Sacramento has many new visitors since this is the prime time for families vacationing.And for those of you in the process of relocating to the Sacramento area, you might like to know where the Fireworks will be displayed.Also for all of the new Home ownersthat just bought  your home this year and are new to Sacramento, there are some great firework displays and fun activities for the whole family.Here is a list of a few Cities and Communities in and around the Sacramento area that have a firework display on July 4th, 2007.  Be sure to click on the links since there are day events as well, that you might wish to attend. Be safe and enjoy the holiday.Cal Expo State Fair will again put on a fabulous display of fireworks beginning at 9:30 p.m...go to the Fair, stay for the show.Carmichael,... 06/28/2007

I thought I'd post some interesting facts you might not know about ActiveRain, the real estate network that is run by the same folks who bring you Localism.com.  There's a perennial debate there, usually in non-public ("members only") posts, as to whether Realtors should be allowed to post listings so our colleagues can see them.  In one recent thread, we had a lively discussion, in which myself and a few others were on the side of "yes, we should post our listings -- that's what our sellers hire us to do", but a substantial group (the majority?) wanted to prevent real estate listings from being posted.I got to the point where I was going to sum up where we were, and I thought, you know, this really should be made available to consumers.  Anyway, here's the summary I was going to post t... 06/26/2007

I've recently been revising one of our Sacramento Web sites, http://www.sacramentohomeshopper.com, which is Elite Properies' "Company Web Site".There are some neighborhood related and community (in the Web 2.0) features we're working hard at extending and improving.  One is a new blog, which is "designed" (albeit it minimally), to be a multi-author blog.  So far it's just us Elite agents, Purva Brown and myself, but I'd really like to incorporate some focus on Sacramento blog authors.  I don't know if this will work -- usually the successful community sites need a more global focus just to get a sufficient user base to make it worthwhile, but I'm wondering if some other Sacramento area agents and others might want to participate  (yes, Placer, El Dorado, Yolo, Amador -- you count, too).... 06/25/2007

One of the advantages of working for someone polyblogular is that whatever else happens, you're going to get welcomed a lot, both before and after you get welcomed.I was hoping to welcome Purva Brown earlier, but at that point I couldn't use her name because she hadn't yet dropped the sad news of her Elite Adventure to her other broker.  So all I could do by way of name dropping there was mention old Ted the Broker, who never did call me, by the way.So no more welcomes for you, Ted the Broker.  You've overstayed your welcomes.But I got the pleasure of welcoming Purva to the company once from my Sacramento blog, then once again from Sweet Home Sacramento, and now finally from this here bit of post.Just two more blogs to go and I'll be all caught up.That least boring of men, Voltaire, onc... 06/22/2007

 After more than a year of deliberations, the city of Sacramento has approved of a Wi-Fi System that would cover approximately 100 square miles of the city with FREE wireless Internet access for both residents and visitors! If all goes as planned, by October 2009, anyone that has a wi-fi card and a computer could access the Internet form parks, restaurants business and homes.The speed of this city-wide connection will be up to 1 megabit per second, which is 20 times faster than dial up! Sacramento would join approximately 8o other cities that currently have this massive type of system up and running. And 300 cities that have smaller systems in place. The city council gave Sacramento Metro Connect LLC, permission to build the network. SMC will also sell Wi-Fi fee-based subscriptions rang... 06/22/2007

Its that time of year again, we have Farmers Markets downtown 4 days a week now.  What better way to stay healthy, eat locally and meet your neighbors!  Stop by one today if only to pick up a fresh nectarine or bouquet of flowers for your sweetie! - Look for the organic booths.  - KSundays - YEAR ROUND RAIN OR SHINE!8 a.m.-noon; 5th and W streets, next to Southside ParkTuesdays - May through October10 a.m.-2 p.m.; Fremont Park, 15th and P streets10 a.m.-2 p.m.; Roosevelt Park, 10th and P streetsWednesdays - May through October10 a.m.-2 p.m.; Cesar Chavez Plaza, 10th and J streetsThursdays - May through October10 a.m.-2 p.m.; Downtown Plaza, 4th and K streets 06/21/2007

Looks like a good portion of the Central City will be getting a new zip code starting July 1st.  It seems to cover the railyards, the west side of the R Street corridor and the Midtown Arts and Entertainment areas.    Starting July 1st my office will now be in the 95811.   Sacramento keeps getting bigger and bigger!   See the full story from the Sacramento Bee along with a map at: http://www.sacbee.com/city/story/223780.htmlK 06/21/2007

