When buyers open the door to your home, is your entry making a great first impression?  Buyers make a lot of decisions in those first few seconds upon entering your home.  If your entry is dark, crowded or just plain boring, you may be losing your chance to get them the rest of the way into your home and onto writing that important offer to buy.

The entry to your home should always keep super clean, super neat and super bright.  Lots of homeowners prefer to remove their shoes at the door before entering the rest of the home.  But you cannot leave your shoes piled up at the doorways.  You must keep your shoes neatly in the closets.  Nothing turns off a buyer faster than walking into to a pile of some-one's shoes.  And while we are on the subject of shoes, resist the temptation to place shoe booties at the door for buyers to wear as they tour your home.  The message you are sending to them is that the floors are difficult to keep clean, which is not a feature most buyers are looking for when choosing which home to purchase.

 Keep a light on in your entry at all times.  Your entryway needs to be bright and will feel more open with the extra light on.  If your foyer is small, you can hang a mirror so that it feels more open.  If you use a console table here, be sure that it does not impede with the flow of traffic.  You want buyers to have easy access in and out of your home.  Interesting artwork on the wall and fresh flowers or a beautiful sculpture on the table will set the mood for the entire home tour.

If you have rugs in your entry, it is probably best to remove them.  Area rugs have a tendency to make rooms look smaller.  If your foyer is large, use a round rug. 

Make the entry of your home light, refreshing and exciting.  Give buyers a little taste of what they can expect to see in the rest of your home the moment they open your door.  Make your home's first impression a great one!

Posted by Nickie Rothwell, GetStaged2Sell.

Pasadena Heritage presents this year's Colorado Street Bridge Party on July 19th!

It will be a great evening of continuous live music, dancing, antique cars, children's activities, no-host food and beverages. 

The Colorado Street Bridge was built in 1913 to connect Pasadena to Los Angeles and span the Arroyo Seco.  It was constructed of reinforced concrete and is 28 feet wide and over 1,470 feet long.  The bridge has 48 lamps and 11 parabolic arches.  At the time of its construction, it was the tallest concrete bridge.  In the late 1930s, the Colorado Street Bridge was reinforced with steel fencing and it was fully restored and seismically upgraded in 1993.

The California Department of Transportation has deemed this bridge one of the state's historically significant bridges.  Most people don't know this, but in 1915, just after the bridge was built, there were more car owners in Pasadena than anywhere else in the world!  Makes for a great Trivia Question!

So come on out on July 19, 2008.  It is a great way to see the historic Colorado Street Bridge in Pasadena.  You will truly understand why it's known as one of the most beautiful bridges in the world.

So come on out this Saturday and join the party!

Tickets can be purchased in advance at 651 South Saint John Avenue, Pasadena, California.  Call  626-441-6333  for more information.  Prices range from $6.50 to $13.  If you are a Pasadena Heritage Member, you are eligible for a discount if you pre-purchase.

If you are living in Pasadena California or are thinking about relocating to Pasadena, you've come to the right place. 

This post will be updated monthly, around the first week of the month, for the previous month and will give you key real estate market indicators for Pasadena California.  Bookmark this page and visit it each month to see how Pasadena homes, condos and townhomes are faring in today's real estate market.

If you are already a Pasadena homeowner and would like to get a monthly email sent to you with real estate activity around your Pasadena home, please click here and order your real estate monthly market report.  You will not be contacted by me or anyone on my team and the information will be generated automatically via email based on the criteria that you list.

If you are seriously considering selling your Pasadena home and would like a private consultation, please contact me at   626-627-7107   or Irina@Irina4RealEstate.com.

Pasadena Real Estate Market Report for the month of June 2008:

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If you are living in Monterey Hills or are thinking about relocating to Monterey Hills, you've come to the right place. 

This post will be updated monthly, around the first week of the month, for the previous month and will give you key real estate market indicators for Monterey Hills California.  Bookmark this page and visit it each month to see how Monterey Hills condos and townhomes are faring in today's real estate market.

