RISMEDIA, September 3, 2010– With the U.S. economy facing the lowest home sale statistics in fifteen years and home values continuing to slide in many regions, it’s not surprising to hear that housing trends point towards a large percentage of American homeowners looking to improve and maximize their existing property investment versus buying a new home. When deciding to undertake a remodeling project however, there are several invaluable tips to keep in mind as you discuss your home make-over with potential contractors.

Through advice and stories shared by both contractors and consumers,  StageofLife.com, a blogging resource for homeowners, discovered 10 important tips on how to find a trustworthy home remodeling contractor to help ensure the right person or company is hired for your next home improvement project.

Tip #1: Does Your Contractor Have Proof of Insurance?
Ask the contractor to have his insurance company mail or fax a copy of his current contractor insurance card to you. If the contractor can’t do this – stay away. Why? If there is an accident at your home, you are then liable. This also applies to any sub-contractor or employee that the contractor may use – those individuals should have active insurance cards faxed or mailed to you as well.

Tip #2: Did You Check References and See Photos?
Ask for at least three references – with two of them being for the same type of project you are planning – and then call the references. Additionally, ask the contractor to provide photos of previous work, especially for the same type of project. If he produces lawn and garden photos and you’re planning a bathroom remodel, you may want to check out another contractor.

Tip #3: Does Your Contractor Take Debit or Credit Cards?
Besides your ability to earn a few points, bonus miles, or cash back on your project, a good sign that a contractor is financially savvy and has a bank behind his business is his ability to take debit and credit cards. This doesn’t just apply to big contracting companies. Many small, one-man shops will take cards if they have a good relationship with their business bank or credit union.

Tip #4: Manners and Appearance?
If the contractor drove his vehicle to your home to give you an estimate, take a look at the way he keeps the equipment and vehicle. Are things clean? Neatly arranged? If not – that’s a big warning. The way a contractor treats his tools is a direct connection to how he’ll treat your home. During the initial meeting, does the contractor present himself in a professional way? Do you feel comfortable around him or his employees? They will be working in your home after all.

Tip #5: Clean Up Policy?
Ask about the clean-up policy. For example, if your home improvement is a multi-day project, will the contractor be cleaning up at the end of every day or will he leave the dust, wood chips, and other mess laying there for day #2? The more mess in your home – the more it gets tracked around. Many homeowners find themselves with mouths gaping wide after the contractor has left for the day and their floors and home are dirty and messy around the project area.

Tip #6: Will the Contractor Put It In Writing?
Is your contractor willing to put both his bid and the scope of work in writing? If not – walk away immediately. You’ll be surprised how many homeowners have been duped by contractors who verbally tell you what’s included in their scope of work, but will then, in the middle of everything, require extra money to finish the remodel, thus holding you hostage with an uncompleted home project.

Tip #7: Availability?
Can the contractor get the job done in your timeline rather than his timeline? There’s nothing more frustrating than if a contractor tells you that a job will be done by a certain date and then it isn’t . On the flip side, if you can’t find a good contractor that’s willing to commit to your timeline, your expectations may be too high and you may need to adjust your timeline.

Tip #8: Does Your Contractor Use “Subs?”
Does your contractor plan on doing everything himself? Or will he “sub out” work to the “trades?” For example, if you are remodeling a bathroom, you may need a plumber, electrician, and carpenter. It’s okay if the contractor subs work out to these specific trades – it shows he wants the work done right.

Also, it’s fair to say that you can expect your contractor to make money off the trades, or other sub-contractors, by marking up those quotes for the project. That is a standard practice to help the general contractor recover costs in the time it takes to manage the schedule. If you don’t want to spend the extra money on your contractor marking up the trade quotes, then you should prepare to project manage the remodel yourself, but know this may limit your options on contractors willing to work with you.

Tip #9: Quoting & Billing Procedure?
Ask the contractor about his quoting procedure. Will it contain general information, or will it be specific? For example – most contractors will charge you for a fuel surcharge, material up-charges, waste removal, labor, etc. Some will show you these exact costs in a line item invoice, but others roll it up into one big bill. How much detail do you want? You should clarify that with your contractor upfront.

Also – what is the payment or billing policy? Is money required upfront? If so, go back to #1 and #2 above to make sure you have the contractor’s references checked and have a copy of his contractor’s insurance.

