Two of My Favorite Netflix TV Series- Beef and the Night Agent

The swimming pool resurfacing had began. Four men speaking in Spanish all at the same time had started their noisy tools whirring making Batman & Robin nervous. 

This resurfacing project by Tropical Pools is part of the Revitalize Project of Coldwell & Banker Realty. The estimated cost of the project is 12K and will be subtracted from my estimated gain in the sale of the House. Meanwhile, here are two of the most popular TV series in Netflix this week.   

If you are a Netflix Fan, here are the top two Series this Week. I enjoyed both and highly recommend it. Enjoy!!!!

The Limited TV series Beef is # 1 in Netflix this week. The Night Agent is #2. I binged on the 2 last week. I enjoyed very much the 2 TV Series. Beef is labeled as a comedy. It is more than that. Watch it and read the reviews and you know what I mean. The Night Agent is a Thriller. A lot of twist and turns in the story line. The supporting character is Asian, where as in Beef almost all of the Actors are Asian-American. Here are 2 reviews of Beef.    

From NBC News:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/fans-critics-agree-beef-one-best-shows-year-rcna79186 

And from Vox:

https://www.vox.com/culture/2023/4/12/23680055/netflix-beef-review-ending-explained-season-2 

 

The second TV Series that I have enjoyed this week is the Night Agent. It is a typical drama, spy thriller story with twist and turns. It is not as highly rated and praised as the BEEF, but I still feel it is worth watching if you like the genre.  The supporting actress is Asian-American. 

Here's the rottentomatoes.com review of the Series:

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_night_agent/s01/reviews?intcmp=rt-what-to-know_read-critics-reviews

Ditas recommended Trese a filipino anime series based on Filipino folklore-aswang and Nuno.

 

 

The Current Housing Market Trends in Fair Oaks, California

8167 Treecrest Avenue, Fair Oaks, CA, 95628- 4BR, 2.5B, 2177 sq.ft

 

I am planning to list my residence on May 1. Thus, I am curious on the Fair Oaks housing market trend (95628). In March 2023, Fair Oaks home prices were down 0.8% compared to last year, selling for a median price of $620K. On average, homes in Fair Oaks sell after 16 days on the market compared to 8 days last year. There were 27 homes sold in March this year, down from 45 last year.

My realtor send me today the current listing of all homes in the zip code 95628 ( Fair Oaks) as follows:

https://www.timpantle.com/marketreport/3mf/Zip%20Code:%2095628/?login=aziktglfftqwl2j1r36lq4b9e 

My home should be listed between:

 1. 6755 Will Rogers Dr, 4BR, 3B, 1947 sq ft- listing 599K

2. 7236 Cardinal Rd, 3BR, 2B, 1442 sq.ft-listing 579K

My proposed listing :

3. 8167 Treecrest Ave, 4BR, 2.5B, 2177 sq.ft-listing 598K

My House has no major renovation except for resurfacing the swimming pool ( 12K) and new bathroom fixtures in the Master bedroom (1.5K).  

The following is the current Zillow Estimate of My Home. It had increase since last March when I googled it. The Zillow Estimate ranged from: 609K to 715K with average of 661K. The last 30-day changed was 18.6K an increase of 2.9%.  

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/8167-Treecrest-Ave-Fair-Oaks-CA-95628/26054842_zpid/

 For details on the current housing trend in the Fair Oaks area read:

https://www.redfin.com/city/22597/CA/Fair-Oaks/housing-market 

Hopefully, The house will sell within 30 days after listing. I have already found a place to move ( The Heritage Downtown in Walnut Creek). If the House does not sell in 90 days, I am thinking of just renting it. Let us see!  Wish me Luck in my future move.

 

Found A New Home- The Heritage Downtown, Walnut Creek, CA

Dodie and I visited three Independent/Assisted Living Facilities in the Walnut Creek Area yesterday. Walnut Creek is an ideal location, because it is only 15 minutes from Benicia and Dublin- where Dodie and Dinah resides. It will be very convenient for them to visit me and be around if there is an emergency.

I have two basic criteria in my search- pet friendly and Excellent Amenities-bridge.

