The California Association of Realtors report that the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act May Help Homeowners: Enacted on October 3, 2008, this historic federal legislation earmarks $700 billion for the Treasury Secretary to purchase troubled assets from financial institutions. The Secretary and other federal agencies are also charged with the task of mitigating foreclosures for mortgages and mortgage-back securities and encouraging loan modifications. Furthermore, this law strengthens the FHA-insured refinance loans for troubled mortgages under the HOPE for Homeowners program, including authority for the program’s board of directors to increase the maximum loan amount above 90% of the appraised value. This bill also extends the tax exemption for debt forgiveness on home loans under the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 from December 31, 2009 to December 31, 2012.  Source: H.R. 1424.

This past weekend, while checking out real estate in Eastern Madera County, I decided to take a short drive to Mariposa where they were holding the 2^nd annual Blazing Hogs BBQ competition.  My good friend, Dennis Fairbanks, a Realtor for the Fairbanks Real Estate Group at Montecino and Associates Real Estate, was competing in the contest with his famous ribs and chicken.  Being a retired CHP officer, Dennis joined up with retired officer Dave Huskey and active officer Jim Mann. They call themselves “3 Guns a Smokin”. 

I arrived just in time to see the three chippies running franticly to meet the meat turn in time. With their fancy water smokers and kill to die for rub and sauce, they captured prizes in all categories.

It appears the 2^nd annual Blazing Hogs BBQ was a huge success with proceeds going to help Mariposa’s only hospital, John C Fremont. With record breaking attendance, outstanding entertainment and great weather I am sure next year will be bigger and better.

Next time you drive through the town of Coarsegold drop in the local real estate office and ask Dennis when and where they will be BBQing again, you’ll be glad you did.

Horses are herbivores, animals made to live primarily on plants (forages). About 65 percent of the digestive capacity of the horse is in the lower gut, or the cecum and colon. The cecum and colon contain large microbial populations which allow for the digestion of fibrous feeds, much like the digestive tracts of cattle and sheep (ruminants). Evidenced by the size of the lower gut and the presence of bacteria, the horse is designed to digest primarily forages.

For proper digestive tract function, horses require a minimum of 1 percent of their body weight per day in long-stem dry matter. Forages are most healthfully offered as pasture during the growing season. Conditions such as limited acreage, low productive pastures, seasonal rainfall variations, and the need to house horses separately or indoors restricts the ability to utilize pasture and necessitates the feeding of hay as the primary forage. In order for pasture to provide the majority of the nutrients for a horse, at least two acres should be allocated per horse.

In California we continue going through a challenging market slump that some call a normalizing market. Some areas of the country, like Florida and parts of Nevada are experiencing the same adjustment. But one must remember that these areas experienced a very high appreciation in the past few years unlike any time in history, and history shows this adjustment was expected and will prove to be healthy for the overall market, in fact we may be seeing the beginning signs of progress.

The problem facing us now is the issue of inventory (supply and demand). To regain a stabling market value we must reduce the inventory of houses. Fresno reports record sales of homes. This is a direct cause from falling prices do to foreclosures and bank owned properties. As the inventory of homes drop, prices will start to stabilize.

One of the main reasons for the drop in housing prices is the increasing number of foreclosures and bank owned homes coming on the market. The dark side is that there is no sign of this market going away anytime soon, as the foreclosure crisis continues to affect more homeowners every month.

For the buyer, it’s a great time to buy and invest in the real estate market. For the seller, it may not be as bad as some say, take away the foreclosures and bank owned homes and you’ll find that the decline in the value of your home may not be as drastic as you think.

