San Diego Restaurant Week is in its seventh year as San Diego County’s largest and most successful dining event.  This event is held twice annually and features more than 180 of San Diego’s best restaurants.  The price for three-course meals is either $20, $30 or $40. No tickets or passes are required but advance reservations are strongly recommended and can be made by calling restaurants directly or visiting their profile online.  Check out the event website for complete information.

I can officially say that summer is over. I just dropped our oldest daughter at the airport; she is on her way back to New York City for her second year of law school. My younger daughter has already started her sophomore year in college in Arizona. Once again my husband and I are ‘empty nesters’ and our house is quiet. I don’t know about you, but generally it takes us about a week to get used to being by ourselves. I can tell you however, that we don’t miss the mad dash to the stores over Labor Day weekend to buy the latest back-to-school fashions or school supplies for the kids. Good Luck to those of you who are dashing around this weekend.

 The summer’s end generally means that the home selling season is over! But in today’s crazy real estate market with interest rates at their lowest level in 30 years I don’t believe that statement is true.  The fact that we are now in a buyer’s market has been in the news a great deal lately; but if you are a seller, your home can still sell!  As a La Jolla Realtor, I just listed a home last week and put it into escrow (under contract) in three days because my sellers followed my advice on preparing their home for sale. Some of my seller’s hard work included removing 40 boxes of personal items to un-clutter her home.  The end result was well worth it as she sold her home and quickly!

Here are three tips on selling your home fast.

1. Have your home Professionally Staged: Let an expert with an impersonal eye help you make the tough decisions on what to keep or stow away to make your home ready to show .  And keep it “show ready” at all times. I find when I first introduce a stager to my clients, usually the number one suggestion is to de-cluttered.  This helps the rooms feel more spacious.  Personal pictures are removed from the walls allowing a buyer to see themselves in the house.  This translates to a faster sell.
2. Hire a professional Landscaper to spruce up the front and back yards. It’s time to remove the dead or over-grown plants and replace them with colorful seasonal flowers. Curb appeal is very important.  The first impression that a buyer will have upon viewing your home is a lasting impression. Just like meeting a person for the first time you only have 8 seconds to make that first impression. That same philosophy holds when a buyer first sees your home.
3. Most importantly, Price your home right! The first three weeks on the market is a critical time. If your home isn’t priced correctly, there will be no showings. But if your home is priced right you will have showings immediately and offers will follow. A seller that has priced their home too high will end up chasing the market down. The final sales price of their home will generally be less than if theyhad priced it correctly at the beginning.

If you are thinking of selling your home and need additional help in making your home ready to sell give me a call  at 619-980-2738 as  I would be very happy to help.  Visit my website for additional real estate information.

America’s premier rough water swim has been a  summertime tradition in La Jolla since 1916 and on average draws in over 2,000 swimmers, ranging in age from 5 to 85 years old.  The race start and finish for all events is on the beach at La Jolla Cove.  The course has changed a bit over the years but today’s triangular courses and the natural arena like characteristics of the Cove offer spectators a great view of the entire Rough Water Swim.  Entries have closed but check out the event website for more information on the history of this wonderful event and details when and where to view the race.

I have always loved art! If you remember you have read here about all kinds of art, everything from painted cows and trash cans to flower arrangements depicting masterpieces.  I can’t draw or paint but I do appreciate looking at all different kinds of art.  One of my passions is going to art galleries and museums. The works of art  that creative and talented people can create are always so impressive to me.  I’m not artistic but my youngest daughter has that artistic talent which manifests itself for her in fashion design; she can create unbelievable outfits with ease.

How lucky we are to be living in La Jolla where there are so many fabulous art galleries and museums to visit.  This brings us to the 4th stop on my“Blog Tour of La Jolla”, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego or MCASD, La Jolla. Located in the heart of La Jolla, at 700 Prospect Street, MCASD  is focused on the collection, preservation, exhibition, and interpretation of works of art from 1950 to the present.

 The museum was originally the home of Ellen Browning Scripps and was designed by the famous architect Irving Gill.  It was founded in 1941 as The Art Center in La Jolla, a community art center.  Then throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s the organization operated as the La Jolla Art Museum.  In the early 1970s, the name changed to the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art.  In 1990, the Museum changed its name to the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego to acknowledge the larger geographic area and population base of San Diego County.  MCASD has a permanent endowment fund of over $40 million, and an annual operating budget of approximately $6 million.