Tip #10: Did Your Contractor Get the Permits?
Ask your contractor to take care of the permits. Although permits cost you money, the inspection process is meant to protect you from poor workmanship and to make sure that everything is being built to code.

By following these 10 tips for hiring a home contractor, you’ll feel more confident that you’ve found the right contractor for your remodeling job.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog.  Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search house available in the Reno/Sparks and all Northwest Nevada neighborhoods.  I can be reached by email @  chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates

Apple Picking Resource Guide – go Apple picking in Carson City, Nevada!

Want a unique, fun activity for fall in the Carson City, NV area? This is where you can find Carson City area apple picking orchards, apple farms, apple festivals for Carson City and Carson City County, Nevada.

Apples are one of the easiest fruits to gather – even for little hands. Here are a few tips to get the most out of your apple picking experience:

- Apples on the outside of the tree tend to ripen first. Because there are so many varieties, color isn’t necessarily an indication of ripeness. If you’re not sure, ask.
- When going to pick your own apple picking farms, choose firm, bruise-free fruit and place it gently in your basket (just throwing them in will make them bruise and go bad more quickly).
- To increase shelf life, keep your apple haul in a cool, dry place, like a basement. Don’t wash them until you use them. Then bring on the apple pies, sauce and cider!

Some fun Carson City, Nevada Apple Picking facts:
-Apple trees take four to five years to produce their first fruit.
-There really was a Johnny Appleseed, famous for planting apple trees. His real name was John Chapman and he was born in 1774
-There are about 8000 varieties of apples around the world. Only about 100 types of apples are grown commercially in the U.S.
-After you go apple picking, amaze the kids with this trick: when you slice an apple in half, the core resembles a star

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional I encourage any questions or comments or the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted.

Contact me at  chance at ballard-company.com www.myspace/chancegates

By Paige Tepping

RISMEDIA, August 27, 2010–Now that summer is beginning to wind down and cooler weather is on its way, it’s time to get some of the routine home maintenance out of the way before it gets too cold. If you don’t prepare your home in the fall season, and clean up the yard, when spring comes along, you could be left with an unsightly mess. Lisa Udy, a Realtor in Utah offers the following tips to prepare your home for the cold months ahead.

Clean out the rain gutters – If you have rain gutters on your home, fall is the best time to get them cleaned. Cleaning rain gutters isn’t that difficult of a task, it’s just a tedious one. The easiest way to get rid of the junk is to use a high pressure hose, and then use a small trowel to get rid of the rest of the debris. Once you have gotten rid of all the debris, give your gutters a final spray.

Take care of your pots and planters – If you’re like most homeowners, you have some planters or potted plants sitting around the yard. Before it gets too cold, be sure to empty the dirt out of any pots or planters and put them in a place where they won’t freeze. If you don’t empty or store your planters, there’s a good chance they will either crack or fall apart.

Rake the leaves – Keeping your yard free of leaves is an important task for homeowners. If you have numerous trees in your yard and piles of leaves that you don’t take care of, you might find that your grass is dead once spring arrives. Leaves can smother your lawn and replacing a lawn can cost a lot of money, so it’s a good rule of thumb to get rid of the leaves in the fall.

Weed and feed the lawn – The best time to weed and feed the lawn is in the fall. If you add weed killer in the fall, the weeds will store the poison in their roots during the winter season, and will prevent a breakout in the spring. By feeding your lawn with fertilizer in the fall, you are promoting healthy root growth, and this will help your lawn grow greener and faster in the spring.

Give your tools a tune-up – Once you have finished your fall maintenance chores, make sure you clean your tools and store them in a dry place so they will be in working order once spring arrives. Be sure to store metal shovels with the head upwards, as this will help detour rusting when it dries. Sheers need to be oiled up, wheel barrels should be left upside down and don’t forget to spray off the underside of the lawnmower.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog.  Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search house available in the Reno/Sparks and all Northwest Nevada neighborhoods.  I can be reached by email @  chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates

Everything Marilyn does is different from any other woman, strange and exciting, from the way she talks to the way she uses that magnificent torso.

Hell, if I’d jumped on all the dames I’m supposed to have jumped on, I’d have had no time to go fishing.

I’m just a lucky slob from Ohio who happened to be in the right place at the right time.

It’s an extra dividend when you like the girl you’re in love with.

