The Maintenance Dredging of the Morro Bay Harbor Continues
(submitted by one of our North Coast agents)
As you read in my November 19th Blog, in order to keep the Morro Bay Harbor safe for large hulled boats, the built up silt is dredged and piped up the beach where it is deposited and used to re-build the shoreline.
The process appears to be going well! The equipment has now been moved farther south down the beach and is now about parallel to the Cloisters ocean viewing deck area. The beach farther north has grown! And contrary to the concern of a possible unpleasant odor- I have not noticed any.
When the silt is flowing through the pipes, I have noticed that there is always a work person on site to oversee the process. As the silt rushes through the pipes- it makes a sound that is a cross between car tires traveling over a gravel road and small brass buttons clanging around in a clothes dryer. The birds seem to LOVE it! They gather near, doing what bids do to show their enjoyment-as the silty water rushes out of the pipes onto the shore.
Santa’s in Arroyo Grande!
(submitted by one of our South County agents)
Santa….and I mean a GOOD SANTA in the Village of Arroyo Grande
Don’t stand in line and finally get to the front of the line to visit Santa only to discover that he is really not a “good Santa” his beard is fake, falling off, and his pillow is coming out of the bottom of his wrinkled coat; not the picture you were hoping for.
Come and visit a good, classic Santa in the Village of Arroyo Grande. He is there, waiting for visitors…seriously, no line at all! He has a real beard, blue eyes, wears glasses on the tip of his nose and is in beautiful Santa style. He is sitting in the middle of the Village block between Broadway Jewelers’ and Brisco’s Gift Shop.
I’ve taken my daughter there several times and with this being his fourth year that I have been going; he knows her and I by name. When she was 3, I have pictures of her with him on different days wearing several Disney princess costumes that she used to wear everywhere. If you’re thinking why go so many times? We live in East AG and drive thru the Village to get virtually anywhere so we pop by and say hi, snap a few photos, get where we need to go.
All of this for free, and you get a candy cane, a belly filled laugh from Santa, awesome pictures every time, and no lines…Definitely a holiday tradition in our family.
Check him out!
Until Christmas~ 3:00-5:30 on Wed & Fri, Sat & Sun 12:00-4:00
Disapointing Treasury Auctions Send Mortgage Rates Higher
Disappointing demand for Treasury auctions outweighed a cautious forecast by Fed Chief Ben Bernanke, ultimately driving mortgage rates higher during the week. Despite a surprising employment report on Friday, Bernanke addressed the Economic Club of Washington on Monday and said the US economy faces “formidable headwinds” to expansion, including a weak labor market and tight credit. He repeated the current Fed policy to keep the fed funds rate extremely low for an extended period of time as there is little concern for inflation for the next few years. An investor class including foreign central banks seemed to agree with the Fed’s short-term inflation outlook as demand was stronger than average for Tuesday’s $40 billion 3-year note auction. Demand was very weak later in the week, however, during the 10-year and 30-year auctions. Currently, the 30-Year Fixed sits at 4.625% (4.804% APR) and the 15-Year Fixed sits at 4.000% (4.307% APR). The Fed will meet this week, and everyone will undoubtedly be watching for hints regarding the future timing of any rate hikes. We will also see the monthly inflation reports with the Producer Price Index and Consumer Price Index.
Central Coast Lending, Inc.
(805) 771-9870
info@centralcoastlending.com
Los Osos Holiday Parade Postponed Too
The Los Osos Holiday parade scheduled for today has been postponed as well due to the rain. Hopefully it will be rescheduled for next week!
Paso Robles Condo Price Reduction
The Seller says they want their condo sold so they’ve dropped the price of this 3 bedroom end-unit to $229,900. This is almost $70,000 lower than another similar condo on the market in the same complex.
Check it out here – www.625Nicklaus.com
Atascadero "Ice" Rink Postponed
According to the Atascadero Main Street website (http://www.atascaderomainstreet.org/), the skating rink for tonite has been postponed.
Windows 7 Upgrade Tip
I thought I’d share a tip if you’re looking to upgrade to Windows 7.
My computer didn’t update from Vista like it was supposed to. If it did, I wouldn’t have to start a “clean” install and reload all my programs and data again. I think that it was probably because I have a lot of programs installed.
What I ended up doing was installing a second hard drive in my computer and installing Windows 7 on the new drive. When it boots, I can choose to boot Windows 7 or Windows Vista (from the existing drive). This allowed me to gradually install the applications when I needed them on Windows 7 and copy my data to the new drive as I’m able to access both drives when Windows 7 is running. When I get everything installed, I’ll just format the original drive and then have more space for videos, photos, etc. I’m still able to boot into Vista to run an application that I haven’t installed on Windows 7 yet.
Wish I knew about the dual-boot capability before I started as I would have done this from the get go rather than wasting a couple days trying to upgrade (but failing).
We’re HUD Approved!
The Keith Byrd Team is now able to sell HUD homes. To place a bid on HUD homes the Brokerage needs to be approved which we now are.
You can search for HUD homes here –
http://hud2.towerauction.net/CA.htm
Employment Data Surprises. Are Mortgage Rates Headed Higher?
Mortgage rates inched higher during the week as stronger than expected housing and employment data, along with an improved outlook from the Fed, increased concerns about future inflationary pressures. Pending Home Sales increased for the ninth straight month, to the highest level since March 2006. The index is up nearly 32% from last year, the largest annual increase ever. The Labor Department said the US lost only 11,000 jobs in November, the fewest since the recession began, and far lower than the 125,000 expected. And figures from the prior two months were also revised lower by 159,000. The Unemployment Rate also unexpectedly dropped to 10% from 10.2% last month. According to the Fed Beige Book survey of business conditions, eight of twelve regions “indicated some pick up in activity or improvement in conditions.” Currently, the 30 Year Fixed sits at 4.500% (4.679% APR) and the 15 Year Fixed is at 4.000% (4.307% APR). This week will be very light with news consisting of Retail Sales and $74 billion Treasury auctions.
Please do not get too excited by Friday’s market reaction. Don’t get us wrong, improvement in monthly employment data is definitely a welcome sight and one of the keys to an economic recovery, however, the employment front is still very grim. The US continues to lose jobs in manufacturing and construction. Even though the Unemployment Rate dropped to 10%, the “Under-Employment” Rate remains closer to 20%. Economic reports like the Beige Book indicate overall weakness in labor markets, and commercial real estate continues to be a looming cloud. Today, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the US faces “formidable headwinds that seem likely to keep the pace of expansion moderate,” including a weak labor market and tight credit. Bernanke repeated the current Fed statement that interest rates are likely to remain low for an “extended period”. The employment outlook is not expected to improve until 2011 or later, with the Unemployment Rate peaking in middle 2010 at around 10.5%.
As for mortgage rates, don’t expect much change from the record lows we are currently enjoying. Just as we have seen for the past several months, 30 Year Fixed mortgage rates will continue to hover in a range from about 4.500% to 5.000%, with day-to-day volatility. The Fed must be careful to not raise interest rates prematurely and stifle an already weak economy, sending it further into recession. We continue to watch the Spring expiration of the Fed’s MBS purchase program as a major influence on the future direction of mortgage rates.
Central Coast Lending, Inc.
(805) 771-9870
info@centralcoastlending.com
Nature Video
My daughter sent me this Youtube video and it’s pretty amazing. I’ll give you the ending since it’s easier to watch….the baby water buffalo gets up and walks away.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM
