It is almost that time again! April is the time for the Home and Garden show at the Chronicle Pavilion in Concord, CA!   If you just bought a home or are just thinking of remodeling or a new landscape design- attending the show will give you a TON of ideas!  Lots of vendors - from home items, windows, doors, landscape, pottery, decorative things, pools, to contractors, remodelers, flooring, fine art, kitchen and bath designers - it is all here.  Many vendors offer discounts or special offers thru the home show and if nothing else it is fun to see what some of these folks can do for just a weekend!  You'll see ponds, hot tubs, cabanas, landscape and other "finished" projects right there at the show!  If they can do it just for a weekend, surely it will be easy for us to do it ourselves, right?  Anyway, here are the details:

Chronicle Pavilion, Concord
Contra Costa Spring Home & Garden Show
21st Annual ~ April 7 * 8 * 9, 2006

http://www.capitalshowcase.com/contra.html

Get a home show discount entry coupon here, save $2.00:

http://www.capitalshowcase.com/images/coupon.gif

Who do you call when looking for a local contractor? A concrete expert? Appliance repair or even car repair? I just heard about a service called www.AngiesList.com - it  is a website that will provide you a list of rated companies in just about any home category you can think of.  They just opened in our San Francisco East Bay areas and have many contractors here in Contra Costa and Alameda counties. From plumbers and painters, to pet sitting and lawn care.  As a member you can help rate the companies... you can read reviews and when searching you can search for only companies with good ratings.  For now, you can sign up for free to view the site for a year.. then you'll have the option to renew your membership.  So when looking for a contractor for a remodeling or repair project - give it a try. I know I will! 

Catherine Myers

www.DiabloValley.net

Real Estate services in Walnut Creek, Concord, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Lafayette, Alamo, Danville.

A lot of hoopla has been floating around the news media lately about the "bubble" theory of real estate, that is, the theory that the real estate market is going to burst. In the opinion of many real estate experts and economists, this theory has no merit.

The Real Estate "Market" is a Compilation of Local Economies

When people speak of the real estate economy, they are using nationally-based statistics. For example, Fortune Magazine reported recently that since the early 1960s, average residential real estate values have never had a down year. This statement is true, but while these numbers are measurable, they do not reflect the intricacies of local real estate markets.

The stock market is based on the national, even the world economy. The real estate market is based on local, and, in many cases, micro-local economies. What's happening in the Bay Area does not directly affect what's happening in Toledo. True, certain factors such as interest rates affect all the markets, there really is no broad barometer to measure the entire housing industry in the U.S. Average prices, average new homes sold and average homes built nationally has little relevance to your locality. And, within a particular city that is doing well, there may be certain neighborhoods doing poorly for a variety of reasons, such as over-building of new homes.

So while statistics, calculations and economic factors are relevant, so is common sense - take a look around and see what's really happening in your market. Consult a real estate professional, like me, or investors and lenders in your area for a better picture of what is going on.

Avoid looking at broad nationwide, statewide or even city-wide statistics. Be concerned with the average prices in the particular neighborhoods in which you buy houses, the average time on the market, and the changes in sales prices from last year to this year.

For more information on your particular neighborhood or other local markets, call me. I can give you the facts!

Call me, Catherine Myers at 925-683-2125 or visit me on the web at www.DiabloValley.net .  Thanks for visiting my Contra Costa Real Estate Blog.

(c) copyright 2006

Catherine Myers

For us California football fans, the best part (in my humble opinion) of the Superbowl this year was the ads!  The one time during the year I don't TIVO right thru the commercials.  What was your favorite?  Comment here!  Would love to know.

My favorites?  The Sprint Locker Room ad, the Budweiser Streaker, Fed Ex and the Bud Light Save Yourself.  Hilarious!  The worst? The STUPID Burger King  Whopperettes!  Yikes!  Who thought that up?

You can view the ads in their entirety here:  http://www.ifilm.com/superbowl?htv=12

Catherine Myers

Alain Pinel Realtors

Contra Costa County Real Estate

Walnut Creek, Concord, Lafayette, Danville, Alamo

www.DiabloValley.net

925-627-3027

People love the new house smell! What exactly is the new house smell so many people like??  Well literally, it is the chemical off gassing of man made products such as carpeting, engineered woods, furniture, paints and other common items.   Some people are more sensitive than others to the chemical breakdown that happens in a new house.   Some of the biggest offenders are the man made lumber products such as pressboard, modern engineered floor joists, countertops, particle board and furniture.... it is the adhesives used in these products that cause the most problems. It can sometimes takes years for these gasses to totally dissipate.   If those items aren't enough, manufacturers are now adding smells to everything these days from pencils to tissues.  I bet we all know someone is sensitive to entering a retail store with an overabundance of smells.  Or what about those homes for sale with an OVERpowering air freshener or just way too many scented candles.  I've had clients run from these homes due to asthma or allergies.  (  It's not enough to mask an odor in a home for sale. You really need to get to the source. But this is another topic!)

The new carpet smell is another big one.  This new carpet smell comes from 4-PC which is used in the latex backing of popular carpeting.  Stain guards, moth proofing and fire retardants add to the chemical cocktail present in most carpeting today.   VOC's, 'volatile organic compounds,' are found in carpeting.  These include toluene, benzene, formaldehyde, ethyl benzene, styrene, acetone and a other chemicals.  I've read that formaldehyde has been banned from use in the newer carpeting products, though I couldn't confirm that for sure. 

www.CNN.com  had an article just today on the 'new car smell.'   Even cars host toxic chemicals! See the article here: http://www.cnn.com/2006/AUTOS/01/31/toxic_cars/index.html .  From the article: 

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - A Michigan environmental group is charging that at least part of the so-called "new car smell" is toxic, and that the interior of an automobile has dangerous levels of various chemicals.

The report, "Toxic at any speed," comes from The Ecology Center, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based group. It reports that PBDEs, used as fire retardants, and phthalates, used primarily to soften PVC plastics, are found in dangerous amounts in dust and windshield film samples.

For your real estate questions, and homes for sale in Contra Costa County (San Francisco's East Bay Area) call Catherine Myers at www.DiabloValley.net

(c)

Catherine Myers

All Rights Reserved