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Leucadia, CA Real Estate News

By John DL Arendsen, Crest Backyard Homes "ADU" dealer & RE Developer
(CREST "BACKYARD' HOMES, ON THE LEVEL General & Manufactured Home Contractor, TAG Real Estate Sales & Investments)
            Where Is All The Shadow Inventory? In Fact Where's All The Inventory?   I've been hearing the drums beating in the distant from many RE Professionals and Stakeholders and from my own experience have even seen a lack of inventory  in our neck of the woods. I've also been hearing that a good amount of our so called "Shadow Inventory" was gobbled up by some big Wall Street hedge funds.       If so is this the reason for the sudden lack of inventory in the mainstream? Where will our next source of inventory come from? Are they building enough new homes today to keep up with demand? Or is the demand really there at all? Where do you think Real Estate is heading in 2015?   Call On Us Anytime To BE Your Go To Guys For   Information & Knowledge About   EARTHQUAKE RETROFITTING & REPA...
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By John DL Arendsen, Crest Backyard Homes "ADU" dealer & RE Developer
(CREST "BACKYARD' HOMES, ON THE LEVEL General & Manufactured Home Contractor, TAG Real Estate Sales & Investments)
 SUCKS!  
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By John DL Arendsen, Crest Backyard Homes "ADU" dealer & RE Developer
(CREST "BACKYARD' HOMES, ON THE LEVEL General & Manufactured Home Contractor, TAG Real Estate Sales & Investments)
Graying "Baby Boomers" Begin Celebrating 50th Class Reunions     I know I'm a little late on this post inasmuch as I helped organize our 50th high school reunion last October but I thought I'd reflect back on it nonetheless.   I was amazed at how  many folks we actually had show up. Over 200 to be exact. But then when you're selecting a spot that's a viable location for a bunch of circa 60's SURFER DUDES I guess you don't have to be too ingenious. You just need to be able to smell the salt. So I picked Doheny State Beach as an ideal location for a lot of very memorable reasons.   We all grew up there and most of my classmates were surfers. Or at least they grew up during that early "Beach Boys" and "Righteous Brothers" era doing all the crazy things we all remember so well.    We were a...
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By John DL Arendsen, Crest Backyard Homes "ADU" dealer & RE Developer
(CREST "BACKYARD' HOMES, ON THE LEVEL General & Manufactured Home Contractor, TAG Real Estate Sales & Investments)
This generation cannot disconnect from work. Baby boomers plan to take an average four to five leisure trips in 2015, about on par with 2014, an AARP survey says. — Howard Lipin                   I thought this reprint from AARP rather interesting for the Baby BoomGeneration inasmuch as we seem to fit this model to a T. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out in the foreseeable future as Baby Boomers continue to be challenged with the dicotomy of being able to juggle their retirement years and there ability to live out their nest eggs let alone have anything left for their Children. AARP travel survey Baby boomers may love to travel and will even take an average four to five trips this year, but they still seem conflicted about vacations intruding on work. That’s according ...
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By John DL Arendsen, Crest Backyard Homes "ADU" dealer & RE Developer
(CREST "BACKYARD' HOMES, ON THE LEVEL General & Manufactured Home Contractor, TAG Real Estate Sales & Investments)
Our Childrens Christmas Gift To     Poppy & Tana   Our kids have all known for some time that we've wanted a new bar in our great room and for the past year they've all been planing and preparing for the best Christmas gift ever. It was truly a team effort as the before photo below was taken on New Years Eve '13 while entertaining some friends for the evening.     While we were traveling this past fall my sons, both contractors, removed the skinny wood and bamboo counter top in our great room and replaced it with a concrete copper rimmed full service cocktail bar with a copper sink, hot and cold running water, ice maker and swing steel gate. There intention as a final touch was to place a copper top on the surface as they know we love copper.    However, my wife suggested we use our 35 ...
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By John DL Arendsen, Crest Backyard Homes "ADU" dealer & RE Developer
(CREST "BACKYARD' HOMES, ON THE LEVEL General & Manufactured Home Contractor, TAG Real Estate Sales & Investments)
Is It Fair? Mobile-Home Owners To Get $32 Million For Relocation Costs   I had to share this article in the Reader recently written by Dorian Hargrove as I've been following this saga for the past 30 plus years. Albeit I feel for the hardship many seniors will endure they knew their fate was sealed for decades and still chose to live there until the end. Personally, I think they had a very good quality of life for all those years and just need to accept what looks like a very generous deal given the circumstances.   Additionally and most importantly this should serve as notice to any investors desirous of purchasing a Mobile or Manufactured Home lease/ren park community that it's not a slam dunk. I've been personally involved in a few park closures and it is a very arduous, frustrating ...
