Lodi / Stockton CA Homes For Sale & Real Estate Information

I don’t normally post things like this, but I felt very compelled to share this video after viewing it myself.

Burzynski: Cancer Is Serious Business from BurzynskiMovie on Vimeo.

Grilling season will arrive before you know it. Before firing up the grill for spring festivities or tailgating, however, weekend warriors should observe a few simple precautions to ensure that backyard barbecue bashes don’t go up in flames.

Casual cookouts can turn dangerous — and sometimes deadly — if safety is ignored, according to MetLife Auto & Home. Follow these easy pointers to make grilling safer:
* Keep barbecue grills on a level surface away from the house, garage and, most importantly, children and pets.

* For gas grills, always store gas cylinders outside and away from your house and be sure the valves are turned off when not in use.

Image via Wikipedia

* For charcoal grills, use only starter fluids designed for your grill and never use gasoline.

* Keep a fire extinguisher accessible and never leave a grill unattended once it has been lit. If an extinguisher isn’t available, consider keeping a bucket of sand or a garden hose nearby.

Related articles

• How to Shop for an Outdoor Grill (thekitchn.com)

It’s time for the 7th Annual ZinFest in Lodi, CA coming this May 13-15th.   There will be tons of festivities, fun, wonderful food, and of course plenty of wines from many of the local vintners.  This will surely be a festival that will provide the adults that are still young at heart with lots to do and enjoy.

This is Lodi’s premier wine tasting event and has grown in popularity over the last few years.  It attracts wine enthusiasts and fun lovers from all around.

The festivities of Vintner’s Grille at the Lake will start at Lodi Lake on Friday the 13th, yes that’s right, I said Friday the 13th, from 6pm-9pm at the lovely Lodi Lake on Turner Rd.   If anything, at least show up to see what happens at a small town lake on Friday the 13th just for fun.  HA!

The fun continues as the actual Wine Festival on Saturday the 14th (not as scary sounding) from noon – 6pm, still at Lodi Lake.  There will be 250 handcrafted wines from 50 local Lodi wineries.

Then on Sunday the 15th (not scary at all) ZinFest wraps up with self-guided tours and open houses of participating local wineries.

There are different ticket prices for the Friday and Saturday events, and Sunday is a no-charge day to tour the wineries.

Visit this ZINFEST website for all the details on tickets, locations, participating wineries, etc.

If you attend, BE SAFE and HAVE FUN! And while you’re in town and would like to view any homes for sale in Lodi area, I’d be delighted to assist.  Perhaps we’ll even find you a property that has wine grapes growing on it and you can really be a part of the 8th Annual ZinFest next year. 

Related articles

• $35 ZinFest Tickets for our Wine Club Members (langetwins.com)

I’ve lived in and around Lodi, CA for a very long time and it’s not too often that we have a lot of options when it comes to shopping. Oh, we have our much loved Kohl’s, Target, and Wal-Mart, but just shy of venturing out to the malls in Stockton, Modesto or Sacramento, sometimes I’d like a little variety.

Well here it comes in the form of a brand new Costco being built in the Reynolds Ranch area of Lodi at the corner of Harney Ln and Hwy 99 Frontage Rd.

I’ve even heard that there may be a Best Buy and/or a Home Depot to join in on the same center location.  I don’t need the Home Depot, but a Best Buy would surely be fun!

For now let’s just get this new Costco completed and open for business.  I’m ready for all it has to offer, which will most likely be at the end of this summer.  Can I get an “Open, open, open!?”

Oh, and by the way, there will be a gas station included as well at this location, which is fine as long as it’s not taking up the space where Best Buy should be going.  LOL!

What will this do for the real estate needs in Lodi?  Will the upcoming new employees already be here or will some of the expected 300 employees need a really great Realtor® to help them find a new home?  I’m hoping for the latter since it would only help with the current available homes that need a new owner to fill in the gaps in our current real estate market.  There are many great real estate deals with all of the Short Sales in Lodi as well as the ones in Stockton, not to mention the bank owned foreclosures, and even a few traditional owner sales.

Let us know if you are excited about the new Lodi Costco, or if you think it’s making our quaint little wine community too commercial.

Back in the “old days”, it was the ‘American Dream’ to not only buy a home, but also to actually pay off that debt.

There were actually “Note-burning” parties.  You would gather all your friends and family around so they could watch you burn your mortgage note papers once you paid off your loan.  I’ve heard from many people over the years that attended those parties and how exciting it was for the host.

