Read this all the way through and let me know what you think!

House #1 A 20-room mansion ( not including 8 bathrooms ) heated by natural gas. Add on a pool ( and a pool house) and a separate guest house, all heated by gas. In one month this residence consumes more energy than the average American household does in a year. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2400. per month. In natural gas alone, this property co nsumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. This house is not situated in a Northern or Midwestern "snow belt" area. It's in the South.

House #2 Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university. This house incorporates every "green" feature current home construction can provide. The house is 4,000 square feet ( 4 bedrooms ) and is nestled on a high prairie in the American southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat-pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground.

 
The water (usually 67 degrees F.) heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summe r. The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas and it consumes one-quarter the electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000-gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the hou se. Surrounding flowers and shrubs native to the area enable the property to blend into the surrounding rural landscape.

Now, for the clincher:

HOUSE #1 is outside of Nashville , Tennessee ; it is the abode of the "environmentalist" Al Gore.

HOUSE #2 is on a ranch near Crawford ,Texas; is the residence of the President of the United States,
George W. Bush.

Is this an "inconvenient truth?"

You can verify it at:http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/house.asp

FNMA announced today that it's raising its Loan to Value (LTV) limits.  This means that home buyers can put a lot less money down to buy their dream home. 

It all sounds great, right?  Fabulous news!

NOT Really!

Well it's not as it seems just like all the other announcements that have been made recently.  FNMA is trying hard, but we need to look at other factors.

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Thank you CRISNET MLS for reading my post Pictures are Worth a Thousand Words and a Fast Sale!  Well... I can't really prove that my post was a catalyst :-) , but as of May 13th, CRISNET MLS implemented the following rule:

Important MLS Rule Change

New MLS Rule Regarding Photo with Listing Submission:

Each residential* listing in the MLS shall have at least one photo, to be submitted within five business days of the listing submission.
Failure to comply will result in an assessment per the MLS Rules Assessment Fee Schedule.

*Residential includes residential income, rental, mobile home, single family and condominiums.

Good for CRISNET!  Maybe next time, they will have a minimum of 5 or 6 photos vs. just 1, but one step at a time.

PFAR and IMRMLS - are you listening?  I think it's time to implement a similar policy to protect home sellers from flaky real estate agents.

Every Thursday from 10 am until 2pm, Pasadena real estate agents showcase their new listings - homes that just hit the market.  This is specifically for brokers to preview all new homes for sale for their clients. 

Although serious buyers have been known to put in an appearance to get their first peek at the available homes.

If you are interested in being the first to preview these homes, send me a quick email at Irina@Irina4RealEstate.com and I'll send you a list of all Pasadena homes open at that time.

Thursdays are also Broker's Open House days for South Pasadena homes, San Marino homes, Alhambra homes, Arcadia homes, Sierra Madre homes, San Gabriel homes, Altadena homes and Monterey Hills homes and condos for sale.

As I speak with different real estate agents and Pasadena home sellers considering going through a short sale process, I realize that there's a huge amount of disinformation.  We all know that information is KING and lack of information can be disastrous especially to your financial health.

In my previous post about short sales, I've defined and explained what a short sale is. 

Read More:  Pasadena California real estate sellers and buyers understanding Short Sales.

Today, I'd like to address the biggest misconception that could affect you, the seller, who is in the middle of a short sale with the bank.

Once a bank accepts and agrees to a short sale, your debt (the difference between the negotiated amount accepted by the bank and the amount owed) is forgiven. 

This is absolutely NOT TRUE! 

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