Happy Friday

Meal prepping for workweek success

Philly Cheesesteak bake – leftover grilled steak with peppers, onions, mushrooms, Worcestershire and mozzarella (no provolone on hand) – sautéed the veggies, added the diced, cooked steak, 1-2 TBSP Worcestershire, put into a casserole, topped with cheese and baked 15 minutes at 350°.

Crustless quiche with egg, spinach, artichoke, turkey sausage, cheddar, pepperoni and a few diced jalapeños. Baked at 350° for 30 minutes.

I separated both dishes into several individual Tupperware dishes for easy workweek breakfast and lunches. Being prepared really helps Jason and I stay on track.

Galligans Head East Day 4

Today is the day we arrive at Mom’s in Indiana!!

We woke up in Missouri early and ready for our 6 hour drive. By far the shortest leg of our trip. We were on the road by 8:00 ready to end the tireless driving as quickly as possible.

We saw St Louis from the freeway. We drove right by the famous arch, and the Busch stadium.

Just past this very old and interesting city we went over the Mississippi River and the Illinois state line.

Illinois had a lot of truck traffic and corn fields.
At long last, and through stop-and-go road construction, we crossed into Indiana.

I wanted to stop at every odd sight on the way. Things we missed:
World’s Largest Candy Store
World’s Largest Rocking Chair
Vacuum Cleaner Museum
Jesse James Wax Museum
(Jason assures me this is about the 1800s bank robber, not the present-day motorcycle mechanic. I googled it to be sure. Lol.)
Caves
An alarming number of adult video stores

We couldn’t stop because there was a storm headed to Heritage Lake at 5:00pm. We lost another hour, reaching our new EST time zone. We finally arrived at 3:45. Yay!

We immediately started unloading the U-Haul. 15 minutes into it we were halfway through and the storm arrived early. Torrential rains and wind came so suddenly, complete with thunder and lightening. We closed it all up as fast as we could, getting soaked in the process. We dried off and sat down. Just as quickly as it arrived, the storm passed. Back to work.

My mom and stepdad are nice enough to let us stay with them until we find our own place. Jarry got home just in time to help us unload and get our room together.

We are thankful for our own bed to sleep in and we made it across the country without a hitch. Our dog, Penny Lane, will not leave Jason’s side. She is so happy!

Thanks for following our journey. Cheers!!

LAKE ARROWHEAD ANTIQUE & CLASSIC WOODEN BOAT SHOW

The 2014 Annual Antique & Classic Wooden Boat Show will take place Saturday, June 7th & Sunday, June 8th at the Lake Arrowhead Village

Antique boats will vie for trophies and can be viewed up close at the Lake Arrowhead Village docks.

On display throughout the village will be vintage woodie cars, hot rods, antique wooden boat models and early outboard motors. Antique boats will also be for sale throughout the village.

The feature boat of this year’s show will be Empress, a 1938 Gar Wood 22-foot model 915 Streamliner. Only 9 of these rare beauties were ever built. The Streamliner was intended to revolutionize the runabout market with the practicality of three cockpits forward, with seating for eleven persons in a 22-foot boat. The rear engine and V-drive configuration was very unusual in the 1930s.

The show is produced by the Rim of the World Historical Society with the assistance of the Antique & Classic Boat Society, the Arrowhead Lake Association, the Lake Arrowhead Village, the Up The Hill Woodie Club, Street Rods Forever and the Trompers.

For further information, call 909-336-6666

Sellers Are Feeling Good About Home Prices

 

 

There has been a vast improvement in market confidence for sellers. Those who thought positive last year were right. Now even more sellers have high hopes. Perhaps they will be right again. Slow and steady market growth means a better economy for all. I’m not looking for a bubble that can burst, just healthy economic growth and positive equity for home owners.

12 Signs You are a “FLATLANDER”

Funny Mountain info from a fellow CB Realtor.

Michelle Calkins and Associates

FLATLANDER: {Flat-Land-er}: Noun: A Person who is from the Flat Lands, I.E. The Inland Empire, Orange County, Palm Springs, basically anyone who does not live on a mountain.
A term used in the mountains to describe people from lower elevations. EX: Driver: This guy is driving so slow; he must be a flatlander.

Have you ever been called a flatlander?  Are you wondering if you are a flatlander?

Here are 12 reasons us mountain folk can pick you out of a needle in a hay stack!

12: You ask us if we have indoor plumbing
11: You call our houses cabins, or say, “we are up at the cabin for the weekend.”
10: You drive 25 MPH on the roads (stay tuned for my blog on mountain driving etiquette)
9: When we ask you where you’re from you say, Orange County and then ask if we now where that is.

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Lake Arrowhead 2014 Summer Concert Series

Lake Arrowhead Summer Concert season has officially started!