It seems that no one ever pays off their mortgage these days.  Is it because of the amount of the loan, or the fact that no one stays in any one home long enough like families used to?  I would say it’s a combination of both.

If you’re one of the few that are in a situation that gives you the option of paying off your mortgage because you’re nearing the end of the loan term or if you’ve come into some money and you could now afford to just pay off your mortgage bill and have that awesome feeling of not writing that nasty old loan payment each and every month, then here is an article with some information that might give you some insight as to what decision would be best in your situation…
READ ARTICLE HERE.

I’d love to know if you’ve ever paid off a mortgage and if you are glad you did or regret it.  Leave a comment or shoot me an email.

So what exactly do you have planned for this Valentine’s Day weekend that would not only be fun, but tasty and romantic?

Well, how about visiting the 14th Annual Wine & Chocolate Weekend event going on in Lodi, CA that’ll be going on this coming weekend at over 40 participating local wineries. Tickets are only $45 in advance or $55 at the door.  You’ll receive an event wine glass, commemorative chocolate tin, an event map and guide, wine tasting and admission to the 40 plus participating wineries.  And if that wasn’t enough, be sure to check out your tins for a chance to win one of over 100 prizes when yours has a “Golden Ticket” inside.

For more info, where to buy tickets, and anything else you’ll need to know, visit their website at: http://www.lodiwineandchocolate.com/

If you’re staying in the area long enough and you’re interested in checking out what’s going on in the local real estate market, feel free to SEARCH HERE for what’s available and don’t hesitate to call us with any questions you might have.

Have fun, be safe and maybe I’ll see you out on the tour!

Hoping all of you and your loved ones have a very Happy Valentine’s Day!

Randy

As I was driving past the future site of DeBenedetti Park the other day, I noticed a new addition (see below) to the ongoing progress to what will no doubt be a major attraction to the City of Lodi and welcomed by all sports fans, and even park and playground attendees.

I can see this future athletic field from my front porch.  No, I don’t live right next to the field, but I do live in Legacy Estates, which is close enough to it on the other side of Larson Elementary School playground so that I have a clear view of it.

There has been much talk over the last few years about what all this park will provide not only for the people that will be attending sporting events etc here, but also what will be the highlights for the actual City of Lodi itself.

Here is an article from our local paper, The News Sentinel, that will explain and provide much of the information regarding timelines of completion, etc.

Oh, and as for that new addition.  Check out this snazzy new entrance gate that will be the gateway to some exciting events and lots of fun for sure for all who enter here.

Will the addition of this amazing park provide a boost to Lodi’s real estate along with the City’s economy in general?  I’m thinking that it definitely will be a much better positive than a negative, and I for one am looking forward to all that this park will provide personally and business wise.

So keep on the lookout for more updates about this park’s progress and all it will offer to everyone that visits it.

I came across this quote recently and I really liked it, so I thought that I’d share it with you…

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.  Attitude, to me, is more important than the facts.

It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.  It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill.  It will make or break a company…a church…a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.  We cannot change our past, we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way.  We cannot change the inevitable.  The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.

I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens and 90 percent how I react to it.  And so it is with you – we are in charge of our attitudes

-Charles Swindoll

It would be So awesome to be able to spend New Year’s Eve in Paris under the Eiffel Tower one year. 

I’ve also wanted to even drudge through Times Square on this eventful night, but that might be a nightmare in the making.

But since we found out our daughter has Uveitis, which is an inflammation of the inner eye, it looks like we’ll be spending the evening at home putting in special eye drops every waking hour as prescribed by the ophthalmologist this week.  It was pretty painful for her at first as well as sensitivity to light, which explains the really cool sunglasses she picked out. 

So for this New Year’s Eve we will live vicariously through our friends who are out celebrating somewhere fun and exciting, but in the end I will be very happy knowing that we are all safe and sound at home and little Ciara is being taken care of and our family can all be together playing, watching movies, enjoying sparkling cider at the stroke of midnight, etc.

I’m looking forward to great things happening in 2011.  For one, I am starting January 1st with a new broker.  I’ll still be in the Realty World family, which I love very much, but with a different broker.

My original broker, Steve Davis, and I shared a wonderful six years working together selling homes in the Lodi and Stockton areas of California.  He taught me to be the agent that I am now.  He was very patient, helpful, educating, my coach, mentor, and most of all my close friend.

Good-bye 2010, I will miss you!  And hello 2011, I am happy to meet you!

From my family to yours, we hope you all have a very safe and Happy New Year.

Sincerely,

Randy Elliott