Dear Seller,Today, my Home Buyers wrote an offer for you. Value was difficult but after showing the home buyers your condo complex sales and seeing that there have been no sales since October 2006, we didn't feel that your price was in direct comparison to the current Real Estate market.We had a difficult time viewing your condo since there was so much in every room and the man in the condo (perhaps your husband) didn't seem to want lights on or window treatments open. We liked what we could see and it is true that your unit and one other have the two largest patios, actually yards. That was very impressive.But, that's not really why I'm writing. When I called your Realtor or at least the person listed on the MLS, that happened to be a woman's name,  a man answered and gave me a differe... 06/16/2007

I am extremely excited. I have recently purchased the domain name MichaelDRealtor.com. I have come into the technology age and am actually enjoying it. As of right now, I have plans in action for a big beautiful and user-friendly interactive website. It is in the process of being built. In the meantime the site is being redirected to here. Welcome to my Active Rain profile. While Active Rain is a very powerful networking tool and I have enjoyed the connections I have made here, it does not a perfect personal website make. I will link to Active Rain and MySpace and all of my blogging will be published both here and on the website. Also I will duplicate all of the links that I have here there. So nothing shall be missed. Keep Your Eyes open! Happy Surfing and Living.Michael D.Have a Great... 06/15/2007

Going Once, Going Twice...SOLD to the HIGHEST bidder who now has overpaid on a piece of the American Dream!  If you haven't heard, on June 23rd at Cal Expo there will be 107 Sacramento area bank-owned houses put on the auctioning block that have been repossessed. Some folks unfortunately, will get caught up in this and over pay during the frenzy of the moment. That's what the Banks are counting on and there will be those that won't let the Banks down. Now, you ask, is this a good thing? Absolutely not! In my opinion, the Banks have not made an attempt to renegotiate the bad loans that they disseminated nor have they accepted Short Sale offers on homes for sale during the Short Sale process because of their greed. So, what we have here is an attempt by the Banks to give the public what t... 06/15/2007

 In an ever continuing process to consolidate City Services and provide better customer service,  The City of Sacramento Parking Customer Service will move into City Hall...   Once again great work on better serving the public!  - KCustomers can obtain all services in one location beginning week of Monday, June 18The customer service team for the City of Sacramento Department of Transportation's Parking Services division is relocating from 921 10th Street to the Revenue Department, Monday, June 18, to better serve customers out of City Hall at 915 I Street, first floor. The move means a one-stop shop for citizens needing to obtain residential parking permits, validation coupons, meter reservations for bagging parking meters during construction and other parking transactions as well as p... 06/13/2007

Cool in the Pool Program to Provide Added Relief When Outside Temperatures Reach 100 Degrees Fahrenheit or MoreSacramento, California, June 13, 2007--As part of its Cool in the Pool program, the Department of Parks and Recreation will keep pools open until 7p.m. whenever temperatures reach 100 Degrees Fahrenheit or more. Thirteen pools will participate in the Cool in the Pool program.  They will remain open for recreational swimming between the hours of 1p.m and 7p.m., when the previously mentioned conditions apply.  This summer Cool in the Pool program will begin on Monday, June 18th.Swimming Pool Locations:Carillon Pool, 1648 65th Ave., 433-6271 Clunie Pool at McKinley Park, Alhambra Blvd. and F St., 264-5301 Doyle Pool at Northgate Park, Bremerton Dr. and Mendel Way, 566-6420Glenn Ha... 06/13/2007

City holds open house to answer questions about construction to convert Freeport and 21st streets from one-way to two-waySacramento residents are invited to an open house, Tuesday, June 26, to learn more about the construction activities and schedule for converting Freeport and 21st streets from one-way to two-way. Construction is scheduled to start in early August to return Freeport , from (Broadway to Vallejo Way) and 21st Street (from 4th Avenue to W Street) to two-way traffic. The streets had been two-way prior to 1974. Restoring the streets to two-way will improve neighborhood livability for motorists and non-motorists by reducing travel speeds and improving access to neighborhoods, while enhancing the quality of life for area residents.WHAT:           Open House to answer construc... 06/13/2007

