Home Security While Away on Vacation

Monday, August 23, 2010 | 1 comment

Absent houseguests staying at your home while you’re away, here are a few helpful tips on keeping your home more secure while you’re on vacation:

  • Remember to lock all doors and windows when you leave the home.
  • Keep all valuable items out of sight.
  • Install proper lighting around your home to keep it well lit at night.
  • Motion lights, flood lights, and similar lighting can be used to brighten the property.
  • Start a Neighborhood Watch Program and report any suspicious person and/or activity in your neighborhood.
  • When you are out of town, have a trusted neighbor pick up your newspapers and mail daily or have the post office and news carrier hold them for you.
  • Engrave your property to deter theft and aid in the recovery of stolen property. Marking your property provides a visual deterrence to theft as well as aiding law enforcement agencies in the identification and recovery of stolen property. Use your Driver’s License #, never your Social Security #. Engrave your property in a conspicuous place. Keep good records of the items marked and the location marked.
  • Set timers for lights and a television so it appears that someone is home while you are traveling.
  • Do not hide spare keys in obvious places such as: under doormats, in the mailbox, etc. Give a key to a neighbor that you trust.
  • Whenever you move to a new home, have the locks changed.
  • Sliders should have ventilation locks as well as auxiliary locks to bolster security.
  • Keep shrubs around your windows and doors trimmed to eliminate hiding places for intruders.
  • Utilize sturdy, solid wood or metal doors at all entrances to your home.
  • Make sure that all exterior doors have well-made deadbolt locks.
  • Install a wide-angle lens viewer in your front door to make it possible to see who is there without having to open it.
  • Have a security system installed and monitored for each point-of-entry. A security system only works if you arm it. So, remember to set your alarm every night as well as each time you’re away from home.
  • Do not give out your alarm code to just anyone. Only a family member or trusted friend should know the code in case of an emergency.
  •  Notifiy your alarm company of your trip (change emergency contacts, etc.).  The Alarm Central Station can then change their procedure for dispatch and go straight to the police if no one is supposed to be inside the house.
  • Don’t use Facebook or any type of social networking service to share your plans, you never know who may be watching those comments.

    • (Tips provided courtesy of Bay Alarm Company)

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    Open House During Rush Hour?

    Thursday, July 29, 2010 | Add a comment

    What better way to capitalize on evening rush hour traffic? I’ve had very successful open house traffic in the past when hosting an evening open house. People drive by, see the signs, stop in, and they remember my listing.

    Well, much to my surprise last night, there were very few visitors to our rush hour open house.

    What a blessing! For a home that’s so centrally located to everything, the fact that there was little traffic is actually a GOOD thing! Many potential buyers have already asked about the traffic on this little street because they have children.

    NOW I can with full confidence say that the traffic is minimal, based on my experience being at the home.

    I’m so excited about having the opportunity to experience for myself yet another virtue of the home…

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    A Workshop: What First-Time Buyers Should Know

    Tuesday, July 13, 2010 | Add a comment

    Join me and Chase Loan Officer Mansoor Niazi! (Mansoor speaks Farsi, Urdu & Hindi)

    Saturday, August 7th, 9:30-11 a.m.

    Chase Bank, 22370 Foothill Blvd
    Hayward, Ca  94541

    We will discuss how to:

    • Evaluate the financial difference between renting vs. owning your home
    • Determine if is the right time for YOU to purchase
    • Negotiate the right deal — how to make the most of the relationship with your REALTOR
    • Understand your mortgage options to make the best selection for your needs
    • Get started creating your Legacy Through Home Ownership!

    Snacks & coffee will be provided courtesy of Chase. RSVP to Mansoor Niazi by calling (925) 339-8713 or by e-mail: mansoor.niazi@chase.com, or to Anna May by calling (510) 886-ANNA or e-mail AnnaMay@AnnaMayRealEstate.com.

     

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    Fixing Up Our Home

    Sunday, July 11, 2010 | 1 comment

    Mod wedding cake!!

    It’s been 6 years in this home and I’ve been very lucky. All I’ve needed to do was fix some leaks and paint the sunroom, add an exhaust fan to a bathroom, replace the kitchen floor and re-finish the deck.

    It seems that 6 years is the breaking point for this house. So this morning we wrote up a list of what we need to do before our big day here at home next month. Here’s what we aim to do (or have someone else do) by August 28th:

    • Get the roof cleaned … or replaced?
    • Replace the wind-blown spark arrestors
    • Clean the glass-roofed sunroom on the third floor
    • Replace the doorframe on the back door
    • Pressure-wash the house to determine if we should paint all or just parts
    • Replace the bathroom window (I’d like clear glass to see the view…)
    • Get rid of more ugly clothes. Merging two adult households has been a space-challenge!
    • Have a professional landscaper come out and help appease our neighbor of the bamboo growth
    • Test the hot tub (smile)

    The best incentive to clean the house is to throw a party!

