SHARK ATTACK-Summer Fun in Lincoln, CA

Can you remember your summers as a kid? I always think back about he hype and parties leading up to the end of school and then the joy of being free for a couple months. It seems to me that things have changed and there are way more parties and end of school productions that there use to be. There was great joy in being done with the everyday grind,  but also sadness in knowing that there were some friends that you wouldn’t see until you were sitting in your desk with your “school clothes” in a few months. Anyway, kids seem to have an adjustment period where they go from being super busy to feeling like they have nothing to do. Have you heard the phrase “I’m bored!” yet this summer? I am sure my wife hears it a lot more that I do, but I have had some calls from home during the day with the complaint of not having anything to do. My answer is always work! Mow the lawn, wash the car, water the plants, clean the floor, wash the windows…I could go on and on. Anyway, summer is supposed to be fun for the kids, and for those Moms, Dads, Grandmas or Grandpas out there that need some ideas to keep the kids busy, I am going to post some great ideas of things to do over the summer. I can’t take credit for the list,  this has been compiled by others for all of us to use.

The first list is of FREE activities and ideas:

Summer Fun 2010

Print out a calendar for the whole summer at:  http://www.thirtyhandmadedays.com/2010/05/summer-calendar.html and fill in what is already known and pick theme days, this could include a library day, a craft day, a food/cooking day, and outing day, movie day, friends over day, and a water day or whatever works for you.

Let children choose a theme for each week nd focus activities around that theme.

Establish a point system for things such as reading or outdoor play and use those points to earn media time or special outings.

If you choose a certain day for outings, keep it a surprise but let the children know it is almost always that day of the week to look forward to, for example “Wacky Wednesday” or “Surprise Friday”.

Grab those local parents’ magazines in the front of the grocery store.  Even if you don’t have young kids, the calendar in the back can be very useful.

Sign up for the City of Lincoln eBulletin, you get an email every couple of days with the activities, events and meetings around Lincoln:  http://www.ci.lincoln.ca.us/ConstantContact.cfm -These bulletins don’t always have fun activities for the kids but will give you a good idea of what is going on in the City.

FREE ACTIVITIES

Regal Family Movies – Olympus Pointe 12 – Tues., Wed., Thurs. @ 10:00 AM

520 N. Sunrise Ave., Roseville, CA  95661, 916-772-1245

June 22, 23, 24                     Doogal (G)

                                                Monsters vs. Aliens (PG)

June 29, 30 & July 1           Tale of Despereaux (G)

                                                Planet 51 (PG)

July 6, 7, 8                             Wallace & Gromit (G)

                                                Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs (PG)

July 13, 14, 15                      Kit Kittredge:  American Girl (G)

                                                Aliens In The Attice (PG)

July 20, 21, 22                      March Of The Penguins (G)

                                                Where The Wild Things Are (PG)

July 27, 28, 29                      Arctic Tale (G)

                                                Kung Fu Panda (PG)

August 3, 4, 5                       Clifford’s Big Movie (G)

                                                The Spy Next Door (PG)

Water Parks-were not talking about the big slide parks like “Sunsplash”

                Lincoln – Foskett Ranch

                Rocklin – Lone Tree, Camp Whitney, Memorial Park

                Roseville – Leonard Duke Davis Park, Mark White Park, R.F. Nelson Park, and others in greater Sac.

Frisbee Golf – Johnson Springview Park in Rocklin, Oak Park in Carmichael

Flashlight Tag – Fun to play at night at McBean Park

Tennis – Court at LHS usually open starting at 8 am

Free Books at Carnegie Library – Fridays 8:00 am – 12 Noon beginning June 11^th

Hidden Falls Regional Park (between Lincoln & Auburn) – Beautiful hiking.  Bring a lunch and make it a day.  Check website for directions and map:  www.placer.ca.gov/Departments/Facility/Parks/hiddenfalls.aspx

Rocklin’s 2010 Evening-In-The-Park free concerts held at Johnson-Springview Park, 5480 Fifth Street at the Community Stage.  Performances held on Friday nights from 7 pm – 9 pm. 

