The Bob Hope Classis in usually sunny La Quinta, California is cancelled today due to persistant rain since yesterday at 3 PM and still raining hard. This is so strange for La Quinta where the sun shines nearly everyday and warm sunshine is the name of the game. Now in La Quinta there are flooded roads, 60 degrees temps, leaky roofs, and water flowing on streets, sidewalks, patios, yards, fairways, and as far as you can see. La Quinta is in an area where people barely have umbrellas muchles raincoats. How long will it take for the larges underground aquifer in the world to absorb all this water? Stay tuned for updates. I will keep you posted.We needed the water in La Quinta - just not today or even this week. 01/21/2010

We saw Arnold Palmer here today at LaQuinta Country Club-- but he was'nt playing-- he was following his Grandson, Sam Saunders!  Sam is playing in the Bob Hope Classic this year and his proud Grandpa is behind the ropes watching! Here is a shot of him warming up! We had a few sprinkles today, but it was still great fun to be out watching the pros and walking around this great course.  More Bob Hope Classic updates coming soon!     See livethedesertlife.com for great desert info! 01/20/2010

  The Lori Bowers Group is hosting a  charity event for K.A.S. E. (Keeping Animals Safe Everyday) The event is scheduled for Monday March 22 at Mountain View Country Club  in La Quinta, Ca from  6-9 PM. Cost is $35 per person and includes a buffet dinner. Drink tickets will be sold seperatly.  We will also  have a silent auction, live music and a night of fun for a great cause.  K.A.S.E. (Keeping Animals Safe Everyday) is a 501 C (3) organization that is dedicated to improving the welfare of injured, lost, abondoned and otherwise homeless animals. For tickets, more information or to make a donation please contact The Lori Bowers Group 78065 Main St Suite 107 La Quinta, Ca 92253 760-777-8788 01/20/2010

Working with so many Sellers struggling with the issue of whether to Short Sale or Foreclose, the loan modification option always comes up.  I advise my Sellers to investigate what their Lender is offering in their Loan Modification vehicle.  If the Lenders agree to reset your mortgage based on current market value and forgive the difference, it would work!  Usually, I have found it to be something like this article... Lenders in need have reacted unfavorably to homeowners in need. They have shown less courtesy and willingness to mediate than is warranted in these trying financial times considering the homeowner's option to strategically default. A homeowner contacting his lender often waits on hold for a long time to speak with someone who cannot help him. In the rare event the homeown... 01/20/2010

Golf Course Communities are really struggling..and the Coachella Valley has approximately 120 courses!  What does this mean for us?  Some courses will shut down.  Permanently perhaps, but temporarily for sure.  Members may end up owning the courses and maintaining them with their own monies. When the courses are resurrected, perhaps they will convert to "green" courses and tear out unnecessary grass and high water useage foliage and install drip water systems and desertscape. Buying on Golf Courses:  Check out the HOA reserves and the financials of maintaing the course..look back several years!  Do your homework! Prices for golf course properties have dropped significantly..even on the secure courses such as PGA West in La Quinta. Read this article from the new York Times... http://tiny... 01/19/2010

I am an ACTIVERAIN believer... I meant it!  I invite and and I shout the praises of the ACTIVERAIN experience.  To me it is theraputic, and inspiring and a chance to share and learn. Then today... breakthrough!  I was contacted by a complete stranger who found my blog via GOOGLE, and connected with my story.  It was not my blogs that got her... IT WAS MY BIO!  (so go write one!)  She found common ground in my background, (golf), my location, (La Quinta), where I met my husband (The Nest), and his hometown, (Pasadena)-- alot of random connections resulted in an e-mail, and a call for help in selling her property.  She gave me her story and also her home phone number....I will call her in the morning.  THANK YOU ACTIVERAIN-- FOR GIVING ME A FORUM... AND a way for me to connect with future... 01/18/2010

