Living In Sonoma County, CA

Does that goat come with the house? That question may be funny to some of my City Slicker friends, but this isn't the first time I have been asked if sheep, goats, horses, cows, chickens or other livestock are included in the sale of a house. Sonoma County, a predominate grape growing and wine m...

As if buying or selling a house wasn't stressful enough, here is one more thing to stress about. My last two closings were delayed six calendar days due to a log jam in the world of lenders. Interest rates have been at their lowest levels, creating a high demand in home purchases as well as re-f...

  Have you ever been in an on-going dispute with a neighbor? Do you think you could ever get so fed up it would prompt you to rent a jackhammer and take matters into your own hands? A property owner in Santa Rosa CA did just that, and in the end it paid off. When I opened the local newspaper and...

A Credit Union that is local to my area recently placed one of their bank owned properties on the market. The bank received three offers in less than a week. Two offers were from FLIPPERS, the third was from a buyer who plans to make that property their primary residence. When I talked to the li...

Today, I'm watching an agent drown in a glass of water. The ball is in his court, his voice mailbox is full, he hasn't answered my e-mails and the asset manager is getting impatient. The situation isn't difficult ... when a counter offer is presented there are only three possible answers. Accept,...

Looking for something to do today? How does FREE sound? Cotati is having its 32nd annual Jazz Festival in downtown La Plaza park and several surrounding venues from Noon until 7:00PM. It's supposed to be 95 degrees today, so bring your sunscreen and perhaps a spray bottle to keep you cool. There...

I've had a couple of fun filled weeks talking to the IRS about money I supposedly owe them. After several conversations, faxes and reconciliations, I think we have finally figured out where the screw-up mistake was. The estimated tax payments I made in 2011 were credited to SOMEONE ELSE. I was a...

During the course of doing business, potential sellers ask me about the short sale process and how it works. I'm more than happy to sit down with home owners and explain bank idiocies procedures of submitting a request for short sale approval. The stumbling block, however, is when I get to the pa...

As a former frequent blogger, I can attest that there are some things besides being really busy that can interfere with your blogging routine. For me, it happened to be an unfortunate accident while on vacation in Hawaii. On the bright side, I was doing something I love, it was towards the end of...

I subscribe to Paul Henderson's blog and I came across an amusing post of his the other day. Paul was contemplating whether it was a coincidence that the Mayan calendar and the Kuney-Todaro team marketing calendar BOTH end in December of THIS year. (I'm kind of thinking it was a slow day at Paul'...