The only reason they come to see me is that I know that life is great, and they know I know it.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog.  You can email me @  chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates

RISMEDIA, August 18, 2010—Realogy Corporation, a global provider of real estate and relocation services, announced that its chief executive officer Richard A. Smith traveled to Washington, D.C., today to participate in the Conference on the Future of Housing Finance. The invitation-only event is being hosted by Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Shaun Donovan.

The conference was designed to provide a forum for public input as the Obama Administration works to develop a comprehensive housing finance reform proposal for delivery to Congress by January 2011. In addition to the panel discussions moderated by Secretaries Geithner and Donovan, the conference included a handful of breakout sessions with a diverse group of experts, including Smith.

“We applaud the Administration’s focus on reforming the housing finance system and for their process of engaging key stakeholders in this ongoing dialogue,” said Smith, who has overseen Realogy’s operations since 1996. “We are proud to participate in this conference to share Realogy’s industry perspective as well as to represent all of the brokers and sales associates who are affiliated with our respective real estate franchise brand networks.”

Smith was invited to share his insights as part of Breakout Session One: “Key Players in a Reformed System: Role of the Private Sector and of Government.” The session was co-moderated by Diana Farrell of The White House, who serves as Deputy Assistant to the President on Economic Policy and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council; Jeffrey Goldstein, Under Secretary for Domestic Finance at Treasury; and Raphael Bostic, Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research at HUD.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog.  You can email me @  chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates

RISMEDIA, August, 18, 2010—(MCT)—With sweeping financial reform legislation enacted, the White House and Congress now must focus on fixing the mess created by the failed housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It’s a complex challenge with high stakes for taxpayers and the struggling real estate market.

On Tuesday, key administration officials conferred with about 200 industry executives, affordable housing advocates and other experts about the role the government should play in the nation’s housing finance system. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner asserted that federal involvement still was needed, but he promised “fundamental change.”

“It is not tenable to leave in place the system we have today,” he said, adding that Fannie and Freddie will change dramatically when they emerge from government control.

Pressure is growing to remake or replace the mortgage leviathans, which were seized by the government in September 2008 after huge losses from subprime mortgages put them on the brink of bankruptcy. The bailout has cost U.S taxpayers nearly $150 billion. But lawmakers must tread carefully to keep from further damaging a housing market that Fannie and Freddie almost solely are supporting. The two companies, along with the Federal Housing Administration, collectively guarantee more than 90 percent of all new U.S. home loans.

“Nobody wants to mess up the mortgage market,” said Douglas Elliott, an economics fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank. “And any transition with Fannie and Freddie is going to be fraught with some risk.”

Tuesday’s event came as the second anniversary of the government seizure of the firms approached, a bailout that left taxpayers as 80 percent owners. The administration faces a January deadline, added by lawmakers to the financial reform legislation, to make recommendations to end the expensive federal conservatorship of the firms.

Congress plans to ratchet up its involvement as well, with House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., saying his committee will begin hearings when members return next month.

That’s not fast enough for many Republicans, signaling another bitter partisan reform fight. They have been pushing the administration for more than a year to address the mounting losses at Fannie and Freddie by getting the government out of the housing finance business.

“It is past time to rid the American taxpayer of the liabilities of these financial institutions once and for all,” Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., said Tuesday as he blasted the Obama administration for continuing the bailouts of Fannie and Freddie begun under President George W. Bush.

But the Obama administration has been moving slowly for fear of further harming the housing market. There was fresh evidence of problems Tuesday as Southern California home sales plunged 21.4 percent in July compared with a year earlier, according to research firm MDA DataQuick of San Diego.

“It’s much more important to get this issue right than to do it fast,” said Michael Berman, chairman-elect of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Shaun Donovan, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development, said the stakes were high not just for the financial system but also for average Americans because of the major investment in their homes.

Donovan said the federal government’s involvement in the housing market needed to be reduced. And Geithner said there was a strong case for a “carefully designed” government mortgage guarantee in the future, a point echoed by panelists at the conference.

There also appeared to be consensus among the participants that any government guarantee needed to be explicit, not murky and implicit like the guarantee that stood behind Fannie and Freddie as private, government-sponsored enterprises before they were seized.

William Gross, managing director of bond fund giant Pimco, said government guarantees were crucial to the housing market, helping keep mortgage rates low.

