Aye, what a messy closet you have

Let me set the mood: I am with a buyer, we walk into a multi-million $ house up in the hills, admire the stunning views from the living room, imagine cooking dinner on the gleaming Viking Range, walk on the refinished hardwood floors through the hallway, open up a closet in one of the bedrooms and *BOOM* its time to duck and cover for fear of being hit by one of the many boxes or shoes stuffed into the closet- stuffed in there, probably, that morning.

Unbelievable.

They can't be serious.

How many times has this happened to you? Perhaps in your own home? You open those closets, and immediately shut them for fear of what you might find.

Bring in Dana Arkinzadeh, owner of DMA Organizing. I met with her last month and she had these great tips on how to maximize your closet space, AND keep it organized.



I think I should pass on her info to the owners and agent of the home in the hills.

Cool Quote

I really like this quote:

"We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives...not looking for flaws, but for potential." ~Ellen Goodman

The house that someone built

Have you ever walked into a house, be it a friends house or a house you wandered into during a Sunday open house, only to think: Whut???

Yes, it happened to me today. Only this was during a broker's tour.

The outside is a typical home for the neighborhood: 1940's ranch style, surrounded by beautiful Oak trees and nice views of the Bay. But the inside, well that is a different story.

The front door was lean and tall and looked like it was off the pages of a Dungeons & Dragons board game, complete with ornate decorations. Walk straight ahead and you are in this crazy atrium compound complete with bright flowers, a fireplace, and little light. How can these beautiful Gerbera daisy's grow without any sunlight? Unless they were fake. Then you walk around the corner and it is like an entirely different house, but again, very low on light. Care for breakfast? You can eat it from the kitchen nook and look out onto the atrium where a fire crackles in the fireplace.

I don't quite understand what is happening in the house. A fellow colleague and I were discussing it, trying to figure it all out. We can only surmise that it was off the set of a movie and it was all a facade. It is unique with a capitol "U."

This is one of those times where I wish there were a website that would discuss the history of a particular home.

I imagine this house will fancy someone. To that someone out there, I'd love to buy you a cup of coffee and have a conversation.

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The nitty gritty on the short sale

Short sales. No, they aren't sales that close quicker than the standard 30 days (by Bay Area standards). In a nutshell, a short sale is when the amount the borrower owes in loans is higher than what the property would sell for. Many lenders will allow the property to be sold for less than the amount owed on a mortgage and forgive the rest of what is owed.

Why on earth would a lender agree to such a thing?

Banks are in the business of lending people money, not owning their homes. By agreeing to a short sale the lender can avoid a lengthly and often costly foreclosure, with the owner paying off the loan for less than what is owed on it.

Each lender will have its policies and procedures for handling a short sale and the process can be lengthy, sometimes taking up to 3 or 4 months to complete. They will want a plethora of documents, so for those unorganized folk out there, you may need to hire a personal organizer to help you sort through everything. Most won't even begin the process until there is an offer on hand.

Alameda and Contra Costa Counties have been deemed "declining markets" by the lender-powers-that-be. Oh man. That doesn't sound so good. And it appears that areas of declining markets are also areas high in short sales. This does not bode well for Oakland, one of the leading cities in both foreclosures and short sales.

Up against the possibility of a short sale? First step: call your bank.

Now this is some scary juice.