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Bring Me Your Properties

Just in case you've stumbled upon my blog, I wanted to remind you what I do:

I'm an investor in San Diego, and I buy difficult to sell/close properties, all cash, and can close fast. 

Any property you bring me, I will give back to you to sell after I remodel it. So, you can earn twice the commission on one property. Any price, any size, and location and condition.

If you have a deal for me, please send it my way, or call me at 877-LANDMARK to discuss it more.

I'm extremely easy to work with, and have been in business for 22 years. Feel free to pass this along to any realtors with difficult to sell properties or deals that might be a good fit for my business.

Growing in California: Kale

In southern California, Kale is best planted in the fall. You could start in October, as it will thrive in the cooler months. Kale will also prefer growing in a rich, slightly acidic soil and can be direct seeded in the garden, or started inside the house.

You can expect to see the seeds sprout in warm soil a week after planting. If you have the room, set the seeds at least a foot apart so the plant has room to grow and thrive with ample air circulation. Keep the plants well watered and this will help the leaves become sweeter and more crisp, as opposed to tough and bitter.

Pick small baby leaves to toss into a fresh salad, or let the leaves mature for a large leaf for cooking.

Kale chips recipe:

Wash and dry kale leaves.
Removes inner stems and tear into "chip size" pieces
Place kale on a baking sheet
Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt, or other flavorings of your choice
Bake in a 350 degree oven about 10 minutes until edges are crispy and brown

House of the Week: Cave House in Arizona

What do you think of this house?

A Visual Guide To Saving Money In Your Home

Enjoy this image from Intuit!



Personal Finances from Quicken

What Is The Best Season To List Your House?

Here's a great infographic on the best season to list your house.

What Renovations Have The Best Resale Value?

Check out this infograph showcasing which renovations have the best resale value.


(Click to enlarge)

Source: eLocal.com

Bonsall Home For Sale

Just posted these befores and afters of a beautiful house in Bonsall, CA. Listed here.

Growing in California: Artichokes

I had a couple beautiful and thriving artichoke plants in my yard this year. They provided an interesting landscaping addition, and of course, delicious food for the home. 

Artichoke plants thrive best in an area with mild winters and like full sun, or partial shade. Give plants room to spread, since mature plants can reach 4 to 5 feet tall and 3 to 4 feet wide. According to Bonnie Plants, "They also need light, fertile, well-drained soil—sandy or loam is ideal. Prepare the soil by working 5 inches of compost into a trench 8 inches deep and equally wide. Two reasons artichoke plants fail are summer drought and winter soil that’s waterlogged. Adding compost improves soil’s ability to retain water in summer and drain in winter."


Have you ever grown artichokes? What was your experience?


Here is a great 5 minutes guide on growing artichokes. Enjoy.

Belize

Photos from a trip to Belize while I was looking for real estate. It's a beautiful place.

Growing in California: Avocados

There are many things to think about when choosing how to landscape a yard. One of the best plants for California is the Avocado tree. Southern California has a dry, sunny atmosphere, perfect for the avocado fruit tree which demands full sunlight. The trees are shallow rooted, so nutrients can be absorbed quickly, allowing for even a poor soil quality to breed healthy trees. They love mulch, especially organic compost added to the soil a couple times a year.

Avocados do require frequent watering, as they grow year round. The deeper the irrigation, the better the trees will do since they are sensitive to salty soil. Salt build up . Pairing up avocado trees and planting them near one another can aid in the pollination and future vitality of each tree.

The best time to plant an avocado tree is between March and June, before the hot summer months hit. Here are few tips on how to grow an avocado tree from the pit of the fruit. Thanks to avocado.org for the info.

Growing an Avocado Houseplant

Don't throw out that seed! You can grow a beautiful houseplant or even your own tree following these simple steps.

1.     Wash the seed. Using three toothpick, suspend it broad end down over a water-filled glass to cover about an inch of the seed.

2.     Put it in a warm place out of direct sunlight and replenish water as needed. You should see roots and stem sprout in about two to six weeks.

3.     When the stem is six to seven inches long, cut it back to about three inches.

4.     When the roots are thick and the stem has leafed out again, plant it in a rich humus soil in a 10-1/2" diameter pot, leaving the seed half exposed.

5.     Give it frequent, light waterings with an occasional deep soak. Generally, the soil should be moist but not saturated. Yellowing leaves are a sign of over-watering; let the plant dry out for a few days.

6.     The more sunlight, the better.

7.     If leaves turn brown and fry at the tips, too much salt has accumulated in the soil. Let water run freely into the pot and drain for several minutes.

8.     When the stem is 12 inches high, cut it back to 6 inches to encourage the growth of new shoots.

9.     While it is true that you can grow a tree from an avocado seed, keep in mind that a tree grown from seed will be very different from its parent variety and may take 7-15 years to begin producing fruit. Fruit from a tree grown from seed tends to have different flavor characteristics than their parent variety. Known varieties such as Hass avocados are grafted to preserve their varietal characteristics rather than grown from a seed.

The Whale

My friend Peter just sent me this and I wanted to share it. It is an AWESOME reminder to be grateful for everything we have.... and to go diving more. It's the ultimate place of peace for me.

The Whale

If you read a recent front page story of the San Francisco Chronicle, you would have read about a female humpback whale who had become entangled in a spiderweb of crab traps and lines. She
was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso and a line tugging in her mouth.

A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farallon Islands (outside the Golden Gate ) and radioed an environmental group for help. Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so bad off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her. They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her.

When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them, pushed them gently around as she was thanking them.

Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives. The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth said her eyes were following him the whole time, and he will never be the same.

May you, and all those you love, be so blessed and fortunate to be surrounded by people who will help you get untangled from the things that are binding you. And, may you always know the joy of giving and receiving
gratitude.

I pass this on to you, my friends, in the same spirit.

Life is good.