But there still is major debate about how to structure such a guarantee and what size mortgages it should cover.

“The challenge is to make sure that any government guarantee is priced to cover the risk of losses, and structured to minimize taxpayer exposure,” Geithner said.

Fannie and Freddie were created by Congress and later turned into private, government-sponsored enterprises mandated to expand homeownership with requirements to purchase a set amount of loans made to low- and moderate-income borrowers.

Fannie and Freddie combined hold the credit risk on about $5 trillion in mortgages, and losses from loans made during the housing boom have continued to mount. The Treasury Department has pledged it will cover an unlimited amount of losses through 2012. As of June 30, the department had pumped $144.9 billion into the two companies.

Federal officials have stressed that the losses came from loans purchased before the government seizure and said standards at Fannie and Freddie have tightened significantly since then. And as the housing market has stabilized, the losses at Fannie and Freddie have lessened. Fannie lost $1.2 billion in the second quarter, down from $11.5 billion in the first quarter. Freddie lost $4.7 billion in the second quarter, down from $6.7 billion in the first quarter.

Still, the losses meant the two firms would need an additional $3.3 billion from the Treasury Department, bringing their bailout cost to $148.2 billion.

(c) 2010, Los Angeles Times.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog.  You can email me @  chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates

This is not a local article but shows why proper pricing is so important.  In the Reno/Sparks real estate market for house that cost less the $200,000.00 and are priced correctly will sale in timely manner.

RISMEDIA, August 16, 2010—The number of price-reduced homes on the market increased 5.3% in July 2010 as compared to June, according to a monthly review of MLS-listed properties within 26 of the country’s largest housing markets conducted by the national online real estate brokerage ZipRealty.

Although the number of price-reduced homes increased in July, the median price reduction across the 4,500 cities and communities in 26 markets surveyed slightly declined from June, to $18,949.

“Home buyers this summer have been on the sidelines, waiting to find deals and bargains; so we’re seeing more sellers slashing their list prices to entice these home shoppers to make an offer,” said Leslie Tyler, vice president of marketing for ZipRealty.

Highlights of ZipRealty’s July survey include:

-More than 45% of “for sale” homes included at least one price reduction—an increase of 2.67% compared to June

-”For sale” prices dropped 2.04%—down to a median of $254,987 across the 26 markets surveyed

-In six major metros, more than one out of two home sellers reduced their list price—Jacksonville, Phoenix, Minneapolis, Orlando, Austin and Chicago

-The metro with the highest percentage of price-reduced “for sale” homes continues to be Jacksonville, Fla., where 54% of all July listings had at least one price reduction

-Denver had the lowest percentage of price-reduced homes on the market in July with 32.5%

-Sellers in California housing markets continue to hold steady with prices, compared to other parts of the country; Los Angeles County (39.4%) and the San Francisco Bay Area (40.9%) had the second and third lowest percentage of reduced listings out of all markets surveyed in July

-Buyers in the San Francisco Bay Area again enjoyed the biggest home price discount in absolute dollars, with a median price reduction of $38,000 in July

-Buyers in Houston, Dallas and Raleigh-Durham found the smallest price reductions, with a median price cut of only $10,000 in each of the three markets

-Markets with the largest median price reduction in absolute dollars were: San Francisco ($38,000), Orange County California ($31,000), San Diego ($31,000), Los Angeles ($29,000), Miami/Ft. Lauderdale/Palm Beach ($27,000).

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog.  You can email me @  chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates

Data obtain from the Reno/Sparks Association of Realtors for Area 100, Greater Reno/Sparks

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog.  You can email me @  chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates

For Immediate Release July 27, 2010

RENO, Nev.- Manager Brett Butler and select Reno Aces players will act as celebrity servers for a special dinner at Bugsy’s Sports Bar and Grill on Aug. 11, with all proceeds to benefit the Reno Aces Foundation, the organization announced today.

· Learn more about the
Reno Aces Foundation

Following the Aces’ 1:05 p.m. game on Aug. 11, the ballclub will host a private dinner in the Freight House District beginning at 5 p.m. Butler and several members of the team will serve dinner to participating patrons, in hopes of raising money for the Reno Aces Foundation. Beloved mascot Archie, as well as Aces Ballpark on-field MCs Austin & Tina, will join in on the festivities.

