I was at a meeting over in Riverbank earlier today and Richard Hundley came up to me and said, “Hey Roy, I bet you’ve never seen an office with them before.” I turn around to see where he is pointing and there stands a peacock, right outside the front doors of PMZ Real Estate.

Apparently there are 3 or 4 of them that live near by. They hop the fence during business hours to check out the people and for any extra food scraps people leave behind. “They really like white bread,” Richard said.

The birds are so docile that when called with food, they come right on over. Sometimes, they even sit right in front of the door, admiring their reflection in the glass.

Weird eh?

(via The Riverbank News)

Would you insure your smile for $1,000,000? How about your voice? Or your legs? What if your income depended on them? Protecting one’s livelihood with insurance has a long and interesting history, thanks to Lloyds of London.

Consider celebrity leg insurance. It started in 1940 with Betty Grable, an actress, singer and dancer. She insured her legs for a cool million. That’s nearly $15 million in today’s dollars. And soccer star David Beckham has insured his legs for an astounding $70 million. Quite a hefty sum! But considering that his total salary for 2007 is estimated at $37.4 million, he is insured for only about two years of income. Would two years of coverage be enough for you?

Your ability to earn an income is probably your greatest asset. For instance, if you earned $75,000 for the next 20 years, you would take home a total of $1.5 million. But what if you got sick or injured and couldn’t work?

We are three times more likely to suffer long-term disability than to die. As of 2005, disability was the leading cause of personal bankruptcies and caused 46% of all mortgage foreclosures. So if you think life insurance is a good idea, you may also want to consider disability coverage, too.

Long-Term Disability Insurance benefits include:

• Disability due to injury or illness, physical or mental.
• “Own occupation” coverage.
• Covers earnings and bonuses.
• Waiting period as short as 90 days.
• Benefit period up to age 65.
• Portable, you own it.
• Discounted up to 40%.
• Guaranteed renewable.
• Non-cancelable.

Though it is probably only a rumor that Jennifer Lopez has insured her body for $1 billion, considering her lifetime earning potential, maybe she should.

The California Independent System Operator (CAISO), charged with managing the electricity grid in California, has issued a Flex Alert for Tuesday, July 8th through Thursday, July 10th.

Due to the current hot weather, electricity conservation is necessary. As a result, state officials have called a Flex Alert.
It’s important that you:

- Turn off all unnecessary lights
- Postpone using major appliances until after 7:00 PM
- If you must use an air conditioner, turn it up to 78 degrees
or higher

For updates, please visit www.FlexYourPower.org. We ask that you pass this e-mail along to your friends and colleagues.

And thanks for Flexing Your Power.

PMZ Insurance Services has aligned with MassMutual Financial Group in order to bring our clients and agents flexible programs that offer a variety of financial products, services and analysis to meet your particular needs. Whether youa re just beginning to design a plan or already have some strategies in place, this alliance can help you accomplish the following financial goals:

• Protect family needs through insurance planning
• Plan for the preservation of your estate
• Maximize business potential through proper business planning
• Plan for a comfortable retirement

With products including investment, business, insurance, retirement and estate planning, you can be confident that a PMZ Insurance Professional can help you meet your financial needs.

For more information on these and other services, contact us at (209) 338-0385 or visit our website at www.pmzinsurance.com

At PMZ Real Estate, our agents are anything but short of amazing.  That’s why I’m pleased to announce that Barbara Miller, at age 68, has been inducted into the USA Masters Track and Field Hall of Fame. Miller holds 8 of 10 US records for different track events.

Congratulations Barbara and keep up the pace!

Qualifying for the Beijing 2008 Olympics must be an amazing experience.  Suzy Powell of Modesto has qualified with 2 other women for the 2008 Beijing Olympics discus throw event. This is her third Olympic qualification.

Go for the Gold Suzy!

Image via Wikipedia

Now you can have the entire MLS at your fingertips, on your mobile phone. Realtors and homebuyers, now you can pull up information about any home on the market instantly. Browse photos and get all property details right on your mobile phone. No sign ups, just pure real estate search at your fingertips for on-the-go real estate.

Just visit: mobile.pmz.com in your mobile phone’s web browser. Bookmark it for later use and start searching immediately.

Think the housing market is bad here? Take a look at this picture:

This is the entrance to someones home. A place where 6 people sleep, water is stored in used, chemical laden drums, and clothes are hung on the barbed wire to dry. Even the metal used to protect the home from looters (yes looters), vandals and the elements gets ripped off and sold for cash. Instead they use plastic garbage bags and wooden polls.

This is the life of a Native-Mexican tribe in Ensenada, Mexico. They are outcasted by the people of their country and relegated to live in these sub-standard conditions. If you hit one of them while driving and kill them, you only receive a fine of $700 and then you’re free to go.

Matt Keenan, Recruiter here at PMZ Real Estate, went down to Ensenada, Mexico with his church to help rebuild a church. While he was down there he said he had a “life changing experience,” and even picked up the language pretty well. He was able to help support this tribe by making sure they had a place to come together as a community and by donating rice and beans to the tribe which usually traps a rabbit in a tin bucket and shares between the ten of them.

Matt and his church group were also able to bring hundreds of pairs of clothes to share with the indigenous people. If you are interested in finding out how you can help, contact Matt Keenan at (209) 557-6267.

Image by denis collette via Flickr

In this challenging real estate market, curb appeal is particularly important for a home seller. One of the first things you should do with a house that has a shabby exterior is focus on the front yard landscape. Planting a few flowers and/or bushes, trimming the grass, and laying out some bark for ground cover can be a quick and simple way to get you started. If you don’t have time for that, consider hiring a landscaper.

Here in the Central Valley, you can drive down just about any road and find a landscaper’s truck driving by you. There are so many, you will probably end up asking yourself, “How do I choose the right one?” Here are some tips for hiring a landscaper who will do a good job at a reasonable price.

• Review a portfolio. A neighbor’s recommendation is a good starting point, but it is also worthwhile to examine other jobs the landscaper has done and ask for references. Hiring someone who isn’t reliable, doesn’t finish the job or who uses unhealthy plants is a costly mistake.
• Consider maintenance. Asking for a low-maintenance design will ensure that even if the home owner isn’t able to spend hours on the task, the lawn will continue to look good.
• Know what good landscaping is worth. It can’t hurt to let a potential buyer know what the value of the trees and shrubs are. The North Carolina-based Horticultural Asset Management specializes in assessing the value of landscape plants. For instance, it puts the worth of a healthy 60-foot-tall European beech at $50,000.

Image via Wikipedia

Some homeowners who can’t afford their mortgage payment, and find themselves in property foreclosure are not only walking away from their home, but they’re also walking away from their pets.

They’re called, “foreclosure pets” and when the owner walks away from the home they leave there pet behind. You’d think it would be as simple as taking the animal to the nearest pet shelter or finding the loved one a good home, but it’s more complicated then that.

Animals who get “left behind” are the personal property of their owners, and therefore cannot legally be taken from the property.

A woman named Cheryl Lang, president of REO management firm Integrated Mortgage Solutions, heard about the growing problem and started a non-profit organization called, No Paws Left Behind. She utilizes her network of contractors to feed and care for the abandoned pets until they can legally be taken from the home.

If you are a property owner who is about to be foreclosed upon and have no place to take your pet, or if you are interested in helping or donating, visit the No Paws Left Behind website at: http://www.NoPawsLeftBehind.org