2011 Business Strategies for REALTORS® - Online Real Estate Marketing Planning for success in 2011 takes a ton of energy, but it's worth the effort! Last year, I taught a class where only 5% of the attending REALTORS® had completed a real estate sales business plan for 2011! I couldn't believe how many real estate agents didn't have a plan completed yet! How are you supposed to run a business without a plan showing you what direction you are going to take for the forthcoming year? I found out from many of the REALTORS® in the class who didn't complete a business plan that they just didn't know where to start. So... I put together a new class for this year called 2011 Business Strategies for REALTORS® and completed a powerpoint to go with the class. The class was a blast to teach and the... 01/21/2011

I just signed up with PartnerFirst, a nationwide Real Estate Network designed to serve homeowners & agents/brokers with Short Sales.  I took their intensive online course on Short Sales and acquired their PSC (Pre-Foreclosure Specialist Certification). Whether you are agent or financially-stressed homeowner, I recommend you visit their website.  PartnerFirst link: http://members.partnerfirst.org/ I also have been certified by Equator with their Platiinum Short Sale & REO Certification.  I also have been certified by NABPOP ) National Association of Broker Price Opinion Professionals), Titanium Solutions, Distressed Sales University and Harris Real Estate University. Why would I focus so much time and effort on this, you may ask? Please consider these facts which essentially guarantee a ... 12/18/2010

Ho Ho Ho Sue Carrell will be on Mike Kelly's Show This Sunday Morning Check it out! Call In. Ask All the questions you want to know about Property Management in Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Windsor, and more. What can I rent my house for? What does it cost? Why do I want to do it? How long would it take to get a good tenant? What is the rental market doing? Should I buy real estate today and rent it out? What are the benefits? Risks? 707 636 1350-Call in KSRO Radio 9-10 am in Santa Rosa, CA. 12/16/2010

Social Media Marketing for REALTORS® - Online Real Estate Marketing It's been awhile since I've posted anything on AR! I've been so busy with my work and life events. I've also been busy Social Media Marketing and branding to my local real estate agents at the North Bay Association of REALTORS®. My classes have basically been a live demonstration and dryboard illustration of my thoughts and ideas. They've been very successful and educational to all who've participated, but I felt I needed to take the classes to a whole new level by creating powerpoint presentations of all my classes. It's a lot of work! I didn't realize how much more time it would take me to make a powerpoint summary for just one class! LOL! It's a lot of work! Especially for someone like me who's constantly trying to i... 12/04/2010

Will the real Brad Andersohn please stand up! Last week I was fortunate enough to attend a class that was taught by the one and only Brad Andersohn from Activerain at the North Bay Association of Realtors in Santa Rosa, Ca. To my wonderful surprise, I found several Sonoma County blogging greats in class who were also there to hear Brad. It was so nice to see and visit Dave Roberts, Cynthia Larsen, and Kathleen Bonham that afternoon! As always, Brad provided us with a plethora of information and tools for mastering our online branding as real estate professionals. Some of my top three favorite web tools were: Box.net - It's a website that allows you to upload files for your friends to download Picnik.com - This is a wonderful free online photo editing tool StepRep.com - I've been using t... 10/24/2010

Five Benefits of Historic Designation ! This summer I have been taking a class on Historic Designation and Vintage homes at the local junior college in Santa Rosa, California. I have learned about numerous aspects of the process for obtaining designation as a Historic Preservation District. The class project, in fact, is a survey of the junior college district housing stock to establish the basis for historic designation. The process centers on cataloging houses in the neighborhood with special historic and architectural features. The general purpose of historic designation is straightforward: namely, to preserve the special historic and architectural character of the neighborhood. The rules and regulations that accompany Historic Designation  require approval by a local board or commis... 10/05/2010

Fountaingrove is a lovely part of  Santa Rosa, CA.  It's located in the hills with beautiful views looking toward the west county hills.  There are hundreds of homes in Fountaingrove, and they enjoy a nice variety of city parks such as Rincon Ridge Park, Francis Nielson Park, and Nagasawa. Rincon Ridge Park, is a City of Santa Rosa neighborhood park.  It's located on Rincon Ridge Drive right off Fountaingrove Parkway.  It has an expansive lawn, perfect for a friendly soccer game, or tossing the Frisbee.  There is a nice picnic area with tables, and a grill, all shaded by mature oaks.  There are 2 play structures one for younger, and the other for older children.  There are no bathrooms.                                Francis Nielson Park, is another Santa Rosa City neighborhood park.  F... 09/28/2010