Perhaps bigger is not better.  Today a builder decided to downsize and trim the fat from homes he hopes to build in 2010.  Gone is the lavish pool, but it's still an option.  Gone is the three stall barn, but it is still an option.  He's offering a bare bones house with a smorgasbord of luxurious options.  The consumer is in the driver's seat.  Empowering the consumer is a smart move in this agent's opinion. Luxury is in the details not the square footage.  If I asked ten prospective buyers to define luxury I'm sure ten different answers would be received.  If having your horse on your two-acre ranchette is luxury to you, so be it.  If having an over-sized lap pool for your daily workout is high on your luxury list, so be it. Perhaps guest quarters or a home theater is your indulgence o... 01/18/2010

If you are following the housing market, you may be interested in knowing that sales activity here in La Quinta is starting to pick up some steam, particularly as people start returning to the valley after the holiday season to escape the rest of the winter months.   Many new and returning snowbirds are or have been "renting" for the season, and are now beginning to start looking at buying opportunities. Unlike last year at this time, there is less uncertainly in wondering when home prices will finally "hit bottom". Buyers are now feeling that prices for the most part, have reached a point where the risk of further price erosion has diminished. Or to state this another way, that the potential for upside price appreciation is beginning to outweigh the risk of further downside price erosi... 01/18/2010

A new real estate brokerage, Calif Desert Realty, recently opened in La Quinta CA, serving La Quinta and surrounding areas. Calif Desert Realty, founded by broker / owner, Larry Hansen, is a small boutique brokerage dedicated to "raising the bar" in providing a higher level of ethics and professionalism to its real estate clients. Prior to opening Calif Desert Realty, Larry enjoyed a successful career as a CPA with KPMG Peat Marwick, and later on as a CFO during which he was involved extensively in mergers and acquisitions resulting in growing company revenues from $50 million to $1.4 billion. After retiring early at age 55, Larry grew restless and decided to become a real estate broker and after spending several years at various real estate firms, decided to start his own brokerage. "M... 01/18/2010

The "Median Price" is a big, fat ZERO for usefulness!  It drives me nuts when I see article after article, online and print, stating "the median price in the Inland Empire went up", or "the median price in the Inland Empire went down.."  Who cares???  What does that statement MEAN?  I like this common sense article from First Tuesday...The median price report gives an acutely misleading picture of price changes for any one property or tier of property values. Median price is a statistical point which fails to work in the analysis of any one price-tier of properties, much less an individual property. To determine how real estate will actually behave in the future, you cannot compare the price of a low-tier property with that of a high-tier property; it's just common sense.  The best way ... 01/18/2010

Now that you are on Facebook---Do you need help making your profile reflect YOU ? Is your profile boring ? Is your picture a generic siloutte? With millions of people joining Facebook, do you have a presence that represents YOU? This short video will give you some tips on setting up your profile and spicing it up by adding media like links, pictures, & video !  Make your profile a reflection of yourself, or your business!     How To Add Media To Your Facebook Profile on Howcast 01/16/2010

There are luxury foreclosures and bargains available throughout the Coachella Valley, from La Quinta to Palm Springs. Here are some wonderful ones in La Quinta (and an extra from Palm Desert!) Check out the best of these high-end homes which have just come on the market and give me a call if you'd like further information.You can read a description of each of these communities on my website—and check out current listings—under Featured Communities.  I also regularly update my list of bargain-priced homes on my website homepage.   This custom-built home in La Quinta's Andalusia at Coral Mountain boasts incredible south-facing vistas of lake, fairway and mountains on the Rees Jones signature golf course and the stunning Santa Rosa Mountains against which this exclusive community is nestle... 01/15/2010

ONLY IN LA QUINTA CAN YOU MEET GOLF PROS, CLASSIC GIRLS, CELEBRITIES + YOGI BERRA! La Quinta WELCOMES BACK THE BOB HOPE CLASSIC TOURNAMENT, and kicks it off next week with a special event put on by the LA QUINTA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.  While in LaQuinta, come to OLD TOWN to shop, dine, and soak up the sunshine! ☼  If you are looking for information on buying, selling or leasing a home-- visit THE LORI BOWERS GROUP !   If you LOVE THE DESERT-- check out LIVETHEDESERTLIFE.COM ! 01/15/2010

