We don’t get snow falling on our Pleasanton Homes or need a snow blower to clear a path to the front door of our Dublin Ranch Condo, but there are traditions even a Tri Valley Christmas minus the snow cannot do without.

It’s a Wonderful Life, check.

Santa picture, check. Could have got one last week in Pleasanton, but the mall is always an option.

Christmas tree, stockings, too much food, check, check, check.

What if that wasn’t enough of tradition? What if you were the craziest fan of A Christmas Story? Well, you could always rent the home from the movie that Ralphie lived in and recreate the movie, yes, you can leave your Pleasanton Home and the brisk 50 degrees we will probably on have on Christmas in the Tri Valley for 10 degrees in Cleveland. Rent A Christmas Story home for Christmas.

The auction is over for the home, but you can go on tours throughout the year. Don’t forget to bid for next year.

A Christmas Story House

BART extending to Livermore could be a boost for Livermore Home owners, Dublin Home owners and Pleasanton home owners, not to mention the positive effect it will have on minimizing the congestion on one of the most heavily congested freeways in the Bay Area, I-580.

How can BART improve home values?
One of the major concerns we find with Tri Valley home buyers is commute time. If you live off Vasco compared to a Dublin Ranch home, you could expect an additional 15 minutes commute time between the two points, and this is off commute peak times! With BART’s extension more home buyers will see commute time as less of an obstacle when home buying in Livermore.
Here are some route proposals from BART
I-580 Median to Greenville Road
I-580 Median to Vasco Road ACE Station via Los Positas Road
I-580 Median to Vasco Road ACE Station via Vasco Road
I-580 Median to Isabel Avenue / Stanley Boulevard via Isabel Avenue
I-580 Median to Isabel Avenue / Stanley Boulevard via Quarry Road
I-580 Median to Isabel Avenue / Stanley Boulevard via El Charro Road
I-580 Median to Isabel Avenue / Stanley Boulevard via West Jack London Boulevard
I-580 Median to Livermore Central via Portola/Junction Avenue
I-580 Median to Livermore Central via Quarry Road and Union Pacific Railroad

Currently a project is under way to add High Occupancy Vehicle lanes (HOV) to I-580, this is the construction we currently see. How will this improve the potential billion dollar cost to add BART?

For more information on the BART extension visit this link below and watch this video BART I-580

www.I580.info

If you know of other news related to the BART extension, please pass it along. 

After I did my duty of voting and then posting the Pleasanton Election Results and Dublin Election Results the following day I ran the home sales numbers as I do every month and was excited to see Pleasanton Home Sales, Danville Home Sales and Dublin Homes sales did very well in October. Below are home sales for the Tri Valley cities.

Tri Valley Home Sales November 2008 - Octobers numbers

Pleasanton Home Sales 

Dublin Home Sales 

Dublin Ranch Condos Sales

Livermore Home Sales

San Ramon Home Sales

Danville Home Sales

The Pleasanton housing cap voted in 12 years ago set a cap of 29,000 housing units. Pleasanton’s housing cap still needs a bit of tweaking. On Nov. 4^th you can decide exactly what a house is. Pleasanton is about 3,000 housing units away from the 29,000 voter approved cap and based on the Nov. 4^th results, Pleasanton voters will essentially decide how many ‘homes’ will be built in the future to meet the voter approved housing cap in Pleasanton.

What is a house?

Pleasanton Measure QQ and Measure PP will let you define what a home is.

Pleasanton Measure PP

A housing unit will be defined as a unit with a kitchen sink, cooking device and fridge the unit would also have a bathroom with toilet and shower or tub.

Measure PP also states the Pleasanton City Council must uphold the housing cap and must not be allowed to grant waivers to allow housing units that meet this definition.

Pleasanton Measure QQ

Supported by 3 of the 5 City Council members. Pleasanton Measure QQ defines a housing unit as a single family home, condominium, town home, half a duplex/duet, one mobile home and one apartment unit. Also, second units (in-law), rooms in extended stay hotels and units in assisted living facilities would NOT count towards the cap.

Get out and vote on Nov. 4^th

Fore more information on Measure QQ and PP visit

www.savepleasantonhills.com

www.yesonqq.com

Friends Of Pleasanton

No on QQ

Yes on PP

Other Related Topics

Save Pleasanton’s Hills & Housing Cap Initiative

What will 2025 look like for residents of Pleasanton? For one, probably no more new housing built as we approach the voter approver 29,000 Pleasanton Housing Cap. Side note, if you want to develop some land into housing, you might want to do it sooner than later since there are only a few thousand units left before the Pleasanton housing cap it met.

The City Council and Planning Commission have revised the general plan after 5 years of meetings and planning.

To view the updated plan visit www.pleasantongeneralplan.org or pick up a hard copy at the Planning department at 200 Bernal Ave.

This is your opportunity to review the Pleasanton General Plan and make your voice heard to the Council at the upcoming meetings. With issues like the Oak Grove in Pleasanton it is important to make sure the city leaders are heading down the right path.