The Second Fairway in Fountaingrove offers elegant golf course living.  Built in 1995, the Second Fairway development consists of 26 homes most of which sit on the Fountaingrove golf course in a variety of sizes.Second Fairway homes range in size from 1900 sq ft to over 3000.  They sit on a variety of lots, some as small as .12 acres, to over 1 acre.  I'd say that the average lot size is approx .20    The homes are wood costruction with stucco exterior, composite tile roofs, and a concrete perimeter foundation.  Most homes have natural gas central heat and air conditioning.  The neighborhood is served by city water and sewer.  Most of the homes have  similiar amenities such as high ceilings, hardwood floors, bedrooms with balconies, gourmet kitchens and 2 - 3 wood burning fireplaces.   ... 09/28/2010

The Oaks in Fountaingrove offers a nice alternative to the more expensive custom homes found in this area.  Located on Thomas Lake Harris Dr, The Oaks consist of 46 large, single detached homes on small lots.  The homes range in size from 1500 sq ft to 1990 sq ft.  Each lot averages  about 3500 sq ft.  Individually, the homes are mostly two stories, with wood burning fireplaces, central heat, city water/ sewer, and two car attached garages.  The homes are built with wood siding, tile roofs, and concrete perimeter foundations.   Although the homes are considered "single detached homes", some of the garages share a common wall with the neighboring home.  Built in 1994, The Oaks consist of Kilarney Circle, Bally Bunion Lane, Lahinch Lane and Gullage Drive.  Some of the homes enjoy the priv... 09/27/2010

I was driving from my home office to the North Bay Association of Realtors (NorBAR) for a seminar when I spotted a brilliant flash of gold. Up ahead on my left was Sts. Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Church. I had remembered reading an article in the newspaper about the domes on the church having been refurbished recently. The sun was high in the sky, not a cloud in sight and the domes were spectacular. If it hadn't been for road construction that has been going on for years (literally), I wouldn't have chosen this particular path. I'm glad I did, I found a little treasure that made my day.     Sts. Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Church850 St.Olga's Ct.Santa Rosa, CA 95407     09/23/2010

For those of you who are interested, there is an exclusive neighborhood in the hills above Santa Rosa called Fountaingrove. Within this neighborhood is a combination of high end developments that were built within the last 25 years.   One of these developments is a neighborhood called Southridge. Southridge is a community of about 50+ custom and semi custom homes halfway up Fountaingrove Parkway. The lots range in size from 4900 sq ft up to half an acre, with the average lot being close to .25 of an acre. The homes, built in a wide variety of styles, also range in size from 2200 sq ft up to 4100 sq feet. These homes sit on a hill amongst beautiful mature oaks. Most homes enjoy a view looking over West Santa Rosa and toward the hills of Sebastopol and Forestville. The streets that make ... 09/13/2010

There's a small house movement encouraging people all over the world to live simply, consume fewer resources, and make a smaller carbon footprint. A big factor in how efficiently and lightly we live is in the size of our houses. A bigger house takes more energy to heat, more resources to build, and occupies more landfill when it is eventually dismantled.  We haven't always craved large homes. The rise of the bigger scale homes  is a post World War II phenomenon that exploded in the 1970's and 80's. Today, lots of people spend extra time cleaning and paying for heat and cooling inside homes built for many more occupants and a different lifestyle. Downsizing is in and many are opting for smaller homes. One of my clients is fixing a 600 square foot dollhouse on a little over half an acre i... 07/24/2010

