Chance Gates' Blog

Alexander Fleming (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have been trying to point out that in our lives chance may have an astonishing influence and, if I may offer advice to the young laboratory worker, it would be this – never to neglect an extraordinary appearance or happening.
Alexander Fleming

It is the lone worker who makes the first advance in a subject; the details may be worked out by a team, but the prime idea is due to enterprise, thought, and perception of an individual.
Alexander Fleming

One sometimes finds what one is not looking for.
Alexander Fleming

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/alexander_fleming.html#urJBIMQPCjAmaJA2.99

Thanks to my friends at Prospect Mtg

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo monthly housing market index rose five points in May to 29. It was the best reading since May 2007. An index reading below 50 indicates negative sentiment about the housing market.

The combined construction of new single-family homes and apartments in April rose 2.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 717,000 units. Single-family starts increased 2.3%. Multifamily starts rose 4.3%. Compared to a year ago, housing starts are up 29.9%. Applications for new building permits, seen as an indicator of future activity, fell 7% to an annual rate of 715,000 units.

Industrial production at the nation’s factories, mines and utilities in April increased 1.1%, the most since December 2010, after a 0.6% decline in March. Compared to a year ago, industrial production is up 5.2%. Capacity utilization in April improved to 79.2%, the highest output since April 2008.

Retail sales rose 0.1% to $408 billion in April. This follows a downwardly revised 0.7% increase in March. On a year-over-year basis, retail sales increased 6.4%.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted composite index of mortgage applications for the week ending May 11 rose 9.2%. Refinancing applications increased 13%. Purchase volume fell 2.4%.

Consumer prices were unchanged in April, following a 0.3% increase in March. Compared to a year ago, consumer prices are up 2.3%.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits for the week ending May 12 were unchanged at 370,000 from the prior week. Continuing claims for the week ending May 5 rose by 18,000 to 3.265 million.

Thanks to my friends at Prospect Mtg

www.almanac.com.

Eclipse Anular (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

May 20, 2012: Annular eclipse of the Sun This rare eclipse will be partially visible from all but eastern North America. For most western locations, the eclipse will begin between 5:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M. PDT. In Alaska and parts of northern Canada, the eclipse will start an hour earlier and end 2 to 3 hours later (or will be interrupted by sunset). In San Francisco, for example, the eclipse will begin at 5:16 P.M. PDT, reach its maximum at 6:33 P.M., and end at 7:30 P.M., with the Sun very low on the horizon.

RENO, Nev. – Tickets for Nevada’s Sept. 1 football season opener at California are on sale now at the Link Piazzo Ticket Office at Legacy Hall.

Tickets are only available to season ticketholders who are current on their payments and can be purchased by calling or visiting the ticket office.

Tickets are $45 each, and season ticketholders can purchase two tickets for every seat in their accounts. All orders received prior to July 1 will be allocated based on Nevada’s Loyalty Points System. No refunds or exchanges will be permitted.

After July 1, any unallocated seats will go on sale to the public on a first come, first serve basis with fans able to purchase a maximum of four tickets per person.

Season tickets are still available in all areas of Mackay Stadium with prices ranging from $85 for general admission to $150 for reserved (some areas require an additional donation to the Pack Educational Fund).

For more information or to purchase tickets, call or visit the Link Piazzo Ticket Office at Legacy Hall at (775) 348-PACK (7225) or go online at NevadaWolfPack.com.

A friend of mine called and said they’re interested in having you do a song for the new Pokemon. All my kids are grown up, so I’d heard of it, but I didn’t really know what it was.
Donna Summer

And I mean, I’m established. So I’m not worried about having a hit at this point in my career.
Donna Summer

And no, having the hits is just more work.
Donna Summer

Because I’m just an ordinary person that did some extraordinary things.
Donna Summer

But I like to know that someone is stronger than I am. I want to be able to know that if I get tired, somebody is there to hold up the fort. I like knowing that I can’t pick a refrigerator alone. God did not make me strong enough to do that.
Donna Summer

The Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for May’s preliminary reading rose to 77.8 from 76.4 at the end of April. It was the highest reading since January 2008.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted composite index of mortgage applications for the week ending May 4 rose 1.7%. Refinancing applications increased 1.3%. Purchase volume rose 3.4%.

The producer price index, which tracks wholesale price inflation, fell 0.2% in April after a flat reading in March. On a year-over-year basis, wholesale prices are up 1.9%, the seventh straight month of slowing year-over-year increases. Core prices — excluding food and fuel — rose 0.2% in April.

Wholesalers increased their inventories 0.3% to $480.4 billion in March, the slowest pace in four months. Sales at the wholesale level rose 0.5% to $411.1 billion in March. On a year-over-year basis, sales were 6.5% higher since March 2011.

The trade deficit increased to $51.8 billion in March from a revised $45.4 billion in February. Exports rose 2.9% to $186.8 billion in March. Imports rose 5.2% to $238.6 billion in March.

