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Prudential California Realty is Central Coast’s Real Estate experts. Our first priority is you – always. It is our goal to provide you with the most innovative real estate services on the Central Coast.

We try on our clothes before we buy them. Many bars and cafes let us sample their drinks before we buy those too. So why can’t we do the same with homes?

We do not need to explain to you the importance of understanding what life is like before into a new area. You want your new home to be in an area that suits your personality. Great schools, exciting night life, friendly neighbors and a beautiful atmosphere are just some of the qualities you want to find when moving to a new area (and fortunately, the San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara areas boast plenty of that).

We found a handful of videos that we think will convey the idea of what it is like to live in the San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara areas of California. We recommend watching this video first. It explains Oprah’s vote that San Luis Obispo is America’s happiest city, Sunset magazine’s claim that it is the “Best Town of the Future,” the “Best Weather in the US,” “Most Irresistible Wine Escapes,” and “Best Foods and Farmers Markets.” Even Dateline NBC said we are the “Top Place in the World” to live. That is a lot of boasting, but we encourage you to watch the rest of the videos to get the best idea of the area.

Here is a brief video of some college students and alumni explaining what their favorite activities to do in SLO are.

Those of you with pets will be interested in this video. If you love your dog or cat, there is no doubt you want to travel around and bring your best friend(s) with you everywhere you go.

And don’t forget like we mentioned a few months ago, San  Luis Obispo is still the Happiest City in America.

We could have found more videos about the San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara areas, but we had to stop sometime. Do you have a video you think we should see? Share it with us in a comment below and maybe we will feature it in a future blog post!

Thanks for coming back and stay tuned.

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Prudential California Realty is Central Coast’s Real Estate experts. Our first priority is you – always. It is our goal to provide you with the most innovative real estate services on the Central Coast.

We are three days away from Christmas and while you are spending lots of time and money shopping for your loved ones, you might also be wondering about what you can get for yourself. As many of us know, a home purchase is one of the best long term investments you can get for yourself. Several weeks ago, we told you about how easy it is to apply for a home loan. With the milestone-reaching purchase of your own home, you may have some questions about loans and what you need to know about loans in 2011 and going into 2012.

Let us start with the understanding that there are multiple types of loans. Your personal situation will decide which of these types of loan will be best for you. Some questions to ask yourself before embarking on the mission of getting a loan are:

1. Do you expect your financial situation to change within the next few years?
2. Are you planning to live in this home short-term or long-term?
3. Are you comfortable with a changing mortgage payment amount?
4. Is your goal to be free of mortgage debt as your children leave for college or as you retire?

After answering those questions for yourself, we would like to introduce three things you should know loans. It is definitely not a comprehensive list, but these three items are things you should definitely know.

     1.      You will need complete information regarding assets being used for your mortgage.

Make sure you have all of your bank statements, 401(k), IRS, and other investment account information. The more information you have for these accounts, the better you will fare. Since you will need all of this information, make sure you also have as much information for all assets, income, and credit as well.

     2.      You will need two full years of tax return history.

Your mortgage lender will request tax transcripts from the IRS and will compare what you submitted in your mortgage application   with what you submitted to the IRS.

     3.      One bad credit score could seriously affect you.

A decade ago, this was not as serious as it is now, but today, having high balances or too many inquiries can bring your chances of receiving a loan down. Our advice? Sign up for a free credit report, routinely check it, fix inaccurate credit accounts, and pay down your balances.

Now we that understand loans a bit more, make sure to call our Wells Fargo representative, Bob Franklin, and he can assist you further in the process and answer any questions you may have. Bob can help you find mortgage options that meet your current situation while complementing your long-term financial goals. Plus, you can start the home buying process with a free consultation!

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Prudential California Realty is Central Coast’s Real Estate experts. Our first priority is you – always. It is our goal to provide you with the most innovative real estate services on the Central Coast

Two weeks ago we told you why Santa Barbara is a hotspot in America. Three months ago we told you why San Luis Obispo is America’s Happiest City. But the news keeps coming and we have to keep sharing.

