I don't mean to write this in a mournful tone. I am sorry if it comes out that way as I prefer to blog in order to inform when I can and to always make others smile. Today though I have something on my mind, and it has been there for several days and just won't let go.   Halloween and the election. Too late to write about one and too early to write about the other. My brain has tied them inseparably together. On Halloween I was out driving and happened into a neighborhood where their were lots of young children trick or treating. It wasn't yet dark and I enjoyed looking at the costumes. I saw two kids (Batman and a ghost) running from one house to the next as if the house next door was trying to escape. I was reminded of my cousin Ed and I fifty or more years ago and my mom pleading wit... 11/05/2012

  Last week while getting out of the shower I felt a sharp stabbing pain in my lower right back. I couldn't move, it was truly paralyzing. I managed to make it my bed after several minutes but for the balance of Thursday and Friday were very difficult days. It has gotten gradually better and I hope to resume normal activities tomorrow. Meanwhile I found this joke that I give total credit to the author, Harry Bliss for. My solution has been stretching and being careful, rather than drugs. I will admit though there was a day or two that drugs would have been a very tempting solution.       My name is Dale E. Bledsoe with Crown Key Realty and as always I may be reached at 209-481-6031. 10/29/2012

I have several close friends who either are or have retired from various Law Enforcement Departments. They have funny stories and a difficult job. I respect what they do and the diligence they display each day. I don't think for a minute the following two stories are true but I certainly got a chuckle from them. Additionally, my girl friend is blonde, and honey, believe me, I mean no disrespect. Flashing Lights Two blonds are driving down the highway, about 90mph, when they pass a highway patrolman on the side of the road.  Passanger Blond - Oh no, we just passed a cop! Driver Blond - Its ok.  Is he following us? Passanger Blond - Yup. Driver Blond - Its still ok.  Are his lights on? Passanger Blond (looks) - Yes no yes no yes no yes no yes no  Excellent Detective Work Three  blonds wer... 10/12/2012

Something that concerns me greatly but has not received much press coverage is the soon to expire Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act passed in 2007. The Act exempts certain types of debt forgiveness from Federal Income Tax. The Act has allowed homeowners to short sell their principle residence, without paying income tax on the forgiven debt. It also allows debt forgiven through mortgage restructuring to be income tax free.   At the end of this year when the act expires, it will place a significant tax burden on anyone attempting to short sale a property or on foreclosed homes that are re-sold for less that the debt that was owed. It will also have a significant genitive impact on the HAMP program, an important part of President Obama's economic recovery program.   There is limited action in ... 10/09/2012

Very interesting sports weekend. In no particular order here are my thoughts.   First the Atlanta Brave's fans should be ashamed. The final game for Chipper Jones, a sure bet HOF player and a total class act, will unfortunately be more remembered for the classless fans who threw trash on the field after a disputed call. I agree that it was a bad call. It was simply a short fly ball and the infield fly rule should not have been invoked. But, it was a judgment call and sports is filled with disputed call like this. The judgment of the fans to throw debris on the field and halt the game for 20 minutes was deplorable. Chipper Jones deserved better on his final day in a big league uniform as a player.   Next is Matt Cassel the KC Chiefs quarterback. Granted he has not done as much as either ... 10/08/2012

Ran across these today and thought you might enjoy them. I am the author of none of them although I have lived most of them.The sellers told me their house was near the water. It was in the basement.How much are they asking for your rent now? Oh, about twice a day.I have a temporary mortgage. What do you mean temporary? Until they foreclose.Realtor sign--We have "lots" to be thankful for.Realtor: first you folks tell me what you can afford, then we'll have a good laugh and go on from there.If you think no one cares you're alive, miss a couple of house payments.I listed a maintenance free house. In the last 25 years there hasn't been any maintenance.If you want to know exactly where the property line is, just watch the neighbor cut the grass.A man's home is his castle. That's how it seem... 10/01/2012