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By John DL Arendsen, Crest Backyard Homes "ADU" dealer & RE Developer
(CREST "BACKYARD' HOMES, ON THE LEVEL General & Manufactured Home Contractor, TAG Real Estate Sales & Investments)
California's Manufactured Home Program History defined by The HCD California Housing and Community Development Department   During the past three decades that I've been in the Factory Built Housing Industry I've heard a variety of definitions, interpretations and opinions about  who, what, where and when the industry got its origins so I thought I'd share this with the Active Rain Community straight from the horses mouth. I hope this clears up many of the confusing aspects, concerns and questions that many RE Professionals and Stakeholders have had over the years.         Factory Built   Panelized,  Modular & Manufactured  construction projects are a very  economical,  fast and efficient way to develop Residential Single Family Homes, Condos, Town Homes Planned Unit Developments (PUDS),...
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By John DL Arendsen, Crest Backyard Homes "ADU" dealer & RE Developer
(CREST "BACKYARD' HOMES, ON THE LEVEL General & Manufactured Home Contractor, TAG Real Estate Sales & Investments)
Scam of the Day: Detroit Scammers ON THE RUN   This is a repost from a financial newsletter I subscribe to. There's just no stopping SCAMMERS especially in REAL ESTATE. If the bad guys want to get in your knickers they'll figure out a way to do it. Please feel free to repost this and forward it onto anyone you think would benefit from this information. The moral of this story? Keep your wallet in your pocket unless you know you're dealing with a licensed PROFESSIONAL     Carole VanSickle Ellis | December 3, 2014 |  16 Detroit telemarketers are on the run after being charged with operating a fraudulent telemarketing scheme that sold Detroit properties to nearly 300 victims in 46 states and Canada for as much as 30 times their actual value. The scammers worked out of call centers in Flori...
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By John DL Arendsen, Crest Backyard Homes "ADU" dealer & RE Developer
(CREST "BACKYARD' HOMES, ON THE LEVEL General & Manufactured Home Contractor, TAG Real Estate Sales & Investments)
Much Needed Rain pummels San Diego and the entire California Coastline   A 6.9 foot high tide along with 6 foot waves will leave the San Diego coastline vunerable to flooding along sections of Coast Highway. San Diego County saw heavy flooding in Mission Valley along Interstate 8 and Qualcomm Stadium, where the Chargers will face off against the Patriots this Sunday, was flooded.   Crews had to pump an estimated 1.5 million gallons of water out in time for the Poinsettia Bowl game between San Diego State and Navy on Thursday night but the game went on as scheduled, and San Diego State won 35-14.  The storm's throughout SoCal left a muddy mess by Thursday and a state of emergency was declared in a total of nine counties, including Los Angeles, Orange and Santa Barbara.     The upscale co...
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By John DL Arendsen, Crest Backyard Homes "ADU" dealer & RE Developer
(CREST "BACKYARD' HOMES, ON THE LEVEL General & Manufactured Home Contractor, TAG Real Estate Sales & Investments)
San Diego Prepare for 2-6 In of Rain. Check Your Rain Gutters & Drains   One of the most pervasive and costly problems homeowners face during a rainy season are drainage issues which can be largely prevented if they just  exercise some prudent pro active precautions. The most important thing you can do is to check your rain gutters and make sure they're free of leaves and debris and make sure there's nothing preventing runoff from collecting in, around or under your home.   If you live in a heavily wooded area or have large trees with branches hanging over your home you need to make sure that you or someone who knows what they're doing inspects sure you're awnings, rain gutters and down spouts and make sure they are free from leaves, debris and accumulated sludge.   If you don't have th...
