Homes by Lara Fast

04/04/2025

951-526-7300
[email protected]

02/23/2025

The secret to a good pancake recipe is time. Never use your batter until it has had at least 3 hours rest. If making breakfast pancakes, make your batter the night before. Before use gently stir your batter rather than whisking it, and add a bit of oil or melted butter.

02/10/2025

01/03/2025

12/18/2024

WHAT IS THE BEST CHRISTMAS GIFT?

When I was a little girl money was tight. I'm a child of the 60s and most families during that time struggled with money.

One thing I remember about Christmases during those years is that my parents made sure we had one. Our trees were huge or so they seemed because we were so small. The lights were twinkly and the ornaments placed by my family. It was such an enjoyable time for my sister and me. Christmases then were hopeful and exciting. It was different from our later Christmases when finances changed for Mom and Dad and we got older and had jobs. What we didn't get for Christmas we could go out and buy.

I miss those long ago Christmases. I miss the childlike excitement! I miss not being able to sleep the night before and being so excited the next morning. I believe that my mom and dad did the best they could to make that time of year special for us during those harder times. I appreciate and cherish those memories. I would give anything to have one of those Christmases back.

My mom left us two years ago.

The best Christmas gift isn't a thing. It's a memory and this memory repeats itself year after year after year. It's the gift that keeps on giving and there's no tangible thing that can replace those long ago Christmases.

Merry Christmas, mom and dad. I miss you.

12/11/2024

Vacation at the beach or in the mountains?

Peace is the most expensive thing in the world and that peace is only in the mountains...

I love mountains. I'm a mountain girl.

Reason: Trees🌲+Sun☀️+Mountains🏔️+Snowfall☃️ is the best Combination... It's an antidote to me and I think I won't find this combination on the beach.

After all, the best view comes after the hardest climb 🏔️

Peace ☮️

12/05/2024

WHO PAYS FOR HOME INSPECTION AND APPRAISAL?

The buyer wants the home inspector to work for them. They do not want them to work for anyone else. So the buyer usually wants to select and pay for that home inspection. No one requires the buyer to get a home inspection but any smart buyer will make the contract somehow subject to what they think about the house based on that inspection.

The appraisal is almost always required by the buyers lender. Technically it is not there to protect the buyer but to protect the lender and their investor who is lending the money. Many buyers also think it is there to protect the buyer. It certainly does not protect the seller (if it did then the seller would refuse to close on a sale that was lower than appraised value).

So since the buyer selected who would loan them the money and what type of loan they are getting and so caused the need for the appraisal -it is considered a buyer’s cost that sometimes a seller pays to help the buyer out- but a seller often refuses to agree to do this.

12/04/2024

Why are cookies called biscuits in some Commonwealth countries?

It's due to the languages of immigrants.

'Biscuit' comes from the French bis-cuit, "twice-cooked", like the Italian biscotti. It was used for many types of bread that were baked, then returned to the oven to completely dry out. "Ship's biscuit", also known as "hard-tack" is an example. By extension, the term was applied to any crisp, baked item made of flour.

"Cookie" is the USian term applied to a similar item, but the word comes from the Dutch koekje - "little cake" from koke, "cake". The word "cookie" spread in N. America to apply to sweet, crisp, baked things while the word "biscuit" took another turn and was applied to another type of raised, not-necessarily-sweet baked good. Some forms of American biscuit in fact approach what the English or Scots would call a "scone", particularly American "shortcake".

12/03/2024

When is the best time (season) to sell a home and/or buy a home?

What’s the best season to fall in love?

Because it’s kind of the same thing. There is no best season. If you sell in the winter, you’ll have far less competition. And the buyers may be more motivate to move quickly, too. Sometimes people have to move.

11/28/2024

Since moving to America I have come to realize that Thanksgiving is comfortably the second best thing the USA has ever invented (the best is, of course, being allowed to turn right on red).

Here is a holiday where you don't have to make any decisions. You don't need to send cards, you don't need to buy presents, hell, even the menu is pretty much decided for you.

All you have to do is eat, drink and watch sports on TV.

Why would you not love that?

11/27/2024

🦃 As we prepare to gather with loved ones this Thanksgiving, let's prioritize safety! Whether you're traveling or hosting, remember to follow local guidelines, practice good hygiene, and consider the comfort level of your guests. Let's ensure this holiday is filled with gratitude, love, and most importantly, safety for all. 🍂🍁

11/21/2024

So you think that you are ready to purchase a home? You have the colors picked out, the window treatment selected and the layout of how you would like your furniture to look in your future place of solitude. But that was the easy part! Getting the loan can be the hard part. However, the better prepared you are, the smoother the journey will be.

Getting pre-approved is essential to a borrower getting a mortgage. It is the first and most important step in the process owning your future home. Getting pre-approved determines just how much of a home you can buy.

This process starts with you choosing a mortgage loan originator. For this mini article, I will address this part last. A mortgage loan originator will ask you the buyer a bunch of personal questions, delving deep into your finances in order to determine what loan program you are best suited for according to your financial situation.

Some of these items include and not limited to;

2 years of tax returns
2–3 most current paystubs
2 months recent bank statement
most recent 401k statement-if using in the purchase and of course

Permission to pull your credit to see how it is. The higher your credit score the more favorable your rate will be, so the opposite is true with the rate being less favorable if the credit score is bad.

All this information will allow the mortgage loan originator to work out your debt to income ratios and select the program that’s best suited for you. Once you have your pre-approval letter then its off to the races, literally. The race now begins in finding you a home that you like, then having your realtor putting in a contract on the house, and waiting to hear back from the selling agent whether the offer placed has been accepted.

I would strongly advise any buyer to get pre-approved first. For the following reasons,

It will save time for both you and your realtor.

It will show the selling agent just how serious you are about purchasing.

It will allow you the buyer to have a position of power to negotiate on the transaction.

Questions? Call me: 951.373.9405