Lodi / Stockton CA Homes For Sale & Real Estate Information

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Summer brings with it abundant sunshine, fresh foods and fun activities which is why the season inspires many people to be happy and healthy.

Chelsie Hightower, the Emmy-nominated professional dancer from the hit show “Dancing with the Stars,” has put together some healthy lifestyle tips:

1. Make healthy meal choices. “I personally love sushi. Fish and vegetables are essential for my weekly protein, and it’s even healthier with brown rice,” says Hightower.

2. Hop in a steam bath. After working out, steam helps relax sore muscles and boost your immune system.

3. Use summer as a reason to try new activities. Take hikes, go swimming, or learn yoga.

4. Keep a food journal. Once you see everything you eat written down in front of you, it’s easier to make more realistic goals and changes.

5. Dance to your own beat. Realize that no two body types are the same and what works on others won’t necessary work for you.

6. Make healthy food more interesting with unique and delicious recipes. ”I enjoy finding recipes online and then trying them at home. Old London has some great recipes on their Facebook page,” Hightower says.

And while you’re out enjoying the nice weather, don’t hesitate to contact us here at Realty World Premier Associates if you’d like to do some summer-time home shopping as well.  Many home prices in the Lodi, Stockton and surrounding Central Valley areas are making mortgage payments even lower than what you’re paying for rent right now.

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.

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

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

There are many ways of trying to get out of paying a debt.  One of those debts is a home mortgage.  Many people are struggling these days to pay their mortgage due to higher payment amounts due to rate increases, or loss of income, divorce, medical bills, etc.

But I came across one individual that thought she would just eat her house and then since there would no longer be a house, then of course there would be no longer a mortgage, right?

I’m thinking that it’s not that easy. Eating this gingerbread house might make Ciara’s imaginary debt go away, but once she’s done with it she’ll have the worst stomach ache EVER!

The situation that many people are in today with deciding whether to just walk away from their real mortgage and let the bank foreclose, or to perhaps talk to a Realtor like me and see if trying to do a Short Sale is enough to cause anyone to have a stomach ache as well.

I always recommend that everyone talk to a Certified Public Accountant (if you’re in the Stockton, CA area the best is Peter Holtz) or to a real estate attorney, or both.

As a real estate professional I do not give legal advice, nor do I sell home loans.  I sell homes for sellers and find great deals for home buyers in the central valley of CA, mainly in the Lodi and Stockton areas.

Bottom line, as a homeowner you have options if you are upside down with your mortgage.  Whatever you do, don’t resort to eating your house.  Be sure and seek out the advice from the professionals and make sure that you open all mail pertaining to your home, and save everything that you get in one place for easy access.

I hope you all have a Happy Holiday Season!

Sincerely,

Randy

Halloween is over, but the trail of empty candy wrappers lingers on.  (And so does the trail of ants!)

The stores are all dressed up for the holidays and ready for the crowd of holiday shoppers.  But just because they built them (displays), will they come?

With the constant reminder of a downward Stockton area real estate market, and upward unemployment, will the hoards of holiday shoppers still rush out, stand in long lines, and hand over their hard-earned cash (or credit cards) on purchases they may not need or even want, but want to buy anyways out of obligation or sheer joy of holiday shopping?

I’m thinking YES!

People, myself included, usually enjoy the magic of the winter holidays and all the dressings in the windows, and the sparkling lights at night.  It kind of puts us in the mood to share what our current emotions are with the ones we love and care for.  Sometimes even for the ones we just like. 

What I’d really love to see this year is more thought put into gift-giving by not having someone get me whatever was new or on sale, but actually what our relationship means to each other.  I love homemade cards and gifts.  To me that’s putting some real thought into what our relationship is.

We don’t always have the time, or the talent, to make elaborate handmade gifts, but an individual card with a personal message may be all it takes to make someone’s holiday just that much more special and enjoyable.

With all the stress of the holidays, even Santa needs therapy.

Happy Holidays to all of us!

Another major lender has decided to stop foreclosures…for now.  JP Morgan Chase will stop their foreclosure process on homes temporarily so they can review their files for errors.  GMAC was the first big lender to do this.

Will this slow down the process or bring it to a grinding halt for much longer than they anticipate?  If they’re looking for errors, then perhaps it could take longer than they expect.  I’m thinking that might be like looking for a needle in a needle stack. 

Will this slow down the Short Sale process in cities like Stockton, CA as well or will these big lenders put the skids on that as well?

I’ll be right here on the edge of my seat waiting for the chips to fall, spaghetti to stick, or any other way with great anticipation.

What do you think this will do to our current timelines that already seem to last longer than a Texas mile?  Do you think there will be a major increase in lawsuits as a result from all the upcoming confusion and discovered errors?

I recently wrote about the Downtown Lodi Farmers Market as being one of the many draws for Lodi, CA as well as many other cities around the country.  Now I’d like to introduce you to our annual Lodi Grape Festival that is running tomorrow, Sept 16, through this coming Sunday, Sept 19.

There will be a carnival, petting zoo, reptile exhibit, many area businesses on display, concerts, fair food, art show, etc., etc.. 

You’ll want to come early and stay late, and enjoy everything that the Lodi Grape Festival has to offer.  Advanced purchase of tickets is recommended if you don’t want to stand in line to enter.

For more information on the Lodi Grape Festival regarding it’s location, hours it’s open, etc. then CLICK HERE.

What will the festival do for the local real estate market?  I’m hopeful that the people attending the festival from out of the area will see what a wonderful community we have here in Lodi, CA, and perhaps consider moving to Lodi and maybe even buying one of the many homes for sale here in town.  There are great deals on Short Sales and REO foreclosures in Lodi as well as Stockton, Galt, Lockeford, and surrounding areas.  The market is all about supply and demand.  We have a good supply and some areas are in high demand.

Make it a great day and week!

Randy

Strawberries, Pumpkins, and Bagels, Oh My! And a Squirrel?

If you’re fortunate enough to have a local farmers market where you work

and/or live, then congrats to you!  Make sure then that you visit it and visit it often.

Well, I’m lucky enough to not only have a local downtown farmer’s market in town, but it’s actually only 4 blocks from my office.  So, I decided to take a quick break earlier this evening and stroll on down there and see what was fresh.  Uh, just about EVERYTHING!  I mean, that IS the whole idea isn’t it?

I tasted a few different products such as black bean spicy hummas, garlic marinated olives, and some fire-roasted corn on the cob.  Before I left I ended up purchasing some freshly picked sweet strawberries, a loaf or

cranberry-pumpkin bread, and some Italian pizza bagels.

While walking back with my bag of tasty goodies, I came upon a squirrel drinking out of a puddle of water that a sprinkler had created.  I watched a few moments and then as I started to walk closer to him, he darted up a nearby tree, but only seemed to go far enough out of reach, but still remained close enough to either head back down to the drinking hole, or perhaps could smell what I had and wanted to wait and see if I’d be leaving any food behind.  Either way, I took out my trusty iPhone 4 once again and snapped a quick photo and I think he knew what I was doing because he just sat there while I snapped a few photos.

I really enjoyed my little trip to our Downtown Lodi Farmers Market this week, and I’m looking forward to visiting it again next week since the weekly event ends this month until next year.  So, check your local events calendar and see if you have a farmers market in your area and go see for yourself what goodies or wildlife you might find.

Also remember that we not only have great deals on homes for sale in the Lodi and Stockton area local real estate market, but we also have great local events as well.  Lodi is a beautiful place to live, work, and shop.