After spending time in the Museum don’t miss a visit to the MCASD X Store which offers a full range of books, contemporary art, gifts and much more. If you are hungry stop by the Museum Café, right next to the store and enjoy a fabulous entree or salad.  Order anything on the menu and you won’t be disappointed.

 To find out the latest exhibits or the hours of operation visit the museum website. This is a great place to spend an afternoon in La Jolla.

 The median list price in La Jolla last week was $2,350,000. The 311 properties have been on the market for an average of 161 days.

From this chart you can see that the inventory and days on the market are both trending higher in recent weeks. This chart also shows that during the past week 36% of the properties on the market have had a price decrease. Also in terms of Supply and Demand the market is getting cooler with more homes coming on the market relative to the sales demand. Because of the excess of inventory, prices have not yet stopped falling. What does this all mean? The Index is still indicating that it’s a Buyer’s Market. 

So if you are wondering if NOW the time to BUY a home in La Jolla? My answer is YES, especially with interest rates still at historic lows and great deals to be found why wait! If you need a current market analysis or have real estate questions please give me a call 619-980-2738 or visit my website .

Have you spotted any of this amazing “trash bin art” around La Jolla yet???

Check out this website for a map and more information on the 26 local artists who have put their work on local trash bins around La Jolla.

La Jolla Music Society’s is once again offering its SummerFest, a nationally-recognized chamber music festival featuring over 70 world-class artists and ensembles performing concerts from August 6-August 27, 2010.  SummerFest began in 1986 and since then has welcomed over “650 renowned artists and ensembles, four talented artistic directors and nearly a quarter of a million audience members at venues in San Diego and over the airwaves nationwide”. SummerFest offers a number of free Enrichment Activities, including: Coaching Workshops, Open Rehearsals, and Encounters.  Take advantage of these free activities and expand your appreciation for classical music!  Check their website for schedules and complete information.

 I just sold a home in La Jolla that took my seller four years to decide to sell.  I sold the house in two weeks with multiple offers!! Why? I suggest it was all in the timing. I was able to price the house right for the time or market, and my seller did everything I suggested to get the house sold. He repainted the exterior and interior, replaced the old carpet with new and added new landscaping in the yard. Even in this challenging market I was able to sell his house quickly. True, if he had sold his home four years ago his sale price would have been higher but my seller wasn’t ready, the timing for him was not right.

 Another example of the right timing …  A man and his wife would go out every Sunday and check out the open houses never finding anything or committing to working with an agent.  I met them at an open house and we talked about timing, market conditions in La Jolla, and the fact that NOW is a great time to capitalize on both lower home prices and lower interest rates. I emphasized to them that now is a great time to be a buyer. I sold them a house three weeks later. 

 As I have mentioned before, this isn’t the market in which to “test” your home. You are either a motivated seller, or you are not. What do you want to be? Here are your choices: you are going to “make” the market, “meet” the market or “chase” the market. Which one will it be? The bottom line in selling a house is all about the timing!

 So your timing on selling or buying a home could be now or later but when timing is right please feel free to give me a call or visit my website and I will be glad to help you with your real estate transactions!

You may recall that I have written in several past posts about my love of using  “Social Media” in marketing Real Estate and networking with clients, business associates and keeping in touch with friends.  Last week I was honored to be featured in a article in the La Jolla Village News, written by Jenna Frazier   about Social Media. Jenna wanted to write an article about Mothers staying connected through Social Media. She interviewed me along with 3 other fabulous women, Katie Wood Dillon, Noel Ehlers and Lauren Hirsch.  We all live in La Jolla and initially became friends through Twitter.  We also love to blog and are daily users of Facebook.  We all believe in the power of using Social Media, personally or for business and find it has become a big part of our lives in many different ways. Even though we are all in different phases of life, we have found a connection through this new and wonderful medium.

Feel free to get in touch with us on Twitter at…. Michelle Silverman @MichelleRealtor, Katie Wood Dillon @lajollamom, Noel Ehlers @birdrockfab, and Lauren Hirsch @BuywithMeSd