Ponds on Horse Properties Adds value and beautiful but may have some risk By Havilah Parisi Ponds and small lakes are one beautiful piece of a horse property. They add value to the property. There are many benefits of having a pond for your horses. One of which is that when it is sweltering outside, horses can go in to the pond and cool off. Swimming is a low impact exercise that many people use when they are rehabilitating a horse. It is also a great “trust exercise” that a person and their horse can try. Ponds also offer [&hellip

  Horse Arenas Keys to Understanding Arena Footing By Havilah Parisi   Arenas have many different looks and options that make them special and unique to their owner. One of the main features is their footing. The arena footing is the most or one of the most important parts of an arena. The footing makes a huge difference to the horse and rider. The type of footing depends on what the arena is used for. Regardless of what you are doing in the arena, the footing must be good. There are many types of footings and depths. Arenas can have [&hellip

Hitching Posts Style, Safety and Convenience By Havilah Parisi What is one of the major things that horse owners can’t live without? No, it isn’t a pasture, nor is it a fancy barn; it is the hitching post that they tie their horse to. Horse owners don’t often think about where they are tying their horse. It is just there and they use it when they are tacking up, grooming, clipping, checking and doctoring wounds, when they are getting trimmed and shoed, and so on. What goes into these amazing and indispensable inventions? Hitching posts have been around for a [&hellip

What is the median home price?   One of the best ways to evaluate a local real estate market is to use the median home price. The median price can be compared to various periods to find a trend. It can be compared against the prior month, quarter, year, and other periods.   How is the median home price determined? Median is defined as the middle number in a sorted list of numbers. Another way of defining median is a mathematical result that indicates that one half of the group is higher and one half lower. The median price of [&hellip

  New Mortgage rules: Debt to Income Ratio The new mortgage rules called Qualified Mortgage or QM impact many parts of the real estate loan process. A major new rule is the maximum Debt to Income Ratio (DTI) or some times called the back end ratio. QM sets the new maximum DTI to 43%. This is lower than current standards. The clear impact of the new rule is less people will qualify for a QM loan. Is this a good thing, or bad thing only time will tell? What is a Debt to Income Ratio? The Debt to Income Ratio [&hellip

New Mortgage rules: Ability to Repay   The eight factors Ability to Repay creates in underwriting a new mortgage.   These eight Ability to Repay factors a lender must consider when reviewing a new mortgage loan application will cause a number of people not to be able to get a mortgage, and therefore not buy a home. Is that a good thing or bad thing only time will tell? Here is the list of the eight elements the new rule Ability to Repay (ATR) creates in mortgage lending. One. The current or reasonably expected income or assets that the consumer [&hellip

Loan Preapproval: Why You Need to be Preapproved Do you feel ready to start looking for your first house?  Well, the first step of any home-buying experience is to get prequalified for a loan. Most people are going to need a loan in order to purchase a house.  If you are one of the many people who fall into this category, then there are some things you need to know. The seller wants to get the best deal they can and they want to get it fast. If you fall in love with a home and put in an offer, [&hellip

Sacramento Housing Numbers November  2013 Charts are good for viewing what the data of the Sacramento housing marketing is doing. This chart of the number of Homes for Sale and Homes that Sold shows that there are many more homes for sale than are being sold.  This is a change from what we saw for the first half of the year.  The chart shows that homes were being bought as fast as they could be put on the market, but that has changed now.  The past several months have had many more homes for sale, but the number of buyers [&hellip

  Preparing your lawn for winter   Now that the warm months are past, many folks don’t realize that there are a few things they should do to keep their lawn healthy for the coming year.  These are some of the more-important projects for saving your lawn from the cold.   Keep leaves from accumulating.  When leaves pile up they trap moisture and can act as a catalyst for diseases that will destroy your lawn.  In addition, these piles deprive grass of sunlight and can kill it in patches.  What is the simple solution?  Rake up leaves and dispose of [&hellip

The Value of Having a Home Security System “Measuring Safety Performance by the number of injuries you have is like measuring parenting by the number of smacks you give” – Dr. Robert Long When we think of safety for our family and our valuables we think home security systems; without even contemplating all of the perks that come with them and the value they add to our homes. Home Value Though a home security system may not increase the market value of your home it will increase the intrinsic value. If you plan on selling your home because you’ve outgrown [&hellip