Saturday 4/2/11 we had an awesome yard sale for Relay for Life in Tracy CA & raised $1,084.15.  Our combo team consists of Tracy Fire Dept, Tracy Police Dept,& D.A.R.E program.  There was an unbelievable amount of time put into getting this yard sale together.  Before Saturday, we had to get donations (lots of them).  The DARE kids collected mountains of items.  Everything was stored at a storage unit locally.  We used the parking lot at the Tracy Fire Admin to set up.  We started at 6:30am Sat morning getting all the truck loads of items delivered to the parking lot & then the set up began.  Once the people started coming in, we have 4 of us standing at the "very informal" checkout area.  We raised $1,084.15 & the yard sale was officially 8am till noon.  It was awesome to see everyone ... 04/03/2011

  Are you a REALTOR in Northern CA and Looking for a CHANGE?  Do you have a BACK UP plan?  Where would you hang your license if your current office was no longer a good fit? In October I left a Big Box Franchise that I dearly loved to chase my own dreams.  The dreams I had of being part of a company that was full of "givers" was not going to happen where I was. (Another story - another day) Crown Key Realty was born. We have the best agents in our office and we pass our excitement on to all who enter.  We  willingly share information with a lot of 'surrogate' agents, you know those agents whose brokers aren't willing to share information.  I'm always willing to share everything I know. It's easy to be excited when we are saving over $15000 a year by not paying all the franchise & royalt... 03/31/2011

On my trip to Washington , I went to the National Smithsonian Zoo. I saw this guy, very perked up, later he was pacing back and forth next the fence.....  Why was he pacing because the animals below were on the other side of the fence..... Isn't this lunch in the Serengeti?   03/30/2011

Stockton CA – The Stop Foreclosure recently received a question from Georgia E. Here was her question." When the bank says the file should be going to an investor soon what does that mean?" Georgia E.Discover how other sellers successfully did a short sale to avoid foreclosure by clicking here.Here is the answer. It means that whoever ultimately owns the loan will make the decision. For example, you might be negotiating the short sale with Wells Fargo.However Wells Fargo may not own the loan. (Around 80% of all the loans they service are owned by someone else.) Wells Fargo will take all of the short sale documentation and send it to the actual loan owner.(The actual loan owner could be anyone from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Goldman Sachs, a Pension Fund, or another Wall Street Entity.)Tha... 03/28/2011

GET OUT!  Tenants in a Short Sale Listing!  At what point do you tell a tenant to GET OUT of a Short Sale Listing? I've been on the buyer side and the listing side of short sales in Tracy and in Mountain House.  What I'm finding is that there is no impetus, no sense of urgency for the tenant to remove themselves and their possessions from the short sale they are occupying.   The seller also has no degree of urgency as they are DONE and just want the property out of their hands. Yes, the new owner could evict them, costly and lengthy process.  The Buyer could back out, which is also costly, the deal is dead and you may not get the opportunity to resurrect it. I've made it work, but it only works, as with anything when both parties are prepared to work together. So what is the solution? ... 03/25/2011

Reconveyance Deed & why it might be important to make sure it happened!!! I should explain what a reconveyance deed is to help make some more sense of this.  Anytime there is a loan on a property (at least in California), there is a deed recorded on the property.  Then when a loan is paid off against a property, another deed gets filed (reconveyance deed).  That type of deed shows that that lender no longer has interest in the property.  In my real estate world, I normally don't watch for that type of activity.  It's a behind the scenes thing that gets done after we close escrow, which makes sense because I am making sure my seller gets their home sold or that my buyer gets in the property they purchased.  The loan against a property is what the title company handles, they send money (f... 03/25/2011

Honey Do List  - Week 11   So if you are wondering what to do this weekend to keep your Tracy house in tip top shape. I know it's been raining like crazy in  Northern CA, if the sun comes out, get out there and clean those outside windows.  Take the screens off, give them a good scrub, while they are drying wash those outside windows.  When the sun comes out you'll be glad you did. It's also easier to be "streak free" if the sun is not beating down on the window while it's drying. Your outside assignment is to get your lawn mower out, brush of the cob webs and take the blade to be sharpened.  Once the rain stops and the grass starts to grow FAST you will be really glad you have nice sharp lawn mower blades.    03/24/2011

