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Summer 2015 Newsletter

     

     

This is a picture of two shiny pennies isolated over white

The LATEST trend in real estate advertising…..my two cents.
You mean real estate is TRENDY?  Well, kinda… sorta.
I am a true believer in giving buyers the MOST information possible to help them make an informed real estate decision.  As many of you know, I’ve sent many property videos to you during our hunt for the perfect home.  I also video my LISTINGS so that when agents/buyers leave the listing and show interest, I email the buyer’s agent the video so they can forward it to their client to help jog their memory of what they saw that day.
Let’s put it this way, it helped sell the Morris/Stearns home this summer.  I called the buyer’s agent after their showing and asked if I could send him the video (knowing his buyers had returned to Orange County).  He said OK.  He forwarded the seven minute property walk thru for the buyers to review – no other agent/broker had done that.  It gave the buyers the opportunity to remember the flow and extras my sellers property had to offer.  The buyers made an offer the following week!
Another cool trend – DRONE property fly-overs.  Yes, Drone photography.
CLICK the attached You Tube video of my listing video/photographer demo by Joe Stemmer.  He shows us how he uses his drone to film/photograph overhead shots of my listings.  It’s help those buyers searching my website (and other numerous sites) to get a real feel for how the home sits on the property etc….
The picture below does an amazing job showing the prospective buyer how the Dahlin’s Springs Country Club home is oriented to the golf green and shows the expansive space between the neighbor’s home.
DRONE Real Estate Photography for the Dahlin’s Springs Country Club Listing

Local Art and Consignment Stores –
 
Desert Shopping Ideas
One of the first buyer questions during the purchasing process is, “How in the world are we going to decorate this place?!”  Many of you do-it-youselfers enjoy the hunt for gems and finds in our local stores while some of you dread it – where do I go and can it be done?
The Lillys and the Trendels have enjoyed going to local art shows like the Rancho Mirage Art Show and The La Quinta Arts Festival any chance they get.  They report meeting the artists themselves plus finding original art for their vacation homes for modest pricing.
The Morgans and Ron G. have outfitted much of their second homes with killer consignment deals from places like Encore in La Quinta to the expansive Estate Store in Palm Springs.  If you have any questions about where to go, just give me a call or shoot me an email.  I can recommend all sorts of places to shop for what your looking for.
Ron G.’s Consignment Treasures – Everything from Tables to Art~
 
~The Trendels Rancho Mirage
Art Show Finds~

What’s Up with our WATER!!!!???
Ron’s Front Yard – Before
Drought Talk…

There’s plenty of talk about “punish and reward” water conservation programs but some specifics seem hard to find. The most important “specific” is why is the state forcing residents to cut back usage 25% to 35% when residential use amounts to just 10% of California’s water consumption. Meanwhile farmers continue flooding their rice paddies in the arid San Joaquin Valley and date farms continue flooding their date palm plantations.

Hmmmm…whats’ wrong with this picture?
My water bill jumped from $45 to $100 just in one month alone.  Yikes!
My local water provider, Coachella Valley Water District, www.cvwd.org  is giving rebates on landscaping (lawn conversions), smart irrigation controllers, efficient sprinkler nozzle rebates, and toilet rebates.  It’s an investment, no doubt.  For example, I had a company bid my lawn conversion for about 800 SF.  After the rebate of $1/SF, it will run us about $7000 to replace our grass with very high quality faux grass – definitely not cheap.  Two of my neighbors have used local company Back Nine Greens, and I must say, it looks fabulous and pretty real.
I’ve attached before and after photos of my client Ron’s home in Cathedral City.  He installed a new garage door plus re-did all of his landscaping to be more drought tolerant by “xeriscaping”.   Xeri-scaping (often referred to as zeroscaping also) uses all drip emitters and native, drought tolerant plants and ground covers.  I thought it looked great!  Congrats Ron on doing your part~
Ron’s Front Yard – AFTER – WOW!!!

The Palm Springs
BUZZ Trolley
DESERT HAPPENINGS
Have you guys been to Palm Springs lately?  The place is BUZZING like you can’t believe and for good reason….
The Palm Springs BUZZ is a new trolley route/system which runs from the West end of Indian Canyon/Via Escuela all the way down to Southeast end of Palm Springs at Smoketree shopping area- a ten mile loop in total.
The idea, to enjoy everything this fun city has to offer without having to navigate, find parking etc….
Palm Springs is exploding back into a real destination area for tourists.  Many new boutique hotels, shops and world class restaurants are opening right and left.  The city has decided to make all evening headaches go away with this great, FREE service which runs every 15 minutes (11am – 1 am, Thursday thru Sunday) – just hop on and off at your convenience!
Click www.buzzps.com to see the routes.
 
 
IN THE LOCAL REAL ESTATE NEWS…….
In July 2015, the Desert Sun had an accurate article about the current state of our real estate economy here LOCALLY in the desert.
Click below to see the comments about our market still being DOWN approximately 30% from our 2007 peak, but fear not, it’s coming back at a healthy, steady pace.
None of us want to return to those hyper – inflated days by any means.  Some Canadians are benefitting from both our steady property value increases AND the exchange rate combined.  I had two Canadians sell this past year making another 25% on their money just on the exchange rate alone.  Some feared we would see many Canadians sell their properties and flood the market with inventory because of their exchange rate, but frankly, we haven’t seen it.  Canadians still find it pretty cold up there in the wintertime and feel very blessed to have a vacation home here to escape.
They have, however, generally stopped buying for now.  Canadians are respectfully very frugal folks and do not want to pay 25-30% extra for a second home.  For example, 18 months ago if I had 20 property inquires in a week, probably 14-15 were Canadian.  Today, if I have 20 inquires, about 3-4 are Canadian.
Christine Nichols
Premier Properties
760-567-2211 Direct
cnichols814@gmail.com
Assoc. Broker BRE#01852842
My handy desert Real Estate
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Premier Properties | 78-115 Calle Estado #104 | La Quinta | CA | 92253

Written by Christine Nichols on . Posted in Uncategorized

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