MegaMillions!

Todays Featured Listing

This home is one you can purchase with your MegaMillions winning Lotto ticket! This home is a nature lovers paradise on a lake. It has great lake views from the wrap around porches.Designed by an architect, it has an open concept with an in law set up, split floor plan.Wood floors and a huge kitchen, it's own elevator & large master suite on its own level. Big, beautiful backyard with green house, pool & spa.This home has solar power that meets all its electrical needs.The property is currently 2 parcels & can be further subdivided. So, Saturday morning give me a call and we'll go get it for you! Hahaha!

Seriously, if I won the MegaMillions (can you believe I started this sentence with "seriously"?) - and I did actually buy a ticket today, I would have a hard time grasping my mind around that kind of money. Would it change me - absolutely! - It will change anyone! Friends will come out of the woodwork! Charities will beseech you, relatives will find you! I think yours and my best option is to disappear for a bit. Figure out what to do with all that money. Relax on a trip around the world. If you could live ANYWHERE in the world - where would you live? If you could drive any CAR in the world what would you drive? Would you still drive? Would you hire a chauffeur? What would your house look like?


So, when I win the MegaMillions, I'm going to buy a plane ticket. - Oh crud! - I don't have a Passport! - Ugh! - It's okay though, I can go to San Francisco or Sacramento and get an emergency one. Okay so, now I have my passport. Whew!  I'm buying a plane ticket to....hmm....Sandals Beach Resort - No... Hmm, more research needed here - okay - I'm going to Round Hill Hotel and Villas in Montego Bay, Jamaica! Oops, now you all know where to find me. - Okay then, meet me there and we'll have a whole lot of Rum - My treat!


11 new listings today and 15 Pendings! Get them while they're HOT! - And Good Luck! - Don't forget though, you cant win the Lotto unless you buy a ticket! - 

Chicken or the Egg?

Today's Featured Listing





This large home sits on a beautiful setting on Millseat Creek, with living room, family room, updated kitchen featuring Corian counters, gas fireplace, small work shop, single wide mobile that would be great for guests or in-laws. Click on the link above for a virtual tour.


So, Chicken or the Egg? Which came first? Same goes for List or Buy? Should you pick out your new home before you list your old one, or should you list your old one and then buy a new one? There are benefits to either direction although I know which one I prefer. If you wait to sell your home until you find one you would like to buy, you run the risk of not selling your home in time. This would be what we call a "contingent" offer. A buyer is making an offer to purchase contingent upon the sale of their home. The seller in this case would have to agree to wait until the buyers home sold to have their home sold. Some sellers are reluctant to do this. The average home sits on the market for 131 days, citing Shasta MLS for Feb. 2012. Now conversely, if you list your home and wait until you have an offer before looking for a home to buy, you run the risk of a couple of things. First, the home you want to buy may have multiple offers - doh! You may not get it. You may have to start over. Secondly, my average is 3- 6 months to find and close that perfect home for a buyer. This seems like a long time - but with all the bank -owned deals out there, the Short Sales", repair work, loan delays, etc. It really takes that long. The average buyer is looking for a home 12-18 months before they actually call a Realtor or agent. If you wait to buy until you have your home listed you have more buying power. You know what you can afford. You know your home is sold. You can always try to negotiate to "rent back" from your buyers if the worst case happens and you can't find a new home. So, what do you do? Decide which works best for YOU.


Today there were 21 new listings and 10 pendings. 735 total residential listings.


Please - comment and let me know how you like the blog - suggestions for things you want to know. Opinions etc. Also - please note the new tabs at the top of the page for Local News and Search for Homes. These will link you to different websites - also if you have suggestions for other links you would like - let me know!

Today's featured home has incredible views! This westside home offers a gated entry into a serene setting on 3 acres. You'll enjoy this nicely designed 3/2 with a granite kitchen, hardwood floors & lots of natural lighting. Very spacious master suite offers a private balcony to take in the views! Set up for entertaining inside & out. Relax, take in the breezes under the covered patio & the beautiful pool.  Its so new I don't have the virtual tour yet!


