We have changed the website to be much more user friendly…MUCH more user friendly.

Where should you go when you want to learn more about Sebastopol CA Real Estate? SebastopolRealEstate.com of course.

Do not know much about Sebastopol? Read more about it Here!

After you visit the new look of Sebastopol Real Estate, look around, stay awhile and please take some notes. As always, be sure to give us feedback and let us know what you like, what you do not like, and possibly what you would like to see.

Sebastopol’s Local Flavor Global Vision campaign is picking up steam and has the attention of many local residents and want to be residents as well. This is a grass roots think globally act locally type campaign, a message we can all support. And remember…local produce is thousands of miles fresher. I recently heard that vitamin dissipates from fruits and vegetables very quickly, 50% of the vitamin is lost in the first 7 days from harvesting.

Sebastopol Home prices have come down to more affordable levels, the best prices in many years. Currently there are Homes, Condos and Business Opportunities for sale in Sebastopol that are priced less than $300,000.

Sebastopol also has many bank owned properties, foreclosures and short sales that are adding to well priced inventory. With all of this well priced inventory, Sonoma County Home Buyers are taking note. We are not 100% sure if it is the Sebastopol lifestyle that is attracting would be buyers, or if it is the new level of affordability in Sebastopol that is attracting buyers, we think it is probably a little bit of both. We just want you to realize that with all of the great deals here in Sonoma County, there are plenty of great deals in each area, even those that have been tradtitionally higher priced.

Sebastopol Real Estate is still some of the most expensive Real Estate in Sonoma County, even with the recent downturn in Real Estate prices. This should not deter anyone from looking at Sebastopol, as Sebastopol has so much to offer, which is why the prices were higher than other parts of Sonoma County to begin with. The lifestyle and weather are great in Sebastopol, there is a lot to do and see, and Sebastopol is still much more affordable that neighboring Marin County and San Francisco.

If you are one of the many people interested in Sebastopol Real Estate, please visit SebastopolRealEstate.com. And as always, feel free to contact us directly and give us your opinions…whether it is on Sebastopol Real Estate, or Sonoma County in general. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

FREE Sonoma County Foreclosure Lists are a great asset for all buyers, included the investment monded buyer. Many of our clients had paid for this same exact service from other sources, and realize how much money they would have saved just by talking to us. Even better is the fact that we can customize your list to show you exactly what you want to see, not every single foreclosure or short sale…if you want to see all of the properties…great, we can provide that, or we can save you time with a customized list.

Many people look at foreclosures as the best way to buy the best priced Sonoma County Real Estate. We like to think a great Real Estate agent on your side is also essential.

We Offer Free Lists Of:

• Bank Owned Homes
• Bank Owned Luxury Homes
• Bank Owned Condos
• Bank Owned Townhomes
• Bank Owned Investment Properties
• Bank Owned Commercial Properties
• Bank Owned Land

We offer free foreclosure and short sale lists for Sonoma County, Napa County, Marin County, Solano County, and Lake County as well. If you need these lists beyond those areas, be sure to ask for a list of our contacts in other areas…we have a trusted network of Real Estate professionals in many areas.

Foreclosures and short sales are not just limited to low priced properties. There are many foreclosures in all price ranges, from properties under $100,000 to well over $1 million dollars, and include areas such as Rohnert Park, Sebastopol, Santa Rosa, Fountaingrove, Petaluma, Cotati, Penngrove, Sonoma, etc. Contact us via this website (contact info at top right of this page) or at WineCountryMoves.com to sign up.

So once you have the free list of Sonoma County Foreclosures and Short Sales, what do you do when you have found a house? Call us to set up a showing of the home and discuss details of writing any offers. We have years of experience helping people buy and sell foreclosures and short sales and we can help you navigate the process with ease. We will give you an objective view of the market, keep you up to date all all relevant items, and advise you of offers that will give you the best chance at saving money and getting the home of your dreams.

Visit Foreclosure Buying Tips to learn more about buying foreclosures. Should you have any questions regarding Sonoma County Foreclosures or Sonoma County Short Sales feel free to contact us; we look forward to hearing from you and helping you save money.

“Where are the houses in Rohnert Park below $250,000?”

The answer I gave was….”uuuuhhhhh”

At one time, not too long ago, there was a very decent supply of homes right here in Rohnert Park for well below $250,000. Recently, the inventory of homes under the $250,000 price tag has all but disappeared.

WHAT HAPPENED?

Is this Supply and Demand at work? Most likely! Supply And Demand…I thought I was done with Econ 101! As you will recall from ECONOMICS 101, Supply And Demand states that the quantity demanded from consumers and the quantity supplied from producers is equalized by price. This results in market equilibrium, AKA Economic Equilibrium. Hey man….stop with all this Econometrics….I just want to buy a house already. Understood.