Admission into this special dinner will be just $65. For the price of admission, fans will receive dinner, drinks and a ticket to that day’s game against the Memphis Redbirds.

Dinner will consist of one-half slab of ribs, a plate of nachos, the choice of one of four premium entrees and dessert. All beer and wine will be included in the price of admission, courtesy of New West Distributing and Southern Wine and Spirits.

The event serves as the first major benefit for the newly-launched Reno Aces Foundation. All proceeds-including tips for the Aces celebrity servers-will go to the foundation, which supports youth and family initiatives throughout Northern Nevada.

Fans can RSVP beginning at 10 a.m. on Wednesday by contacting Amanda at (775) 334-7002. Space is limited, and spots are expected to fill-up very quickly.

For more information, visit www.RenoAces.com or call (775) 334-7002.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog.  You can email me @  chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates

FlickrRISMEDIA, August 6, 2010—(MCT)—Bruce Baldwin is well past the “extreme excitement” he felt when he became a first-time homeowner three years ago. In fact, the cabinetmaker has now joined thousands of homeowners who face foreclosure. He says he feels so snake-bit by homeownership that he doubts he’ll ever buy again. “It was the American Dream. Now I could care less if I ever deal with a bank again,” said Baldwin, who lives in Ocoee, Fla., not far from Orlando. “What I went through was an absolute nightmare.”

Values for residential property have dropped nationwide. In the Orlando area, half of all mortgaged homes are worth less than their mortgage debt. What was once seen as an opportunity to build wealth has, in some cases, turned into dead weight.

It’s unclear whether residents’ appetite to own homes can survive the record real estate downturns.

“For 30 months, this has been nothing but a financial anchor,” said Baldwin, who was unable to refinance or permanently modify his $204,000, 12% adjustable rate mortgage after the housing-construction slowdown killed his cabinetry business.

The push to get buyers to purchase homes has played such a central role in the state’s economy that, as recently as 2008, Florida and Hawaii were more reliant on construction and real estate services than any other state in the nation, according to U.S. Department of Commerce data. That economic infusion makes few people willing to publicly question the longtime pursuit of the American Dream.

Few organizations, for instance, have seen the frontlines of foreclosure outfall like Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Central Florida, which recently added CredAbility to its name. Despite seeing families’ finances undone by the mortgage meltdown, CredAbility interim director Richard Schram said homeownership remains essential in the U.S.

“I don’t know if it should be reconsidered,” said Schram, who advocates counseling as part of the home purchase process. “One of the things that has been the hallmark of the American economic system is pride in homeownership. It still drives the economy.”

While the federal government has pushed tax credits to boost home buying during the past 18 months, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development now measures its successes based more on home affordability than ownership.

HUD’s Housing Scorecard released in July touted that “home affordability in the U.S. remains near the most attractive levels in 10 years.”

During the Clinton and Bush administrations, HUD pushed ownership, particularly for minorities. Federal data shows that, at the peak of the market in 2007, Hispanic home buyers in Central Florida got a disproportionately high number of subprime loans and they were more likely than other borrowers to get the highest interest rates on adjustable-rate mortgages.

Sanz said Hispanic buyers who were saddled with those onerous loan terms have been especially hard hit by foreclosures.

At a conference of real estate journalists in Austin in June, Clinton-era HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros said his agency pushed specifically for minorities to purchase homes because “homeownership is the key to middle class. When they own a house with equity, that constitutes wealth.” But, he added, “clearly some people should have never been purchasing homes.” The problem became unscrupulous lenders who sold mortgages to buyers who could not afford them, he added.

Rollins College political-science professor Richard Fogelsong noted that HUD’s push for minority homeownership continued during the Bush era.

Fogelsong is finishing a book about former U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, whose Cuban immigrant story helped launch his ascension from the Orange County Commission to HUD secretary and then the U.S. Senate.

Titled Immigrant Prince: Mel Martinez and the American Dream, the book refers to Martinez’s drive to push minority homeownership at HUD with initiatives that included a traveling bus called American Dream Express. Martinez declined to comment for this story.

“The sad story from the Bush era was that there was a significant increase in homeownership among minorities, but those were the first people to lose their homes,” Fogelsong said.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog.  You can email me @  chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates

(c) 2010, The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.).