One of the Jewels of the Central Valley and Stanislaus county is the Gallo Center for the Arts. I have been to several events there over the last 4 years that it has been open.  This past Friday night was one of the best.  This was the Broadway Production of Beauty and the Beast. This was a first class production with all the bells and whistles. (or is that Belles?)  It was a packed house and everyone seemed to be having a great time.  There were many young want to be Belles in the audience and I'm sure they had a great time.  The Gallo Center for the Artsis a first class facility located in the heart of Stanilaus County in downtown Modesto.  There are two theaters and a beautiful lobby.  The center hosts many events through out the year.  According to the Modesto Bee this was the most ... 11/15/2010

  Duarte Nursery in Hughson California has me absolutely Intrigued!!   Did you know that there is 30 different varieties of Poinsettias? I simply had no idea. Every year during the holidays I have driven by Duarte greenhouses but never stopped. I did not know until recently that it was open to the public. You have to understand that the greenhouses don't look like the standard neighborhood nursery greenhouses. While driving along side them it is a flood of Christmas colors so incredibly vibrant. Can you imagine 60,000 Poinsettias? For those who are not familiar with the area the nursery is located near Modesto in the Central Valley of California. Duarte Nursery, Inc. is the largest permanent crops nursery in the United States. Now that I know this well kept little secret it only seem fi... 11/13/2010

The Queen Bean  5th Food 4 Music   Friday November 19, 2010 5:30 p.m. The Queen Bean will be hosting an evening of music to help The Modesto Gospel Mission this year. 1126 14th Street, Modesto, Ca Music for the Evening - Badwater 5:45 - 6:45 Braata 7:00 - 7:45 Aaron Durr 8:00 - 8:45 Wicked Hickie 9 - 10 Admission: 3 cans of food & or any 2 non perishable food items & or,any type of pet food also. The pet food will go to the Stanislaus County SPCA. Thank you Queen Bean           REALTOR® Your Real Estate Connector serving the Central Valley of California. Passion for Real Estate Industry combined with Love for Historical area of Hometown Modesto. California Real Estate Mart, Inc. Graceada Park Neighborhood Homes For Sale 209-604-5028 11/13/2010

Modesto CA - What do you do when the house won't sell for any more money, but the bank keeps on rejecting the offers? You can give up, but the seller may lose their home to foreclosure. Ouch! Why not escalate the file and get it approved. Here's an example of how it worked for the Stop Foreclosure Institute. Discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and request a free consultation by clicking here. We had a house on the market for 4 months. We started the price at 200k and slowly brought it down to $169,900. We finally got an offer for $159,000. Since I knew the bank's appraiser's valuation, I knew the offer wouldn't work. The bank's appraiser said the house was worth $195,000. Yes, after we had had the house on the market for 4 months. Because I knew the loan owner's gu... 11/11/2010

McHenry Mansion     Built in 1883 by Robert McHenry           REALTOR® Your Real Estate Connector serving the Central Valley of California. Passion for Real Estate Industry combined with Love for Historical area of Hometown Modesto. California Real Estate Mart, Inc. Graceada Park Neighborhood Homes For Sale 209-604-5028 11/10/2010

Modesto CA - First, it benefits the owner of the loan. This is because they get to sell the house at today's price, versus what it will be worth 6-12 months down the road. I just did a comparison and pulled up sold listings. All of the listings were the similar properties in similar neighborhoods. First, I looked up the average selling price per SQFT of homes that sold in Spring. They sold for an average of $103 a SQFT. Then, I pulled up homes in the same neighborhoods that sold as REOs in the last 2 months. They are sold for an average of $85 a SQFT. These homes average 1,700 a SQFT. That means a 1,700 REO sold for $30,600 less. Ouch! Discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and request a free consultation by clicking here. The other person that's getting value is the ... 11/10/2010

Modesto CA - I've heard the following myth from a lot of people. Here's what they tell me. "The banks can't afford to approve loan modifications because they don't want to take the losses on their books that fast. Also, their investors may not approve the short sale, because they can't afford to write off too much loss at once. And the circle goes around and around", they say. This common myth isn't true. Here is why. Discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and request a free consultation by clicking here. The odds are that your loan is not owned by your lender. For example, 80% of all Bank of America's loans are not owned by them. The biggest holders are the Government Sponsored Enterprises, also called GSEs. The GSEs are Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae. These ... 11/08/2010

