LONG BEACH SHORTSALE ASSISTANCE:

WHEN IT COMES TO SHORTSALES, THERE ARE A LOT OF COMPLETE MISCONCEPTIONS, BUT IT PAYS TO REMEMBER:

1. The lender does NOT want your home.
2. The lender does NOT want to foreclose.
3. Negotiating and accepting a Short Sale is the best answer for them and for YOU!
4. For banks, a foreclosure is very expensive and time-consuming! Here we provide you with other options:

If you are in a situation where:
* You've Lost Your Job
* You Are Way Behind On Payments
* You Have NO Equity
* You Can't Afford The Costs Of Selling
* You are Going Through A Messy Divorce

HAVING YOUR MORTGAGE HOLDER ACCEPT A SHORT SALE CAN BE A REAL STRESS RELIEVER AND NOT TO MENTION, MAY HELP YOU:

* Avoid A Nasty Foreclosure
* Protect Your Credit
* Avoid Bankruptcy
* Get Rid Of The Nasty Notices and Threats
* Be Free of The Financial And Emotional Burdens!
* Move On With Your Life

HAVE QUESTIONS? FREE ASSISTANCE!
http://www.laocshortsale.com/

FRAN knows Long Beach!

Who knows Long Beach's best neighborhoods, worst areas, finest restaurants, coolest pubs, best views, hottest clubs, diciest streets, most influential people, largest dog parks, warmest churches, cheapest gas stations... you name it? Who Knows? Fran knows. Have a Long Beach area question you need an answer to, just ASK FRAN!!! Swami says...

10 Things You Should Know Before Moving To Long Beach!

1. IT NEVER RAINS IN LONG BEACH- Well, OK, almost never. Since moving here in 1988 and with the exception of those few EL Nino wet seasons early on, I think it has rained a combined 7 days out of each 365 days annually. That's about 126 days out 7,665-not bad. Our "rainy" season starts in winter and splatters (maybe sputters is a better word) its way through spring. Most rainy days in the Long Beach/LA area start off with a light misting and "pours" just enough water on my car to spread the road dirt from barely noticeable to "darn it, I guess I gotta wash my car before taking clients out in it." It's almost to the point where TV stations should just have the sports guy make a passing comment about tomorrow's weather and then get right back to the game scores from last night. Early this year I woke up to the beautiful sound of rainfall on my roof and before I could even reach for the phone to cancel my morning appointments due to the nasty weather, the rain was gone-siigghh. ((weather incidents check local weather http://www.wunderground.com/US/CA/Los_Angeles.html ))

If you're thinking about moving to Long Beach, or the general vicinity, local weather should be the least of your worries (unless you live in Phoenix where it probably rains 3 days a year out of 365). I know there are engineers, weather people, accountants and those numerical perfectionists out there who will rake me over the coals for not being TOTALLY accurate, but after living in Atlanta, Miami and Seattle over the years, believe me, what we get here does not qualify as rain. As for temperature though, it can get a bit cool here occasionally. Our cool weather season runs from October through mid spring. There are days when layering your gear or at least taking along a coat of some sort is a definite necessity-especially in December and January. It will rarely get to anywhere near freezing, but due to the marine layer, Santa Ana winds, Alaska cold fronts and a myriad other factors that affect our daily temperature, it's always best to be prepared to cover up a bit-especially in the evenings. Oh, and as for our summer heat, well this ain't Kansas darlin, we are in fact in a desert, a lushly manicured one in some areas, but a desert none the less. It can get a bit humid in the late summer, but a house fan is as much as most people will need to stay comfortable. Obviously, hot car seats is an almost daily annoyance, but you get used to it.

2. LONG BEACH IS NOT LA- But sometimes Long Beachers like to say they are from LA-well, sort of anyway. Truth is, most LB folk pretty much hate LA and almost everything associated with it, unless they are travelling somewhere and rather than having to clarify which Long Beach (there are at least 6 in the country) they are from, will just say, "I'm from LA" (ughh). But let's face it, we are so close to LA, we can almost be considered a suburb. Heck, almost every town or city bordering LA is pretty much a suburb. However, unlike many of the other "LA area towns" Long Beach has the unique distinction of being a real city, not just some sleepy burb connected to LA's extensive umbilical cord. ((Long Beach Port rival's LA Port in shipping and export of freight )) http://www.polb.com/

3. LONG BEACH IS NOT BOORRINNG- Unlike many of the other cities, towns and neighborhoods in our area (such as Garden Grove, El Segundo, The Valley, Corona, Carson-even Newport Beach and at least 30 others), LB actually has a bit of culture and unless you come from New York, Paris or London, LB is definitely a big-time "happening" place. Need something to do? We've got you covered. In the same day you can attend the Grand Prix, dress up for the symphony, see a play at one of our several playhouses, listen to some reggae in the park, sail, boat, fly, scuba, fish, ski, bike...you name it. Naah, this is NOT a sleepy town, not by any means. http://www.visitlongbeach.com/

4. LB HAS A BAD RAP- Nice play on words huh? As the original hometown of "Snoop Dogg," Long Beach's famous, even infamous rap icon, Long Beach is portrayed as being a "tough" town, a place where "the hood" is an apropos title. When you consider that Long Beach IS a real city, not just a small town, it should come as no surprise that we do have a couple of areas that are not "the best or safest." So what! The largest portions of our city qualify for a title more befitting Mayberry, than Detroit. And, as a woman in real estate, I have been to every inch of our city and NEVER felt threatened or intimidated by any of it. Sure there's crime, but even Newport and Laguna Beach have crime. When I was a kid growing up in Paris, I was well aware which areas of the city were not that safe and unless I absolutely had to go there, I just didn't. Paris had a whole lot more places that I shouldn't go to than we have ever had in Long Beach.