So on a different note, a little background here, when my baby girl was 4, I bought her a Barbie Jeep. It was one of those PowerWheel  thingies that was pink and white and had a pretend phone where Barbie would call and say "Lets go shopping." She loved that silly little jeep. She would ride up and down the block with her little best friend or her brother and pretend to go shopping or wherever her little 4 year old brain told her she was going. It was the cutest thing to watch her in that Jeep. All our neighbors would gather outside, we would gossip and watch the kids all play. Anyways, she played with that Jeep for years - it was the best $189 I ever spent. Today, as I was heading to work, my baby girl was in her very own Jetta driving right behind me on her way to school. *Sigh*. She had her best friend with her. So weird when it was just last week she was in the Barbie Jeep. 


Today there are 20 new listings, including the one above, and 10 pending sales. Of the 743 Active listings in Shasta County for residential only 174 of those are bank owned or Short Sales. Weird huh? Just a little over 23%. This just goes to show that all Real Estate is local. Meaning what you hear on national news really doesn't apply to our market. Listening to the news or other media you would think that every home for sale now was distressed.

Todays Featured Listing showcases the under 100K market. This is an REO. If you are unsure of what an REO is - it is an acronym for Real Estate Owned. This means it is a bank owned foreclosure. Typically these are sold in an AS-IS condition. The bank owners will make very little to absolutely no repairs to the home. Mostly no repairs.  They also have limited disclosures regarding the property due to the fact that they never lived in the home and the previous owners didn't leave a list. If you are considering buying an REO property, have all relevant home inspections performed so you know what you are getting into as far as repairs to the property go.Also get a Home Warranty for repairs that may crop up in the future.

Now, onto more interesting things. What did you do this weekend?? Hahaha - Well, let me tell you what I did. Seeing as this is kind of a one-way conversation anyways. I went to meditation! Ya! - That was the high point of my weekend - I haven't meditated in about two weeks now. Ugh! - My brain was full of crud! My thoughts were spinning out of control - you know how it is when you exercise on a daily basis and then you don't - you feel like a slug! - So, I never exercise - it's boring to me. And it hurts, cuz I'm so badly out of shape but I liken my meditation to your exercise. I like to meditate at least once a day. I hate when I don't do it. So, anyways, I went to meditation and cleared my mind and I feel Great! I have renewed sense of direction. It's so easy to get off track. I'm on track now...starting tomorrow hahah.

Over the weekend there were 40 new listings and 38 new pendings. 729 on the market today - better hurry before they are all GONE!

Todays Featured Listing

Seems new. So simple yet elegant in greatroom floor plan w/travertine floors & soothing combo of granite, travertine in kitchen & baths. Triangle kitchen & separate areas in greatroom w/hidden TV over fireplace. Composite deck & spiral staircase lead to beautiful yards, Bocci Ball court & fully finished, unpermitted additional 430sf on lower level 4 multi-uses & a nice get-away -- media room?

I have been whining lately about putting video on my blog and everyone is telling me to put video on the blog. So today I decided to knuckle down and just do it - Scouting the perfect location - I was looking for a great background view so I thought a nice vacant house would be perfect. Nope - one of our agents was there showing it. - Then I decided to use the vacant lot next to it - nope - lawn cutting day across the street (although it wouldn't have mattered and I'll tell you why in a minute.) So I decided to come back here and just use the conference room. Kinda boring but at least it was quiet. So I made my little video on my camera that I bought to make video on. Playback - NO SOUND! AAUUGH!  Then, I find my old CoolPix camera - Video again and again - NO SOUND! Use my IPhone. Sound but its SIDEWAYS! So maybe tomorrow I'll try again. Im too tired now. All this video blogging is exhausting!

16 New Listings today and 21 Pendings. 735 Residential listings in Shasta County today. Todays newspaper actually had some good news today for both buyers and sellers. Click the following Link for the whole story.