  You hear about the guy OR the Agent who is "CONNECTED".... WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? I think it means he knows someone, who knows someone that can make a DEAL HAPPEN-- Don't you want to be that "CONNECTED" AGENT?? Tom Ferry shares a great Coaching message about the degrees of separation-- and how close we all are to our next big innovation, breakthrough, or TRANSACTION! By committing to ENGAGE people and use THE POWER OF PEOPLE, you can expand your sphere of INFLUENCE and GET TO KNOW the people who will help you reach your goals! 01/15/2010

Coachella Valley Golf Tourney..The Bob Hope is coming..for those of us in the La Quinta area of the Coachella Valley, especially, this tournament literally changes our life while it is going on.  Thousands of tourism dollars flow into our valley due to this popular golf tournament.  It attracts famous golfers as well as celebrities.  This season it is being hosted at the city-owned Silver Rock Resort; La Quinta Country Club; Nicklaus Privaate at PGA West and Arnold Palmer Private at PGA West.  ALL IN LA QUINTA!  Beginning Monday and running through Jan 24, it's going to be busy!So many people on the roads, trying to figure out our local traffic circles, jamming hotels and restaurants (yippee!), and looking at Open Houses!  A great time to rent or buy a golf course home here in the deser... 01/15/2010

Homebuyers left out in the cold in California real estate.  Consider a game of musical chairs, where the chairs represent single-family residences (SFRs). In this game, the music plays and everyone dances around, looking for a chair to snap up at the right moment. But there is a nasty twist. Some players are grabbing chairs before the music stops, taking them into another room where they remain unused, along with other chairs that never even made it to the game. When the music stops, many players are left standing. Only a few were able to make a mad dash and snap up a chair within reach. This is the current climate for SFR real estate in California. Many future homeowners are left standing around looking for a home, but there is little inventory to be had for those intending to actually... 01/14/2010

The Lori Bowers Group is the best real estate company for Canadians buying homes in La Quinta, California. They are a Small company in Old Town Quinta with 15 top producing and experienced agents who know the area well and what Canadians are looking for. They take care of the Canadians in La Quinta while they buying, during the sale, and after wards too. Many of their satisfied clients recommend them for many reasons including their loyalty, honesty,enthusiasm, hard work ethic, cheerfulness,  knowledge of the homes and lending, renting their home, helping with services to maintain the home, checking the home while they are out of the area, and most of all treating their money like it is their own. They are familiar with dealing with customs, the consulate, transferring funds, passports,... 01/14/2010

      THE NEW CLUBHOUSE AT La Quinta Country Club, was the setting for the FIRE & ICE BALL last weekend!  With 200+ attending the event was an amazing success-- decorations of ice scultures and blocks of carved ice on each table with candles glowing created a magical setting.  It was held in the Eisenhower Pavillion-- with entertainment by Mike Costley and his Band... For dinner we were treated with a Poached Lobster and Pear Salad, and a Truffle-Mushroom encrusted Filet-- followed by an enticing Chocolate Truffle Bomb! To cap off a perfect evening, fellow Member Andy Williams sang some his favorite numbers.... "Call Me Irresponsible", "The Days of Wine and Roses", and finshed with (of course)  "MOON RIVER" !!  Truly a magical evening in an INCREDIBLE SETTING!  Next week the LA QUINTA C... 01/14/2010

Tom Ferry gives great tips and sound advice on the BASIC things your site needs to capture consumers and keep them coming back to your site! It is as simple as giving the customer what THEY WANT ! What are YOU offering as far as INFORMATION AND DATA-- to keep your clients informed on the Market Picture? Are you staying CURRENT AND RELEVANT? Watch this short video for a STRATEGY to MAKE IT HAPPEN! 01/13/2010

After my post on How To Write Better Facebook Status Updates... I had many requests for help with Twitter. Alot of people have been reluctant to jump in and start using Twitter to expand their brand and get more business. Here is a quick and easy video to help you get a feel for what you can do on Twitter-- and how to set up your Business Twitter account in just a few minutes! How To Use Twitter For Business on Howcast 01/13/2010