Thursday, October 16, 2008

Diablo valley has everything for your horse good life

Having horses on your property is enjoyable when you own real estate in the Lafayette, Danville area.
My older son used to love taking care of them, even late at night when the new born colt wanted to play.
Not only they fertilize the soil of your orchard or your vegetable garden, but what a saving on gas, and extreme pleasure, to ride your horse, go down the next valley to visit your neighbor and friend in the late afternoon. This is what I used to do in the early 80's.
The thing is I enjoyed so much talking about all our realization around the property and the community news that I got caught by the night. Lucky me it was full moon. So I decided to visit little bit longer with my friend. Finally just before midnight, it was time to go home. Sure enough, I was so tired that I fell aslip on my saddle. The next thing I remembered was waking up, on the horse, in front of my house.
Roxanne knew the way, and safely ended this journey.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The spirit of Michelangelo alive in the Diablo Valley

Carving this thirty six inches high piece of earth colored lime stone was inspired by my mother soft face.
I was in my twenties, artist, making my living from my sculpture, trying to keep alive the spirit of the Italian Renaissance Stone Carvers.
Finding inspiration by hiking Briones State park in Lafayette, Pleasant Hill trail, Mont Diablo and his valley. Nature offers a large variety of colors, textures and forms in a such strong way that I can't sculpt anything for few days, when I come back to my studio. Then the magic happen and I can create again with inspiration.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Green Is The Trend For Diablo Valley Residents


Green energy is getting affordable and we are going to see in the next decade a huge improvement in his utilisation, in cars, commercial and industrial buildings and in residential housing.
The Diablo Valley offers a great possibility. Lafayette, Pleasant Hill and Danville
in California are perfect areas to benefit from the Pacific coast wind for windmills and the sun exposure for photocells utilization.
Twenty eight years ago it was a real adventure to built my own windmill. Not too much literature and manufacturers to buy from. So I had to find a used alternator.
buy some fir, being the best wood for a small propeller, that I had to carve myself to the right profile and assemble the whole thing together on the top of a 35 foot pole like you see in the picture. In building our homes, let's consider a budget for green energy.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Danville Art - Fountain at the Danville School



This fountain was a donation by Bob and Brenda Markstein of Diablo in recognition of the 2001 graduating class, at the San Ramon Christian Academy. I was involved in executing this project, because of my close relationship with the Markstein family who gave me the opportunity to build several projects at their residence over a couple of decades.
Art like this piece is a message of Tranquility, Love and Balance that we often forget to include in our daily life, whether in school, church or home. Ownership of real eastate, espacially in the Diablo valley, gives us the chance to express ourselves through fine art, music, poetry, and litterature in any form we like. Keep this spirit.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Pleasant Hill Market Update

Pleasant Hill Update
August 2008

Pleasant Hill Sales Activity

Active Inventory On 8/1/08 On 7/1/08
Number of Listings 120 130
Avg Days On Market 73 74
Avg List Price $609,037 $617,264
Median List Price $587,000 $589,450
Avg $ / Square Foot $337 $339
Pending Sales On 8/1/08 On 7/1/08
Number of Listings 51 54
Avg Days on Market 63 57
Avg List Price $497,562 $479,548
Avg $ / Square Foot $323 $325
Closed Sales 7/1/08-7/31/08 6/1/08-6/30/08
Number of Listings 35 27
Avg Days on Market 43 54
Avg List Price $542,969 $510,969
Avg Sales Price $523,677 $491,833
Avg Sales $ / Sq Ft $331 $337


“I’ve never felt more compelled and stronger about advising anyone and everyone who ever thought about getting into real estate to do it now.” This is a direct quote from Gus Kramer, the current Contra Costa County assessor, in a Contra Costa Times article this week, discussing the condition of our local real estate market.
Kramer is the person in charge of valuing all real property in Contra Costa County for tax purposes, and there are not many others more qualified to comment on the subject. Articles like this one are not the only sign that the housing market here in the Bay Area is primed for a rebound, or at the very least, a leveling off.
Despite the strong influence of a relentless flood of foreclosures and a lackluster economy, July marked the fourth month in a row in which the volume of home sales outpaced the month prior. Even more impressive is that July also marked a new record for number of homes sold for Contra Costa County in a single month, besting the previous record set in June of 2006 according to my personal market records.
The good news doesn’t stop there. Inventory continues to fall steadily at a time when we’d normally expect a seasonal increase, and pending sales in Contra Costa and Alameda have increased every month since December 2007, currently up 236% since that record-setting low point.
At the end of the day though, home values continue to remain soft. Unfortunately in many areas, they continue to get softer despite robust sales activity. One thing is for sure though--if the media continues to sing a favorable song, that strong rebound will be here sooner than you think.

Christian Rousset, Realtor