Kat DeLong, REALTOR

Market Statistics for Lake Arrowhead MLS

Active Residential Listings: 1042

Active Residential Listings in Arrowhead Woods: 460

Pending Residential Sales: 136

Sold Residential Properties month to date: 4

MLS wide Median Residential Sold Month-do-date: $477,500 (#4)

Arrowhead Woods & Lake Front Median Sold Month-do-date: $477,500 (#2)

Source: MLS, Rim of the World Association of Realtors, figures are deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

For your Lake Arrowhead Real Estate needs, CALL: KAT DELONG, REALTOR.

This is a topic that people don't want to think about, but not talking or thinking about it, doesn't make it disappear. The topic is FIRE.

By the year 2014, old, wood shake roofs MUST be replaced. Gone. History. As everyone in the nation knows, Lake Arrowhead and all of the San Bernardino Mountains have had their share of fires; the last being OCTOBER 2007, The Grass Fire. Though that fire, or prior fires during the last decade, may not have been caused by shake roofs, old shake-roofs are like matchsticks waiting to ignite. When most of our charming mountain cabins (homes) were constructed way-back-when, these shakes roofs fit the "mountain style." However, there's no style worth risking your house being in harms way during a blazing, Southern California fire.

On September 23, 2008, The SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS' meeting addressed the shake roof issue. They proposed that by the 2014, home owners within the FIRE OVERLAY SAFETY AREA must have their old, shake roofs replaced by roofs with a minimum Class A fire rating roof. Sellers of homes with shake roofs must have this done during escrow and before closing.

This ORDINANCE WILL become effective by January 2009. If you'd like to attend future meetings regarding this issue or others, CLICK HERE for dates and times.

For your Lake Arrowhead Real Estate needs, CALL: KAT DELONG, REALTOR.

When you live in the mountains, you accept the fact that weather is quite different from our "flat lander" friends' weather below (Flat-lander is a GOOD term, really). Generally, our summer days are cooler, as much as 20 degrees cooler, when temps below are scorching hot. Oh, we do get hot up here, once in while. But in the fall and winter months, our temps may ALSO be cooler/colder! We have four, beautiful seasons, and we respect and love each and every one.

Respect, in that, weather can actually change quickly here: from a cool, clear, crisp fall day...to drizzly, rainy, foggy or snowy. So, it's always a good idea to double check weather reports before heading up the mountain. You MAY be experiencing sunny skies down the mountain and think, "Oh, it can't be that bad up there..." But, in fact, it can be very "different."

Here are some sites/links that will make your search fast and, I hope, helpful... before you head out the door for your trek up the mountain.

LAKE ARROWHEAD-UP TO DATE-WEATHER (this link is for Lake Arrowhead, but you can put in another zip code or city)

WEB CAM AT LAKE ARROWHEAD VILLAGE (up to the minute view at The Village)

HIGHWAY CONDITIONS (insert Hwy number (18 for Lake Arrowhead)

WINTER DRIVING TIPS (provided by California Highway Patrol)

For your Lake Arrowhead Real Estate needs, CALL: KAT DELONG, REALTOR.

Q: What's worse than your computer crashing?

A: Your computer CRASHING and LOSING ALL YOUR DATA...every stinkin' bit.

This has happened to me twice in the past two years. You'd have thought, after number #1 crash, I would have backed up EVERYTHING, EVERY TIME I went to log off. But, oh no, I have that "I'll do it later" mentality. And, of course, later never came. I'm one of those naive people who thinks "It won't happen to me." But guess what? It does and can.

Recently, one of "My Three Sons" mentioned he had bought an external hard-drive to backup the data from his laptop. We chatted back and forth about it for several weeks until I eventually BIT the bullet and ordered one. My external hard drive is an IOMEGA and can hold a million-trillion-zillion GIGABYTES (GB) (well, maybe only 250GB). It comes with a USB cord, so I can plug IT into any computer. And it's only about 6X4 inches. (It's the cute PINK square-ish thing to the lower right of my laptop). I'm not suggesting any particular product, only telling you what I have).

Here's what I can do with IT:

1. MOVE/SAVE DOCUMENTS/PICTURES/VIDEOS, etc TO IT
2. MOVE MY 'FAVORITES/BOOKMARKS' TO IT
3. MOVE ALL PERSONAL "STUFF" TO IT
4. BACKUP EVERY THING FROM MY LAPTOP TO IT--THE ENTIRE SYSTEM
5. TAKE IT TO ANOTHER COMPUTER AND UPLOAD ANY OR EVERYTHING FROM IT
6. IF MY 'PUTER CRASHES, AGAIN, I CAN PLUG IT IN... AND VOILA', MY STUFF IS RETRIVED & I WON'T HAVE TO BE RESUSCITATED.

...BUT I didn't stop at the IOMEGA. I also bought a little JUMP-DRIVE (stuck in the left side of my laptop, very small) that has 4GB (that is a LOT), so I can keep it on my key chain. I use this when I don't need my IOMEGA, or don't need to back up my entire system. The JUMP DRIVE is only about 2 inches long and 1 inch wide.

Here's what I can do with IT:

1. TRANSFER/MOVE/SAVE FILES, DOCUMENTS, PICTURES, VIDEOS onto IT
2. PLUG IT IN TO ANY OTHER COMPUTER WHICH I USE AND RETRIEVE ANY INFO I NEED FROM IT
3. OR, UPLOAD INFO FROM IT TO ANOTHER COMPUTER.
4. TOSS IT INTO MY PURSE

I'm sure (if I read everything in the instruction manual for these items) they do MUCH, MUCH more.

All I can say is, THANK GOODNESS I now have a BACKUP PLAN!

For your Lake Arrowhead Real Estate needs, CALL: KAT DELONG, REALTOR.

Dear Seller:

We (Realtors) know how frustrating it is when you get a LOW BALL offer on your home. After all, it's a wonderful home. You've raised your kids here. You KNOW it's priced right. AND you can't afford to take less; you have your blood, sweat and tears in this place. SO, when you get one of those nasty, ridiculous offers, your first instinct is to be ^*#@%& off....justifiably so.

"Tell that Realtor to tell his client ...blah, blah, blah with his offer..." You may blurt out.

Instead, you need to take a deep breath. Take a walk. Take a chill-pill. More importantly, you need to let the offer simmer. Let the buyer wait until (almost) the expiration period he/she has given you, expires. Almost, but not until it actually runs out. This lets the buyer know you may not be as desperate as he may think you are. Because, desperation only reaps desperate responses.

The market stinks right now, for sellers. It REALLY is a buyer's market. But even the buyers aren't jumping allover all the great deals they have at their disposable. They're VERY cautious. So, before you blow off that low ball offer, give it some consideration! Work with your Realtor to come up with a "reasonable" counter."

There's an old saying in the Real Estate World; YOUR FIRST OFFER MAY BE YOUR BEST OFFER.

For your Lake Arrowhead Real Estate needs, CALL: KAT DELONG, REALTOR.