Here are some Trick or Treaters who came by our office at 3400 Calloway Drive, Building 800, Bakersfield, CA 93312.  We still have lots of candy for the kids and will be open until 6 PM.

I love to see the kids, but sometimes they look like they are more afraid of us than we are of them in their costumes.

We are at the corner of Calloway and Meacham in the Northeast corner business park. It is just West of Endeavour Elementary School.

McKinzie Nielsen Real Estate wishes everyone a safe and Happy Halloween!

When a bride gets married, there is an old saying that she should wear something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. In England they also say "and a six pence in her shoe." Sometimes for luck, they actually do put a six pence in her shoe.

I am calling this BLOG Something Borrowed, Something Blue, and will try to update about lender issues every other Wednesday. It is a subset of my regular blog.

I was having lunch with Helen Thomas--not the White House reporter, a local lender. She had a lot of interesting predictions about what is coming down the pike.

First, there were rumors that FHA solvency is shakey, but they are unfounded.

HUD will adopt some sort of HVCC (Home Valuation Code of Conduct) plan by January 1st.

Will the $8,000 tax credit be extended? 93% likelihood. This might not happen by December 1st, but if it does it will probably be retroactive.

Will it increase to $15,000? Only a 30% likelihood of this happening.

Will the tax credit be offered to all purchasers, not just First Time Home Buyers? There is a 60% likelihood.

Fannie and Freddie are very tight lipped about how much inventory they have and when and how it will be released.

Government is currently buying ALL mortgage backed securities. 100% of new securities and also some old, non-performing securities owned by banks taken over by FDIC, and other various institutions. This is keeping the interest rates low, which is encouraging people to buy houses.

This will stop after the 1st quarter of next year--expect rates to go up least .75% to 1% by March of next year. This will happen in February or March. Helen was very sure about this, but of course, no one really knows the future. Still, it is a pretty good bet.

Did anybody have a good time at the Fair? I helped build a house for Habitat for Humanity. I saw the Cowgirl competition, and my niece's friend won 5th place. I saw the livestock and a hog auction. I had some funnel cake and some BBQ. I didn't see Grand Funk Railroad.