Claremont Ranked #5 as "Best Places to Live" in 2007 by Money Magazine

For the year 2007, Money Magazine focused on smaller cities when determining which are the top 10 "Best Places to Live" in the United States. This year, the focus was on neighborhoods that offered the best combination of economic opportunity, good schools, safe streets, things to do within the city, and a real sense of community when living there. With a population of 35,900 residents, a median home price of $643,549 (according to the 2006 survey), and a tight-knit community with topnotch schools, Claremont, California ranked in at #5. According to Money Magazine, Claremont is known as the City of Trees and Ph.D.s. This city has won the National Arbor Day Foundation's Tree City USA award for 19 straight years, and Pomona is part of a prestigious consortium known as the Claremont Colleges. The downtown area is a mixture of hip boutiques and old-school businesses. And the historic College Heights Lemon Packing House is now home to the Claremont Art Museum, restaurants, a jazz bar and artists' lofts. Relative to much of California, it is still affordable. So, if you are interested in purchasing a home in one of America's top cities to live in, or in any of the nearby communities, please contact us! To view the complete data accumulated for Claremont as well as the interactive map provided by CNNMoney.com, please visit this link.

Growth in the Inland Empire

Some people may still have the misconception that the Inland Empire is nothing more than green prairies, rolling hills, and the scent of a cow farm. Although this is a welcoming image for country lovers, the Inland Empire does offer so much more than farmland alone. With new housing developments on the rise in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, more affluent communities are being brought to this region of Southern California. Additionally, with well-educated men and women seeking more affordable housing where family values are sustained, more jobs are being brought inland as well. With newer home developments, an increase in job availability, and a higher average income per household, higher end retail shops are now in demand. Because of this influx of people moving into the Inland Empire, lifestyle centers are being developed. Lifestyle centers are generally a mix of retail/entertainment, office, and housing. This so happens to be the new trend across the nation, and it is now available in the San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. In Corona, Dos Lagos has been developed and in Chino Hills, The Shoppes at Chino Hills is being developed. Both are Lifestyle Centers and both are hoping to imitate the success seen in outdoor malls such as Victoria Gardens located in Rancho Cucamonga. The Inland Empire can no longer be known just as farm-land. According to Grubb & Ellis, by the year 2020, the Inland Empire's population will rise to 5 million, which is currently projected as 4.1 million. Additionally, Grubb & Ellis expects that with all the higher-end restaurants and shoppes being developed in the Inland Empire, by 2007 retail sales will increase 10.9% from 2006 to 51.7 billion, surpassing even Orange County for the THIRD year in a row. With more land availability, a steady population growth, higher-end retail centers being built, and constant new development, this is definitely a good place to purchase a home or invest in property, wouldn't you agree?

A Solution for First Time Home Buyers

According to the California Association of Realtors, the average mortgage for a first-time home buyer purchasing an entry-level home priced at $477,400.00 would be $3,230.00. That would be the monthly payment including taxes and insurance. For many first-time home buyers, this amount of money is just too overwhelming. Therefore, many people are forced to relocate out of California and into more affordable housing elsewhere if they want to purchase a home. Additional problems have also arisen because of the subprime lending industry as well as the rising cost of rent. To remedy this problem that many first-time home buyers face, Prosperity Homes, a developer known for its affordable housing developments, has started selling two new projects in Southern California. Circle City Villas is in Corona and Arbor Glen is in Riverside. Circle City Villas total 36 homes that are 2 bed/2 bath. Arbor Glen comprises of 70 homes that are either 2bed/2bath or 3bed/2bath. Both developments are priced in the mid to high $200,000's. Circle City Villas are condominiums while Arbor Glen are patio homes. Patio homes are basically 1-story homes that share at least one common wall and have a patio in the back and not necessarily a yard. Condominiums are essentially apartments that are individually owned. Thanks to Prosperity Homes, many recent graduates and newlyweds are now able to pride themselves as homeowners, and a renter's dream of becoming a homeowner is now within reach.

Pasadena dining is always a YUMMY experience

Earlier today, I had brunch with a girlfriend of mine and my 2-year-old son. We decided to eat at a little neighborhood restaurant in Pasadena called Green Street Restaurant. I had heard about this restaurant years ago and about their TO DIE FOR salad dishes. Since I haven't really been fulfilling my daily requirement of greens, I decided to give this well-known salad joint a try. My girlfriend and I had planned on grabbing a quick bite to eat and then heading out to do some credit card damage at Citadel, so we started our day a little earlier than expected. We need all the time we can get when it comes to outlet shopping of course! So when we arrived at Green Street Restaurant, they were still serving brunch and the lunch menus were not available yet. I was a little disappointed because I came here for a salad after all, but hey, sacrifices are needed to be made when it comes to a shopping-filled day. So, I decided on having "Charlie's Breakfast", which consisted of scrambled eggs and bacon, grilled onions and cheddar cheese served with sour cream and michoacan salsa. I even got zucchini bread on the side to accompany my breakfast platter. THE ZUCCHINI BREAD WAS TO DIE FOR!!! It was so stinkin' delicious! My friend ordered the "Spinach Omelette", so I was able to steal her greens, in addition to stealing her mushrooms and onions and extra chicken that she added onto the order (: She also got a side of Zucchini Bread with her meal. I would have taken pictures of our dishes just to show how delicious all the food was, especially the bread! But it was a little hard when I had one hand on my fork and the other hand on my toddler making sure he wasn't knocking over his milk or throwing food at the folks next to us. Anyway, it was no surprise that Green Street Restaurant was as good as I expected. After all, it is located in the city of Pasadena, home to the California School of Culinary Arts.