Good News in Todays Paper

Todays Featured Listing

Is a great 4 bedroom, 2 bath in lovely west side neighborhood. 3 car garage and large paved RV. Formal living room with fireplace and formal dining room. Family room with vaulted ceiling and open kitchen with breakfast bar. Covered patio in the beautiful small private back yard, complete with fruit trees and rose bushes...


It has been pretty hectic around here lately. Mostly for me - I'm not sure why but I've just been really really busy - which is awesome!!! I'm really happy with all that's going on right now in my life. - I will be away the next couple of days. My daughter is going home to Rome and I have to take her to the airport and of course she booked a 6am flight out Sometimes I wonder what she's thinking - we live 3 hours away from the airport she booked herself out of! - Ugh! - I do want to spend some quality time with her before she goes back though. She has been here for 3 months now and I'm sure when she leaves it will be hard to get used to missing her again.

I was taking my son back to Humboldt State on Sunday and came across the cutest little coffee shop on the way. It sits right next to the Trinity River and has a great patio to sit and watch the river and the rafters go by. The Latte was good - not too hot and nice and creamy.

On the MLS there were 10 new listings today and 12 pendings but over the weekend there were 31 new listings and  14 pendings so we have 747 residential listings in Shasta MLS today.

Todays Featured Listing

The weather outside is frightful! Another big storm on the horizon and the wind is whipping and howling outside right now. (I'm not gonna change my background until the sun comes back out!)

I am still trying to figure out the whole YouTube thing - It seems so easy when the kids do it - they post videos all the time - me...no... I just finished making a little test video and it didn't save! Crackers n Cheese! So this weeekend, I'm going to find a teenager and make them video me and save it and put it on the YouTube channel that I made last April and have posted nothing on yet!

Social media - social media, blah blah blah... went to a seminar yesterday about the whole thing, had a conversation with my book club last night about it, had a meeting today and talked some more about it!  - Is it just me or is social media taking over??? Thankfully I have teenagers who can help me out with this stuff. So I don't feel too in the dark and usually once I figure something out I'm good with it.

I wanna hear from you though - how important is social media to you? How important is it to your business?
Are you using social media just to stay in touch with your friends or are you utilizing it as a resource? Post your comments or email me your thoughts on this.

Kind of slow today only 15 new listings today and 15 pendings so no big numbers there. 757 residential listings in Shasta County MLS and 300 of those are in Redding.

Todays Featured Listing

Todays listing has soaring views. This very special home on 22 acres offers views of the mountain ranges & the feeling of total privacy! Light, bright well designed floor plan, 3/2 baths & lots of natural light. The upstairs bonus room has floor to ceiling windows to take in the views! Trex decking, 2X6 construction & a very custom, quality built home. It has a back up generator, a 2 car garage plus Boat/RV parking. What a deal!

Its still raining here and we need it pretty badly so I'm not going to complain about it but I am a little bummed that the glass patio table in my back yard broke the other day when the wind whipped up the umbrella - which I had not secured or put down as I was intending to do. - douh! I thought I had spring. Wrong. It gets me every year - just when I think its going to be an early spring and winter is over - bam! Not!  

It does seem though that the worse the weather - the more buyers want to go look at places. Why is that? Maybe it's just a way to kill time on a rainy day and I really don't mind it very much - it makes it more exciting. Plus then patios and driveways look all shiny and pretty - grass looks greener and even houses look better. - Go figure.

26 new listings today and 16 pending sales. 744 active residential listings in Shasta MLS today.
An interesting stat today is that the average listing price is $262,321 but the average sale price is $154,203
lower priced home are definitely leading the market out there. Average days on the market is 130 days.


Okay, lets go shopping!

Todays Featured Home

I got some sad news today... a very dear acquaintance of mine has passed away. She was a friend to me really. The first time I met her, she welcomed me into the group with a warm hug and a great big smile - she said she knew we were going to be great friends and we were. We belonged to Amaranth together. Now, I'm sure that most of you have never heard of Amaranth and that's fine. It's just a social group I belonged to  - well actually still belong to. She was always so warm and happy, so friendly and vivacious. She lived each moment to the fullest - I never saw her angry or upset, always just smiling and full of fun. I'm very sad today. I will miss her so very much. She was an example for me.
I hope that I live as she lived, enjoying every experience, good or bad. Smiling to the end.