If you are already a Monterey Hills homeowner and would like to get a monthly email sent to you with real estate activity around your Monterey Hills condo or townhome, please click here and order your real estate monthly market report.  You will not be contacted by me or anyone on my team and the information will be generated automatically via email based on the criteria that you list.

READ ALSO:  Monterey Hills Neighborhood Overview

If you are seriously considering selling your Monterey Hills condo or townhome and would like a private consultation, please contact me at    626-627-7107    or Irina@Irina4RealEstate.com.

Monterey Hills Real Estate Market Report for the month of June 2008:

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In the wake of Pasadena California IndyMac bank being seized by Federal Regulators today, the question most of us are asking is how safe are our deposits whether we were banking with IndyMac, WAMU, Wachovia, Wells Fargo or any other bank?

A quick background for those of you that are not aware of the situation.  IndyMac specialized in what many in the real estate industry called "Liar Loans".  If you could breathe and sign your name, IndyMac was glad to lend you money to buy a home whether or not you were financially qualified. 

Now... I'm being a bit harsh here, but really risky lending practices did get IndyMac in major trouble and put them in a precarious financial situation.

To help IndyMac along, Senator Schumer (NY) caused an old-fashioned bank run when he wrote a letter to the San Francisco Fed President concerned about IndyMac Bank's ability to weather the storm....then, he made that letter public. IndyMac Bank ceased new loan operations, in an effort to manage the loans they have on their books, on Monday. On Friday, the Feds closed IndyMac Bank down.

Read More: Brian Brady's Mortgage Rates Report - July 14, 2008

IndyMac becomes the largest OTS-regulated savings and loan to fail and second-biggest financial institution to close behind Continental Illinois in 1984, according to the FDIC.

Read More: IndyMac Bancorp is Seized

If you have money in IndyMac, what does it mean to you?

If you visit www.IndyMac.com, you will see that there is a link to the FDIC Website which provides some general information.  Here's an excerpt:

Principal and interest on insured accounts, through July 11, 2008, are fully insured by the FDIC, up to the insurance limit of $100,000.  You will receive full payment for your insured account.  Certain entitlements and different types of accounts can be insured for more than the $100,000 limit.  IRA funds are insured separately from other types of accounts, up to a $250,000 limit.

All accounts that exceed the $100,000 insurance limit, and/or all accounts that appear to be related and exceed this limit, are reviewed by the FDIC to determine their ownership and insurance coverage.  If you think you might have uninsured deposits you should call the FDIC Call Center to arrange for a telephone interview with  a Claims Agent at         866-806-5919        .

If it is determined that you have uninsured funds, the FDIC will generate and mail to you a Receiver Certificate.  This certificate entitles you to share proportionately in any funds recovered through the disposal of the assets of IndyMac Bank, F.S.B.  This means that you will eventually recover some of your uninsured funds.  The FDIC declared a 50% advance dividend for uninsured deposits.

If you have a home equity line of credit with IndyMac, the word on the street is that it has been frozen and will be reviewed on a case by case basis.

Credit lines to commercial construction contractors also will be frozen pending a review, but construction loans made to individual consumers will not be affected.

Customers of IndyMac's reverse-mortgage subsidiary will continue to have access to their funds. Reverse mortgages provide older homeowners with periodic payments or a credit line secured by their homes.

Read More:  IndyMac reopens after seizure

How diversified are your bank accounts?  Do you have all your accounts in the same bank?  Are you over FDIC insured limits?

I was over at Washington Mutual in San Marino earlier today making a deposit.  As I was waiting in line, I heard several conversations about FDIC limits.  Everyone is nervous, myself included.

There were long lines today on Lake and Walnut in Pasadena as IndyMac customers were trying to withdraw funds.  Some stood in line as long as 4 hours per my conversation with a bank representative of Wells Fargo who has been busily opening accounts all day today for IndyMac customers and others who want to diversify their accounts with various banks.  By the way, if you were fortunate to get through the long line and have a cashier's check from IndyMac, Wells Fargo is putting a hold on the money to ensure that it clears. 

What can you do to protect your money?

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