First Time Home Buyer and Investor Hotsheet Report  Listings as of 05/06/08 at 9:44pm  MLS Listing #StatusPrice AddressArea CodeSqFtLot Size Approx     RESIDENTIAL New Listings 80043844 Active179,99008848-Lot 50 Napton Way9562411841551 SqFt  80044762 Active184,50008447 Patmon Dr9562412200.155 Acres  80042525 Active215,00008617 Jade Crest Ct9562413640.170 Acres  80044347 Active216,90009536 Batey Ave9562416830.169 Acres  80042629 Active225,00008873 Chadbury Pl9562413430.150 Acres  80042192 Active229,75009814 Lucca Way9562413220.128 Acres  80044412 Active237,90008224 Drais Way9562413250.114 Acres  80042914 Active245,00009662 Two Harbors Dr9562416450.123 Acres  80043327 Active245,50009031 Pembridge Dr9562417330.134 Acres  80040671 Active194,750010483 Canadeo Cir9575712610.105 Acres  8004543... 05/06/2008

Mother's Day Home and Gift Ideas  •1.      Fresh bouquet of flowers or a plant.•2.      Hire housecleaning service to do spring cleaning or do it yourself.•3.      Make a photo calendar, stamps, or coffee mug.•4.      Hire in home massage therapist or give her a nice massage.•5.      Hire a chef or cook her a mother's day dinner at home.•6.      Hire a professional home organizer or closet organizer.•7.      Hire a gardener to clean yard and plant vibrant spring flowers.•8.      Run her a bubble bath surrounded by aroma candles.•9.      Have a movie night marathon and let her choose the movies.•10.    Buy high thread count sheets.•11.    Make a personal coupon book with coupons for her to use throughout the year, to give her time to herself, pampering, and free days from chores.•12.   W... 05/04/2008

Apple Inc. Elk Grove Lays off Workers  Apple Computers of Elk Grove decided to lay off 174 workers in the sales and support division.  Apple has decided to move its sales and call center operations division to Austin Texas.  Apple employees were called in on Thursday and told that sales were good but they were being laid off because they wanted their sales and support division under one roof.  The Elk Grove Apple location will primarily focus on technical support.    Former employee Anthony Sims from Elk Grove was laid off; he had worked for Apple Computers since June 2007 as a blended agent in sales and service.  Anthony is also a promising local baseball player who trains at Champion Sports Inc. in Elk Grove and is a father of two young daughters ages 2 and 4 years old.    Anthony and... 05/03/2008

Events this Weekend in Elk Grove and Sacramento Areas Franklin Theatre Company presents 'COLE'  Enjoy some great music from a great broadway master Cole Porter. Franklin Theatre Company under the guest direction of Lou Nardi (Lou has over directed over 70 musical shows) will present and evening of Cole Porter music and commentary over the life and career of this great musician. More information & tickets for sale at http://www.franklintheatreassociation.com%20/ May 2,3, 9,10 at 7:00 P.M. Also, tickets will be on sale at the school concession stand during lunch hours M-F, 11:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M.   The Elk Grove Hotel & Stage Stop Museum will be open to the public on Saturday, May 3, 2008, from 12 noon until 4 PM. The museum is located in the Elk Grove Heritage Park, located at 9941 East ... 05/02/2008

What is Home Staging and Why is it Important?  Home staging is the process of decorating, organizing, redesigning or reorganizing a home so that it shows and flows well while on the real estate market.  You want your home to make its first appearance a grand appearance!  Consumers and real estate professionals who bring clients to view homes are more apt to show a home that has been staged over a vacant home or one that has strong odors, looks worn or cluttered.  Staging will also make photos taken of your home that will be viewed on the internet and used in marketing pieces look much better.  The more photos your Realtor can get the better!  Home staging will make all the difference against the neighborhood competition and will determine how quickly your home sells and at what price.  ... 05/01/2008

Open House Report MLS Listing #/ Status/ Address/ City/ Listing Price $80041058 Active 3571 San Ysidro Way Sacramento, CA 95864-2815 Sacramento 799,000 70108779 Active 1021 La Sierra Dr Sacramento, CA 95864-5247 Sacramento 1,500,000 80016255 Short Sale 7944 Cresentdale Way Sacramento, CA 95823-6527 Sacramento 180,000 70123061 Short Sale 7342 Alcedo Cir Sacramento, CA 95823 Sacramento 190,00080004073 Short Cont. 8193 Bantry Ct Sacramento, CA 95829-1523 Sacramento 199,000 80004068 Short Cont. 6357 Laguna Mirage Ln Elk Grove, CA 95758-5462 Elk Grove 205,00080025782 Active 2241 Juliesse Ave Sacramento, CA 95821-4628 Sacramento 219,900 80042176 Active 6904 Springridge Way Elk Grove, CA 95758-6321 Elk Grove 244,90080041716 Active 7807 Amherst St Sacramento, CA 95832-1164 Sacramento 249,900 80... 04/30/2008