2014 Summer Concert Series (click for band links)

 

May 9   – Aerotrain – Tribute to Aerosmith
May 10 – Country Nation
May 16 – Jay Blues Band
May 17 – Led Zepagain

May 23 – Wild Child – Doors Tribute
May 24 – Savor – Tribute to Santana
May 25 – Dave Matthews Experience
May 26 – 60 Grit Blues Band (1-3pm)

May 30 – The PettyBreakers
May 31 – Joshua Tree – U2 Tribute

 

June 6   – Mark Wood & The Parrot Head Band –

                Jimmy Buffett Tribute
June 7   – Desperado – Eagles Tribute
June 13 – M80’s
June 14 – Colour My World – Chicago Tribute
June 20 – Alaina Blair (Country Singer/Songwriter)
June 21 – Garth Guy – Garth Brooks Tribute
June 27 – Ghost in the Machine – Police Tribute
June 28 – Queen Nation

 

July 3   – Wanted – Bon Jovi Tribute
July 4   – Belladonna – Tribute to Stevie Nicks
July 5   – Dead Man’s Party
July 6   – Playback (60’s, 70’s, 80’s) (1-3pm)
July 11 – Lynette Skynrd (female Lynrd Skynrd Tribute)
July 12 – Platinum Rock Stars
July 18 – Tapestry – Tributo to Carole King
July 19 – Venice
July 25 – Heart Brigade – Tribute to Heart
July 26 – Masters of Harmony (100-man barbershop!)

               w/Honey Whiskey Trio

 

Aug 1   – Lights – Tribute to Journey
Aug 2   – Spazmatics
Aug 8   – Catch a Wave – Beach Boys Tribute
Aug 9   – Paperback Writer – Beatles Tribute
Aug 15 – Red Headed Stranger – Willie Nelson Tribute
Aug 16 – Walking Phoenixes – Tribute to Johnny Cash
Aug 22 – Atomic Punks – Van Halen Tribute
Aug 23 – Hollywood Stones
Aug 29 – Superlark
Aug 30 – Which One’s Pink? – Tribute to Pink Floyd
Aug 31 – The Answer
Sept 1  – Neil Deal – Neil Young Tribute (1-3pm)

 

All concerts begin at 6:30pm, unless otherwise noted. The beer garden opens 30 minutes prior to the concert start time. Concerts are free to the public. However, table reservations may be purchased in advance by calling (909) 337-2533 M-F, 9am-5pm.

Corkboard makeover for your home or office

Have you been on Pinterest lately? There are so many great DIY projects for your home. One that caught my eye was the Corkboard / Bulletin board makeover with fabric and “nailhead” trim. So simple and very cute. Here is a link to a how-to.

 

This is one project that I actually attempted myself. I found a small bulletin board at the Cedar Glen thrift store for $2, fabric from JoAnn’s on clearance with a 25% off coupon for $7. I used about 100 upholstery tacks. Here is the photo of my finished product:

 

I hope you like it! If you’ve tried any DIY projects lately, I’d love to see your pictures as well. Have a great day!

 

Foreclosure market dying down for some

“10 States Hit Hard By Foreclosures
By Chris Persaud of Bankrate.com
Live in one of the 10 states featured in this slide show? RealtyTrac, a California-based firm that tracks foreclosures, compiled a list of states with the highest rates of foreclosure in November. Nationally, one in every 1,155 housing units received a foreclosure filing in November — down from a rate of one in 978 in October. Click through to see if your state made the list.”

I was reading an article on MSN’s internet news page this morning regarding foreclosures. The 10 hardest-hit states for foreclosure was an interesting read. Some not so surprising, like Florida, they have really suffered economical set backs for quite some time. Others were more surprising to me, like Utah. I have a Realtor friend in Utah and got her take on the matter. Here is a quote from Realtor Kaye Cundick with Chapman Richards Real Estate, “We have had many short sales over the last few years but it’s starting to slow down in that area and the market has gotten better. Last year was a great year and we plan on it being even better this year. – Kaye”

California is not on the list of the 10 worst states currently. I’d say I agree with that, there has been a definite shift. I was more than surprised to discover mountain-wide there are only seven foreclosures active in our MLS right now. This is great news for buyers and sellers. The market is a lot more stable when you take foreclosures out of the equation.

2014 seems to be a year of continued improvement in our market. If you’d like to come up to take a look at properties in our beautiful community, I’d love to meet with you. 909.838.8715 or jhgalligan@msn.com

To read the rest of the article, click here.

Lender Breaks Into Homes Which Appear “Vacant”

I have a home listed in Twin Peaks. The owner lives just around the corner. Between she and I, we check the house about once a week. The home was tenant occupied up until September, but was difficult to show on the tenant schedule. 

Last week, the owner went to the property and found the front door unlocked with a door knob on the kitchen counter. The back door had been changed. She called, “Did you change the backdoor lock?” Of course I didn’t. She also noticed, there were signs throughout the house noting the home had been “winterized”. Again, I did not do this. I asked her if the home had been foreclosed upon. She said no. She has been talking with her bank about late payments and had just spoken to them the day before.

Today she said she spoke to her lender, Bank of America, and they confirmed they did come into the home, change the lock and winterize the property. They said her homeowners insurance wasn’t satisfactory and they needed to “protect their asset”.

I am completely shocked the bank would break in and change the locks. They did not call her for an appt., or to even let her know this would be happening.

I searched the internet and found an article written last year, “Returning from work or vacation, homeowners across the U.S. are finding themselves locked out of their houses, with their homes broken into and many of their belongings stolen and destroyed.

The culprits? Bank contractors, hired to preserve abandoned properties. These contractors often ignore signs of occupation, including furniture, maintained gardens and turned on lights.

It is illegal for any bank representative to enter a property if they have not retaken it at a foreclosure sale – especially if there are signs of occupation. Yet contractors have been repeatedly ignoring these signs….”

You can read the whole article here. Reading this article confirms my fear, that some properties which “appear vacant” are not. Some home owners are locked out of their own properties mistakenly! In another story, the preservation company stole a car! You can read that story here.

In a Resort community such as ours, this is very scary. I believe homeowners need to beware of their home appearing vacant. According to the article if your payment is 45 days late or more, they will hire a servicing company to monitor the property. The issue seems to be with the servicing company doing whatever they like.

Please tell your friends and neighbors to watch out.