Today I dedicate my blog to Linda Walker. My friend.

Todays Featured Listing


I love Daylight Savings Time - but the first Monday of DST is really hard! Getting up an hour earlier is not for me. Really, I have to admit that I do not do mornings well and today especially its hard to get the cobwebs out of my brain. There just doesn't seem to be enough coffee. I can't do those energy drinks either.
So I figured the best thing to do was to blog - haha!

Alrightly then, with that in mind...    Here are a few tips for Home Buyers...
1. Get Pre-approved for your mortgage financing.
This lets you know how much home you can comfortably afford as well as how much of a down-payment you will need, what your mothly payments will be. When you find that perfect property, you will be in a good position to act.
2. Determine what area you want to live in.
Look for areas with good schools and amenities you value. Remember Location, Location, Location.
3. Select an Agent
Preferrably one who is familiar with that area and also one who you are comfortable with. You need an agent who listens to you and who shares the vision of the home you want. You also want an agent who is readily available to you as well as experienced.
4. Negotiate a price on the home.
This starts by knowing what homes are going for in that area. Dont get too emotionally attached and overbid on a property. Your agent can help you with this but it's a good idea to do some homework of your own too.
5. Get a Home Inspection.
This is so important. Don't assume that the house is in good shape because it looks new and shiny. Paint can coverup a lot of flaws. A Home inspection will cover areas that you can not see, such as crawl spaces and attics. A qualified home inspector can let you know the overall condition of the home.


Nuff said, Today there were 24 New Listings and 24 Pending sales. Currently there are 752 residential listings available in Shasta County.

Todays Featured Listing


This is the headline today on MSN Real Estate...

What's up there: Get to know popular ceiling types

Here's a look at the pros and cons of ceiling types and what it would cost to install or replace them.

Man - I thought I had writers block... I won't bore you with stuff like this today. I'll just say Happy Friday and here are the stats...

15 new listings today and 19 pendings...754 Active residential listings in Shasta County. Now go outside and have a great weekend!

Todays Featured Listing 

For Todays Featured Listing I chose a home in Lakehead. Today is so sunny and warm out, I was thinking how awesome it would be to have a home by the lake. Just go get the fishing pole and drop it in for a spell. (I have to talk lazy when I talk about fishing.) Better yet get a good book and a comfy beach chair and put my feet in a read while munching of Cheeze-its or whatever you call them.

I was at a house I sold earlier today doing inspections, the views are amazing there. There were 6 hawks circling around all lazy like - I was a little worried that they were scoping me out as lunch they were so big. Wow, though, they were amazing. Beautiful birds with a wingspan and long as my arms outstretched.  They were just doing lazy circles and I thought about being a hawk. Just flying around all day, scoping out the menu. Looking for a nice spot to perch. Pooping wherever. Almost as good a life as mine.

Today there are 18 new listings in Shasta County and 24 Pendings. 760 active residential listings in Shasta County. Lets go shopping!

Featured Home of the Day                   

I woke up feeling the dark scepter of depression coming on today. There was no reason for this. It just happens. Then I decided NOT to go back to bed but to get up and actually go to work. That was quite a feat too because my bed is comfy, snuggly and warm. Then, something happened that made me feel so much better. (I'm not gonna tell you what but it was just something small.) Its really joyful to get to have that feeling turn around. I look outside and the sun is shining and although its kind of a windy day - its beautiful out. I remember what I'm going to work to do and I feel so grateful that I have a job that I really love and enjoy.

