Earl's Blog

If you are like me, I love to read quote from famous people, and see how they thought and what they believed.  I just got this emailed to me.  It is a little movie on famous quotes.  Through life others have had a large influence on us, and we, even though we may not believe it, have great influence on others.  We need to make sure what we say and how we think.  Our thoughts will determine our actions.  If all we talk about it how bad the market is, or the economy is, or we talk about how hard it is to make a living now, guess what, you're right.  However, if you go about believeing and knowing  that we will have success, we will.  Check out this little movie.  I think you will like it.  Peace

http://www.greatquotesmovie.com/

Gold In Them Thar Hills (of Rosamond, Ca) 2-21-08

The Tropico Mine, in Rosamond, Ca, which has been closed for close to 18 years, may resume gold milling operations again.

The members of the Burton family has owned the mine for over 80 years. They have applied for permits to start milling ore, from another mine, owned by Cliff Burton Jr. Glen Settle, part owner of Tropico Mine says, The price of gold is way up. It's up over $900 an ounce."

This gold ore would come from the Cactus mine, along Backus Rd. The application process has taken about 2 years, so far, according to Burton. He said, "The big hold up is the water quality board."

According to Burton, mining operations at the Tropico mine probably started around 1910. In the 1920's Clifford and Cecil Burton bought it and mined it until 1956. From 1958 until the 1980's, Glen Settle and his wife, Dorene, operated the mine as a tourist attraction. Dorene is daughter of Clifford Burton Sr.

In 1986, Edco Mining leased the mine and reopened it. But then the mine closed again in 1990.

Cliff Burton bought the Cactus mine in 1947 and then leased it to another company in the 1980's. It is a pit mine, but they found high-grade ore 600-800 ft down.

The increase in the gold price has made other miners restart operations, one of these is the Silver Queen mine, between Mojave and Rosamond.

How do you write and attractive offer? 2-21-08

You can never be guaranteed that your offer is just right to the seller. There are a few reasons for this. Yes, there is a high inventory of homes on the market, but not all sellers are motivated the same.

Some seller are interested in selling, but since they don't have to sell, they will wait to get their price. Some of these will even rent out the home and wait for the market to turn. These sellers are often not open to real negotiations or reducing price.

Some sellers are more motivated; they have to sell. Some could be moving for personal reasons, downsizing, upsizing, transfer, family hardship, financial hardship, etc...Some have bought another home and now have two mortgages. These are more open to negotiation.

The condition of the local market will affect price, also. Not all neighborhoods, areas, cities, counties, or states, are affected the same. You can not look at a home in one area and expect it to be worth the same in another.

You will need to put on your investigators hat, and check out the local market, before deciding how much to offer. Find out all you can about the most recent sales in the neighborhood. (Right now you see allot of homes that are listed really low. Make sure if they are short sales. These, usually, haven't had the prices okayed by the lender, so they may not accept the low price when it comes down to an offer). Your Realtor can do a comparative market analysis to see what has been happening in the area.

Have your agent see if the owner may be willing to work with you. Find out the motivation for selling. See if they are flexible in the selling price. Try to have your agent present the offer in person. This can give your agent a better sense of what it will take to come to a quicker win, win for you and the seller.

Your first offer can pave way for other negotiations. Low offers may simply be rejected immediately. You can wait a little bit, and slightly raise the price offer to show them you are serious.

Some sellers counter all offers, even if close to list price, so you may want to offer a little less then you are willing to pay, so that you can increase your offer, when the seller counters. But, if you are competing with others, you may not want to do this, otherwise you may lose the house. If you are competing, you must make your first offer good enough for them to take you serious. Always, be pre-approved when making an offer. This can make you look better to the seller, than someone who is just offering more than you. Your Realtor can make sure you have all your "duck in a row." The market is getting busy again, so the time to act is now!

Refinancing is a little harder now. 2-21-08

According to the Mortgage Banker Association, refinance applications rose during the first week of 2008. Lower interest rates on 30 year fixed-rate mortgages stayed below 6% on the average, and are still there, causing allot of this.

Most past buyers decided to do adjustable rate mortgages the last few years, instead of the fixed rate loans. Most of those has a fixed rate for 2-5 years, which was below the market rate. At the end of the fixed rate term, the interest rate would be reset to a new rate, and would then become adjustable, with rates and payments the would fluctuate for the rest of the loan. This year, a lot of these loans are due to start adjusting. 2008 should be a big year of people trying to refinance.

Don't wait to refinance, if you have been thinking about it and waiting for the interest rate to bottom out. You may need more time for the banks to approve a new loan, due to prices, banks going out of business, credit problems, etc.. This could make it more difficult to refinance now than last year.

Some people qualified for loans with stated income. It is much harder to find and qualify for these loans now. Refinancing, over purchasing, is harder to qualify. Lenders are just really trying to make sure that there are no problems in the future. Lenders are being very cautious now about leading in depreciating areas. These lenders want more money upfront and will loan a lower percentage of the value of the home.

People with good credit and the required money down, shouldn't have much problem getting refi'd. It is those with no money down, or some bad things on the credit, or need over $417,000, that may have some problems. The easy qualifications that got people into their homes, the last few years, have all dried up. Homes aren't appraising for what they were. Homes, in a lot of cases, aren't worth what is owed.

You do have options, in this case. Talk to the lender and find out if you can negotiate an interest-rate modification, so your payments don't jump up drastically when your rate resets. Maybe they can flip your loan into a conventional one. But, don't put off talking to them, until it is to late. It you don't need to refinance and can afford your monthly outgo, hold on and forgo refinancing until market conditions come back up. Whatever you do, look at all your options, before you sign.

If you have any questions, please contact me.

