Get on the bus, Gus

OK, so you’ve heard—from this very guide you are spilling your double latte on—that now is actually a good time to buy a home, despite all the naysayers out there in Naysayersville.

You also know that there are real-estate professionals out there to help you with a purchase. Honest, it says so elsewhere in this guide and in the ads you see splashed all over. Do you think the saleslady on page nine had work done? Really? Spackle marks? Wow!

Where were we? Ah, yes: So it’s a good time to buy, help is available, but what all is out there? Well, you could drive to the ’burbs, hit the nearest gazillion-division of similar-looking homes and start looking for the foreclosure signs.

Just drive, she said.

Or, you could sit in a comfy bus, commiserate with fellow looky-loos and get a guided tour of what’s out there. If by “out there” you mean Natomas.

Realty One, Capital Property Management and Strategic Financial Services present Tour Natomas Bank Owned Homes on Saturday, May 17, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Talk about truth in advertising: This event is an actual tour of bank-owned homes in Natomas!

First, meet at Placer Title Co., 2210 Del Paso Road, Suite B, Sacramento. A smiling-faced assistant will be there to take $20 off your hands. Oh, yeah: disclaimer time:

***Disclaimer: Placer Title is not providing financial support for this bus tour.

Oops, one more:

***Disclaimer: A refund will only apply in the event the tour is canceled by the sponsors.

They know who they are. And they want you to know that “2008 is shaping up to be our most profitable year for discounting property investing ever!”

Alexis McGee of Foreclosures.com is the one making that bold statement. She advises not waiting until the market hits the mythical “bottom,” because that won’t be known until after it happens. You could be missing the deal on your dream home in the meantime.

It is time, McGee says, “to take advantage of the benefits that come from other people’s bad choices.”

Those bad choices have resulted in volume, volume, volume. And that’s what you’ll get an eyeful of—from your snuggly bus seat—if you take the tour.

For more tour information, call Angela Talent at (916) 838-2488 or e-mail info@tourbankowned properties.com.