About Walnut Creek's Walnut Green/pheasant Run

Walnut Green HOA Community Garage Sale...4th Annual Event!

This year we had 16 streets and about 30 homeowners/renters participate in this annual event.  It was a perfect, sunny day and the community was buzzing with hundreds of bargain hunters!

I am honored to organize and sponsor this annual event for this community.  We have good participation and all the homeowners have to do is just let me know they want to participate.  They organize and display their treasures from their own driveways.  I handle the organization, advertising and signage.  I have the pleasure in visiting with each family that participates and I try to capture some of the day's highlights!  I admire the participation of the kids...they really get into it!

The following video is a highlight tribute to those who particpated...thanks for making it a great day!  As a Walnut Creek Real Estate Agent, I love representing buyers and sellers for this community!  Watch the video and you'll see why...terrific neighborhood and fantastic families!

Walnut Green is a community located in the Northgate area of Walnut Creek, CA.  This community was originally named Pheasant Run.  The development includes a Community Pool and surrounded by lush greenbelts.  It's conveniently located to Arbolado Park, Hiking Trails, and the Northgate Schools. 

If you would like information on the available homes for sale in this wonderful neighborhood, please give your Walnut Creek Agent a call.

Walnut Green 4th Annual Community Garage Sale...mark your calendars!

Date: Sat., Sept. 11th, 2010

Time: 9 AM to 1 PM

Place: Walnut Green Homeowners Association Community, Walnut Creek, CA 94598

Command Post: Corner of Doncaster and Arbolado Dr. This is where you can pick up a map of all the participating homes, Refreshment stands and view a Category List of items offered for sale.

There are over 20 Families participating in this event. Since there are 24 cul-de-sac streets in the Walnut Green HOA, the participating homes will be identified by a directional sign on their street corners.

Walnut Green Homeowners Association is a Planned Community of 228 homes located in the Northgate area of Walnut Creek and next to Arbolado Park.

Attention Early Birds...you pay double!

For information on available homes for sale in this community or others in the Walnut Creek area, contact your Walnut Creek Real Estate Agent.

I have been organizing and sponsoring a Community Garage Sale for the Walnut Green Homeowners located in the Northgate community of Walnut Creek the last 4 years. I've had quite a few agent friends ask how I do it so I thought I'd just write a blog outlining the process and time frames.

WHERE TO START OR HOW TO SELECT A COMMUNITY: If you have a farm area, that's a great place to start. My farm includes 228 homes within a planned development. If you don't have a farm, select a specific neighborhood and keep the number of homes manageable. Your own neighborhood may be a good place to start. Pick a date/time for the event...I choose a Saturday and it runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. I set a sign-up deadline date 2 weeks before the actual event.

What's the best time of year for the garage sale? Some local agents do them in the June and July months, but I do mine in September. My farm has a lot of families with school-age kids so they prefer it right after school starts when they're all back from summer vacations. Of course, your timing will also be dependent upon your geographical areas.

TIME FRAMES: The following is my list of activities that fall within the given time frame. I have this set up as an Excel spreadsheet so it's easy to follow and use as a checklist. I also enter these dates into my Outlook calendar as appointment reminders.

4 Months Prior to Event: "Save the Date" postcards. I personally walk my farm and drop these under every home's front door step. It's great exercise and a chance to mingle with some of the homeowners who are out and about. If this will be your first time organizing the event, I have a letter I'll be glad to share with you..just email me.

2 Months Prior to Event: Produce and distribute the full details of the event on 8.5" x 5.5" postcards. Once again, I hand deliver them to each doorstep. I encourage them to respond/sign-up via email or call my cell phone. See sample below.

1 Month Prior to Event: Post on my website and Facebook Fan Page. You should be getting a good idea how many are signing up so start thinking how many signs you'll need. I bought most of my signs at the hardware store (get the ones with arrows pointing or you'll have to make your own!) For the main arteries into and out of the community, I have special "Community Garage Sale" posters I stick over the top of my A-frame Open Home signs.