The first facility we visited was both and independent/assisted facility. My guess is about 30% are independent. The place was cleaned and very welcoming. Dodie and My name were in the lobby officially welcoming us. The tour guide was young and knowledgeable and speak Spanish fluently.  They have a Filipino cook that I was able to talk to. Their Activity Manager is a Nurse- a Filipino American. They have 1BR rooms but the patio( balcony) is not safe for the cats ( no fencing) and next to a busy street.  They required first month move in deposit and additional $500 one time fee for the cats. The place atmosphere is very "institution like". The dining and lobby area is average looking and not too impressive. The employees were friendly, but I was turned off by the fact that my cats will not be safe. The Atria at Montego Heights is the name of the facility.   https://www.caring.com/senior-living/california/walnut-creek/atria-montego-heights-94598

The second facility we visited was a 100% independent Active Senior Living Facility. The place look more like a home and a high class Apartment/Condo right in downtown Walnut Creek. It is gated with beautiful landscaping. There is a restaurant and a Cinema in the facility. The Halls of the Buildings are decorated with museum-quality paintings and an underground garage with storage bins,. Each resident is assigned a parking space included in the rental. Dodie and I found a 2BR 2Bath apartment with full kitchen appliances (in case you want to cook) and a  big private patio with 10ft fencing and a place for my potted plants, outdoor furniture and for Batman and Robin to play Hide and Seek.  I cried with joy when I saw the patio. We had a complimentary \delicious lunch and was introduced to the Bridge Group Organizer resident. They have 2 days for bridge-one for Beginners and the other day for the Advanced Level players. I was told I could organize a mahjong group if there are residents interested. I could write one more page of the Amenities but it is better if I just put the link here. www.theheritagedowntown.com

I posted a deposit to hold the apartment for 60 days and plan on moving the first week of June. The one time move-in fee is reasonable and no one-time deposit for my cats.  

The last place we visited, I have heard good reviews before ( The Kensington at Walnut Creek). My guess is that- it is about 30/70 independent/Assisted living facility. The place was huge and parking for visitors was a nightmare with all the construction and renovation going on. The atmosphere is also like an institution with residents and staff running around the common sites in the compound in front of the building. I have my name in the welcome lobby but misspelled ( a Q instead of a G). The tour guide was late and she said she was helping in the kitchen and dining area that is why she was late for our appointment. She was knowledgeable. We started our tour- 1 BR room and 2 BR apartments. The balcony were again not safe for my cats and were not spacious at all. It was a little more expensive than the Heritage Downtown. Seeing this place confirm my notion that the Heritage was our best choice. For more details on the Kensington visit their site.  https://www.kiscoseniorliving.com/senior-living/ca/walnut-creek/the-kensington?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=17760260553&utm_term=the%20kensington%20at%20walnut%20creek

 

Happy Easter to All- Another Day to be Thankful

Happy Easter Sunday to All. Everyday when I wake up, I thank the Lord that I am still around walking in Planet Earth. I also thank the Lord for my three living children who I believe loves me and now helping me transition and downsize from my 4BR- 2.5 B single home ranch house to a smaller apartment/condo in an independent/Assisted Living facility near my two oldest children.  I am thinking of the East Bay( California), specifically in the Walnut Creek/Pleasant Hill/Lafayette area and maybe in Vallejo in the North Bay. 

I am currently preparing the house to be listed for the slow real estate market and getting rid of most of my household goods, plants and statuaries via Estate Sale. In preparation for the listing/sale of the house, the swimming pool had to be resurfaced and all junks/accumulations for the last six decades here in US to be taken to the Dumpster and Disposal. 

Today is also the culmination of the Holy Week celebration of the Moriones Festival in our second home in the island of Marinduque- our second home. There should be street dancing in the town of Gasan. 

In addition, today I am reminiscing how lucky and happy I am for having professionally accomplished and caring Children. A year ago, I had 4 adults and accomplished children. David E III my youngest son died a year ago at a young age of 59 leaving me alone in this big house with my two cats, Batman and Robin. Along this line my search for a new living facility must be pet friendly, thus limiting my choice. Currently, I have narrowed my choice to 4 facilities in the East and North Bay. Dodie my oldest son is helping me scheduled tours of the facilities next week.  Dinah will also be helping me later on the end of April on her day off. Ditas also volunteered to help me in the tours first weekend this May.      

This week, Ditas my youngest daughter will have her first year anniversary working for the Bureau of Census, Department of Commerce as Associate Director of Communications and External Affairs. She is part of the Executive Leadership of the Bureau of Census, as listed in the link below. 

 https://www.census.gov/about/leadership.html 

I am indeed very proud of her accomplishments. 

Here's a link for the accomplishments of my two older children ( Dodie and Dinah):    

https://theintellectualmigrants.blogspot.com/2022/05/accomplishments-of-my-two-older.html

 

I Almost Hired a Scammer on My Scheduled Estate Sale Event

 

Blue Imari Tea Pot, Depression Candy Glass and Lead Crystal Bowl are some Items for Sale

Last Month ( First week of March), I started inquiring and talking to Estate Sales Services in preparation for my downsizing hopefully by June 1. My realtor gave me a list of Estate Sales in my area and I started calling them. There are 6 listed in the list.  The first one came to the house take a tour and was not sure if I had the minimum expected sales ( 15K) and told me he will talk to his partner and in the meantime suggested I talk to others in my list. He said from his preliminary examination, I only have about 12K expected sales.  