Rohnert Park is a desirable area with great schools, great parks (of course…its in the name right) and a family atmosphere that is definitely unique. Each area in Sonoma County is unique, but lately we have been getting a lot of calls for Rohnert Park homes. Demand is HIGH. With the California foreclosure moratorium, supply in Rohnert Park is LOW…not so good news for consumers.

The best alternative to date has been Santa Rosa. You can definitely get more for your money in most parts of Santa Rosa. Most of our clients have put offers in quickly when they find a home that fits their needs, as the prices relative to other areas are more affordable.

My advice to clients is if you are set on Rohnert Park or any other specific area it may be worth it to wait a bit. If you want to move, and other areas fit your lifestyle then those areas should be considered.

Personally, I could live in several North Bay Cities…many parts of Marin County, and Many parts of Sonoma County as well. I really like Rohnert Park, Petaluma, Sonoma, Santa Rosa, and even Sebastopol. I am not sure I fit into Sebastopol, but I do enjoy my time there. Ever since the West County Grill closed, I do not find myself there so much, but it is still a nice (and expensive) place to visit.

I was going to put a picture of a Rohnert Park Home For Sale in this article, but there were none available…sorry! Maybe after the foreclosure moratorium we will see some more inventory…we know a healthy demand is there as we have so many people inquiring about Sonoma County Homes for sale.

Lease Options sound great right?

Lease Options are unilateral contracts, meaning one party has the ability to make the other perform…these are sometimes also called one-sided agreements. In this case, the optionee (one who receives the option to purchase in the future) usually pays the optionor a fee (consideration) in return for the right to buy in the future.

However, we find these to be somewhat of a great illusion as well. I have only seen a few of these deal come to a successful close. We find that it is extremely difficult for people to agree on a monthly lease amount, how much of that, if any, will be credited towards the purchase price, the up front price to be charged for the option, and the ultimate future price of the home..lots of moving parts.

Lease options can be used by buyers when the market prices are expected to increase, or go down. If prices increase, you have the option to buy at a predetermined price, and can easily figure out if there is equity. If prices decline, you have the option to walk away from the deal. Depending upon how much the option cost, this could be a very wise decision.

Sonoma County home prices have been declining since late 2006 or thereabouts, and it is unclear when the slide will end. There are a lot of mixed signals currently. Inventory is lower now than we have seen in the the recent past…a good thing. Prices are also down, also a good thing. Unemployment is increasing, which may cause more short sales, defaults and foreclosures…a bad thing. Homebuyer Tax Credits are also available to give buyers incentive to purchase. Currently, there are a lot of wheels in motion to help the Real Estate situation. Time will tell if these are the right wheels to be in motion, and when they will gain traction.

A well priced option can be a great thing to find, however it may be akin to a needle in a haystack. There are not many lease purchase options available, and finding one that fits what you are looking for is akin to finding a needle in a haystack.

I do seem to find more Lease Options in Santa Rosa than I do in cities like Rohnert Park, Cotati, Petaluma or Sebastopol. I cannot say why this is, other than my feeling that these are usually offered by investors who are looking to get some type of cash flow and will consider all buyer types.

Currently, we are seeing Sonoma County Home Prices that allow for a mortgage payment to be similar to a lease payment. We are seeing some amazingly low prices on Sonoma County Foreclosures, which will probably never be listed as Lease Purchase Options. This is a great scenario for home buyers, one that has nto been seen for about 20 – 25 years. We think that based on this fact alone, this may be a great time to purchase a home, whether it is through a lease option or a traditional purchase.

We enjoy getting all of your comments and feedback on all of our articles, we really do.

We want to invite more reader participation in our articles.

We want you to give us your ideas for what you want to read about. Is your neighborhood experiencing a lot of Sonoma County foreclosures? Is there a new restaurant you think we should visit? Anything you think would be good article to read while listening to our spin on things. We would like to focus on Sonoma County, however we will listen to all of your ideas.

People often ask us questions about Rohnert Park Homes, Sonoma County Mortgage Rates, Santa Rosa Homes. We are Sonoma County Realtors and certainly have a Real Estate slant. Our plan for SonomaCountyGrapevine.com is to be the place that showcases all of Sonoma County, not just the Real Estate.

We also get questions about specific cities in Sonoma County such as Sebastopol, Sonoma, Petaluma, and Guerneville. We have written about all sorts of subjects to date. From a West County Roadtrip idea to Graziano’s Vodka Bar.

So please feel free to contact us and let us know what you want to hear about.

We want to make the Sonoma County Grapevine the place Where You Hear It First!

I believe this comes from the oxygen mask theory in planes…you must put your oxygen mask on first before you can help others. This seems pretty obvious to me because you must help yourself before you are able to help others. If you do not put your oxygen mask on, it will be a very short time before you are unable to help others. This does not mean that you should be selfish, but you must be able to help before you can truly help. This may seem selfish to some, but it is actually very selfless…after all, we are talking about helping others.

