It is that wonderful time again when children get excited about “Trick or Treating” and parents organize to keep their children safe and allow for a fun evening. I love all the holidays and I think the best thing about being a Realtor is having fun with my clients and their families during each and every holiday. We like to put out that carved pumpkin for the neighborhood kids. My son puts out a scary pumpkin and I put out a rather “Martha Stewart” pumpkin. I bought her pumpkin carving tools and highly recommend the product.  I use to make goodies, but now I go with the trend and buy packaged treats that parents can feel safe about. My office has a contest for the best carved pumpkin and we all bring pumpkin based goodies and see which "home made creation" will win the contest. Samplin... 10/27/2007

Redding Real Estate Market Statistics Redding, California Real Estate Market Statistics Current As Of: 10/26/07   Active Residential Listings: 1,995 (2,011     3 days ago) Pending Residential Listings (in escrow): 252 (250     3 days ago) Closed Residential Listings Year To Date: 1,858 (1,847     3 days ago) Closed Residential Listings Month To Date: 124 (113     3 days ago)  This information has been provided courtesy of the local Shasta Multiple Listing Service, Flexmls, and all information is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed.     10/26/2007

We love living here in this gloriously diverse area. Access to the Lassen, Shasta and Trinity National Forests are part of why we love the area. One to two hours of travel brings wonderful diversity in enjoying recreational activities. Camping and fishing head the list for enjoying the beauty of our area. Hiking into the National Parks is so expansive and diverse that you have endless new areas to explore. We have many rivers and lakes for boating and fishing. We are well known to have some of the best fly fishing country in California. Shopping in quaint stores like Lewiston and Weaverville are a day filled with fun and a variety of cute shops with artistic and unusual products. The Weaverville community is a local artist community and offers many media and locations to enjoy and the ... 10/26/2007

New Housing StartsHousing starts for September, 2007 were the lowest one-month total (8) since August, 2007 (9), which is the lowest in 27 years. Housing starts are off 26% from a year ago and 242% from the peak of 2005. We have experienced a severe new housing adjustment............................Curtis Adams Magic that Rocks, October 27 - October 27, 2007 Saturday, October 27, 2007 at 7:30pm Doors Open at 6:30pm Reserved Seating Through linking magic, dance and a fast paced high energy environment, Curtis has found a way to capture audiences of all ages to create the ultimate rock concert of magic shows! Whether it be from his astonishing illusions in which he collaborated with the Creative Director of David Copperfield, to his cutting edge dance moves which have been compared to the... 10/25/2007

Why We Live Where We Live... "For our family, Redding just seemed like the obvious choice.  We wanted a place away from the city but still within California, we didn't want to move away.  We are very happy in Redding. It offers a relaxed lifestyle with the option of several outdoor adventures, shopping & dining and a local airport.  It's clean air, views of snow-capped mountains and it's year-round sunny days  are some of the major reasons we moved here.  It does get hot July/August, but we'd rather take those sunny days over the wet ones anytime.   Snow skiing is only within an hour towards Mt. Shasta, the ocean is about three hours away and the wine country, Napa Valley, Sonoma County and San Francisco is a short flight from here.  What we enjoy most about Redding is the people!  They... 10/25/2007

This is a difficult time to advise clients on the market conditions. It will all depend upon your goals and whether you are pressured. For those home owners that have difficult loans with payment options that are increasing, the sooner they try to deal with their situation the better. If you have equity and can refinance, now would be the time to get the best loan you can and set tight. For those sellers with up-side-down situations, the sooner you get some help from a real estate agent experienced in completing Short Sales the sooner you can get out of an extremely stressful and hard situation.We are experiencing a declining market in Shasta County. Buyers are waiting to see if interest rates will go down and Sellers are not realizing how fast the market is changing and what it can mea... 10/24/2007

