8/26/2014

Search for your New Home


A soaking tub in your new home












Search the Southern California Multiple Listing Service MLS from your smart
phone or desktop free
http://hbsr.homescouting.com/myapp/54b9393c-a2cb-437e-a2d7-1784249a2081

I offer this application for free. You can shop during the day or night. You can look up the value of your own home. Search for comparable sales in your neighborhood. It will tell you all the open houses near to you on any given day. It links to the Multiple Listing Service directly. When a Realtor uploads a new listing, it is live and available for you to view. A helpful way to search for a home from your smart phone, car, apartment desktop. To sign on you will need my secret code. The secret code is my phone number with no dots, no dashes, no parenthesis... 9496378190 Once you sign in then you will set up your own personal user name and password. Feel free to look at properties as often or as little as you may need. Shop for a friend, share it, be my guest.

When you need a mortgage or home loan just remember me and that I gave you this free Birthday present. Any questions my friends? Please feel free to call me. I am here to help.



Bath tub Bathroom remodel

http://eaglehomemortgage.com/carolinegerardo/

NMLS 324982

8/25/2014

John McLaughlin painting

...
John MCLAUGHLIN oil on canvas paintng

John Dwyer McLaughlin (May 21, 1898 – March 22, 1976) was an American abstract painter. Based primarily in California, he was a pioneer in minimalism and hard edge painting.
He lived in Dana Point California about two blocks from my house. My father met him in 1969, they had mutual roots in Sharon Massachusetts. I own four paintings of his work, two drawings and some letters This painting is in excellent to perfect condition which is unusual for his work. John sometimes used house paint, and acrylic over oil that crackled on purpose.
John McLaughlin painting

8/21/2014

Plan Before You Buy A Home


Plan before you buy a home.
When purchasing a home plan for the next ten years. Most homeowners only stay seven years, but the older you are the longer you will stay statistics show. 

Two people close to me: my mother and prior business partner Bill Broza both suffered from strokes in the past years. They have similar dilemmas. My mother owns a two story house in  Laguna Niguel with no downstairs bedroom and only a powder room on the first floor. Bill also lives in Laguna Niguel in a Spanish style two story with only a tiny powder room on the first floor.

A house can be adapted. We reviewed adding a stair lift or elevator but both are costly and unsightly. A stair lift is a motorized rail and chair that attaches to existing stairways. I was concerned that my Mom could easily fall off the lift and be stranded on the stairs perhaps for hours. I looked into adapting each house by adding a elevator. Cost to construct this was about thirty thousand dollars, and because it would change the functionality of the homes and elevator might bring the value down.
Other possible remodeling such as enlarging the downstairs bathroom to add a stand up tub can cost between ten and thirty thousand dollars. Adding a funky bath is not going to help her when she does choose to sell her home.

My mom is set on staying in her home. The cost of care layered with remodeling is prohibitive. Temporarily last year she lived with me.

My point is: for example you are a young couple who may have children in the coming years. Look to what future the subject property may need to be changed to fit the lifestyle.

When the downturn occurred many homeowners could not easily sell their home and make changes. They owed on mortgage loans larger than the value of the home. Life always holds surprises ahead. Planning for them makes it easy when they occur.



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Cute bath just outdated