U.S. News & World Reports for the first time ranked a dozen high schools in the East Bay best in the nation among High Schools.  U.S. News is known for their national rankings of College and Graduate schools but never before High Schools. Accolade yes, but it is much more; it brings a wider scope of attention to what we already know we offered. The rankings were in categories of Gold, Silver and Bronze. Both Foothill and Amador both received..... To read further please visit...Pleasanton Schools 12/03/2007

It's time once again to gather the family and make your way to the Pleasanton Hometown Celebration. Each year Pleasanton residents gather for the annual Christmas tree lighting and Holiday Parade (Marching band and all). Join us and bring your friends:Where: Main St. PleasantonWhen: Saturday, December 1, 2007Time: 5:30 PM Parade 6:30 PM Tree LightingWhat's new this year is the Livermore-Pleasanton Firefighters will be collecting toys along the parade route to help the less fortunate. So bring LOTS!!! 11/28/2007

This is one of the questions I get asked a lot. Like most questions dealing with real estate values, the answer is ... it depends. Certainly, no one can deny that in the Pleasanton/Dublin/San Ramon area, a sparkling pool on a hot sunny day is hard to beat. But pools can also be a detraction from a home's value. There are many factors that go into the impact of a pool on a home's value. Here are some to think about:1. Lot size. In general, the smaller the lot, the more likely it is that the pool will not add any value, and may in fact detract from the value of the home. With families with small children, or who are planning on starting a family soon, pools are often a negative. Part of this stems from every parent's concern for the safety of their kids, which is certainly a strong emotio... 11/27/2007

Concerned parties for Save the Pleasanton Hills surrounded Home Depot, Tully's Pleasanton, Pleasanton Farmers Market, Safeway and Pleasanton Walmart. Everywhere I went this weekend both sides of the issue on Pleasanton Oak Grove development were out in full force. For an update on the debate see my previous article presenting the sides by following this link: Oak Grove Pleasanton...... To finish tis article please visit...Pleasanton Oak Grove 11/25/2007

  This is my 1st blog and what I have chosen to write about is not in response to any other blogs, but just a topic I've chosen to write about. My hopes is that you will take it as my story and not my take of the current housing mortgage market. I come from the subprime sector of origination. I came into this market in 2003, clearly originating subprime loans because of my desire to help others obtain their dreams of homeownership. When I began working for a local mortgage broker, many Account Executives from local banks would come into our office and hold trainings, and teach us about what they could do. Stated income, 100% financing loans, low fico, even as low as 560 was the lowest 100% product non-FHA that I had come to know. Disregarding collections, and accepting non-traditional c... 11/23/2007

  This great opportunity is still present in an ALL-Solar Community in Avignon Pleasanton. With a state-of-the-art solar roof, you are sure to have a GREEN conscious month when you have a little or NO electricity bill.It may be a short week with the Thanksgiving Holiday but this home is in no way short on Luxury and GREEN Amenities in Avignon Pleasanton.Take an afternoon off work, defrost your turkey, and call Susan Schall or visit her FABLOUS website at http://www.fablousproperties.net/ and take a look at my favorite home two weeks running at  951 Mingoia Street, Pleasanton in Avignon Community. 11/21/2007

  Their business is Health and Wellness.  The commitment to turn 3 facilities totaling 425,000 sq feet of commercial property into a Green Business is a giant leap, but Club Sport is up for the challenge.  All three gyms in Fremont, Pleasanton and Walnut Creek are undergoing the change as we speak! Led by environmental consulting group Buck Consulting the goal is to maximize the positive environmental impact while achieving "profitability through sustainability". What I found particularly on point was Buck Consulting analogy as follows: Green business will follow the same growth curve as company websites did in the 1990's. If you had a website in 1990 you were.... you were where? to read the rest vist Green Mortgage Group 11/20/2007

 That is correct; I said a GREEN Tom instead of Tom Green. The GREEN Tom sighting today at the Pleasanton Windermere Real Estate Office was a confirmation that the GREEN mentality in Real Estate is......Click below....To find out what is spreading in Real Estate 11/19/2007

Today when opening my mail I realized how hot of an issue Pleasanton's Oak Grove- Keep Our Park Mission is. Below is the leaflet that came in the mail. Please see http://www.keepourpark.org/ to see the piece is a reasonable size.Oak Groves "Keep Our Park Committee" is urging voters not to sign a referendum that will stop the current agreement between the city and the developer to donate nearly.... To find out what was nearly done please read on at Pleasanton Oak Grove.  11/17/2007

As I ran on empty in my fridge for a little over a week I gathered up enough will power to run to the super market for my grocery adventure. You never quite know what will present itself as you travel down the frozen food aisles. To my dismay on the left of the dairy aisle was, what I call, the "Month of Green"; yet another discovery was uncovered.What was uncovered can be discovered by visiting....Green Mortgage Group 11/16/2007

 The Oak Grove Development in Pleasanton, CA has become a wildly debated issue.  The past week in the Pleasanton Weekly I noticed two opposite opinions large as day regarding this matter that I felt needed some explanation.  The Left Page Opinion States:Presented by Keep Our Park Committee-To summarize this side, they are for Pleasanton slow growth, and support the donation of the 496 acres set to be donated to Pleasanton to remain as open space. http://www.keepourpark.org/The Right Page Opinion States:........................ To find out read: Oak Grove, Pleasanton 11/12/2007

