Shredded Bark: Poor choice for curb appeal

You just spend a small fortune remodeling your home or an investment property. You've spent months, years working on the detail, the plans, the execution and the work. Magnificent work. Then, you come in and finsh off the landscaping, the curb appeal, the last final touch...with shredded bark. Folks, shredded bark looks like hell. It mats up, it turns brown, it pulls back and it's just looks cheap. It's a tool that people use to quickly gloss over a yard when selling something that hasn't been maintained. I'd recommend: Don't go cheap at the last second. Plan to finish with class to really make your home "Pop." Planted ground cover, pea gravel, river rock and at least "medium" bark adds a dimention of character, broader appeal and VALUE. American Soil Products in San Rafael has an inexpensive range of soil and rock. Also, a brief consultation with a landscape architect will be worth the investment. Put a nice cherry on the cake of your home.

SubPrime market crashes

Yikes! Big time. This morning, the entire world is watching to see what happens with Sub-Prime lender NEW CENTURY. Last week Fremont Bank crashed and burned. "Conduit" lenders like Greenpoint Mortgage, ResCap and Paul Financial have recently pulled back their loan programs, especially their No Money Down 100% Financing offers. "Conduit" lenders typically sell their loans in the secondary market on Wall Street. They facilitate the mortgage agreements and package up loans to sell to investors. Today, we're seeing the beginning of what will be a new era of real estate subprime loans that will ripple throught the entire banking industry in terms of paperwork compliance, accountability, product offering and creative financing. There are still lenders offering 100% loans, but guidelines are tighter; credit scores, income verification, the whole package. The effect of lack of policing in real estate financing: This is going to hurt.

JUST SOLD!

Looking for real estate fixer opportunities? Folk, I've been telling you that they're out there, how to do it: Pearls, I'm giving you Pearls here. Since shouting at the wind hasn't worked, I've gone ahead and set the pace by buying my newest fixer project. This one will move fast. If you're interested, I'll tell you how to do it, and I'd even invite you over to work on it with me if you're in the Central San Rafael area in the next 60 days. After that, keep an eye out for it coming back onto the market as a beautifully restored single family home. Keep your eyes here for progress updates. This is going to be fun.