The BEST time to buy homes in CA

Yep, According to all the market indicators NOW is the best time to buy property in California in the past 4 years.

According to financial analysts in the Real Estate market, homes in CA have re-adjusted from 20% - 40%.

The days of our homes being worth so much more than they 'really' are is over. But, this isn't saying that the declining market trends are finished. A financial analysis firm, Global Insight thinks that we could be below historic norms by the end of this year.

Market indicators show that there are still 21 housing markets (or 6% over all the nation) that are still severly over valued, which includes Madera CA - so don't try and buy there yet! At the peak of 2006 housing bubble - there were 56 overvalued markets. So that shows improvement.

Across the nation, the biggest gains in affordability (that means the biggest drops in home prices) occurred in California, Michigan and Florida. Of course, in contrast to this the most under-valued homes are in Louisiana and Texas.

Based on my own experiences - I have seen homes as low as $1,500 yes - that is One-thousand-Five-hundred-dollars - that are on the market for 6 months before anyone can buy them. Why? I don't really know - the homes appear in average condition.

So, buy the 'dip'... Oh, the best part is the Federal Housing Administration raised the limits on mortgages it guarantees to $729,750 in LA and OC. To get perspective - the previous limit was $362,790. FHA has really attractive 1st time home buyer programs and lower overall rates on mortgages.

The only downside to this whole thing is that you have to have really GOOD credit --why is that a downside? Because most Americans are financially irresponsible; with debt to income ratios that exceed minimum standards to qualify for loans and credit scores in the low 700's (FICO). The national average in 2006 for bankruptcy rates was 360 for every 100,000 population.

Upside - if you want to buy a home this year, stop using credit, pay off your debt, save up a 20% down and buy the home towards the end of the year.

(note to Michelle - notice, no stolen images...)

I used to love this show...

My kids would ALWAYS watch this show -

Did you?

May can't come soon enough!

I have been readin'

I have been a part of a large discussion around the book of Daniel - specifically, Daniel 9.

And then I see this ad....



I don't know about you - but this sounds like WORSHIP to me...

And I don't know about you - but if you close your eyes you can hear them chanting - Osama! Osama! Osama!

Seriously...

I don't know about you, but does this image:


Look like this image:

Accroding to the Catholic population that shop at the Stanton Indoor Swapmeet - it is close enough to warrant a shrine. Look at the effort that these folks go to to erect a shrine to an icon.

...I don't know what else to say!

YUM!

I think I know where I am going for my birthday!

check it out.

While trying to actually formulate an opinion on the previous post.. I was doing my 'due dilligence' and stumbled on this blog - which is a redirect from the website surfacestations.org.

http://www.norcalblogs.com/watts/weather_stations/

Basically - supporting the fact that Global warming is a 'man made' concern.

(Like I needed proof!)

Here are two of my favorite photos from the website - yeah, these give accurate temperature measurements!

Some things that make me scratch my head...

I subscribe to the "Barna Update" which is published electronically by the Barna Group - who is the Barna Group - this is from their web page.

The Barna Group provides primary research (through The Barna Research Group); printed resources (through BarnaBooks, an imprint of Tyndale); leadership development; spiritual training; and church facilitation and enhancement. We seek to use our strengths in partnership with Christian ministries and individuals to be a catalyst in moral and spiritual transformation in the United States. We accomplish these outcomes by providing vision, information, strategy, evaluation and resources.

Anyway...

A recent 'update' came out listing the latest research on Americans and their moral and social concerns. Barna identifies 10 top concerns. Here is the content that makes me scratch my head wondering why people are thinking they way they do...

Americans are troubled by a diverse palette of concerns. Three types of issues are of particular concern, perceived as "major" problems facing the country by three-quarters of the population. Those included poverty (78%), the personal debt of individual Americans (78%), and HIV/AIDS (76%).

A quartet of issues emerged as moderate concerns, including illegal immigration (60% of adults said this is a major problem facing the country), global warming (57%), abortion (50%), and the content of television and movies (45%).

Following that, homosexuality was identified as a major problem facing the nation by about one out of every three Americans. This issue was assessed with the use of two questions to determine if Americans have different degrees of concerns about "homosexual lifestyles" or the "political efforts of homosexual activists." One-third of Americans said they were significantly concerned about "activists" (35%) and the same proportion felt "lifestyles" (35%) were of major concern. In fact, out of more than sixty different subgroups reviewed, there were no differences of opinion on these two survey questions, suggesting that the two issues may be linked in Americans' minds.

