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How Can the Subprime Mortgage Mess<br>Impact You in Los Gatos?
2007-08-19 15:43:00
Here in Los Gatos and in Silicon Valley, Countrywide is a mortgage company - it sells loans. You don't see Countrywide Bank on street corners here or anywhere in northern California. Recently the lending institution, Countrywide, known to all of us, was "downgraded" and some economists are not seeing a cheery future for that company. Last week, the LA Times wrote that  it went from bad to worse as there was a bit of a run on Countrywide bank in southern California. Public vote: no confidence. How can that impact you? Countrywide is the largest provider of home loans in the nation. It is having to make fewer and fewer loans (more so now that it had to borrow money to cash out some customers). In short, the money supply is tightening - even more. With real estate, it is all about supply and demand. Home buyers are really purchasing both a home and a loan (in my career I've worked with two "all cash" buyers in 14.5 years). When the money supply shrin...
More About: Mortgage , Subprime , Prime , Rime

Nice Article about an Inspiring Los Gatos Woman: Peggy Flemming
2007-08-18 06:48:00
There are a lot of cool people in Los Gatos , and some of them are actually famous. You can go to Wikipedia or other places to get a partial list of the high-profile people who live here or have lived here. I tend to avoid naming names on this blog because I figure most of those folks would rather just try to live a normal life and be somewhat incognito. Yes, most of the famous people - I believe - really just want to be treated like regular folks (at least most of the time). Fame can be a great thing, but it can also be a terrible thing. It's terrible when you cannot enjoy a restaurant meal or just go shopping "like a normal person" because people won't leave you alone. It's also a downer when you aren't really sure who your friends are because so many just want to hang on your coattails because you're doing well and in the spotlight.  It is a nightmare when paparazzi have you in their sites and microanalyze your every move or people follow you in your car...
More About: Article , Woman , Nice , Ming

What is Adverse Possession?
2007-08-15 07:27:00
Last week, I did a post on easements and promised to do a followup on adverse possession. My intention had been to do it sooner, but we were on a trip (seeing colleges and relatives out of state) and upon my return there was an awful lot of realty work that needed my very immediate attention. So please pardon my delay in explaining this concept. In the discussion on easements, I explained that a prescriptive easment can happen if someone uses your property notoriously & conspicuously over a period of years without interruption. With adverse possesion, it goes one step further. Not only does a person use another's land notoriously, conspicuously, without interruption and for a period of years, but additionally that same person pays the taxes on the same land. By doing so, eventually the hostile takeover with taxes paid can result in a transfer of title! Every state has a law about the amount of time required and other factors, and in California the timefram...
More About: Possession

On This Day in the History of Los Gatos
2007-08-10 14:50:00
Happy Birthday, Los Gatos !! The Town of Los Gatos was incorporated 120 years ago today, August 10, 1887, with 1 square mile (100 acres) on either side of the Los Gatos Creek. Today the town includes about 12 square miles. Other Happenings in 1887 (though not August 10th) That was a busy year, and a significant one, for Los Gatos. Also in 1887 the Almond Grove District was created with 170 lots - 121 of which were all auctioned off in one day! And again in that same year, Albert Vollmer settled on a prune ranch in what is now known as Vasona Park. Vollmer is the one responsible for the name Vasona. As a child, he had a pony by that name, When he later arranged for a whistle stop at his ranch (so that his daughter could commute by rail to her job in San Jose), he dubbed the stop "Vasona".
More About: History , Tory , S Day