My kids are wrapping up 2 weeks off for Christmas vacation.  We're heading back to school and work tomorrow (Monday) and thought we'd do something fun on our last day off together.  We went over to the Redwood Ice Arena, and Charles Schulz Museum.  Most locals know that Charles Schulz had made Santa Rosa his home since 1969.  His office and studio were in Santa Rosa until his death in 2000.  He is very dearly missed.  His studio has been changed into a gift shop, and a new museum was opened in December 2009.  It's a must see for visitors to the Wine Country. Charles grew up in Minnesota and was an avid ice skater and hockey player.  He found there was no real enthusiasm for hockey in Northern California, so he built the Redwood Ice arena.  For a very reasonable price families can skate,... 01/03/2010

Apple’s Top Free Real Estate Related iphone apps for Realtors and home buyers in Sonoma County Wine Country This Christmas, Santa was very generous and gave me an iphone 3G from Apple. Ever since I got the iphone, I’ve been glued to the screen learning about its features and its many applications. My wife is probably going to take the iphone away from me soon if I don’t stop looking at it every 5 minutes! Anyway, in the interest of the real estate world that I’m a part of, I thought it would be appropriate to see what kind of apps are available for the home buyer and real estate agent to use in their search for real property. There were many to choose from that would help the Realtor in other ways, but I chose to focus on the ones that help in the home search process. I’ve sorted these ... 01/03/2010

Here's my New Year Resolution Dance for everyone from the Sonoma County Wine Country in Santa Rosa, CA! These moves are amazing! When I was 18, I could dance like this, but at 40, the body just doesn't move like this anymore. If my real body could do this, I would video tape myself! LOL! Happy New Year! This is also my last post for 2009! Yeah! See you in 2010! And a one, and a two... For those of you who are using Firefox, here's the link: http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/mljJnvwtQtFyZIJd I'm not sure why the video doesn't work on firefox through AR?   Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today! 12/31/2009

One of my resolutions for 2010 is to have more fun with life and everything that it holds. I'm also going to make a major attempt at sharing this joy and fun with everyone I know including my new friends here on AR! So, to kick off the year, I would like to share this wonderful photo I found. It's a perfect visual that sums up my goal for 2010 to be carefree, boundless, fearless and fun! . BTW- is that two thousand ten, or twenty ten? ;-) Enjoy!   12/31/2009

Breast Cancer Awareness via the Pink Glove Dance My wife sent me this video. Her mom sent it to her. Now, I'm sharing it with you. Enjoy! I'm sure this has been seen by many of you, but it's important and fun to share it with anyone who might have missed it the first time the video came out. I've got to go find some of those gloves and practice my dance moves for tonight! LOL! Happy New Year! Here's the link to youtube if the video doesn't work:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEdVfyt-mLw   12/31/2009

Stop! Did you realize we are starting a new decade? What's your plan for the next 10 years? It just clicked that we are going into a whole new decade again! Isn't that right?  We are not only transitioning into a new year, but we are starting a whole new 10 years! As I wrote my last posting, I realized we are no longer going to be in single digit mode. It's double digit years from this point on! Damn! Where did the time go? Remember running around as a kid bragging about turning 10 because you're no longer a "little kid" with a single digit age? I was so excited when I turned 10. Well, I'm feeling that excitement again! How are we going to kick off the new decade? What are we going to call this last decade? My mind is going on overdrive! How much champaign do I drink for celebrating the... 12/31/2009

Here's a cool visual summary of the last 10 years by Phillip Niemeyer from the NY Times I love reading and watching the "year in review" shows at the end of the year! Was that a redundant sentence? Anyway, they help remind my of my own experiences throughout the year. They also fill me in on what I might have missed because I was too busy to pay attention. You can always tell if some event is significant in your life because you will remember what you were doing when that event happened. Well, as I was perusing the internet for my fill of year in review articles, I came across this chart by Phillip Niemeyer. Talk about cool!  See if you can remember the significant things in your life each of these years as you read the list. Wouldn't that be a great list of articles to share? http://ww... 12/31/2009

