Lilac Ranch development news

There's a community meeting about the proposed Lilac Ranch, on Tuesday, March 27th at 7:00 pm. It's being held at

Lilac Ranch house
31928 Lilac Road
(N of West Lilac)

The developer (Sage Community Group) is asking for input, and it's a great way to find out what's going on with this historic site.

Useful stuff

I have found the internet to be a wonderful tool, and an amazing source of information.........and frustration! It's all those passwords! Some forms require a certain number of letters and combination of numbers, some require all lowercase, some a mixture...........and really, using the same password for everything only allows a criminal with half a brain access to all my sensitive information, anyway. I'm one of those people - you know, using my birthday or other easily deduced passwords..........like, "password". I actually had a program tell me recently, my password was too easily figured out. Now I'm being lectured to by my computer! (AND my children, but that's another blog entry...)

Imagine my joy at the discovery of a program to fill out all those forms and remember all those passwords for me! Whooo whoo! Better yet, it's password protected! No access for those criminal types. (Only ONE to remember, yay!) .........and guess what?

IT'S FREE.

Yep. Free. Gratis. There's an available upgrade, of course, but so far I haven't run out of space/use/time on the free version. It's amazing.

Ok, so here you go. Ready?

http://www.roboform.com/

You can thank me later.


Oh, and my sister is the member of my family with the "bug" for geneaology, but if you're similarly inclined, I just ran across a really neat site for local information. It's specific to San Diego - and interesting as heck. Old newspapers, marriage records, etc. Pretty cool.

Here's that one.

http://cagenweb.com/sandiego/

The Four Principles of Personal Development

From Hobbs-Herder Business Trainers. Good advice on life.

The Four Principles of Personal Development

The four concepts this life philosophy is built on are amazingly simple. They are all truisms that go hand in hand. In the following paragraphs, I’ll discuss each of the following:

1. For things to change for you, you must change.

2. For things to get better for you, you must get better.

3. Attitude is everything.

4. The Great Promise – You can have more than you’ve got because you can become more than you are. But if you stay where you are, you will always have what you’ve got.

Simple enough, right? Now let’s break these down one at a time.

1. For Things to Change For You, You Must Change

In the hustle of daily life, most people get so wrapped up in the daily “grind” they never take a step back to really evaluate what they’re doing. They have no direction and, in most cases, are simply hoping things around them change.

Here’s the real truth: If you want things to change, you need to change. You can’t just sit around and wait for things to change for you. It won’t happen. I’ve often said my personal definition of insanity is doing the same things and expecting a different result. It’s not going to happen, people. If you want things to change, change yourself. Now, chances are, you don’t want change simply for change’s sake. You want changes that will further your life and improve your quality of life. Which brings us to:

2. For Things to Get Better For You, You Must Get Better

Your initial reaction here is to probably think in terms of getting better in a business
sense. That’s okay, but improving your listing presentation isn’t going to overhaul your entire life. That’s why it really comes down to becoming a better person, and I don’t mean that you help old ladies across the street or say “please” and “thank you” at all the right times.

I’m talking about expanding yourself and expanding your personal capacity. Think of a jug of water being poured into a cup. That cup can only contain so much liquid. In order to grow, to improve, it must expand itself. For you, this means expanding your horizons, mentally – becoming more. One of the best and easiest ways to do this is through reading. If your personal capacity for joy and happiness is low, expand it.
Read books on joy and happiness. If a lack of organization prohibits your growth, study effective organizational techniques. It’s all out there, and it can’t hurt you to read another book. Conversely, the book you don’t read definitely cannot help you.

Increased personal capacity leads to all sorts of benefits, among them an increase in your self-confidence, self-esteem and generally, the way you carry yourself. Knowing you can take on any challenge and conquer it is a very powerful feeling. Which brings us to:

3. Attitude is Everything

The first step to gauging your attitude is asking yourself what you’re focused on. Are you, like most people, focused on the negative, what’s wrong, what you don’t have and what you’re not good at?

