Winston Westbrook

When you move to the High Desert/Victor Valley area from down the hill some of the plants your accustomed to gardening will not do as well as you might think. Take for instance ferns. Ferns to not do too well out here due to the drop in temperature at night. During winter, the nights can get quite chilly and you might want to bring those ferns indoors or into your garage to avoid the cold damaging their leaves.

When we moved out to Victorville California we did not know what kind of plants or trees would do well and survive out here. In fact the day we moved out here nature decided it was going to snow. We got a good amount of snow that day. Sad thing was that many of our plants did not make it through the snow.

Couple of months later we ended up going to the Victorville swap meet located at the San Bernardino County Fairgrounds and ended up meeting Tony. He owns a nursery out in Apple Valley called Siesta Tree Farm. On the weekends you can find him at the swap meet selling his plants at or below wholesale prices. He specializes in selling plants and trees for the high desert. He was a wellspring of information. He is an expert.

Tony sells plants, cactus and trees. We picked his brain about what fruit trees do well out here in the Victor Valley area and he said many do well like apple, peach, pomegranate.

We didn't buy anything that day but he gave us his flyer with information about his nursery out in Apple Valley. A couple of weeks went by then we decided one day to go take a visit.

His nursery sits on 5 acres of all the plants and trees that do good up here in the high desert. He took us on a educational tour of his nursery explaining the process of how he raises these palms, plants and trees. I really learned a lot from him. We ended up purchasing a bunch of italian cypress to make as a fence in our front yard.

If you are in need of some plants or trees give Tony a call at 760-220-0016 and tell him Winston sent you. He'll take great care of you

The following is just a sample of what he carries:

• Mediterranean
• Canary
• Windmill
• Pindo
• Mexican Fan
• Roses
• Cedars
• Cypress
• Plum Trees
• Apple Trees
• Palms
• Yuccas
• Pines
• Shade Trees

Winston Westbrook is a licensed California Real Estate Broker and Notary Public servicing the cities of Victorville, Adelanto, Hesperia, Apple Valley and the surrounding Victor Valley High Desert communities of Southern California in the County of San Bernardino.

Oh and by the way if you liked this post then do me a favor and click the little red flag right below so I can get featured one day. Thanks everyone

What choo talkin bout Willis?

Well, let me splain Lucy, lol. The title to my rant blog came to mind a couple days ago when I noticed how so many people were still paying monstrous amounts of property taxes.

I remembered about how Ronald Reagan stood up to Gorby and asked for the Berlin wall to be torn down. Who knows if the Berlin Wall would of been torn down if he would not have asked.

Brings me to my point at hand. There are too many things in life that don't get taken care of if no one stands up and says something about it. "Ask and you shall receive" goes the verse in the bible.

My friends ....PLEASE ASK FOR YOUR PROPERTY TAXES TO BE REDUCED!

During the peak of our last real estate cycle, here in California and the rest of the United States, property taxes were monstrously high for people just getting into a home or some type of transaction that triggered the re-assessment of property taxes. Counties across the nation were loving the increase to their tax roll. Do you think they want to give up those taxes that easily? Hells no they don't!

Unless you have been in a cave with Osama Bin Laden since 2001 you know that property values have plummeted across the nation. If you live in state that allows you to appeal your property taxes then by all means get up and do it.

I don't know about you but I hate paying taxes.

So Winston, how do I appeal my property taxes to have them reduced or re-assessed??

I found some great instructional videos showing you step by step on how to appeal your property taxes and get your property re-assessed. These videos were created by the California State Board of Equalization. Doesn't matter if you live in California or any of the other 49 states. You can still learn what you have to do to prepare yourself for that battle with the tax man.

CLICK HERE for the free and easy instructional videos from the state of California.

These videos walk you through the process of preparing and presenting your Assessment Appeal of your Property Tax Assessment at your county Board of Equalization or Assessment Appeals Board.

PAY LESS TAXES MY FRIENDS!!

