Best Halloween Events in the Inland Empire - Happening This Weekend!
Friday, Oct. 26, 2018 - 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Ronald Reagan Sports Park, 30875 Rancho Vista Road, Temecula, CA 92592
From the city of Temecula:
"What is a skeleton’s favorite game at the carnival? Boneyard bowling! You can enjoy this game and many more at the annual Halloween Carnival. Event also includes jumps, train rides and a costume contest to make it a ghoulishly good time. You don’t want to miss this spooktacular event!
"Cost: $5/wristband= unlimited games & prizes, excludes food vendors."
For further information, click here.
Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018 - 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Banning Community Center, 789 San Gorgonio Ave., Banning, CA
From the city of Banning:
For further information, click here.
Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018 from 5 PM to 8 PM
Marna O'Brien Park, 20505 Palomar St. Wildomar, CA 92595
From the city of Wildomar:
For further information, click here.
Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018 - 5:30 p.m. - 8 p.m.
California Oaks Sport Park, 40600 California Oaks Road, Murrieta, CA
From the city of Murrieta:
"Join us for some family fun. Carnival style games, music, food vendors, etc! Enjoy this years Coco theme!! (carnival games suitable for ages 2-11) $3 per child for unlimited games."
For further information, click here.
Sunday, Oct. 28, 2018 - 4:30-6:30 pm
Hope Lutheran Church, 29043 Vallejo Ave., Temecula, CA
From Hope Lutheran:
"Hope Lutheran Church, Temecula invites the community to a FREE Fall Festival & Trunk or Treat, 4:30 - 6:30 pm Sunday, October 28. Kids and adults are invited to come dressed in costumes. No gruesome costumes, please.
"The Festival is from 4:30-5:45 pm with carnival games, face painting, crafts, cupcake walk, and food! Food available for purchase. ($2 meal deals)
"Trunk or Treating is from 5:45-6:30 pm. Visit decorated trunks for treats and more activities!"
For further information, click here.
Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018 - 5:00PM to 8:00PM
French Valley Community Center At Rancho Bella Vista Park, 31757 Browning Street, Murrieta, CA 92563
Hosted by Valley-Wide Recreation and Park District:
"FREE ADMISSION.
" A safe & fun alternative to 'Trick or Treating.' The French Valley Community Center will be filled with chills & thrills. Join us for games, jumpers, candy, and lots of FUN!
Phone: (951) 894-1468."
October 26-27, 2018
Downtown Riverside Main Street Pedestrian Mall
University & Main St. Riverside, CA
TOURS $15
For further information, click here.
Tips to Transition Your Home From Summer to Fall
Oh my, fall decor is where it's at! Pumpkins and leaves and wreaths and candles, there's no end to the fun in fall decor! There are many ways to decorate your home in a tasteful and festive way for fall.
Here are a few tips on how to transition from summer to fall décor!
1. Incorporate warm tones – change out your blankets and throw pillows with fall colors (browns, mustard yellows, burgundies)
2. Trade out your fresh summer scents for fall scents (pumpkin, cinnamon, apple cider) - Light candles and let the glow set the fall mood. Candles are an absolute favorite to set the tone of the holiday season. Especially pumpkin spice and leaves for fall.
3. Decorate with natural elements – seasonal fruit (pears, pumpkins, apples, squash) and pine cones.
4. Purchase seasonal plants such as mums and hydrangea and place them outside your front door/porch.
5. Change out your fabrics and textures – textured textiles such as burlap, tweed, and herringbone.
I hope you enjoy decorating for fall as much as we do! Keep it simple and classic and you will not be disappointed!
Good Neighbor Day 2018
Every year on September 28th there is a reason to celebrate the people in your neighborhood. National Good Neighbor Day! It’s good for people to remind themselves what it means to be a good neighbor by doing something helpful for the people around them. A lot of the time neighbors are good friends, but we take their presence for granted. This National Good Neighbor Day, show your neighbors just how much they mean to you!