Earl "The Pearl" Sorrells

661-400-9485

Coldwell Banker Hartwig 43912 20^th St W Lancater, Ca 93534661-948-8424

Check out this short movie.  It is pretty cool.  If you are a leader, want to be one, or on a team, or trying to lead yourself, than this movie is for you.  If you need a little inspiration and motivation, than check this one out.  After you look at it, send it on to someone else.  I think you will be glad you did.  Enjoy all you current and future leader of American business, and the rest of us. 

http://www.noglassceilingmovie.com/

 My wife sent this to me, so I thoght I had to share it.  Enjoy.

When I was a baby, someone had given me a little 'tea set' as a gift and it was one of my
-favorite toys. Daddy was in the living room engrossed in the evening news when I
-brought Daddy a little cup of 'tea,' which was just water. After several cups of
-tea and lots of praise for such yummy tea, my Mom came home. My Dad made her
-wait in the living room to watch his little princess bring him a cup of tea,
-because it was, "just the cutest thing!" My Mom waited, and sure enough, here I
-come down the hall with a cup of tea for Daddy and she watches him drink it up,
-then says, "Did it ever occur to you that the only place that baby can reach to
-get water is the toilet???"  

Have no fear of change as such and, on the other hand, no liking for it merely for its own sake. Robert Moses

"Most people live in a very restricted circle of the potential of their being. They make use of a very small portion of their possible consciousness, and of their souls resources in general. Much like a man who, out of his whole bodily organism, should get into a habit of using and moving only his little finger."
- William James

We have committed the Golden Rule to memory. Let us now commit it to life.
-- Edwin Markham

Are you willing to be sponged out, erased, canceled, made nothing? Dipped into oblivion? If not, you will never really change."
- D.H. Lawrence

If you want to make life easy, make it hard. Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

It is time for us all to stand and cheer for the doer, the achiever -- the one who recognizes the challenge and does something about it. 
-- Vince Lombardi

But I know somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

When you wake up, seek the courage and strength to do the right thing.  Decide that this will be another day in which you...Walk The Talk.  Erci Harvey and Steve Ventura.

There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love; there's only scarcity of resolve to make it happen. Wayne Dyer

I think we all have a little voice inside us that will guide us... if we shut out all the noise and clutter from our lives
and listen to that voice, it will tell us the right thing to do.
-- Christopher Reeve

The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind. William James

Words to live by are just words... unless you actually live by them.
-- Eric Harvey and Steve Ventura

Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning. Winston Churchill

The expectations of life depend upon diligence; the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools. Confucius

Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless. Thomas Edison

Goals are for the future; values are for now. Goals are set; values are lived. Goals change; values are rocks that you can count on. -- Sheldon Bowles

To yield to 'seeming' is mans essential cowardice, to resist it is his essential courage."
- Martin Buber

Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant. Horace

You never know when a moment and a few sincere words can have an impact on a life.
-- Zig Ziglar

A man should never be ashamed to own that he is wrong, which is but saying in other words that he is wiser today than he was yesterday. Alexander Pope

Why does the thrill of soaring have to begin with the fear of falling?
-- Mother Eagle

The deepest need of man is to overcome his separateness, To leave the prison of his aloneness. The absolute failure to achieve this means insanity."
- Eric Fromm

Activity and sadness are incompatible. Christian Bovee

The road to success is not always a road.
-- Mac Anderson

The root of all conflict between me and my fellow man is that I do not say what I mean, and I do not mean what I say."
- Martin Buber

INGREDIENTS:

• Crust:
• 1 ¼ cup almond meal
• 2 Tablespoons butter, melted
• 3 Tablespoons sugar equivalent in artificial sweetener
• Filling:
• 1 ½ lbs (3 packages) cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 ¼ cups sugar equivalent in artificial sweetener (preferably liquid, see below)
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• ¼ cup lemon juice (fresh is best)
• 1 Tablespoon lemon zest
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• Topping:
• 1 cup sour cream
• Juice and zest from 1 medium lemon (about 2 Tablespoons juice and 1 Tablespoon zest)
• ¼ cup sugar equivalent in artificial sweetener (powdered erythritol or liquid sweetener preferred)
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

PREPARATION:

Heat oven to 375 F.

Prepare a springform pan. I like to put a piece of parchment paper over the bottom of the pan; no need to cut it to size, just snap it into place when you tighten the sides of the pan. Butter the sides and bottom of the pan, including parchment. Wrap the outside of the pan in heavy-duty foil to protect it from leaks.

Combine ingredients for crust. Press the mixture into the bottom of your springform pan. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until fragrant and beginning to brown. Remove from oven.

Lower oven temperature to 350 F.

Gather ingredients for the filling. Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Scrape sides of bowl and beaters. (The mixture will gradually become lighter as you add in the rest of the ingredients, and the denser stuff will cling to the bowl. If you don't scrape, you won't be able to incorporate the remaining ingredients as well.)

Add sweetener, vanilla, salt, and 2 of the eggs. Beat well, scrape.

Add the other 2 eggs. Beat well, scrape.

Add lemon juice, lemon zest, and cream. Beat well, scrape, and pour filling mixture into the pan over the crust.

In another bowl, mix together ingredients for topping and set aside.

Place a baking pan large enough to hold your springform pan into the oven and fill it halfway with boiling water. Place the springform pan into the baking pan and bake for about 60 minutes (give or take 10 to 15 minutes), until the cheesecake is mostly set but is still wobbly in the middle.

Remove cheesecake from oven, spread the topping over the cheesecake, then bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Cool to room temperature (1 to 2 hours), then chill completely for several hours before serving.

Nutritional Information: Each of 16 servings has 3 grams effective carbohydrate plus 1 gram fiber, 7 grams protein, and 295 calories.