Hopefully not, because focusing on the negative will get you nowhere. Conversely, what you focus on is what you attract. Therefore, always remember to focus on what is good, about today, about you, about your life and what you’re grateful for.
That last point is a crucial one: Remember, gratitude affects attitude. Be thankful for what you have. Doing so forces you to focus on the good, whether that’s your family, your health, or anything else. In life, whatever you focus on is what you get. If you focus on it intently enough, you’ll get more of it. Which brings us to:

4. The Great Promise – You Can Have More Than You’ve Got Because You Can Become More Than You Are. But if You Stay Where You Are, You Will Always Have What You’ve Got.

Let me tell you, at age 18, this was a frightening concept. The funny thing is, it still is. The difference now is that I understand it, have accepted it and live my life by it. I wouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t strike a little fear in you, either. In fact, it should, because it’s true.

If you resist change, you will never change. You’ll just remain
stagnant. Doing more of the same just gives you more of the same. The good news is you control your own destiny. You can be anything you want to be and have anything you want to have. The bad news is it takes action and growth, and if you fail to change and grow, you will be stuck with what you’ve got.

The Decision is Yours

I hope you take this philosophy to heart, because let me tell you, it is true. Ever since I learned these important lessons, I’ve seen them prove themselves over and over, both in my life and the lives of others. So now it’s up to you. You can ignore this information, or you can take control of your life and your destiny. It’s not just going to happen for you.

Words of wisdom....

Representation debate has simple
answer

By Rick Hoffman, President and Chief
Operating Officer, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage San Diego/Inland Empire

By creating an information bonanza, the Internet has revolutionized the way homes are bought and sold all over the world. As a result, many new forms of the real estate brokerage have emerged. Some of these models would lead you to believe that you don’t need an agent and that the process is not that difficult. A number of them even offer to drastically cut their fees. For an eager buyer or seller, the option may look too good to be true – and there is plenty of reason to be cautious.

It’s a debate that continues to rage on.

First of all, you need to consider the enormous significance purchasing a home has for your family. For most of us, it’s the largest investment we’ll make in our lives and one that has significant consequences. For this reason alone, it is wise to be represented by a professional who is involved in the process of buying or selling every day.

When I started in the real estate business, the contract to purchase a home actually fit on one side of a letter-sized paper. The contract was not complex but it did require some study to understand the obligations imposed by the contract. At the time, the price of an average home was less than $50,000 – I just dated myself, didn’t I?

Over time, the purchase agreement also continued to change and develop. When it got to three pages it seemed crazy. It became incredibly important to keep current with all of the legal requirements imposed by the expanding agreements in order to properly represent my client. Indeed, the contract has become an excellent reflection of the way that the role of the real estate professional has evolved.

Laws, disclosure requirements, hazardous waste, energy conversation retrofits, agency, homeowner association rules, CC&Rs (Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions), zoning reports, smoke detectors and many more things continued to expand the scope of the contracts – and the knowledge necessary to properly represent a client either from the buying or the selling side.

Today, the contracts plus addendums amount to more than a dozen pages. This doesn’t even take into account the disclosures, inspection documents, county addendums, escrow documents, title reports, homeowners association documents, CC&Rs and a whole host of other detailed and important documents that need to be read, understood and approved to finally get to the close of escrow.

You probably can get to the close of escrow without the advice of a professional agent. However, you really need to consider how much risk you want to assume and how important it is to you that you do it right.

It’s no secret that when you need to make decisions, you should seek the best people you can find for advice. With the median price of a house in our area at nearly $500,000, this is certainly the type of decision that would best be approached with the help of a knowledgeable professional.

We have all heard the phrase “penny wise, pound foolish.” When seeking your dream home, work with a professional Realtor® trained to troubleshoot and negotiate. You won’t regret it.

More good news

The National Association of Realtors has released the latest numbers, and they reflect what we've thought all along.

Housing Recovery Likely This Year, But Timing Isn't Clear

WASHINGTON, March 13, 2007 -

Unusual weather patterns and problems in the subprime lending marketplace are creating challenges in assessing housing market conditions, but a recovery is likely this year, according to the latest forecast by the National Association of Realtors®.

David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, said there is some ambiguity about the current housing market. “Our goal each month is to fine-tune the forecast based on the latest housing data and a variety of economic indicators, but extraordinary weather variations are skewing home sales and clouding the picture,” he said. “Underlying trends point to a housing recovery in 2007, but it will take a couple months for us to get a better handle on it. Existing-home sales are expected to slowly improve from what appears to be the cyclical low last fall, but we think there will be some additional pain in the new home market, which hopefully will start to rise later in the year.”

read the whole thing.

