Think you got talent? Maybe you do but you'll never know untill you try out at the Big Bear Lake Oktoberfest where a pretty faces alone won't win you an award. If you can carry 15 steins filled with beer, saw a log and limbo the lowest, then you may qualify as one of the finalists for the right to call yourself the Queen of 2009 Big Bear Octoberfest.  

Competitions at the 39th Annual Big Bear Lake Oktoberfest include log sawing, stein carrying, sausage eating, stein holding, O’Doul’s safe slam beer chugging, yodeling, and limbo dancing. Children’s fun and games include pretzel eating contests, kiddy mug holding matches and Midway carnival-style games.  

The main event of Big Bear Lake Oktoberfest is the Crowning of the Queen. The Stein Carrying Contest is the only one of its kind in the United States . The rules are simple, yet challenging and physically demanding. Each contestant must pick-up steins filled with water, carry them a distance of 30 feet and set them back down without spilling more than three ounces out of any one stein. Each stein weighs about 5 lbs. The preliminary round begins with 13 steins and increases with each round. The one who carries the most steins wins. In the past some participants have carried more weight in beer than their own body weight. The Big Bear Lake Oktoberfest queen is crowned the fifth weekend of the festival after competing in three preliminary events.   

Crowd favorites are stein holding events that take place several times a day. The object is to see who can hold a full stein with an outstretched arm, chest high without dropping their arm or spilling the stein’s contents. The log sawing contest is known to get roars from the crowd! This competition is a two person team sport for both men and women that test skills of strength, speed and technique.  O’Doul’s safe slam beer drinking races (non-alcoholic) awards winners who guzzle down liquid the fastest! This competition is great for “couch potatoes” who want to become instant stars. The limbo dance is a downright hoot. Anyone and everyone who has a little bend in their mid section vows to get down as low as they can to the sounds of polka music.  

Contests at Oktoberfest are just part of the fun. When contests are at a standstill, a huge dance floor is filled with revelers clucking away to the “Chicken Dance.” Continuous entertainment includes professional cloggers, polka dancers, yodelers and musicians. This year’s event features Die Franken Power Express Band direct from Germany . The band plays traditional polkas, sing-alongs, classic rock and a mix of country favorites. The band is scheduled to perform three weekends, September 26-27 and October 3, 4, 10 and 11. The headline band the other four weekends is the Express Band, known as Southern California ’s premiere German band.    

The Big Bear Lake Oktoberfest runs for seven consecutive weekends, September 19 through October 31 at The Big Bear Lake Convention Center, located at 42900 Big Bear Boulevard in Big Bear Lake . The times are Saturdays 12 noon to 12 midnight and Sundays 12 noon to 5:30 p.m. Ticket prices for Saturdays are $12 adults; $9 seniors (65+); $6 children (3-12). Sundays are $5 adults; $4 seniors (65+); and children (12 and under) are free. Group and tour package pricing is also available. For more information call 909-585-3000 or visit bigbearevents.com.

How many times have you heard Real Estate agents telling people that this is the best time to buy?  Isn’t that the response that you would expect to hear from your local Realtor?  After all, the job of the Realtor is to sell property.  In his eyes, why wouldn’t it be a good time to buy?

I was speaking to a colleague of mine at Coldwell Banker’s The Tim Wood Group in Big Bear just recently about this very topic.  The reason we were discussing this was because I had just taken a call from someone who bought their Big Bear cabin at the very peak of the market and now he desperately needs to sell.  Not only did he buy at the peak of the housing boom, he bought probably the most expensive homes in the neighborhood.  Needless to say, this guy was devastated when he learned that values of homes in Big Bear have fallen to 2003 levels.  The Realtor who sold him the cabin told him how good an investment it would be and how there was never a better time to buy than right now!  He had been told that he could keep the cabin for a year and easily sell it with a great profit.  In other words this guy was lied too every step of the way. 

The Tim Wood Group at Coldwell Banker has always been known for our brutal honesty.  We don’t sugar coat things and we tell clients the truth.  If this guy who called in had been my client, I would have asked a lot of questions before selling the most expensive home in the neighborhood.  Some of the questions that I ask my clients are.  Why are you buying in Big Bear?  Are you buying a cabin for a vacation home?  Is it going to be used for a vacation rental?  Are you buying the cabin with the intent of flipping it in a year or two?  Knowing the answers to these simple questions helps me pick the best area to look for a cabin for my client.  Had I been his Realtor and he told me that he wanted to buy the cabin, hold it for a year and then sell it for a profit; I would have told him not to buy.  Yes, you read that right.  I would have told him not to buy.  If he went forward with the purchase, I would make sure that he was fully aware of the risks associated with a purchase of this type.  But again, my advice would have been not to buy.

