DiMarco Realtors - March 2021

DiMarco Realtors - March 2021

San Diego Orange County Inland Empire Los Angeles Bay Area 888-271-7760 | DIMARCOREALTORS.COM | DIMARCOLEGAL.COM | MARCH 2021 News From Your Home & Loan Resource Network DiMa r c o ’ s 2 C e n t s

Deciding to Be Happy Life Lessons From an 83-Year-Old

“But Mrs. Jones,” said the attendant,“you haven’t seen the room. Just wait.”

I’m always impressed by people with great attitudes. Since we all will face some tough times in life, I especially love to see examples of people who have responded to life’s challenges with a positive attitude. Recently, a friend sent me a story that shows we can choose to be happy despite our circumstances. I’m sharing it here, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Mrs. Jones is an 83-year-old, well-versed woman. She was up at 8 a.m. every day, her hair was never out of place, and her makeup was always perfectly applied. On this particular day, she sat patiently waiting in the hall of a retirement home. Her husband had recently died, and that prompted her to move into this new home. After many hours of patiently waiting, she smiled sweetly when she was told her room was ready. As she moved her walker toward the elevator, she was given a detailed description of her small room.

“That doesn’t matter,”Mrs. Jones replied.“Happiness is

something you decide over time. Whether or not I like my room doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged; it depends on how I arrange my mind.

“I’ve already decided that I like it. It’s a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I can spend the day in bed, going through the difficulty I have with my body and the parts that don’t work. Or, I can get out of bed and be thankful for the parts that do work. Every day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I will focus on the new day and the happy memories I’ve stored just for this very time in my life.” Happiness is like a bank account:You withdraw from it what you deposit. Be sure to deposit a lot of happiness into your memory account.

“I love it,” she said with the enthusiasm of an 8-year-old girl who was just given a new puppy.

As you fill your “happiness account,” remember these five simple things:

Your Legal Resource As an attorney and advisor for real estate and loans, I get a lot of requests for help on a wide range of topics, including getting out of debt, rental properties, insurance, partnerships, trusts, and taxes.While I can’t provide legal representation or advice on all topics, I can be a helpful resource by giving you direction.

1. Free your heart from hate.

3. Live simply.

4. Give more.

2. Free your mind from worries.

5. Take less.

I hope you find more happiness to store up today!

When you need practical advice and don’t know where to go, I’m here for you.

Darren DiMarco | [email protected]

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Andy Says There’s a home-buying frenzy going on and home prices are rising rapidly. Seems like the basic economic principle of supply and demand — low inventory of homes and high demand due to low mortgage interest rates. Is it a telltale sign of a market that cannot sustain itself or a sign of the times that real estate will be more expensive from now on? It may be too early in the year to answer that question accurately, considering additional factors that influence real estate, including the job market and government intervention or policies.

A Dose of Reality … That’s All.

than a similar home that just sold.Within days of being listed for sale, the seller receives 28 offers. All offers are made for well over list price, and the accepted offer is at a $660,000 sales price — $50,000 over the list price . And the sale closes! Now, let’s get more specific. The buyers make a 5% down payment ($33,000) creating a loan amount of $627,000 — a “high-balance, conforming” loan, which today might yield a 30-year interest rate of 2.75%, and a monthly housing expense of $3,435 (principal, interest, taxes, and insurance, both homeowners and mortgage insurance). What happens if interest rates rise to a level that we all thought was fantastic 20 years ago, let’s say 5.5%? At that rate, a home purchased for $510,000 with a $485,000 loan will have roughly the same monthly housing payment as a home purchased today for $660,000. In other words, these low interest rates are giving buyers $150,000 more buying power. With that in mind, it’s no wonder that price is no object to many homebuyers who “want what they want” as long as they can qualify for the monthly payment.

So, for now, all I can say is: It’s an exceptionally great time to be a seller!