I'm Sending off 2009 with JibJab's hilarious video! Enjoy! I love JibJab! They have some of the funniest and most creative video's I've ever seen! I couldn't stop laughing while I was watching this one. What a wonderful way to end 2009! I hope everyone gets a chance to see it!  Please pass it on if you enjoyed the show! Here's the link and the embedded video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKYe1KiwywE   12/30/2009

If someone says something negative about you online, what should you do? After reading several posts on AR about online marketing, I decided to follow the advice on one of the postings here about online reputation management. I've forgotten who wrote the post, but you can look it up easily enough. Based on the advice, I set up an account with StepRep and Google Alerts to help me find out what others are saying about me and to see how effective my online marketing efforts were going. It's a very simple process and it's automated once you set it up. Before I started blogging, I would usually get one google alert a month. As I built my archive of postings, the alerts became more frequent. Cool! Things were looking up! I posted more blogs and participated in more conversations everyday. An... 12/29/2009

Santa Rosa, California condo blues are driving me nutz! We have Bank Owned REO's (Real Estate owned), post foreclosure, CONDOS. However here's the great connumdrum! Can't get an HOA (Home Owners Association) Cert (Certification) for any number of reasons! The HOA is woefully underfunded, late HOA dues, owners have gone, tenants in place throw our ratios out of whack PLUS a few big investors have come in and purchase 10,20,30 of the units hence breaking the "one entity can't own more than______many condos"!! (fill in the blanks for your state!   It's like getting one of my Sonoma County lenders to  finance a YURT!! So we are stuck with CASH!! BUT--along comes a Fannie Mae REO and PRANG! They offer the "Homepath" loan which ONLY applies IF THE PROPERTY IS a fannie mae REO!! Many a agent l... 12/26/2009

I was driving home last night over a road called Fountaingrove Parkway.  It rises about 500 feet above the the floor of Santa Rosa.  Last night was  clear, cold, with a light wind which made for a beautiful shot of Santa Rosa about 45 minutes after the sun went down over the hills.  The Wine Country is a beautiful place to live, day or night!   This photo was taken with a Nikon Coolpix L20 on a "night time" setting 12/24/2009

Well... not in Santa Rosa, or at least make sure you have a good helmet & insurance policy.  I love living in Santa Rosa, but I have to tell you that it is not the most bicycle friendly city.  If fact, it's pretty dangerous.  I live in an area called Rincon Valley which is about 5 miles east of downtown.  I'd ride my bike to work, but I'd have to ride on a 4 lane highway or over a very steep hill (Fountaingrove parkway) to get there.  On the highway, you risk getting hit by a car, and on Fountaingrove parkway you risk cardiac arrest.     The city of Santa Rosa is trying out a new plan to make bicycling a bit more friendly and safe.  They've taken a major road called Humboldt St., and taken out all the stop signs and replaced them with traffic circles.  They've reduced the speed limit, w... 12/22/2009

I want my blogs to be real estate related, or significant to my area.  I thinks it's weird when agents blog about their family, or news in another part of the country. However... I'm going to make an exception today.  I found a great holiday drink that has been the HIT OF TWO OFFICE PARTIES!!!  The Pomegranate Mojito. It is so simple to make, tastes great, and is rather unusual. Here's all you need: 2 cups sugar 1 cup water 40 +/- fresh mint leaves 1 liter club soda 4 cups white rum 2 cups fresh squeezed lime juice 2 cups purchased pomegranate juice Boil 2 cups sugar in 1 cup water with all mint leaves in a sauce pan until sugar dissolves, stirring often.  Turn off heat and  steep for 2-5 minutes.  Stain and cool syrup (discard mint).  Combine syrup with all other ingredients into a pit... 12/17/2009

 Earlier this month I wrote an aticle and asked if anyone was a aware of a successful loan modification. Our local paper, The Press Democrat devoted the the front page of the Business section to a story titled "Trying to Modify" which describes the struggles a local family is going through to obtain a loan modification. The hurdles that they have encountered would depress anyone and I am sure that there are stories like this all over the country. These are some of the hurdles they have encountered. 1. Submitting paperwork numerous times without any response from the bank. 2, Borrowers can be ruled ineligible for earning too much or too little money, or having too many assets 3. With their initial down payment of $120,000 in 2005 their house was worth X ..now the value of the house is le... 12/11/2009

