The highly contested Open Space measure is a new hot topic here in Santa Clarita, and one that could effect the future landscape of our community. The city council backed measure calls for close to $34 million in bonds to be taken out by the city and to be repaid in approx 30 years time with interest in order for the city to purchase undeveloped real estate in and around Santa Clarita. That translates to a $25 annual tax on a single family home owners, and about a $19 annual tax for Santa Clarita condominium owners. Ballots were mailed out on Friday to Santa Clarita city residents. Opponents of the measure have been outspoken and very visible with their signs and flags at intersections such as McBean and Valencia Blvd. I can't quite decide which part of the measure I fall in, for or aga... 05/27/2007

This morning I went to a small ceremony at City Hall held by the Blue Star Mothers of Santa Clarita. These are women whose sons and daughters are in one of the branches of the military. Our town is relatively small, so I chatted with Mayor Marsha McClean on my way to sit down. Then I ended up sitting next to City Councilman Bob Kellar. I'm not sure why there were only about 50 people present. It seems like more people would come out for an event such as this one. 05/27/2007

Santa Clarita dentist David Goldberg has many patients who are children. But does that qualify him as a children's dentist? David Goldberg, who has been practicing dentistry in Santa Clarita for over twenty years, explains the difference. He says that some dentists prefer to work only on children. His practice, on the other hand, is a family dental practice. This means that he will work on patients of any age, although families love it when he works on their children. His advice for the summer season: Make sure you brush and floss daily, and don't forget to come in for your checkup before school starts again in the fall. You can find out more about Dr. Goldberg's practice by visiting Crossroads Dental. 05/27/2007

David Goldberg is a dentist in Santa Clarita. He doesn't specialize in children's dentistry but does have many children as patients. David Goldberg is also the president elect of the Rotary Club here in Santa Clarita. I would recommend his dental services to anyone in the area. He has a family practice, which means that he works on patients of any age, but children love going to his office. David Goldberg has his office on Bouquet Canyon at the corner of Soledad Canyon. 05/26/2007

I HEAR THIS EVERYDAY AS AN OBJECTION TO OWNING REAL ESTATE. In fact, the other day, a guy told me that his good friend, who is a commercial appraiser, told him that real estate is the worst investment you can make. Now I don't hear that everyday. I asked him why? Him: "Because you can get tenants who don't pay or trash the place." Me: "That is true."I DIND'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO SAY.  I wasn't trying to sell him anything, we were just shooting the breeze. It caught me so off-guard that I just bit my tongue and let it slide. Later, I began to wonder, how many people sell their home and move to a new one because they don't want the headache of owning rental property? I GUESS THERE ARE PROBABLY A LOT MORE THAN I REALIZE. There must be, because so many people sell when they move, instead of re... 05/24/2007

Santa Clarita's Summer Beach Bus program starts on May 28, just in time for the summer weather and the Memorial Day weekend.Bus service will be provided from the Valencia transfer station at the corner of McBean Parkway and Valencia Blvd, Val Verde Park, and from Richard Rioux Memorial Park in Stevenson Ranch. The bus will leeave the Santa Monica beach at 3pm. Service will be on Wednesdays and Saturdays only.This beach bus service is courtesy of a joint partnership between the City of Santa Clarita and Los Angeles County, with each providing half of the operational costs of this service. Other areas served by the Summer Beach Bus program are La Canada - Flintridge and East Los Angeles.Round trip tickets will be $4 for adults and children and $2 for seniors over 60 and people with disabi... 05/23/2007

When I go on a listing presentation to list a home for rent, I always use my checklist. Toward the end comes the question, "HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT PETS?" The answers I get are as varied as the houses. Here are the most common? My thoughts are in italics. "What is your recommendation?" See below."Absolutely not." OK, but what about this 100lb. shepherd mix of yours I am petting? "Dogs are ok, but no cats. I hate cats." I hate cats, too. Let's kill 'em all. "No cats, I'm allergic." Ok. Anything else you are allergic to? Peanuts? Gluten? Let me make a note of those..."I will consider small dogs." I agree, small dogs are always well behaved. "Fish are ok." Hehe. Ok, I kid. But seriously, some of these answers just don't make sense. Sometimes I hear arguments based on past experience with a p... 05/23/2007

