Mechanic Liens

Good Evening

California Mechanic's Lien Law provides special protection to contractors, subcontractors, laborers and suppliers who furnish labor or materials to repair, remodel or build your home.

If any of these people are not paid for the services or materials they have provided, your home may be subject to a mechanic's lien.  The result can occur even where full payment for the work of the improvement had been made.

The mechanic's lien is a right that the State of CA gives to workers and suppliers to record a lien to ensure payment.  This lien may be recorded where the property owner has paid the contractor in full and the contractor then fails to pay the subcontractors, suppliers or laborers.  In the worst case, a homeowner may actually end up paying twice for the same work.

The rationale behind this is the constitution and laws of California.  The theory behind the mechanic's lien law is that between two potentially blameless parties, the homeowner who has ordered the work and made full payment of the agreed amount and obtained the value of the work is in a better position to bear the loss than the laborer or supplier who has provided the labor and/or materials to the job site and has not been paid for his efforts by the contractor.  It is the homeowner who bears the ultimate responsibility for making payment for services rendered.  The theory is that the value of the property has increased by the work and/or materials and the homeowner has who has reaped this benefit is required to return to act as the ultimate guarantor of full payment to the persons responsible for this increase in value.

The best protection against these claims is for the homeowner to employ reputable firms with sufficient experience and capital and/or require completion and payment bonding of the work.  The issuance of checks payable jointly to the contractor, material men and suppliers is another protective measure, as is the careful disbursement of funds in phases based on the percentage of completion of the project at a given point in the construction process.

Even if a mechanic's lien is recorded against your property you may be able to resolve the problem without further payment to the lien claimant.  This possibility exists where the proper procedure for establishing the lien was not followed.  Each claimant must adhere to a well established procedure in order to create a valid mechanic's lien.

As in all areas of real estate, the best advice is to investigate the quality, integrity and business reputation of the firm with whom you are dealing with.  Once you are satisfied with your due diligence, make sure you discuss your concerns about the possibility of mechanic's liens with your contractor and a work out a method of ensuring that they will not occur.

It's October 21, 2009 and I am very Bullish on Sacramento

David Ohara

@dwo34

dwo34@aol.com

Sunday Treat - Raider Game

Good Sunday Evening

Today I got an unexpected call from a dear friend.  She had two tickets to the Oakland Raider and Philadelphia Eagles football game.  She told me that they were tickets to the "suite."   I had been to several games in the "suite" with her and it's quite a treat.  The "suite" is situated on the 20 yard line and is high enough that you have a great view of the entire field.  

I called my friend G up and he was up for going. He's a big football fan and the fact that we would be sitting in the "suite" made it an easy sell.  We took off about 9:00, had a quick breakfast and headed for the East Bay.  We did not encounter any traffic and since we had a preferred parking pass, we were able to by pass a lot of the traffic getting into the Coliseum.

We found our private entrance and made our way to "Suite P 75."  We were greeted with a smile and a beverage as we walked in.  The food, beverage, service, people and game were all exceptional! To our surprise, the Oakland Raiders won the game.  It was a hard fought defensive battle.  Only one touchdown was scored.  The Raider fans were great and fanatical! We loved the atmosphere. Because of the lose game, we watched until the time expired! A great Sunday by all accounts.

It's October 18, 2009, and I am very Bullish on Sacramento and NFL Football!

David Ohara

@dwo34

dwo34@aol.com

Update - One Down

Good Morning everyone. I hope you are all safe and dry on this first storm of the season for Sacramento.  I wanted to update everyone on one of the blogs I wrote.  The Buyer known as Mr. K had been looking at properties through out Sacramento.  We had made several offers, and in every situation, offering more than listed price.

Over the weekend, I met with Mr. K and we looked at a couple homes and revisited another property that had come back on to the market.  We decided to make an offer on Monday on a property that we liked.  The asking price of the home was $89,900.  We wrote an offer of $95,000, because we did not want to get out bid.  We are also paying cash with a quick close.  I contacted the Seller Monday morning and told her we needed a quick response, because there was another home we were going to offer on if we did not get this one.  She looked at the offer and called me back.  As I expected, there was another offer that was submitted on the home.  She took our offer, because of the quick close and my phoning her to discuss why our offer was better.  Even though the other offer was higher, she elected to accept ours! Wow, finally!