Christians have garnered both criticism and skepticism in the aftermath of recent elections. Will there be a backlash against Christian voters this November? To help gauge that possibility, the study also examined the percentage of Americans who said they believed "the political efforts of conservative Christians" are a major problem facing the country. While this was the least significant of the 10 issues explored, nearly one out of every four Americans (23%) - representing about 51 million adults - described this factor as a major source of distress.

How do Christian voters rank these issues?

The nation's 68 million registered voters who are born again Christians were most concerned about personal indebtedness (79%), poverty (78%), and HIV/AIDS (77%) - levels similar to that of other voters. However, born again Christians emerged as distinct from other voters in relation to many other issues. They are more concerned than were non-born again adults about illegal immigration (68%), abortion (67%), the content of television and movies (60%), homosexual lifestyles (51%), and homosexual activists (49%).

The subset of evangelicals (representing about 15 million of the born again voters) displayed a significantly different view on many issues. Evangelicals' top concern - by a wide margin - was abortion (94%). This was followed by the personal debt of Americans (81%), the content of television and movies (79%), homosexual activists (75%), and gay and lesbian lifestyles (75%). Evangelicals were more likely than other adults to be concerned about illegal immigration, but they were less worried about HIV/AIDS than virtually any other segment of the population. One of the most significant differences of opinion expressed in the survey was the skepticism evangelicals harbor toward global warming (only 33% identified it as a major issue) compared to the rest of the population.

Since this is a 'political' year - Barna breaks down the details along party lines:

• Out of the 10 issues assessed in the research, born again Republicans are most concerned about Americans’ personal indebtedness (80%) and abortion (80%), while non-born again Republicans are most concerned about debt (74%), HIV/AIDS (68%), poverty (66%) and immigration (65%).
  



• Born again Democrats are most likely to identify HIV/AIDS (86%) and poverty (86%) as major problems facing America. These are the same top-two concerns identified among non-born again Democrats (85% and 84%, respectively).
  



• Born agains who are registered as Independent are most concerned with personal debt levels (77%) and poverty (72%). Interestingly, these are also the leading concerns among non-born again Independents (75% and 77%, respectively).
  



• As expected, born again members of the GOP are significantly more concerned than are born again Democrats about abortion (80% versus 58%), media content (69% versus 48%), homosexual activists (61% versus 38%), and homosexual lifestyles (58% versus 43%). However, born again Democrats are more likely to be concerned than are non-born again Republicans about abortion, media content and same-sex relationships.
  



• As for denominational connections, Catholics and Protestants showed very similar levels of concern in relation to each of the 10 issues. The only exceptions pertained to global warming (an issue of slightly greater concern to Catholics, 59% to 52%) and homosexual activism and lifestyles (each of which was twice as worrisome to Protestants). A majority of both Catholics (52%) and Protestants (56%) described abortion as a major problem.

This report is based upon nationwide telephone surveys conducted by The Barna Group with random samples of adults, age 18 and older. These surveys were conducted in January 2007 and July-August 2007. The January survey involved interviews with 1007 adults; the August survey included 1004 adults. The maximum margin of sampling error associated with the aggregate sample for each of those surveys is ±3.2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. Statistical weighting was used to calibrate the sample to known population percentages in relation to demographic variables.

So, out of the 10 'top concerns' that Barna defined in his survey - what would you rank on top?

(In no particular order)

1. Poverty



2. Personal Debt of individual Americans



3. HIV/AIDS



4. Abortion



5. Content of TV and Movies



6. Homosexuality (lifestyle)



7. Political efforts of Homosexual Activists



8. Illegal immigration



9. Global Warming



10. The Political efforts of Conservative Christians
    

Seriously... one of the best... FAITH

Seriously -
This is one of the funniest, thought provoking, shallow and deep TV shows.

I like it!




Eli Stone
ABC, 10pm.

Funeral for a Friend

This morning Dawn & I went to the funeral of a friend of mine. David James Cranford. I met Dave when he came to work at Argent Mortgage. Dave left Argent months before I did - but we kept in contact and we were friends. A couple of us had a nick-name for him, "Turd Ferguson" - what... why that name, well if you have ever seen Saturday Night Live, you will know what I am talking about. "Turd Ferguson", that's a funny name.



Dave loved that...

At the funeral, during the eulogy and while listening to the family 'storytellers' I found myself wondering about death - funerals and the like - which I am sure that many people in attendance were doing as well.

But, I had a rather distressing phone call this morning from a good friend that is struggling with some personal stuff right now - which really had me thinking about how God works in the lives of those who serve him and those who don't.

As far as I knew - from my many talks with Dave (since he sat next to me at Argent) he never really admitted to knowing who Jesus was - in fact, he commented on various occasions about how my relationship is 'good for me' but he didn't have the same relationship. I tried to plant that seed, to walk with him as did our manager, Jeff. But, Dave was a strong willed man - he would choose when he wanted.

