Susan's Blog

Good news! First time homebuyers tax credit extended and expanded to existing homeowners!

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted by an overwhelming 403–12 margin to approve the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act (H.R. 3548) that included, as an amendment, the extension and expansion of the Homebuyer Tax Credit. The bill already passed in the U.S. Senate yesterday, so now it will advance from Congress to the White House for President Obama's signature. The Administration already has signaled its support of the Homebuyer Tax Credit amendment as well as the President's intention to sign the bill into law.

Many of us called, wrote and emailed our Senators and Congresspersons to urge the extension of the credit, and some of those who weren’t sure the first time homebuyers’ credit should be continued had argued that nothing was being done to help those buyers who weren’t first-timers.

The terms of this extension will not only extend the first-timers’ credit to the end of June, but will also provide existing homeowners a tax credit when they buy a replacement residence.  To qualify, the contract must be dated by May 1 and it must close before July 1. There are many homeowners who have thought of downsizing and some who have wanted to buy a larger home while prices are down.  Those buyers will now be helped to move to the home that will fill their needs.

And the extension of unemployment benefits will help prevent even more families from becoming homeless while they search for new jobs.  Unemployment checks are not as good as a full paycheck, but certainly better than nothing, and a lifesaver for many families.

Our voices were heard in Washington, D.C., and we should be proud that our government is taking strong action to help our industry and the economy. Having an extended and expanded Homebuyer Tax Credit available to qualified home buyers in the first half of 2010 undoubtedly will benefit our business and the U.S. economy.

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Full time real estate services in Fair Oaks CA, with friendly professionalism, 20+ years experience. I work hard to give my buyer or seller a low-stress transaction. "Happy clients make me happy."

For all your real estate needs or questions, call me at (916) 705-8951 or visit my website at www.SusanNealFineProperties.com.

 

These are such great saftey tips that I thought it was worth reblogging, even if it is late to inclulde them in this month's newsletters.  Keep your kids and those in your neighborhood safe.

I have one to add:

Please back into your driveway today so that if you have to leave, you won't back out over scurrying children in costumes that may restrict their vision and your ability to see them.

And Happy Halloween!

 

 

 

When you run out to get that last minute bag of candy for the trick-or-treaters, pick up a few batteries too!

Halloween night is the night to turn the clocks back an hour, and it is also the best time to change the batteries in your smoke detectors.  I had someone ask me why the batteries should be changed on the specific days that the clocks are changed forward and backward. 

There really is no reason to do it on those days, except that we change the clocks every 6 months, and you should change your batteries every 6 months.  Changing the clocks is easy to remember (or if you forget, you will have an unpleasant surprise when you show up an hour late or an hour eary for church or an appointment the next day).

It is harder to remember to change your smoke detector batteries, yet that could be a matter of life and death, so why not tie it to something you will remember?

Please don't ignore this - the family you save will be your own.

                   

And Happy Halloween!

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Full time real estate services in Fair Oaks CA, with friendly professionalism, 20+ years experience. I work hard to give my buyer or seller a low-stress transaction. "Happy clients make me happy."

For all your real estate needs or questions, call me at (916) 705-8951 or visit my website at www.SusanNealFineProperties.com.

"Be of good cheer. Do not think of today's failures, but of the
success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult
task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy
in overcoming obstacles."
-- Helen Keller (1880-1968)

This is so true.  I have gone through some pretty tough times in my life, but I have worked my way back each time.  I am able to take pride in my achievements because to some, my predicaments or situations may have seemed hopeless.   Whether dealing with health issues, financial disasters or the losses of loved ones, I allowed myself a brief time to feel sorry for myself, but not so much time that I couldn't pull myself back up.  It sometimes took scratching kicking and fighting against depression, but I never sank into it and continued to put on a happy face and keep on keeping on.  I am so happy now, and could never have imagined how good I would feel now or how comfortable I'd be.