Something you probably already know is that we are in a great buyer’s market right now. A great buyer’s market combined with a great place to buy sounds like a match made in Heaven. Let’s explore why these two make such a great match.

Why San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara?

San Luis Obispo was recently listed as one of the top 10 places to buy a home in the country. One of the reasons CNN Money cited? San Luis Obispo is “home to the state’s rising star of wine production, Paso Robles, where even French vintners are buying property.”

We include Santa Barbara with San Luis Obispo because the two neighbor each other and offer so much of the same great things that appeal our residents. If you remember from two weeks ago, Santa Barbara boasts:

• Great air quality
• A geographically beautiful location
• We are on the coast, but still close to majestic mountains
• Tons of great restaurants to please any palate
• We are only 1.5 to 2 hours from Los Angeles if you want access to a metropolitan area
• The extensive and beyond satisfying Santa Barbara wine country
• Traffic is typically not a problem
• Santa Barbara is a low-stress community

But under the umbrella of great deals and great living as well are Arroyo Grande, Paso Robles, Pismo Beach, Templeton, Lompoc, and more cities in the Central Coast region.

Why is now the time to buy on the Central Coast?

Favorable market conditions such as historically low interest rates combined with the pace of home sales makes right now the time to find the house you were meant to fall in love with. We work closely with Wells Fargo, experts in more than just understanding that a combination of low interest rates, decreasing house prices, and slow home sales are more than enough reason to start the home buying process.

If you are ready take advantage of the perfect alignment of a great place to buy and a great time to buy, contact us and we will work with Wells Fargo to make the process as simple and affordable for you as possible.

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You might remember that last September, we told you that San Luis Obispo was named America’s Happiest City. But what about Santa Barbara? Well, don’t think for a second that much of that happiness has not spilled over into Santa Barbara.

As San Luis Obispo’s neighbor, Santa Barbara has just as much to boast about as San Luis Obispo. As a matter of logic, there can only be one America’s Happiest City, so how does Santa Barbara compare? From the looks of it, Santa Barbara looks like a close second place, but let us ask some of America’s happiest people.

Santa Barbara’s website features a great post where local residents Shaun Tomson, Cat Cora, Rob Lowe, Andrew Firestone, Jean-Michel Cousteau, Jay Ferguson, and Zach Gill do just that. In the series of entertaining videos found on this page, they discuss why they made Santa Barbara their home and what their perfect day in Santa Barbara would be like. And just like every wise tourist knows, it is a great idea to ask where the locals hang out. Thankfully, they discuss that as well. So, whether you live in Santa Barbara currently, or are thinking of moving here, be sure to spend some time on this page acquainting yourself with what the above mentioned residents and celebrities have already acquainted themselves with.

What else appeals to people who live in and love to visit Santa Barbara? Simple:

• Great air quality
• A geographically beautiful location
• We are on the coast, but still close to majestic mountains
• Tons of great restaurants to please any palate
• We are only 1.5 to 2 hours from Los Angeles if you want access to a metropolitan area
• The extensive and beyond satisfying Santa Barbara wine country
• Traffic is typically not a problem
• Santa Barbara is a low-stress community

In 2005, Sam from the Travel Channel visited Santa Barbara and told us her top 5 favorite things she loved to do in Santa Barbara. Her number 1? Just being in Santa Barbara! That makes complete sense to given the above list.

We have done a lot of boasting regarding everything great there is to enjoy and experience here in Santa Barbara, but how could we resist keeping all of this information a secret to those not in the know? We made quite a brief list considering all of the things we could have really bragged about regarding Santa Barbara, but that does not mean you can’t share something with us as well.

If there is something you love about Santa Barbara that we did not mention, or if you would like to elaborate on a point we made, we encourage you to share with us by adding a comment below.

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Prudential California Realty is Central Coast’s Real Estate experts. Our first priority is you – always. It is our goal to provide you with the most innovative real estate services on the Central Coast.

The home buying process can be just as confusing and tedious as it is exciting and thrilling. That is why we help you from the beginning to end and answer every question you have. One of the more common questions is about loans and the process in general. To help you gain a bit more understanding, we will explain that in this blog article.