I get this call many times a day: "MY HOME IS NOT SELLING! SHOULD I RENT IT OUT?" The answer to this question is: "It depends". I wrote a short article on it. Take a few minutes to read it. Honestly, selling and renting are not the only two options. In fact, we are working on programs that will offer the home seller even more alternatives. One is the seldom-chosen, often-misunderstood, LEASE_OPTION. Then, between selling, renting, and lease-option, there are endless hybrids. Here is a quick snapshot of my personal opinion about the market in Santa Clarita, CA. Santa Clarita resale market: Slow, depreciating, frustrating. Sales are possible, but tough. Your house needs to be sparkly and priced low. Vacant and staged are a plus. Santa Clarita rental market: Fast, appreciating, exciting. R... 05/22/2007

THE OTHER DAY, I LOST A DEAL TO A LEASE OPTION. Ok, it's probably not what you are thinking. I work heavily in property management. I lost a rental deal. The tenants had already signed the lease, but hadn't moved in yet. Prior to move-in, they called and canceled (which they can do in CA), because they were purchasing a property on option. THIS IS ONE IN A STRING OF HAPPENINGS THAT IS POINTING TO THE RETURN OF LEASE OPTIONS. We get many calls a week asking if any of our listings will do a lease option instead of straight lease. While I have not been a fan of these in the past, I think this is going to be a viable tool in prcaticing real estate in the near future. THE PROBLEM IS, I AM HAVING TROUBLE GETTING ANY GOOD INFO THESE. I have purchased some books and read them, but they all seem... 05/21/2007

Do you manage your own home in Santa Clarita, CA? Are you thinking of renting out your home in Santa Clarita, CA? Below are a few tips that can lessen the stress in the landlord/tenant relationship. Screen your renters properly. This is number one for a reason. If you rent your home to the wrong person, nothing will fix it. Make sure the home looks great BEFORE you put it up for rent. The better the home looks, the better the odds are that the renters will take good care of it. We have seen this proven time and time again. A good way to make sure it looks good is to leave the house, drive around the block, and pretend you are a potential renter looking to rent it. Be as objective as possible, remember, you are going to live here, and so are your kids. Make an exhaustive list, and then y... 05/21/2007

John Boston, Santa Clarita's own Hemingway in residence, has once again shown his love for the Santa Clarita Rotary Club. This time he mentioned our 400 pound gorilla. We love our gorilla but usually just refer to him as David Goldstein. David is the Rotary ape dentist (written about previously in Michele Buttelman's column) who is also Rotary's president elect. I believe I saw John Boston last night at the symphonic band and jazz ensemble concert over at the Performing Arts Center at College of the Canyons. Well, I'm off now to get bananas for the gorilla. He hates it when he runs out of bananas. 05/19/2007

April numbers look very promising for the Santa Clarita Valley, with many homes selling close to list price and the average days on market (DOM) dropping to under 60 days in many areas. The numbers shown below are combined for condos, townhomes and single family homes in each area. CityNew ListingsIn EscrowSold%LP/SPDOMCastaic6082198.28%87Canyon Country166253599.92%78Saugus132343698.66%90Stevenson Ranch4062098.63%50Tesoro del Valle154697.58%58Valencia206478998.59%55 Information obtained from SoCalMLS and is believed to be accurate but not guaranteed. To search for homes in the Santa Clarita area, visit HoneyStartPacking.com, where you'll find a quick and easy home search tool and loads of community info. Linda Slocum HoneyStartPacking.com SantaClaritaRealEstateBlog.com "Honey, Start Pac... 05/18/2007

Sorry if hotness isnt a word, this is a local real estate blog, don't expect too much. Either way, the moral of the story today is that there are quite a few little hot communities in the midst of a bunch of disasters, right here in our Santa Clarita 2007 real estate market. I wrote this same blog about 5 minutes ago, and it was much more detailed and quaint, but thanks to my good luck, I erased it by pressing a key that refuses to claim responsibility....so, here is the short version of the communites in that home buyers I am finding are snapping right up:1) Valencia Woodlands (Presideo, Garland tracts)2) Valencia Summit (Chelsea and San Marino tracts)3) Stevenson Ranch (Crown Villas, Diamond Head, Northstar, and Ryland Summit tracts)4) Saugus (Mountain View Courtyards)To take a look a... 05/17/2007

