Posted by Maura on November 20th, 2008 — Posted in real estate
I woke up at 5 a.m. this morning. I do have a three-year-old, but that has nothing to do with it this time. I just woke up in the dark, padded downstairs, and grabbed my trusty laptop to connect with the early morning world.
In doing so, I stumbled upon this article by Luke Mullins of U.S. News titled “The Top 6 Mistakes of Forclosed-Home Buying.”
I found it particularly interesting, given that I am beginning to see forclosures in my vacation home are of Truckee/North Lake Tahoe. And while my I get wooed with the price tag of that home in a fantastic area near the ski hill, I do forget that there are alot of legalities involved with buying forclosure properties. The bank is not always as willing to make a screaming deal as one might think, and they are so inundated these days that they don’t get back to you in a timely manner either.
Not to mention there are specific forms that forclosure offers need to be drafted on as well as a host of other things that might not be straight forward to the eager home buyer or their eager real estate agent.
Give it a read, be careful, and good luck with those deals.
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Posted by Maura on November 10th, 2008 — Posted in real estate
This past weekend, my husband, son and I went down to San Francisco to see the newly-reopened Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park.
My family and I don’t get down to the big city much, so the first thing that struck me upon arrival to the museum were the long lines everywhere. It was overwhelming. I know it was a rainy Saturday in Golden Gate Park, but still. This was crazy.
After finding the right line and entering the museum, I was amazed by the architecture of the building. There was tons of natural light filtering in with modern curves, high ceilings, and the coolest feature, the living roof. After pushing through strollers, children, cameras and alot of helpful employees, we made our way to the Steinhardt Aquarium, which seems to be the predominant exhibit in the museum. The fish and other aquatic creatures are bright and vivid, and some are really odd. The range of fish and color and size were amazing. We found ourselves watching fish for about 1.5 hours!Â
The Rainforest Exhibit, although visible in the center of the museum, had a constant line wrapping through to the front door the entire afternoon so we did not get to go in.
My favorite was feeding time at the Penguin Exhibit. The penguins were so aware of being on display and seemed to be diving in and swimming up to certain people in the crowd, my son being one of them. They were so engaging, and their living space seemed very habitable and clean, which is a good description of the museum as a whole. Habitable, clean, and consciencious.
All in all, I would wait for the hype to die down, and not go on a weekend. The ticket price was a bit steep, but it is an excellent and shining example of an eco-friendly and entertaining museum.
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