I Thought Scarecrows were Supposed to Keep the Birds Away! California is a dream come true state no matter what your needs or wants are. We have year round warm weather, beautiful beaches, rustic mountains and desert communities. If you are looking for a home in southern California, please contact me. I am a local California Realtor, live in the Inland Empire community and aware of the local market. I am here to help you find a home or to sell the home you currently own. California has great opportunities to view Nature and Bird Watching. Whatever your needs are, you will find it here in California! From the Inland Empire you are 45 minutes to the beaches, mountains or desert. Housing is affordable in the Inland Empire area. Call me!       I sell real estate in Riverside and San Bernard... 10/24/2012

  California’s $150 Fire Prevention Fee to Property Owners…Fee or Tax and will it be Repealed   SRA-State Responsibility Area, boundaries were developed by the California State Forestry and Fire Protection and a $150 fee to each parcel in these areas was created in June 2011 and approved by the California Legislature in July 2011. There are approximately 825,000 rural parcels affected by this fee.   On the State of California Website, there is a map that anyone can go to and see if their home is in this SRA area. This went into effect July 2012 and bills have already been sent out to homeowners to pay the annual levy $150 fee. If the parcel is in a fire district, there will be a $35 reduction on your bill.   As you can imagine, there has been a lot of controversy over this fee and now t... 10/14/2012

Today is a special day as I just passed my 400,000 points on ActiveRain. I am so excited to be here and I am sharing some of my favorite photos with you. Milestone: I am very excited as I have just passed a major milestone; 400,000 points on ActiveRain. And by doing so, it made me think about what ActiveRain means to me.   Making Friends: I enjoy getting up early every morning and reading other peoples posts and enjoy reading the messages left on my posts as well. Someone once said “It is like getting Christmas cards every day of the year” and they are so right. I have many friends I have met on ActiveRain from all over the US and Canada. Most of us communicate daily or at least every few days. It is such a great place to meet new friends too.   Sharing Ideas and Knowledge: We are a so... 10/14/2012

Oh No….My Dog Killed a Rat and Brought me a Present   Oh my gosh, yesterday afternoon I put my three little dogs outside and a few minutes later, I see them all sitting by the door waiting to get back in. As I approached, I see something sitting in front of CoCo on the cement. What did you bring me?   And to my horror, I realized it was a dead rat. So I quickly grabbed a paper towel and got the rat away from the dogs and put it in the green waste can. Brought the dogs in the house and washed Coco’s paws off with dish soap. All of her shot records are up to date as she had them in June; Rabies, 7-1 Booster, and the Bordetella.   She laid around last night but never got sick. I think she just bit the rat and killed it and then carried it to me as a present. I do not think she ate any of t... 10/11/2012

Hello Kitty.....Thanks for Stopping By This is not my cat but one of my neighbor’s two cats. They found them at the railroad yard last and were just 3 weeks old. Both of them like to come and visit me and will sit and meow below my home office window until I respond and talk to them. They also like to get my dogs barking…..and I think that is the real reason they stop by. The 2 cats are identical so I can never tell if it is Jessie James or Butch Cassidy so I just say “Hello Kitty”. They are both just adorable. California is a dream come true state no matter what your needs or wants are. We have year round warm weather, beautiful beaches, rustic mountains and desert communities. If you are looking for a home in southern California, please contact me. I am a local California Realtor, liv... 10/02/2012

THREE IMPORTANT CRITERIA FOR FINDING THE RIGHT HIGHLAND CA REAL ESTATE AGENTS / HIGHLAND CA REALTORS® Finding the Right Highland real estate agent can mean the difference in how much you sell your Highland house or property for, how long it takes to sell it and whether or not it sells at all. Below are some important criteria to consider when selecting a real estate agent:   [HIGHLAND REAL ESTATE SHORT SALE AGENTS/REALTORS®]   1. Make sure the real estate agent you select is a member of the National Association of REALTORS®, and has full access to their local MLS (Multiple Listing Service). The REALTOR® designation means they take their profession seriously, and without access to the MLS they cannot market your Highland CA home for sale to other real estate agents/REALTORS®.   2. Your n... 09/27/2012

SHORT SALE HOUSE HIGHLAND CA If you are facing foreclosure and you can no longer afford your home, you may qualify for a Highland CA Short Sale, even if you don't think you can or don't think your home can be sold in today's market. What is a Highland CA Short Sale? A Highland CA Short Sale, also known as a pre-foreclosure sale, is when you sell your Highland home for less than the balance remaining on your mortgage. If your mortgage company agrees to a short sale, you can sell your Highland CA home and pay off all (or a portion of) your mortgage balance with the proceeds. You may also be eligible for the government's Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program (HAFA) which offers incentives for sellers to complete a short sale. A Highland CA Short Sale is an alternative to foreclo... 09/26/2012