WiFi now available for travelers at Sacramento Valley Station The City of Sacramento has gone live with free WiFi at the at the Sacramento Valley Station, adding to the list of improvements the City has made at the station and the surrounding parking lots since the City acquired the property and eight acres last December. About 1.3 million passengers a year stop at the historic depot traveling on Amtrak and Regional Transit. The high-speed WiFi connection, free to depot visitors, can be used for up to 12-hours by registering for a user name and password at the Amtrak ticket counter. Users can access the service from the lobby to within 100 feet of the building's perimeter. In addition to WiFi, the City has made numerous improvements to the depot the last five months including: ¨      In... 06/13/2007

The Sacramento Towers are now officially a dead deal. Dead in terms of what we were all expecting in height and what had gained International acclaim.  This project unfortunately was a financial fiasco, became stalled once construction costs sky rocketed and then PERS backed out. This would have been the iconic project that would have put Sacramento on the map and changed our skyline.  However, as the plans stood, this Towers project is officially dead.The Sacca offices are closed, locked and empty. The investors whose money has been tied up in escrow with the Title company will be returned by Friday according to the Sacca office. In fact, I am told that Sacca himself has been calling the investors.The huge ugly hole will have to wait until Cal Pers who will need to make a statement as ... 06/11/2007

  Looking for fun, FREE entertainment in Sacramento?  The summer hot spot on Friday nights is downtown at Cesar Chavez Plaza.  Featuring local artists from a variety of genres.  Enjoy rock, pop, blues and folk music.  It's free and all ages are welcome!  So pack up the family and head downtown.  When: Fridays from 5 - 9 PM Where: Cesar Chavez Plaza  located at 10th and J Street Downtown Sacramento.   06/08/2007

Home Buyers and Sellers know that hiring an experienced Realtor is key especially in today's Real Estate market. I often site examples of why every Home Buyer and Seller should take the time to investigate who they are relying on with the most expensive asset that they will own or do own, their house. I have been blessed with excellent Home Buyers and Sellers throughout my career and thought I would share with you a few of what Home Buyers and Sellers that I have worked with have to say about my services. Recently, a current Home Buyer wrote an article for my blog. Listed below are the testimonials from past clients: "We have worked with numerous Realtors throughout the country and internationally as well.  Gena is, without a doubt, on e of the best professional Realtors we have encount... 06/07/2007

A non-ActiveRain project of mine, the Sacramento Map Project, is beginning to shape up fairly well.Right now it's currently at the stage of publishing experimental map mashups for Sacramento County.  (A mashup is basically a web site constructed out of other peoples' data, programming interfaces, or the like).  In this case, what's being mashed are Metrolist MLS data on the one hand and Google / Yahoo Maps on the other.There's a tentative todo list for the development work that I'm working on, the subset-of-the-MLS database is taking shape, and there are a few maps published.For example, here are:An index to Sacramento County By Zip Code, which is pretty straightforward database display code.  No surprises there.If you click through to Sacramento Arden (95864), you get a view of the zip... 06/06/2007

Every neighborhood has them... Neighborhood HauntsNeighborhood haunts make a neighborhood great. They allow communities to come together and discuss the day's news, gossip and sports.  In South Land Park, we have La Bou, Giovannis (soccer team central!), and the Sutterville Elementary School (for the parents!). Land Park has the all-time wonderful Vic's (for those 1-100), the Riverside Clubhouse (for those 21 and over), Marie's Donuts and, last but not least, Freeport Bakery.  BUT FOR HOW MUCH LONGER???? I heard a crazy rumor at a Land Park open house Sunday. Someone said that Freeport Bakery is moving to 18th & Broadway. I try to always be "in the know' about these things. I'm surprised I'm one of the last to hear. If you know, lemme know!  Can't get enough of their tasty cakes! 06/04/2007

When I bought my house, my realtor didn't give me a heads-up about the local school. I was so emotionally overwhelmed with delight that we'd found a big house, I likely wouldn't have paid it any attention. (Though I should have)Four years later and that child who we carried through the front door now busts through it dropping a backpack and gabbing about her school friends. We're lucky; Sutterville Elementary (http://schools.scusd.edu/sutterville/index.htm)%20is considered one of the City of Sacramento Unified School District's gems in their somewhat tarnished crown. Interestingly, I've met students whose parents are driving them from Rosemont and Downtown, attracted by the quality of education and great reputation. These folks either want to relocate to the vicinity of the school, or w... 06/04/2007