Santa Rosa, CA

Here is a list of happenings this weekend in and around Sonoma County. Hope you'll come and visit!

13th Growing up in Neverland $8-$12; Sonoma State University Everete B. Person Theater; Based on the story of Peter Pan about a boy who refuses to grow up. www.sonoma.edu/performingarts

13th Possessions of Mrs. Jones 6th Street Playhouse; $15 - $25; Evelyn Jones lives in the shiny happy suburban fantasy. But when God and Satan emerge from her washing machine to enlist her help in preventing a hostile corporate takeover of Heaven and Hade, Evelyn begins to unravel. Playing thru Dec. 8 523-4185, www.6thstreetplayhouse.com

13th -- Hall Napa Valley Winemaker Dinner ; $79 ea; 6:30 pm;The Inn at the Tides; Food & Wine Education: Bodega Bay welcomes Megan Gunderson-Paredes, Assistant Winemaker, of Hall Napa Valley for a wonderful 4-course dinner with specially selected wines to complement each course. Reservations a must. 800 Coast Hwy 1, Bodega Bay (800) 541.7788

13th, 14th, 15th Actors' Theater Presents GO, DOG, GO!
Family Fun, Performing Arts: This classic children's book comes to life on stage in an exploration of movement, color and space. The dogs delve into life with gusto, creating a visual spectacle for the audience to feast upon. This play is a rollicking musical world of doggy fun. Like a pop-up book that comes to life - and never stops. Steele Lane Community Center, Santa Rosa, $10 per ticket, Call for information & tickets,(707) 543.3282 or (707) 544.5995

14th All In The Timing; 7pm (1pm Sun matinee) Casa Grande's Fall Comedy; All In The Timing, a brain-teasing Comedy by David Ives, will play at Casa Grande High School's New Multi-Use auditorium. Tickets at the door. $6/$5 Students & Seniors; (707) 536.6276

14th Charlotte's Web; $12 - $18; 2pm; Wells Fargo Center; Treasured tale featuring quirky and endearing farm animals. www.wellsfargocenterarts.org 546-3600

14th Public Solar Observing; 11am - 3pm; and 7pm -??; $3;for adults, Robert Ferguson Observatory Kenwood; 833-6979; www.rfo.org

14th World Diabetes Day Walk in Awareness 10:00 am - 12:00 pm; Community comes together in non-competitive walk in the fight against diabetes. Info booths, ceremony and more. 10 a.m.-noon. Free. Ellis Creek Extension, Petaluma. 415-302-7414.

14th Artisano Geyserville Inn; Artisano is a celebration of local, handcrafted wine, food, and art. The event will feature small production artisan wineries, handcrafted gourmet food producers, restaurants serving locally produced meat and produce, and several of the regions premier artists. The event is a benefit for Slow Food Sonoma County's School Garden Project in elementary schools in Santa Rosa, Windsor, Healdsburg, Geyserville and Cloverdale. www.artisano.org Tickets: call 1-888-878-6621 for ticket sales. Website: http://arestravel.com/4042_attraction-tickets_a843.html Geyserville Inn 894-8500

14th St. Francis Wild Game Winery Dinner; $125ea; 6:30; This annual dinner highlights local game harvested from fields and streams by prominent producers. Winemaker Tom Mackey will pull out a beautifully aged library selection to pair with Chef David Bush's delicious new appetizers and sides to dazzle our guests. 100 Pythian Rd., Santa Rosa (888) 675.WINE x 255

15th Doll & Toy Show & Sale; 10:00 am - 3:30 pm; Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building; Lots of antique, repo and modern dolls and accessories. $4.50 adult, free 12 & under. 542-0112.

FHA Home Loans, Santa Rosa, CA - Top 10 FHA Loan Benefits for home buyers

I meet up with a new home buyer today who asked me about FHA loans and why she should use this program instead of a standard conforming loan program. She was a first time home buyer who had meet with several lenders and was a bit overwhelmed by all of the information she had thrown at her. Since she was only putting 5% down, I felt the FHA loan was the best fit for her and gave her a top ten list of all the benefits she would enjoy. I also ran a comparison worksheet for my newly endoctrinated home buyer to show her the mathmatical differences. The lightbulb over her head kicked in within 10 minutes and she proceeded with the loan application. Ah, success! I love the lightbulb! So, in the interest of sharing with my Sonoma County Wine Country Realtors in Santa Rosa, I've made another top ten list of benefits for home buyers using the FHA loan. If you're looking for information on VA loans, I have another top ten list on the benefits of a VA home loan as well. Just click on this title: Tep Ten VA Benefits for Sonoma County Home Buyers.