Our next foreclosed home bus tour is already filling up fast!  Don't miss out on this great opportunity! As of this morning, Realty Trac is reporting 1564 bank owned homes and 1306 preforeclosures in the Elk Grove zip code areas (95624, 95757 and 95758), which means there are great deals out there right now!  Interest rates are low, prices are great and the market is changing again!  Don't miss your opportunity to purchase a home!                                                                                               Whether you are a first time homebuyer, an investor or a move up buyer, The Mode & DurhaM Team's foreclosed home bus tour is for you...during the tour you will learn about the local market, the foreclosure process, what an REO is and is not, financing for foreclosed h... 04/08/2008

Under $105.00 a square foot!   Just Listed! Bank Owned...Incredible Buy!  Open Thursday, April 3rd 4:00 - 7:00 Built in 2004 this beautiful Richmond American home features 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom with approximately 3700 square feet of living space...formal living and dining rooms, huge upstairs game room, master suite with extra large retreat....neutral carpet, decorator paint, huge family room with fireplace, plantation shutters, decorator draperies, & much more.  This hone is located on a large almost 1/4 acre lot with RV access, room for a pool and still lots of backyard left!      Don't miss out!  This is the lowest priced home in the area per square foot!  Shows well!  Ready for you to move into!  Lori Mode and Bruce Durham, Keller Williams, Elk Grove www.AllElkGroveHomes.com   04/01/2008

We held our 2nd monthly Foreclosure Home Bus Tour yesterday and it was a huge success!     The bus was just about full and we saw 12 of the very best deals currently on the market in the Elk Grove and South Sacramento areas.  Along on the bus were other professionals in the real estate field to help us with educating the buyers.  These included: Beth Gewerth, senior loan officer of Mason-McDuffie Mortgage.  Beth was there to let buyers know about the loan programs available for these Bank Owned homes, including FHA and Conventional financing, with programs for both first time homebuyers and nvestors. Rico Rivera of Old Republic Home Warranty.  Rico talked about the help and peace of mind a home warranty can give to buyers on these Bank Owned Hones.  Old Republic Home Warranty has option... 03/31/2008

Has the recovery started in the Elk Grove area?  Are we near the bottom of the market?  These questions are starting to be asked more frequently in the past few weeks...I've been hearing them more and nore.  I have tracked our numbers for the past year and the change has been pretty dramatic recently. On March 12, 2007, there was a total of 1252 active listings in the 3 zip code areas of Elk Grove (95624, 95757 and 95758), with the following percentages of homes pending that week: 95624 had 16.60% of homes going pending; 95757 had 16.10% of homes going pending and 95758 had the highest percentage with 24.00%.  Take a look at our numbers as of today - 1 year later - March 11, 2008 1177 active listings total in the 3 zip code areas - not down too much from a year ago, but take a look at t... 03/11/2008

Selling your home "short" or as a Short Sale will end a bad nightmare for most. It is a way to escape the nasty phone calls from your current lender if you are behind on your mortgage payments. It is a way to get a fresh start away from a bad loan or bad investment. Recent legislation eliminates tax liability for most, contact your tax advisor. Getting the Short Sale approval...this is the most interesting of all. Most agents have no clue what to do once they get a Short Sale Listing. This is my specialty.I recently closed a 1.4MM deal in San Jose. They had three loans, a lawsuit from Century 21, and other outstanding title issues. It closed within 60 days!! Because I am eager to close the deal, the lender becomes eager to close the deal. DON'T WAIT-LIST YOUR HOME WITH ONE OF OUR AGENTS... 02/27/2008

How will a proposal that the Cosumnes Community Services District is considering affect the communities of Elk Grove and Galt?  According to local fire fighters the proposed cuts will affect the safety of everyone who lives in Elk Grove and Galt. The following is an excerpt from the firefighters' website, www.eg-galtfirefighters.com: What will these cuts mean?                                                                                            Fewer Front Line Firefighters:  Empty command seats mean a firefighter must take the reins:  fewer boots on the ground when seconds count.   Longer Response Times:  Fewer field commanders means it can take more than 16 minutes for the first-alarm response - twice the national standard.   Compromised Citizen and Firefighter Safety: Fewer fire... 02/24/2008