Winston Westbrook is a licensed California Real Estate Broker and Notary Public servicing the cities of Victorville, Adelanto, Hesperia, Apple Valley and the surrounding Victor Valley High Desert communities of Southern California in the County of San Bernardino.

Oh and by the way if you liked this post then do me a favor and click the little red flag right below so I can get featured one day. Thanks everyone

What if you had Google maps back in the 1930's??

You'd probably see nothing but crops of corn and farms everywhere depending on where you lived.

I came across this website that provides free online access to aerial photography from the 1930's all the way till the present from all over the United States. It's pretty neat to see how cities have progressed and grown over the years. I checked out Victorville Ca and it's practically night and day with how much the city has grown.

Search your area by either:

• Address
• Latitude and Longitude

Check it out when you have a chance. Might be neat to add it along with your next listing presentation.

• http://www.historicaerials.com

I don't know about you but if you live in the Southern California area and you have taken a road trip to Las Vegas then you know about the I-15 freeway. This stretch of highway is one of the most ticketed stretches of highway in California. I can't even count the times I have been with friends on our way to Las Vegas when low and behold we see the red and blue lights behind us. Bad boys, Bad boys, starts to play in my head, lol. Yes it's the CHP pulling us over for speeding. I must admit I have had a few tickets on my way to Vegas since I turned 21. It's just that you want to get to Vegas already for crying out loud, lol. Same goes for the return trip home. I remember waking up one early Sunday morning to leave Vegas to return home and beat the south bound traffic leaving Vegas back to Southern California. My friends and I piled into the little rental and putted down the highway. The highway was as clear as the eye could see. You could see forever. We didn't see a single Nevada Highway Patrol car anywhere. We were booking it. Then right before we reach state line we noticed about 15 patrol cars pulling motorists over left and right. We were amazed. We thought we were home free then all of a sudden one went right after us. We asked why we were pulled over? The officer stated that their aircraft clocked us going an excessive speed. We were shocked. We had never heard of such a thing happening to anyone ever.

Traveling to Vegas from Southern California costs us:

• Time (driving takes 4 hours) (flying takes about the same time due to high security)
• Money (fuel/traffic citations)(taxes to widen the I-15)(airline costs rising)
• Lives (falling asleep at the wheel/drunk drivers)

Which brings me to my blog title. We have needed an alternative to driving or flying to Vegas. We need a high speed railway connection between Southern California and Las Vegas. I heard time and time again that they were planning on constructing a high speed railway for the longest. When you allow government to supply what the people need you are going to wait and wait and wait.

If the government can't supply it then we have to look to the private sector to supply us what we need.

Allow me to introduce you to Desert Xpress. Click here for their website. Desert Xpress is a private company dedicated to bringing high speed train service from Victorville CA to Las Vegas NV without any taxpayers dollars being used. We know how well our government handles our money right, lol.

What does this new service mean to Victorville and the surrounding cities of Hesperia, Adelanto, Apple Valley and Barstow? It means:

1. More business
2. Higher property values
3. Jobs

Ok people what are you waiting for???

You know you have been wanting to purchase your own home for a long long time. You need to get off that fence and just do it. This is a buyers market and market conditions have never been better for the first time home buyer in a long time. Don't let this opportunity pass you by.

Fire your LANDLORD and be like one!!

Right now we have:

• Rock Bottom Home Prices - We haven't seen these prices since the early 90's
  
• Super low interest rates in the 5% range
• Low down payment opportunities

If you have all of the following you can buy your own home:

1. A decent, honest and stable job.
2. Down payment of at least 3.5%. For instance if you find a house for $150,000 all would need to come up with is $5,250 plus closing costs. In some instances the seller can pay your closing costs. Sell that dirt bike or baseball card collection. eBay the junk you have collecting in the garage. When you do move into your new house you don't want to haul that old junk over there so get to selling that junk and raise that down payment.
3. Decent credit. Yes you do not need perfect credit nowadays. You might be asking well what's decent and what's not? Call me up and we can go over your credit. I'll be happy to let you know.