Here's the list of top ten FHA Loan benefits for home buyers:

1. FHA Loans only required 3.5% down at this time.
2. FHA Loans will finance the Upfront Mortgage Insurance. You don't have to come up witht he extra cash to pay for a premium that can equal up to 1.75% of the mortgage.
3. FHA Loans don't penalize you on rates for a Low Fico score. Currently, the minimum fico score is 620. If you have a 620 fico, you pay the same rate as someone who has a 700 fico score.
4. FHA Loans have no prepayment penalties. You're welcome to pay the loan off anytime!
5. FHA Loans offer more flexible debt to income requirements at this time.
6. FHA Loans allow for non occupant co-borrowers. You can combine your income and expenses with a non-occupant borrower's income and expenses to qualify. Must be a relative or really close friend.
7. FHA Loans are assumable. This is a great tool for the home buyer when they become a home seller during high rate markets. You can assume a nice 5% loan.
8. FHA Loans allow the seller to contribute up to 6% of the sales price for closing costs. FHA Loans allow for non-traditional credit on purchases.
9. FHA Loans allow, at this time, for gift funds from family member for the down payment and closing costs.
10. FHA loan limits are high enough to cover the majority of the prices in the county that you live. Here are the loan limits for Single Family Residence:

2009 FHA Loan Limits for Single Family Residence in Northern California

County - FHA Loan Limit

• Alameda $729,750
• Contra Costa $729,750
• Marin $729,750
• Monterey $729,750
• Napa $729,750
• Sacramento $580,000
• San Francisco $729,750
• Solano $557,500
• Sonoma $662,500

There are additional benefits that you can take advantage of with an FHA home loan, but I don't want to overwhelm anyone with too much information. So, contact me if you want more! ;-)

BTW- I only posted loan limits for Single Family Residences. If you want to know about the other loan limits for a different county or for 2 to 4 units. Send me an email. Also, note: I wrote "at this time" several times. It's important to understand these benefits are going to change and will continue to change to adjust to the current market conditions.

Ok, one more note. Inspections: see my previous post on this here.

Image provided by Google image.

One of my favorite things to do in the morning, is to read our local paper, The Press Democrat, over a cup of coffee. I've noticed over the past year that the morning paper is getting thinner and thinner. On Mondays it has gone from 4 sections to just 2. It's really become a bit of a joke.

I have a friend who is a journalist for The Press Democrat, and she said that readership is down, all the newpapers around the country are struggling and being shut down. She told me that staff writers are being laid off, and that it's really just a matter of time before our local paper folds (by the way, it's owned by the New York Times).

She said that the paper is slowly being replaced by the internet. The funny things is that those same articles are being written by the same journalist that work for the newspaper. So when the newspaper folds, and lets those journalists go, who's going to write the articles. The internet is a very funny thing. Unless you have an advertiser, you don't make money writing for the internet. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for news organizations, and see how they adabpt to our rapid change in technology.

I have to admit that I only read about 30% of the newspaper, and that most of it gets chucked into the recycle bin. It's a terrible waste of resources. There is a free internet radio station I listen to called Pandora (www.pandora.com) If you haven't listened to it, you should check it out. It asks you few questions about the music you like to listen to, then creates a play list for you. As you listen to it, you can check a box whether or not you like certain songs it plays. The more you listen to it, the better it gets at predicting what kinds of music you like to listen to. Internet new should do the same thing. Instead of getting 200 pages of information that goes into the garbage, you could just download the article s that are of interest to you.

I'm going to miss our local paper when it dies. Having a cup of coffee and surfing the internet just isn't the same as reading the paper.

I've been advertising with AdDividers for the past 5 years. I did take a brief break but have recently reinstalled my dividers in my favorite Safeway super market. The thing I really like about these, is that this Safeway is in the heart of my area of influence.

I can't say that these dividers have resulted directly to more real estate transactions, however to me this is just one more level of layering my name and face recognition. If your interested in advertising this way, AdDividers can be reached at: (805) 627 1978 or by email at AdDividers@aol.com Tell them Jim Cheney sent you.

I recently sold one of my listings to a buyer who was getting a CalPers loan. I had heard of this loan program but was not very familiar with how it worked or what a great product it was. Here's how the program works:

You have to be a public employee such as a police officer, teacher, judge etc, who is in the CalPers retirement system. There is no minimum amount of time in the system, you can apply for a loan on you first day on the job.

CalPers advertises that it's loans are highly competitive, however applicants are told to examine their Truth in Lending disclosure closely and to always compare against other loan products before making a decision on what loan to get.

The CalPers program limits the first mortgage origination fee to 1.25% on a conventional loan and 1% on an FHA loan. Lenders can only charge up to $350 for all other lender fees regardless of fee type, except for discount points which may be charged to lower the interest rate. CalPers lenders can ask the borrower to pay third party fees such as title and escrow, credit report, appraisal, notary and recording fees etc.

Reduced title and escrow fees may be obtained by using specific title companies that have agreed to charge less for CalPers applicants.

This low down payment option has flexible credit guidelines for low-to-moderate income borrowers with limited cash resources. Offers more flexibility on credit histories and income sources. Cash reserves may not be required. Income restrictions can apply in certain areas, however there are no income limits in high-cost or Fannie Neighbors® areas. Income limits are higher in rural areas.

Below is the advertised rate as of 11/6/09 for a FHA loan with a 30 day interest lock

The CalPERS Member Home Loan Program is managed by CitiMortgage. If you'd like to talk to a Customer Relations Representative, just call (800) 874-7377 or visit: http://www.calpers.ca.gov/index.jsp?bc=/member/homeloan/home.xml