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    Education Mini-Forum, Part 3 of 3

    Tuesday, June 29, 2010 | 1 comment

    Thanks to all those who attended our Education Mini-Forums in the last couple months! In June we discussed #2 of three things children need in their lives that cost NO money:
    1. High standards
    2. A caring adult
    3. Meaningful participation  
     Here’s what we learned from each of the three panelists:
     
    The local high school counselor representing a CURRENT hands-on perspective of her experiences dealing with youth on a daily basis referenced several challenges, including:
    • attendance
    • attitude
    • how to act/how to dress, etc. 
    The large company employer representing youth’s FUTURE employment opportunities gave us a blatant example of how “the bar has been raised” and that many employers inform potential applicants “Do NOT apply for this job if you are currently unemployed“.
     
    And finally, we had mentor & mentee success stories to represent REAL examples of of how powerful it is to have a caring adult in a child’s life.
     
    We conclude our 3-part Series with #3, “Meaningful Participation” and now leave it up to YOU to take the lead and get involved. In addition to getting involved with “Be a Mentor“, here are some local events and ways to participate:
    (June Education Mini-Forum sponsored in part by Anna May, Greg Jones and Be a Mentor)

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    “Horton Hears a Who” by Dr. Seuss

    Sunday, June 27, 2010 | Add a comment

    Horton Hears a Who

    As I recall, Horton the elephant tried desperately to save an inhabited little “world”. He believed in something so strongly that he inspired the inhabitants of this little world, the “Whos”, to fight for their existence.

    And all it took to be taken seriously was one last little “Who” to raise her voice and make some noise.

    Although I personally decided not to run for re-election, I’m a bit emotional over the results of the most recent election on June 8th. There were people so well-qualified who didn’t win, truly good people with their hearts in the right place and their integrity intact. 

    Never before have I been emotional about any election, not even my own election and victory as a political newcomer two years ago. There are two ways to go with this:

    • Shall I  step back and not care as much?
    • Or shall I put the pedal to the metal and get out there full force to help a candidate campaign to win?

    There are so many mixed feelings I have about this because I’d never been particularly political. One reason is because of the “typical politician-type” who quite frankly, is a complete turn-off for me. However, I’ve always wanted to do the right thing for my community, be a responsible citizen, pay my taxes, floss daily, etc.

    A vast majority of my community feels the same way I do about how deeply they want to get involved in politics…

    “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” — Dr. Seuss (?)

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    UPDATE: MY Own Loan Modification Endeavor

    Thursday, June 24, 2010 | Add a comment

    Today I received a Fedex package from my lender wondering why I have not yet submitted my financial information.

    It made me suspicious.

    Why would my bank care if I haven’t turned in the info? They shouldn’t be in a  hurry to modify my loan, right? They’ll miss out for allowing me to pay less, right?

    So in my skeptical mind, I determined that they’re just nosy and want to know my financial info whether or not they eventually modify my loan.

    You might remember from an earlier post that I had a couple things I wanted to do before turning in the loan mod paperwork anyway:

    • finish filing my 2009 taxes
    • balance my checkbook

    Furthermore, I had doubts about my loan mod being taken seriously since I figure the banks won’t sympathize with folks who have reserves. (sigh) In my experience, the banks are more interested in accomodating higher-risk folks rather than modifying loans on those who are most likely to pay. Odd…

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    Helping a Colleague

    Friday, June 18, 2010 | 1 comment

    What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, what’s good for a colleague is good for the company, what’s good for the company eventually benefits EVERY BODY!

    I write this as I’m showing a colleague how to post blogs on her web site…

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    “It’s Someone Else’s Job” (Kids Can’t Do It Alone!)

    Wednesday, June 9, 2010 | Add a comment

    Education Mini-Forum #2

    Saturday June 12th, 10:30 a.m.-Noon at Hayward City Hall, Room 2A, 777 B Street

    Last month in Education Mini-Forum #1, our guest speaker was Dr. Marlena Uhrik of the California Department of Education. Dr. Uhrik listed three things children need in their lives that cost NO money:

    1. High standards
    2. A caring adult
    3. Meaningful participation

    On June 12th, we will cover #2 of Dr. Uhrik’s list with the following panelists:

    • A local high school counselor to represent a CURRENT hands-on perspective of her experiences dealing with youth on a daily basis
    • A large company employer to represent a child’s FUTURE employment opportunities
    • Mentor & mentee success stories to represent REAL examples of how powerful it is to have a caring adult in a child’s life

    This event is FREE and the public is welcome!

    (Sponsored in part by Anna May of Realty World Neighbors and Greg Jones of Gregory Jones & Associates)

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    Toilets Seats and Homes For Sale

    Wednesday, June 9, 2010 | 1 comment

    Here’s something that REALLY amuses me:

    Photos of homes for sale with shots of the bathroom toilet seats left up!

    How many do you think you can find while browsing the internet?

    Try this link and go on your treasure hunt!

    Posted in General

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