Today's blog is one I have been waiting to write for a long time. Since February 1, 2012 to be exact. I received a call that day from someone possibly wanting to short sale their condo. I wrote a blog on 2- 13-12 called “War Has Been Declared”, which explained I was starting to help a young divorcing couple sell their condo. I explained that I could not even have them in the same room to sign documents for fear that one would jab the other in the eye with a pen.   Then on March 9, 2012 I wrote “War has been declared Part 2” which explained we were in escrow and hopefully this waring couple would soon be a part of my past instead of the ongoing headache. The escrow fell apart after it was discovered that the HOA was in precarious financial condition and the condo complex was over 60% non... 09/26/2012

I've got no INVENTORY, YES I DO, I've got NO Inventory, HOW about YOU?  I know you've heard it before, but here in Tracy & Mountain House, CA this is a snap shot from the last 2 days of what has come on the market.  Look at the number of homes that have come on the market the past 2 days, then look at how many have gone pending (Short sale that have been waiting for months) and the SOLDS. The number of houses available for buyers is dwindling fast.  Have we hit bottom... for now we have.                              MONDAY                                                                         TUESDAY Interest rates are at historic lows, prices are still low 1990 prices, but there is nothing to buy! 09/25/2012

On the surface at least it would appear that this should be a very good week for me. Later this week I will be cashing the largest check I have ever received for selling a property. Sweet. Big house, country property that had lots of interest from the day the listing came out. Accepted an offer and went into escrow very quickly. The escrow has gone smoothly and the buyers will be signing docs this week. Money will be transferred on Tuesday and my seller will have his check Wednesday or Thursday. I should be dancing in the streets.   I'm not.   The nearly complete transaction is for the home of a good friend. Someone who for a number of reasons is easy to like and easy to respect. He has served both his country and community with honor and dignity. Now he is moving from the left coast to... 09/17/2012

 I picked up a listing on a referral from another agent. I didn't know the agent but I was recommended to him by some one I know well. I went to visit the potential sellers and to say the least they were an “interesting family”. I have had interesting sellers before so I wasn't intimidated by the challenge.   The asking price they had in mind was definitely higher than comps but not outrageously so. The listing agreement was signed but not until a long conversation regarding my commission rate had taken place. Their brother, had told them that my rate would be too high and they needed to have me lower it. I refused, but they signed anyway. Because of the asking price there were not a lot of buyer visits. I let them know that in this market with so few properties available this was a cle... 09/13/2012

Out here in Tracy California, our city like many others across America have face real and difficult challenges throughout the past half decade. Fortunately the Mayor of Tracy Mr. Brent Ives has brought a strong management skills, and more importantly leadership to his position. In addition, Mayor Ives and many city officials understand and value the role of the RE community within the city. Last week Mayor Ives came to our local Realtor marketing meeting to express his thanks for what we do, and to layout his vision for Tracy as we move forward. Mayor Ives spoke about the cities strong belief in private property rights and the difficulty in dealing with vacant boarded up and unsightly building in our downtown area. He said that the city is always looking for ways to help the owners of t... 09/04/2012

I don't like to blog political jokes to often but this on caught my attention and decided to blog it. A lady bought a new luxury car. Cost a bundle. Two days later, she brought it back, complaining that the radio was not working. "Madam," said the service manager, "the audio system in this car is completely automatic. All you need to do is tell it what you want to listen to, and you will hear exactly that!" She drove out, somewhat amazed and a little confused. She looked at the radio and said, "Nelson." The radio responded, "Ricky or Willie?" She was astounded. If she wanted Beethoven, that's what she got. If she wanted Nat King Cole, she got it. She was stopped at a traffic light enjoying "On The Road Again" when the light turned green and she pulled out. Suddenly an enormous sports ut... 08/27/2012

Earlier this week a property I am representing underwent a very detailed inspection process. We had the normal home, roof and termite inspections, but because it is a country property we also had septic, chimney and pump inspections. The process started at 7 AM and was concluded around 1 PM that afternoon. The agent representing the buyer did a great job of scheduling all of the inspection for one day and for this I am thankful.   As always during the inspection process I was concerned about about what might turn up. I wasn't expecting much because the property owner is also a licensed contractor who had kept his property in top notch shape. But, something inside me told me the inspectors would hard to find mythical problems to justify their fees and to help drive the selling price down... 08/24/2012