To celebrate, here are some ideas to brighten your neighbors’ day:
1. A simple ‘Thank You for Being a Good Neighbor’ note left on a doorstep can make a big impact.
2. Mow the lawn of the elderly gentleman two doors up and give him the week off from yard work.
3. Bake a quick batch of brownies and leave them on a neighbor’s doorstep with a nice note.
4. Fall flowers are in bloom. Buy a bouquet and leave an arrangement for the neighbor who watched your house while you were on vacation this summer.
5. Drop a $5 gift card for coffee in your mailbox for your faithful mail carrier.
6. Put a few extra nails in a neighbor’s falling fence and check something off their ‘to-do’ list.
7. Buy a welcome mat for the empty doorstep across the street.
8. Convert a ‘Garage Sale’ sign to a ‘Have a Great Day’ sign and post it at the entrance of your neighborhood.
9. If you have an artist’s flare, create a sidewalk chalk mural for the kids next door to welcome them home from school.
10. Halloween is fast approaching. Pick up your favorite goodies at the store and leave them in a bucket on your neighbor’s doorstep.
11. Today is the day to give a friendly wave when the driver behind you allows you to merge into traffic.
12. Time is running out to use your grill this year. Fire it up one more time and invite your neighbors over for barbeque.
How will you celebrate National Neighbor Day? Share your stories and pictures on social media using the hashtag #NationalNeighborDay!
Southern California Real Estate Market Update - Q2 2018
The following analysis of the Southern California real estate market is provided by Windermere Real Estate Chief Economist Matthew Gardner. We hope that this information may assist you with making better-informed real estate decisions. For further information about the housing market in your area, please don’t hesitate to contact your Windermere agent.
ECONOMIC OVERVIEW
The counties covered by this report—Los Angeles, San Diego, San Bernardino, Orange, and Riverside—added 110,200 new jobs between May 2017 and May 2018. As a result, the unemployment rate dropped from 4.2% to 3.6%. Employment growth in Southern California continues to outperform the nation as a whole, and I am confident this will continue as we move through the balance of the year.
HOME SALES ACTIVITY
- There were 51,320 home sales in the second quarter of 2018. This was 6.8% lower than the same period in 2017 but 32.6% higher than the first quarter of this year.
- Pending home sales (an indicator of future closings) were 3.2% lower than during the same period a year ago, which suggests that third quarter closings may not show much improvement.
- Home sales dropped across the board. The most noticeable decline was in San Diego County, which fell 8.8%. I continue to believe that the decline in sales is directly related to the very low levels of inventory.
- There was an average of 35,238 active listings in the second quarter—well below what is needed to get to a balanced market.
HOME PRICES
- Year-over-year, average prices in the region rose by 7% and were 5.6% higher than in the first quarter of 2018.
- Affordability continues to be an issue, which, in concert with limited inventory, is pushing home prices higher. New construction activity is not meeting the needs of new households, which puts further pressure on home prices.
- Price increases across the region were fairly level, with Orange County showing the greatest annual appreciation in values (+8.1%). The slowest appreciation was in San Diego County, which still saw a respectable 6.6% increase.
- Based on the data in this report, I believe it is highly likely that prices will continue rising at above-average rates for at least the balance of 2018.
DAYS ON MARKET
- The average time it took to sell a home in the region was 37 days. This is a drop of four days compared to the second quarter of 2017, and seven fewer days than in the first quarter of this year.
- The biggest drop in days on market was in San Bernardino County, where it took six fewer days to sell a home compared to the same period last year.
- Homes in San Diego County continue to sell at a faster rate than other markets in the region. In the second quarter, it took an average of only 24 days to sell a home, which is one day less than it took a year ago.
- All five counties saw a drop in the amount of time it took to sell a home compared to the second quarter of 2017.
CONCLUSIONS
The speedometer reflects the state of the region’s real estate market using housing inventory,
price gains, home sales, interest rates, and larger economic factors.
The Southern California economy continues to add jobs at a very healthy rate, which increases demand for all housing types. Mortgage rates—although rising— are still very favorable when compared to historic averages, and low inventory continues to drive prices higher. The number of homes for sale in the region remains well below the levels needed for a balanced market. Given all of these factors, I have moved the needle a little more in favor of sellers.