Modesto CA - The Stop Foreclosure Institute recently received a question from a homeowner facing foreclosure. I'll call him Dave to protect his identity. (Foreclosure is embarrassing and I don't want to put his name out there.) Dave asked, "I haven't made a house payment in a while. I'm just wondering how much longer it will be before I have to move out?" Discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and request a free consultation by clicking here. Here is the answer to Peter's Question. It all depends on what his plans are and how tight he is on money. Most people in foreclosure are at a disadvantage because they how the process works. Here is the answer to his question. It all depends what on the state he is located in and whether or not his lender has started the foreclos... 11/05/2010

Modesto CA - [caption id="attachment_969" align="alignright" width="327" caption="The only thing certain in life is death and taxes - Benjamin Franklin"][/caption] The Stop Foreclosure Institute recently received a question from a homeowner facing foreclosure. I'll call him Peter to protect his identity. (Foreclosure is embarrassing and I don't want to put his name out there.) Peter asked, "I am six months behind on my mortgage payments. I just got the tax bill for 2010 in the mail. Should I pay it?" He continued, "What will happen if I don't pay it? Will my house be auctioned to pay the taxes?" Discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and request a free consultation by clicking here. Here is the answer to Peter's Question. It all depends on what his plans are and how ti... 11/04/2010

Salvation Army Kettle Kick-Off in Modesto, Ca.   Did you know - With nearly 7,700 centers in the U.S., the Salvation Army contributes to about 29 million people nationwide through a single calendar year - almost 4.5 million during the holiday season alone.   Download: FLVMP43GP Modesto, Ca. is holding it's 18th Annual Kettle Kick-Off on Thursday November 18th, 2010. Time: Doors open at 11:30 am Location: The Centre Plaza - 10th & K Street Modesto, Ca. This year there will be twenty-nine teams that will be competing to collect the most for their kettle from You. So please come prepared to have fun and give to an organization that has stepped up to the plate to help the community when in need. Tickets are $10 dollars each or a table of 10 for $100.  A full complete Christmas meal is inclu... 11/03/2010

Wordless Wednesday: World Champions!! Congratulations San Francisco!!               REALTOR® Your Real Estate Connector serving the Central Valley of California. Passion for Real Estate Industry combined with Love for Historical area of Hometown Modesto. California Real Estate Mart, Inc. Graceada Park Neighborhood Homes For Sale 209-604-5028 11/03/2010

Modesto CA - Wall Street Fat Cats say homeowners shouldn't walk away from upside down homes. Why? "If you do it, then everyone will start doing it", they say. "It isn't moral. People should own up to their commitments. People should be responsible. This is more than just a contract. It's what holds the entire economy together." However, those same rules don't seem to apply to the Wall Street Bankers. Discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and request a free consultation by clicking here. Turns out Wall Street firm Morgan Stanley strategically defaulted on their upside down properties. Here is the article from Bloomberg: Morgan Stanley to Give Up 5 San Francisco Towers Bought at Peak. Here is what the article says: "Morgan Stanley, the securities firm that spent more th... 11/03/2010

Modesto CA - Should you walk away or should you stay? Here is how to determine whether or not you should walk away from your home. Because of the decline in the nationwide housing market, I doubt that your home is worth what you paid for it. Discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and request a free consultation by clicking here. First, determine the current market value of your home. Talk to a realtor. They will give you a market analysis, based on what other homes similar to yours are selling for. For example, we recently helped a home seller who had paid around $700,000 for his home. We thought the home was worth about $400,000. His mortgage payment was a little over $4500 a month. When you add in the property taxes and insurance his total monthly payment was around ... 11/02/2010

