Lorraine or Loretta Kratz-Certified Negotiation Consultants

Vista, California - Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum Hosting Civil War Re-Enactment!

Full scale camp of historians and hundreds of Civil War re-en actors re-create battles with live cannon fire and period uniforms, starting at 10 A.M., to 5 P.M., Saturday and Sunday at 2040 N. Santa Fe, in Vista, California. Battles are at noon and 3 P.M., both days. Civil War living history tours and demonstrations throughout the weekend. $14.00 $12.00 seniors over 62, $7.00 military and children 5-11 $2.00 Parking.

Courtesy: Crescent Moon Realty, Inc.

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Carlsbad, California Flower Fields In Bloom!

Rainbow in bloom, Flower Fields experimenting with planting pattern, after 18 years of planting strongly contracting color combination, where wide bands of bright pink and vivid yellow flowers grew near each other, Carlsbad famed floral attraction is experimenting with a "blended" rainbow effect this year. Visually it's going to be fantastic treat for the eye. Orange flowers have been planted near the reds and all the pinks are grouped together this year.

Thanks to recent warm weather the peak bloom period for the giant Tecolote ranunculus flowers is likely to be a full week or possibly even two weeks earlier than usual. Forecasters are saying that the bloom period could be arriving as soon as the third week of March 2012.

Flower Field is located on the corner of Palomar Airport Road, and Paseo del Norte in Carlsbad, California. If you go the Flower Fields are open March 1, 2012 and the flower-viewing season continues until after mother's Day weekend in May 2012. The fields are open daily from 9 A.M., to 6 P.M. Tickets cost $11.00 for adults, $10.00 for seniors and $6.00 for children ages 3-10. Children younger than 3 get in free.

Courtesy of : Crescent Moon Realty, Inc.

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Beware of Imposters Posing As San Diego Gas & Electric Employee's!

San Diego Gas & Electric has been alerting customers to rip-off artists posing as San Diego Gas & Electric employees who've been seeking to enter customer's homes. the imposter working in teams of twos, with one distracting the unsuspected customers while the other steals from them .

As if utility rates aren't harsh enough.

Courtesy: Crescent Moon Realty, Inc.

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Five issues for housing in 2012
Just as in 2011, in 2012 many will be trying to figure out where housing is headed. While the housing market didn’t worsen in 2011, it also didn’t stabilize either. This year, the story will be about local markets. While many housing markets rose and fell together, they’re recovering at difference paces so talking about housing on a national level is not beneficial.

Making sense of the story

• Confidence and jobs: Housing is more affordable than it has been in decades, but many would-be buyers are worried about buying today if prices are going to be lower tomorrow. Still, others don’t want to buy a house until they have more evidence that they’re not going to get laid off or see their hours cut back.
  
  
• Foreclosures: Banks and other mortgage investors own around 440,000 foreclosed properties, but there’s another 3.4 million loans in foreclosure or serious delinquency, according to estimates by Barclays Capital. Because banks are faster to cut prices to unload inventory than are traditional sellers, home values can fall further as the share of distressed sales rises.
  
  
• Rents: If low mortgage rates aren’t enough to give

  • urgency to would-be buyers, rent hikes could accelerate buyers’ decisions to take the plunge.
    
    
  • Mortgage credit and rates: It’s still hard for many buyers to get approved for a mortgage because banks are demanding lots of documentation of borrowers’ incomes.
    
    
  • Regulation: Many analysts don’t expect Congress to make major changes to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the election year, but several major regulatory changes could significantly reshape the future of the lending landscape in 2012.
    
    
  • Meanwhile, the regulator that oversees Fannie and Freddie is revamping the way that mortgage companies are paid for collecting loan payments. This could lead to a broader shakeup in the mortgage industry that ultimately influences how much borrowers are charged for mortgages and how banks handle loans that fall into delinquency.

Courtesy of Crescent Moon Realty, Inc.

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California Landlords Have The Power To?

California landlords, who have long had the right to restrict pets, noise and even water beds in their units, can now prohibit smoking under a new law that took effect Sunday.

California Senate Bill 332, authored by state Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown on Sept. 6.

With Brown's signature, Padilla said, "we will see the availability of smoke-free, multifamily housing grow throughout California."

The new law requires landlords to specify in their lease/rental agreements areas where smoking is prohibited on their properties.

The bill was accompanied by a blizzard of health studies indicating that secondhand smoke can travel throughout multifamily dwellings and cause harm to occupants. Children are particularly vulnerable, according to a 2010 study by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

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