I took the family out yesterday to get the family tree.  We have our favorite places, but this this year we decided to drive out to Sebastopol and pick a tree at Buddy's Christmas Tree farm (8575 Graton Road Sebastopol).  The trees were very affordable (under $50) and there were plenty of things for my kids to do as I was paying for the tree, and having it prepared for the drive home.  There are plenty of Christmas tree farms in Sonoma County, so if you live in or near Northern California, I recommend a day spent finding and cutting your Christmas tree. Do it once, and I bet you'll make in an annual event! Happy Holidays!     12/06/2009

Santa Rosa CA Real Estate Agent on Activerain - Craig Bassignani Craig Bassignani is a Real Estate Agent in Santa Rosa, Ca who has mastered the art of SEO for the Sonoma County Real Estate Market. What amazes me about Craig is that he taught himself how to write html and how to build his web presence for the Santa Rosa, CA Real Estate Market. His ability to build his own website and optimize it must come from the things he learned in the constuction business. Craig was a general contractor and foundation specialist in the Sonoma County Wine Country for over 20 years. His father was Rocco Bassignani, a general contractor and well known businessman in Sonoma County for over 35 years. Rocco used to work for Hugh Codding back in the day when Santa Rosa was just starting to develop from a fa... 12/05/2009

Santa Rosa is the biggest city in Sonoma County. Single family home sales dominate the volume of all transactions. Santa Rosa has seen modest appreciation across all quartiles of the housing market. The bottom two quartiles haven't budged much from their low points earlier this year, but they have maintained solid performance. The entry level homes have been dominated by multiple-offer competition as first time buyers compete with investors for these properties. I could pack this page with more detailed charts of all of Santa Rosa's zipcodes, but it's simpler and probably easier for everyone to just have the charts automatically sent to you each week. Just sign up for my no-spam, easy-to-unsubscribe service and you're on your way to mastering market trends for your city. 12/05/2009

As of today, there are 577 Properties for Sale in Santa Rosa, 143 Foreclosures / Distressed Properties, 302 Short Sales, 70 Land Listings and 125 Condos.For information on all these properties from Top Santa Rosa Realtor go to:http://kammie.bestsonomahomesearch.com/landing.aspx?guide=Santa_Rosa 12/04/2009

There is an area in Santa Rosa off Chanate Road clearly marked "Chanate Historic Cemetery".  It has a nice new wooden fence around it, a nice entry plaque, and gravel paths to follow on your self guided tour through the historic cemetery.  Unfortunately this is all new, and until about 5 years ago, the cemetery was covered in heavy brush with no indication of what secrets history held.   Between 1877 and 1944 this beautiful area was used to bury Santa Rosa residents who had no money, no family, or were otherwise not entitledto be buried in one of the city's many cemeteries. It's hard to imagine what type of person would not be entitled to a burial in anyother ccemetery.  How about over 100 Chinese!  Over 1500 graves have been found marked with soup cans filled with cement and a numberin... 12/03/2009

FHA Home Loans, Santa Rosa, CA - New FHA Loan Limits and Proposals for 2010 I'm not a big fan of posting technical or industry news about lending because I think it's a dry subject, but I ran across this information today on FHA's Proposals and Loan Limits for 2010 and thought it would be good to share with my Realtors and real estate agents in the Sonoma County Wine Country Real Estate Market. Based on what I've read, FHA is cracking down on the smaller brokers. I have a feeling these new rules will force many of the small brokers who currently originate FHA Home loans to either close up shop or join forces by combining their net worth in order to originate FHA Home loans. Or, the broker simply doesn't originate FHA Home loans and focuses on a nitch product. Either way, these new propo... 12/01/2009

There are a lot of you who have  money owed to you but the payor can no longer locate you.  Unclaimed money is suppose to be delivered to the state in which you reside, or in some cases, the federal government holds it.   Here is link that you can check to see if the federal government is holding any uncollected money.  It is actually several sites that can be searched from one page. There is only one search that requests a social security number.  The other searches only require a first and last name.   http://nupn.com/federal.htm I conducted a quick search for myself and my parents and came up with nothing, however on my local state site, I located about $2,000 in unclaimed money, mostly belonging to my parents who are both deceased.  The biggest chunk of money ($1500) came from Stanf... 12/01/2009