Waterfront Homes and Land in Shasta, Tehama and Trinity Counties   Redding and the surrounding cities of Anderson, Cottonwood and Red Bluff all offer the charm of river activities and waterfront living. The Sacramento River courses through these communities in a graceful and beautiful curving nature that provides many beautiful properties for those people who must be near water. The River provides that unparalleled beauty and combined lifestyle opportunity for recreational activities and waterfront living. Redding, California, Shasta County and Tehama County all provide excellent opportunities to own and enjoy waterfront homes, land and the lifestyles that go with it.    Redding is home to the beautiful Sundial Bridge and supports a multitude of activities for the community with the Riv... 10/24/2007

Not sure if this is available in all areas... I recently discovered that in our area (California) we have Prop 8 which allows buyers to call their tax assessors office to have their tax base temporarily reset.  The way I understand it to work in Shasta County is that the buyer can call the tax assessors office and request them to reassess their property if their current assessed value is more than what the property would appraise for as of January 1st of current year.  The buyer's tax base will decrease if the assessors office appraises the home for less than the currently paid tax base.  This will remain in effect until the value of the home returns to the original tax valuation. This is a great opportunity to contact our past clients, providing added value and ask for those referrals.... 10/23/2007

Redding Redding, California Real Estate Market Statistics Current As Of: 10/23/07   Active Residential Listings: 2,011 Pending Residential Listings (in escrow): 250 Closed Residential Listings Year To Date: 1,847 Closed Residential Listings Month To Date: 113  This information has been provided courtesy of the local Shasta Multiple Listing Service, Flexmls, and all information is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed.       10/23/2007

So how do you combat a newspaper headline like that???  Our local newspaper consistently focuses on the negative aspects of the real estate market, no matter what the real current status.  2 years ago when the market was truly unbelievable they reported that agents were getting overpaid for quick services, now they are reporting about our area of Northern California being at a "13-year low" for home sales.  Sharing that there are barely any homes moving in the market (with 250 pending!) What will be next?  Of course, we are very familiar with what is going on in the market nationwide...our neighbor 4 hours south, Stockton, is currently the number 1 city in the nation for home foreclosures with Modesto, another nearby city being a not-so-distant second.  But what do we tell our buyers???... 10/23/2007

Redding, California Real Estate Market Statistics Current As Of: 10/21/07 Active Residential Listings: 2,019 Pending Residential Listings (in escrow): 253 Closed Residential Listings Year To Date: 1,837 Closed Residential Listings Month To Date: 103 This information has been provided courtesy of the local Shasta Multiple Listing Service, Flexmls, and all information is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed. 10/21/2007

Well there is much to be said about the good old fashioned methods to taking a listing...putting the home on the MLS, adding a sign and flyer box and hosting traditional open houses...however, most of us know where the true buyers are right now, all over the internet. As younger agents that have been using computers and the internet since junior high, Clint and I have done everything that we can to harness the power of the web and use it to our advantage. Why not? It costs considerably less than what we were spending on print ads (nearly $2500 per month) and provides a nearly limitless ability to reach people across the world. But where do you start posting your listings to get them the most exposure when you don't know the first thing about using the web to market them? When we were re... 10/21/2007

Lewiston is located in Trinity County, California and has a population of around 1,305 from the 2000 census.Lewiston originated in 1858 as a Trading Post by a Mr. Lewis. A bridge was built across the Trinity river in 1852 and used to pack good into the area. The bridge was washed away in 1855. Several new bridges were built and lost. The present bridge was built in 1900. In the earlier years, the Lewiston Hotel was run by Mr. Berber in the early 1890s.The current community of Lewiston is quite active in their historical accounts of the history of Trinity County and Lewiston. Visit the Old Lewiston Schoolhouse Library and Museum Website to learn all about the history of this area and the efforts of the community to preserve that history. You will enjoy!Visit the website and learn all abo... 10/19/2007

Hayfork, California located in Trinity County California is a quiet and beautiful remote place. When driving the some 30 miles from Highway 299 on Highway 3 to Hayfork, one begins to feel as if they are entering the TV show "Northern Exposure". You are sure that you will see a moose at any moment and that the people will be open, funny and eccentric. The town closes down on the weekends and there is virtually no cell service at least on my network.  You feel the instant and constant need to slow......down! Way Down! It is quite nice.Your are treated to country that reminds you of Vermont and the changing seasons experienced in a spectrum of colors with rolling hills and space. It is a good place. Visit soon and enjoy! 10/19/2007

