Beth Mergens

Home Shopping Goes Back to the Future

In this last market it wasn’t unusual for buyers to tell me they were qualified for a home that was well beyond what they could comfortably afford. My next question was geared towards getting them to think...

FREE Safety Event for Families in Folsom CA

Time again to teach the basics to our children and California Family Fitness is hosting a Safety Fair for that very reason. This is an opportunity to have your children finger-printed by the Folsom Police Dept. and meet the...

New FICO Scoring Introduced Aug 2009

Everyone knows the FICO score is what determines your ability to get credit for a home or car but did you know that every few years the program used is updated? The newest version FICO O8 which...

Buyers: Who's Got Your Back?

As usual, I was holding an open house this past Sunday afternoon hoping to find some buyer’s who had not found an agent to work with yet. A young couple came in and we started to chat...

A buyer who represents himself has a fool for a agent

Buyer-broker representation in the purchase of a home is one of the smartest things you can do for yourself. One of my pet peeves is finding out, after the fact, that someone purchased a home from the listing agent...

Real Estate 101 - Getting your offer accepted

I read an interesting article recently that outlined the differences between a buyers market and a seller's market but added the newest player...the lenders. Yes, it's true that although the prices have dropped significantly and the interest...

Folsom + El Dorado Hills Housing Statistics

Current Statistics 07/08/09Single Family Homes Available 625 Short Sales Available 213 REO’s (bank owned) 20 First time...

Five points to fixing your credit

A couple of months ago a friend was telling me about some financial difficulty with their business and remarked how fortunate they were to have their credit line on their home available for backup. I advised...

Solutions for Homeowners in Distress

There have been a lot of articles lately outlining the various methods used to get out from under a home that is worth less that what is owed. According to a recent poll in 2008 there were over 1 million...

Investors kicking the tires

Talking with a real estate investor the other day I was set straight about what I (and many others) assumed was happening with properties going to auction. Apparently investors once poised to take advantage of this market...

Currently in Los Angeles