The other dealers were busy and can not have a sale for the last week of April. One was no longer in business and recommended a name that I will discuss in this blog. The others will not accept any business unless I am out of the House. The other only accepts on-line sale. 

I called the person recommended by the person who was who moved out of State. She came 3 days later. She was very friendly and appeared to be very thorough and took notes of what items I want to sell. I liked her because she identified with my Filipino roots and admired all my Filipino wood carvings, wood sculpture and marble products from the Philippines. She also accepted that I would not have to leave the house, but stayed in my room with my 2 cats during the Sales Hours. The day before planning to hire her, I googled her and here's one of the reviews I learned. I blanked out her name. I am glad I googled her and learned she has a history of scamming her clients. Here's one of the reviews.      

"After my dad was killed in a motorcycle accident my sister and I were overwhelmed with what followed. We decided it would be best to do an estate sale in order to ease the stress and responsibility of selling all of his belongings. Enter  this Person.

We met with ---------- at my dad’s property. She appeared to be very thorough, taking pictures and making notes of all of the items on the property that would be for sale. In her words, this was going to be a “very large sale.” My dad owned a 2500 sq ft fully furnished house on 5 acres with a 2 car garage, workshop, four sheds and a 40 foot shipping container FULL of his belongings that were all to be included in the estate sale. This is not to mention several recreational toys outside on the property. They decided that two sale weekends would be necessary due to the amount of items that we'd be attempting to sell. My sister signed the contract, gave her a set of keys to use temporarily, and closed the deal.

 -----------made it clear we were not to show up at the sale as she felt our emotional ties to my dad and his belongings would interfere with deals being made. Oddly enough, one of the first things she did when she arrived at his house to prepare for the sale was cover one of the cameras we had up in the dining room for security. First she to claimed to be unaware of any cameras at his house (even though she obviously covered one camera so we couldn't see anything) but after she “accidentally” sold the DVR base station WHICH HELD ALL RECORDINGS, we decided to call her to find out why our system had been disconnected. She acted surprised that this had occurred and blamed her workers for supposedly unplugging the device. She even went as far as pretending to plug it back in and asking what lights should be lit. After several hours of this she admitted that it was gone and once again blamed her workers for “selling” it.

She supposedly held the sale on both weekends. We’ll never know if that actually occurred or not. For all we know, she simply went in and took everything. Nevertheless, she was in communication directly before and after both sale weekends. After the last day of the sale, my sister spoke with--------. She was adamant the sale went “very well”, stating that it was packed with people from open to close. My sister asked her when we could expect to settle the proceeds and what she estimated them to be. She had said the first weekend they did approximately $16,000 in sales and the second weekend was not quite that much, but still did well. She also mentioned that the contract states payment is 30 days out (which in actuality, the contract states payment is to be settled within 30 days after the close of the sale). We waited the 30 days and when we still hadn't heard from her or received a check on -------, my sister once again contacted her to ask about payment. She responded to my sister via text letting her know she was not answering calls because she was home ill.

From this point on, she had only communicated via text and email. She no longer answers any calls, just sends every call to voicemail. My sister remained persistent by continuing to send text messages and leave voicemails. Many times ------ would actually respond but provide nothing of substance. She made excuse after excuse and refused to give us anything concrete. It didn't faze her that we too had bills to pay and were trying to settle my dads estate. She very well knew that she was out of contract, yet she continued to lie and make things up to try and support her  stories. She also claims she supposedly told my sister that she was “paying late” and that my sister didn't have a problem with that!

At this point, we have sent several emails, text messages, as well as voicemails demanding payment be received by end of the business day on Wednesday, -----. Now it has been almost 60 days past the last date of the sale and she is no longer communicating with us at all. In fact, she responded to an email by saying we needed to leave her alone and stop harassing her!

Due to the fact that --------- was referred to my sister by a friend that had a great experience, we did not research her company prior to signing the contract. If we had, we would have read all the negative reviews! There are reports of her and her staff stealing household items. According to Yelp, many people haven't been getting paid even though she is running a cash only business. She seems to give everyone the run around and makes up ridiculous excuses just as she is with my sister and I!

We made a HUGE mistake by allowing her full, unsupervised access to my dad’s house and all his belongings. We now not only have lost our father, but everything inside and outside his property. She took everything and left us with an empty house and not a dime to show for it. She took advantage of our unfortunate circumstance and preyed on our weaknesses during such a difficult time. Someone has got to put a stop to this. Someone has got to stop her! Because before you know it, she's come and gone and leaves you with NOTHING!! Absolutely nothing!

She has done this to a TON of people! She never pays without someone having to track her down. I have been in touch with at least 5 others plus more I read about on Yelp, Angie’s List, and Facebook. Not to mention the -------- Sheriff know all about her fraudulent business". 

