To most Southern Californians, saving money during the winter months means shopping for the best holiday bargains. However, for homeowners, the beginning of the holiday season offers a terrific opportunity to rein in costs by making some environmentally friendly changes that scale down domestic water use.

     For 2020, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) forecasts a winter relatively free of the conditions brought by El Niño (a warming of the ocean surface, or above-average sea surface temperatures) or La Niña (a cooling of the ocean surface, or below-average sea surface temperatures) with no immediate return to drought conditions. In short, we should be able to look to a relatively normal winter weather-wise.

For most home shoppers, the holiday season is the time when all the planning for a new home goes on the back burner until after the New Year. However, for those who will be looking at 2020 as the year in which they make their American Dream of homeownership a reality, the holiday season offers a great opportunity to circumvent the usual holiday season challenges and bring homebuyers one step closer to their new home.

Daylight Savings is over and while much of America is digging out their sleds and snow shovels, Southern Californians are still checking the weather reports to determine if they need to put on jackets before they leave the house.

This autumn started out with good news for home buyers when Bankrate.com reported that the 30 Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (FRM) posted at 3.92 percent with other rates such as the 15 Year Fixed and 5/1 Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARN) all still hovering below four percent. These are among the lowest mortgage interest rates in history. Yet interest rates are just one of many factors that homeowners and homebuyers should consider when shopping for a new home – and may be of less importance than expected when one weighs them against other benefits of homeownership.

1957 was the year when singer Sam Cooke introduced the world to Soul Music with ‘You Send Me’, Russia launched the first successful satellite ‘Sputnik’ and half of the ten most popular television programs were westerns.

‘Going green’ has been one of the major trends in home design and construction over the past decades and means that today’s new homes are and will continue to become more energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly with every innovation and new design.

Today, the Baldy View Region - which encompasses all of San Bernardino County and the eastern portion of Los Angeles County - is one of the most desirable destinations for homebuyers and homeowners because it offers three unique and distinct environments: lush valleys, towering mountain ranges and scenic deserts.

One of the most important and often underappreciated benefits of homeownership is Residential or Homeowners Insurance

During the quiet moments of contemplation focused on homeownership, not many will include homeowners insurance benefits as part of that internal dialog.

Had an earthquake not rattled Southern California 250 years ago during the first expedition of Spanish conquistadores, San Bernardino, rather than San Gabriel, might have become the site of the mission that would serve as the epicenter of development in Southern California.

Autumn is here and while much of the nation braces for a major change in the weather as we move from the warmer months to the colder ones, homeowners here in the Baldy View Region (which encompasses the eastern portion of Los Angeles and all of San Bernardino counties) enjoy the luxury of a few extra months in which to landscape and make home improvements.

2019 may be proving out to be the year that brings a new hope for homebuyers. The trend started in the spring and is now carrying through to the fall as we enter the new season with another favorable adjustment to the 30-year mortgage rates.

When a home buyer takes out a mortgage loan, they embark on a relationship that may last for decades, so securing the best mortgage loan upfront may be the most important step a homebuyer can make – and now is a great time to start laying the groundwork for acquiring the best mortgage possible.

High winds, wildfires, severe storms that lead to flooding and earthquakes large and small are all issues that every Southern Californian accepts as a potential daily impact, especially as we transition from summer to fall and fall to winter.

If you are among the millions of Americans considering the purchase of a new home, July was a very good month for you. Several weeks ago, the Federal Reserve reduced the key short-term Federal Funds Rate by 25 basis points to a top rate of 2.25 percent.