I was very saddened to hear of his death, knowing that - for as much as I knew - Dave didn't know Jesus - and being a Christ follower, I know what that means when you die.

Dave's family (wife's family) is Mormon, but he was not. During the 'comforting words' talk at the funeral there were statements like, "Now that Dave has moved on to the next level" and when the speaker took the opportunity to tell everyone where Dave is right now, he spoke of a 'place' where the soul and body are detached from each other, until Jesus rejoins them as one. The speaker quoted scripture - but still it felt odd. Odd because it wasn't true. Dave isn't there.

Now as Christ followers I know what happens at death - but I also know that during our lives, Jesus gives us the opportunity to grow in our faith with him through trials, both good and bad. So my thoughts (and prayers) turn to my good friend who is struggling - knowing that he is in God's favor - even though it doesn't feel like it - don't you hate it when God is doing something so big in your life that when he rocks your world you try to run from it - but can't. It is during that time my Calvinism comes in handy - I know a Sovereign God and I know a God that irresistibly calls us to him (those he chooses) and I know a God that knows we are human, frail, full of sin and fault and thus only He can give us the grace we don't deserve. As humans, we are full of fault and blame and fall into sin - we trip on our sanctity robes all the time. Fall flat on our face. Sometimes even trip others around us. Or, worse yet, fall on innocent people when we trip. But you know what comforts me? Knowing Jesus Christ - and knowing that He knows me. Blessed Assurance.

So, as I sat there in the 1970's looking pew at Saddleback Chapel's Funeral's and Crematorium, I realized - We Christ followers lead a tough life - filled with challenge and at the same time, loaded with grace. And on the day we are called home, we will be rejoicing with the Christ followers that have gone before us. Those who do not serve our Lord however, may have what appear to be joyful lives - yet have an eternity of...

Nothing.

So I was comforted in that thought...
...and even more deeply saddened that David James Cranford may not be there.

Lunar Eclipse Tonight

Depending on where you are you may be able to see a RED Moon tonight!

On Wednesday, February 20, 2008, beginning at 7:01 p.m. PST, the moon will move completely under the shadow of the Earth in a total lunar eclipse. The eclipse can be seen in the Americas, Europe, and Africa. Hope for good weather because the next total lunar eclipse won't happen until December 2010. The moon will be completely under Earth's shadow for about 50 minutes. During this time, the moon won't be completely obscured because of indirect light coming from the Earth's atmosphere. But the moon will appear to change colors from light gray to orange or deep red. The shade depends on the amount of dust and clouds in the Earth's atmosphere. Caption and Graphic Credit: NASA TV – Sequence Image Credit: F. Espenak

The whole KITT and kaboodle...

Ok, I just forced my family (yes, including Mike) to watch the DVR'd series premiere of Knight Rider.

I loved it. I didn't know how much I knew about the infamous Michael Knight and the Knight Industries Two Thousand (K.I.T.T.) car... until I found myself putting the show on 'pause' to explain to my two children who the original was (my son's jaw dropped when I told him the original was the 'Hoff...), what his mission was, who F.L.A.G is (the foundation for law and government) and the entire KITT team.

Anyway - I sure am glad I DVR'd the whole thing cuz the commercials would have turned my stomach - that aside, the serious product placement was getting out of control with all the Fords everywhere and the constant close up's of the Ford logo, sheesh - and me being a GM man (yeah, I know I drive a Dodge - but come on Cummins kicks serious boo-tay) was very saddened by the replacement of the original Firebird

with a Mustang -

But hey, if you are going to replace a GM - you do it with a Shelby GT500KR - right!

I like that 'Doc Holiday' (Val Kilmer) graces the show with his voice for the car. Overall, to be honest, the car is the best part of the whole show.

Guess who's (or is it whose) birthday is today.

No.. Not Lincoln or Washington - although it is "President's Day"...



It's hers....



do you remember her... do you know who it is?

If I tell you - you will feel really, really OLD.


She just turned 40

...along with

Dr. Dre (43)
Matt Dillon (44)
Vanna White (51)
John Travolta (54)
Cybill Shepard (58)
Yoko Ono (75)


give up yet.. or have you guessed?


It is Molly Ringwald...

remember

Apple bottom jeans and the boots with the fur....

I have been trying to find a way to get this song on my blog - it happens to be my favorite right now...

Then I stumbled on this ad... which really showcases the reason why I like this song - it makes me dance... yeah, sorta like the 'kids' in the video... best you just watch it...



I saw the original movie and love it. Now I want to see this one - it opened valentine's day - but I had other plans...

Valentine's Day, actually Night

Well, the dudes took the ladies out for a night of GREAT food and even better company.