South Village is shaping up!

Valley Center planners approve map of village core

By: QUINN EASTMAN - Staff Writer

VALLEYCENTER -- After drawing several different maps showing new roads through the commercial area at the south end of Valley Center, community planners have agreed on a plan for a village "core." The agreement could end months of wrestling over what the map of the "South Village" could look like in coming decades, after San Diego County finishes rezoning the area and new homes and a shopping center are built.At the Valley Center Community Planning Group's Monday meeting, San Diego County planner Bob Citrano and architect Bill Lewis presented a plan that was approved with only one planning group member in opposition.
The plan has Mirar de Valle Road curve twice in a double "L" shape before meeting up with Woods Valley Road as it crosses Valley Center Road.
Citrano said that was preferable to a previous plan that had Mirar de Valle bisecting a planned shopping center, which Lewis is working on, and a nearby residential neighborhood on the east side of Valley Center Road.The double "L" could slow but not stall traffic flowing through the area, Citrano said.The plan also shuffled some of the zoning in the area, reducing the amount of commercial area but boosting residential density in some places.Questions about how the road will be engineered still remain, he said.Over the last few months, a subcommittee of the planning group had held several meetings with local property owners, trying to handle complaints about roads drawn through barns."Awesome, this works for me," said one of the previously aggrieved owners, Bill Wagner.Much of the village core map is on the property of the Konyn Dairy, whose owner, John Konyn, continues to raise doubts.The new plan is an amendment to the Circulation Element of the county's General Plan 2020, scheduled for a decision by the Board of Supervisors in about a year.Also at Monday's meeting, planning group member Lael Montgomery also announced that Valley Center had received a $225,000 state grant for construction of a tree-lined 2.5 mile footpath on the west side of Valley Center Road, now being widened by the county. The grant would pay for more than 700 new trees, helping to make up for the loss of almost 600 trees along the current path of Valley Center Road in the last few years.The county, the Rincon Band of Mission Indians and local businesses contributed $162,000 in matching funds to supplement the grant.

Link

South Village. Sounds so..........big, doesn't it? South and North Village. And here, we always thought it was just a couple businesses on opposite ends of the road.

Not so good news.

Isn't this just about every other grove property in Valley Center?

Law would restrict residential usage

By Anne Krueger

UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
March 12, 2007

The county Planning Commission has approved a new ordinance limiting the use of cargo containers, the steel units some residents and businesses use for storage.
The ordinance says a container must be a solid color that fits with the surrounding environment, and can't be placed in a front yard in a residential area. On residential sites smaller than two acres, the containers can't be bigger than 320 square feet and can't remain more than 180 days.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20070312-9999-1m12cargo.html

Good News!

Housing prices holding steady
San Diego County's home prices remain relatively steady in February with the median price of houses unchanged at $540,000 for the fourth straight month, DataQuick Information Systems reports today.

Yay.

Finally. The media finally start to get it. The market is doing it's job. It's a GREAT time to buy or sell. It's simply a matter of pricing and positioning.

.....and we can help with that.

760.233.6442

Great local company for kids!

We meet the BEST people in our job! It's one of the most rewarding parts of our profession. This weekend, in the GLORIOUS weather, we were holding open houses. It was our pleasure to meet a wonderful local couple who have started a company with typical American ingenuity and drive - in their garage! It's a timely idea, to help keep kids safe ~ vests and flags and even wrist snaps ~ for crossing guards, for desert toys, street play, any of the myriad of things kids love to do.

We love the safety flags ~ be sure to look at the night view.......it's amazing.

Go to their website and check it out.

What a great idea!

THANK YOU, Pauline and Bryan Bahlman for thinking of kids' safety.

10 common buyer mistakes.

AVOID 10 COMMON BUYER MISTAKES THAT CAN COST YOU $1,000s!

Home buying can be a very exciting experience, but if you are not
well-informed about the home buying process, it can also be very
frustrating.

In the "good old days" home buying was a less complicated process. You
usually learned of a home for sale byword of mouth through your friends and
family. You called the owner of the home, made an appointment to look at the
house, and if you liked what you saw, you made an offer. Things are much
different today.