  Yosemite National Park is the Backyard of Modesto, Ca "Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will fall off like autumn leaves." - John Muir   Modesto is perfectly located in the middle of  Central Valley. Being so centrally located gives the residents of Modesto quite the diverse cultural experience within a short distance. In our 'front yard' directly to the west 80 miles is San Francisco. Directly to the east 112 miles in our 'Backyard' is Yosemite National Park. Okay, so maybe not directly in our backyard.   View Larger Map As phenomenal as the videos, photos and painting can be they just can never tell the complete sto... 11/01/2010

  Locate polling places in Modesto - Stanislaus County   Now is the time to do the job that many generations of our relatives fought and died for. VOTE!! We owe this to our Fore Fathers right thru to our Great Grand children. It takes so little time to exercise our rights to vote along with our freedom of speech. If you don't vote you have only yourself to be upset with when you want to complain about something. You don't have to vote, but you will feel so much better about yourself, our country and our freedoms.   http://stanvote.com/         REALTOR® Your Real Estate Connector serving the Central Valley of California. Passion for Real Estate Industry combined with Love for Historical area of Hometown Modesto. California Real Estate Mart, Inc. Graceada Park Neighborhood Homes For Sale ... 11/01/2010

G.F. Handel's Messiah Sing-Along Modesto   If you are a vocalist like myself that loves the acoustics in the shower then you will certainly Love the acoustics at First United Methodist Church. All singers in the Modesto and surrounding communities are welcome to participate in a Sing - Along performance of the Messiah. Those of us that wish to attend are encouraged to bring our own scores. There will be some there to borrow if needed. Modesto being one of the larger communities in California still has the undeniable charm and hospitality of a small town. Modesto has many events that are associated with music that has started early in the history of our town. The City of Modesto has been and is blessed with many outstanding musicians. Date: November 21, 2010 Time: 3 pm to 5 pm Place: Fir... 10/31/2010

Daylight Savings Time Modesto Ca   Falling back and thinking what to do with that extra hour of mine. A little me time sounds perfectly nice. Have a few sips of wine at the wine shop or should I go shoe shopping at Bonnie J's downtown instead? All the antique shops we have here in Modesto can certainly entertain my time for more than just an hour or two.  Stanislaus County Library has their computer classes on Tuesday and Thursday so unfortunately that is out of the equation. An early start on Christmas shopping in McHenry Village possibly? Meeting a few friends down at Minnie's on a Sunday evening is always an option and a fun one at that. However, the best and safest option might be to take my daughter's dog for a walk at Graceada Park or one of the other 75 city owned parks. I would ... 10/30/2010

Modesto CA - I read an interesting book that was written by a former real estate agent. The author, Robert Ringer, talked about persistence and how it helps you be successful. He told a story about phoning a call center. Discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and request a free consultation by clicking here. The first person he talked to told him that he couldn't buy something in bulk for a certain price. Rather than argue with her, he instead hung up and called back in. The next person he talked to agreed to sell him the product in bulk for the price he wanted. He got what he wanted a lot faster and easier than if he had spent time arguing with the first person. He gave another example of trying to change his account info with a phone company. The first person tells h... 10/27/2010

Modesto CA - Many people ask if they should do a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure and give their house back to their lender. A deed-in-lieu does have its benefits. Lenders like them because they speed up the foreclosure. Discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and request a free consultation by clicking here. A deed-in-lieu is the equivalent to a "No Contest" plea in a criminal trial. You just give up on the foreclosure. If there is a foreclosure court case, the judge will still have to schedule a foreclosure sale. Contrary to popular opinion, a deed-in-lieu does not automatically release you from the debt. This means that your lender could be pursuing you five years later, after you get back on your feet. There is an application process. You will have to spend between 5 and... 10/26/2010

Modesto CA - We recently talked to another agent about her short sale listing. (Some of the details have been changed to hide their identity) She had been working on this short sale for 6-8 months with no success. The original buyer offered 265k for the house. Discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale and request a free consultation by clicking here. The short sale lenders rejected the offer. The house ended up selling eight months later for 220k. Why did the short sale lenders reject the 265k offer, only to later on accept an offer for 45k less? Because the person negotiating with the short sale lenders didn't know what they were doing. Here's what happened. The first mortgage was owed $289,000. The 2nd was Bank of America, owed 60k. She submitted the 265k short sale of... 10/25/2010