California Heights Cancels 2008 Annual Home and Garden Tour - Long Beach California

The California Heights Historic District has decided to cancel this years 12th annual Home and Garden Show and postpone it until October 2009. 

Few are unaffected by the events leading to the current condition of our economy, this wonderful event is no exception.  Homeowners have postponed projects that would otherwise have been completed before placing their homes on the tour.  Attendees who would normally take the tour for improvement and restoration ideas are placing home improvements on hold and are finding themselves on restricted budgets due to inflating gas and food costs as well as, in some cases, large overhead costs due to increased mortgage payments, none of which bode well for anticipated attendance. 

The event has traditionally provided funds for projects in and around the California Heights Historic District and will be sorely missed. 

Read more »

Posted on September 17, 2008 23:36:29 by Laurie.Manny

Long Beach - Best Neighborhood for Walking

One of the most appealing draws to living in Long Beach CA is the walkability of many of our local neighborhoods. Well, somebody finally decided to start ranking walkable neighborhoods across the country. Walk Score has ranked 2,508 neighborhoods in 40 of the largest US cities to help buyers find walkable communities to live in.

Long Beach California has been ranked as the 8th Most Walkable Neighborhood!

1. San Francisco
2. New York
3. Boston
4. Chicago
5. Philadelphia
6. Seattle
7. Washington D.C.
8. Long Beach
9. Los Angeles
10. Portland
11. Denver
12. Baltimore

see the rest here...

Long Beach Neighborhood Walk Scores:

52% of Long Beach has a Walk Score of 70 or above.

85% of Long Beach has a Walk Score of at least 50.

15% of Long Beach lives in a Car Dependent Neighborhood.

What do these scores mean?

Here are some general guidelines to how these rankings work:

• 90-100 = Walkers' Paradise: Most errands can be accomplished on foot and many people get by without owning a car.
• 70-89 = Very Walkable: It's possible to get by without owning a car.
• 50-69 = Somewhat Walkable: Some stores and amenities are within walking distance, but many everyday trips still require a bike, public transportation, or car.
• 25-49 = Car-Dependent: Only a few destinations are within easy walking range. For most errands, driving or public transportation is a must.
• 0-24 = Car-Dependent (Driving Only): Virtually no neighborhood destinations within walking range. You can walk from your house to your car!

How It Doesn't Work: Known Issues with Walk Score

Walk Score admits that Walk Score is just an approximation of walkability. There are a number of important factors that contribute to walkability which are not part of their algorithm:

• Public transit: Good public transit is important for walkable neighborhoods.
• Street width and block length: Narrow streets slow down traffic. Short blocks provide more routes to the same destination and make it easier to take a direct route.
• Street design: Sidewalks and safe crossings are essential to walkability. Appropriate automobile speeds, trees, and other features also help.
• Safety from crime and crashes: How much crime is in the neighborhood? How many traffic accidents are there? Are streets well-lit?
• Pedestrian-friendly community design: Are buildings close to the sidewalk with parking in back? Are destinations clustered together?
• Topography: Hills can make walking difficult, especially if you're carrying groceries.
• Freeways and bodies of water: Freeways can divide neighborhoods. Swimming is harder than walking.
• Weather: In some places it's just too hot or cold to walk regularly.

More information on how the walk score is determined can be found here.

When seeking walkable Long Beach neighborhoods nobody knows the areas better than your Long Beach Realtor. Search Long Beach Homes for sale and consult your Realtor to find out which Long Beach neighborhoods best suit your specific needs.

Posted on July 26, 2008 12:09:00 by Laurie.Manny

Space Saving Ideas for your Long Beach Homes

Small Living Space Soutions for Long Beach Homes

Space Savers or Hidden Secrets?

Down here at the beach we trade square footage for beach living and ocean breezes.  But what do we do with all of our stuff?  Lifetime collections of photos, books and other treasured belongings, that we are just not prepared to part with, need a place in our new homes as well. 

Small spaces are a challenge when we downsize our lives.  Creative use of our space without feeling cluttered and oppressive becomes a mission.  Creative Home Engineering, a Tempe Arizona company specializing in hidden passageways may have solved some of these issues. 