Biggest thing I see is a home buyer who thinks they know what they are doing, even if you have bought a dozen homes, you are probably not in the ‘market’ every day. It would be similar to getting on a medical site or a ‘how to carpenter’ site, the problem here is I am not trained as a doctor or a carpenter. I may have built a deck or repaired a sink, but sometimes projects get a bit too complicated. Look to an expert for help.

Number one – Look to an Expert

An experienced agent handles many transactions in many different ways, there is little an experienced agent hasn’t heard or experienced. If you have something on your mind or something you want to hide, ask it and tell it. Your agent will probably have a better plan or better way to help because they have seen it before. No two transactions are the same, but an experienced agent has the knowledge of previous transactions to help you in yours.

Two - Changing Your Credit

Lenders lend money based on credit scores, income and the ratio it provides. Ratios are key. For sake of easy math let’s use a word problem to explain, if you make $100,000 a year and have expenses of 35,000 you have a debt to income ratio of 35%. If you add on a debt (car purchase) before obtaining a loan you could exceed the maxim amount of debt to income a lender will allow. The moral of the story is, don’t make large purchases on credit prior to obtaining a loan.

Three – Buying a House You Shouldn’t Have

When you hire an expert agent you will most likely go over your wants and needs in a home. By doing so you will narrow down your search and ultimately purchase of a home that matches your needs and desires. Do you need 2 bathrooms or 5? If you have 1 child probably 2 will be fine. If you have a family of 8, you might need a few extra bathrooms. Make sure the home you purchase matches your finances first, your needs second and your emotions last.

Did you hear the news! Congress OK’s a Rescue Plan. We will not feel the effect of the plan on Pleasanton Home Values, Dublin Home Values, Danville Home Values, San Ramon Home Values and Livermore Home Values for some time. So… here is what we do know, the the stats from the home sales in the Tri Valley are below.

Tri Valley Home Sales Update October ‘08

Pleasanton Home Sales 

Dublin Home Sales 

Dublin Ranch Condo Sales

Livermore Home Sales

San Ramon Home Sales

 Danville Home Sales

Shopping for a Condo in Dublin Ranch or maybe a new home in Pleasanton? Rather than walk down the street of the home you see on your email updates. Hop online and virtually walk the street. Yes, we now have the ability to pretend walk.

Two fun websites to use:

www.WalkScore.com to see what the ‘walkability’ of a home. 4576 Del Valle Pkwy.

Then hop over to Google Street View - Here is how we use it on our site DublinRanchCondos.com
View Larger Map

These tools are helpful when receiving an email from your agent of a new home. You can see what schools, shopping and entertainments is close by and use the Street View to check out the neighborhood.

So you are thinking about buying an investment property and thinking about a foreclosure in Pleasanton or a short sale in Dublin. Unfortunately every time one comes up that is a deal, you get out bid or can’t get an offer in soon enough because you are too late.

For a list of foreclosures or short sales in the Tri Valley comment below.

Here is a game plan incase you don’t have one:

1. At the least get pre-approved, even if you think it will be no problem to do so. If your offer on that short sale in Dublin Ranch does not have one, the bank won’t look at your offer, sorry.

2. Know what you are looking for. 3 bedroom minimum in Pleasanton, must have garage, close to school, no pool, single level, indoor laundry… Focus on those properties you want only.

3. If it’s a rental, know neighborhood rents and be conservative. Don’t forget HOA dues. Dublin Ranch condos are a great investment with prices below $400,000 and rents above $2,000.

4. Looking at a fixer? Don’t sweat the appliances being gone or destroyed carpets and paint. Those are easy to take care of - Visit the Sears Outlet Store in San Leandro. How is the structure? How is the roof? How are the schools? Latest on Tri Valley School scores.

5. Be realistic in pricing. $400,000 condo in Dublin Ranch rents for $2,300. If you put 20% down your payments are pretty close to even cash flow. Most investors looking for a property like this will not go much higher than $400,000, so it will be hard to get it for $350,000. Think about who else might be looking at that foreclosure in Pleasanton you have an eye on.

6. Sweeten the deal. Short sale in Dublin was just secured for our buyers because the seller wanted to stay in the home and the buyer wanted a renter. We told the seller they could stay in the home. Offer Accepted! What makes your offer different from the other 7 offers written?

7. Not everyone is hurting. Even if the economy is ‘weak’ there are a lot of people with money investing in properties and flipping homes. Right now the competition for buyers is an investor who has done their homework. Have you done your homework? If you have, you will get an A in investing and make some great money from this market.

If you would like us to help you develop a plan, email us here.

For a list of foreclosures or short sales comment below.

Remember to do your homework. Here is a post covering that idea. Is Your Home Convenient.

Do you watch the news, read the papers or other real estate blogs? If you do then you know interest rates took a drop this week. Pleasanton Home Sales, San Ramon Home Sales, Dublin Home Sales, Danville Home Sales and Livermore Home Sales will hopefully see a continued increase in home values as we are starting to see in Pleasanton, San Ramon and Danville from the drop in rates. Visit the Housing Value Stats page.

Tri Valley Home Sales Update September ‘08

Pleasanton Home Sales 

Dublin Home Sales 

Dublin Ranch Condo Sales 

Livermore Home Sales 

San Ramon Home Sales

Danville Home Sales 

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