surrounding mountains look like the green hills of Ireland (and will for the next month or two), and that we are hatching a fantastic wildflower show. It will be especially beautiful in California Valley.   California Valley is a remote, serene, untouched area on our eastern border with Kern County, and home to the Carrizo Plains National Monument--the most recently created monument in the federal system. Whooping cranes migrate to Soda Lake, Tule elk inhabit the plains, and all manner of smaller critters live here as well. The community of California Valley consists of about 500 hardy souls who live here for the solitude, silence, and serenity . . . and also be... 01/30/2010

CALIFORNIA VALLEY  Hugging San Luis Obispo's eastern boundary with Kern County, California Valley is a remote high-desert outpost where few visit and even fewer live. The original Spanish land grant was parceled out in 1960 into over 7,200 2.5 acre sections by optimistic real estate developers. According to their own advertising fliers, these 1960 developers believed that the California State Water Project might bring water to the area. After a more northerly route for the project was selected, many buyers lost heart, many properties were abandoned, and the original developers went bankrupt.  Over the years, people have purchased California Valley land in order to get away from it all, to hunt or explore the Carrizo Plains, and also to farm or ranch. Today, about 500 people call the val... 09/03/2009