Chance Gates' Blog

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

DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT/TIME	RECORD/TICKETS
Thu, Sept 2	vs Eastern Washington	9:05 PM ET	Tickets
Sat, Sept 11	vs Colorado State	10:30 PM ET	Tickets
Fri, Sept 17	vs California	10:00 PM ET	Tickets
Sat, Sept 25	@ Brigham Young	6:00 PM ET	Tickets
Sat, Oct 2	@ UNLV	10:00 PM ET	Tickets
Sat, Oct 9	vs San Jose State	TBD	Tickets
Sat, Oct 16	@ Hawaii	11:30 PM ET	Tickets
Sat, Oct 30	vs Utah State	TBD	Tickets
Sat, Nov 6	@ Idaho	5:00 PM ET	Tickets
Sat, Nov 13	@ Fresno State	10:00 PM ET	Tickets
Sat, Nov 20	vs New Mexico State	4:05 PM ET	Tickets
Fri, Nov 26	vs #3 Boise State	10:15 PM ET	Tickets
Sat, Dec 4	@ Louisiana Tech	3:00 PM ET	Tickets

So how do you think the Pack will do this year?

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

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RISMEDIA, August 25, 2010–Consumers with strong financial knowledge begin saving earlier and are more confident in their everyday financial tasks, according to the TD Bank Financial Literacy Poll released by TD Bank.

Education at an early age is key to achieving financial confidence. Many consumers doubt their financial skills and believe they were not taught enough at a young age and feel saving money is difficult. TD Bank surveyed 2,160 consumers to better understand the financial literacy and attitudes of consumers in the Northeast, Florida and Mid-Atlantic.

“The poll reveals that it is imperative for parents to act as the primary role model to their children if they want financially successful children,” says Suzanne Poole, executive vice president, retail sales strategy and distribution, TD Bank. “Starting financial literacy lessons early results in adults who are more confident in their money decisions, are more financially literate and are more skilled at saving money.”

Who is Your Financial Role Model?
Although this is not an easy question to answer, more than one-quarter of consumers struggled to identify any financial role models. The poll also revealed the primary sources for financial information and help in managing finances. Forty percent of consumers in the Northeast and 38% in the Washington, D.C. region turn to family members for financial advice; while Warren Buffet and famous financiers often edge ahead of financial advisors. In fact, only about one-quarter of the consumers surveyed have a financial advisor or financial planner.

Consumers with “good” financial literacy started learning about money slightly earlier than the average consumer, but only one-half of consumers started learning or having conversations about money under the age of 18. From those who did start learning about savings at a young age, 77% of New Englanders, 80% of Mid-Atlantic residents and 78% of Floridians say they learned from their parents.

Financial firsts are important to financial literacy confidence and education. Although most polled, about 70%, can remember opening their first bank account, only half can remember their first deposit or investment. However, those with “good” financial literacy, about 57%, could recall their first deposit amount.

“TD Bank believes it is important to not only start having financial conversations at a young age, but to also make those first financial experiences memorable,” said Poole. “More than 22 years ago, we created the WOW!Zone, a free, financial literacy program to help children ages 5-18 develop strong financial skills, in school and online. It is a great tool for parents to use to make learning about money fun!”

Responsibility and budgeting are taking a more prominent place at the dinner table today than when parents were younger. Sixty-two percent of parents versus 77% of children today learned about the importance of money. About 75% of parents are teaching their children about financial responsibility as well as saving, budgeting, the value of money, credit cards, etc., while only about 15% of parents were taught about investments and only about 20% learned how to use a credit card.

Poole added, “Today’s children are not learning about money that differently than their parents did. Parents today are taking primary responsibility in financial education. Parents should ask themselves if they are the financial role model they need to be. Starting young is not the only key to success. We found that the topics parents talk about and creating memorable financial moments matter, too.”

Other key findings from the survey include:

• About 94% of those polled with “poor” financial literacy skills wished saving money wasn’t so hard versus 65% with “good” skills.
• About 40% of consumers in New England, the Mid-Atlantic and Florida with “poor” financial literacy skills are confident in making financial decisions versus 93% with “good” skills.
• About 81% of those surveyed wished they would have started saving earlier, and about 55% of them were definitely not taught when young.
• 71% of consumers in the New England, Mid-Atlantic and Florida regions are confident in their understanding of everyday financial tasks such as paying bills on time, followed by balancing their checkbook.

The majority of consumers in the New England, Mid-Atlantic and Florida regions are either extremely confident or very confident in financially preparing their children; consumers responded that responsibility, saving money and budgeting money are the most important topics to teach children today.