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By John DL Arendsen, Crest Backyard Homes "ADU" dealer & RE Developer
(CREST "BACKYARD' HOMES, ON THE LEVEL General & Manufactured Home Contractor, TAG Real Estate Sales & Investments)
We Literally Came Into This Christmas Season With A Bang   This Holiday Season has started out as anything but traditional for Janis and I. As I explained in my previous post this has been a very unusual experience for us as we have usually hosted Thanksgiving Dinner at our home or attended it at one of our Children's homes.   But this year we've started out in a very unusual way. We're Las Vegas bound to help our youngest son and his family. We've been recruited as the official baby sitters as my son's wife's twin sister exchanges vows today. That's my son's wife on the right. Boy did he ever get a twofer or what?! They're both a couple of sweethearts and my son's wife is a great Mom.   We haven't to LV in a few years and we've never been there during the Holiday Season and were taken ...
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By John DL Arendsen, Crest Backyard Homes "ADU" dealer & RE Developer
(CREST "BACKYARD' HOMES, ON THE LEVEL General & Manufactured Home Contractor, TAG Real Estate Sales & Investments)
No Need To Regret The Things We Fail To Do If We Don't Fail To Do Them   For the past 4 decades Janis and I have been hosting Thanksgiving at our home for our 5 children, 14 grandkids and a few strays that manage to show up un announced. Next to Easter and Christmans this has been one of our most sacred traditions. However, as my Grandfather always used to say, "The only constant in life is CHANGE" and alas this year we found ourselves almost kidless.    Our oldest daughter and her clan are in Iowa visiting her husband's Mom and siblings, one of our daughters was pre-committed to her annual Pasadena Designer Showcase Home, our youngest daughter and her family have been traveling the globe since last March and won't be home until Christmas and our oldest son and his family went to New Or...
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By John DL Arendsen, Crest Backyard Homes "ADU" dealer & RE Developer
(CREST "BACKYARD' HOMES, ON THE LEVEL General & Manufactured Home Contractor, TAG Real Estate Sales & Investments)
Scams & Contractor Rip Offs The RE Industry Needs To Know About   Just wanted to add a slice of humor to a very mundane and boring topic albeit probably the most important aspect of your manufactured home.  Let this serve as a reminder that you, the manufactured home owner, really need to be careful about who you let work under your home.   Don't fall for the many, engineered certification, affidavit of fixture, re-leveling, foundation installation, retrofit and repair, earthquake bracing, hurricane and tornado tie-down scams etc.  There's literally tons of them lurking about trying to separate you from your hard earned doe. This is especially true in the aftermath of disasters. The flim flam's will be crawling out of the woodwork   Unfortunately there are scams in every industry and th...
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By John DL Arendsen, Crest Backyard Homes "ADU" dealer & RE Developer
(CREST "BACKYARD' HOMES, ON THE LEVEL General & Manufactured Home Contractor, TAG Real Estate Sales & Investments)
Planning To Invest In San Diego & Reasons You Should Consider It   Aside from San Diego being "AMERICA'S FINEST CITY" be one of the most geographically and climatically desirable not to mention beautiful "ISLANDS" unto itself in the world. It is one of the most socially and economically diverse places on the planet. If you're looking to plant roots and raise a family for generations to come it's a known fact that when folks move to San Diego they generally don't move out.   It is ripe with investment opportunities as there has been such a dramatic increase in demand due to the amount of foreclosure and short sale activity during the meltdown in '08. Add to that San Diego is fast becoming a predominant world wide financial influenceOur all inclusive family owned and operated business has...
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By John DL Arendsen, Crest Backyard Homes "ADU" dealer & RE Developer
(CREST "BACKYARD' HOMES, ON THE LEVEL General & Manufactured Home Contractor, TAG Real Estate Sales & Investments)
How Many of Us Have To Deal With Clients Who Are Transitioning?   I'd Like to introduce a gentleman I met a few years ago who owns the San Diego Franchise for Caring Transitions. I met him as a result of looking into this as a franchise opportunity inasmuch as we work with so many Seniors in Manufactured Home Communities.   He has made a huge commitment to helping families deal with the delicate transition many of our clients and all of us will inevitably be making at some point in our lives be it for our precious family members and/or ourselves.   We all need to take this subject very seriously so we don't leave our children and loved ones holding the bag. Or if they are holding that bag we need to make it as painless and seamless as possible. Please take a few moments to get to know a...
