Did you feel the earth move? 5 STEP EVACUATION PLAN

As Halloween approached last night some people were scared

by a 5.6 Earthquake. Not only do we live in Earthquake country, but we are blessed with beautiful trees and landscape that can (and has ignited in the past). My Father lives in North San Diego County and was on evacation alert.

I thought this might be a timely and valuable reminder.

The following plan is a good one to keep in mind.

Thanks to Costello Insurance!

In the event of a sudden emergency, you may have just minutes
to gather your family and important papers, and get out of your house, possibly
for good. Are you prepared? Where would you go? What would you take with
you?With preparation and practice, you stand the best chance of getting out with
what you and your family need, and ending up in the right place. Planning ahead
is crucial; this five-step plan can help get you

and your family on the road to safety:

1. Arrange Your Evacuation Ahead of Time

Identify where you can go in the event of an evacuation. Try to have more than one option: the home of a friend or family member in another town, a hotel or a shelter. Keep the phone numbers and addresses of these locations. Map out your primary route and a backup route in case roads are blocked or impassable. Make sure you have a map of the area available. In case your family members are separated before or during the evacuation, identify a specific place to meet and ask an out-of-town
friend or family member to act as a contact person. Listen to Weather Radio,
local radio or TV stations for evacuation instructions

2. Create a Home Inventory

Create a complete home inventory of your personal
property. A home inventory will help you ensure that you have purchased enough
insurance to replace your possessions. It will also speed the claims process,
and will substantiate losses for income tax purposes. The I.I.I. has created the
Know your Stuff home inventory software, which can be found at www.knowyourstuff.org . This free, downloadable software helps you organize and list your possessions on your computer and then and burn the finished inventory onto a CD-ROM; you can also print a copy for your records. Whether you do your inventory electronically or on paper, make sure you keep a copy with your important documents and a second copy in a safe place outside your home (in a safe-deposit box, or with an out-of-town friend or family member).

3. Plan What to Take

Medicines, prescriptions and first aid kit. Bottled water
Clothing and bedding (sleeping bags, pillows) Flashlight, battery-powered radio and extra batteries Special items for infants or elderly or disabled family members
Computer hard drive or laptop. Photographs, Pet food and other items for pets (litter boxes, leashes)

4. Gather Important Documents

Keep important documents in a safe place
that you can access easily. In the event of an evacuation take the following
documents with you:
Insurance policies, Prescriptions, Birth and marriage , certificates, Passports, Drivers license or personal identification, Social Security cards, Recent tax returns, employment information, Wills, deeds and recent tax returns, Stocks, bonds and other negotiable certificates, Bank, savings and retirement account numbers
Home inventory

5. Take the Ten-Minute Challenge

To find out if you are ready, do a
real-time test. Give yourself just 10 minutes to get your family and belongings
into the car and on the road to safety. By planning ahead and practicing, you
should be able to gather your family members and pets, along with the most
important items they will need, calmly and efficiently, with a minimum of stress
and
confusion.

GREAT HOUSE TO SEE THIS HALLOWEEN!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

If you are looking for good eats and a great townhome, come on by today 10:30-2:30.

406 Durant Way in Mill Valley is a perfect example of what makes Marinview a great value in Southern Marin. Prices are up in this wonderful neighborhood! 406 Durant is fully staged to show off its warm and inviting nature. Take a look at its dedicated website.

http://www.406Durant.com

We will also be open 1-4 on Sunday Nov. 4.

Come see me and this great house. It will be a Halloween treat!

EAST or WEST... Marin is best!

I'm Back!
We just got back from sailing on the Chesapeake. The weather was unusally warm and we both know we were at the perfect time. We thought, as we looked at the charming homes on the water and the beautiful boats on the Bay, how different this would be in the winter. Boats most likely would be hauled out of the water, all those houses had shutters by design (it gets cold!)
I also remembered another trip where I took 5 showers in a day.
I inquired about the home prices in St. Michaels and Annapolis (as the Presidential helicopter flew overhead). I was surprised that prices on the water with a dock.... are appropriately high everywhere.
The boat we rented had air conditioning. Wouldn't have thought of that on a sailboat, but, then again thinking about the summers in the east, I guess there are times when you wouldn't want to do without.

Hey, there's no place like home. Our crabs are better, our weather is better... now if I could just move that nice 6,000 sq ft home on the water with 5 acres, with the Adirondack chairs here... ahhhhh.... That would be perfect!

2008 Forecast from CAR

NEWSFLASH!!!!
2008 CALIFORNIA HOUSING MARKET FORECAST
"Home prices throughout most of California will post modest declines next year while sales of existing homes will stabilize from the precipitous decrease experienced in 2007, according to C.A.R.'s "2008 California Housing Market Forecast" released today."

I bet this will make people in the Central Valley feel better! Once again, I am glad to be a Marin Gal!

To stage or not to stage....

Recently there was a poll done of top Realtors about whether they thought staging was worthwhile. Without hesitation ALL respondents said YES! In fact the majority felt that not staging a home in Marin County would seriously negatively affect the ultimate sales price.

I know it is difficult to imagine that investing in staging could make that much difference. But just imagine if you were looking for a used car. One car smelled of leather - the other of old socks. One was meticulously clean inside and there wasn't a scratch on the paint - the other was dented and there was an McDonald's wrapper thrown in the back. Now imagine, which one would you consider buying. Even if the price was higher the car that looks, smells and feels better, will sell. The other one will have to wait until there isn't another car competing for the potential buyer (or else it will sell for substantially less).

Staging is pretty standard in Marin homes. This means if your home is competing against other homes that are staged - and you have decided to go "au naturelle", then you are creating an up hill battle to sell your home. At the very very least, you must use staging principles when marketing your home.

I work with stagers, and have had a good deal of experience myself, in making homes Real Marin Gal represents sparkle. If you want to know more...send me an email or post here.

Welcome to Real Marin Blogging!

Welcome to my latest adventure in Real Estate. This blog, I hope will help answer questions you may have about Real Estate, Marin or Real Marin Gal. Please post and comment away so we can create a vibrant discussion.

As you know the market has shifted a wee bit. I read an article not long ago about the depressed market in Detroit. Where is a house sells at all, it may sell for the price of a car. There are even homes that are boarded up. My daughter lives in Salt Lake City. The market there in the past few years had been quite brisk. Today however, on the outskirts of Salt Lake, prices are falling, many people are losing their homes. Guess what happens when that happens? Rents go up, available rentals are fewer.This scenario is being played out throughout the country. But there are places in the country where the market is still strong.

We are so luck to live in Marin. Besides it's natural beauty and enviable lifestyles, these down times are much less notable here. Here, in my experience, there may be fewer homes sold, but prices remain quite good. Visit http://www.greathomes.org/adpages/frame-mlsstats.html to view statistic from 1965.

In 2007, as seen during other slower years, our sales are down but this
year our prices on average have increased 8.8%

Normally September is one of the busiest months for Real Estate sales in Marin. This September our sales were down. The uncertainty of the mortgage crisis impacted sales by keeping would be buyers away. Many of these buyers have opted to wait it out. Therefore the number of people looking for rentals is on the rise. Thus, rental prices are also on the rise.

How are you feeling about this market? Ultimately, no matter how many statistics tell you Marin is a great place to invest, your own personal circumstances will dictate how the Real Estate Market is for you.

For me.... this has been my best year yet and I hope you can say the same!