Mr. Gardner is the Chief Economist for Windermere Real Estate, specializing in residential market analysis, commercial/industrial market analysis, financial analysis, and land use and regional economics. He is the former Principal of Gardner Economics, and has more than 30 years of professional experience both in the U.S. and U.K.
Why Are Existing Home Sales Down?
"Why Are Existing Home Sales Down?" This is a question you may be asking yourself, and the good thins is, you have come to the right place to find out why.
The latest Existing Home Sales Report issued by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) revealed that home sales have decreased for four consecutive months and are at their slowest pace in over two years. This has some industry leaders puzzled considering the fact that the economy is strengthening, unemployment is down, and wages are beginning to rise. This begs the question: “Where are the buyers?”
Actually, agents in the field of most communities are still seeing strong desire from prospective purchasers. They have a list of potential buyers ready to go if the right houses come on the market and they claim it is not a shortage of demand, but is instead a shortage of inventory that is causing the market to soften.
Why is there a shortage of inventory?
You only need to look at the graph below to understand:
New construction sales over the last ten years are far below historic numbers from 1995-2002.
A recent industry report looked at building permits and concluded:
“If construction over the past decade matched historic norms, accounting for population change, the country would have had 2.3 million more single-family home permits.”
That decade of not building enough homes is the primary reason for the concerns about today’s market.
Wait, weren’t we talking about ‘existing’ home sales?
Some may argue that NAR’s sales report deals with existing home sales and not new construction, and they would be correct. However, reports have shown that one of the main reasons why existing homeowners are not selling is because they can’t find homes that meet the needs of their current lifestyles. Historically, the upgrades in a newly constructed home were the answers to those needs.
Over the last decade, however, there were fewer homes built to satisfy this move-up seller. Consequently, there are many homeowners who stayed in their homes for a longer tenure, instead of putting their homes up for sale.
As more new homes are being built, there will be more housing inventory to satisfy current demand which will cause prices to moderate and sales volumes to increase.
Source: Keeping Current Matters
Backpacks for Kids Dropoff 2018 - Assistance League of Riverside
Windermere understands the importance of giving back to our community. Enriching the neighborhoods in which we live and work is an integral part of how we do business.
Today we dropped of the donated backpacks we have collected for the past 3 months, to the Assistance League of Riverside.
The Assistance League of Riverside strives to bring smiles to children in need by providing new clothes, supplies and books to help build self-esteem in the classroom and nutritious snack bags to help fight hunger over the weekend. Assistance League members and community volunteers give more than 41,000 hours of service each year, touching the lives of 10,000 at-risk children and teens. There philanthropic programs receive support from our thrift shop, as well as fundraising activities, donations from individuals and organizations in the community, and grants from corporations and foundations.
We support the Assistance and their many outreach programs. Their volunteers are hardworking, committed and most importantly they CARE. This is another reason why RIVERSIDE ROCKS!
We have very grateful hearts knowing that these backpacks will make a difference in the lives of many children & families in our community.
Supply & Demand Will Determine Future Home Values
Will home values continue to appreciate throughout 2018? The answer is simple: YES! – as long as there are more purchasers in the market than there are available homes for them to buy. This is known as the theory of “supply and demand,” which is defined as:
“The amount of a commodity, product, or service available and the desire of buyers for it, considered as factors regulating its price.”
When demand exceeds supply, prices go up. Every month this year, demand (buyer traffic) has increased as compared to last year and for the first five months of 2018, supply (the number of available listings) had decreased as compared to last year. However, a recent report by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) revealed the first year-over-year increase in supply in three years.
Here are the numbers for supply and demand as compared to last year since the beginning of 2018:
The increase in the June numbers doesn’t mean that prices won’t continue to appreciate. In that same report, Lawrence Yun, NAR’s Chief Economist, explained:
“It’s important to note that despite the modest year-over-year rise in inventory, the current level is far from what’s needed to satisfy demand levels.
Furthermore, it remains to be seen if this modest increase will stick, given the fact that the robust economy is bringing more interested buyers into the market, and new home construction is failing to keep up.”