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By John DL Arendsen, Crest Backyard Homes "ADU" dealer & RE Developer
(CREST "BACKYARD' HOMES, ON THE LEVEL General & Manufactured Home Contractor, TAG Real Estate Sales & Investments)
"Hi Tech Hi Touch" What Does It Mean To You?     I continue to be amazed at how folks spend so much of their day and even evening on electronic devices be they computers, I Pads, cell phones, texting, talking, emailing, social networking, etc. In fact my wife and partner of 40 years, who I love dearly, absolutely drives me crazy sometimes.......no wait.......all the time with her relentless passion if not outright OCD on the phone texting, emailing, audio communication, etc. Granted for her it's 80% biz and it contributes to a very comfortable lifestyle but for pity sake's what did we do before all of this electronic "BS" (Business Systems) stuff?   We've been at "The Most Wonderful Place In The World" "D" for the past couple of days and I'll bet she almost tripped or bumped into people...
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By John DL Arendsen, Crest Backyard Homes "ADU" dealer & RE Developer
(CREST "BACKYARD' HOMES, ON THE LEVEL General & Manufactured Home Contractor, TAG Real Estate Sales & Investments)
Disaster In Cabo. Hurricanes Are Horrifying, Costly & Heartbreaking   While this is far from my first experience in dealing with disaster it certainly hit home for the first time. Having been a disaster response contractor for the past 3 decades I've participated in just about every conceivable disaster there is from fires, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and needless to say as a California resident lot's of earthquakes. But nothing hits you as hard as direct impact and I mean that literally and figuratively.     We knew from watching the news and weather reports that it would be a pretty ugly scene whence we arrived on Nov 6th.. But this was several weeks after Hurricane Odile made a direct hit on our little Club Cascades deBaja and although it was still a shock and awe experience it was...
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By John DL Arendsen, Crest Backyard Homes "ADU" dealer & RE Developer
(CREST "BACKYARD' HOMES, ON THE LEVEL General & Manufactured Home Contractor, TAG Real Estate Sales & Investments)
A Disheartening Reality Awaited Upon Our Return To Our Beloved Retreat      We knew it would be disheartening to see the havoc that Hurricane Odile left in its path. In many ways it reminded me of the devastation I saw in the aftermath of Florida's Hurricane Charley and his 3 buddies in '04.   But it really makes you appreciate the human dignity, ingenuity and true grit that takes form within minutes after these tragedies strike leaving thousands homeless and without food and water and hundreds injured and stranded waiting for hours even days for first responders.     Sure we were disheartened to see our once beautiful Villa that we've shared with our family for the past 30 years in shambles. But what really got me right in the solar plexis was the genuine, positive warm hearted greetin...
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By John DL Arendsen, Crest Backyard Homes "ADU" dealer & RE Developer
(CREST "BACKYARD' HOMES, ON THE LEVEL General & Manufactured Home Contractor, TAG Real Estate Sales & Investments)
An Up Close and Personal Look At ON THE LEVEL General Contractors Inc.     This little post is for the many folks that have contacted us over the years wanting to know more about our loction and operation. Below are photos or our San Marcos Facility with some of the inventory that we deal with on a daily basis.    We're a modest little company with a very broad National reach. Albeit we have only been licensed in California, Arizona, Oregon and Florida we network with a team of contractors Nationwide and are capable of solving Mobile and/or Manufactured Home foundation solutions in every State except Hawaii and Alaska.               Factory Built   Panelized,  Modular & Manufactured  construction projects are a very  economical,  fast and efficient way to develop Residential Single Fami...
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By John DL Arendsen, Crest Backyard Homes "ADU" dealer & RE Developer
(CREST "BACKYARD' HOMES, ON THE LEVEL General & Manufactured Home Contractor, TAG Real Estate Sales & Investments)
Park Model Doll House. Maximize The Cubic Foot vs The Square Foot   If you've been following my previous posts on "Tiny Houses" by now you no doubt know what a "PARK MODEL" is. I caution you to first and foremost thoroughly research your local building jurisdiction's zoning regulations before you go down this road or more importantly make a buying decision.   Are you are looking at or perhaps already in a tiny Mobile or Manufactured Home Park Community with a long term lease or residency policy and permission from the property management to install and add on? Or do you already own or can you purchase the space/lot "FEE SIMPLE"  and get a green light from your HOA and local building jurisdiction? If the answer to these questions is YES then you are in a position to install a Park Model ...
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