The loan process can be broken down into four steps (or more if we really wanted to get into detail, but for now, we will keep things simple). Remember, Lao Tzu said that a 10,000 mile journey begins with one step. Luckily, this is only a four step journey that begins with one step, here they are:

Step 1: Determine how much you need and can borrow

This step is based on a number of factors including how much of a monthly payment you can afford, your employment history, credit history, income, debt, and more. With this information, the lender will determine how much they can loan you. If you need some help with this step, take a look at the calculators provided by Wells-Fargo Home Mortage.

Step 2: Pre-qualify for the loan

In this step, you provide information employment, assets, residence history, etc. The lender will review this information and give you a Pre-Qualification Letter. Then we will use that to make the best offer on the home you choose.

Step 3: Apply!

Together, we will make an offer to the home seller. Once it is accepted, you can complete the loan application. This is not too hard considering you can do it right online!

Step 4: Your loan is funded

In this final step, we work together with the seller to designate an escrow/title company to handle the funding of your loan once it is approved. We coordinate with the escrow/title company to make sure all the papers your lender will need are in order, and you’ll sign everything at the escrow/title company’s office.

As you can see from the above steps, qualifying for a loan is not as a difficult process as many people think it is.

Congratulations! You are a new home owner!

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Prudential California Realty is Central Coast’s Real Estate experts. Our first priority is you – always. It is our goal to provide you with the most innovative real estate services on the Central Coast.

In our last post, we told you about how you can decorate green for the holiday season. This time we are going to travel outside of the house and talk about what the San Luis Obispo area has to offer its green-minded residents.

Ten years ago, the world did not have as much to offer its population for the green movement as it does today. The amount of progress we have made in terms of technology, available products and just our way of thinking should be commended. Let’s take a look at what is happening here in San Luis Obispo.

Let’s start off with an exciting event coming up in just a few days. On October 30 and 31, environmentalist and journalist Bill Mc-Kibben will be speaking in San Luis Obispo at the Fremont theater regarding climate change. His talk is called “Brave New Planet: The Fight for a Livable Climate.”

We should be excited to have him considering The Boston Globe has called him “probably the nation’s leading environmentalist” and Time magazine referred to him as “the world’s best green journalist.” This is just another reason to throw on top of the pile of why San Luis Obispo is America’s Happiest Cities.

Organizations like SLO Green Build are helping to make San Luis Obispo one of the cities spearheading the green movement in America. Their website states, “We who live in San Luis Obispo County consider it one of the most precious places on earth. We treasure the natural environment with its clean air, rugged coast line, rolling hills, productive ranches and farmland, and open spaces.” Organizations and residents like this are one of the reasons why our area remains so beautiful, and they are definitely not the only one of their kind around here.

Of course, we could not say the word “green” without bringing up farmers markets. There are a lot in our area, so we will leave it to our county’s website to give you the list. One interesting fact though: San Luis Obispo County is home to one of the oldest and largest farmers markets in the United States! Downtown, every Thursday night, the main street is blocked off, and dozens of farmers set up their booths, musicians play music and other businesses and organizations join in to offer visitors an excellent night.

Our local newspaper, The Tribune, recently ran an excellent story regarding how we can change the green movement. The article begins with an excellent point, “Who wants to be lectured about the environment or made to feel guilty about the damage we do to it ever day? Instead, what we want is to feel empowered, but the problems can be so overwhelming that we just don’t know where to start or whether we can make a difference.” There are a lot of articles online discussing the green movement, but few make as strong a point from a unique perspective as this one.

While we certainly have not covered everything that is happening in San Luis Obispo on this topic (we could have a separate blog just for this), this is a good foot in the door on how our area remains one of the most beautiful in the country. If there are any organizations, events, ideas or miscellaneous items you think deserved to make our list, we encourage you to tell us about them in the comments section below.

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In our last post, we told you about preparing your home for the fall season. That is the work side of things. In this post, we want to talk about the play side of things, but in a greener, more responsible way: decorating your home for the upcoming holiday seasons and keeping it ‘green’.