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. I have free access to the MLS and you can email me @  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

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• Bank of America Permanent HAMP Modifications Increase 5.9% in July  housingwire.com)

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

How sweet it is!

I only made $200 a week and I had to buy my own bullets.

If you have it and you know you have it, then you have it. If you have it and don’t know you have it, you don’t have it. If you don’t have it but you think you have it, then you have it.

Our dreams are firsthand creations, rather than residues of waking life. We have the capacity for infinite creativity; at least while dreaming, we partake of the power of the Spirit, the infinite Godhead that creates the cosmos.

The second day of a diet is always easier than the first. By the second day you’re off it.

Thin people are beautiful, but fat people are adorable.

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

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• 3 reviews of Jackie Gleason  rateitall.com)

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

RISMEDIA, August 13, 2010—Through the existing Housing Finance Agency (HFA) Innovation Fund for the Hardest Hit Housing Markets (the Hardest Hit Fund), the U.S. Department of the Treasury will make $2 billion of additional assistance available for HFA programs for homeowners struggling to make their mortgage payments due to unemployment. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will soon launch a complementary $1 billion Emergency Homeowners Loan Program to provide assistance—for up to 24 months—to homeowners who are at risk of foreclosure and have experienced a substantial reduction in income due to involuntary unemployment, underemployment, or a medical condition.

“We remain committed to helping struggling homeowners, and this program will provide additional assistance to states hit hardest by unemployment,” said Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability Herb Allison. “This is part of the Administration’s comprehensive housing policy that has helped to stabilize a fragile housing market and allows responsible homeowners the chance to reduce their monthly mortgage payments to affordable levels.”

“HUD’s new Emergency Homeowner Loan Program will build on Treasury’s Hardest Hit initiative by targeting assistance to struggling unemployed homeowners in other hard hit areas to help them avoid preventable foreclosures,” said Bill Apgar, HUD senior advisor for Mortgage Finance. “Together, these initiatives represent a combined $3 billion investment that will ultimately impact a broad group of struggling borrowers across the country and in doing so further contribute to the Administration’s efforts to stabilize housing markets and communities across the country.”

Hardest Hit Fund
President Obama first announced the Hardest Hit Fund in February 2010 to allow states hit hard by the economic downturn flexibility in determining how to design and implement programs to meet the local challenges homeowners in their state are facing.

Under the additional assistance, states eligible to receive support have all experienced an unemployment rate at or above the national average over the past 12 months. Each state will use the funds for targeted unemployment programs that provide temporary assistance to eligible homeowners to help them pay their mortgage while they seek re-employment, additional employment or undertake job training.

States that have already benefited from previously announced assistance under the Hardest Hit Fund may use these additional resources to support the unemployment programs previously approved by Treasury or they may opt to implement a new unemployment program. States that do not currently have Hardest Hit Fund unemployment programs must submit proposals to Treasury by September 1, 2010 that, within established guidelines, meet the distinct needs of their state.

The states eligible to receive funds through this additional assistance, along with allocations based on their population sizes include:

Alabama – $60,672,471
California – $476,257,070
Florida – $238,864,755
Georgia – $126,650,987
Illinois – $166,352,726
Indiana – $82,762,859
Kentucky – $55,588,050
Michigan – $128,461,559
Mississippi – $38,036,950
Nevada – $34,056,581
New Jersey – $112,200,638
North Carolina – $120,874,221
Ohio – $148,728,864
Oregon – $49,294,215
Rhode Island – $13,570,770
South Carolina – $58,772,347
Tennessee – $81,128,260
Washington, D.C. – $7,726,678

HUD Emergency Homeowners Loan Program
This new program will complement Treasury’s Hardest Hit Fund by providing assistance to homeowners in hard hit local areas that may not be included in the hardest hit target states. These areas are still being determined.

The program will work through a variety of state and non-profit entities and will offer a declining balance, deferred payment “bridge loan” (zero percent interest, non-recourse, subordinate loan) for up to $50,000 to assist eligible borrowers with payments on their mortgage principal, interest, mortgage insurance, taxes and hazard insurance for up to 24 months.

Under the program, eligible borrowers must:

1. Be at least three months delinquent in their payments and have a reasonable likelihood of being able to resume repayment of their mortgage payments and related housing expenses within two years;

2. Have a mortgage property that is the principal residence of the borrower, and eligible borrowers may not own a second home;

3. Demonstrate a good payment record prior to the event that produced the reduction of income.

HUD will announce additional details, including the targeted communities and other program specifics when the program is officially launched in the coming weeks.

For more information, visit www.hud.gov.

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