Going Paperless and Becoming Greener in my Real Estate Career.    I have made an attempt in the past year to get more organized to save myself time and grief and make it easier for my clients. I was definitely using antiquated and inefficient modes of technology and have found great new paperless systems and I would like to share them with you. Before coming paperless, my desk was filled with files and I remember having to take the files apart to add a document adding to the 6” master paper file and lug it around. What freedom I have now.   ·       Dot Loop Paperless File System- I understand how important it is to have a master file and keep it up to date. I was always printing everything, scanning and faxing documents or driving to the client’s home to get signatures and I might add ... 09/22/2012

Canada Geese are Creatures of Habit   ·       The Canada Goose originated in the Artic area and generally lives in Canada or North American areas. ·       They mate for life unless something happens to their mate and they tend to have a low divorce rate. ·       Both parents take care of the nest and the goslings. ·       The goslings stay with the parents for nearly a year. ·       They fly at dusk and will generally fly all night. ·       They like to fly in V formations and the experienced geese will take turns leading the flock. When flying overhead, spectators can hear them honking. ·       Flocks stay together for many years. ·       They are very social and have 13+ different communication honks. ·       When migrating, they generally go to the same spot every year and make thei... 09/11/2012

Apple 101….Do you Know how to Turn Off your iPad? I had a  box problem and thought to myself when in doubt just turn it off to let it go back to any default settings but then I realized I did not know how to turn it off. My iPad was just going to sleep and not turning off! Found the on/off button on the very top right of the iPad and by holding it down, a slide bar appears and says “slide to power off”. So I did that and amazingly it shut down.   Now when I am traveling, I can turn my iPad off and save battery power also. This is another benefit to turning it off vs. putting it to sleep. *By the way, I thought I was the only stupid person who had this happen to until I Googled it and found many articles and many questions by new iPad users trying to figure out how to shut it off. Just ... 09/09/2012

Fountains are so Peaceful!   Yesterday we stopped to grab a cup a coffee and came across this beautiful fountain.   This blackbird was hanging around and I thought he matched the scenery nicely.   California is a dream come true state no matter what your needs or wants are. We have year round warm weather, beautiful beaches, rustic mountains and desert communities. If you are looking for a home in southern California, please contact me. I am a local California Realtor, live in the Inland Empire community and aware of the local market. I am here to help you find a home or to sell the home you currently own. California has great opportunities to view Nature and Bird Watching. Whatever your needs are, you will find it here in California! Fountains are so Peaceful! I sell real estate in Riv... 09/06/2012

RainCamp at ActiveRain is Coming Back...Be Sure to Sign Up! I participated in the previous 8 week RainCamp in May and it was wonderful. You think as a Rainmaker that you already know a lot but each course was filled with new things and I found I was taking notes the entire hour.  Bob Smith and Kerrie Greenhalgh were our instructors and we had a few Ambassadors come and talk too. Bob and Kerrie were just filled with new information and ideas. And the classes that I really needed; it all made sense and taught me what I needed to do to make my posts better. Here are just a few of the items I learned:   ·       Going back and editing photos after you have submitted your blog, resizing them to make them fit the screen and changing tags later on the photos. ·       Setting your profile up co... 08/22/2012

SHORT SALE HIGHLAND CA REAL ESTATE SHORT SALE AGENTS - HIGHLAND CA Times are tough, and many distressed homeowners in Highland California are having trouble paying their mortgages every month. Are you one of them? Are you behind on your mortgage payments now? Are you in danger of missing a mortgage payment? Don't let foreclosure happen to you- explore the Highland CA Short Sale Option instead, but don’t wait; the biggest killer of the short sale negotiation is waiting until it’s too late to process the short sale. You’re also going to want to hire the best Highland CA Short Sale team in Southern California to help you with your difficult situation, at NO CHARGE TO YOU! We do not charge you for our real estate short sale services: we collect our commission from the bank’s proceeds. You p... 08/12/2012

Homeowners- Don’t Wait until You’re Selling Your Home to do Needed Repairs!           When you buy your home, you have plans to fix this and replace that but how many get moved in and say “Oh I will fix that later” and then never do. And then due to unforeseen circumstances, never do necessary repairs until they are selling their home down the road. The average homeowner keeps a home between 6-10 years.   Repairs-Approximately 35% of all homeowners will buy their home and not do any needed repairs until they get ready to sell. I know this sounds unbelievable but it is true. Whether the leak is not that bad, or I will replace the light fixture that is not working, or since the screen doesn’t open I will go through the garage, or the garage door opener has stopped working……and this list c... 08/10/2012