I had the pleasure of previewing an amazing home in the Avignon Community, which is located right in the heart of Pleasanton. This Green home represents one of the future homes in Pleasanton Luxury GREEN Community's. Avignon is the first All-solar, Zero-Energy community located in Pleasanton, CA. Located at 951 Mingoia Street, (West of Ruby Hill) Pleasanton CA in the Avignon community this gem is loaded with luxury GREEN features.Sustainable in design the Luxury GREEN Features are:Sun Tile's Solar Power System- Tiles that blend in the roofline while adding architectural style Ultra High Efficient (14 SEER) dual zone heating.... This is just the begining. Please vist the rest of this GREEN home and its features at-Luxury GREEN Home 11/10/2007

Well you missed the vote on Tuesday night if you didn't read my news update.  Good for you I have an update on the Oak Grove community set for construction in Alameda County, Pleasanton.The Pleasanton City Council approved the second reading of the Oak Grove project despite the fact the backers of Save the Pleasanton Hills initiative announced plans to move forward with the referendum to oppose the development. The 51 luxury homes being built in Pleasanton have been challenged due to the size of the luxury homes.The Pro's and Con's of the Oak Grove in Pleasanton Are:PRO as I stated earlier this week that the Oak Grove developers are donating some 496 acres of open space to Pleasanton to maintain the character of the Pleasanton Ridge Lands. To read this artice further and discover the CO... 11/08/2007

Tonight the Pleasanton City council is set to hear the second reading on the development of the Oak Grove Project in Pleasanton. The Oak Grove development being built by Charter Properties is slated to construct 51 custom home sites on the Pleasanton ridge lands. The developer is donating some 562-acres to the city for designated open space.Tonight's Pleasanton City Council meeting is held at the City Council Chamber located at 200 Old Bernal at 7:00p.m. A summary of the ordinance will be published in 15 days in the Valley Times newspaper. For the full post please visit my website at:Oak Grove Pleasanton 11/07/2007

We all know it's a roll of the dice getting the BEST DEAL possible when purchasing a home for the first time.  On the brokers end, it's a roll of the dice for us as well, in regards to if we can qualify our clients for First time Home Buyer programs.   I have taken the liberty to research surrounding community lending programs to answer some of the questions I had when purchasing my first home, and decided to share them with you in part one of this series. The main question I hear from individuals who are just starting out and trying to decide where they want to spread their roots is, "What First Time Home Buyer programs are out there?"   My answer always is, "It just depends what city you live in."  With that in mind, part one in the series of information for First Time Home Buyers is ... 11/07/2007

Well, we're half way through the month of October, and the Pleasanton real estate market is moving along at about the same relative pace that is did last month. So far in October, we have 16 single family homes that are pending, which is about the same as the first half on September. Right now, there are 215 single family homes on the market in Pleasanton, which indicates that inventory, while up slightly from the end of September, is relatively stable. But there are some interesting observations about the recent activity in Pleasanton. Since September 1st, there are 50 homes that have gone into escrow (some of which have closed escrow). When you take a look at the all of these sales, several trends emerge:* Over 50% of the sales (28 sales) were on the market for 30 days or less, and al... 10/16/2007

If you just read or listen to the national media, you would think that getting a mortgage loan today is a lot like getting audited by the IRS... a painful, nerve racking experience that inevitably leaves you poorer. But there is good news in the Pleasanton and Tri-Valley CA mortgage market. The lending environment has improved substantially since the meltdown in August. Mortgage investors in the secondary mortgage market (where loans are packaged and essentially sold as bonds) are slowly but surely starting to buy jumbo loans again. This means that lenders are starting to get more aggressive in their pricing, and rates are coming down after a dramatic spike in August. According to Rick Kuhle, Senior Loan Officer at Diversified Capital in Pleasanton, the normal spread between conforming ... 10/06/2007

Interesting day for the financial markets, and the Plesanton and Tri-Valley real estate markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed above 14,000 today as the stock market rallied to a record high. According to Bloomberg.com:...investors speculated the worst may be over for banks and construction companies hurt by subprime mortgage lossesLennar Corp. and D.R. Horton Inc., the two biggest U.S. homebuilders, advanced after Citigroup Inc. said the industry's 50 percent decline this year has made the stocks attractive. Citigroup led financial shares higher after the largest U.S. bank said it expects "a normal earnings environment" in the fourth quarter and former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the credit slump may be ending. Meanwhile, a manufacturing report released toda... 10/06/2007

The numbers are in for the Pleasanton CA real estate market in September, and yes sales were down for the month as compared with last month. It continued the downward trend in pending sales since June, which had 67 pending sales. September ended at 36 pending sales for the month. Inventory also edged down, ending the month at 207 available single family homes, down from 220 at the end of August. Both of these trends can be considered seasonal, although the recent downward pressure on interest rates will hopefully spur more sales activity. Certainly, inventory has remained stable in Pleasanton, which has kept our market from the drastic price deterioration that many parts of the central valley have experienced. (click on graph to enlarge)The low end market in Pleasanton CA showed both a ... 10/02/2007

If you are like me, you know subconsciously that you are getting older, but it is generally not something you think about every day. Days, weeks, months go by, and then one day, perhaps after viewing photos from a family event or some social gathering, you are confronted with undeniable evidence that even Phil Spector's jury could agree on... you are getting old. And short of quitting your job, spending 7 hours a day at the gym, and getting cosmetic enhancements from your plastic surgeon, there is not a lot you can do about it.In the world of real estate, the same phenomenon exists with regards to your home's condition. You buy a new house, make it the way you want it, and enjoy it comfortably day after day. Time marches on. Then a few short years later, when you need to sell your home,... 10/02/2007