Here's the recommended website for your free annual credit report. Don't go anywhere else! Yesterday, a client asked me if I knew the best way to get a free credit report to check on her credit history for the year. She tried a couple websites and kept getting told she had to pay a nominal fee for the "free" credit report. Or she would get redirected to an site that charged for different services. As you may or may not know, consumers have a right to pull their credit for free once a year to check on the accuracy of their report. You can get the report online. There's only one authorized website that I know of and it's called: www.annualcreditreport.com. You can get your free credit report from Experian, Equifax and Transunion here. I've included a screenshot because I've had clients go... 12/09/2009

Warm weather wimp. That's what I am these days. I used to be a cold weather tough guy, but 40 years of California living have made me forget what ice and frost look like. We knew cold weather was coming for a few days, so I was able to build a makeshift greenhouse for the hibiscus and orchids that I value more than my annuals. I left them to fend for themselves. They weren't happy. The petunia on the right might come back, but the cylcamen and impatiens are going to die a slimy, stem-dissolving-into-mush death. It's a messy part of gardening, cleaning up after nature's little tantrums, but it gives me a chance to redo some planters that were getting a little long in the tooth. Our flying friends are probably feeling it this morning as well. Most of the hummingbirds are in Mexico for the... 12/08/2009

Tis' the Season for Giving - Send Google Juice to your fellow Activerainers! If you haven't noticed, the holidays are just around the corner already! I am scrambling to find fun and unique gifts for our friends and family. Last week, at a party, a friend of mine said the gift of time is one of the most precious gifts you can give. So, he's taking the time to make most of his presents by hand. A light bulb kicked in and I realized I can give a little of my time on AR! I'll give my fellow activerainers google juice for the holidays! Think about it, it's a great way to help your fellow Activerainers, it's a fun way to give and it takes time to do. What more can one ask for? ;-) So, in the spirit of the holidays, take the time to send google juice to your fellow activerainers that you know.... 12/06/2009

I took the family out yesterday to get the family tree.  We have our favorite places, but this this year we decided to drive out to Sebastopol and pick a tree at Buddy's Christmas Tree farm (8575 Graton Road Sebastopol).  The trees were very affordable (under $50) and there were plenty of things for my kids to do as I was paying for the tree, and having it prepared for the drive home.  There are plenty of Christmas tree farms in Sonoma County, so if you live in or near Northern California, I recommend a day spent finding and cutting your Christmas tree. Do it once, and I bet you'll make in an annual event! Happy Holidays!     12/06/2009

Santa Rosa CA Real Estate Agent on Activerain - Craig Bassignani Craig Bassignani is a Real Estate Agent in Santa Rosa, Ca who has mastered the art of SEO for the Sonoma County Real Estate Market. What amazes me about Craig is that he taught himself how to write html and how to build his web presence for the Santa Rosa, CA Real Estate Market. His ability to build his own website and optimize it must come from the things he learned in the constuction business. Craig was a general contractor and foundation specialist in the Sonoma County Wine Country for over 20 years. His father was Rocco Bassignani, a general contractor and well known businessman in Sonoma County for over 35 years. Rocco used to work for Hugh Codding back in the day when Santa Rosa was just starting to develop from a fa... 12/05/2009

Santa Rosa is the biggest city in Sonoma County. Single family home sales dominate the volume of all transactions. Santa Rosa has seen modest appreciation across all quartiles of the housing market. The bottom two quartiles haven't budged much from their low points earlier this year, but they have maintained solid performance. The entry level homes have been dominated by multiple-offer competition as first time buyers compete with investors for these properties. I could pack this page with more detailed charts of all of Santa Rosa's zipcodes, but it's simpler and probably easier for everyone to just have the charts automatically sent to you each week. Just sign up for my no-spam, easy-to-unsubscribe service and you're on your way to mastering market trends for your city. 12/05/2009