                June 11 – Dad’s Night with “Square1”

                July 9 – Kids’ Night with “Essex”

                July 23 – Health & Safety Night with “Eclipse”

                August 6 – Teachers’ Appreciation Night with “Departure”  www.rocklin.ca.gov/government/service_n_facility/special_events_theatre_n_arts/special_events/evening_in_the_park_concert_series.asp

Rocklin’s Shakespeare Company presents Dream On: A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Johnson-Springview Park Community Stage.  Free performances start at 8 pm.  Dates: July 29, 30 and August 1, 13, 14, 15

www.rocklin.ca.gov/government/service_n_facility/special_events_theatre_n_arts/theatre/shakespeare_in_the_park.asp

Fun cement slide – Lincoln Estates Park, 331 James Drive in Roseville. Bring a rolls of wax paper for easy sliding.  There are picnic areas and regular play structures at the park, but NO bathrooms.

Art Walk – 3^rd Saturday of every month.  Downtown Roseville galleries, and retail & civic venues keep their doors open for visitors to enjoy an evening of fine art, music and refreshment.  Roseville Arts Blue Line Gallery participates in this community event by offering regular 3^rd Saturday afternoon hands-on activities for children (1-4pm) and evening receptions (6:30-9pm).  http://www.rosevillearts.org/tours.html#3rdsat

Friday night movie at the Twelve Bridges Library – July 2^nd at 6:00 pm – Percy Jackson; the Lightening Thief

Check website for August movie:  www.libraryatlincoln.org

Lincoln  Library Summer Reading Program – June 1^st thru July 5^th.  www.libraryatlincoln.org

Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program – Read 8 books and get a free book off their list.  Sign-up forms in the store.  1256 Galleria Blvd., Roseville

Concerts at The Fountains in Roseville – Sat. July 3^rd, 8 – 10 pm

Lincoln Farmer’s Market – Thursday Nights in downtown Lincoln

Martha Riley Library – new library in Roseville that has an upstairs room where kids can play games.  Also houses the Utility Exploration Center.

Downtown Roseville Tuesday Night – 5 – 9 pm on Vernon Street, May through July

http://www.roseville.ca.us/calendars/city_calendar.asp?ViewBy=7&CalDate=6/15/2010&EventDateID=16785

Lowe’s free Build & Grow Clinics – kids build projects at 10 am on some Saturdays https://www.lowesbuildandgrow.com/

Home Depot free kid’s workshops – first Saturday of each month from 9am – 12 Noon

Michael’s – variety of craft classes  http://www.michaels.com/art/online/events?storeid=1680

Chuck E. Cheese – use coupons from the newspaper for free and cheap tokens-I’m not a huge fan of this one, something about furry animals being around pizza…but the kids like it!

Play areas in the mall

Geocaching – high tech treasure hunting  http://www.geocaching.com/ This is pretty cool for older kids. REI has GPS units you can rent. Sometimes the treasures they find are fun. Make sure that you give them some things to leave for the next people at the geocache-the treasures don’t have to be expensive. I have seen fast food toys and dollar store items in the cache. You could probably find some things around the house that would be great geocache treasures.

Hidden Falls

I was just thinking about how lucky we are to live in this beatiful area. All of Placer County is really pretty great. The rain has been good, but I am ready for spring! If you like the outdoors, there is so much to do around here. Just recently, my Mom came down for a visit and we were able to take a couple day trips. We went down to San Francisco and went through the California Academy of Sciences. What an incredible place! The kids, especially my 5 year old, loved the sea life and everything else there was to see. We are located in a perfect spot between the culture of the city and the natural beauty of the Sierras. Where else can you travel for about an hour and either be out to the coast or skiing on world class resorts? We also had the chance to take my Mom on a hike through Hidden Falls Regional Park just here in Auburn. Just about 15 or 20 minutes from Lincoln and that place is pretty incredible too! I could go on and on about all the great places we have close by. Camp Far West Lake is just North of town and is pretty quiet compared to Folsom Lake and some of the other lakes around. Some of my favorite hikes that we do with the Boy Scouts are only an hour up I-80 – Loch Leven Lake, Warren Lake, Castle Peak and many others…I am always looking for new places too, let me know if anyone else has any favorites. We do live in a beautiful place!

