Chance Gates' Blog

Have you ever hear of a little store called “The Proper Fit” located on the corner of S. Virginia and Peckham in the Old Town Mall.   The staff is very knowledgeable about the product; and the owner is a great guy who will actually sit and talk with you for a while.  The product, I found I like the best are the insoles with arch support.  Every pair of shoes I wear now has a pair of those insoles.  My wife who has a job which requires a lot of walking loves the shoes with springs in the soles

As a Reno – Sparks real estate consultant I encourage any question or comments on the Reno – Sparks real estate market or any of the articles I posted here.

I can be reach at  chance at ballard-company.com

Take the Raiders plus 13.5 pts.  The Cowboys have not scored 13 points in the last two weeks.  I know this is the third week in a row that I went against my beloved Cowboys, but if it is working why stop now.

Almost 10 percent of all mortgages on one- to four-unit properties are in some stage of foreclosure, up from 2.65 percent a year ago on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Delinquency Survey released Thursday.

The combined percentage of loans in foreclosure or at least one payment past due was 14.41 percent on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the highest ever recorded in an MBA delinquency survey.

“My prediction is we’ll probably recover on a seasonal basis,” Robert Toll, chairman and CEO of Toll Brothers, the largest builder of luxury houses, said yesterday at a conference in New York sponsored by Citigroup Inc. “It’s generally accepted that the homebuilding industry is off the mat and on the road to recovery.”

Josh Levin, a housing analyst at Citigroup Global Markets Inc. in New York, said he expects sales to continue to be slow until January or early February, followed by a surge as buyers try to beat the April 30 expiration of the tax credit.

Source: Mortgage Bankers Association (11/19/2009) and Bloomberg, Kathleen M. Howley and John Gittelsohn (11/20/2009)

According to, Thomas Grillo in the Boston Herald
The average rate for 15-year mortgages reached a new bottom this week, dipping from 4.40 percent to 4.32 percent—the lowest level since Freddie Mac began tracking rates in 1991.

Rates for 30-year mortgages approached the all-time low of 4.78 percent again last week, falling to 4.83 percent from an average of 4.91 percent a week ago.

Wellesley College economist Karl Case says the Federal Reserve’s efforts to purchase mortgage-backed securities from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is lowering rates on home loans.

Once again, I hate to do it but I’m going against the Cowboys. The Cowboys losing last week makes this a tough pick. The Redskins had a big win over Denver last week and are starting to show some life. As most of you know, I love taking double digits in a big rivalry game. So take the Redskins and the points.

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Understand I’m no psychiatrist only what I learned over the years.   I was talking with a female friend of mine and she started complaining about her spouse.  They had a argument and she says she threatens to move out.  I ask “why would you say that”.

She replied “I wanted to hurt him”.

Again I asked “why”.

“He made me mad” she said (sound familiar).

“Yea, but you love him right” I replied.

She said “Yes”

The conversation went on and we came to my ways of disagreeing with the spouse.  I wished I followed during my first marriage.

1. It’s okay to disagree, however remember you still love each other.
2. Stick to the point.  No need to be hurtful or bring up past mistakes.
3. It’s okay to get mad, but no reason to stay mad for a couple of hours or longer.
4. Always be respectful, this is the person you love

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Man I hate to do this as the Cowboys have been my favorite team since I was knee high to a grasshopper.  However, they are coming off a big win against a division opponent and have a big rivalry game next week against the Redskins.  So the pick this week is the  Pack and the points this is a trap game for the Cowboys.  As a 2nd rate pick also kind of like the Lions+16.5.

I hate it when relatives come to town; all they want to do is gamble.  Having worked in that industry for years, it is not something I care to do.   My mom is the exception to this rule; she comes to Reno to visit the grand kids.  So we head to the arcade at the Grand Sierra Resort.  While walking through the Grand Sierra we notice the movie theater.  It only shows four different movies but one happened to be Harry Potter.  So we figured three dollars to watch Harry Potter why not.  In case you didn’t catch that, the tickets cost three dollars a piece.  We enter the lobby; buy the popcorn and drinks and head to the theater.  Inside the theater they have love seats with tables separating them.  This is the first time I been to the movies and didn’t have a sore rear when the movie was over.    If you’re going to the movies checkout the Grand Sierra and see what they have playing you might be pleasantly surprised.

National Association of REALTORS® Government Affairs Division
500 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington DC, 20001
Congress has extended and expanded the homebuyer tax credit.

When you are getting ready to buy a house and are meeting with the lender. Here is a list of items to bring to save time.

• Address to your place of residence (past two years)
• Social Security numbers
• Names and location of your employers (past two years)
• Gross monthly salary at your current job(s)
• Pertinent information for all checking and savings accounts
• Pertinent information for all open loans
• Complete information for other real estate you own
• Approximate value of all personal property
• Certificate of Eligibility and DD-214 (for veterans only)
• Current check stubs and your W-2 forms (past two years)
• Personal tax returns (past two years), current income statement and business balance sheet for self-employed individuals
In addition be ready to pay for your credit report.