What benefits do we have by decorating ‘green’? Like all other ‘green’ solutions, decorating ‘green’ is meant to save energy. With the availability of products out there, it should be no problem finding energy efficient options that are as easy on the wallet as they are on the environment. Not only do you save energy, and money in the form of electric bills and having to replace items like energy efficient light bulbs in the future, but you can appear tech savvy to friends and neighbors while showing people you care about the environment.

The question is: how do you decorate your home for the upcoming holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc.) while also being environmentally conscience?

The question has a long list of answers, but our “solution motif” is: Rethink and Recycle.

Under “rethink”, look for products made locally, perhaps within 100 or 200 miles. While that seem like a far distance, it is much closer than most countries, so even if the product that you are buying may not be categorized as ‘green‘, the fact that less energy was used to obtain it means you are playing a role in being friendlier to the earth. And remember, like we said in an earlier post, 25% of San Luis Obispo’s residents work for themselves. Shopping local not only helps the environment, it supports local business owners and employees who keep the city alive.

Another idea is to recycle or repurpose items you already have. For example, before you go and throw away last year’s (or last decade’s) holiday decorations because they seem outdated or no longer operate to their fullest capacity, think of other ways they can be used. We found some great examples of this on this website. That should give you the idea that lots of items can fulfill purposes they are not originally designed for.

We know that everyone has their own specific ways for decorating their homes, so these are just some ways to supplement your ideas. Do you have an idea of something we should have included? Perhaps something outside of our rethink and recycle motif? If you have an idea we have not thought of, we invite you to share it in a comment section below and show the world how San Luis Obispo does the fall holidays.

Thanks and have fun decorating all fall, cause soon enough, it will be time for the winter holidays!

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As we kick off the fall season, we start to see lots of wonderful things happening around us.  The temperatures cool down and give us a break from the harsh summer extremes we spent months sweating through. Holidays start popping up, blossoming our celebratory and gift-giving nature. We also start to see our neighbors start to take care of fall projects around the house, which might spark some of us to start doing the same.

These projects are important no matter what stage you are in during the home ownership process, whether buying, selling, getting ready to do either, if you have just moved in, or you are simply content with where you are. Fall projects are important for curb appeal and to maintain a sense of order and beauty around your property, earning you admiration and respect from neighbors and house guests.

That being said, what fall projects should you put at the top of your list? We put the efforts into two categories:

1. Cleaning up your yard
2. Revitalizing your yard

This article from Realtor.com states you should clean up your yard, protect areas that can be damaged by the upcoming winter season, and various activities for your plants and garden. We recommend reading it because it offers some great ideas and helps you prioritize all the weekend work you have ahead of yourself.

Clean Up Your Yard

Any solid effort, small or large, requires preparation. Cleaning up your yard should be your first step in reinvigorating your yard and preparing it for the fall. Rake any leaves, clean up debris, trim trees and bushes, and prune shrubs. Walk to your street and look at your house with a “new eye” and see any particular place you think could use a little effort.

Revitalize Your Yard

Now that your yard is all cleaned up, it’s time to get creative. Your home’s exterior is now like a blank canvas, and you, as homeowner, are the artist. What will you paint?

The single best idea is most likely to start in your garden. Mums are a great flower to plant in your fall garden. Other colors to keep in mind for anything decorative include our traditional fall colors like rust, brown, sage green and darker hues of yellow. Another great fall plant is the pansy.

Consider other festivities you may be participating in this season. If you will be celebrating Halloween by carving pumpkins and putting them on your porch, consider planting flowers that the pumpkin’s colors can complement.

Think about a theme you can place around your efforts. How about getting people into the holiday spirit? Add a wreath to your front door to help bring in the holidays. Lawn decorations can be fun, but don’t forget that with most things in life, less is more.

For additional home exterior ideas, you can take a look at our post from last May where we discussed ideas on improving your lawn and everything else outside of your home.

As you prepare your home for the fall season, start thinking about other ideas you have. If you think of something we missed, please share it with us in a comment by clicking “Leave a Comment” below. As summer wraps up, we wish you all a wonderful fall!