The National Listings Distribution Program is a new program from Realty World that gives our listings maximum exposure on the internet. Here’s how it works…within 72 hours after we enter the listing in our system, your home is displayed on 34 major national real estate portals, providing instant, maximum exposure and increased search results on the property. Also, we have a partnership with Trulia.com and they promote our listings to an additional 170 partner websites. The facts are that about 80% (I think it may be higher) of buyers are using the internet to search for a home.  Calls from buyers come in everyday saying that they saw my listing on the internet. I can’t even begin to explain how important this is. The truth is, selling your home is a numbers game. The more people that know about it, the more chance we will get people through the door and the more people that come, the better chance we have to sell and sell at a good price. This program works! No other real estate company is providing this type of exposure at this point.

Thank you to Jim, Neal and Rebekah for their time!

2431 Celtic Drive-No Mello Roos

I just wanted to let everyone know about a new listing I just took in Glenmoor. As I have mentioned in previous articles, I like selling homes in this West Lincoln neighborhood because they don’t have the high Mello Roos like Lincoln Crossing and other areas of Lincoln. Due to this fact, the resale value is generally higher and the numbers work better if you are an investor. This home was built in 2000, is 2624 SF, has 4 bedrooms, a large den, a loft area and formal living and dining rooms in addition to the kitchen/family great room. It also has a spacious 3 car garage and a nice yard. This is not a short sale or bank owned property. Call me if you want to see it or if you have any questions. Priced at $299,999, I think it will move quickly. For more pictures, visit the featured homes tab on the site.

There really isn’t a short answer to it, but I will try to sum it up without going into too much detail. First of all, in some market segments I believe that we are at or close to the bottom. In the lower prices, $200K and below, I believe we are pretty much at the bottom. Most listings coming up at that price are sold very quickly regardless of condition. That being said, it may also be due to the fact that there is a low supply at this point. The prices seem to have stabilized and are even trending upwards in some areas. Who knows though, if we see another big influx of bank-owned properties in this segment the prices may fluxuate to some extent. Bottom line, the numbers are working for investors and if the rental market remains strong, the less expensive houses will sell as long as lenders make the money available.

In the mid range, $250K to $350K, I am seeing about the same results. Homes are selling quickly, but most of the buyers are move-up buyers or even some first-time buyers. Not as many investors in this segment.

The luxury homes, $600K and above seem to still be falling substantially. We are starting to see home owners default on their principle residences whereas it was mostly investors that bought on speculation that had bailed out previously. In the lower luxury homes (tract homes in Verdera priced between $400 and $500K etc.) we are seeing a very competitive market with most listings recieving multiple offers in the first couple days. Currently I think this is a safer risk than the higher priced custom homes.

Hopefully this gives everyone some insight. Obviously there are many factors that can swing the market one way or another. Area (even within Lincoln) makes a difference, interest rates, supply and demand, lending policies and dozens of other variables can cause changes. Please feel free to comment or ask questions on this post.

207 Corte Sendero, Lincoln, CA 95648

This home is in the highly desireable neighborhood of Catta Verdera. A custom home with amazing views of the city and golf course, a nice location on a cul-de-sac and a built-in pool, I don’t think it will last too much longer. They recently reduced the price to $830,000. This home sits on .74 of an acre, 4 beds and 4 baths, 4174 sf, built in 2006 and is richly appointed with many upgrades. The pictures they posted really don’t do it justice. If this was my listing, I would have a lot of fun with the marketing.

The other new listing is located on the East side of Lincoln and is a Ron Ward built home and I just found out it went pending…That was quick! Homes that are priced well really move quick in this market. FYI, it was listed at $155,000, 3 bed 2 bath, about 1350 sf and had new flooring, A/C … More like this one will be coming, let me know what you are looking for.

Glenmoor Home-No Mello Roos

I frequently have buyers getting excited about the prices on large homes in Lincoln Crossing. Many of them are coming in at under $100 per square foot. Then I bring up the fact that there are high mello roos in that area. Most homes are at a minimum of $250 a month and I have even seen some up in the $400 a month range. Add this with your $115 a month Homeowner’s Association Dues and you can be looking at an extra $400 or so a month added onto your payment. For example, I have some buyers looking at 2 very similar homes, one in LC and one in the Glenmoor subdivision (no mello roos at all). The LC home is priced at $275,000 and the Glenmoor home is at $300,000. Even though the price is $25,000 more, the monthly payment for the Glenmoor home is about $100 less a month. Make sure you have someone working for you who knows about the mello roos and can give you exact numbers so you can make an educated decision. There are good deals in Lincoln Crossing, but take all the factors into consideration.