Bob Sparks

REALTOR - CONSULTANTS

Thank you for visiting our online real estate guide. We hope you find the links to area real estate and the information in the articles helpful. We look forward to the opportunity to serve you.

Read More

Virtual Tour Inventory WidgetGet Adobe Flash Player

Links and searches


Featured Homes







Tips for Homeowners Category

15 year fixed now at 3.75%…no kidding

First Time Buyers, Random Thoughts, Tips for Homeowners

Quick note on rates: At this mornings office meeting our in-house mortgage broker gave us todays interest rates. 4.125% on a 30 year fixed and 3.75% on a 15 year. I have to admit I had not checked rates for several days and was taken by surprise at this news. I have to assume that most folks are not aware rates have dropped this low and more importantly what it means to them.
If you are a buyer this is obviously great news. Lower rates, lower payments, higher qualifying price. Your timing could not be better.
If you’re already a homeowner and have some equity it might be the perfect time to refinance into a 15 year loan. The payment could be very close to what you are now paying on a higher rate 30 year.
Here is a link to a Google Ad chart-calculator that looks like a handy tool for checking rates and payments. Keep in mind that local banks and mortgage professionals may very well be able to offer terms just as attractive as any you see online.

Sphere: Related Content

No Comments »

PG&E Offers Free Weatherization, Appliances

Random Thoughts, Tips for Homeowners

Perhaps we can’t all go to Copenhagen to work on climate change issues but there is something we can do here at home and it’s free. If you know anyone with a low/mid income or who receives assistance such as SSI or Medi-Cal and lives in a home with PG&E gas or electric service let them know about the Energy Partner Program. Available to both renters or owners the Energy Partner Program helps those who meet income guidelines obtain energy saving assistance free of charge.

Tell your friends who rent, first time home buyers, seniors on fixed incomes, landlords who have qualifying tenants or anyone else who can take advantage of this great program.

Details at http://www.pge.com/energypartners/

Sphere: Related Content

No Comments »

Help for underwater homeowners

Tips for Homeowners

WASHINGTON – The Obama Administration announced details of new efforts to help bring relief to responsible homeowners under the Making Home Affordable Program, including an effort to achieve greater affordability for homeowners by lowering payments on their second mortgages as well as a set of measures to help underwater borrowers stay in their homes.  Read entire release

Sphere: Related Content

No Comments »

Protect your pool in freezing weather

Tips for Homeowners

If you woke up early this morning and looked outside you probably noticed that everything was covered in a layer of frost. It got cold last night, 25 degrees according to my google weather feed!
If you own a home with a swimming pool keep in mind that freezing temperatures like this can cause some serious damage to your pump and filter equipment. Many newer pool systems have built in safeguards and include a thermostat that starts the pool filter pump when outside temperatures drop below 35 degrees so that water does not freeze in the pipes, pump or tank and damage the system.
For those of us who don’t have this thermostatically controlled system there are a couple of tips you can follow to protect your pool filtering system. Make sure to set your filter timer to come on in the coldest early morning hours ( 3 AM through sunrise). This will lessen the possibility that water will freeze solid in the system. You may need to set both filtering cycles to run during the coldest nighttime hours and extend run times if necessary. In the event of a power outage during freezing weather turn off the circuit breakers to your filter pump and open the air bleed valve at the top of your filter tank.
It’s easy to forget about the pool when it’s this cold out but by taking these small steps now you can make sure that you are ready to enjoy your pool next spring with a minimum of expense and hassle.    
            
 
 

Sphere: Related Content

No Comments »

Cool A/C Rebates – Enter to Win a Prius!

Tips for Homeowners

There are a few days in Redding every year where you just have to have air-conditioning. Today is just one of those days with a high of about 111°. 

Everyone who has A/C has it cranked up and are inside keeping cool. That puts a lot of stress and demand not just on home air conditioners but also on the City of Redding and PG&E electrical grids. Because of this both the City of Redding and PG&E offer some very attractive programs and rebates designed to help decrease energy demands during peak periods and conserve the year around. Sounded good to me. So good that Sandee and I installed a new air conditining system on our house last year and we didn’t have a bill to pay for a year while we worked off the City of Redding rebate.  

Here are some details; to encourage customers to replace old, inefficient products and technologies with new, energy efficient equipment the City of Redding offers Rebates on everything from High Efficiency Air Conditioning to Cordless Lawnmowers. They also offer their customers Free Energy Audits to access energy usage and help customers conserve energy and save money. Hey, it’s free. Give them a call! (530) 339-7210.

PG&E also has a Rebate Program designed to conserve energy usage. While PG&E no longer has an air conditioner rebate they do have rebates on things like whole house fans, duct sealing, furnaces, appliances and more. In addition to rebates there are Tax Credits available on energy efficient products and improvements. They also have an Energy Audit that you perform on-line.  

Another  program from PG&E is the SmartAC program which cycles home A/C units between cool and fan only on alternating 15 minute cycles during extra heavy demand periods. It is controlled by a radio signaled switch that is installed on your air conditioner. I don’t think it’s available in our area yet but interesting all the same. Coming soon they say.

As I was researching the PG&E site I also found that you can enter to win a Toyota Prius, no enrolment or purchase necessary. So..while technically it’s not me giving away the car if you enter and win come by and give me a ride in it!    

Sphere: Related Content

No Comments »

PREMIER SERVICE® is the focus of Real Estate Professionals/GMAC. We are located in Redding, CA (at the North end of the Sacramento River Valley) in the midst of river, lake, ranch and mountain terrain.

Our Customer Satisfaction Rating, based on an independent survey, exceeds 97%. This is reflected in our 2008 "QUIE" Award recognizing the TOP 10 REAL ESTATE COMPANIES in NORTH AMERICA! REP/GMAC in #2.

Copyright © 2008 Bob Sparks All rights Reserved
The material on this site may not be reproduced or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Real Living Real Estate Professionals
Design by Real Estate Tomato     Powered by Tomato Blogs   Agent Login