I do feel sympathy when others are going through little disappointments from day to day, but I have to confess that a part of me wants to say, stand up and get over it.  Keep your eye on the prize and get past this.  Most times, though, if I ever said that sort of thing aloud, it would probably be perceived as being unfeeling or uncaring.  Far from it.  I just don't want anyone to let their problems take over their lives and give up on their dreams.  What Helen Keller said so eloquently is what I would like to share with others.

Think of what Helen Keller's life was like.  She was completely deaf from birth, completely blind from birth, never learned to speak, and yet she learned American Sign Language and learned to understand what people were saying by putting her hand on their throat when they spoke.  She "heard" through her fingertips by interpreting vibrations.  She learned to type, was a prolific and inspirational writer, and taught other blind and deaf children.  If she can overcome her obstacles, there is nothing we cannot do if we simply decide to get it done.  We will stumble and fall along the way, but if we keep getting up and moving forward, we will reach our goals.

Don't let any failures and disappointments define you or discourage you.  If things come easy to you, you will not appreciate them half as much as you will appreciate and want to celebrate the hard-won victories.  You will find joy in overcoming your obstacles.

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Full time real estate services in Fair Oaks CA, with friendly professionalism, 20+ years experience. I work hard to give my buyer or seller a low-stress transaction. "Happy clients make me happy."

For all your real estate needs or questions, call me at (916) 705-8951 or visit my website at www.SusanNealFineProperties.com.

I just read a great article by sales coach John Mayfield on Realtor.com that asks "Do You Have the Right GAS in Your Tank?"   The premise of the article is that you need to fill your tank with the right GAS to reach your destination, which is success.  I never thought of using the word "gas", but it does fit perfectly with my beliefs and the way I used to teach when I was mentoring some entrepreneurs.  So I'll use his GAS acronym to explain my own philosophy.

The first ingredient of GAS is setting GOALS. 

This is something we all know, even if we don't think much about it.  I have long been a proponent of setting goals, writing them down and using them as a roadmap to move me in the direction I want to go.  Clearly if you don't know where you're going, it will be hard to chart a course to get there, and you will miss the important road signs.

It is important to make your goals specific and set a date for reaching them.  That will keep you moving forward and planning your time and energy to reach the deadline you have set.  You might say that you want to make $200,000 this year.  This is not a bad goal, but it needs to be meatier.   To accomplish this, break it down to its components.

For example, to make $200,000 in commissions, how much in gross sales will you have to close?  Don't forget to estimate the deductions from your commission before you receive it.  If you have desk fees or share commissions with your broker, have E&O, risk management or other costs taken out before you get paid, make allowance for those. 

When that is done, look at the average sale price of homes you sell, so that you will know how many homes you will have to sell to meet your goal, then you can figure from there how many you have to average per month.  If you can meet or exceed your monthly average, the annual income will take care of itself and tackling monthly goals allows you to know where you are at all times on your road to success.

The second ingredient is ATTITUDE.

The one thing that we can control is our attitude.  We might not be able to control the ups and downs of life and the disappointments that may confront us, but it is up to us to decide how we handle them.  I have found that putting on a happy face, as the song goes, will encourage others around me to smile and be upbeat, and before I know it, my smile is an accurate representation of how I feel.

If I were to mope around and react grumpily to those around me, I would infect those around me with my grumpiness and have a lousy day.  I don't need any lousy days, so I won't do that.

By the same token, I don't surround myself with grumpy people, naysayers, and those who may try to tell me "for my own good" that I am not going to reach my goals.  I believe in myself, and if others don't believe in me, I'm afraid I can't be around them.  My attitude is too important to my professional and personal success and my physical well-being.

If you have trouble with this, try reading uplifting and motivational books, a chapter each night as you calm down for bedtime, and think about what you read as you go to sleep.  Think about Robert Schuller's motto:  If it's to be, it's up to me.   And realize that you truly are the only one who can control your attitude.  Don't let others govern how you feel about life and yourself.  A positive person will always be more successful, as others want to be around you.

The third ingredient of GAS is SELECTIVITY.

This actually fits very well with the discussion of attitude, as you select those with whom you associate.  Remember your parents warning you not to hang around with the troubled kids or you'd wind up troubled too?  It's the same concept.  If you surround yourself with unmotivated folks, you will have a difficult time keeping yours strong. 

