east bay real estate

East Bay Real Estate: Capt. Sully & Lorrie Sullenberger To Lead Hike July 24th

Obviously, all of the Bay Area knows that Capt. Sully and Lorrie live in Danville. The are avid supporters of the projects that Maria Shriver leads, one of which is Best Buddies Challenge September 11^th at Hearst Castle. This is a major fundraiser with Audi as the sponsor. Sully and Lorrie will be participating in the Best Buddies event which is a bike ride from Carmel to San Simeon along the coast. To be a rider you need to raise funds as your entry ticket.

So, today I received an email from Lorrie asking if I would help spread the word about a hike they are hosting on July 24^th at Oak Hill Park, in Danville which starts at 9AM and ends at noon.  It is a fund raiser for the Best Buddies – Team Maria event. The hike’s donation is $45 a person or $150 for a family of five. To RSVP send an email to bjibby@deweysquare.com. It will a fun morning of hiking with friends and neighbors as you get the latest updates of what Sully and Lorrie have been doing since he became the “Hero Of The Hudson”. Until next time…I remain on duty as your lifestyle detective in the Bay Area.

east bay real estate

East Bay Real Estate: 2010 Update – Short Sales Replacing REO’s!

Banks do not want to repossess homes anymore! They have more bank-owned homes than they ever wanted and there are too many more foreclosures sitting in the wings . Banks have learned that a Short Sale is probably less costly in the long run and instead of taking the home back they would rather work through the Short Sale as a much better alternative. ( A Short Sale is where the amount owned to the lender is more than the home is worth, and the bank is willing to less to satisfy the loan.) The real estate market place has changed dramatically in 2010 because of this banking-wide decision. Even the Federal Government has created ways for Short Sale sellers to be able to come back into home ownership quicker with new lending guidelines that don’t cause such chaos with these sellers credit ratings as long as they have been current with their mortgage payments – Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives, or HAFA. Read more

east bay real estate

East Bay Equestrian Update: SonRise Equestrian Foundation Changing Kids Lives!

If you love horses can you imagine the impact a horse could make in the life a child at risk or who is disabled in some way?  Well, that dream is coming true every day for some very special kids in the East Bay everyday!  Melanie Buerke had this idea several years ago and the dream is now a realty – SonRise Equestrian Foundation at Charles Wilhelm’s horse training center on Crow Canyon Road.  Here is their mission statement:

“SonRise Equestrian Foundation is a non-profit organization making a positive difference for children and youth living with social, emotional, or physical challenges including terminal illness. Participating children develop confidence, integrity and responsibility through mentoring and peer relationships centered around the care and enjoyment of horses.” Read more

east bay real estate

East Bay Real Estate: Danville Is Still Horse Country!

Have any of you wondered how The Bay Area Team became the top real estate group selling equestrian property in the East Bay? Well, the answer to that question began to unfold 40 years ago in Danville.  OK, close your eyes and see if you can imagine the 40,000+ horses were packed into Contra Costa County in 1970 when I first arrived in Danville from Redondo Beach. In 1970 Contra Costa County had the highest number of horses per person than any other county in the U.S.A.!  Surprised?  Yep, I was, too. So, I decided that this “surfer kid” who loves all things connected to the ocean better get with the program and get into the world of horses, wells, septic tanks, fences, horseshoes, and hay.  Within a short period of time I had two quarter horses and a big old draft horse.  We kept them at a 40 acre horse boarding ranch owned by Mrs. Freitas.  She and her family had owned the property since the 1870’s.  It was about a half mile from the 680 freeway and Sycamore Valley Road.  Read more

east bay real estate

East Bay Real Estate: Earth Day – 40th Anniversary!

Who could imagine 40 years ago that the idea of Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson’s “environmental teach-in” had it’s beginning in a few key communities, including the Bay Area.  After decades of focusing our world’s awareness about environmental issues that ALL of us experience each day, has now created a modern 21^st century world that understands how we treat our environment is not a dress rehearsal.

An example of how the Bay Area has lead the way from the very beginning of this movement is Save The Bay. Save The Bay was founded in 1961, as “Save San Francisco Bay Association” by three East Bay women who were watching the Bay disappear before their eyes.  Kay Kerr, Sylvia McLaughlin and Esther Gulick set out to stop the City of Berkeley’s plan to double in size by filling in the shallow Bay off-shore. They mobilized thousands of members to stop the project, and their resounding victory was repeated on Bay fill projects around the region.