I have blogged several times about my experience mentoring a new agent that came to our office last spring. She had left a career as a teacher due to budget cuts and since she had always enjoyed looking and talking about properties she decided to pursue an new career in Real Estate. When I met her the first time she was full of energy and prepared to hit the ground running. We looked at properties and she began learning the basics of all of the paperwork required to sell a home. She learned fast and wanted more. Unfortunately her energy and enthusiasm came to an abrupt halt when it came to Lead Generation. She hated it and decided she couldn't do it. She decided that teaching was her real calling and soon had found a part time teaching job and left Real Estate. Sad to see her go, but it... 08/08/2012

Yes I know the media is reporting that this is a buyer's market.  I know the media has told you, Dear Buyer that you can buy houses pennies on the dollar.  This may be true in Detroit, however real estate is local and it's not true in Tracy, CA. When you client calls you and asks, I see this house came on the market at $175,000 today.  Do you think the seller will take $60,000 CASH? Nope, no I do not.  Let me remind you what the Tracy Housing Market is like.  As of Today there are 42 active listings, compare that to 1482 5 years ago.  We are a town of 85,000 people and we have 42 homes in every price range available for you to buy.  So Dear Buyer, if you are serious about entering the real estate market in Tracy, CA I suggest you come in with a STRONG, Highest and Best offer.    You can... 08/05/2012

It's Friday funny time, so I hope you get a chuckle from this one. An elderly Realtor was about to die. One day he told his wife he had come up with a way to take all of the money he had with him to heaven. He told his wife to put all of his money in the attic so when he died he could grab it on the way up. A couple of weeks after he died his wife was cleaning out the attic and saw that the money bags were still there. "That old fool," she chuckled. "I told him that we should have put the money in the basement!" My Name is Dale E. Bledsoe with Crown Key Realty and as always I may be reached at 209-481-6031. 08/03/2012

It's Monday and to get the week off to a good start I felt compelled to put this one in writing.   A Realtor has a chance meeting with the devil. The devil says “I can make you the richest, most famous Realtor that has ever lived. I can make you a thousand times more rich and famous that Donald Trump has ever dreamed of being.”   The agent looks at him for a moment and says, “OK, but what will I have to do in return?”   The devil looks at him and says “first you will have to give me your soul, then your children's souls and their children's souls and even their children's souls.”   The Realtor looks back at him and says “Yeah, but what's the catch?”   My name is Dale E. Bledsoe with Crown Key Realty and as always I may be reached at 209-481-6031. 07/30/2012

In the early spring of this year I wrote a blog about a new agent that had joined our office. She had just received her license and was eager to get started. I was asked to be her mentor and gladly accepted the responsibility.   I asked agents in the office not to speak in acronyms, as I wanted the new agent to learn the correct terms. All of the agents were happy to help and soon she had learned the correct names and began using the acronyms herself. I set up contract classes, role play and everything else I could think of. She learned fast and continued to impress.   The problem was she hated lead generation and made only half hearted attempts to find clients. We talked several times about how Realtors often need to “become comfortable being uncomfortable”. Several times she said she ... 07/24/2012

Well today is my birthday. Hard to believe I have completed yet another trip around the sun, but my drivers license and Face Book both say I have so it must be true. For me the best present is that I have had another year to watch my son continue to grow into a fine young man. He is 16 and I am 61 but we have developed a strong bond that has easily overcome the generation gap. It is the thing I am most proud of in my life. OK, enough of the blather and emotional stuff, how about some Monday fun. I went to an antique auction yesterday and three people bid on me! My best friend gave me a comb for my birthday and I told him I would never part with it (see my picture). I asked my girl friend what she wanted for her birthday and she said anything with diamonds. She threw the deck of cards at... 07/23/2012

My son who is 16, has spent the last 25 months of his life behind bars. Not the bars you may be thinking, but behind a set of handle bars. His mantra is now, “life behind bars”. Two years ago he took up BMX bike riding. Not racing but what is called in BMX circles “street and park” riding. I encouraged him to ride as I have riding most of my life and found it to be a great sport. Here is the rub. When I rode my goal was to keep the wheels on the ground and to go straight as far and fast as possible. His goals is to get the wheels off the ground and to maneuver in the air in impossible ways. The trick in the picture is called a hand plant as he goes up and over a small wall. He is doing what I always had hopped to avoid. It is amazing to me to watch him riding along in a straight line an... 07/16/2012