If you watch some television shows, hang with certain people and read certain books and newspapers, you will be convinced that the world is "going to hell in a handbasket" and there is nothing you can do about it.  That is depressing.  Immerse yourself in positive thoughts, surround yourself with positive people, and you will believe that anything is possible, and for you, it just might be!

This is a long post, but is only a small part of how important I feel that these three ingredients are.  They are not the only ones, of course, but Mayfield's use of the GAS acronym inspired me to discuss these three factors.

So, are you putting the right GAS in your tank?

 

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Full time real estate services in Fair Oaks CA, with friendly professionalism, 20+ years experience. I work hard to give my buyer or seller a low-stress transaction. "Happy clients make me happy."

For all your real estate needs or questions, call me at (916) 705-8951 or visit my website at www.SusanNealFineProperties.com.

 Welcome to the Halloween Party!  In your comments, show me that you have brought something fun to the party. 

Got refreshments?  A costume?  A pumpkin?  Decorations? Post it in your comment and have fun!

Via Mike Michaud (North Texas Help-U-Build):

 

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Full time real estate services in Fair Oaks CA, with friendly professionalism, 20+ years experience. I work hard to give my buyer or seller a low-stress transaction. "Happy clients make me happy."

For all your real estate needs or questions, call me at (916) 705-8951 or visit my website at www.SusanNealFineProperties.com.

Here is proof that what you write will allow others to know you.

I know that many of us here on Active Rain blog at least partially to get business.  The more our name is in front of others, the more apt we are to get that call when someone needs our services.  But what do you blog about?

Some have a strictly business-like blog, with every post a meaningful and informational article to inform readers about some aspect of their business.  Others post nothing but commercials about their rpoducts or services.

Some of us have a mixture of these things, along with funny or interesting stories and anecdotes, photos both lovely and funny, and a bit of personal informatoin about our families.  We may share information that we find interesting or educational that has nothing to do with our business. 

I believe that mixing it up can present a well-rounded profile of who you really are as a person, and readers do feel that they get to know you.  Callers I have had who retain my services after reading my blog say that they feel like we are already friends.  They might feel that I will understand a situation they have because they know I have experienced it or have written about another who has the same circumstances.

And some calls are just to discuss something I have written about.  This morning I heard from a very nice lady who called me from New Jersey.  She is a third grade teacher, and when she arrived at school yesterday morning, she found two praying mantises mostly frozen in her school parking lot.  She scooped them up and brought them into her classroom, fashioned a "cage" for them and caught some insects to put in there.  They warmed up and ate everything she fed them and are doing well.  The kids want to keep them as classroom pets, and she agreed.

When a couple of other teachers heard about this, they told her she had to release them into the cold because it was illegal to keep them.  She was distraught and the kids were upset, so what did she do?  She called me and told me the story, and because I had written a post about  a praying mantis in my yard, she asked me whether I thought she could keep them.  She felt I was a nice person from the things I write, and that I might be willing to help her.

I did a little more research, called her back and told her that there are a couple of imported praying mantises that are endangered, but not the native American species.  She was funny, saying they hadn't spoken so she didn't know if they had an accent and were foreign.  Our native mantises are plentiful and are not endangered at all.  She decided that she would keep them and thanked me for making her feel better for rescuing them.

I know this has nothing to do with my being a Realtor, but you just never know who will be reading what you write, so keep that in mind when you write, and make sure your blog does not depict you as something you do not want to be known as.

I have no criticism of the way anyone wants to blog.  We have free expression here, and I have learned from all types and appreciate them all.  I personally just find that I interact with a lot more consumers with my crazy mixed-up blog than when I used to write only about real estate.

Proof that what you write will allow others to know you.

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Full time real estate services in Fair Oaks CA, with friendly professionalism, 20+ years experience. I work hard to give my buyer or seller a low-stress transaction. "Happy clients make me happy."

For all your real estate needs or questions, call me at (916) 705-8951 or visit my website at www.SusanNealFineProperties.com.