  Pink Beauty and the Beast   Today when I was out taking pictures in the Inland Empire, I found many lovely pink flowers. Then look what I came across…the beast. We have lizards in our area but they are not harmful and keep the insects under control in our gardens. This guy was really large; approx 12" from head to tail.   Call Kristin Hamilton in California 909-557-6966 to list your home.   California is a dream come true state if you are looking for year round warm weather, beautiful beaches, mystic mountain & desert communities, plus rural and urban areas. If you are looking for a home in southern California, please contact me. I am a local California Realtor, live in the community and always aware of the market. I am here to help you find a home or to sell the home you currently ow... 08/08/2012

  I Saved a Dragonfly Today....Will I Have Good Luck?   Early this morning I was out in the yard hosing off the patio and surrounding areas of the pool when I spotted a dragonfly floating in the pool. Now most of you that follow my blog I normally run and get my camera and get the shot but this time I thought I should try and save the insect as they are one of my favorites. I ran and scooped it out of the pool and much to my surprise it started moving immediately. Then I ran and got my camera.   Rushed back and took some pictures and then nudged it a little and off it flew but only to my umbrella about 50 ft away. I took a few more pictures and then left it alone. About an hour later, when the dragonfly had dried out completely, it circled the pool, then around my head several times, li... 07/29/2012

  Lounging by the Pool Today I put the dog beds outside to sit in the sun and air out. A couple of minutes later I looked outside and two of my dogs had plopped down on the beds and sat out by the pool about 30 minutes until the hummingbirds started dive bombing them. I just thought this was so cute! These photographs taken in Highland, CA. by Kristin Hamilton   Call Kristin Hamilton at 909-557-6966 to list your home!   CA- Real Estate Agent; Kristin Hamilton. Inland Empire; San Bernardino, Highland, Redlands, Loma Linda, Colton, Yucaipa, Rialto, Fontana, Grand Terrace, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, Chino, Riverside, Montclair, Calimesa, Beaumont, Moreno Valley and SB Mountains Homeowners, please call me for a Comprehensive Market Analysis to assist you with marketing your home for sale and... 07/28/2012

Hiding and No One Can See Me   Driving by the local stable today in Redlands, CA, one of the horses staying there was grazing.  When she saw me, she started galloping around the yard. She stopped and then hid in the bushes.   She looks a little bony but she just had a colt 2 months ago. Taking a little bite before she runs off and hides. So cute!     Do you think she knows that I can see her?   Call Kristin Hamilton at 909-557-6966 to list your home! CA- Real Estate Agent; Kristin Hamilton. Inland Empire; San Bernardino, Highland, Redlands, Loma Linda, Colton, Yucaipa, Rialto, Fontana, Grand Terrace, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, Chino, Riverside, Montclair, Calimesa, Beaumont, Moreno Valley and SB Mountains Homeowners, please call me for a Comprehensive Market Analysis to assist you with m... 07/26/2012

  St. Joseph Statue helps to Sell Your Home… Fact or Fiction?   There is a belief amongst real estate agents and homeowners that if you buy a St. Joseph statue and bury it in the yard, that the home will sell faster.   I did a little research on this and found that this belief has been around for hundreds of years. The Good Saint Joseph was chosen as the Patron Saint of Home and Family by the Catholic Church.The tradition can be traced back hundreds of years to Theresa of Avila, who prayed to St. Joseph for more land for Christian Converts, and encouraged Nuns to bury St Joseph Medals in the ground as a symbol of their devotion.   This belief is still seen today and the internet sells kits for agents/homeowners to buy and bring good luck to their home. These kits sell for approx. $7.95-... 07/23/2012

Get Pre-Qualified Now ……If You Want to BUY a House then Get OFF the Fence   1. Must I get my “Prequal Letter” before I find the home I want to buy? I have a lot of buyers who tell me they are serious about finding a home but the minute I mention getting pre-qualified, they have some excuse but….the main thing I hear is “when we find a house, then we will call your lender and get pre-qualified”. TOO LATE!   Do I see a problem here? Absolutely, as the inventory of homes for sale is so slim that a really nice home priced fairly will be in PENDING status within a day or less so anyone who doesn’t have their letter will likely lose out on the countering or acceptance process by the seller.   2. What is the qualifying process all about? It is very simple and fast but sometimes not fast enough... 07/22/2012