ARROWHEAD ARTS MUSIC FESTIVAL--Starts 7/24//2008

Tomorrow evening, at the beautiful Tavern Bay Beach Club, The ARROWHEAD ARTS MUSIC FESTIVAL continues with Pete Jacobs' Wartime Radio Revue (Click Here) Big Band Swing (16 piece band!!!). His music will take you back to another time (30's and 40's) in history. A good time~
Come out to enjoy a summer evening under clear, blue skies at TAVERN BAY BEACH CLUB across from UCLA CONFERENCE CENTER in Lake Arrowhead.
Gates open at 5:00 PM. Concert begins at 6:00 PM. Bring your picnic basket and drinks. Cost: Adults $25.00. All students K thru 12 are free of charge.(909) 337-4296 for ticket/table reservations.
After attending the past events (as a volunteer), I can honestly say the choices the Arrowhead Arts has chosen has been fabulous!
"Come on up for air"...

For your Lake Arrowhead Real Estate needs: Kathy "Kat" DeLong, REALTOR.
To view ALL listings in and around Lake Arrowhead CLICK HERE.

HELPFUL LINKS TO MAKE YOUR MOVE TO LAKE ARROWHEAD EASIER.

When you're thinking about moving into a "new" community, you want to soak up as much information about the area as possible. Most of us do our research on-line--fast and easy and it saves tons of time and, I think, money. Money on phone calls and certainly money on gas. I have complied some links below that I hope you'll find useful.

• RIM OF THE WORLD SCHOOL DISTRICT is the reason my family moved to Lake Arrowhead. For a "report card" on each school click on THE RIM OF THE WORLD SCHOOL DISTRICT REPORT CARDS.


• LAKE ARROWHEAD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE is chalked full of info: Calendar of Events, Visitors Center and lodging, and much, much more.


• RIM OF THE WORLD.NET was a site started by a young man and includes, up-to-date traffic reports, accidents and fire reports, among a few things. When our mountain suffered the devastating fires, I kept a watchful eye on this site. You can even join the chat room.


• For the outdoorsy types, a peek at US FOREST DEPARTMENT--SAN BERNARDINO MTS. will show you where the hiking trails, campgrounds and picnic areas are, and loads more.


• Lake Arrowhead (San Bernardino Mountains) has some beautiful weather. In fact, we have four seasons; one being winter. It's always a good idea to CHECK THE WEATHER for snow reports before heading up. Even in the summer we get some awesome thunder storms.


• STATER BROS is our local Lake Arrowhead Grocery Store. This link gives you access to that one and other nearby down-the-mountain Stater Bros. (But why would you leave the Mt's?) This store has a bakery, deli, and full meat counter.


• LAKE ARROWHEAD CHURCHES list local churches and directions to those.


• THE MOUNTAIN NEWS is our local newspaper for those of US who have to have a paper in hand with their morning cup of java. The paper comes out once a week, on Thursday.


• THE BLUE JAY VILLAGE & THE LAKE ARROWHEAD VILLAGE are both great places to shop for clothing, shoes, books, music, jewelry and FOOD (restaurants!!!).


• Lake Arrowhead is a private lake, so you'll want to know what that entails and if that is important to you. To learn about lake rights verses non lake rights and rules and regulations, check out ARROWHEAD LAKE ASSOCIATION & ARROWHEAD WOODS ARCHITECTURAL COMMITTEE. Keep in mind that there are TONS of areas that are outside of lake rights that are just as wonderful and beautiful. There is something--homes, cabins and castles--for everyone in Lake Arrowhead....


• MAP OF LAKE ARROWHEAD

"Come up for AIR...."


For your Lake Arrowhead Real Estate needs: Kathy "Kat" DeLong, REALTOR.
To view ALL listings in and around Lake Arrowhead CLICK HERE.

