Tracy, CA

West Valley Mall in Tracy opened years ago.

I was one of the silly people waiting outside with child in stroller to be the first in the door to see how the City of Tracy was expanding our shopping experience.

The anchor stores when the mall opened were Target, JC Penny's, Sears and Gottschaulks.

The real attraction for THIS Mother of 5 at the time was the Merry Go Round in the middle of the food court, the FUN Factory and the Children's inside play area.

The Merry Go Round and the Fun Factory were treats my kids earned. Since I had 5 kids at the time ranging in age for 1 - 13 it got expensive. The inside play area with soft sided slides, climby things was a great way for them to blow off energy when it was too cold, hot, rainy outside.

So Imagine my surprise when I got to the Mall today to see the Merry Go Round GONE? SO is the Fun Factory.

Where'd they go? Who takes a Merry Go Round? I guess who ever owns it. Mom's don't bring their kids to the mall to ride the Merry Go Round anymore. It's no longer 75 cents by $3.00 a ride. My kids don't ride the Merry Go Round any more as they are now 14 - 26, but the tradition the memories are abruptly GONE.

The General Growth Management is saying they hope to have a new Merry Go Round in place by spring. We shall see. Perhaps General Growth Properties is trying to change the image and customer base for a more upscale shopping environment. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the next 6 months.

So long FUN, welcome...... sign of the recent depression recession.

Rental Properties& Property Management in Tracy CA

Tracy does not have a central data base of properties that are for rent. Therefore contacting individual property management companies is critical.

Below is a list of Property Management Companies that I know that work in Tracy and the surrounding areas. Let them know I sent you there way.

If you know of other companies who’d like to be included in this list, just let me know.

Bernetta & Kevin Weiss
www.TeamWess.com
Kevin :209.346.6536
Bernetta: 209-346-6535

Dave Konesky
Konesky Property Management
209-832-5300
DaveKonesky@yahoo.com

Liz Tan
Renaissance Property Management
209-658-3926
ltan97@yahoo.com

Mary Matrikis
Mary@Mitracos.com

Tony Martin
209-610-3431
info@Tony4GreatHomes.com

Bernadette Whisman
800-201-3894 x#3048
Bernadette@Bernadettew.com

Not long ago I received an emal from a good friend. The email include the name and phone number of a person looking for an agent to list his home. Nothing better than starting the day with a referral.

I called and made an appointment to meet with the home owner and see the home. The owner told me not to bother bringing comps because he knew how much the property was worth (red flag). He also told me the home could only be shown when he was there and no lock box would be permitted (red flag). He also said he would prefer that no sign be posted but he was willing to discuss the matter (red flag).

I decided to meet with him and did the comps anyway. I knew what he had paid for the property and knew its current value was less than half of what he had paid.

When I arrived he greeted me warmly and introduced me to his wife. I guessed him to be over 60 (turned out to be 64). They offered me coffee, and we sat at the kitchen table. He gave a history lesson about him, his years in Tracy, and his relationship with various city offices and officials. The history lesson included some not so positive information.

Finally he took me on a tour of the property. It was a nice house and fit in well with the neighborhood. He told me about the upgrades he had chosen and how his home was unique in the neighborhood (red flag), although I didn't agree with his assessment. Now the moment of truth. He told me he wanted tp list the property for a little over what he had paid for it at the top of the market. I calmly explained that its current market value was substantially lower and the home would be ignored on the market at his suggested price. He said he had purchased the property so he could make money when he retired and that was he planned to do. Really!

The short of it is that he believed that if every home owner refused to sell at today's prices and demanded a price in line with what they had paid the housing crisis would be instantly over. His logic against the reality of the day.

I didn't take the listing, but a few weeks later a letter to the editor appeared in our local paper from him. He explained the four agents from four major companies had refused his listing. He wrote he had a right to list his home at his price and those Realtors and their respective companies should be banned from doing business. He wrote that a law should be passed that mandates an agent to list a property as the home owner demands, with no right of refusal. He explained that it was the agents that wanted to keep the market suppressed. Really!