I hired a car to pick up the group...

and take us to "the Melting Pot" for their special Valentine's Dinner. We enjoyed a 5 course meal and an evening with great friends. Seriously, if you have never eaten here - you have missed true "dining".

Darrenn really began to enjoy himself on the ride home....

Thanks for the great night Darren & Jenny and Tim & Michelle!

The PRESIDENT signed the "Stimulus Package"

What does it mean when you have a REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT - a president that is concerned with the nation's economy. Ok all you haters out there...

The Fed. Stimulus Package

President Bush signed the Fed. Stimulus Package today.

This should bring new loan business.

1. FHA......

New loan limits of 125% of median price with a max. of$729.750. Reverse mortgages, 203(k) loans and standard loans shouldincrease.

2. Conforming Loan Limits.....

Could be raised to as high as $725,000.

3. Tax Rebates......

More cash for buyers! $300 to $1,200

4. Refinances....

Will become affordable again!Plus....

5. FHA Secure....

Helping owners with teaser rates to refinance.

6. Project "Lifeline".....

Some homeowners will be given the opportunityto put the foreclosure process on hold for 30 days while lenders work outa way to make the mortgage more affordable.

Update on the Strike

...and now for some important news:

In case you have read every book in the library and are wondering when TV will return to it's regularly scheduled programming...

I stumbled on this post: When do our shows come back?

Comedies will return to the air first after the strike ends, because of shorter production schedules and leftover scripts, while serialized dramas take longest. Most shows will return from mid- to late April with four to six new episodes.

A partial list:Expected to return with new episodes this spring
•Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
•Desperate Housewives (ABC)
•The CSIs (CBS)
•Ugly Betty (ABC)
•House (Fox)
•ER (NBC)
•Two and a Half Men (CBS)
•The Law & Orders (NBC)
•Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
•Big Bang Theory (CBS)
•Lost (ABC)
•Criminal Minds (CBS)
•The Office (NBC)
•30 Rock (NBC)
•My Name Is Earl (NBC)
•Without a Trace (CBS)
•Cold Case (CBS)
•Samantha Who? (ABC)
•NCIS (CBS)
•Gossip Girl (CW)

Back, but not until later
•Pushing Daisies (ABC)
•Dirty Sexy Money (ABC)
•Private Practice (ABC)
•Chuck (NBC)
•Life (NBC)
•Heroes (NBC)
•24 (Fox)

Gone for good
•Big Shots (ABC)
•Bionic Woman (NBC)
•Cane (CBS)
•Cavemen (ABC)
•Carpoolers (ABC)
•Journeyman (NBC)
•K-Ville (Fox)

TV Guide is keeping an up-to-the-hour update on the shows... here is what they say...

24 -Season 7 likely postponed until January '09.
30 Rock -Expected to shoot 5 to 10 new episodes to air in April/May.
Chuck -No new episodes until fall.
Criminal Minds -Expected to shoot 4 to 9 new episodes to air in March/April/May.
CSI -Expected to shoot 4 to 8 new episodes to air in March/April/May.
CSI: Miami -Expected to shoot 4 to 9 new episodes to air in March/April/May.
Heroes -No new episodes expected until fall.
House -Expected to shoot 4 to 6 new episodes to air in April/May.
Lost -Six pre-strike episodes remain. Five additional episodes could air this season.
NCIS -Expected to shoot 5 to 9 new episodes to air in March/April/May.
The Office -Expected to shoot 6 new episodes to air in April/May.
Pushing Daisies -No new episodes until fall.

Huge discussion... simple answer...

Well, at the LOST season premiere we all had our opinions of who was in "Jacob's Chair".

Well many websites, blogs and discussion boards have posted this picture...

There is a conversation with Hurley himself here. Where he reveals that it is Jack's dad in the chair.

But why?

The other question we discussed was, "Who's eye was that in Jacob's house?"

Check out this website for possible answers and a very clean HD clip that shows the whole face of the person - I still can't tell who it was.

Stuff to ponder.

I wanted to know which candidate I really agree with the most so, I took this quiz and got this result.

	John McCain Score: 70	Agree Iraq Taxes Stem-Cell Research Health Care Abortion Social Security Line-Item Veto Energy Death Penalty Gun Control Environment Education	Disagree Immigration Marriage
-- Take the Quiz! --

Huckabee was 2nd with a 62% agreement.

It was no surprise at all that I am in 5% agreement with Hillary (she is on the bottom of the list) and we only see eye for an eye (I mean eye to eye) on the death penalty.

How do you compare to your favorite candidate(s)?

Does anyone wonder....

Whatever happened to this guy?



Didn't think so...