NIT-PICKING LENDERS PUSHING BUYERS AWAY

We all know what a mess the lending institutions are in. IF YOU DON'T then you must have been on an island somewhere or living under a rock the past few years. WE KNOW TO WELL. That said, it seems to me that instead of trying to fix this mess, lenders are instead taking it out on the GOOD buyers. By this I mean that they (lenders) are NIT-PICKING THEM to death until they (BUYERS) say "Forget it! If you don't want my business, I'm going elsewhere."

One of my escrows is with a "dream" buyer." (Yes, they are still out there). The kind of buyer that is pre-APPROVED before we even sat down to write the offer. The kind of buyer that has, and always has had, GOLD credit. The kind of buyer with a bank account fat with $$$'s. The kind of buyer that is putting down over 40% at the COE. Now, face it, we aren't getting those kind of buyers everyday!

Our escrow was moving along beautifully: inspections are done, repairs made, pre-lim accepted, appraisal a breeze. We're down to the last few days...waiting for the DREADED loan doc's. And then the NIT-PICKING begins. A laundry list of "conditions" pop up. My buyer quickly provides the information needed to eliminate those conditions. Okay, where are the loan doc's? Ahhhhh....more conditions. More NIT-PICKING. It has been never ending! (Yes, I KNOW there has to be a paper trail).

At this point my buyer is extremely upset, to say the least. He feels like this NIT-PICKING is a slap in the face.
I want to know WHAT IS GOING ON WITH LENDERS? No, I don't want to hear about the mess WE'RE in, again. I'm aware, as is the nation. I want to know why they (lenders) are pushing away the GOOD buyers, because of the buyers who got bad loans a few years ago and are now losing their homes? Why make everyone suffer? Don't you (Lenders) need to start lending money to GOOD buyers to get this MESS turned around?

LENDING INSTITUTIONS: Don't take this post as a "blame game" on lenders only. I've always felt that the current homeowners who bought into the crappy loans are also guilty. Though most people DON'T read the fine print on IMPORTANT documents--THEY SHOULD! Perhaps, if they had, many homeowners wouldn't be in the trouble they are today. If it sounds to good to be true... well, it probably is. As I've said before, I don't have a client who bought into the "no-down, get into a home at any PRICE" frenzy." AND I AM SO GRATEFUL.

So back to the question at hand: WHY ARE LENDERS MAKING IT SO DIFFICULT FOR THE GOOD, QUALIFIED BUYERS?
WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHY, WHEN AND HOW ARE WE GOING TO FIX THIS MESS???


For your Lake Arrowhead Real Estate needs: Kathy "Kat" DeLong, REALTOR.
To view ALL listings in and around Lake Arrowhead CLICK HERE.

ARROWHEAD WOODS STATS MONTH TO DATE July 2008

Lake Arrowhead: MONTH-to-DATE Stats ..Compared to 2007 Month-to-Date

Fast Facts of the DAY/Month
Month-do-date & Same Period 2007

• AW=ARROWHEAD WOODS (lake rights)
• LF= Lake Front
• CROSS PROPERTIES= inclusive of residential, vacant lots, condos, commercial, business ops, etc
• New Res Listings MLS wide Median $: $331,500 (#104) 2007: $349,900 (#129)
• New Cross Prop Listings MLS wide This Week: $249,495 (#64)
• Sold Residential MLS wide Median $: $279,750 (#28) 2007 $373,500 (#32)
• Sold Residential AW & LF Median $: $569,500 (#6) 2007 $685,000 (#17)
• Sold Cross property MLS wide Median $: $230,000 (#33) 2007 $275,000 (#48)
• Active Cross property MLS wide Median $: $299,000 (#1515)
• Active Cross property AW & LF Median $: $499,000 (#604)
• Active Residential MLS wide Median $: $350,000 (#1112)
• Active Residential AW & LF Median $: $569,450 (#472)
• Total Pendings, cross property: $189,000 (#151)
• Total NEW Pendings: $199,900 (#53)
  
  For your Lake Arrowhead Real Estate needs: Kathy "Kat" DeLong, REALTOR.
  To view ALL listings in and around Lake Arrowhead CLICK HERE.