Valentines Day is right around the corner. And yes it may be fun for us, humans, but it can harmful to your pets, One big way to show love for your pets is by keeping them safe. Valentine’s Day is famous for chocolates, flowers, cocktails and candy – all things that can be particularly harmful to our four-legged loved ones. Here are some helpful tips I have gathered from various pet websites to keep them safe and avoid any emergency trips to the veterinarian!   Flowers: Lilies are potentially fatal to cats. As pretty as they are, make sure to have an arrangement without lilies. Thorns on roses or other flowers can be dangerous for dogs or other pets. Biting, stepping on or swallowing stems with thorns increases risk for a puncture, which can result in serious infections internally o... 02/11/2012

  NORTH COUNTY     ANAHEIM Join the House of Blues for a Valentine’s Day Menu for Two on February 14th starting at 5:00pm. Make your reservations today by calling 714-520-2334 BREA Valentine ’s Day at 8:00 is the Valentine's Day Dinner Show with Christina Pazsitzky at the Brea Improv. Celebrate laughter and love this Valentine's Day with comedian Christina Pazsitzky and Tom Segura at the Brea Improv. Valentine’s Dinner includes: One glass of Champage(for guests 21 years & older), small Caesar salad, an entree selection of prime rib, Asiago crusted chicken or honey shrimp pasta and chocolate mousse for dessert. Reservations recommended. For information and/or reservations you can call (714) 482-0700. Must be 18+.   BUENA PARK Why not spend Valentine's Day at Medieval Times?! Medieval Ti... 02/10/2012

  CENTRAL COUNTY   COSTA MESA NOW through February 11, 2012 is the Pacific Symphony Presents: "Valentine's Day with Roberta Flack". Just in time for Valentine's Day, Grammy Award winner Roberta Flack visits Pacific Symphony with her intoxicating romantic ballads including "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," "Killing Me Softly With His Song," "Feel Like Making Love" and "Tonight I Celebrate My Love." Flack remains one of only two artists (the other is U2) to win back-to-back Grammy Awards for Record of the Year. For more information you can call 714-755-5799. Also  on February 11th  from 8pm-Midnight at The Hotel Hanford come dance, mingle, participate in giveaways and most important, have a good time. Men are asked to wear black suits and women should dress in shades of red, pink or ... 02/10/2012

  South County   ALISO VIEJO This Saturday February 11, 2012 from 7 – 10pm at the Renaissance ClubSport is an Valentine's Day Love Lounge and Wine Tasting. Valentine's Day is the most romantic day of the year and deserves an extra special night to celebrate the occasion. Enjoy delicious appetizers and taste the most exotic white wines and romantic ruby reds. Then, indulge in our flowing sweet samplers and hand-passed champagne, all night long! You can cozy-up and relax, while listening to our live entertainment, or get out on the dance floor and move to the music! We invite you to extend your evening and stay the night for just $99.99! Reservations are required; space is limited to the first 50 couples. Childcare is available in Kids World until 10:00pm through our Valentine's Day Part... 02/10/2012

The median list price for homes for sale in Laguna Niguel, CA is $650,000 for the week of February 6th, 2012. The Market has been cooling in recent weeks. Since this is a Buyer’s market where there is excess inventory to satisfy the demand levels, prices have also been moving lower. Download this report Thanks for reading this. Articles on short sales. Phone: (949) 244-0444. arna@ehome.com. Experience, Excellence and Service View my homes for sale. Arna Freedman specializes in loan modification assistance and short sales in Ladera Ranch California.   02/10/2012

Make your own cleaners. Household chemicals, including some cleaners, contain volatile organic chemicals, which contribute to indoor air pollution and may cause disease. A cost-effective way to make your home greener is to make your own household cleaners. Many homemade cleaners use non-toxic ingredients and clean just as well as commercial cleaners.   *Making your own cleaner costs about 10% of the price a bottle of commercial cleaner, according to Karen Logan, author of "Clean House, Clean Planet." She says a bottle of her all-purpose cleaner costs 23 cents to make, versus a price tag of $2.69 for the off-the-shelf equivalent. If making your own cleaners isn't an option, look for cleaners carrying the Green Seal. Green Seal is a nonprofit organization that certifies products based on... 02/09/2012

