The real deal about Los Angeles real estate.....really!

Although there may have been one too many pillows shreaded to bits this year, apparently Santa thought our two little guys still deserved to be on the "nice" list, and not on the "naughty" list..

You can see the look on both of their faces as I helped them open up their package from Santa.

He brought them 3 dried chicken breasts each!!

That lasted about 2 minutes as they both seemed to inhale them with very little chewing............

(I had just woke up so please excuse my major bedhead!!)

A good friend of mine told me about this and I had to pass it on.

The song on on this video was written for a little girl named Juliana.  The song was written and produced by Skip Ewing. Skip was so touched by Juliana's spirit that he decided to create this song for her and sell it so that the proceeds could go to helping Juliana and her family.

This video and background information regarding Juliana and the story behind the song was relayed over to me by a good tennis buddy of mine.  Our Christmas Wish is that each of you would take a couple of minutes to view the video from the link below and and a couple of dollars to purchase the song, either from the iTunes or Amazon links on that page for $0.99 or buy the physical CD single for $1.99.

http://www.skipewing.com/SE/Julianas_Smile.html

Here is a a link to the press release explaining more about the project:

http://www.laagent.biz/pdf%20forms/julianapressrelease.pdf

Here is an excerpt from that about Juliana's condition:

About Juliana Wetmore: 6-year-old Juliana Wetmore had her first surgery at 5 days old. She has since endured more than 30 trips to the operating room. Her surgeries continue to be solely to assist her to function without a tracheal or feeding tube as she grows—none for cosmetic purposes. She is effected by the most severe case of Treacher Collins Syndrome in medical history (a condition that affects the development of the bones and other tissues in the face.) However, in all other respects she is a healthy first grader taking piano lessons, and practicing ballet.

Thank you all for your help, for those who can, and best wishes to all.

Please feel free to spread the word of Juliana's plight to your friends and family in a hope that they too are touched and reach out to help.

My sister had emailed me these photos and I was blown away by them.

They are photos taken by photographer Norbert Rosing. 

His striking images are of a wild polar bear coming upon tethered sled dogs in the wilds of Canada's Hudson Bay.

The photographer was sure that he was going to see the end of his dogs when the polar bear wandered in.

It's hard to believe that this polar bear only needed to hug someone!

The Polar Bear returned every night that week to play with the dog.

Check it out:

Rates remain TERRIFIC! We had relative stability this week in terms of interest rates, and hopefully they will continue to be this low throughout the holiday and even beyond.

These rates are typical for the borrower with excellent credit and a sizable down payment, exclusive of FHA for the down payment. Take a look at FHA 5/1 ARM rates below, as those rates are at 3.75% for all loans up to $729,750-this is amazing.! This can be a very attractive alternative for FHA buyers.

Conventional Loans:

30 Year Fixed Conforming---$417,000 and Below: 4.875% with 1 Point

30 Year Fixed High Balance Conforming---$417,001 to $729,750: 5.0% with 1 Point

30 Year Fixed Jumbo---$729,751 to $1,000,000: 5.75% with 1 Point

5/1 ARM Jumbo---5.0% with 1 Point-amazing for Jumbo product

FHA Loans:

FHA 30 Year Fixed---$417,000 and Below: 4.875% with 1 Point

FHA 5/1 ARM---$417,000 and Below: 3.75% with 1 Point

FHA 30 Year Fixed High Balance---$417,001 to $729,750: 5.0% with 1 Point

FHA 5/1 ARM High Balance---$417,001 to $729,750: 3.75% with 1 Point

This is a clip I found of an exchange between Senator Al Franken and Senator Joe Lieberman.

Basically, he's telling him that his time is up on the podium.

Everyone knows how much time they are given, and they've all prepared their speeches well ahead of time, so you know that you need to time your speech.

Senator Lieberman tried to slip into filibuster mode, but apparently got spanked and sent back to his chair.

Went to the Annual Wakefiield Winter Wonderland this evening.

It really is a very special neighborhood Christmas light extravaganza.