A few weeks later I received a call from my friend that had made the referral. He apologized and said he had no idea what his friend had been up to. He said he realized now that his real goal was to be turned down so he could rant at Realtors because he believed a Realtor had misled him when he made the purchase.

Next time I will hang up politely after the third red flag.

My name is Dale E. Bledsoe with Crown Key Realty and as always I may be reached at 209-481-6031. You may also visit me on the web at www.dalebledsoe.com

A Tale of Tenacity in Tracy, CA

2011

March 10 - Short Sale Listing Taken in Tracy, CA

Marsh 14 - Offer accepted

March 20 - everything sent to Chase's Short Sale Divison and confirmed received. Buyer 1

July 10 - Short Sale Buyer 1's offer is accepted and short sale is approved! Price $220,000 3% closing costs

July 18 - Short Sale Buyer's job has changed and they can no longer qualify for the loan.

Tenant moves out -

July 22 - New short sale offer, Short Sale Buyer 2, $220,000 NO CLOSING COSTS (Chase will get 3% MORE MONEY)

August 18 - Chase declines short sale (No notice of default at this time)

I speak to the short sale seller, let him know that I'm prepared to resubmit entire package if he'd like. Perhaps we will get a different negotiator. (I did try escalating, still told investor guidelines had changed, seller no longer qualifies.)

August 21 -New short sale Buyer, Short Sale Buyer 3 sends a matching purchase contract and we resubmit to Chase

October 18 - Chase Declines Short Sale AGAIN.

I again ask the seller, there is no notice of default, we can keep trying until the foreclose on you. Short Sale Seller Agrees to proceed with the Chase Short Sale. Short Sale Buyer 3 is willing to try one more time.

November 10 - Chase asks for $10,000 more than Buyer 3's offer, and previous approval amount, see July 10th

November 13 - We Susan Goulding submit a letter staing this is Buyer 3 highest and best AND send comps

December 12 - We, Susan Gouding get an approval, Short Sale Seller is leaving for out of the country and will be gone a month, starting 12/23

December 18 - Buyer's agent calls and says Buyer 3 no longer wants the house. (WHAT THE HECK, LESS THAN A WEEK AGO THEY SUBMITTED AN ADDENDUM WITH HIGHEST AND BEST)

DECEMBER 21 - Short Sale BUYER 4 - delivers contract with agreed upon price, we get seller to sign contract and SIGN docs at the title company so we can close while the short sale seller is out of the country.

2012

Approval Close Date 1/21

January 14 Buyer's agent calls and says seller needs to add husband to the contract due to lender guidelines

(In a short sale this means we have to have a new approval letter showing name change and addition of 2nd buyer)

January 19 We get approval for the short salel from Chase Bank with a closing date of 1/21

(We can't close on 1/21, lender hasn't drawn docs, Short Sale Lender, Chase, requirs HUD 72 hours prior to funding.) We need an extension

1/21 - We get extension until 2/15/2012

1/25 - Chase calls and says THANK YOU FOR YOUR TENACITY in this short sale. We appreciate it. REALLY? You declined it twice. Needless to say I was shocked to receive a call from Chase saying thank you for working so hard on this short sale.

2/2/2012 - Groundhog DAY - We recorded this short sale in Tracy, CA. It closed.

I refused to take NO for an answer. My Sellers avoided foreclosures, I got paid, albeit .25/hour, but we did it. Successully close the Chase Short Sale. I'm nothing if not a tenacious pitbull when it comes to protecting my short sale sellers. I don't take NO for an answer... not until the property foreclosues. If you need someone to battle for you in a short sale call me. Anywhere in Northern CA.

I was visiting a friend in San Diego this weekend.

We were both snapping away as the sun was setting.

We both mentioned how many sunset photos we have and asked ourselves,

Can we really tell the difference?

Is there such thing as a BAD ONE?

Best part of San Diego is it's only a 75 minute plane ride from Oakland

Oakland is only a 45 minute drive from Tracy.