San Bruno Dale Wilson 4th of July Memorial Tournement 2009

Bruno All Stars 4th of July 2009

 

The San Bruno Dale Wilson 4th of July Memorial Tournement was an awesome event! The 7-8 year old “Bruno” team came from behind in two of their games and won the championship title undefeated! San Bruno has always had a passion for Pee Wee leagues and All Stars. It’s a great American feeling in San Bruno when you mix BBQ, legal “safe and sane” fireworks and lots of baseball games at San Bruno Park!

For more info about Pee Wee baseball or the Dale Wilson 4th of July Memorial Tournement visit the website at: http://www.sanbrunopeeweebaseball.org/

Tanforan Race Track History

From 1899 to 1964, the Tanforan Race Track had it’s glories and it’s depression.

1899-1918: There was horse racing, airplane racing and car racing.

During WWI: The track was used as a training area and had tents to house the troops.

1923: A new grandstand was built.

1937-1940: Seabiscuit became the biggest money winner in horse racing.

1941: WWII began and became a gathering area for over 4,000 Japanese-Americans subject to relocation.

Following the war, Tanforan re-opened and continued its racing schedule.

1964: After all racing stopped, a fire detroyed the track.

1971: Tanforan reincarnated as a shopping center!

For more information on the history of Tanforan please visit these sites:

http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=112832

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shops_at_Tanforan

 

Above picture taken from http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM2NWA_Seabiscuit_San_Bruno_CA

San Bruno Posy Parade 2009 “WOWS” Spectators!

Posy Parade Carriage 2009 

 

Pee Wee Baseball Elks~Posy Parade 2009 

Marching Band~Posy Parade 2009 

                                                                                                                                                 

Mayor Larry Franzella and Fire Chief~Posy Parade 2009 

Belle Air Elementary School Float~Posy Parade 2009 

 

San Bruno Mother’s Club Float~Posy Parade 2009 

San Bruno Police~Posy Parade 2009

San Bruno Real Estate “Shake Up”!

Skycrest Village- New Homes- San Bruno

From the Skycrest Village, new homes in San Bruno, to the bank owned fixer uppers, San Bruno homes for sale are feeling the shift of a real estate “shake up”! Inventory over the past few weeks has dwindled down to a mere 40 homes for sale and 15 condos. That’s not too many when you consider that San Bruno consists of 14,677 households.

 

Over the past 2 weeks 14 homes have “pending sales”. That’s one sale per day in just 2 weeks! We haven’t seen movement in the market like that in quite some time. The recent average sale price according to the San Mateo County MLS (Multiple Listing Service) is $470,000.

Currently, there are 2 two bedroom condos for sale at the Peninsula Place Condominium complex listed at $279,000. Great opportunity for investment or living in close proximity to the airport and San Francisco. There are also still some great little ranch style homes for sale in the $300,000 range.

San Bruno real estate is prime property because of its nice weather, living on the better side of a fog belt, it’s closeness to San Francisco and all of the conveniences and comforts of living in community that cares about its citizens. People are drawn to San Bruno for it’s rich and diverse cultures, awesome parks and recreation activites, and dedicated school system, as well.

San Bruno bank owned fixer upper!

It’s great to see this activity in the market. It’s not centralized to the lower priced homes, either! Recently, I was involved in a “bidding war” for a house in the Rollingwood area of San Bruno which was handsomely priced at $564,000. This was a 4 bedroom, 2 bath home in average shape. We were up against 5 offers in less that one week!

The lower priced homes do generally get more multiple offers and a lot of them are being bought “all cash”. Imagine that! I think the real estate “slow down” in San Bruno has pick up the pace and has buyers and sellers making new decisions of whether or not to buy or sell. It’s a win win situation for both sides, it seems to me!
 

 

San Bruno Posy Parade 2009

The Posy Parade in San Bruno is held every year in June. It is put on by the San Bruno Lion’s Club. This year it will be on Sun. June 7th at 1:00. The theme this year is “The Many Cultures of San Bruno”! It is a parade dedicated to children and it’s themes are always deocrated with flowers!

At its height in the 1960s, the parade attracted as many as 3 thousand participants and 20 to 30 thousand spectators. This year is the 69th Annual Posy Parade in San Bruno. The parade includes all of our baseball teams, school floats, orginization floats, marching bands, a Posy Parade princess and her court. The mayor passes by in a fire truck and the city council in old fashioned cars throw candy to the crowds who are lining the street! The end of the Posy Parade is in San Bruno Park which holds a ceremony for the best floats, hot dog sales and 2 MAJOR San Bruno baseball games! See you Sunday June 7th for the 69th Annual Posy Parade in San Bruno, Ca.!