I made it on Patricia Kennedy's GOOD list! Patricia Kennedy is a Real Estate Agent at Evers and Company Realtors in Washington DC. She spends a fair amount of time posting a nice summary of all the unfeatured blogs she's read during the week and thinks are worth reading. I've been a follower ever since I read one of her postings and thought how nice it was to read some of those blogs she's mentioned. She has made a name for herself by consistently posting her summary every week. I'm amazed by her discipline! I didn't think I would ever be on one of her lists! Well, I made it on her list for November 22-29th. So, as a return to Mrs. Kennedy's generosity, I wanted to send her some google juice! Cheers to you Patricia and thank you from Sonoma County Wine Country! 11/30/2009

I took my kids on a ride on an electric street car that ran out of the Western Train Museum in Rio Vista.  There were a number of vintage ads that ran along the roof line.  One caught my attention.  I hope taking a photograph of these, and posting them are not some type of copyright violation!        11/30/2009

I can't believe as a society we get more "days off" for Thanksgiving then we do for Christmas.  Anyway, I always enjoy an extra long weekend.  We usually go to Monterey Friday thru Sunday, but we decided to stay home.  How did you spend your weekend?                 Setting up the Blowmold nativity scene.  The light inside one of the wisemen was giving me trouble.  Stupid wiseman!  (Yes I'm wearing shorts. It was a beautiful 75+ today.)      11/29/2009

We had family and friends come over for Thanksgiving who drove in from out of town.  "We love driving to the Wine County, what's with all the Peanut characters all around?" I've gotten use to seeing them around, but there are a lot of Peanut characters around Santa Rosa, and all over the Sonoma County.  Charles Schulz lived most of his life here, and had his studio on the west side of Santa Rosa.       Is the fact that our county airport is called the Charles M, Schulz any indicator of how important Charles is to our community?               Born in 1922 in St. Paul Minnesota, Charles loved ice skating.  He moved to Santa Rosa in 1970 where he built his studio.  He also built an ice skating rink so that he and other could place ice hockey.  The rink is still open today for ice hockey an... 11/29/2009

Speechless Sunday - Rainbow over Santa Rosa, California - Sonoma County Wine Country Lifestyle My wife caught this rainbow as we were driving north on 101 to Healdsburg. The sky was half sunny and half cloudy. There's something special about rainbows that don't need words so I thought I would share this photo today on Speechless Sunday. Enjoy! 11/29/2009

Thinking of relocating to Northern California?  Consider the Town of Windsor.  With a polutation of about 25,000 it is just the right size to provide all the services of a medium sized city with a small town feel.  Windsor incorporated in the mid 1990's and is quite progressive.  Wineries are a short distance drive in any direction, and a bike ride in the country is always just around the corner.    I think the highlight of the Town of Windsor is it's newly developed Town Green.  It's a work/live devolopment that is bordered by Old town Windsor, and a huge lawn/park.   In the summer the town hosts weekend movies and concerts on the lawn.  Windsor is about a 45 minute drive to San Francisco, and about 10 minutes from Santa Rosa.  For more information about Windsor, check out: http://www.... 11/28/2009

  Crab season is in full swing.  In the Wine Country, Crab feasts are a regular event!  They are a bit pricey, but if you go to one, you'll go every year.  Here is a list of up coming "All you can eat " crab feasts for this crab season. Hope to see you there!    Santa Rosa High School Foundation Jan. 23, 2010 All you can eat crab Salad Clam Chowder, dessert, beer & wine $45 545-4095 Piner High School Crab feed  Jan 29, 2010 No-host bar Silent auction Salad, bread, dessert Live band & dancing $40 836-9735 Ursuline High School January 29 & 30, 2010 Pasta, bread, dessert Wine Silent auction No-host bar $25 - $50 524-4640 Elsie Allen High Jan, 30, 2010 Pasta, salad, bread Raffles, silent auction Music $35 584-4198   Montgomery High School Ed. Foundation Jan. 30, 2010 Clam chowder No-host b... 11/28/2009