5. EARTHQUAKE!!!!!!!!- Florida has its hurricanes. The midwest has killer tornadoes and California has the shakes. California in general has had a few quakes over the years. Most of them are so small, distant or rare though, you would never know there was one unless you heard some casual reference on the TV news. I can't tell you the last time I felt a quake, but every day you hear about people losing their homes to nasty weather somewhere else in the country. Rather than lose my home to monster winds, killer tornadoes or deadly rain, I'll keep our 5 seconds of earth rumbling a year.

6. LONG BEACH IS WEIRD - To this I will absolutely agree. In its early years, Long Beach was a vacation spot for the rich and famous LA crowd. You can see architectural evidence of this as you drive through some of our best neighborhoods-replete with mansions and boat docks . Then we became a boardwalk type Navy town. When the Navy up and left, we fell into a bit of hard times. Then we elected a couple of good politicians (Mayor Beverly was one) who helped usher Long Beach into its current renaissance. Now Long Beach can best be described as a sunny, touristy, conventiony, excursiony, beachy, nice place place to raise kids, perfect if you are single, techie, really happening, laid back, high risey yet suburby kinda place to call home. Yes, Long Beach is all of that and more. Too bad we don't really have an identity crisis or anything-or maybe we do. A couple of places to go and things to do:

http://www.shorelinevillage.com/ http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/ http://www.lbso.org/

7. LONG BEACH REAL ESTATE SUCKS- That's if you DON'T like having a great variety of options to choose from. Years ago I actually had a potential client describe to me that we have just too many housing styles to choose from. He moved here from Orlando, where apparently every home is either a plan A or plan B and built between 1998 and 2004. Our properties, which range from Spanish and Craftsman bungalows built at the turn of the century, to new high rise condos costing upwards of $3,000,000, was just too confounding for him. Actually Long Beach real estate is nothing short of incredible. Whether you are looking for a luxury home, a single family starter home, a downtown loft, a luxurious, ocean view condo or a gorgeous investment property, Long Beach is a plethora, a veritable cornucopia, of real estate opportunities : ). No kidding... See for yourself: http://premierlongbeachhomes.com/

8. LONG BEACH IS PHAT- Hey, I just learned this new word the other day. My neighbor's son, a kid on his way to Stanford, explained that phat (not fat) is supposedly a good word these days. Anyway, on to why this city is so phat. As a culinary destination, our city is as diverse as it's residents, but lacking a true culinary identity is not a problem, it's actually a really GOOD thing. With tons of fine Italian, fabulous French, authentic Greek, classic Mexican and even awesome Mediterranean cuisine, you can literally eat yourself silly in this town. Most interesting of all though is the relatively recent growth in general appreciation of all types of Asian cuisine. We aren't talking Chinese here. Ever heard of Thai Sushi Fusion-we got that here? What about PHO? Remember that Seinfeld episode with the soup Nazi? One of Long Beach's many PHO restaurants (Google PHO to learn more), is so good, people come from miles around just to eat there, despite the cranky antics of its former owner... "You leave now. No soup for you!" A big bowl of PHO on a cold day is a warm bowl of heaven...yummm!

Oh, and there is another incredible culinary trend that has already taken over Little Saigon, in neighboring Garden Grove/Westminster. As unbelievable as it may sound, Long Beach will soon be overrun (in a good way) by CRAWFISH restaurants. Yes crawfish. You know...mud bugs...the same little critters that define New Orleans cuisine. A couple of years ago, some bright, young Vietnamese Americans started making Louisiana style crawfish, shrimp and boiled crabs that would knock the socks off even the best crawfish connoisseur. Some of these establishments are so beautiful and trendy and make such delicious food, the wait to get a seat inside can be over 3 hours, a wait I have and will gladly endure now and again. Giant seafood restaurants like Joes Crabs, and The Crab Pot (both in LB), will be struggling to compete the minute the Long Beach foodie crowd gets hip to this new taste trend. Just a hint... http://www.lataco.com/taco/rockin-crawfish-westminster

9. WHICH SOCAL CITY IS THE BEST LOCATION IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA?- Why Long Beach of course. Situated smack dab right between LA and Orange counties, surrounded and dissected by 5 freeways, accessible by car, boat, train and plane, Long Beach simply cannot be beat. See for yourself: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=Long+Beach,+CA,+USA&ie=UTF8&ll=33.774581,-118.192291&spn=0.276818,0.569916&z=11

10. THERE REALLY IS A BEACH IN LONG BEACH- Miles long...white sand, bike paths... jogging trails... Come visit. I'll show you around.