I love the Pay it Forward group & reading what everyone is doing around the country to "pay it forward" to others.  I been sitting on the sidelines too long reading about others instead of doing.  So today I did the doing!!!!! I went on our Tracy CA marketing meeting's broker tour.  We had 2 homes on them & I didn't have a buyer in mind for either but that doesn't matter.  The point is to show support for those agents that want others in this local market to see their property & give them some insight to our local market. (& exposure of course too). Here's my pay it forward, small but helpful & I didn't tell this agent I did it for him.  His sign rider was blowing in the Tracy CA wind like crazy & I found the little s hook in the grass & rehooked it back up.  I know it sounds silly but ... 03/24/2011

  My Son on the ROCKY STEPS in Philadelphia Tyler the night he left for Iraq Many of you read about Tyler Leaving for Iraq, and how as a Mom how hard it's been. Here's two of my favorite photos from our time together. He really wanted to climb the ROCKY STEPS  at the Museum of Modern Art in Philadelphia. The second is moments before I dropped him off at the airport to fly to Germany, then Kuwait, then Baghdad. 03/23/2011

Our family went out for dinner to celebrate my 23 year old's birthday.   We went to Frankie, Johnie and Luigi's in Dublin, yes we drove 30 miles to get pizza!  That is still the 23 year olds favorite food. I digress, as we were sitting having a great dinner, with no TV's visible from where we were sitting. We were talking about my trip to the East Coast. My 23 year old says, "Mom, when are you going to start working again?" (Little does he know how much work I CAN do with my computer while I'm on the road.  Plus I have a great team that barely needs me there.) The 20 year old, who had driven from San Mateo to Dublin to meet us for dinner said, "Yeah, when ARE YOU going to start working again?" I told them, "I've decided to quit working, because the more I work the more you spend" To whi... 03/18/2011

9 days without Active Rain, not a single log in.  If you were thinking I fell in a hole I haven't.  I haven't even had a computer crash. Have you missed me?  I've missed you!   I've been overwhelmed with the outpouring of support from the Active Rain Community after I posted. It's my turn to cry, my personal message and a glimpse into my world 81 comments of thank you, hang in there, and places to go for support.  I can't even begin to express my gratitude. As a quick update. Tyler finished CAST (Combat and Survival Training) today, Friday in New Jersey. He officially boards a plane from the East Coast on the 16th for Iraq. Due to wonderful co-workers, family, friends who said "GO, GO GO, go spend some the next 4 days with your son, we will take over for you", I am CURRENTLY on a Virgi... 03/11/2011

Have you ever just been so attached to your home?  Maybe you didn't even realize it.  Here are the Top Five reasons to know you are attached to your home: 1)  When you think about selling your home, you cry. 2)  You always volunteer to have all the "family" occasion celebrations at your house. 3)  All your kids were born at your house & have grown up & moved out. 4)  When you drive home, you are on auto pilot (you don't even have to steer the car). hee hee 5)  Your home has a "warm & cozy" feeling that you just can't describe. I have had a few clients in my 12 years of selling real estate in Tracy that I run into that are so completely attached to their homes.  Paul & I have lived in 7 homes in the past 13 years, 3 in Tracy & 3 in Ripon plus the original place in San Jose (so I don't th... 03/09/2011

My clients are  picking up there keys to there brand new home as I type this and it's only been 3 months since there short sale was approved and closed. There short sale was approved on 10/25/2010 and closed escrow on 11/1/2010. New purchase loan approved on 2/14/11 and COE 2/28/11 After my clients realized in April that there loan was going to adjust from $1,900 to $3,600.00 they contacted their lender.   Their lender took there financials over the phone and determined they qualified for a loan modification. So the story goes...they send in documents, documents get lost, more documents are requested over a 1 year period.  So after 12 months of attempting a loan modification, I stepped into the picture. There exhausted and frustrated. They have spoken to Attorneys and companies claiming... 03/02/2011