We are already into the New Year. Towards the end of 2011 I talked about updating your business & marketing plans for the New Year! However, did you also include a review of your website? Your website is a VERY important part of your business. After reading through the e-pro blog,  here are some quick tips for when you review your website! Refresh the about page. Your About page is usually the second-most visited page of any site, which means it’s an important page that needs to put a friendly ‘face’ on the company. Rewrite it to include fresh company news — awards won, new products introduced, offices opened or new team members who’ve joined. Check your links and content.Make sure all your links are active, nothing worse that orphaned links.  Read through your website. Is all your con... 02/08/2012

The Bank of America Cooperative Short Sale Program reduces the challenges of a regular short sale in Laguna Niguel, such as waiting up to 60 days just for having your sale be assigned a representative. Bank of America idealized the program in order to help homeowners explore all their options and, most importantly, avoid foreclosure. But, how do short sales work?A cooperative short sale in Laguna Niguel begins with the homeowner calling the bank where he/she explains the hardship endured, thus not being able to continue the mortgage payments. The Banker and homeowner then discuss a loan modification (which is, in most cases, a pre-requisite when entering a cooperative short sale). After the bank reviews the documents presented to show the homeowner’s grievances and determines that a loa... 02/08/2012

Every bank, like many other businesses, aims to make money and not necessarily make things smooth for their customers; much less to anyone trying to short sale their property. So, naturally, the main reason Bank of America has initiated the Cooperative Short Sale Program in Laguna Niguel is to increase the bank’s bottom line profit. And as we have talked about in previous posts, a short sale might be a good option for you depending on your current situation. Banks increase their profit whenever they cut losses on loans that are in default. But they also face a few problems: They take long periods of time to process short sales and loan modifications. Given the fact that the length of time to buy a short sale is long, buyers are making lowball modifications. There are many agents that ar... 02/08/2012

  After reading from socialmediatoday.com here are the 5 most effective Social Media tactics that have given the best results for our clients in the real estate industry. 1. Property Search tool with a Facebook PageThis technique works great for Realtors. It allows your FB page visitors to search your available properties right from the Facebook page. Now that Facebook uses Iframes for all its pages it is easier to add more web functionality to a Facebook page. One of the most fundamental aspects of a Realtor's website is the property search tool so it makes sense to allow customers to use this tool without leaving Facebook. 2. Youtube T.V. ChannelYoutube Channels can be hugely powerful for the Real Estate industry if done professionally.  Most Realtors add video "Walk Around" or slide... 02/07/2012

  A London Lawyer in his flash new BMW is pulled over by a Scottish policeman.   He says, "Sir, I pulled you over because you didn't stop at the STOP sign. That'll be a 100 pound fine"   The lawyer looks at him "100 pound?!!!", then pretty agitated: "Look, I slowed down all right? What difference does it make, I slowed down surely that's enough."   The policeman raises a brow and looks at him: "Sir, it's a STOP sign, so that means you have to stop not just slow down."    The lawyer rolls his eyes, thinks for a moment and then says arrogantly, "Okay, I'll tell you what, if you can show me how it makes a difference whether I slow down or stop, then I'll pay the fine."   The policeman says "all right then" pulls out his baton and starts to bash the lawyer.   The lawyer screams "what are y... 02/04/2012

When tackling home remodeling projects, you’ll find some projects pay off more than others at times of resale. Remodeling Magazine, in conjunction with REALTOR® Magazine, recently released findings of its annual Cost vs. Value report for 2011-2012, revealing which remodeling projects offer the biggest bang for your buck. Overall, the trend right now is replacement over remodeling–swapping out the old for the new rather than doing a total gut job, which can be much more costly. This year’s Cost vs. Value report found that exterior replacement projects–such as new garage doors and a new entry door–offer some of the best returns at resale, allowing home owners to recoup close to 70 percent or more of the costs of the project at times of resale. The following are the top, mid-range project... 02/03/2012

                              1. Start with a guesstimate. Before your listing presentation, have a price range in mind. A quick chat or two with your colleagues and your own understanding of the neighborhood can help you come up with an informed guesstimate.   2. Firm up with comps. A search through recent comps as you work up your competitive market analysis will help firm up the price range.   3. Look for price trends. Bring to your presentation a summary of price trends in the neighborhood. Be prepared to share it - even leave it - with the sellers. That can help ground sellers who may be reaching for pie in the sky.   4. Case the community. As you drive up to the house and walk in, size up the neighborhood and the condition of the house. How does the home visually compare with the ... 02/02/2012