More and more home buyers feel their home purchase is as good as investing in stocks, according to a survey by the National Association of Realtors. According to NAR About 79 percent of buyers purchased their home through a real estate broker or agent. Forty-three percent of buyers found their broker-agent through a referral from a friend or family member. About a third of buyers reported that their first step in the home-buying process was looking online for sale properties and a whopping 84 percent of buyers report they used the Internet to search for homes at some point in their home-seeking process.  Overall, the typical home buyer is 39 years old, while the typical repeat buyer is 46. Nine percent of home buyers reported they were born outside the United States. Three-quarters of buyers between 18 and 24 purchased a home because of their desire to own a home and establish a household.  Nearly three quarters of first-time buyers rely on savings for their down payment and Ninety-three percent arranged financing for their purchase.

I read in the USA today a story by Stefanie Frith, Frith reports for The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, Calif. relating that in the past few months, a Moorpark California cattle rancher has been forced to sell two-thirds of his herd and spends twice as much on feed do to the drought conditions in California. According to the rancher if the drought problem continues into next year, he’ll have to close down his cattle operationsMs Frith related a California’s Department of Water Resources report that California’s Sierra snow pack, an annual source of water for ranchers and farmers, is at its lowest level in two decades and it’s the same story with rainfall.A friend of mine told me the same type of story. He leases 1000 acres in Coarsegold California near the town of Oakhurst, where he runs 50 to 70 head of cattle in a cow calf operation. He told me that do the rising cost of feed, (doubling in the past year) and the rising cost of fuel he will be closing down his operation at the end of this year.

It is reported that in China, restaurants such as McDonald’s and KFC have been flourishing all across the country. In many parts of China, small hamburger chains have opened up to capitalize on the popularity of hamburgers with children.

In supermarkets and corner stores, one can buy “hamburgers” (”hanbao”) off the bread shelf. These unrefrigerated so-called “hamburgers” are nothing more than ultra-sweet buns cut open with a thin slice of pork or ham placed inside without any condiments or vegetables. The hanbao are a half-westernised form of the traditional Cantonese hamburger. The Chinese word for hamburger (hanbao) often refers to all sandwiches containing cooked meat, regardless of the meat’s origin.

Do you have an ant problem?  During this hot season ants are out looking for water.  Why do they come in your house, isn’t there more water outdoors?  Almost everyone has an ant problem now and then.  Short of calling an exterminator or selling your real estate there is a better answer.About a year ago I read that ants do not like the smell of peppermint.  Therefore an easy way to rid yourself of these pesky pests, sprinkle peppermint leaves near their favorite entrances (window sills, doorways, floorboards etc).  I tried this recently and it really worked.  Best of all, its cheap and nontoxic. A good alternative to commercial pesticides which meets the now popular Green Earth motto.

Is Beef still popular at the dinner table? Last year alone the US Department of Agriculture reported we consumed approximately 28 billion pounds of it.

The US Department of Agriculture grades retail beef as prime, choice and select based upon the meat’s intramuscular marbling and overall quality. Simply put, the more streaks of fat or marbling, the more flavorful the meat and higher the grade. But in total only about 2 percent of US beef is graded prime.

Dry-aged: Time intensive and more expensive process where beef is removed from package and placed on a shelf in a chilled room with good ventilation and humidity. Typically beef is dry-aged 21-35 days. Moisture evaporates from the muscle, condensing flavor; for example a 20-pound piece of beef will weigh about 16 pounds after 30 days of dry aging and enzymes in the muscle also break down, leaving beef very tender.

Wet-aged: Beef is typically stored in vacuum sealed bags to retain moisture. This takes much less time than dry-aging, typically only several days and no weight is lost in the process.

Grass-fed: Extremely lean, naturally raised beef cattle receive no growth hormones or antibiotics. It takes 16-18 months before they’re fully grown and then they’re moved to a feedlot for 200 days where they’re slowly weaned onto grain.

Grain-fed: These commodity beef cattle are given hormones when young and reach full growth at 8-10 months. They’re then moved to a feedlot for 90 days where they’re weaned directly onto grain and given sub therapeutic levels of antibiotics.

My friend at Montecino & Associates Real Estate raises grass feed beef and its the best beef my family and I have ever had.