Pismo Monarch Butterfly Grove
It’s that time of year when the Monarch butterflies stop by Pismo on their way South. I stopped by on Saturday and there are plenty there right now. I took a video and you can see it here – Sights and Sounds of the Central Coast in HD
If you’ve never been to the grove yourself, it’s pretty cool. Bring some binoculars if you want to get closer view of the butterflies (or watch my video!).
If you don’t know where the grove is, this web page will help -
http://www.monarchbutterfly.org/
Sights and Sounds in HD
I’ve started creating some HD videos that I plan to incorporate into the web site. This is my first test – http://www.locallinks.com/high_definition_videos.html
Hope you like them!
If you have any feedback for me, either email me or use the contact form. I’ve ordered a wind shield for the microphone to try to reduce the wind noise so we’ll see how it works.
Ryan Baker’s Mortgage Blog
I received a good question the other day from a reader of Keith’s Blog and thought I would share it with you. The question was, “can I put 15% down on a loan and still get a good rate?” The answer is yes. Depending on your FICO (credit score), you can even put as little as 10% down and still get a great rate. The way it works is there is an adjustment matrix of “points”, or I like to call them hits, based upon what your credit score is and how much you’re putting down. Depending on the scenario you may get a worse interest rate, or may have to pay more points, or even both. As an example, if you put 15% down you need a credit score of 720 or greater to not take a hit (this is just a rough estimate). This adjustment matrix changes daily and is different from lender to lender. If you have a FICO (credit score) of over 740, you can even put as little as 10% down without a hit. Sometimes lenders have special programs going on where you can even put less down than 10% as long as you fall into a certain scenario (high FICO, low Debt to Income, primary residence, assets, etc…). Keep in mind even if you don’t have a 740 FICO you can still put less than the standard 20% down but you’ll have to pay for it. As a note, there is a big hit for Non-Owner occupied (investment) properties.
I am guessing not many of you have rates below 6% with your current mortgage, and if you do, I would guess it isn’t a 30 year fixed loan. For those who haven’t been reading any Real Estate headlines, mortgage rates are at historic lows…and I am not just saying that. The 30 year is below 5%. Not too long ago anything below 6% was awesome, and 5.5% was fantastic. Remember when I hesitated to say rates have bottomed out? Well, I hate predicting things and please don’t hold me to it, but if I had to guess and I am probably stating the obvious, I would say interest rates have bottomed out.
If you need any help doing any calculations (whether or not it is worth your while to refinance) or have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at RBaker@PeregrineLending.com or 805-540-0866.
Happy Holidays!
FAST internet service
Verizon recently announced a new Internet service that uses fiber optic connection all the way to a home. Their FIOS service is available in Southern California currently but I’m sure we’ll see it expanded but I don’t know if and when it may be available on the Central Coast. With this service, Verizon are offering Internet download speeds up to 50 Mbps! I got extremely excited when I first got ISDN service at 64 Kbps to replace my dial-up and would never have dreamed of getting 50 Mbps to my home back then.
Fannie Mae Foreclosure Action Program
Earlier this month Fannie Mae announced a series of a series of actions designed to help borrowers and loan servicers address potential mortgage problems and prevent unnecessary home foreclosures.
New Indian Restaurant in SLO
Last month I blogged about a new Indian restaurant in SLO, Shalimar. I recently went back for their lunch buffet and I was more impressed on this visit as I was my last. Good food, good service, GREAT value on their buffet. It’s Tues-Sat from 11:30-3:00 and costs $6.95. They are at 2115 Broad Street which is near the intersection of Broad and South Street.
Check em out!
Gift for Teenager+
Walmart.com has a special on the Flip Video 30 minute video camera that comes with an action mount that you can attach to handle bars, a helmet, or whatever to get some pretty neat videos.
I have an older version of this camera that didn’t have a way to easily mount it. I took a video on the Oceano Dunes a few years ago using Duct Tape to mount it to the ATV. See the video here This was the first video I ever uploaded to youtube so I think a lot of the quality was lost in the way I did it. But, you’ll get the idea.
The one Walmart has is a 30 minute camera. They now have 60 minute cameras but the price is a lot more. Mine is a 20 minute camera and I really didn’t run into many times where that was an issue.
Anyways, it’s $88 for the camera and action mount. Might be a good gift for a teenager or someone older that would like to take some action videos.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10237875
I ordered a couple for my nephews plus one for myself so I can mount it on my pole cam setup and experiment with taking videos on top of a 16 foot pole!
Summary of Store Closings / Openings
To summarize what changes I know of in the retail marketplace:
- McDonald’s Foothill closing 2009
- Kohl’s replacing Mervyn’s in SLO
- Spencer Foods replacing Albertsons in SLO
- Nike opening in Pismo Prime Outlets in 2009
- Target begins construction in SLO soon
- Circuit City remaining open in SLO (for now), closing in Santa Maria
- Linens and Things in SLO closing
- TCBY Yogurt closed in SLO
- El Pollo Loco opening in Santa Maria
- Brewery/Restaurant opening in downtown SLO
- Lowe’s opening in Paso Robles (summer 2009)
Some Business Up For Sale:
- Another yogurt store in SLO
- A mexican restaurant in Pismo Beach
- Two gas stations in SLO
- A gift shop in Cayucos
- A pizza parlor in Morro Bay
RIP SLO Foothill McDonalds
On the KSBY news they reported that after 40 years, the McDonald’s on Foothill will close next year. Lack of a drive-thru, which is not allowed in SLO, is the reason given for closing the store.
I used to work at this McDonald’s when I was attending Cal Poly. That was 1979-1980. Below is a (not so great) photo showing McDonald’s behind the Cork and Bottle sign, taken in 1979. Anyone remember 110 cameras?
What memories….a bunch of us that worked the closing shift on weekends would walk over to the 24-hour laundromat next to Williams Bros after work to play Asteroids when it first came out.
Kudo’s to the Pest Company
Why use the Keith Byrd Team??? Because we have the Best Affiliates. Read on…
Recently a client of ours was purchasing a home and when presented with their Pest Inspection Report paid for by the Seller and found there was an area of inaccessibility. The local Pest Company suggested local treatment only which would not have treated the area no one could get to.
The home had a tile roof and the way pest companies work, if they have to “tent” the home, the Pest Company will not be responsible for any broken tiles done at time of tenting. Why would a Buyer want to take possession of a home that had damaged tiles and furthermore why would a seller want their roof tiles broken and have no recourse for the pest company to take responsibility for the damage?
Pest companies know approximately how many tiles they are going to break when they tent. Most other pest companies would say “The first 15 tiles broken are your responsibility, we’ll pay for anything after that.” Even though we represented the buyer, our agent had the pest company sign a statement of responsibility and they indeed broke 8 roof tiles and the pest company replaced the broken tiles. We want to acknowledge the pest company that provided us with a high level of service and professionalism. THANK YOU Archie’s Aloha Pest! Everyone was happy with his great service and work!!!!
