You can see the rest of this online newsletter manually produced each Monday. 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. If you want to suscribe to receive this weekly newsletter, email me at christina@christinaoneal.com  & I will gladly get you on the loop. 12/14/2010

Do you know a stripper? Would you report them to the authorities?  If you are not sure keep reading.... I wasn't referring to the stripper to the left, although I hear it is great excersize.... I am not talking about stripping Wall paper either. I am however talking about HOUSE stripping.    A house that is or is not for sale.  A SHORT SALE, a soon to be foreclosed house.    A HOUSE!  A HOUSE that the bank is about to own and the homeowner decides  to take everything.    The House gets Stripped.  The former occupant becomes the stripper and removes all the fixtures.  Back to real estate 101.  What is a fixture?  A fixture is something that is permanently attached to a structure with the intent of remaining there.  Things like, Kitchen Counters and Cabinets, Electrical Plates, Window Co... 12/13/2010

How Far Away Does Active Rain Reach? Have you heard of Dubai?  Have you heard of Jordan? SO most of us have heard of these places. do we really know where they are? I didn't have a clue where there were, I just knew it was far away from Tracy, CA. I'm getting ahead of myself.... last August I received a phone call. The person on the other end said they found my blog (Thanks AR) and they needed my help finding a home in Tracy CA.  She further went on to say, that she had full confidence in my ability to find her "the house where she would leave her heart" and I had one afternoon of 2 hours to do it. She met me in Tracy CA,  I knew the criteria she had given me, I also knew that what she "wanted" did not exist in her price range.  2 hours, well we didn't have a lot of time to dink around.... 12/13/2010

Have you ever had to keep a secret?  About a month ago, I get a call from one of my past clients (Mike Frederick).  He says, "Tina, How are you doing?  I have good news & bad news.  Which one do you want first?"  I reply, "Neither, I don't want to hear the bad news so I guess I don't want to know the good either."  He starts laughing, "OK, well the good news is, your husband, Paul O'Neal is getting Firefighter of the Year for Tracy Fire Dept.  The bad news is you have to keep it a secret till he gets the award."  Funny thing was I did ok, because truly I was able to invite all the family members to our Tracy Fire Dept Christmas Party (where the secret award is given).  I had a blast coordinating getting his sister & family to come down from Reno, NV.  My mom & I schemed to not tell our ... 12/13/2010

  What do you need to look for when choosing an FHA 203k consultant for your client? That is a big question that requires careful consideration. About ten years ago HUD came out with a “Notice” that all consultants are supposed to read to their client at the time of the consultation. It reads something like this “The local HUD office does not warrant, accept liability or responsibility for the competence of the Consultant or the quality of the work product the consultant may perform for the Borrower(s).” When you are seeking a 203k consultant you want to know 1) How do I get a list of qualified consultants acceptable to the lender, 2) If they have any experience or education for their chosen profession, 3) How many 203k projects have they completed successfully, 4) How long does it take... 12/12/2010

Looking for a HUD owned home in Tracy? Here is our newest HUD home for sale! This one has charm! Great floor plan with formal dining room, separate family room and living room, extensive hard wood floors, fireplace, inside laundry room, 2 car garage, and central to every thing! HUD Owned Sold AS-IS1474 East Street, Tracy, CA 95376  - $176,0002 bedroom 3 bathroom2083 sqft.240 acres See more pictures of this home and request a showing >> If you are in the market to buy a HUD Owned home in Tracy... Make sure to give Erin a call at (916) 585-3858 to view this listing or others in the area!           Did you know the new list of HUD homes for sale comes out once a week? Sign up for your FREE Sacramento HUD List sent right to your email once a week! If you are in the market to buy a HUD Owned... 12/11/2010

      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. If you want to suscribe to receive this weekly newsletter, email me at christina@christinaoneal.com  & I will gladly get you on the loop. 12/11/2010