Weaverville, California is located in Trinity County with a population of 3,554 as of 2000. Founded in 1850, a gold rush town nestled at the foot of the Trinity Alps retains a Chinese influence from the approximate 2,000 Chinese gold miners that lived there. The Weaverville Joss House (Cloud Forest Temple) a Daoist temple, built in 1874 is preserved as a Gold Era Chinese place of worship. The temple is now a California State Park.Trinity County, known as a logging and timber industry has seen a decline in the industry and changing times to becoming a center for tourism. With the flavor of the old west and gold era, many activities provide the town with charm and fun with shoot outs and re-enactments of "Old Wild West" theatrics.The community is know as an Artist Colony and support an Ar... 10/19/2007

     Santiago Calatrava, world renowned architect and engineer designed this free-standing bridge. The McConnell Foundation, a private foundation was the major funder of the $23 million dollar project. The bridge is a cable-stayed structure with more than 4,300 feet of cable. It is made of steel, glass and granite. The bridge celebrates the Turtle Bay Exploration Park and is environmentally sensitive to the river habitat with no supports in the water. The project connects the north and south Campuses of the Turtle Bay parks and provides access to the Sacramento River Trail System.  The bridge is an awe inspiring experience and lends itself to the artist and the photographer with interesting lighting aspects throughout each day of the year. Redding have become re-known for the Sundail B... 10/19/2007

Corning, California is an olive farming community and provides us with a variety of olive oil products. Visit Corning soon and shop for unique and flavorful olive oil. Similar to wine tasing, each variety is unique in flavor and body.        The olive got its beginning in California from the Franciscans and the establishment of the missions of California. They planted the first olive groves. Many of the older groves still exist in Northern California. It has become popular to enjoy flavored olive oil for cooking and for dipping. Most usually the oil is flavored with herbs and integrates the delightful aspects of the herb with the richness of the olive oil. Wonderful Tuscan dishes with olive oil or olives in them.  Maggie Klein's book - The Feast of the Olive is a great book of recipes ... 10/18/2007

The Cascade Theatre is part of the river community of Redding’s ambiance. It is a historic part of Redding and provides a cultural glimpse into our future—a blend of the new and the old. The theatre was official opened on a Friday evening, August 9, 1935 with a Grand Opening and all the trimmings. The newspaper announced the formal opening with “the finest cinema house in northern California. The theatre was the project of T. and D., Jr. Enterprises for the residents of Shasta and nearby counties. The theatre was the latest design and offered rich interior gilted gold, plush carpets, architectural ambiance and lighting effects. It was noted by Judge Richard Eaton that the Cascade was a commercial endeavor that displayed special attention to artistic considerations, of the Art Deco style... 10/18/2007

       Remarkable Properties.  Extraordinary Marketing   A highly desirable and prestigious location.   Spectacular architectural design.   Distinction that reflects your personality.   The finest luxury amentities and embellishments.   A remarkable property.   There are many ways to define an extraordinary home.   There is but one way to market it: through the powerful, specialized expertise of the Elegant Home Marketing Program.   A POWERFUL MARKETING STRATEGY   The Elegant Homes Marketing Program is the culmination of decades of collective expertise and hands-on experience marketing luxury properties on a global scale. Targeted communication to the luxury real estate community, Internet resources, an extensive international referral network and upscale marketing materials combine to... 10/17/2007

 Redding is located in Sunset’s Climate Zone 9 which is very similar to Zone 8. We are able to have a safer climate for growing citrus than in Zone 8. The cold basin includes the valley to the south of Redding. The same thermal belt determines which species and varieties (hibiscus, melaleuca, pittosporum and other plants) are recommended for Zone 9 but not for Zone 8.   General Features Summer daytime temperatures are high, sunshine is constant during growing season and the growing season is long. Deciduous fruits and vegetables of nearly every kind thrive in the long growing season. Winter cold is just adequate to satisfy the dormancy requirements of the fruit tries. Fiercely cold, piercing north winds blow for several days during the winter. Windbreaks are advised to minimize this ef... 10/17/2007