The reason home prices are still rising is that there are many purchasers looking to buy but very few homeowners ready to sell. This imbalance is the reason prices will remain on the uptick.
Homebuyers Willing To Sacrifice ‘Must-Haves’ In Favor Of Good School Districts
It should come as no surprise that buying a home in a good school district is important to homebuyers. According to a report from Realtor.com, 86% of 18-34 year-olds and 84% of those aged 35-54 indicated that their home search areas were defined by school district boundaries.
What is surprising, however, is that 78% of recent home buyers sacrificed features from their “must-have” lists in order to find homes within their dream school districts.
The top feature sacrificed was a garage at 19%, followed closely by a large backyard, an updated kitchen, the desired number of bedrooms, and an outdoor living area. The full results are shown in the graph below.
Buyers are attracted to schools with high test scores, accelerated academic programs, art and music programs, diversity, and before and after-school programs.
Test scores were the factor most often selected by buyers as a hallmark of a good school (59 percent), followed by having accelerated programs (53 percent), arts and music (49 percent), diversity (43 percent), and before- and after-school programs (41 percent).
Younger buyers were more likely than older buyers to cite diversity as a factor that makes for a good school — 49 percent for 18-34 year-olds, compared to 37 percent for 55-plus. More older buyers placed importance on whether a school has accelerated programs — 62 percent for 55-plus vs. 50 percent for buyers under 55.
With a limited number of homes available to buy in today’s real estate market, competition is fierce for homes in good school districts. Danielle Hale, Chief Economist for Realtor.com, explained further,
“Most buyers understand that they may not be able to find a home that covers every single item on their wish list, but our survey shows that school districts are an area where many buyers aren’t willing to compromise.
For many buyers and not just buyers with children, ‘location, location, location,’ means ‘schools, schools, schools.’”
For buyers across the country, the quality of their children’s (or future children’s) education ranks highest on their must-have lists. Before you start the search for your next home, meet with a local real estate agent who can explain the market conditions in your area.
Info Source: Keeping Current Matter
Backpacks for Kids Drive
Help us, help a student succeed!
Donate School Supplies and Backpacks as we sponsor our Backpacks for Kids Drive!
Families struggling with poverty face the challenge of providing school supplies for their children each school year. Can you imagine the burden of buying backpacks and notebooks when you struggle with paying rent and providing food for your family?
You can make a difference in the lives of low-income families and students by donating backpacks and school supplies!
From now until August 31st, all are welcome to drop off new backpacks and school supplies to any of our three office locations.
Donations collected will be given to The Assistance League of Riverside and Madison Elementary School.
These are just a few of the items that could help:
Paper
Pencil Cases
Crayons
Rulers
Backpacks
Pencils
Markers
Pencil Sharpeners
Our office locations include:
Main Office - 7197 Brockton Ave. | Downtown Office - 3521 Main St. | Magnolia Center Office - 4010 Merrill Ave.
Please call 951-369-8002 For Additional Information
Homeownership Is A Part Of The American Dream
According to the latest Aspiring Home Buyers Profile by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), 82% of surveyed renters desire to own a home in the future, with 80% believing homeownership is a big part of achieving their American Dream.
The profile went on to state that 50% of millennials believe that their rent will increase, with 20% believing that an increase in rent will be the catalyst that pushes them to consider buying a home vs. renewing their lease.
So, what is holding renters back?
What would make renters take the plunge?
AR’s Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun believes that,
“Housing demand in 2018 will be fueled by more millennials finally deciding to marry and have kids and the expectations that solid job growth and the strengthening economy will push incomes higher.”
Yun goes on to warn that,
“However, with prices and mortgage rates also expected to increase, affordability pressures will persist. That is why it is critical for much of the country to start seeing a significant hike in new and existing housing supply. Otherwise, many would-be first-time buyers will be forced to continue renting and not reach their dream of being a homeowner.”
If you are one of the many homeowners whose houses no longer fit their needs and are looking to move up to your dream home, now is a great time to list your starter home! First-time buyers are out in force looking to achieve their American Dream.