This first modern grassroots environmental movement in the Bay Area won a revolutionary change – tens of thousands of Save The Bay members forced the State of California to acknowledge that the Bay belonged to the public. Save The Bay won a legislative moratorium against placing fill in the Bay in 1965, the McAteer-Petris Act. The Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) was established by the State to plan protection of the Bay, regulate shoreline development, and ensure public access, which at the time was almost non-existent.  (Check out the State Of The Planet report from the United Nations to get an even better awareness of the importance of Earth Day.) Read more

east bay real estate

The Bay Area Team: 2010 Sponsors Of Tassajara Valley Little League

The Bay Area Team’s motto regarding community service is, “To whom much is given, much is required.” We are constantly looking for opportunities to give back to our community. For the first time in 40 years we decided to address the decreasing revenues of little league program and become the corporate sponsor of Tassajara Valley Little League program for 2010. Today was photo day for all of the baseball teams, and what an unforgettable day it was – plus some great baseball was played by all ages.  Before the games started then had the “Hitting, Running, & Pitching” competitions, again for all ages.  This day reminded me why our country calls this their National Sport.  WOW!  What a day filled with smiles. Read more

east bay real estate

East Bay Real Estate: Become A Buyer NOW!

Sellers need to have their homes standout from the “crowd” of similar homes currently on the market. Remember in my recent posting that Smart Sellers are on the market NOW!,  well, time is running out for Bay Area Buyers to continue getting the best buys.  Interest rates are rising, and so are home prices in many local East Bay markets.  Sellers need to become a Buyer NOW!

• Real Estate is always a local.  Know your local market! Many of the communities in the East Bay real estate markets are on their way back up from a three year meltdown.  Some communities still have a year or two left before they recover – primarily the $1 million+ markets. As a Seller you MUST know your micro-markets in order to price your home appropriately, or you won’t even get a nibble.  In addition, even the price ranges in each of the local markets make a difference as to which homes are more likely to sell quicker.  Real estate sales data to evaluate your situation can only be two to three months old because of the rapidly changing markets. And, make sure you have hired a Realtor who specializes in your local region. Read more

east bay real estate

Luxury Marketing Council: Jim Walberg On The Panel For “Alpha Agent’s” Event

Who Said You Can’t Sell Luxury Real Estate Online?   Success Stories and Strategies from Those Who Can AND Do!

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – (April 22, 2010) Jim Walberg, a business owner in the San Francisco Bay Area, and REALTOR®, who is well-known for his results in the world of internet marketing as it relates to the sale of luxury real estate globally, shares his effective strategies with the San Francisco chapter of The Luxury Marketing Council’s Annual “Alpha Agent” Event April 22, 2010 at One Hawthorne Luxury Condominiums – 645 Howard Street.  This is the annual event attended by the top 150 Realtors representing luxury estates and residences, and equestrian properties in all of Northern California.

Each year the San Francisco chapter of The Luxury Marketing Council conducts over member educational and networking meetings and events.  The Annual “Alpha Agent” Event is their most popular.   The April 22^nd event will focus on the use of on-line marketing strategies for the sale of luxury real estate with emphasis on Blogging, profitable use of Social Media and the structure of the Virtual Office.  LMC participates in the intelligent exploration of the best marketing practices and trends in all the luxury marketplaces. Read more

east bay real estate

Help Haiti NOW! Text 90999 And Message The Word HAITI!

The capital city of Haiti, Port-au-Prince, and surrounding communities are almost gone.  Last Tuesday, most of the structures were erased because of the 7.3-magnitude earthquake.  Tens of thousands have died and millions are fighting for their lives.  The human suffering is beyond anything we could imagine.  My friend, Gov. John deJongh, Jr., of the U.S. Virgin Islands said  “Eyewitness accounts of the quake indicate the worst catastrophic event in modern history.” The Hospitals, schools, the government buildings, stores and most buildings in the capital city and surrounding communities have collapsed.  There are no services available and the dead are being left where they lay as they await trucks and tractors to take them to mass graves that are being dug 24 hours a day.  It is unimaginable for me to think of how the poorest nation in the Caribbean can deal with such devastation, or how any of us would manage through this catastrophe if it ever hits the Bay Area again.   To help the world grasp the scope of the destruction, Google Earth has added a fresh layer of satellite imagery of Haiti taken Wednesday morning, allowing before-and-after comparisons of the landscape. It’s available for viewing on Google’s special crisis response page.

Read more

east bay real estate

The Bay Area Team – East Bay Real Estate’s #1 Team!

(PRLEAP.COM)  Jim Walberg and Ann Marie Nugent,  owners of the Bay Area Team, were again honored as the Top Realtor Team for 2009 at the Keller Williams Realty – Danville Market Center from over 160 Realtors. They were also ranked #1 in the East Bay, and in the Top 10 in the entire Northern California and Hawaii Region.

When asked what contributed to their success, in the midst of such challenging economic times, Nugent-Walberg said, “The Keller Williams business systems, on-going education, networking with 77,000+ fellow Realtors within the company, and just plain hard work were the keys to the extraordinary results achieved for our clients in 2009.” In addition, they have created a global marketing network through their exclusive memberships in Who’s Who In Luxury Real Estate, and The International Real Estate Federation – FIABCI. Their award winning internet marketing strategies were also acknowledged by LuxuryRealEstate.com with the 2009 Global Networking Award selected from over 120,000 Realtor members. Read more

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