I'd like to talk to all you prospective buyers and sellers out there. There is this attitude of some sellers that if they price their home higher than the market value, buyers will come in and "low-ball" them - Say, for instance you, as the seller, want to get 200K for your home. Your Realtor says "sure that's a good price - we can get that" but you, the seller, think if you price it at 200K your going to get offers of 150K - (which you might but probably wont). So you, the seller, price it at 250K anticipating this, against the advise of your agent....The house goes on the market....nothing happens....you wait....you wait... you get angry at your agent for not showing it to enough people, for not marketing it well enough. You get angry with your agent when they suggest lowering the price. You end up firing your agent and hiring another agent who tells you the house is worth 200K. You list it for 200K and guess what...MULTIPLE OFFERS! Because a house that is priced right, right now, sells! When I work with buyers, we are trying to find the best value for a home that they like and that fits their needs. When we find the right house at the right price its gold. If the price is too high, buyers walk away. No offers... a buyer might pay a little more to get the home they really want but they don't want to be ripped off or stuck in a bidding war. Price your home according to market value.

Okay - enough of lecturing...We have 26 new listings and 13 pending as of right now in Shasta County. 292 of those are in Redding and 82 of those are between 150K and only 40 of those are priced between 150-200K.

Todays Featured Listing

So, here I am on a Monday, wondering what to talk about and then the internet goes down. Have you noticed how dependent we are on being connected? Without the internet I can’t call anyone – I have no reference. “Let me tell you about this great property…Oops, no internet. … Sorry.” “Oh here we go. Let’s find you a home…Oops…No internet.” “Let me check those comps for you…Oops”

I can’t even mosey around on the internet when it’s down, no games, no horoscopes, no news… It hasn’t been that long since the internet was around but it is my best friend. It is the way I stay connected to the world. It actually makes the world a much smaller place to be in. I can talk to clients without interrupting them.  We can connect with old friends who in times past would have been too far away. We are a much closer world now with the internet. I cannot even imagine the world as it was without the internet and I was there!

At home when the power is down there are board games. At the office… it is a bit noisier here. But it’s a really good excuse not to work.

Over the weekend, there were 25 new listings and 29 pendings. Something interesting is that there are only 66 residential listings in Redding that are listed under 150K. This is what I call the "sweet spot" if you are looking in that price range as a lot of you are, competition is fierce! So, happy hunting and as always, call me first to find that perfect home for you.

Now This is a Featured Listing!

Happy Friday All! What are your plans for the weekend? I have that Friday excited - gotta get out of here feeling today. The weather over here is supposed to be in the 70's with lots of sun! I think you all should come over here and enjoy the sunshine from wherever you are and if you're already here - what a weekend for a barbecue! To me it's always Spring when the calender says March.  I know its not really there yet but I'm getting really antsy for it to be summer. I have an awesome pool and a really awesome backyard and I want to be there. It would be really cool if you all came over and hung out with me. HAHA! Alrighty then, I know I got a little carried away with today's featured listing but what fun is it if you can't dream - this house is like being in Europe somewhere. I've never been to Europe but this is what I imagine my house there would look like! Wink wink.

So have a great weekend, whatever you choose to do. We had 19 new listings and 10 pendings on the Shasta MLS today for a total of 734.

This is me getting antsy to go....

Todays Featured Listing

Todays listing sits on 100 acres with a 4 bedroom home - What a deal for all  horse lovers! Check out the riding arena.

Also today, there were 25 new lisitngs and 18 - oops 19 now,  pendings.

I'm going to get a little philosophical on you here so bear with me because that's just the kind of mood I'm in right now. Todays newspapers front page reads "Foreclosures on the Rise." What is it with newspapers, and other medias obbsession with negatively reporting the market??? Are they trying to freak people out? Does bad news really sell more papers? Get higher ratings? - Of course I know it does. WHY?? Why is our culture so bent on being negative??? Can't we all just be happy for the good guy? Can't we buy more papers and watch more news that has good stuff in it??? If you are walking around listening to all the Gloomy Gus' out there, YOU"RE gonna get depressed! Then, you're not going to want to do anything, you'll just sit around eating Doritos in your sweats all day because the world is gonna end. There is nothing wrong with Doritos in moderation now. They are my favorite.

Okay, now that I have ranted, its time for some positive news!---- Doritios and Pepsi are the best snack for 3:30pm! Have a great day and stop listening to Gloomy Gus.
Things are Great!
Business is Wonderful!
and People love You!