Today, I have a tentative agreement with an Estate Sale Person. I hope this Person is honest and we have scheduled the 3-Day Sales for April 28, 29 and 30 from 10AM to 2PM.

Here are 2 blogs related to my downsizing for details:

https://theintellectualmigrants.blogspot.com/2023/03/downsizing-is-not-for-faint-hearted.html

 https://theintellectualmigrants.blogspot.com/2023/03/my-bone-china-is-no-longer-needed-but.html

 

Downsizing is Not for the Faint-Hearted- Estate Sale Services

This Victorian dresser that Macrine( RIP) and I was purchased in The Goodwill Store in Chicago, Illinois in 1960. It had been carried and transported in our 12 moves all over the US during the last six decades of our lives here in the US. It is with great sadness that I will part with this furniture very closed to my heart here in the US.   

Downsizing is not for the Faint-Hearted, but it is Part of the Aging Process. My heart melt with sadness just thinking that some of my properties and accumulations for the last six decades will be gone soon.

In my process of downsizing, my realtor gave me a list of Estate Sales Services in my area. After talking to ten agencies,  I decided to hire the services of  James Estate Sales, Sacramento, Ca. Below is information from their FaceBook page.  

https://www.facebook.com/JamesEstateSales/

This is a 3-drawer desk with secret compartment inside. Another antique, I have to part with sadness and sorrow as it reminded me of my graduate student days in Chicago, Illinois, 1959-1964.
 

There are other items for sale, hundreds of collectibles from the Philippines and small souvenirs from our travels in Europe and the Caribbean.  Several pieces of Wood Carvings, and Capiz shell products from the Philippines are for sale. My numerous indoor plants, my statuaries/garden plaques and potted fruit trees/ornamentals and all outdoor furnitures will be on sale. Hundreds of other items of household and collectibles are for sale. Sterling Silver set, Bone China and Depression Glass are also on sale.  China Cabinet, A Curio Cabinet and a Piano are on sale. An electric Bed is for sale. More than a hundred musical pieces including Pinoy Kundimans and Broadway songs are yours for a buck. Garden tools are also for sale.

 

The date of the sale is on April 28, 29 and 30 ( Friday, Saturday and Sunday) from 10AM to 2PM.  It will be first come first serve Basis.  Persons allowed in the house per 30 minutes will be monitored and limited. If you have never attended an Estate Sale here's some information.  

An Estate Sale, also called a Tag Sale in some parts of the country, is a way of liquidating the belongings of a family or estate. These are usually much more than garage or yard sales. They are used when someone is in need of a way to sell items due to downsizing, moving, divorce, bankruptcy, or death. The public is invited into the home and given the opportunity to purchase any item that is priced for sale. At times there are items that are not for sale because the family has decided to keep them or new owners of the house have made them part of a contract to buy the house.

There are several ways that Estate Sales are run. Items are marked with a selling price, and if you want an item you usually pick it up and carry it with you until you are ready to check out. If an item is too large to carry, you can have it Marked Sold. If you do not want to pay the marked price, some companies accept Bids. However, you are taking a chance that someone else might be willing to pay the marked price before the end of the sale when bids are usually opened.

For lining up and entering the sale, most companies use the First Come, First Served policy. This is when a line is formed at the door of the home where the sale is taking place. Lines may start several hours before the sale opens. Most people know how to use this system. There are always those who feel they are entitled to a front spot, but this is not the case.

There is such a thing as Estate Sale Etiquette. Some companies use a Number System, and they usually have some sort of policy concerning this, so be sure to check with the individual companies for their rules. There are also companies that use the Self Start Number System. This type of system is vulnerable to many abuses, and companies that use this system usually do have a strict policy on how they are handled.

Sign-up Sheets are also used and are similar to self-start numbering. Again, there is a chance of abuse here too. Some companies allow everyone in line to enter the sale, and others have limited access. For details read:

   https://www.estatesales.net/learn/what-is-an-estate-sale

I have attended numerous Garage and Yard Sales during my six decades of residence here in the US. However, last year was my first Estate Sales that I have participated. It was my neighbor across the street who was also downsizing. It was also a 3-Day event. I noticed that the first items coming out of her house were potted plants and ornamental followed by some furnitures. On the 3rd day I was curious as there was a 50% sign in the front yard.  There were about a dozen buyers and lookers. I purchased a $2 set of napkin rings that matches my collection of  4-piece shell candy dish for $1. The photo is shown below with my Blue Imari Tea Pot , my green depression glass candy dish and a lead crystal bowl that will be sold this coming April 28, 29 and 30.

I will keep my 4-piece shell-design napkin holder set not because I will use it, but just a memento of my first Estate Sale experience.