The one thing that buyer's should know is that the "cleanliness" of your submitted offer can be the difference in getting it accepted or declined.  Your offer should be written in  a way that they Seller can accept it as written. If there are too many ambiguities or conditions, the Seller will most likely counter the offer or accept another offer that was better written.  

So Buyer Mr. K has his home! He can now begin to work on a very exciting project that I will be blogging on.  I think this is a very exciting time.  The winds of the market have definitely turned for the better.  Stay positive and optimistic.  If you need information about the market or the interest rates, please contact me.

It's October 13, 2009 and I am very Bullish on Sacramento!

David Ohara

@dwo34

dwo34@aol.com

The Search for a Home

Good Evening!

Continuing my comments on the changing real estate market here in Sacramento, let me introduce you to Ryno. Ryno is a first time buyer looking to purchase a home in the North Natomas area.  He is a high school teacher in the area, so he is looking for a home that does not have a long commute.  Ryno is a diligent buyer, he is pre-approved and has his funds ready to go.

Ryno gave me some parameters to work with and off we went.  The first time we looked at homes we had a list of about 6 homes.  We eliminated a couple of them when we pulled up because of the proximity to a negative feature (freeway or commercial building).  After looking at the homes, we were excited because there were some nice homes.  We decided to call it an evening.  I wanted Ryno to digest and process all that he saw.  When he called me the next morning, he wanted to go back to a couple of the homes we had toured.  I also checked the MLS updates to see if there were any new listings that we would be able to add on.

To my surprise, 3 of the 4 homes we looked at had sold! Wow. Offers had been submitted on those homes and accepted by the Sellers.  Ryno and I had the same reaction.  Nonetheless, we went back out and looked at the new listings.  I have been out with Ryno on four different occasions to look at homes.  Every time we like a home and get ready to write an offer, it goes into "Pending Sale" status.  We have come to the conclusion, that we need to go and look at these homes, the minute it hits the market, time permitting.

Ryno and I are going to look at homes this weekend.  I am confident he will find a nice home.  The reason why I am blogging on this, is simple: Don't Believe the Doom and Gloom that the media portrays the real estate market!  Take it from someone in the trenches and is on the street level.  The Real Estate Market in Sacramento is on its way back!  The interest rates are great and the prices are good.  The inventories are shrinking.  This is a golden opportunity to jump in and make your first purchase or add to your portfolio!

It's October 8, 2009 and I am Very Bullish on Sacramento!

David Ohara

@dwo34

dwo34@aol.com

Changing Market in Sacramento

Hello Everybody!

The tides are turning folks! These past few weeks have been very busy for me and for a lot of my colleagues.  I wanted to talk about some of my experiences in the past few weeks to give you a "bird's eye view" of the real estate market in Sacramento.

The first Buyer, I will refer to as Mr. K.  Mr. K wants to purchase an investment home in certain targeted areas.  He is looking at homes that are priced under a $100,000.  He prefers that the homes he looks at, needs some repair work.  Seemed like a simple task.  I had heard that there were a flood of these homes on the market.  One other key factor that would make my job a bit easier, Mr. K, was going to pay cash for his investment home and close in 10 days.  A motivated Buyer is a good thing!

Off we went. To the specific areas that he had targeted.  To our surprise, there were not that many homes to look at.  We pared our list down to five homes and checked them all out.  We really liked this one home near the Valley High area in South Sacramento. The home was listed for $89,000.  I knew the listing agent and I placed a call to her and told her I would be faxing an offer to her.  She told me that she expected multiple offers "So come in with your best shot David.."  We wrote the offer up and I emailed it to her.  We were notified the next day that our offer was NOT accepted, someone else had offered more than us.  We offered $94,000! We felt that the home was well worth $94,000, so we offered more than full price.

Not to be discouraged, we set out with a new set of homes to look at.  We even went out to the North Area and toured some homes off of Elkhorn Boulevard.  Our thoughts were that this area may not be as competitive as the South Area.  After we looked at 4 homes, we decided to submit and offer on a nice home on Longdale Drive.  The listed price was $79,900.  Once again, I called the listing agent and informed her that we would be submitting an offer on the home.  She told me that there were already three offers submitted! What!?!???  Needless to say, we did not get this home neither.

Several more times since those two initial tours of duty, and we have submitted 6 more offers and Mr. K is still without an accepted offer.  We are awaiting on an answer on an offer we submitted on Monday.  From what I hear, we have a good chance to get this home.  I will keep you posted.  Amazing how the view looks from the trenches.  The media should pay attention to what is really happening. The market is definitely getting better!