Posy Parade Poster

Posy Parade Brochure

http://sbpsd.k12.ca.us/schoolhouse/posy-parade.html

Picture taken from website above.

Signs of a Real Estate Rebound

I am not one of profound wisdom, but I am hearing some positive signs of real estate making a turn around, a turn around for the better! Basically, the thinking goes like this, “Hmmm, real estate values are down, not only do I still have my job but I have some cash sitting around, and rates are very low – and may not go lower. So maybe I will stop renting and buy a place (or pick up that non-owner occupied property, or that vacation home), or at least see what is out there.” The market will tell you that at some price, there is a buyer for everything.

San Francisco, the San Mateo Peninsula, East Bay and South Bay are experiencing a surge in homebuyers who are jumping off the fence to try and get their hands on property that they could have only wished they could afford a few years ago. Check out the news link below to see what I’m talking about!

http://cbs5.com/business/real.estate.sales.2.956968.html

 

Here’s another example:

San Bruno 2 bedroom/ 1 bath

Listed at $344,900 just went pending with approximately 20 offers!!

The Real Estate Therapist is “IN”

 

Real estate therapy for the home buyer, home seller and home owner is a pretty common request these days. Some of the most frequently asked questions start  from what the current value of a home is in order to make a decent offer or sale to how one could lower their property taxes. It’s a different market out there in real estate but there are some interesting things going on!

What is the current value of the home you are placing a bid on anyways?We got Zillow telling us one thing and the seller telling us another! It’s tough to come up with decent comparables in some cases where there hasn’t been a sale in months. We know that the value has dropped but what should we base our offer on? In many cases we have to base the offering price on comparable “active” properties. We have to check how long these homes have been on the market and if they have had any activity! Comparing the “active” homes and their condition, square footage, and location should help determine the current vale of a home in this market. This is also helpful information for people trying to sell.

How can I lower my property taxes? There is buzz all over town about lowering our property taxes and the good thing is, is you CAN! All it takes is filling out one form with the current value of your home compared to the “higher” price you purchased it for along with some handy recent comparable sales that you get from your Realtor. This package is turned in to your county recorders office and put to review. This could save you hundreds of dollars per year!

My San Bruno Chamber Farewell

 

My last day as a director at the San Bruno Chamber of Commerce was last week and it was a bitter sweet occasion. I have been an active (and still will be) member for 10 years, on the board as a director for 7 0r 8, and I was the president in 2003/ 2004. Gosh! It was such an honor to be a part of all that! I got to hang with all of the department heads including the mayor, city council, police and fire departments, school leaders, oh MAN! What a blast it was! Well, my kids are getting a little older and my term is finally over. I guess it’s good in a way because now I can focus on the PTA, little leagues, and all that other kid stuff! Oh! I’m still selling real estate, too, by the way! “It’s a long way to the top, if ya wanna rock n roll!”

 

San Bruno Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony 2008

The City of San Bruno and the San Bruno Parks and Recreation Services Dept. Presents the Anual Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony On Thursday, Dec. 4 at 5:30 pm.

 

The event will be held in front of the Veterans Memorial Recreation Center in San Bruno City Park. There, we watch our big Christmas tree light the place up! Afterwards, stay for carolers, cookies and hot chocolate, pictures with Santa who will be arriving on a fire truck as always, and children’s crafts.

Happy Holidays!

Coats for Kids- A special San Bruno event!

 

On Thursday, November 20th, 3-6 pm at the Fireman’s Hall/ San Bruno Chamber of Commerce Office at 618 San Mateo Ave., the City of San Bruno in conjunction with San Bruno Garbage, will hold its annual “Coats For Kids” event. This special event was originally put together by Vicky Hasha in San Bruno when she donated her daughter’s used coat to one of the elementary schools here. When the teacher there suggested that there were a few children running around in the cold without coats, the idea of starting a coat drive took off and has been growing ever since! Every year 8 or so coat drop off locations are posted throughout San Bruno where it is announced in schools and workplaces to have people donate gently used coats fom infant to adult sizes. On the date of distribution, many people line up for their FREE coats, hot chocolate and cookies. It is a wonderful event designed to help ANYONE who is cold!