Susan Neal
Century 21 Noel David Realty
(916) 705-8951
SusanFNeal@comcast.net

www.SusanNealFineProperties.com

Check out my blogs at http://susanneal.activerain.com and http://localism.com/neighbor/susanneal

Are we headed into a climate change that will escalate through the years?  Many top scientists think that conclusion is inescapable.  One major contributor to the progress of a climate change that could be catastrophic over time is the increase of greenhouse gases that are burning away the ozone layer protecting us from deadly rays.

What can each of us do to slow that catastrophe?  There are many simple things that we can do to reduce the greenhouse gases we emit into the atmosphere.  Some of the easiest and most effective are:

•    Change your lightbulbs to those with the Energy Star.  According to the EPA, changing just 5 bulbs in your home will prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to removing nearly 10 million cars from the road.  And ... you will save money on your energy bills!

•    When buying appliances and other products, look for the Energy Star logo.  There are Energy Star products in more than 50 product categories.  And again ... you will save money.

•    Insulate your home, including ducts in attics and crawlspaces, and seal all air leaks.  Check for drafts around windows and doors, seal ducts that might have gaps.  If you can seal off any drafts, you will use less energy to heat and cool your home.  If you have older windows and using weatherstripping is not enough, you may want to replace you windows with those that are Energy Star qualified.  You can schedule a home energy audit with a professional auditor or conduct your own audit.  This can tell you where you need to focus your efforts.

•    Reduce, reuse and recycle.  You can recycle newspapers, other paper, drink containers and probably other categories of items that you might be discarding.  You can also look for recycled products and/or those in recycled packaging.  Consider repairing products rather than discarding them and buying replacements.  Reducing, reusing, and recycling in your home helps conserve energy and reduces pollution and greenhouse gases from resource extraction, manufacturing, and disposal. 

•    Recycle used electronics because they contain substances that should be disposed of properly, such as lead, mercury, and cadmium. In addition, electronics contain other valuable materials that can be recovered during recycling process (such as glass and plastics). Recovering these materials through recycling, rather than manufacturing new materials, conserves natural resources and avoids the pollution caused by manufacturing virgin materials. Go to Earth 911 to find where to recycle electronics in your community.  In our area a local television station sponsors an electronics cleanup day.  Nothing could be easier - you simply drive up and pop your car trunk open. They will come to your car and take your electronic equipment.  You don't even have to unload it.

•    Clean air filters regularly - a good rule of thumb is to change them at the beginning of air conditioning season and at the beginning of heating season.  Your heating and cooling systems operate more efficiently with clean filters, saving energy.  Your system should also be checked annually and serviced if necessary.  If it becomes necessary to replace your old equipment, choose a high efficiency model.

•    Saving water around the home is simple.  Look for products with EPA's WaterSense label; these products save water and perform as well or better than their less efficient counterparts.  There are also simple actions you can take to save water:  When irrigating your landscape, water only when needed and do it during the coolest part of the day.  Turn the water off while shaving or brushing teeth. Do not use your toilet as a waste basket - water is wasted with each flush.  Repair all toilet and faucet leaks right away.  A leaky toilet can waste 200 gallons of water a day.  You can also find more details on the Fuel Economy Guide Web site.

 Some other places to look for helpful information:

Kids' site about climate, climate change and the greenhouse effect:  http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/kids/index.html

List of Energy Star items you can buy to get a Federal Tax Credit while you help the environment: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=tax_credits.tx_index

Information about home energy audits: 

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=home_improvement.hm_improvement_audits

For more on Blog Action Day:

www.blogactionday.org

There are many other things you can do to reduce greenhouse gases and thereby protect the earth, but those I have listed are simple, inexpensive for the most part, and you can start immeditately.

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Full time real estate services in Fair Oaks CA, with friendly professionalism, 20+ years experience. I work hard to give my buyer or seller a low-stress transaction. "Happy clients make me happy."

For all your real estate needs or questions, call me at (916) 705-8951 or visit my website at www.SusanNealFineProperties.com.