Sebastopol has their own slogan that is starting to spread throughout the whole North Bay. “Local Flavor Global Vision.” As you stroll through the streets of Sebastopol, you will likely see this logo in the windows of many of the local shops. It is great that all of the local Businesses are supporting this movement, and in turn supporting each others. We have also noticed the “shop local” trends at Oliver’s Market in Cotati, The Petaluma Market in Petaluma, Pacific Market in Rohnert Park, and the entire Downtown Petaluma Business district.

The logo is truly Sebastopol…a world shaped as an apple, a throwback to the Sebastopol apple orchard heritage. I suppose this is the Local Flavor part of the new campaign.

In this economy where the unemployment rate is in the double digits, and disposable income is lower than in years past, we need this type of call to action for the community. We need to support ourselves before we can help others; this is the oxygen mask reference from above. We need to support local Wine Country Businesses that celebrate the uniqueness of this wonderful area. By shopping at locally owned Businesses and using locally owned service provider, this will help our local economy, our local employment rates, and in turn ourselves.

We hope all of our readers are going to join us and put on their oxygen masks and shop locally. If you are a local Business owner and would like us to feature your Business, please contact us. We always welcome reader feedback.

SebastopolRealEstate.com links directly to our Sebastopol Real Estate page and allows people to search for Sebastopol Homes For Sale, Sebastopol Land For Sale and Sebastopol Condos. People are also able to find Sebastopol Business Opportunities.

Once on the website, clients will be able to search for all types of Real Estate for sale, and also set up Listing Alerts. Listing Alerts will allow one to sign up to receive daily updates of new listings, price changes, and is the best way for people to stay informed on the Sebastopol Real Estate market.

We know SebastopolRealEstate.com will be an easy name to remember and will help service our Sebastopol California Real Estate clients.

Please email us with any questions or to learn more about Sebastopol CA Real Estate.

Happy Sebastopol House Hunting!

This year’s installment will be held on June 13 – 14, 2009; and 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the Hot Air Balloon Classic. This is one of the favorite events of many Sonoma County locals, as the sky is filled with balloons that are truly moving pieces of art. The event is fun for the whole family, so make sure you mark this event on your summer calendar.

The Location for the event is Keiser Park, located at: 700 Windsor River Road in Windsor, California.

Tickets can be purchased at the following locations:

• Copperfield’s – In Healdsburg, Petaluma, Sebastopol, and Montgomery Village (Santa Rosa)
• Ship & More – Windsor
• Dan’s Barber Shop – Windsor
• Exchange Banks – Throughout Sonoma County

Ticket prices are as follows

• Adults – Pre Sale – $5.00
• Adults – At The gate – $8.00
• Children ages 6 – 12  – $5.00
• Children 5 and under are admitted for free

Make sure you look for us there…we will be piloting the balloon that looks like a huge “SOLD” sign.

So…when people ask me where is the best place in Sonoma County California…I will answer with a resounding YES! Not to be flip, but maybe the best place in Sonoma County is ALL of Sonoma County itself, and each person and family will find their own favorite place. There are a lot of great things to do in Sonoma County, a lot of great people to meet, many great places to eat, numerous great wines to sample, great things to see, and great memories to be made.

Maybe you like the small downtown feel of Cotati, or the fact that the future SMART Train will stop right there potentially increasing Real Estate values. Maybe you like all the parks and recreation in the bedroom community of Rohnert Park. Maybe you like the lively and vibrant Sonoma Square. Perhaps the hustle and bustle of downtown Petaluma is more your style, or maybe it is the many Petaluma Victorian Homes to choose from, or maybe it is the fact that Petaluma is Eggcentric. Maybe the affordability of parts of Santa Rosa are to your liking, or maybe it is the big views from luxurious areas such as Fountaingrove or Mayacama Country Club. Who would not like to live in a community first area such as Sebastopol. Whichever area is more your style, we are happy to live in an area that offers so many different choices. Maybe you will make your own way to a part of Sonoma County that is not as visited as the others we have written about. In any event, we know that Sonoma County has something for everyone.

We really hope you have enjoyed reading this 8 part mini series about our view of Sonoma County California. Sonoma County truly is unique in many ways, and is a world class destination all its own. When you get here you will certainly fall in love with the scenic beauty, the great food, the world class wines, and the laid back lifestyle that Sonoma County has to offer.

We hope to see you soon. If you feel we left out an area, please bring it to our attention. Also, if you think we left out some important information regarding any city that was discussed, please let us know. There is so much going on in each city, that we had to pare things down somewhat, and may have felt one thing was more important than another. We would love to get regular feedback from all of our readers.