Excellent 2006 built home in Elk Grove. 4BR, 2.5 BA, 1BR downstairs, cul-de-sac location, nice upgrades, nice patio. Walking distance to all schools - elem, middle and high schools. close to freeway, college, shopping, bus.Short Sale. Same lender, so approval will be fast. 02/01/2008

Things are heating up!  The great REO deals have people crawling all over them.  Great news for the market!      01/24/2008

I am moving back to the Northern California area to run my virtual tour company and be closer to my family. I had a good time in Riverside County and enjoyed all the people I had the opportunity to meet. You all will be missed. Best wishes and good luck.For those of you in the Sacramento area you now have a new virtual tour company called 4Saletours.com. Our price is one of the cheapest in town. Our package includes both a non-branded & branded tour, a custom flyer design, still photos and 2 marketing CD's. Complete package is only $125.00For more information and my contact number please go to www.4saletours.com.   01/22/2008

GREAT NEWS!For all those homeowners living in Elk Grove east of Hwy. 99.NO MORE TRAIN WHISTLES!Elk Grove is the 8th City in California to establish the quiet zone.Elk Grove has it's first 24 hour railroad quiet zone.The Quiet Zone will definitely improve the quality of life here in ELk Grove. The areas that will now be exempt from those hourly long train honking horns which had progressively increased over the past eight years are:East of Calvine Rd. East of Sheldon Rd. Elk Grove Florin Rd. Bond Rd. Elk Grove Blvd. An additional quiet zone will be established at Franklin Blvd./Willard Parkway in the Spring 2008.If you happen to hear the whistle it is because, train engineers can and will sound the horn if they feel there is an emergency, such as a motorist, pedestrian, animal or other t... 01/12/2008

Last Friday, we had a huge storm in the Sacramento area and Elk Grove residents had numerous problems due to the wind and rain according to The Elk Grove Citizen article, "Major storm front blasts Elk Grove with wind, rain; no major flooding reported".   There were several downed trees, scattered branches, fallen fences and some power lines due to the severe wind and rain. Photo courtesy of Tom McDermottFriday's storm knocked down this tree in a resident's yard, damaging a nearby minivan. (from Elk Grove Citizen)   According to SMUD's website, the storm knocked out power to over 150,000 SMUD customers - this is more than 1/4 of the SMUD customers.              With the help of retired SMUD employees and other utility companies, it            took until sometime today, Wednesday, 1/9, fo... 01/09/2008

These eight BANK OWNED homes will be Open this Thursday, January 10th, 2008 from 3:00 - 6:00. STOP BY AND TAKE A LOOK!  THE BANKS ARE READY TO DEAL!     All of these homes are located in the South Laguna/Franklin Reserve area of Elk Grove, Califonria.  They are priced from $280,900 up to $619,900 and range in square footage from 1714 square feet to almost 4100 square feet.  The homes were all built in 2003 or later.  There are great deals out there now and interest rates are great!  What are you waiting for?                         NOW IS THE TIME TO BUY! For directions, financing information or more information on any of these homes, call The Mode & DurhaM Team, Keller Williams Realty, (916) 405-5765 or send email to Lori Mode at Lori@ModeandDurhaM.com. To sign up for our FREE WEEKLY L... 01/08/2008

  The slow down in the real estate industry is evident with title companies consolidating offices and now Alliance Title Company in California has shut down operations.  The Elk Grove building that one of my office is in had an Alliance Title Company's office, but it closed down a couple of months ago.  It was no surprise because the closings in the area were very small compared to what the market used to be a few years ago.  It is a sign of the times we live in.  The real estate market is at a all time low, but it is a great opportunity for investors and buyers.  The Alliance Title reps and escrow officers who worked in the Elk Grove office were great people who provided great service.  I wish them all well!Here are some article:News10 Article - Alliance Title Another Casualty of the H... 12/16/2007

<!-- .slogan {font: bold 10pt Verdana,serif;color:#156739;} .slogan {font:normal 17px Georgia,Times,sans-serif;font-style:italic;color:#114888;} --> Let's Say Thanks! Let's join our voices here at Active Rain and Support our Troops and LetsSayThanks and send a quick post card from you and your families! A dear Active Rain member challenge us all to do our part and post within our own communities and send a postcard to our troops! Xerox has made this an easy challenge to do with their user friendly site.  It's easier than composing an email. I want to Challenge all of El Dorado County and surrounding areas and my blogging community to share your well wishes to those sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, mothers and fathers who have spent time away from their love ones ... 12/16/2007