Holiday Decorating, sponsored by the Tracy Rotary.    Is just one of the many Holiday events for the City of Tracy.  Get your entry in quick.  You have until 4:00 p.m. on December 10 to mail or dop off in person your entry to the Tracy Press.  The Tracy Press is located at 145 W. 10th Street. Judges will schedule viewings for the weekend of December 11 & 12.  The winner will be announces in the Tracy Press of December 17th. There will be judging in 5 different categories: Home & Grounds Lighter Inside Tree - that is visible from the Street Decorated Windows Decorated Door and Neighborhood Group Display Want more information you can read about it here:  Tracy Press - Holiday decorating contest returns  I love the holidays when all the lights are sparkling, so if you know some particularl... 12/06/2010

Never Again - I'm telling you NEVER EVER AGAIN   This is my mantra today...  I did not listen to my inner voice. I did not insist my first time homebuyers in Tracy, CA  use one of my preferred lender. I did not insist on a lender that I knew. I did not insist on a lender who was local to Tracy, CA. I did not insist on a direct end lender. The end result - disaster -  $1300 in per diem fees paid by the buyer because One West Bank would not grant even a single extension without per diem fees.  (I might add we lost 5 days due to Thanksgiving.) $20/day per diem charged to me the buyer's agent with no CAP on that amount, despite repeated phone calls, emails and all around nagging by me to the lender A buyer who was supposed to close and move into her new home in Tracy, CA by November 22, so ... 12/03/2010

Red at night Sailors delight.......Red in the morning, sailors warning..... my grandpa used to say this..... Skies above Tracy, CA -- December 1, 2010 12/01/2010

I was reading the post by Debbie Lynn TO Ipad or NOT to Ipad  and I got to thinking.... I have an iPad - hubby bought me the 32G for my birthday, yes I will never ever fill up the memory. That was 3 months ago and I know I'm still not using it to it's fullest capacity. I do know I've read more books in the past 3 months than the past 3 years.  I always have a book with me, since Kindle is loaded as an app. I have games, Skpe, Dropbox, etc... but what can I do on my IPAD that makes it indespensible?   I know that there are those of you out there that can help me. So all you IPad users, those of you that REALLY REALLY USE your IPAD as a MUST have I don't know what I did without it, I want to hear it. What Apps do you have? How do you use your IPad for productivity? Let me have it.  I real... 11/21/2010

Selfish People Suck  (I tried to think of another word, nothing else captured the sentiment.) Real Estate is NOT and Can NOT be a selfish business.  Not if you, as a REALTOR want to be in real estate for a sustainable amount of time. Real Estate can not be a selfish business if you, as a REALTOR want people to refer business to you. Real Estate can not be a selfish business if you want your colleagues to WANT to be in a transaction with you. Selfishness comes in many disguises in real estate.  Have you ever experienced any of these?  Did you recognize "selfishness"? Selfishness can be the selfish seller, who won't live up to their side of the contract without making everyone miserable. Selfishness can be a selfish seller who doesn't listen to their real estate agent on the appropriate ... 11/15/2010

  Light green is the # of homes for sale Triangle with the line is the # of homes pended Dark green is the # of homes sold What does all this mean?  Notice that the homes for sale went up & so did the pended, so technically there is no change with that one.  The one that concerns me is the # of homes sold went down even though the increase happened.  We just need to keep an eye on this to see how it trends.  If you are thinking about selling your home right now in Tracy, CA, you ABSOLUTELY need to do 2 things!!!! price your home competitively be patient       11/11/2010

Secret Wedding Site Within 1 hour-ish of Tracy, CA I've lived in the Bay Area for 30+ years and I'm always surprised there are really awesome places I've not only never been, that I have never heard of. Nestledown, is one of them.  This was the coolest place.  They do 90% Weddings and the other 10% the property is used for non-profit organizations only.  125 pristine acres nestled in the Santa Cruz mountains, exit Summit Road off of Highway 17. Nestledown has a "barn", it's not a barn, it's a 2 story reception hall that has a man made lake right out the front.  The beams that rise the full 2 stories also go the equal distance into the ground.  WHY?  this is earthquake area, and the builder wanted to be certain the structurewouldn't go anywhere if the earth shook.  There is the man made ... 11/08/2010