However, you will also find that today most home buyers are better
educated about the home- buying process thanks to the Internet, books on real
estate, and real estate sections in their local newspaper. But, even with all
the information available to home buyers, costly mistakes can still be made if
you buy a home on impulse.

Buying a home is not like walking into your favorite store at the mall
and buying something on impulse. If after you get home you realize that you
really didn't need the newly purchased item, most of the time you can take the
item back to the store and ask for a refund. It's not that easy with a home once
you've bought it. You can't take the "receipt" back to the bank and tell them
you changed your mind, you want a refund.

Review each of the most common mistakes listed below, and you will have
gone a long way towards creating a very enjoyable experience when purchasing
your new home.

1. OBTAIN PRE-PURCHASE COUNSELING

Would you spend $20,000 on the purchase of a car before doing some
research first? I hope not! The same should apply when purchasing a home, one of
the largest investments you will probably make. Particularly if you're a first
time buyer, counseling can help you learn each step in home buying, and you
won't be vulnerable to deception from incompetent Realtors or lenders.

Additionally, counselors provide information about down payment
assistance and lower-interest loans, some of which are available only to buyers
who have undergone counseling.
How do you choose a counselor? Contact A U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development-certified counselor connected with a
non-profit organization. To find one, call HUD at 800-569-4287 or Fannie Mae at
800-7-Fannie or log onto Fannie Mae's Web site at www.fanniemae.com.

2. CREDIT RATING

Did you know you have a credit rating? Many people are not aware that
their credit report not only shows a missed payment, but it also carries a
rating that lenders will use to determine your interest, or if you even qualify
to get a mortgage loan. You can order your personal credit report by contacting
the three major reporting agencies: Equifax at 800-685-1111; Transunion at
800-888-4213; Experian at 888-397-3742. Be sure to order a copy from each agency
because many times one agency will have information on your credit that another
doesn't. If you see a mistake on any one of the credit reports, now is the time
to make the corrections, before you see a lender.

3. PRE-APPROVAL

Get pre-approved for a mortgage. When you select a lender, have your
credit report pulled along with all the other documentation needed to get a
mortgage commitment. Don't just get a letter from your lender stating you are
"pre-approved." You can still get turned down after a home is found and
appraised and your actual incomes calculated. A good attorney should help you
assemble the needed documents; once a home is found, the only thing you should
have left to do is get an appraisal.

4. KNOW HOW MUCH YOU CAN AFFORD

Today, home buyers have many financing options available to them,
including buying a home with little or no money down. However, even after
getting approved for a loan, don't accept one with monthly payments that are
higher than you feel comfortable making. If you do, you're begging for problems
later on keeping up your mortgage payment which could mean foreclosure on your
home. Additionally, home repairs usually appear when you least expect it.
Imagine that one evening you're sitting in your favorite chair enjoying a
football game when all of a sudden the heat goes off, and it won't turn back on.
This could turn into a very costly unexpected repair bill. You don't want every
dollar going toward the mortgage; you need a cash cushion to cover unexpected
maintenance expenses.

5. GET EXPERT ADVICE

First-time buyers often turn to friends and family for advice, but your
friends and your family may have strong opinions that don't necessarily match
yours. Some may be extremely knowledgeable; others may not have been in the
housing market for years. In addition, what worked for a friend may not work for
you.

6. YOU NEED MORE THAN A REAL ESTATE AGENT

A competent real estate agent provides a valuable service,
and should also be able to help you get the advice of other professionals,
such as termite inspectors, septic inspectors, various disclosure
reports and engineers.

7. THE HOME INSPECTION

Don't let your excitement and your emotions get the best of you. Buying
a home is a major investment. Hire a professional home inspector to point out
major defects. The inspection report will also help you in budgeting future
maintenance expenses. For example, if the report says the roof has to be
replaced in three years, you can start setting money aside now.

8. VISIT THE HOME MORE THAN ONCE

It makes sense that most people will view a home during the day. But to
get a "real" feeling for the house, you should visit the home during the day, at
night and on a weekend. This lets you see whether, for example, the park across
the street is an asset or an evening hangout, and it helps to get a feel for
traffic patterns.