The first set of earnings released in January focused upon the financial sector.  In all, the reports by larger national and regional banks were disappointing and showed that we are not out of the woods with regard to the legacy of bad loans piled up on the asset sheets of banks during the recession. While the economy recovers, debt loads of banks and nations will prove to be a drag on growth.  This is why analysts are looking at the good economic releases we have experienced in the past few months and are still remaining cautious.  For the consumer, this situation actually represents good news.  A recovery that does not get too strong too fast will continue to translate into record low interest rates for a longer period of time. If it were not for Europe or the banks right now, the sa... 02/01/2012

  A recent headline of the San Francisco Chronicle was about a female humpback whale who had become entangled in a spiderweb of crab traps and line weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, tail, torso and a line tugging in her mouth.A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farallon Islands and radioed an environmental group for help. Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so bad off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her. They worked for hours and eventually freed her.When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them,... 01/31/2012

  I am sure as most of you know texting is the big thing with the kids these day. And they all have their texting codes like; BFF (best friends forever) LOL (laughing out loud) BRB (be right back) FYI (for your information) WTF (what the F***) GTG (got to go) LMAO (laughing my a** off) So why not some codes for seniors (60 and over): ATD - At the Doctor's BFF - Best Friends Funeral BTW - Bring the Wheelchair BYOT - Bring Your Own Teeth CBM - Covered by Medicare CUATSC - See You at the Senior Center FWIW - Forgot Where I Was FYI - Found Your Insulin GGPBL - Gotta Go, Pacemaker Battery Low GHA - Got Heartburn Again HGBM - Had Good Bowel Movement IMHO - Is My Hearing-Aid On? LMDO - Laughing My Dentures Out LOL - Living on Lipitor OMSG - Oh My! Sorry, Gas ROFLCGU - Rolling on the Floor Laug... 01/28/2012

Happy Saturday Active Rain!!! We have come yet again to the last Saturday of the month of January! Can you believe it?! Time is just flying by! Which is why it is important to slow down every once & awhile & enjoy life! As always, wishing you only the best this weekend & always! "Look at everything as though you were seeing it for the first time or the last time. Then your time on earth will be filled with glory." ~ Betty Smith 01/28/2012

      1. Advertise a Free Phone Appraisal: There are potential sellers in you market that are curious about how much their home is worth, but they won’t call an agent because they fear the hard sell. With the free phone appraisal approach, you create an ad encouraging homeowners to call for a market analysis over the phone. The ad says there’s no obligation and, in fact, there isn’t. During the phone call, you could get a general property description and offer a wide range of possible selling prices, depending upon certain factors. Of course, if the seller would like a more specific estimate of his or her home’s value, you would be more than happy to drop by for a visit.   2. Offer Free Special Reports: If you do offer free special reports, then you will capture them when they call. I ... 01/27/2012

  Is the market is improving or at least stabilizing!?  We provide the latest market updates regularly, as well as personal consultation of market direction… The Laguna Niguel Closed Sales Report for DECEMBER: The Laguna Niguel Closed Sales Report for Homes Sold in the 0-$500,000 Range: 2011   46 listings closed escrow              2010   38 listings closed escrow             The Laguna Niguel Closed Sales Report for Homes Sold in the $500,000-$1,000,000 Range: 2011   29 listings closed escrow 2010   33 listings closed escrow The Laguna Niguel Closed Sales Report for Homes Sold in the $1,000,000+Range: 2011  8 listings closed escrow                   2010  3 listings closed escrow                    Does a sales report tell the whole story about market environment, consumer sentiment a... 01/26/2012

  A goal without a plan is just a wish.~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery Simply having a goal in mind does not achieve success. To move beyond wishful thinking and produce tangible results, requires specific goals and a well-crafted marketing plan. Most businesses fail to grow or scucceed, because they don't have established goals or tools. They know what they want to achieve, but the destination is vague, and their marketing plan is non-existent.  A wish alone is not productive, it needs to be connected to a plan of action to get there, and to produce the greatest return.  These goals need to be clear and specific.    Start with SMART goals.      S =      SPECIFIC      M =     MEASURABLE      A =      ACHIEVABLE      R =      REALISTIC      T =      TRACKABLE   01/26/2012