Selling the Family Vintage Home in Sonoma, Calif. and Surviving. I have just spent three months with my husband, daughter, pet schnauzer (Neddie) preparing to sell the family home and downsize into a more simple home with less upkeep, less maintenance, less taxes ..in other words LESS of everything.   Here is what I did to get the ball rolling after I pullled the covers over my head for about 2 days thinking of all I had to do and not being able to move because I was so overwhelmed. The physcololgy of this life change is a blog just by itself! 1. Get Organized. I am NOT the greatest at organizing and going through years of history.. momentos, sentimental gifts, notes from favorite granmothers or parents, child's photos and grammar school drawings, acievements, etc. SO, I solicited help ... 07/20/2010

Santa Rosa Real Estate Homes For Sale (784) Bank-Owned Listings (145) Short-Sale Listings (382) New Listings (132) Price Reductions (111) Land for Sale (91) Condos for Sale (142) For more information on each individual property: www.KammieQuinonesRealEstate.com     07/09/2010

      Santa Rosa Real Estate For Sale Santa Rosa Homes for Sale (748)  Santa Rosa Foreclosure Listings (121) Santa Rosa Short-Sale Listings (344) New Santa Rosa Listings (123) Santa Rosa Price Reductions (136) Santa Rosa Land for Sale (97) Santa Rosa Condos for Sale (132) For More Information and Free Real Estate Assistance: www.KammieQuinonesRealEstate.comKammie Quinones License #01372729  05/26/2010

Greece is going bankrupt! Spain. Portugal, Ireland and several other countries are on verge of defaulting! The growth in the world's economies is either at a stand still or moving into negative territory! Over the past month we have all heard the above statements from the experts in print and also the financial news networks. Take a look at our own stock market which has dropped from it's intra-day high on 4/26 of 11,308 to an intra-day low of 9756 on 5/26. That's a move of 1552 points in a one month period. Why? Because we are all now part of the world economy. As much as these so called financial experts expound on how the US can decouple itself from these fledgling countries we cannot. As an example, take one of our own homegrown company's Mc Donald's. McDonald's gets 40% of it's rev... 05/26/2010

Kicking off it's 22nd year, the Santa Rosa Downtown Market begins May 26th and will continue every Wednesday evening until September 1st.  It looks like we are in for some damp weather the first night this season, but the show will go on, rain or shine. The Santa Rosa Downtown Market, also known as the Wednesday Night Market, is a popular seasonal event that brings between 5,000 to 8,000 County residents weekly to Santa Rosa for fun, eats, music and of course, shopping.  The Market provides a mid-week break from the nightly routine of cooking, washing the dishes and staring down the boob tube. This years Santa Rosa Downtown Market will feature a new bungee jumping attraction for thrill seekers called Eurobungy.  This contraption makes use of a trampoline and bungees strapped to your wai... 05/26/2010

Kammie Quinones has been selected as Top Merchant from Merchant Circle.  For More information on Kammie and her Real Estate Assistance: www.KammieQuinonesRealEstate.com 05/24/2010

OF COURSE you know who Lucy van Pelt is.  She's a famous shrink who only charges a nickel for advice.  She always promises to hold a football for Charlie Brown to kick, but always pulls it away at the last minute.  She's a fussbudget who thinks the world needs more crabby people.  And don't let her see you fly your kite into a kite eating tree, you'll never live it down. The family of Charles M. Schulz, the creator of Peanuts, and the City of Santa Rosa have placed more than 200 statues of Snoopy, Charlie Brown and Woodstock at sites all over town.  Lucy van Pelt will be the 4th and final Peanuts character to get her own statue as part of the Peanuts On Parade Celebration and Auction. At the end of the Summer, the thirty 4-foot high Lucy statues will be auctioned off to raise money for ... 05/17/2010

There is a legend, which is supported by a substantial amount of circumstantial fact, that in 1829, a Padre from a mission in San Rafael (Mission San Rafael Archangel) had rode a horse up into Sonoma County looking for native Americans to convert.  He was riding along the banks of a creek when he was attacked by a group of local Native Americans.  He fled the attacks, stopping briefly to baptize (then capture) a young indian woman whom he'd came upon along the creek.  This event took place on the feast day of Saint Rose of Lima, so he named the girl (and creek) Santa RosaThe City of Santa Rosa gives this legend enough merit that a stone and plaque were place at the location where this event reportedly took place.   View Santa Rosa Creek in a larger map 05/11/2010