Sonoma County Wine Country, California - Cycling through the Fall Colors Cycling in Sonoma County is one of the best ways to experience the Wine Country's beautiful countryside. I love going for a nice 25 bike ride in the morning. If I'm really into it, I'll lose myself on a 50 miler through Santa Rosa, Windsor, Healdsburg, Napa, Sonoma, Petaluma or Sebastopol. Cycling is my favorite form of exercise and a great stress reliever. I wrote about this in one of my posts called Sonoma County Wine Country Top Ten Secret's Exposed. This year, I got to enjoy the added bonus of having my family join in on the fun! Whenever we get a chance, my wife and I will hook up with my sister, her husband, my cousin, his wife and several friends who've recently taken up the sport. What a wonderful experienc... 11/27/2009

  Looking for something fun to do this Christmas?   Go to Rincon Valley's own Christmas tree farm, and pick and cut your own tree.  Nothing is more fun than heading out in the cold with a saw, and picking out your own tree.  Bring the kids and a thermos of hot apple cider.   North Eagle Christmas Tree Forest 6191 Sonoma Hwy.Santa Rosa, CA 95409    538-2554 Open:7 days a week, 10:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Types of trees offered (you choose and cut): Douglas Fir Scotch Pine Monterey Pine Cedar Coastal Redwood Giant Sequoia Fresh pre-cut Noble Fir   Notes: The Christmas Tree Farm is part of the North Eagle Gallery pottery studio and shop. Handmade pottery is available for sale as are paintings, sculptures and bonsai trees. Trees vary in price from $20 to $45 11/25/2009

Happy Thanksgiving from Sonoma County Wine Country! I know it's suppose to be a Wordless Wednesday, but I want to take a moment to thank everyone here on AR for all of your support. I've learned so much from many of you and am greatful for all of the connections I've made in such a short period of time. You've renewed my enthusiasm for the real estate market and I look forward to learning even more from all of you. A special shout out to Steven Graham for all of his coaching and one on one phone calls. Steven, you and your AR family are the bomb! Thank you for everything that you've done for me! I couldn't have accomplished so much here on AR without your help!   11/25/2009

Sonoma County is home to lots of famous people, Fred MacMurray, Harry Morgan, Charles Schulz, Robert Ripley, Raymond Burr, Joe Montana and more.  Although fun to see, and claim as local residents, none have left an impact on the county as Luther Burbank. Luther Burbank was a botanist and horticulturist who came to America from England he developed a better potato call the Burbank Potato.  Burbank sold the rights to his potato and $150 and used the money to travel to America, where he settled in Santa Rosa at age 26.  He found Santa Rosa to have the perfect growing season, weather, and soils.   Burbank used his home and an experimental garden in Sebastopol to create and improve over 800 species of flowers, fruits and vegetables.  Some of his better known varieties are: The Burbank potato... 11/22/2009

I was driving down the road about a month ago and saw these  three stacks on the side of the road in a field that use to have a horse.  I thought, what the hell are those?  Underground ventilation?  State water testing?          Then a few nights later...       11/21/2009

Family friendly and conveniently located, Rincon Valley has long been one of the preferred residential areas in Santa Rosa. The schools are excellent and homes are still affordable here. I have assembled a custom search already centered on Rincon Valley that will let you jump right into your map-based home search. Whether you want an entry level home or a more elaborate, larger move-up residence, Santa Rosa's Rincon Valley is a great place to search. Once you are on the site you can choose whatever price range you are looking for or simply view all the properties. I also want to repeat the news that there is a great new iPhone App that supports active MLS listings and has great built in support for the mapping features. As you drive around Rincon Valley or any other area in the BAREIS M... 11/20/2009