Yesterday, my son officially left on his journey as an officer in the Air Force to take his "tour of duty" in Iraq and I'm a mess. Tears come unexpectedly,  I'm the calm one, the one who is 'tough', the one who doesn't wear her emotions on her sleeve...... I don't cry, rarely do. Tyler choose to attend the United State Air Force Academy instead of the UC Davis, UC Berkeley, San Diego State, etc, and by doing so he had a fabulous education.  Yet, this was no ordinary college that he left for.  He'd worked hard and was accepted at the USAFA. USAFA - United State Air Force Academy, the Air Force version of West Point. I wanted to beg him to attend UC San Diego, UC Davis, but this was not my decision, this was HIS and he chose the Air Force Academy.  No Student loans, a "free" education or ... 03/01/2011

The homes in the above newsletter are all the homes that went pending in Tracy, CA  last week.  Notice the color coding to make things easy. (green)=the number of stories (red)=garage size (*)= there is a pool (brown address color)=the house is Tracy country property. Noah's corner is the biggest hit in this one.  It is my 11 year olds version of his world summarized each week.  I have baseball practice this weekend.  My dad got another Firefighter of the Year award. 02/25/2011

    The homes in the above newsletter are all the homes that went pending in Tracy, CA  last week.  Notice the color coding to make things easy. (green)=the number of stories (red)=garage size (*)= there is a pool (brown address color)=the house is Tracy country property. Noah's corner is the biggest hit in this one.  It is my 11 year olds version of his world summarized each week.   Basketball is ending early.  School is half day evryday till the play because we are practicing for the play. 02/17/2011

Top 3 Reasons why I love Susan Goulding!!!! (but there are many more, this is just the top 3) 1)  Susan Goulding taught a wonderful social media class to our office at Crown Key Realty.  It was very informative.  We learned about twitter, facebook, linked in, active rain, ping, hootsuite and every other thing online to tie them together.  Susan did an amazing job at helping all of us figure out how to eat that elephant. 2)  I aspire to be just like her in blogging (she has 186,969 points).  She blogs daily (or close to it).  80% of her business comes from her online presence.  Susan does her own blogging (which I think is fabulous).  If you have never met her in person, all you would need to know (to trust her & love her) would be just read her daily blog.  It is so her :) 3)  Susan Gou... 02/17/2011

What does AS IS mean? Writing an AS IS offer, be careful what you say and do. I spent some time looking up definitions on "google - where else" Here are a few...... As is is a legal term used to disclaim some implied warranties for an item being sold. As Is means in its present state or condition, especially as a contractual condition of sale. AS Is means the property offered for sale in its present condition with no guarantees as to quality and no promise of repair or fix-up by the seller; property is purchased in exactly the condition in which it is found. As Is in regards to real estate means a sale without any guarantees as to condition and where the premises are being accepted by a buyer or tenant as they are including any physical defects.  “As Is” can be generally defined as “wha... 02/16/2011

Stop by and Say HELLO!  Grand Opening Celebration. Many of you are surprised by this announcement.  6 years of being the "Keller Williams WHO" Girl, it was time to move on.  We are SUPER EXCITED to take everything we have learned to open a fabulous office in Tracy, CA. We are here to serve the residence of Tracy & Mountain House, and surrounding areas. We have some of the top agents in Tracy right here all in one place. We have certifications in REO Business, Short Sales, Customer Residential Sales, Residential Buyers and all other aspect of fulfilling your real estate dreams. 02/16/2011

Who Watches You When You Work from a Virtual Office? In my virtual office I am closely watched.... when she's not sleeping under my feet. If I decide to get up, stop working, she REALLY watches me. She's still a puppy so rare moment of quiet are relished around our house. 02/15/2011