Thousands Attend Escondido Street Faire
May 19th, 2008 Categories: Entertainment, Escondido
Twice a year, the street in front of our office is filled with tens of thousands of people. Every May and October, the City of Escondido holds it’s Street Faire, the second largest in all of California!
Our office at Windermere Exclusive Properties is located at the center of it all in the heart of downtown, and our agents participate along with our sister company CW Mortgage. Braving near 100 degree temperatures, over 600 vendors, lots of live entertainment and all types of food adorn the downtown streets.
Even though the faire is supposed to start promptly at 9am, folks are arriving looking for the latest in folding tailgating chairs, herbal remedy’s, getting the spine stretched by a bevy of chiropractors and searching for Fido’s latest dog collar.
The faire looked a little less crowed this year, and I
think there were a few less vendors than in years past. I take this as a sign of the economy today…
Many of the people who display their wares of offer services may have been driven out of business or have had to confine their street faire schedule to areas closer to home. The city says they expected 60,000 people, but my guess is that we may were two thirds of that.
It’s still great fun, and we meet lots of people who never knew our office was right on one of the busiest corners of downtown Escondido.
We offer cool water, candy and snacks, and of course have the requisite contests and giveaways, all in an attempt to get noticed and meet new folks who may need to buy or sell a piece of real estate this year. We
We break up the eight our day in shifts of 3 hours and hand out hundreds of flyers. This year our flyer was focused on bank owned properties, or REO’s (Real Estate Owned) as they’re known to us. We’ve got a ton of them in Escondido…one of the hardest hit areas of North County; but there are some incredible deals here right now!
Lately, I’ve seen listings of 3 bedroom two bath homes on decent lots for under $200,000! This has been unheard of for quite some time and investors are cashing in on these deals by the dozen right now. I estimate that about 70% of our escrows open today are bank owned or short sale properties.
All in all, another great day downtown followed by relaxation. I even bought a couple of new shirts from a one of a kind surf shop. Stay tuned, as we’ll wrap up fall with another one in October!
| Currently 1 Comment »
New Homes In Escondido and Valley Center Are Quite A Value
January 13th, 2008 Categories: Escondido, Valley Center
Looking for a new home? It seems everywhere in San Diego County there is lots of inventory in various new home builder communities. In Escondido and Valley Center, two inland North County communities have some extra special buys for those looking for large homes and lots, convenience to freeways and shopping, and at what might now be considered “bargain” prices.
The City of Escondido is a vibrant community of about 150,000 people. The downtown Grand Avenue area has experienced quite a renaissance; lots of new restaurants, coffee bistro’s, cafe’s and art galleries dot the street that’s very “walk friendly”. Just a block away is the California Center For The Arts, which boasts a Conference Center, Children’s Museum, two Theaters, an Educational Complex and Visual Arts Museum. Just across the Street is Grape Day Park, which hosts Escondido’s annual Grape Day parade and the Escondido History Center. Just a few miles away is Escondido’s world famous Wild Animal Park.
A new master planned community, Eureka Springs offers five different communites priced as low as the upper $300,000’s. These homes are built by two fine builder’s – Lennar & Centex Homes.
At The Terraces, you can buy up a good sized home of 2328 square feet for under $400,000. Step up to The Briars (3198 square feet) or The Groves (2970 square feet), and you can get a very large home in the $400,000’s. Sister neighborhoods The Steppes (3574 sqare feet) and The Knolls (3844 square feet) will only dent your wallet to the tune of the low $500,000’s!
But as the builder’s say….”there is a catch”. The catc
h is that these prices are good for one day only, January 19th, but don’t worry, you’ll still get a bargain if you happen to be a little further down the road if you not quite ready to purchase.
Valley Center, Escondido’s sleepy small neighbor about 5 miles Northeast, is where you want to go for a little more “country”. Valley Center is currently undergoing a bit of a change from a small rural town to a beautiful “bedroom community”. Valley Center’s “Western Days” festival is held every year over the Memorial Day weekend.
There is a beautiful new home development in between Valley Center proper and Hwy 15 called Rancho Vallecito. This develpment, built by RWR Homes, consists of Estate sized homes (3500-4200 square feet) on lots that are from 2.9 acres on up to over 7 acres with fabulous views that go on forever. Best of all is that these homes, with all the square footage, privacy, views and acreage are currently priced starting from the mid 700,000’s!
To add the cherry to the top of all this good news is that all of the builder’s are willing also to provide additional incentives (check with each builder for details, or call us) like rate buydowns, design center credits and landscaping allowances.
Finally, there are many more new home developments that are offering fantastic deals on fabulous homes throughout Escondido and Valley Center. Contact us direct at 877-571-2289 if you would like more information or would like to view these homes. We can assist you in the purchase of your new home as your agent, and help you negotiate with the builders while we make sure we protect your best interests.
| Currently No Comments »