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Two weeks ago we helped you make the most out of San Luis Obispo County. Between miscellaneous events, numerous wineries and vineyards, delicious restaurants and fun for kids, the list was hard to make.

But what else makes San Luis Obispo the place to be? There is a reason people want to be here. Before we tell you why this area is so desirable, we must say that when we tell you, we aren’t lying.

San Luis Obispo is America’s happiest city.

Location, location, location is still the rule that applies to real estate and if Americans really just want to be happy at the end of the day, it is a wonder that the San Luis Obispo’s town population is low enough to keep that small town feel that helps give it its charm and wonder.

This past January, San Luis Obispo was featured on Oprah’s website where Oprah Show correspondent, Jenny McCarthy, came by to visit. During her visit, she found our charming streets and friendly faces to be just some of the elements that make up America’s happiest city.

As she explored the town meeting our residents and seeing our beautiful sights, she discovered a lot from miles of hiking and biking trails to pedestrian friendly streets with wide sidewalks.

The health aspect of the San Luis Obispo speaks more: In 1990, it became one of the first cities in the world to ban public smoking. Additionally, no fast food drive-thrus are allowed. Why else are our town’s residents so happy? Almost 25% of our resident’s are happy because they work for themselves.

The small town feeling has rewarding benefits for the 45,000 residents who tend to be very social, open-minded, happy people. From a healthy economy and healthy residents to to fun and activities for everyone, in San Luis Obispo, we know how to keep ourselves happy. Who wouldn’t want to live here?

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Prudential California Realty is Central Coast’s Real Estate experts. Our first priority is you – always. It is our goal to provide you with the most innovative real estate services on the Central Coast.

Whether you live in San Luis Obispo County, are moving here, or simply coming in for a short business / pleasure trip, you are going to need something to do. For visitors, what usually happens is they will ask the front desk clerk or  a local they pass on the street, “What is there to around here?”

The local may reply, “You know….I’m not too sure.”

Unless you live in a major city like New York or Chicago, renowned to have an extensive list of fine dining and entertainment, than it can sometimes be easy to forget about what your area of the world has to offer. Let’s face it: after a hard work week, most of us would really love to go out to a nice dinner and cut up the dance floor, but sometimes we take for granted some of the great things our community has.

As experts in this area of the country, we believe San Obispo County offers its residents and visitors a great deal to be proud of in the way of enjoyments, but we aren’t the only ones. We got excited just looking at this top 10 list for the county and decided our thoughts on some favorites:

Food

Naturally, we will start with food. We came across this great article that proclaims, “In San Luis Obispo County, there’s no shortage of options to satisfy your appetite.” After looking at the list, we have to agree. San Luis Obispo County has numerous restaurants to satisfy anyone’s taste buds.

• Our favorite? Thai Talay. Why? Between the restaurant’s beautiful atmosphere, delicious food and food presentation, we have never been disappointed.

Miscellaneous Events

Looking for a list of what’s happening this weekend? Head over here for a comprehensive calendar to help you plan something exciting. The calendar includes everything from concerts to comedy shows to festivals.

• Our favorite? Honestly, this list is so extensive we couldn’t pick one.

Kids

If you are going to make a list of things to do, you have to include a section for children. The added element of children can prove difficult for any parent looking for something to do that will make everyone happy. That is why we found this list of 353 things you can do with kids.

• Our favorite? The San Luis Obispo Children’s Museum Why? You don’t have to be a child to have a fun time.

Wine

With over 200 wineries and vineyards in San Luis Obispo County, this is a category we had to tell you about. Depending on how much you like your wine, this might be one to save for another occasion, but we also think you can’t visit or live in San Luis Obispo County without visiting a winery or vineyard. The toughest part will be figuring out which one to visit first.

• Our favorite? Kelsey See Canyon Vineyards Why? This lovely family owned and operated vineyard is on a country road filled with oak trees and wild flowers. The staff treats us like we are a member of their family. Oh, and the wine is amazing too!

We are quite confident that with this list, you will be able to carve out an entire weekend of things to do. Business meeting, vacation, romantic night away? It doesn’t matter. Prudential California Realty doesn’t just sell homes, we also help you enjoy your time inside them and outside of them.