On a Personal Note
The recent wedding of my daughter
was a remarkable event.
If you have kids,
give them a big hug & kiss today.
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Win a Free Coffee Card
It’s easy to win! Find the quiz question inside this newsletter, then email me your answer. Each month, all correct entries have an equal chance of winning.
- Last month’s question: What kind of tree can you carry in your hand?
- Answer: A palm tree
Congratulations to Last Month's Winner: Marcus L.
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 Thank You Friends!
Welcome new clients and Thank You to friends who’ve trusted me to work with you, your friends, family and coworkers. Special thanks this month to...
Matt, Lucia, Rafael, & Andreina (happy past clients) for helping me with my marketing
Paul & Lidia (bravely & persistently working through a difficult escrow)
Sharon & Willie (about to close on the sale of their family home)
Doug (working his 2nd transaction with me as a seller)
Chris & Isela (just got them into contract)
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Why We Say Won’t (Instead of Willn't)
Contractions in English are obvious: they are = they're; is not = isn't. Put two words together and shorten. What could be easier? But that isn't the case for "will not" which becomes "won't" instead of "willn't."
Why does "will" change to "wo"?
In Old English there were two forms of the verb willan (to wish or will)...wil- in the present tense and wold- in the past.
Over the centuries, "will" varied as wulle, wole, wool, welle, wel, wile, wyll, ull, and ool.
But there was less variation in the contracted negative. The preferred form was wonnot, from "woll not," and sometimes the expected willn't. In the end, "will" became our present tense, but "wonnot" stuck as the negative, and contracted further to "won't."
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Free Consumer Report
Self-Staging Secrets—to Use whether You’re Selling or Not
After staging, home sellers often say, “My home looks so nice now, I wish I had staged it when I was still living in it.” Why not?
This report has some interesting pointers that science-based stagers recommend. If you’re selling, you can use them to get a better offer. But if you’re not selling, you can use them now and enjoy the fruits of your labor while still living in your home.
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"Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman." ~ Coco Chanel
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2017 Home Prices Will Stabilize, Fall, or Rise, Depending on Who You Ask
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Depending on which economist you listen to, the 2017 real estate market is either heading for another recession, flattening, or steadily rising.
Even though the advice is contradictory, we can use it to be better-armed real estate consumers by looking beyond the conclusions to the indicators being used:
According to some analysts, incomes are not rising at the same pace as real estate prices. Eventually (2017), this will cause downward pressure on prices. The caveat is that if businesses invest more in growth, we could see greater employment and higher wages, which would keep real estate prices pitched upward.
Worldwide, interest rates are predicted to rise, which could bring affordability crashing down. If that happens (in 2017), prices will start to fall. The caveat here is that if interest rates rise incrementally along with rising employment and wages, the rates themselves won't have a huge impact. House prices would remain stable, possibly growing very slowly.
A glut of people who had been holding back, living at home, waiting for the right moment to buy has now mostly cleared. That means demand may drop off (by 2017), which could bring prices down.
A drop in demand, combined with higher rates and lower wages, could cause home prices to fall. It's for this combined reason that most 2017 predictions are that the housing market will slow or fall.
As with all predictions, variables can change the outcomes. For instance, local demographics can result in the opposite effect, actually raising values in some area.
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Interest Rates Are Still Incredibly Low
If you’ve been on the fence about buying a home, maybe now is the time to jump! Call for a home-buying consultation:
JVM Lending, (925) 855-4491
or
Julie Chroust, Prospect Mortgage (925) 381-1481
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Story: The Fly
On a particular afternoon as I was visiting my elderly aunt, a fly landed in my tea. I must have registered a look on my face, because immediately my attentive aunt said, "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing," I said, not wanting to make her uncomfortable. She took great pride in the cleanliness of her home, and I felt it would embarrass her. So I thought I'd just find a discreet moment to empty my tea in the kitchen.
But my aunt was not naive, and she prompted me. "I can see that something is wrong."
"Oh, it's nothing," I said, laughing lightly to soften the situation. "Just a fly landed in my tea."