2 Weeks Prior to Event: This is the sign-up deadline date. You now have a good idea how many homes are participating. Pull up and print out a Google street map of the area. Mark the participating homes and figure out how many signs you'll need...and order a few more for those who beg to be added after the deadline!

1 Week Prior to Event: Send out a reminder that the event is only a week away! This is easy for those who signed up under their email address...and for those who didn't, I have a letter I personally drop off at their home. In this reminder notice, I explain where my signage will be, what days my ad will run, their neighbors that are also participating and any other pertinent information I may have for them.

Monday of the event: I place the ad in the local paper to run Thurs., Friday and Saturday. I state the time, number of families participating and location where the maps can be picked up.

Wednesday of the event: 1) I order my balloons and tell them I need to have them ready for pick up no later than 7 a.m. on Saturday. As you can see from the photo above, I have 2 setsof balloons for my banner site. The main artery signs get 2 balloons each. Since I have about 15 to 20 cul-de-sac streets, I have stopped ordering balloons for those directional signs (car wasn't big enough to hold them all! Ha!). 2) Print up final maps. These are 2-sided. One side has my info/verbiage along with the addresses participating and the flip side has the Google street map with the participating homes highlighted down each street. I usually have Kinko's or someplace print them and have 175 copies printed. 3) Post on Craigslist, Facebook and tweet the coming event.

Day of Event: 1) at 6:30 a.m., I put up my banner and brochure boxes (I use my brochure boxes to put my maps in). 2) at 7:00 a.m., I go pick up the balloons. My husband follows me in his car as I put signs out and I direct him which signs get what balloons; 3) The last thing I do is put the maps of participating homes in the brochure boxes because there are lines of 'early birds' waiting at my banner site!; 4) Let the party begin...and it is a party!! Since this is a close-knit, family community, I encourage them to get the kids involved. They are great...they have cookie, coffee, donuts and lemonade stands! There are hundreds of people walking the streets and everyone is having a great time!

During the Event: I go to each participating home and take some pictures and video shots. Some are camera shy, but the kids usually aren't! I go as quickly as I can because a lot of the homes are all sold out within the first couple of hours!

After the Event: 1) Around 1:30 I pull up all my signs and banners. 2) Within the next couple of days, I produce a video of the event and send the link out to all participants along with a thank you for participating. Here's a link to last year's video if you are interested: 3rd Annual Community Garage Sale.

As you can see, this is A LOT of work, but the effort is so worth it! Once you've organized the first one, your systems will be in place for the following years. I will be glad to send anyone the letters, postcards, ads and excel spreadsheets I use if you send me an email requesting them. They are in Word, Publisher and Excel file formats. Just enter "Garage Sale Files" in your subject line.

This event is totally sponsored, organized and paid for by me...no cost to the participants. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to either email me or add your comments/questions below.

Walnut Green Homeowner's Association is located in the Northgate area of Walnut Creek, CA. It's a community of 228 Homes located among 24 Cul-de-sac streets.

The following is a review of Home Sale Prices within the past 6 years. The chart is broken down into 4 different groups based on the similar model homes. It shows the number of homes sold per year, the selling prices, square footage, lot size and price sold per square foot.

As you can see from the chart, today's prices are most reflective of those from the year 2003. The peak sales years of 2006/07 show the highest price these homes have ever sold for. This is a stable community located within the top ranking school systems and you rarely see a big turnover in ownership. If you would like to learn more about this wonderful community, please contact me!

This information is compiled from the Contra Costa Association of Realtor's MLS data on closed sales transactions as of 2/25/10. These figures do not reflect Private Sales. This information is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.

Walnut Green 3rd Annual Community Garage Sale was a BIG and successful event this year! This 228 home development is located in the Northgate community of Walnut Creek, CA.

The early morning hours of thunder, lightning and rain didn't keep these homeowners from enjoying their annual event! They got creative with tarps and tents to cover their treasures. There were 28 families that participated this year and the event was highly publicized. I don't know who had more fun...me or the homeowners! The video is a highlight of the participating families sharing their goods and success stories.

To learn more about this community or find homes available for sale, please give me a call at (925) 765-4339. To search the MLS or learn more about Walnut Creek Real Estate, please visit my website.