Import prices fell 0.5% in April, following a 1.5% increase in March. On a year-over-year basis, import prices are up 0.5%. Export prices rose 0.4% in April after a 0.8% increase in March. On a year-over-year basis, import prices are up 0.7%.

Thanks to my friends at Prospect Mtg

RENO, Nev. – The annual Wolf Pack Caravans return later this month as the Wolf Pack rolls into Carson City on May 16th at Carson City Toyota Scion.

The event, which begins at 5:30 p.m., is headlined by Nevada’s Hall of Fame coach Chris Ault, who will discuss how the team is evolving offensively and defensively and who will emerge for the 2012 season in the new era of the Mountain West.

The annual Coaches Caravan will stop in Carson City and Reno this year. The event is free but an RSVP is required (by May 14) to Holly Aycock at 775-682-6961 or holly@unr.edu.

Wolf Pack Caravans

Carson City Caravan
Wednesday, May 16th 5:30 PM-7:30 PM
Carson City Toyota Scion

Reno Caravan
Thursday, May 17th 5:00 PM-7:00 PM
Legacy Hall on the University of Nevada Campus

Nevada Wolf Pack Athletics

As a Reno/Sparks Nevada real estate agent and property manager, 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 the houses available in the Reno/Sparks and most Northwest Nevada neighborhoods. I can be reached by email @ chance@ballard-company.com http://www.myspace.com/chancegates .  You can also follow me at http://www.twitter.com/chancegates .  To checkout some of  my property manager services goto http://chancegates.com/property-management-services/

If you are behind on your house payment and looking for a loan modification, go to making homes affordable

If the modification fails, contact your local real estate agent to help short sale your home.  To make sure there is no deficiency judgment a homeowner might find it necessary to hire an attorney.

cnbc.com

If a borrower  qualifies he  can get as much as $150,000 knocked off the  principal.  In order to qualify as of January 31,2012 a homeowner must of been behind by 60 days.  the homeowner must be up side down on their loan.

In order to qualify for the modification, the borrower must answer the letter with full documentation of income, showing that under the terms of the modification they can still make the monthly payment. A borrower with no income would therefore not qualify. A borrower’s current monthly payment must be more than 25 percent of gross income, and the borrower must show they are unable to afford that.

“If you can afford to make your monthly payment and are choosing not to, you will not get this principal modification,” says Sturzengger.

As a Reno/Sparks Nevada real estate professional and property manager, 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 the houses available in the Reno/Sparks and most Northwest Nevada neighborhoods. I can be reached by email @ chance@ballard-company.com http://www.myspace.com/chancegates .  You can also follow me at http://www.twitter.com/chancegates .  To checkout some of  my property manager services goto http://chancegates.com/property-management-services/

If you are behind on your house payment and looking for a loan modification, go to making homes affordable

If the modification fails, contact your local real estate agent to help short sale your home.  To make sure there is no deficiency judgment a homeowner might find it necessary to hire an attorney.

Logo of the National Association of Realtors. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Information about NAR is available at www.realtor.org.

Pending home sales increased in March and are well above a year ago, another signal the housing market is recovering, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, rose 4.1 percent to 101.4 in March from an upwardly revised 97.4 in February and is 12.8 percent above March 2011 when it was 89.9.  The data reflects contracts but not closings.

The index is now at the highest level since April 2010 when it reached 111.3.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said 2012 is expected to be a year of recovery for housing.  “First quarter sales closings were the highest first quarter sales in five years.  The latest contract signing activity suggests the second quarter will be equally good,” he said.

“The housing market has clearly turned the corner.  Rising sales are bringing down inventory and creating much more balanced conditions around the county, which means home prices will be rising in more areas as the year progresses,” Yun said.

The PHSI in the Northeast slipped 0.8 percent to 78.2 in March but is 21.1 percent above March 2011.  In the Midwest the index declined 0.9 percent to 93.3 but is 16.9 percent higher than a year ago.  Pending home sales in the South rose 5.9 percent to an index of 114.1 in March and are 10.6 percent above March 2011.  In the West the index increased 8.7 percent in March to 108.0 and is 9.0 percent above a year ago.

The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

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*The Pending Home Sales Index is a leading indicator for the housing sector, based on pending sales of existing homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing.

The index is based on a large national sample, typically representing about 20 percent of transactions for existing-home sales.  In developing the model for the index, it was demonstrated that the level of monthly sales-contract activity parallels the level of closed existing-home sales in the following two months.

An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001, which was the first year to be examined as well as the first of five consecutive record years for existing-home sales; it coincides with a level that is historically healthy.

NOTE: Existing-home sales for April will be reported May 22, the next Pending Home Sales Index will be released May 30 and first quarter metro area home prices will be released May 9; release times are 10:00 a.m. EDT.