"Oh, my," she said.
"It's no problem," I assured her, putting my cup down.
But she rose and peered inside. "Oh, dear," she said, shaking her head. I began to be embarrassed for her.
She stood up and grabbed my cup. “I’ll take care of it and be right back.” She took my cup to the kitchen, and returned after several minutes. I assumed she was making a new cup, but when she came back, she was empty handed. I raised my eyebrows questioningly, wondering about the tea.
Seeing my look, she sat down and patted me reassuringly on the knee, "He'll be all right, dear. I got him dried out and he flew away."
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Google Blows $1 Billion, Just Playing Around
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In just one financial quarter this year, Google "wasted" close to a billion dollars. But they weren't spending it on new search algorithms. Instead, parent company, Alphabet, was spending it on "moonshot" ideas that may or may not pay off in the future.
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The futuristic projects include seawater gas, internet-beaming balloons, and solar-powered contact lenses. According to Astro Teller, head of Google X labs (great name!), "We try to steer X to be 'responsibly irresponsible' as we develop new products."
In this way, Alphabet is following in the footsteps of old-time technology companies who used to devote significant budget to new and exploratory ideas, not simply incremental ideas that would make them more money in the short term, as many companies do today.
Those efforts in the past played a role in creating some of the 20th century’s most significant innovations. For instance, Bell Labs invented the transistor. And Xerox pioneered the graphical user interface (GUI) that allows us to navigate our computers visually, rather than typing in coded commands.
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Get an Automatic Feed of New Listings
Don’t miss out on a great home because you didn’t see it in time! I can set up a search to send you new listings, price changes, and back-on-market properties automatically.
Call Now: 510-303-5903
*|LIST:PHONE|*
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September Quiz Question
Why did the phlebotomist go to art school?
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Just for Fun:
How Fast Can I Learn?
A martial arts student went to his teacher and declared that he wanted to learn as fast as possible. He asked the teacher how long it would take to become a master. The teacher replied: “Ten years.”
But the student was impatient and dissatisfied with the teacher’s answer. “I want to go faster than that. If I work very hard, practice 10 hours or more per day, how long will it take me then?”
The teacher replied: “Twenty years.”
The student bowed and said, “Then let’s go at your pace, master.”
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Help for Slowing Alzheimer’s
Scientists searching for causes of and cures for Alzheimer’s disease may have discovered a source of protection. A Scandinavian study followed 271 people ages 65-79 for seven years. They periodically tested blood levels for a marker of vitamin B12, as well as an amino acid called homocysteine.
At the beginning of the study, none of the participants showed signs of dementia. Over the following seven years, 17 of the 271 participants were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. The researchers found that study subjects with more homocysteine had a 16% higher risk of developing the disease, while those with more B12 (which is associated with lower levels of homocysteine) had a 2% reduced risk of Alzheimer’s.
The indications seem to support the use of vitamin B12 in slowing the onset of Alzheimer's. Vitamin B12 can be found in eggs, fish, poultry, and other meats, and is best consumed through a balanced diet, rather than through vitamin supplements.
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My Advice
"Am I approved or only pre-approved?"
In the past (before 2006), borrowers could make offers on houses with nothing more than a note from their lender stating they’ve been pre-qualified. That meant the lender spoke to them and thought they were a pretty good bet. Later, lenders began to pre-approve borrowers. That meant they’d gone beyond a friendly chat and actually pulled the buyer’s credit report and looked at their loan application. But a pre-approval was still just another way to say that someone looked like a pretty good bet.
Fast forward to today, and many borrowers are being encouraged to be fully approved before going house-hunting. A full approval means that the lender has already sent documentation (tax returns, etc.) to the underwriting institution, and has confirmed that a buyer will get the loan…as long as nothing changes at the last minute and they can find a house. The real advantage to the borrower is that being fully approved makes them almost as good as a cash buyer.
Call me for the name of a mortgage advisor who will help you get your approval letter in hand.
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See you next month!
Don't forget to call or forward this email to
friends in need of real estate help.
~ Thank you!
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