Pacifico
Just recently returned from a week in Mazatlan and happened to switch from Corona to Pacifico while I visited and I do have to say that I enjoyed the clean crisp summer taste of Pacifico far more than Corona. Lately I have been noticing the skunkiness of Corona and the down right nasty bitter beer taste of Heinekin. So it is without much thought that I have switched to Pacifico, what I would call my go to (most frequent and inexpensive) beer.
But… I just want to help.
Ok, I know I am becoming a little bit cynical, but I feel the need to remind my family, friends, clients, and you, that if someone (especially someone you don’t know) offers you help, be sure to ask a few questions. And you might want to start with: what’s in it for them?
More to my point is that there are people being taken advantage of all over this country as we speak. People in trouble. People in REAL trouble. People who didn’t think through the consequences of borrowing money that they might not be able to pay back. People who were told that the real estate market ALWAYS goes up and you can just refinance your loan before it “adjusts” and everything will be fine. Well, when these folks can’t make there new (higher) payment, the bank forecloses. This by the way is a matter of public record in the United States. That’s when the vultures decend. The homeowner is bombarded with calls, leaflets, and knocks on the door from people armed with fraudulent offers of help.
Some of the offers of help are as simple as a promise to help if you pay them some amount of money, generally thousands of dollars (which by the way, if these people had thousands of dollars, they wouldn’t be in default in the first place). Other offers of help are more involved and include deeding that person onto the title of your property, unknowingly. And sometimes you’re deeding yourself off of the title at the same time. They usually allow you to rent back your home but you believe you are still making the mortgage payment, not renting. Then they let you go along until they wish to sell the property, and then you’re kicked out of what you thought was your home.
These scams are on the rise and our law enforcement agencies are overwhelmed. The FBI has 150 agents devoted to mortgage fraud and has formed task forces with local law enforcement agencies in 32 U.S. states to help track the rescue scams.
Property ownership is an integral part of the American Dream. When homeowners face losing that dream and someone says they can help, they jump at the chance.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has a list of certified counseling groups on its website and experts say homeowners should accept help only from certified groups.
So… If you’re in trouble, there is a lot of information on the internet. This will at least help you ask the right questions. But don’t make any decisions or sign any papers until you spoken with a “trusted” advisor.
Wallace…
Chardonnay from the North Coast
You can’t find a better time of the year to bring out the Chardonnays. As the days get longer and the nights warmer, Chardonnay can be both refreshing to sip on as well as enjoyed with an array of summer meals. California Chardonnays are world renowned for their distinct style but are often criticized by wine critics as having way too much overly extracted oak flavors, in other words, an ‘oak bomb.’ Despite this denigration, Chardonnay is still the most widely planted white wine grape in California and thus is the most widely purchased varietal wine in the US wine market today. (www.WineInstitute.org, 2007).
Chardonnay, an indigenous grape to Burgundy in France, can be broadly categorized into two different wine styles – Old world (France, Italy, Spain, Germany, etc.) and New World (California, Australia, Chile, Argentina, etc.). The old world style tends to showcase more subtle aromas with minerally and citrus fruit flavors such as lemon, grapefruit, butter, nuts, with higher acid and a touch of oak. New world wine styles have more prominent aromas and flavors of tropical fruit, apple, butterscotch, vanilla with low acid and a lot of oak. However, don’t just assume that if you are tasting characteristics from an Old World style wine that it is just that, and vice versa. Recently, Old World wine countries are producing more and more wines in the New World style to appeal to a broader range of wine consumers. Interestingly, some New World wine producers, such as California, are also changing their wine styles and are using Old World techniques to create their elegant Chardonnay wines.
So it can be a bit tricky, but no one is expecting you to be a wine expert right? All that is expected of you is to pick out a great tasting wine for your friends and family, and with the help of my wine reviews, I hope that will be the easy part.
The following wines were chosen because they are all characteristic of the distinctive California Chardonnay style. Although these top choices all have been aged in oak barrels, they are very well balanced and exhibit beautifully concentrated fruit flavors. And if you are trying to build up your wine cellar, the structure of the following wines hints that they will age for the next 2-5 years.
2005 Sterling Vineyards Napa Valley Chardonnay, $17.00
This wine is very well balanced and smells of citrus and concord grapes with vanilla, apple, and stone fruit flavors. This full bodied wine, influenced by oak aging, has a beautiful, lingering finish.
www.sterlingvineyards.com
2006 Frei Brothers Russian River Valley Chardonnay, $17.99
A party in your glass! This wine shows aromas of tropical fruit and apricot and honey, butter, vanilla, green apple, citrus fruit, and pear flavors. The acidity and oak lend to this medium to full bodied wine with incredible balance. The flavors stick around in your mouth long after the last drop has been swallowed.
www.freibrothers.com
2004 Simi Russian River Valley Chardonnay, $24.99
Butterscotch, honey and vanilla aromas fill your glass with peach, vanilla, and apricot flavors of medium intensity. The oak adds to the complexity of this well-balanced wine and finishes strong.
www.simiwinery.com
2006 La Crema Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, $15.99
Yummy, intense aromas of buttery popcorn with stone fruit fill your nose and you will discover pear, apple, stone fruit, and vanilla flavors in your mouth. This wine has good body and a pleasantly long finish. A great California Chardonnay all around.
www.lacrema.com
*Please Drink Responsibly
Internet Lenders
Internet lenders. A good thing? A bad thing? Well I guess it may depend on your perspective. If it’s ONLY about pricing, then it doesn’t matter who processes your loan application or who funds your loan. The problem is that there’s a lot of ground to cover between filling out a loan application and getting the loan funded. Internet lenders spend millions of dollars attracting you to their websites and promising you the moon, but not necessarily delivering much of anything… except a loan and only if you fit neatly into their “underwriting box”. You can’t ever have a “real” question because there is no one there to give you a “real” answer. And God forbid you have anything out of the ordinary like a job change/transfer, credit problem, or a divorce. That would take some ‘thinking’ on their part, and it just may not happen. The ‘thinking’ that is. And remember, you’re not paying them to think.
The reason REALTORS put together “teams” and work with one or two (local) lenders is that when one of the many hurdles pop up, we can actually deal with it in a timely manner. We can figure out what the problem is together and come up with a solution (assuming there is one) together. Sometimes there’s a lot of interaction between the buyer/borrower and the lender during the transaction. Sometimes not so much. Part of this depends upon the borrowers level of sophistication. And by that I mean how many loans they’ve applied for and/or received in the past. The more familiar the buyers are with the process, sometimes the more prepared they are to resolve issues before it becomes one.
It’s not a bad idea to know what internet pricing is (and it should be lower, they have no overhead and provide no service) so that when you meet with someone local, you have an idea of what fees might be. But keep in mind, you actually ARE being provided a service and need to pay for it. Let me remind you that working with a lender your REALTOR already has a relationship with is key to a smooth transaction.
Happy house hunting !!!!!!!!
Wallace…
Newcastle brown ale
Clean, refreshing yet full bodied ale with hints of scotch and malt. I love it! Wonderful winter beer goes really well with foods like Oso Buco, Prime Rib, Hamburgers and some really rich dark chocolate cookies! Yum!
Kelly…
