Chris Toogood Coronado Local 619-865-3334

Halloween Carnival & Haunted House

Location: Coronado Community Center
Street: 1845 Strand Way
City/Town: Coronado

The City of Coronado puts on a great event for young kids and teen-agers.

3:30-4:30pm Less Scary for Preschoolers (Halloween Carnival)
4:30-5:30pm Regular for Everyone and at 7pm there is a teen dance....

Halloween Carnival from 3:30-5:30pm for kids younger than 6th grade. You can purchase tickets for different events. Crafts, grub, cupcake walk, prizes and more! At 7pm, there is a teen dance and haunted house for middle school kids (6, 7 and 8th grades). Cost is $12.

ALSO, Sunday OCTOBER 31^st Coronado MainStreet sponsors sponsors the popular Downtown Ghostly Halloween. This year, Halloween is on Sunday, October 31 and merchants in the central downtown will be prepared to welcome trick or treaters from 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM that afternoon.
MainStreet will have a cauldron in Rotary Plaza to collect entry coupons for a drawing for Coronado Currency, MainStreet's citywide gift certificate program. The coupons will be on fliers sent home with the Coronado children. Each year, children in Coronado preschools and K-5 are notified.

In addition, MainStreet Board Members will be handing out "Ghostly Goodies" in the Plaza. MainStreet members will also be distributing candy to merchants who run low. "Sorry we are out of Treats" fliers will be posted by the businesses when the Halloween treats are gone.

For More details go to http://www.ecornado.com

There is also something for ADULTS at the Hotel Del Saturday, October 30, 2010 | 7pm - 11pm

Haul out your favorite costume and join us at San Diego's most haunted hotel for an adults-only Halloween bash. We've already got the spirits ... let's bring on the wine!

The fun begins in the ghoulish Garden Patio with grown-up trick-or-treating and the often more popular, trick-or drinking. Venture from station-to-station and get treated to a variety of wine and chocolate tastings from ENO Wine Room. "Night of the Bat" cocktails will also be available.

Then, progress over to the creepy Crown Room for food and dancing at the ultimate poltergeist party. Enjoy lavish hors d'oeuvres at a variety of food stations, a fun costume contest plus dancing to your frightful favorites played by our dreadfully delightful DJ. Plus you might even see Kate Morgan, our resident ghost!

$100 per person (includes tax and gratuity)
Call for reservations 619-522-8490

It's proven that over 87% of buyers are shopping online for homes first, before driving around to look at homes in person. Some are waiting to contact a Real Estate agent after doing their online searching. Others like to work hand in hand with a Realtor from the start. It's a nice blend to have the Realtor send you homes while you do your own online searching. The Real Estate Broker often knows of homes that are not listed, but are for sale, and can email the information and pictures to clients. I also set up clients on an automatic send list. That way the minute new properties are listed, the client will receive an email with details. I personally love working with clients like this. It can help educate a client about the property values in an area and help them get a sense of what they might be able to afford or even want to spend in a certain area. And I enjoy the team-effort feeling of finding a client's dream home.

I also use the online tools when helping someone sell their home. In fact, when I take a listing I often email the sellers all the different comparable sales in the area so they can get a feel for exactly how to price their home. It's helpful, of course, when there are lots of pictures and videos of the homes. I think every agent listing a home for sale should attach pictures and videos. If so many people are looking at your home for sale online, you need to maximize the potential that they will want to see it in person.

Remember, not all Real Estate websites are equal. I personally do not like the ones that force you to sign up or give your contact info out before you even get to search. I like to let people search right away and then decide if they want to use me or not. When I had my website first built I stressed that I wanted it to be easy for new clients to be able to search for homes quickly and easily. Enjoy and happy hunting.

Most Realtors and home owners agree that it is still a buyer's market around the country and here locally in Coronado and San Diego. However, sales are increasing and home prices have risen in some areas in 2010. Even though the qualification process for home loans is more stringent these days, money is still being lent and interest rates remain at all time lows. If you already own your dream home it might be time to consider a second home or real estate investment in San Diego.

In addition, it's still a great time to sell a home. As a seller, one of the first things you must evaluate is the desirability of your location. While the national economy and housing market are important to a certain degree, the market conditions you should be looking at are localized statistics. Markets and their conditions range widely from state to state, community to community, and even neighborhood to neighborhood within a community. This is especially true in the beautiful neighborhoods of Coronado and San Diego. If you live in a neighborhood that is highly desired due to its school system, local amenities, or even status and prestige, then you may find yourself in a continual sellers market, where you will always be in the advantage.

Market conditions in San Diego, like any area, are changing all the time. In a city as large and varied as San Diego keeping current is the key. If you'd like to review your current localized statistics by taking advantage of a complementary market analysis, please feel free to call me at 619-865-3334.

Cheers,

Chris

I'm actually busy writing offers, so, I just wanted to post these stats and move on... http://www.somls.com/docs/180%20Day%20Stats%200609.pdf

But, of course, I want to add a few words (it's the Realtor in me) I just want everyone to take a moment (and call me as well) if these statistics don't add up to you. Sometimes they are hard to "read"... I also still feel that even though the market has leveled off there are some great buying opportunities out there. Like wise the inventory is still lower than average and if you are looking to buy now, this is a great time to use a Realtor. The reason is that we know the listings that are not currently on the market, so we can find what's out there, even if it's not listed. Also, all the "For sale by owners" I have approached are willing to work with Realtors. Ask your Realtor to go after "Pocket Listings" and FSBO's!! There could be some hidden gems out there... Good luck and happy hunting.

Actually as I finished this update the April 1st thru June 30th Stats just came out so here is a different view. And rememeber on page #3 is the REPO and ‘Short Sale" statistics. http://www.somls.com/docs/SOMLS%20Residential%20Statistics%20April%201%202009%20through%20June%2030%202009.pdf

Cheers, Chris

This year Ashland's, small town, family friendly, 4th of July event went safely and smoothly. It sounds like everyone had a nice time. This year the parade was video taped and placed on the Chamber of Commerce website for the first time ever. http://www.ashlandhome.us/ They are trying to work on the sound quality and promise next year the sound will be much better. I'm not sure how long this link will stay posted, but I thought it would be nice to watch if you missed the parade.

I really enjoyed being the Head Parade Chairman. This was my first year and luckily I had a ton of help from experienced parade officials from prior years. The parade went smoothly and the only negative comment so far was about a restaurant entry that was about three blocks long and very slow. Oh, and there was another parade entry driving a Porsche too close to the crowd and he scared a few families. But other than that, the whole day went well.

I was definitely ignorant to how much goes into putting on a small town 4th of July Event. We started planning and meeting at the beginning of March. For our town of 20,000 people it took over 100 volunteers and around 40K in sponsorship and donations. There is no 4th of July "fund" and the Chamber of Commerce makes the whole thing happen. The city itself actually doesn't have much to do with it as far as funding and planning. I was amazed and impressed with all the volunteers and folks that helped make it happen. Ashland is a sweet town and I'm proud to live here.

Cheers, Chris