Get Your Home Sold!

In today's housing market, the interest rates are rising, there are more homes going into foreclosure and being put out into the market by banks, and home sales are decreasing. These factors can make the sale of your home more difficult. Here are some tips that can help with getting your listed home SOLD! 1. PRICE ACCORDINGLY!! Get a real estate professional to do a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) on your home. A knowledgeable agent should be able to give you an overview of what similar homes in your area have recently been sold for. With this knowledge, you can price your home accordingly. You do not want to overprice your home with the assumption that you can always adjust the price by decreasing it later. When you initially list your home, agents who have buyers looking for a home similar to yours may bypass your listing and show other properties that fit their buyer's price range. Agents know the inventory of all homes in your area and you want them to show yours to their buyers! 2. MAKEOVER YOUR HOME!! Unless a buyer is looking for a fixer-upper or is bargain hunting for a home to completely remodel, they will want to purchase a home that they feel comfortable living in immediately. This usually means that the home they buy will be clean and in move-in condition. If your home needs a coat of fresh paint, spend a weekend or two repainting. If your home needs some light, purchase a few accent lights and open up your drapes. You can do some minor work on your home to get some major buyers interested in it. For more detailed tips, please check out our blog about "staging your home". 3. MARKETING & ADVERTISING!! Once you priced your home right and have prepped the physical aspects of your home to sell, either with some minor repairs or by staging your house, you are now ready to let the world know about it! As agents with Century 21 Beachside, your listing will be advertised in the Los Angeles Times, on Realtor.com, on Century 21.com, and our our personal website: www.minhandchristie.com. Additionally, your listing will be advertised on our caravan meeting as soon as you are ready to show it. Caravan is a weekly meet of over 100 Realtors who get together and learn about new listings. So, when you are ready to sell your home, please contact us.

Tips For Homebuyers

After writing the blog about how to "stage" your home to assist in the selling process, I decided to write a blog for homebuyers. I was going to give financing tips, the loan amount, the down payment, your mortgage, etc.. But then I realized that all this information can be found on my website, or rather OUR website! =) So please visit www.minhandchristie.com for financial tools, mortgage calculators, loan amounts, real estate news, property searches using our Multiple Listing Service (MLS), and other information that will help you in your research to finding your perfect home. Have fun!

Staging Your Home To Sell

What is staging? "Staging" is a term in the real estate industry which basically means that you "prep" your house to sell. Similarly to studying in order to prep yourself before taking a test to get the best results, you may find that "staging" will also give you the results you are looking for when you sell your home. In the real estate market today, buyers are fortunate enough to have a large selection of homes to choose from. When you have a buyer interested in your home, you want them to also be able to envision themselves and their family living there. As a seller, you want to be able to see your home through a buyer's eyes, as if you are seeing your home for the very first time. Below are some staging tips from Barb Schwarz, an accredited staging professional. INSIDE: 1. Clear all unnecessary objects from furniture throughout the house. Keep decorative objects on the furniture restricted to groups of 1, 3, or 5 items. 2. Clear all unnecessary objects from the kitchen countertops. If it hasn't been used for three months... put it away! Clear refrigerator fronts of messages, pictures, etc. (A sparse kitchen helps the buyer mentally move their own things into your kitchen.) 3. In the bathroom, remove any unnecessary items from countertops, tubs, shower stalls and commode tops. Keep only your most needed cosmetics, brushes, perfumes etc., in one small group on the counter. Coordinate towels to one or two colors only. 4. Rearrange or remove some of the furniture if necessary. As owners, many times we have too much furniture in a room. This is wonderful for our own personal enjoyment, but when it comes to selling we need to thin out as much as possible to make rooms appear larger. 5. Take down or rearrange certain pictures or objects on walls. Patch and paint if necessary. 6. Review the inside of the house room by room, and:

Paint any room needing paint.

Clean carpets or drapes that need it.

Clean windows. 7. If you need room to store extra possessions use the garage or rent a storage unit. 8. Leave on certain lights during the day. During "showings" turn on all lights and lamps. 9. Have stereo FM on during the day for all viewings. OUTSIDE: 1. Go around the perimeter of the house and move all garbage cans, discarded wood scraps, extra building materials, etc., into the garage. 2. Check gutters for roof moss and dry rot. Make sure they are swept and cleaned. 3. Look at all plants... prune bushes and trees. Keep plants from blocking windows. "YOU CAN'T SELL A HOUSE IF YOU CAN'T SEE IT." Plants are like children -- they grow so fast!! 4. Weed and then mulch all planting areas. Keep lawn freshly cut and fertilized. Remove and dead plants or shrubs. 5. Clear patios or decks of all small items. such as small planters, flower pots, charcoal, barbecues, toys. etc. (Put them in the garage or a storage unit.) 6. Check paint condition of the house -- especially the front door and trim. "CURB APPEAL REALLY WORKS!"