Now that the National Association of Realtors has announced that it expects prices to drop throughout the United States during the remainder of 2007 I thought about Santa Clarita. This is one of the best places to live in the country, according to a variety of sources, the weather is beautiful (except for a few unbearably hot days during the summer), and the community tries hard to bring new employment to our city. Will Santa Clarita homes be affected by this forecasted drop in housing prices?This will depend on many things, one of which is new home sales. Where I am living, in the section of Santa Clarita known as Saugus, the builders have stopped construction almost completely. There are presently 11 homes being finished by S & S, but Pardee, Beazer and KB Homes have taken a hiatus. H... 05/17/2007

Supporters of the Santa Clarita Open Space Initiative have created an informative website to help make it easier to find information on this important initiative at http://www.scvsaveopenspace.org/.The Open Space Initiative would allow the City of Santa Clarita to buy up open space land within a 3-mile radius of the City limits to preserve as open space territory. This would in effect stop the bulldozing of the ridgelines around the Santa Clarita Valley in areas where the City is able to buy up these open spaces.The cost to the residents is $25 per year for the next 30 years, with a maximum increase of $1 per year for the typical homeowner. After 30 years, the initiative must again be presented to the residents for a vote. This cost will be added to the annual property tax bill.Some peo... 05/17/2007

Interested in buying a home in the Saugus area of Santa Clarita? In the upper $600k price range? Need Rv? Want View? Want Flag Lot!? I have the home for you! I just listed one of the best located homes in Saugus, situated in the Mountain View Homes tract. I am telling you guys this is one of the nicest listings of the year! ENORMOUS RV or boat access, views for FOREVER, and a backyard suited well for large gatherings. I supposed I should mentioned this Mountain View Home was built in 1987, its a 4 bed 3 bath, 2214 sq ft, and extremely turn-key!To veiw more details on this new real estate listing in the city of Santa Clarita (Saugus area)....click the following link to view photos and virtual tour: SAUGUS, CA REAL ESTATE LISTING. Remember...when buying or selling Santa Clarita real estat... 05/16/2007

The Santa Clarita Rotary Club completed a project at Old Orchard Elementary School in Newhall earlier this week. The dedication ceremony took place at the school Wednesday morning, May 16, 2007, at the school.The Rotary Club project, chaired by Nick Lentini, included fencing in a grassy area and donating various types of equipment for the children to use.The children who will benefit from this project are all special needs children, including children with autism, cerebal palsy, and other severe disabilities.The principal of Old Orchard Elementary, Ruth Gauthier, was on hand for the dedication ceremomy. She presented Nick Lentini with a certificate of recognition and thanked him for the donation of the fencing and the equipment. Gauthier told the teachers, parents, and community members... 05/16/2007

             A roof over your head is important but if that roof is made from wood shake it may not be safe. This is especially true if you live in a high fire risk area, such as Santa Clarita. In this area wood shake roofs are typically banned even if they have been treated with a fire retardant. Over a period of time the fire retarding material will wear away, rendering the roof unprotected during the intense heat generated by a fire.            There are many kinds of roof covering s used on homes and commercial buildings. The most popular choice is composition shingle. It is very durable, inexpensive, and may be made with some recycled materials. It comes in many colors and is not easily damaged if it is walked on. The only problem is that it will blow off rather easily during high ... 05/15/2007

At the most recent homeowner's association meeting the residents questioned the board about the possibility of becoming a gated community. The board members stated that it would be next to impossible for us to gate our community because of the streets. They are currently publicly owned and would have to be deeded back to the community if we were to put up a gate of any kind. Does anyone know more about how to deal with this situation?  05/15/2007

The weather was very warm over the past week but now it has promised to be a little cooler for the next few days. I'm not quite ready for summer, especially when the calendar still tells us it is Spring. I really cannot complain. Santa Clarita has one of the best climates in the United States. Living here is like living in a little piece of paradise. We are able to walk, ride bicycles, and just be out among the friendly residents of our city at any time. I am truly blessed to be living in Plum Canyon in Santa Clarita. 05/14/2007