Tomorrow, I will tell you about the buyer I will call Ryno.  

It's October 7, 2009 and I am very Bullish on Sacramento

David Ohara

@dwo34

dwo34@aol.com

Absentee Blogger

Hello Everyone!

Sorry I have been away from the blog. I will be getting back on a regular basis here. Been busy trying to get a certain project under way that I will blog about soon.  I want to make sure it is up and running before I blog about it.  And also, been getting some nice invites from friends to have a little fun.  I am refocused and ready to get back on track.  

Been chatting with several people about the content and other information. I will be making some improvements here and blogging more about what I think the readers want to read.  Sit back and enjoy the ride.

I don't know about you, but I am ready for Fall weather! These 100+ degree days are killing me. Have a nice evening and see you soon.

It's September 27th, 2009 and I am very Bullish on Sacramento

David Ohara

@dwo34

dwo34@aol.com

Meet Griselda Barajas Business Woman Extraordinaire!

Hello and Good Wednesday Evening

I want to introduce you to a dynamic woman I call my friend! Her name is Griselda Barajas, and she is the owner of Griselda's Ventures Inc.  When you meet her in person, you can tell the "wheels" are always going a mile a minute and she rarely takes a moment to relax.  I have had the privilege of knowing Griselda for a few years and have always been  impressed with her business mind.

I recently went to the State Capitol to have lunch with Griselda and chat with her about her business.  Griselda is a warm, caring, friendly, and upbeat lady and this is evident the minute you see her.

Because of Griselda's prominence in the Sacramento community, I will run this blog as a two parter.  Day one will be the interview portion and tomorrow I will talk about some of Griselda's accomplishments.  Here are some of the details of  question and answer session:

dwo34: "Hi Griselda, how are you! So good to see you. I am glad that we were able to schedule this meeting"

GB: "My pleasure David, it's nice to see you too"

dwo34: "How long have you been in business Griselda?"

GB: "I have been in the business for about 17 years now... Oh my how time flies"

dwo34: "Tell me, what types of food do you cater and the types of events you do?"

GB: "I am very proud to say that over the years, we have developed a full menu and a multitude of different offerings.  We can do Mexican, Japanese, Chinese, Mediterranean, Italian, American cuisines. Basically we can cater to everyone.  We do fund raisers, weddings, birthday parties, conferences, bridal showers and other events."

dwo34: "Wow, looks like you have all the bases covered here Griselda."

GB: "We try to accommodate everyone and every event."

dwo34: "Tell me about your largest event you ever catered."

GB: "The biggest event we ever did, was probably the 2000 Olympic Trails.  This was a monumental event for Sacramento and we felt very privileged to be asked to handle the catering.  We served approximately 3000 people during the event. So you can see, this was a big event!  The people were nice and everything worked out perfectly"

dwo34: "That is impressive!"

GB: "Thank you, we got great publicity for that event.  It led to other great events for us."

dwo34: "Any other favorite events come to mind?"

GB: "Yes, we also did the catering for SMUD and their 60th Anniversary event.  That was also a fun event and once again, we felt very privileged to be asked to cater the event."

dwo34: "How do you market yourself Griselda?"

GB: "My biggest source of business is referrals.  I am blessed that my existing clients, friends, family all help by getting the word out.  I also just started doing Facebook.  We need to be friends on Facebook.  Also, I serve my community on various boards and belong to several local networking groups."

dwo34: "Please send me a friend request on Facebook!"

GB: "I will and you can teach me how to get on Twitter."

dwo34: "I can do that"

dwo34: "Let everyone know why Griselda Barajas is successful and why people should deal with you."

GB: "When you hire us, you get an experienced, professional, responsible, and quality caterer. You get my experience in running an event.  I take care of everything, so that the client has no stress.  Think of me as the concierge of the event.  My staff is professional also.  My menu is extensive and from what I have been told, very tasty!  We also have very competitive pricing."

dwo34: "You know I am a huge fan of Griselda Barajas, shall we eat."

GB: "Yes. Lets...."

Tomorrow I will finish up with my chat with Griselda Barajas.  I have been to her catered events.  She is one of the best in Sacramento, if not the best.  She will go out of her way to make sure her clients are happy!  I am so proud of her and I enjoy watching her succeed.  

It's September 2, 2009 and I am bullish on Sacramento

David Ohara

@dwo34

dwo34@aol.com