I believe that this guy is going to remember me for my honesty.  It is my hope that when the time is better for him to make this type of purchase; he’ll come back and see me.  I know that he is going to think better of me than they guy who sold him the cabin, telling him that it was a great time to buy.

This past weekend, I had clients come to see me who wanted to buy a cabin in the Fawnskin area.  For you who are not familiar with the Big Bear Valley, Fawnskin is a quite little community that sits on the north side of the lake.  After listening to what this couple wanted, I knew exactly what to show them.  There were a number of cabins that fit what they were looking for, but there was one in particular that I thought they would especially like.  I was right! As soon as they walked in to this cabin, it was obvious that this was the cabin for them.  After some back and forth with the seller's agent, we put the deal together and we are now in escrow. 

These clients are more than qualified to purchase this cabin.  Their lender has given me an approval letter, they are putting plenty of cash to put down and their FICO scores are through the roof.  Based off of comparable sales in Fawnskin, there should be no problem with the appraisal.  So, why am I so worried about this escrow closing?  The answer is "The Appraisal"

In the 5 + years that I've been selling Real Estate in Big Bear Lake, the loan process was basically the same.  Once the escrow was opened, I would always ask the mortgage broker to use a local appraiser for the appraisal.    The reason for this was quite simple.  The Big Bear Valley is made up of a number of smaller diverse communities.  Because the value of cabins in these smaller communities vary considerably depending on a number of factors, it would be necessary that the appraiser have a good working knowledge of the Big Bear Valley.  In other words, he needed to be Geographically Competent.

 As of May 1, 2009 the way appraisers are selected has changed.  In most cases, the mortgage broker can no longer select the appraiser. They must submit the request for the appraiser to an Appraiser Management Company (AMC) and it is the AMC who assigns the appraiser based off of the Home Valuation Code Of Conduct (HVCC).   The problem that we are seeing in Big Bear is that we are getting appraisers from places like Moreno Valley or Temecula.  Now I'm sure that these people do a great job in their local areas.  But bringing an appraiser to Big Bear who is not Geographically Competent is only going to spell disaster.  Time and time again, we are seeing appraisals come in low.  In each case, there are a number of recent comparable sales to support the sales price, yet the appraisal is low.  How can that be?  Quite simply, these appraisers coming to Big Bear are not Geographically Competent.  They don't know enough about the Big Bear Valley to be able to do their job competently.  The Mortgage broker can ask the AMC to send an Appraiser who is Geographically Competent but there is no guarantee that this is going to happen.

All good things must come to an end and the days of not having to worrying about the appraisal is a thing of the past.  Is it too much to ask for something as simple as an appraiser who is Geographically Competent?

This past weekend, I was thinking about what property I planned to show my clients.  My clients were driving up from Los Angeles to look at property in Big Bear and I wanted to make sure that I had the best properties picked out.  The day that my clients arrived in Big Bear, I noticed that one of the properties that I had planned to show had been withdrawn from the market.  This was a cabin that my clients really liked and so I called the listing agent to enquire as to why the cabin was no longer for sale.  I was rather surprised to hear that the seller had not been open with the listing agent and that the seller owed more on the cabin than they were selling it for.  How could this happen?

I see a number of short sale listings in the Big Bear area that will never close.  The reason I say this is because the bank is not going to agree to sell a property for less than it is worth.  For the bank to agree to a Short Sale, the sale must make good financial sense.  The bank is not going to sell a cabin in Moonridge for $150,000.00 when they can foreclose on the property and sell it for $200,000.00.  Yet time and time again, I see properties throughout the entire Big Bear Valley listed for sale with unrealistic asking prices.  Potential buyers see these prices and get an unrealistic picture of the market. A good example of what I’m talking about is this. Just today, I was speaking to a buyer who wants to look for homes priced at $400,000.00, expecting to buy the home for $300,000.00.  That is NOT going to happen in the current market in Big Bear.

I’ve been very successful in selling Short Sales in the Big Bear Valley. The success that I’ve had, has been because I ask a lot of questions.  I’ve never had to withdraw a listing because I have learned that the seller has been less than truthful with me.  More often than not, distressed sellers call me and asking me to help them sell their Big Bear property as a short sale.  Before I agree to take the short sale listing, I sit down and interview the property owner to see if they qualify to sell their home as a short sale.  I understand that talking about your failed finances to a stranger is not a pleasant thing to do and it’s easy to leave a few things out.  If I am going to be able to help the home owner, it is imperative that they answer all of my questions completely, honestly and truthfully.   Once I have answers to all of my questions and I’m confident that the home owner has been truthful with me, I can then determine if they qualify to sell their home as a short sale. 

So, if you see a home listed as a Short Sale and the price seems too good to be true, it probably is!