9. MAKING LOW-BALL OFFERS

Buyers sometimes walk around a home making derogatory comments, hoping
it will lead to the seller's accepting a lower offer. Put yourself in their
place. How would that make you feel? It does the opposite; it annoys the
homeowner. Make a reasonable offer. If the sellers like you, chances are that
they will work with you. Obviously, "low-ball" offers are in the eye of the
beholder. What you need to do is work with an agent who will help you educate
yourself about the market and prices.

10. FALLING IN LOVE WITH THE FIRST HOUSE YOU SEE

Falling in love often results in overpaying or purchasing a home with
defects. Remain objective. If the deal collapses, stay calm. Another home just
as nice is sure to follow.

If you keep in mind the list above, it can help your home buying
experience to be a smooth one!

~ Gitta Urbainczyk

How's Your Credit?

No, we don't really want to know. That's between you and the bank, but here is some information we found useful in maintaining your credit health.

Top 7 Habits of People with Great Credit Scores - by Eric Bramlett

People with great credit scores have earned them for a reason. They have always borrowed money, and paid it back on time. There's really no trick to what they've done, and there's no one action that will help you get a great credit score. When someone asks me how to earn a good credit score, I tell them to look at the spending habits of those with great scores, and to develop the same habits. Here are the 7 habits of people with great credit scores.

1. Never Pay Cash - People with great credit scores want every purchase to count. A purchase doesn't count unless the 3 bureaus know about it! The only way to make sure that the bureaus know how much money you're spending is to put everything on your card(s). Using your credit cards for items like soft drinks and gum has become so common that credit card companies have given a name to them: "Micro-purchases." Think of your spending as a monetary cycle: Put your paycheck in the bank, spend with your credit cards, and pay off the cards with the funds you've already deposited. It's one extra step that pays off big!

2. Never Use a Debit Card - You won't find a debit card in the wallets of people with great credit scores. Debit cards provide you absolutely noting that a credit card won't, and credit cards will build your credit score! Furthermore, if someone steals your credit card, you're protected against fraudulent purchases, while with a debit card, you're out of luck!

3. Pay Off Your Balances - People with great credit scores don't typically carry high credit card balances. The easiest way to emulate this is to make sure that you don't carry ANY balances. You'll obtain the best credit score if you make sure that you're using the smallest portion of your potential limit - which means "Zero." People with great credit scores make sure to use their cards, but pay the balance off every month.

4. Put Yourself on a Bill Payment Schedule - In order for the credit bureaus to reward your good spending habits, you have to pay your bills on time. However, you have a little leeway. While it's not a good idea to pay your bills a few days late because your creditors will charge you late penalties, it won't affect your credit score negatively unless you pay them more than 30 days late. The easiest way to stay on top of your bills is to pick one day out of the month to take care of everything.

5. Consistently Request Higher Credit Card Limits - Because people with great credit scores habitually borrow money and immediately pay it off, the credit card companies are very comfortable consistently raising their spending limits. When you consistently request higher limits, it allow you the freedom to borrow and keep the balances of your cards below roughly 35% of the spending limit of each card. People with great credit scores don't habitually spend over 35% of the limit on their cards. If you have high limits, you can take advantage of promotional offers that banks sometimes offer. I know of a borrower with a great score who transferred the second mortgage on her home to 1.99% APR promotional rate on her credit card and the rate is good for the life of the loan!

6. Never Close a Credit Card Account - The credit bureaus take into account the age of your credit lines and people with great credit scores know this and exploit it. Many times people with mediocre or low scores will pay off a card they've abused and close the account because the subconsciously think it was the card's fault they let the balance get so high. This is NOT the correct thing to do. That card has a great history behind it! You've shown the bureaus that you're willing to borrow a large sum of money and then pay it down to zero. People with great credit scores NEVER close credit card accounts because they want to show that they have a long history of properly using credit.

7. Never Rent - Your home is probably the largest purchase you will ever make in your life and is the one purchase that can make the biggest impact on your credit score. When you purchase a home you are showing the bureaus that you can consistently budget yourself to pay a large portion of your income towards an account on a monthly basis. There are a number of reasons people with great credit scores refuse to rent and the impact of paying a mortgage on their scores is one of them. When a first time home buyer finally closes on their home and pays the mortgage on time for a few months, they will see their credit score jump around 50 points - and sometimes higher!