The beauty and magic of the pride of Pasadena, of course the Tournament of Roses aka the Rose Parade (and been there myself many times over the years and took this photo to the right at street level) may or may not at times have much of an impact on home prices in Southern California

The “weather” dividend as it’s also known has come and in someways gone (imho) over the years along with the inflated home prices for our  (mostly) postage stamp size lots right along with our traffic clogging freeways. Yet seeing the sunny skies of Southern Cal has got to be appealing to those in the frozen tundra of the east this time of year. I can only imagine what it must be like to shovel your way out of the house vs. saying “please pass me the sunscreen Wilma…”

Those of us who’ve lived here all our lives at times take our “winter weather” for granted,  yep when it gets down below the 60′s during the day we think we’re freezing, yet that’s almost balmy in Chicago for Jan.  And believe me I know that after visiting the Windy City in early Jan. a couple of years back  locals were boasting about sunshine and 37 degree temps!

So I guess only time will tell if the 2012 real estate market will be much different from 2010 and 2011 which reflected relatively similar numbers for home prices and sales according to the data from the So Cal Multiple Listing Service (one of the largest real estate data bases in the country).

Now for me personally, even though selling So Cal real estate for living has been my livelihood for decades, I think we have more than enough people here right now, I’d just like a few more them to be buying homes at this point. So if you’re interested  contact me, Lynda@PreferreHomeBrokers.com.  However if you’re making the trek out west to the left-coast and need a great (rather immodest) REALTOR, you can contact me too. My company is Preferred Home Brokers and we’ve been representing home buyers and sellers in SoCal communities now for decades in Southern California, the land of sunshine among other things.

So I guess only time will tell if the 2012 real estate market will be much different from 2010 and 2011 which had relatively similar numbers according to the data from the So Cal Multiple Listing Service (one of the largest real estate data bases in the country). Until then…enjoy the weather wherever you are!

Not lot ago we headed out for a drive in So Cal, heading east on the 10 past Palm Springs on our way to the George S. Patton Museum, in the desert about 35 minutes south of Indio on the 10.  Right after our visit to the museum we followed the road and wound up in the Joshua Tree National Park established in 1994.

Driving through the park we came upon the Cholla Cactus Garden (and our course) we had to stop immediately at the view point for a closer look ourselves, it was amazing site to see.

Admission to the park was $15,  however we only found that out near  the exit near Twenty-Nine Palms, the closest city to the Park.  We entered the park near the south/east end not far off the 10 freeway, from that point we didn’t see any toll/payment booth. So it was a surprise for us at the end, yet it was well worth it!

To our amazement with found a wide varitey of terrain all surrounded by spectacular mountains. Just check it out for yourself. 

So Cal Healthy Living

If you live in the OC it’s ranked #7 of 56 rated counties for healthy living. Other local rankings include:

• Los Angeles Co. #26
• Riverside Co. #27
• San Bernardino Co. #45

The study out of the University of Wisconson ranked counties using several factors including health factors, i.e. smoking, diet, excercise, alcohol use and sex practices. In addition  clinical care, availability and quality of health care and the quality of the physical enviroment. And to no surprise social and economic factors were included like education, employment, income and family and community support.

Check out my link to find out more about your own community.

So Cal Hiking in Palm Springs

Living in So Cal has so much to offer. Yes we put up with traffic, yes we experience crowds and long lines, yet we have some of the most wonderful places to visit and explore.

One of my favorites is the desert area of Southern California in and around Palm Springs. Here’s a recent visit and a very easy/moderate hike in the Taquitz Canyon area of Palm Springs. Check it out.

Today was a great day to be living in So Cal. Here are a just a few:

• Seven-year old Katie is home from CHOC-Children’s Hospital of Orange County, yeah!
• The sun was bright, temperatures were 74 degrees and breezy, absolutely beautiful.
• Traffic was minimal, sailed right through on the freeway, it was great.
• The Verizon guy showed up on time to install my new wireless and explained things to me.
• I found  a unexpected $20 bucks in my jeans pocket!
• Our new President chastised Wall Street for the obscene bonus’s (thank you Mr. President).
• I bought gas for under $2.00 a gallon. This may not be a big deal for others, yet in CA our gas taxes are higher than other states).

Southern California is one of those places to enjoy the outdoors year-round. If you’ve thought above living in So Cal, I’d love to hear from you. Contact me at Lynda@PreferredHomeBrokers.com

Although a few of us noticed the life guard boat heading up and down the beaches. Someone said, “Hey maybe they’re looking for sharks”, who knows maybe they were. Or maybe it was just a routine patrol with so many people at the beach today, not sure we will know for sure.  What ever the situation, no doubt thousands and thousands of folks enjoyed the day at the ocean.

My day was spent biking on the great beach trail, not in the water. Huntington Beach, also officially known as Surf City is a great place for all to enjoy. Our usual visit to Huntington often includes a trip to Jack’s Bikes on Main Street. Today it was for a new rear-view mirror for my bike, the last one didn’t survive a little biking (not serious) accident a few months back.

At this point our summer weather is expected to continue for a few more days. So if you’re not afraid of sharks or if you’re like me and just love to bike at the beach, many of our So Cal beaches are just the place to be.