Best Realty's Lake Oroville Real Estate Blog

Having spent a part of my working life, in the Lake Oroville real estate market, as a financial consultant with a major Wall Street brokerage company I was always entertained by, not only the jargon of the industry,  but also by some of the odd, or some might say superstitious, ways that pundits use to predict the next direction that the market or the economy might move.
For example, the Super Bowl Indicator theorizes that the year in which a team from the AFC wins the Super Bowl the stock market will fall, but if an NFC team wins the market will rally. Amazingly, this “predictor” has been right 80% of the time over the years. Another of these anecdotal predictors is the Hem Line Effect. This theory says that as hem lines move up so does the market and when hem lines get longer the market drops.
So, what does this have to do with anything related to the real estate market in Lake Oroville, Paradise and Chico, you say?
As to those theories, nothing. But I think we unintentionally swerved into the first real estate industry anecdotal predictor of the real estate market, in our office. I call it the Redenbacher Effect.
I discovered this theory while Steffan, one of the associates in my office was popping his $1.00 bag of popcorn ( that he bought at the Dollar Store, because that is where REALTORS® shop these days) in our microwave oven. You might imagine the quality level of $1.00 popcorn is not quite the same as the good stuff you get at the movies for about $5.00 a bag.  The fact that Steffan eats at least a bag a day of this stuff has leads me to believe that he is quite the popcorn connoisseur.
I will never forget the profoundness of the words that eminated from his lips as the Redenbacher Effect was born:
 ”I sure will be glad when the market gets good again so I can afford to buy something better than this $1.00 popcorn c*@p.”
With the suddenness of a light bulb being switched on to interrupt the darkness of an empty room, it hit me that we may finally have an accurate way to forecast the pending direction of  not only the Lake Oroville real estate market, but the real estate markets of all 4 corners of the world!
The Redenbacher Effect is defined as this:
When Steffan is eating $1.00 popcorn c*@p the real estate market is c*@p. When he starts buying more expensive popcorn (i.e. Orville Redenbacher Movie popcorn) the market is going to improve.
Now you might be thinking that I have finally lost it, and actually, you may be right.  But just think about how well (or not so well) the so-called experts have predicted the direction of this market. I mean, really, can this be any less accurate than the methods they use. I think not.
There is, however, one thing that can throw this whole theory into a tailspin.  What happens when someone GIVES us a box of premium popcorn. For example, I was telling my friend Jim Moll about my theory yesterday and when I arrived at the office this morning there was a box of Orville Redenbacher popcorn at my backdoor.
It took me a while to consider the consequences of his generosity. What will happen if we eat this premium popcorn while the market is down like it is?  Will the market improve even though Steffan did not pay for it? The respective answers are, NOTHING, and NO.
You see it occurred to me that Jim’s gift was a POPCORN CREDIT. He was simply giving us popcorn in the hopes that it would give the market time to stabilize so that we can buy the better and more expensive popcorn later. So we have had the CASH FOR CLUNKERS credit, the FUNDS FOR FORECLOSURES credit and now we have CORN FOR C*@P credit.
I wonder if this will work better than the previous credits?……I think we all know the answer to that one hmmmmmm.
Stay tuned to this blog post for updates on the Redenbacher Effect. And remember, you first heard about it here.

Good news for those of you in the Lake Oroville, Chico, and Paradise real estate markets, who have been unable to enjoy the benefits of my AGENTnTOUCH™ app on your Android smartphone.
I have just rolled out the Droid edition of this app and it is now available for download. I have also made some recent changes to the features of the app by adding mapping of area schools, and providing the ability to search for properties directly from my website.
After downloading the app, simply enter my Agent Id on the first page. The Id number is 5303704691.
With coming upgrades and the addition of more features it is my goal to make this the only real estate app you will ever need. Coming next is the Blackberry version of the app. It should be launching sometime within the next month. Of course you will hear it first here.
Related articles by Zemanta

Adobe Flash 10.1 Player to hit Motorola Droid on August 18th? intomobile.com)
Remotely Control Your Computer with RemoteDroid pocketnow.com)
Motorola says Droid X getting Android 2.2 Froyo update ‘by early September’  intomobile.com)

You knew it wouldn’t be long before I made it easier for you to utilize your smart phone to access this blog site, search for properties in the Lake Oroville, Paradise  and Chico California real estate markets, and get the latest in interest rates and other real estate news and advice.
Today I am announcing the launch of my very own iPhone app that is now available for download at the App Store. With this highly sophisticated, but easy to use, app you now have not only my contact information in the palm of your hand but you can now access all the services of my blog site with just the touch of a button. No more addresses to remember and no more passwords to forget. This is just another investment I am making for you in order to provide a service, that nobody else in the Lake Oroville real estate market will,  in order to make current and relevant real estate information readily available to you.
See my current listings, check out my latest blog post, or even find my Facebook, Twitter, and Linked-In pages. Spend as much, or a little time as your prefer because there is NO COST to you to download this App. Check back often, though because updates and come cool additions are coming soon.
And unlike many of today’s apps this app will be compatible with Blackberry and Droid users. Look for the rollout annoucement for these phones on the site sometime before Labor Day.
Download your app at the iTunes App store and search for AgentNTouch. After downloading, launch the app and in the Agent I.D. box enter 5303704691.
I would greatly appreciate your feedback and suggestions. My goal is to always be an AgentNTouch.
Related articles by Zemanta

More Smartphone Owners Using Local Search And Social Networking  webpronews.com)
Droid X vs. the Droid: How They Differ  pcworld.com)
iPhone, Android or Blackberry? The right smartphone for doctors  kevinmd.com)

As a reader of this blog you know that the market guidance I give for the Lake Oroville real estate market and Paradise real estate market is intended to provide a forward looking perspective to where the market is going.
Attempting to take into consideration all the factors that affect the market and trying to provide accurate guidance into the future is a balancing act to say the least. The biggest challenge in trying to do this is in separating the hype from reality.
Every day you hear the hype but rarely the reality.
I think the reason this Lake Oroville real estate blog is so popular is that readers have realized that the perspective and advice I give is based solely what I see the realities of the market to be. For example, if you go back to some of my previous blog posts you will see that I was maybe the only REALTOR you heard saying that the tax credits would not help the market in the long term; that the market cannot recover until we find a way to get some of the 8 million or so who have been foreclosed on back into the market; and that government “purchase incentives” will only prolong the pain homeowners and sellers are going through with regards to home values.
My contact with two separate buyers in the Lake Oroville real estate market over the past couple of weeks has led me to believe that we are about to see the very small beginnings of a truly sustainable recovery in home sales and home values.
This belief is based on the fact that each of these buyers were coming to me following their homes being foreclosed upon in late 2007 and early 2008.  With FHA lending standards allowing a borrower to get a loan with a foreclosure of 3 or more years old on their credit report, these buyers are poised to get back into the market and find another home to purchase.
With the first big wave of foreclosures rolling through the real estate market in 2008 it stands to reason that there should be the beginnings of an uptick in real estate transactions sometime in the middle of 2011 as many of those who lost their homes may possibly qualify again for a loan.
And as corny as this may sound, with the much lower prices and the almost free, fixed interest rates, many of these buyers may look back on their foreclosure with fond memories as it enabled them to get out of a house they most likely over paid for and which they financed with an adjustable loan with a top rate that would make a loan shark blush.
Time is a great healer, isn’t it?