Not only do trees beautify your home and neighborhood, they can help to dramatically reduce cooling costs during the hot summer months. Sacramento County residents are eligible for up to 10 free trees through the Sacramento Shade tree program, a partnership between Sacramento Tree Foundations and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD). Businesses, parks and schools in the SMUD service area are also eligible for free SMUD shade trees.

Sacramento Shade customers can choose from over 30 deciduous trees (deciduous trees shed their leaves in the fall to allow the warm winter sun into your home).

By now, we’ve all heard the news, “CA and NY have joined the multi-state mortgage settlement.” As a real estate and mortgage professional, I did (legal) loan modifications for nearly four years and I can assure you, California joining this lawsuit will do little to help California home owners struggling to keep their homes.  

Let’s look at the facts, the most important one being that CA has six out of the top ten cities in the nation hardest hit by declining home values (Modesto (4), Merced (5), Stockton (7), Riverside (8), Bakersfield (9), and Vallejo/Fairfield (10), with many of them 30-50% underwater.

The bottom line is this, a $20,000 principal forgiveness is not nearly enough to help balance out the numbers from underwater to break-even.