Here in Southern California, for instance, starter homes in a semi - desirable area are selling for over $600,000. And presently, I know of countless examples of homes being sold for $20,000–$50,000 over the list price. Let’s take a real-world example of a young couple looking to buy their first home in inland San Diego County. A house comes on the market for $610,000, which happens to be $10,000 more

GB and Matthew The Famous Grandmother and Grandson Duo

Watching grandparents become part of the social media community is so heartwarming. Through videos with their children and grandchildren, the wholesome content they create is bound to make any viewer smile — and they can’t help but smile too! One such grandma, a TikTok and Instagram star, is smiling with a brand-new set of dentures in a video captioned,“They gave GB a piece of her youth back.”

a week to get her hair touched up. Knowing that his grandmother was down about not being able to go, he decided to bring the spa to her. Matthew washed, dried, and styled her hair for her, with a mimosa to top the experience off. This touching video reached thousands of people and prompted guest appearances for GB and Matthew on “Access Daily,”“Now This,”“Fox & Friends,” and “The Kelly Clarkson Show.” The antics of these two brought such joy across the nation that GB receives a large number of packages and letters regularly. Each video shows GB near

Matthew Stewart lives in Florida and spends most of his time with GB, Grandma Bobbe. His Instagram is full of photos and videos of himself and his family as well as all the adventures, jokes, and sweet moments he shares with GB. One of the first videos Matthew shared on social media was a light argument about whether or not he should accept gas money from GB. Afterward, the pair quickly rose in popularity, but they became truly famous after uploading a particular video in late 2020.

tears, overwhelmed by the amount of love and support from her over 173,000 Instagram followers and 2.9 million TikTok followers. In a video uploaded just before Christmas, GB received a wonderful gift from Affordable Dentures & Implants ORL: a brand-new set of dentures. Now she can continue making videos with her beloved grandson with a “beautimus” smile.

Before quarantines were put in place, GB would visit her beauty salon once

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Can a Referral Make a Difference?

St. Jude is on the front lines in the fight against childhood disease, and we want to help. Do you know someone who is moving? Refer them to us, and for every referral, we donate $500 to St. Jude.Your referral makes a difference. Referring is easy: Call or text me at 949-391-7511 or email [email protected]. We and St. Jude thank you.

On March 20, 1928, the man who would help millions of children develop their emotional and social well-being through a little public-access show was born. Fred Rogers was a musician, a minister, and a beacon of positivity and wholesome education, connecting to children through “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” on PBS for 33 years. In honor of the man who taught us all to treat each other like good neighbors, let’s look back on some of the most neighborly things he did in his life. He responded to every letter. According to a March 2005 article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette — Rogers’ hometown newspaper — Rogers responded to every piece of fan mail he received. Heather Arnet, an assistant on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” explained that Rogers received anywhere from 50 to 100 letters each day, often from children who shared their struggles with Rogers. Rather than send a standard form letter, Rogers personally read and responded to each one. And he never made them feel invalidated, Arnet explained, adding,“Mr. Rogers never talked down to children. When they wrote to him, he took them seriously.” He hated television. No, really! Rogers despised the way children’s television was formatted when he began his career because it wasn’t a constructive medium“to be of nurture to those who would watch and listen.” He knew he had to change it, and when he began his television career in the mid-1950s, he did just that. The idea and format were wildly successful, and his PBS show sparked many children’s shows, like “Barney & Friends” and “Sesame Street.” He saved PBS. Just one year after “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” premiered, congressional leaders wanted to strip PBS of more than $20 million for the VietnamWar effort. But after hearing hours of statistical testimony, Rogers spoke to the U.S. Subcommittee on Communication to implore the lawmakers to consider the power of public broadcasting on emotional well-being. The chair of the committee, former Congressman John Pastore, was touched.“I’m supposed to be a pretty tough guy, and this is the first time I’ve had goosebumps for the last two days,” he said.“Looks like you just earned the $20 million.” Our Greatest Neighbor: Fred Rogers 3 Facts in Honor of His Birthday