It is on Wakefield court in the Saugus area of Santa Clarita.

It's such an extensive collaborative effort of all the residents on the street.  They have icicle lights running across from house to house and viewers in cars come from all areas just to see this wonderful event.

There's a wonderful story about how it all started after the 1994 earthquake when all the neighbors pooled together to support one another during a time of crisis.

I took several shots on my phone this evening, here's just a few:

Rates remain TERRIFIC!

We had relative stability this week in terms of interest rates, even though bonds were under pressure because of a better than expected Retail Sales Report for November, marking the third monthly increase over the past four months.

Consumer Sentiment was also reported quite a bit better than expectations.

Below are some rates for the week-end. These rates are typical for the borrower will excellent credit and a sizable down payment, exclusive of FHA for the down payment. Take a look at FHA 5/1 ARM rates below, as those rates are at 3.75% for all loans up to $729,750-this is amazing.!This can be a very attractive alternative for FHA buyers.

Conventional Loans:

30 Year Fixed Conforming---$417,000 and Below: 4.875% with 1 Point

30 Year Fixed High Balance Conforming---$417,001 to $729,750: 5.0% with 1 Point

30 Year Fixed Jumbo---$729,751 to $1,000,000: 5.75% with 1 Point

5/1 ARM Jumbo---5.0% with 1 Point-amazing for Jumbo product

FHA Loans:

FHA 30 Year Fixed---$417,000 and Below: 5.0% with 1 Point

FHA 5/1 ARM---$417,000 and Below: 3.75% with 1 Point

FHA 30 Year Fixed High Balance---$417,001 to $729,750: 5.125% with 1 Point

FHA 5/1 ARM High Balance---$417,001 to $729,750: 3.75% with 1 Point

So in our fabulous vacation in Maui, today was the day for our road trip to Hana.

Hana is the city that is on the most eastern part of the island and it is about a 3 1/2 hour drive to get there with 617 curves and 56 one-lane bridges.

IT IS BY FAR, the most incredible and beautiful drive you will ever make in your life!

It is really a life-changing experience.

Our first stop was in a small town called Paia, which is a very cool sort of hippie town.  Very cute with old town buildings and of course, righ off the coast.

One of our destinations was the 7 Sacred pools.  Just breathtaking.

One of the highlights was this self-sufficient farm that we came across that was started about 14 years ago.  Each person that is there is considered a farm apprentice and must give a 1-year committment in order to be there.

There was this amazing cottage that served all kinds of drinks and tropical smoothies, all organic and made from ingredients grown on the farm.  I got a Ginger blast.  But the key was, the power from the blender is generated from a stationery bicycle that you have to ride in order to power the blender for your drink!!!  Very cool!!

Our last stop was Rose Ranch, which is an amazing plantation with wine tasting and a time-capsuled general store on a ranch that has an unbeleivable history.

We traveled around the entire eastern section of the island to come back to our condo in Kihei.

I don't know how to explain it, but this island is simply magical.  It has a spiritual ring to it that seems to call to you.

I seriously may not come back!!

Here are some shots from today...................

OK.

So I just got in yesterday to Maui.  Absolutely gorgeous!  That's it, I've decided I'm packing my bags and moving to Maui!!  How long would it take me to get my license out here?!!  Kidding (then again, maybe not).

I have to tell you, it's an ENTIRELY different way of life here.

The people here are like Canadians without the snow!!  So nice, so respectul, very laid back, not uptight at all.  It's kind of a culture shock for me, but in a good way.

And I'm learning that Hawaii has the most beautiful extensive culture that goes back many, many years.

So all I have right now is just this one shot of the view from my balcony, but I will post much more over the next 7 days.

We are planning on taking the road to Hana, which has 617 curves, 31 bridges and takes a few hours to get to.  I hope I don't lose my breakfast!!

Of course, we had to stop at a few open houses to see what the real estate is like here.  We'll be going over to Kanapali in a day or so to see what condos are like there.

Some other things on our agenda include snorkeling, cycling down from a volcano, swimming wiith dolphins, and much more.

Bye for now!