Predatory or Protective? The Tale of the Buyer Broker Agreement? You decide.... Once early in January of 2010 there was a young couple, Mr. & Mrs. Tracy  First Time Homebuyer.  They called Mr. Tracy Listing Agent wanting more information on a property he had listed.  They knew he had it listed because his sign was in the yard.   Mr.Tracy Listing Agent told Mr. & Mrs. Tracy First Time Homebuyer that he could not give them ANY information about the house for sale in Tracy, CA, nor would he show them the house until they signed some papers allowing them access to the property.  Mr. and Mrs. F.T. Homebuyer wanted desperately to find a new home and they quickly signed all 15 pages and gave them back to Mr. Tracy Listing Agent.   Included as an Agency Addendum, a Statewide Buyer and Seller Di... 11/08/2010

Tracy CA Real Estate Market Report - Susan Goulding, Realtor Tracy CA Housing Stats the past 18 months.     Above are the stats for the City of Tracy for the past 18 months.  The column on the left represents the number of homes for sale and sold in Tracy CA.  The line across the bottom represent the months. Pended homes equal pending homes located in Tracy, CA.  What is not indicated are the homes that are short sale contingent in Tracy, CA. A Short sale contingent is a home that has an offer that has been accepted by the seller, however it is contingent on the bank approval.  In most instances back up offers are all that are accepted. The pink lines indicate how many days homes were on the market on average in Tracy CA.  This average is again a bit skewed due to short sales in Tracy C... 11/04/2010

  Who Makes you the BEST you CAN BE?  How to reach the success you want? How do you create more wealth, more success, etc?  Well you hang around with like minded people. Aristotle Onasis once said that if he lost all his money he could recreate the wealth. To do that, the most important thing he would do is get in the presence of wealthy people. He then explained why that is so very important.There were three reasons:#1) Wealthy people knew experts that could help you out with any project.#2) Wealthy people had money to finance your good ideas.#3) Wealthy people had good ideas they didn’t have time to follow through on and that you could. I think you can say that by hanging out with wealthy people you learn how they think.  You meet people they know.  I'm not saying that you USE these ... 11/02/2010

  Nobody is looking at Houses in Texas or Northern CA when the World Series is on. Strangely enough my phone goes dead, no one will make a listing or buying appointment not when the Rangers and the Giants are on TV. If you can't be at ATT park, which may be the most beautiful venue in all Ball Parks, you can cheer from anywhere in Northern CA... You want to know a secret, that's great for me.  I'm a Giants fan.  It's been a torturous season for Giant's fans, yet get into the World Series and the Giants made baseball look EASY against the Rangers. yes I Know - there are 4 more games, and no one is singing yet, but our boys are looking good.   There's a different hero every night.  The pitching duel between Lee and Lincecum didn't pan out but Matt Cain sure put on a performance today.  2... 10/28/2010

It's a full weekend in Tracy CA this weekend.   Starting the Halloween weekend is the Tracy Wine Stroll.  The planner have changed this wine stroll up a bit.  First it had to be pushed back 3 weeks due to Homecoming Parades. I think it's completely cool that the City of Tracy still closes streets down town so the local high schools can have Home Coming Parades. The Fall Wine Stroll is Friday, October 29, 2010, due to it's proximity to Halloween, this years wine stroll is a Mascarade Theme, complete with a Mascarade Ball at the Grand Theater immediately following the wine stroll. Tickets can be bought on line by going to the Wine Stroll Webpage.   One of the things they have changed up, is that you have to take your TICKET to a booth to show your ID.  Once you have paid, proven that you ... 10/28/2010

203k Seminar - Stockton CA Had a wonderful time with Catalyst RE in Stockton with Gwen Woods from American Pacific Mortgage who was providing the snacks and coffee for the group. We also had a guest from Zip Realty there. I love it when a lender like American Pacific Mortgage gets it... I mean they know to invite more than just one RE office to these 203k loan events in Stockton. The group was very attentive and had great questions.  I think we opened their eyes to several aspects of this tool - The 203k loan program. That's all it is, a tool to help you get deals closed when all else may look hopeless. They had one the other day that they felt was gone because the appraisal came in low on a conventional deal... only about five percent low. They learned that if they had anything to repa... 10/28/2010