What a great way to expand space, furnish our homes and create hidden storage spaces!  When your square footage is limited every found space becomes critical.  Living in small spaces certainly has its challenges and rewards.  A small mess in a large home is a huge mess in small space.  One needs to be a neat freak in small spaces.  Creative Home Engineering is providing several wonderful solutions. 

Have you been wondering where to hide a safe in your home?  Take an unsightly hall closet and convert it to a hidden safe and a wonderfully elegent storage cabinet. 

Looking for a safe and discrete hiding place for those things that should never be found by others?  Lovely and elegant built in's hide your most private possessions very nicely.

While we have many larger homes in Long Beach, many of the homes here are of the smaller cottage genre.  Small living space ideas are in demand, we are pleased to be able to provide some solutions. 

Read also: 

Small Living Space Solutions for Long Beach Homes

Posted on July 15, 2008 00:48:03 by Laurie.Manny

Home and Garden Tours from Long Beach California to Buffalo New York

Home and Garden Tours from Long Beach California to Buffalo New York

Read more »

Posted on July 10, 2008 22:06:42 by Laurie.Manny

Selling YOUR Long Beach California Homes and Condos

The Long Beach Real Estate Home Blog is pleased to welcome guest author, Portsmouth New Hampshire Realtor, Ann Cummings.

Are you a Long Beach homeowner thinking of selling your home or condo?   

Just as correctly pricing homes in the Portsmouth NH area is super important in this market, proper pricing from the start for Long Beach condos and homes is vital as well. 

The asking price you and your professional REALTOR set on your home or condo is the single most important component of getting your home or condo sold.  We all know the  condition and the location are both key components, however the price you put on your property is the critical factor as that takes into account both location and condition. 

To help you determine the correct price for today's market, you need the advice from a full-time experienced REALTOR.  Your Long Beach REALTOR® will use their experience, knowledge of the market place and market conditions, and their professional track record to provide you with a market proposal which will help you to both come up with a competitive position for your property.


The factors that go into determining the best competitive pricing position for your property are:

• Condition of your home or condo
• Location of your property
• Market conditions at that time
• Any repairs and/or improvements that might be needed
• Your motivation level and your time frame for selling

Your initial market position - asking price - will determine your success in getting your home or condo sold. 


If your price is too high, all the best marketing efforts in the world won't get that property sold.  Buyers aren't dumb, and neither are their agents - both will recognize that the price is just wrong. 


Here are some big areas of concern if your Long Beach condo or home comes on the market in the wrong pricing position:

• Those buyers who are already in the market will know right away the price is wrong - they've been looking and know the market.
• Area REALTORS will be reluctant to show your property because there are too many other properties to choose from that may be priced better.
• You'll end up staying on the market longer than you would have had you priced it correctly to start with - and this will cause buyers to wonder what's wrong with your property because it hasn't sold yet.
• Longer stays on the market need repositioning - price adjustments - just to get showings. And extended stays on the market usually end up costing you more money in carrying costs, lost opportunities, and more. We refer to that as "Chasing the Market Down".
• Even if you did find a buyer who, for whatever reason, chose to pay the too-high price, the bank or mortgage company's appraiser will likely cause the sale to be re-negotiated. Lenders today are not interested at all in lending money on properties that are not priced properly for the market conditions. And this could lead to financing falling apart for that buyer who wants to buy your home.

Long Beach California REALTOR, Laurie Manny, wrote an excellent article for consumers in her Downtown Long Beach Market that applies to real estate sellers everywhere. Her article is entitled, "The 7 Dangers of Overpricing Your Long Beach Homes and Condos", and is a great for anyone thinking of selling their home or condo.


Experienced professional REALTORS are in the know about the current market conditions - and this is the perfect reason why you should have a professional work with you to get your Long Beach CA home or condo SOLD!

Contributed by:  Ann Cummings - Portsmouth NH REALTOR of RE/MAX Coast to Coast Properties - specializing in Portsmouth New Hampshire Real Estate Homes Condos.

Thank you Ann!

Posted on July 09, 2008 06:50:16 by Laurie.Manny