Asparagus & Smoked Mozzarella Pizzettes

Inspired by EatingWell.com

Ingredients

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1 cup shredded smoked mozzarella cheese 1/3 cup scallions, thinly sliced 2 tbsp walnuts, toasted and chopped

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1 lb prepared whole-wheat pizza dough, divided into 6 equal portions 12 oz asparagus spears, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

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1 sprig of fresh mint leaves, torn Zest of 1 orange

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1 tbsp extra- virgin olive oil

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1/4 tsp salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 500 F and ensure there are two racks in your oven. 2. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, stretch each piece of dough into a 7-by-3-inch oval and arrange evenly on the pan. 3. On a second baking sheet, toss asparagus with oil and 1/4 tsp salt. 4. Place dough on top rack and asparagus on bottom and bake for 3 minutes. 5. Remove both trays from the oven, sprinkle cheese over the dough, then top with asparagus and scallions. 6. Return pizzettes to oven and bake until the crusts’ edges are golden, about 8–10 minutes. 7. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with walnuts, mint, and orange zest before serving.

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DiMa r c o ’ s 2 C e n t s News From Your Home & Loan Resource Network

Darren DiMarco 949-391-7511 Call or Text [email protected] Realtor®, CalBRE# 01071383, NMLS# 361115 Diane DiMarco 949-829-1570 Call or Text [email protected] Realtor®, CalBRE# 01896291 Chris Hertsgaard 949-391-3411 Call or Text [email protected] Realtor®, CalBRE# 01363354 Cristina Iacobelli 760-519-3294 Call or Text [email protected] Realtor®, CalBRE# 01986394

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411

Law Offices of Darren J. DiMarco

PO Box 704 San Clemente, CA 92674

Your Real Estate Advisors: Darren, Cristina, Diane, and Chris

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Becoming Rich in Happiness

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Andy Says ...

A Brand-New Smile for Grandma!

Celebrate Fred Rogers’ Birthday With These 3 Fun Facts!

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Asparagus & Smoked Mozzarella Pizzettes

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It’s Time for a Virtual Field Trip!

Field Trip Day, Right From the Living Room 4 Virtual Adventures to Take With Your Kids

videos in an easy-to-follow tour that is perfect for kids and adults alike. Find these tours at their website at BrightFarms. com or Vimeo.com. See Buckingham Palace In this virtual tour, your kids can explore Buckingham Palace’s throne room, grand staircase, and white drawing room. Each room has a 360-degree view to look around each room, and, by clicking on the information icons, you can learn about certain aspects of each room. This is a wonderful chance to bring your kids into a completely different world right from your living room by heading to Royal.UK/virtual-tours-buckingham-palace. Fly to Mars and the Moon By heading to AccessMars.WithGoogle.com, you and your kids can embark on an exploration of Mars with narrator Katie Stack Morgan, a NASA planetary geologist on the Mars Science Laboratory mission, and the rover Curiosity. Morgan takes viewers through certain points of Curiosity’s adventures on the real surface of Mars. NASA also has a virtual tour of the moon’s surface at Moon.NASA.gov, providing viewers with information gathered since 2009.

Field trips are always an exciting time for kids. It changes a monotonous

school day into a learning adventure. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has put field trips on hold for the time being. Luckily, there are ways kids can still enjoy field trips from the safety of their homes through virtual field trips! Check out some great virtual field trips below. Visit the National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art provides 10 digital educational resources for children and adults to explore. These resources include video tours, educational PDFs, and even a few lessons and activities. Children can become engrossed in art, expand their knowledge of the arts, and practice some creativity of their own. Find out more and get exploring at NGA.gov. Learn about farming with BrightFarms BrightFarms’ virtual tours let viewers explore indoor farming, specifically how leafy greens are grown, harvested, packaged, and delivered to grocery stores. The growers narrate the

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