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Spring is Almost Upon Us - Marin, Sonoma Easter Egg Hunts

March 19th, 2008 10:32 PM

Greetings! Spring is almost upon us, which means it's time to grab your basket and hunt for goodies. Read on for information about local events occurring this holiday weekend.

Easter Egg Hunts and Events

Fairfax
Fairfax Community Center egg hunt, Saturday, March 22, at 10:30 am at Bolinas Park. For more info, call (415) 453-1584.

Larkspur

The Larkspur Recreation Department egg hunt, Saturday, March 22, at 10:00 am at Piper Park. For more info, call (415) 927-6746.

Mill Valley

Miwok Stable Center's Annual Easter Egg Hunt & Open House

Sunday, March 23 at the historic Miwok Sables. Located at 701 Tennessee Valley Road in Mill Valley, the non-profit Miwok Stables Center provides public riding, enrichment and educational programs, including therapeutic riding for people with special needs. In addition to the egg hunt, which starts at noon, there will be docent tours of the stables and a nature photography show. For more details, click here.

Strawberry Recreation District Candy Hunt & Carnival, Saturday, March 22, at 10:00 am for ages 2 thru 8. Candy hunt, games and prizes. Admission is $5 per child. For more info, call (415) 383-6494.

Novato
San Marin Improvement Association Easter Egg Hunt and Family BBQ, Yours Truly, Sylvia Barry, will be there volunteering for membership drive. San Marin High School California Scholarstic Federation students will volunteer and entertain the neighborhood students. Saturday, March 22, from 11:00 am - 2:00 pm at Miwok Park. For more info, click here: www.sanmarin.org.

Petaluma

Easter Children's Fair, Saturday, March 22, from Noon - 3:00 pm.
Scavenger hunt around Petaluma Village Premium Outlets shopping center, carnival games, Jubilee Jumps, raffle prizes and photos with the Easter Bunny. Free Clover Stornetta ice cream. The Petaluma Police Department will conduct free children's finger-printing. For more info, call (707) 778-9300.

Petaluma Mothers' Club Annual Egg Hunt, Saturday, March 22, from 11am - 1:00 pm at Kenilworth Jr High School.

San Anselmo

San Anselmo Parks and Recreation egg hunt, Friday, March 21, from 7:30 pm - 8:15 pm for kids ages 8 and older at Memorial Park. Bring a flashlight and basket to collect treats.

San Anselmo Parks and Recreation Eggstravaganza, Saturday, March 22, at 11 am at Memorial Park for kids ages 7 and younger. The Eggstravaganza will include an egg hunt and a chance to take a picture with the Easter Bunny. There will also be a magic show following the egg hunt at 11:30 am. For more info, call (415) 258-4640.

San Rafael
Marinwood Community Center Breakfast with Bunny and egg hunt, Saturday, March 22, at Marinwood Park. The free egg hunt begins at 10:00 am and the breakfast will follow right after. Breakfast is $4.00 if purchased by March 21 and $6.00 at the door. For more info, click here: www.marinwood.org.

Alice in Wonderland Spring Fair at Falkirk Cultural Center, Saturday, March 22, at 2:00 pm. Celebrate spring with characters from the beloved book, performed by the Stark Ravens theatrical group, and enjoy live music by Enzo Garcia. $5 per person; pay at the gate. For more info, click here: www.falkirkculturalcenter.org.

Elephant Pharmacy Easter Egg Hunt, Sunday, March 23, from 1:30 pm - 2:00 pm. Kids under 10 are welcome to hunt through their classroom for chocolate eggs. For more info, call (415) 462-6000.

Santa Rosa

Spring Egg Hunt for Tots, Saturday, March 22, from 9:30-11:00am. Visit and have your photo taken with the bunny, pet baby farm animals and make a springtime craft. Three egg hunts: 9:30 am or 10:15 am for ages 3 and under; 11:00 am for ages 4-5. Howarth Park. For more info, call: (707) 543-3282.

Hyatt Easter Buffet, Sunday, March 23, from 11:30 am - 3:00 pm.
Easter Buffet with the Easter Bunny for the kids featuring a lavish buffet. ($32.95 Adults; $15.95 Ages 10-5; Free for under 5). Free Easter egg hunt at 11am for kids under 7 (open to the public).
For more info, call (707)636-7176.

Sausalito

Easter Parade and Egg Hunt, Saturday, March 22, from 10 am - Noon. The Easter Bunny will lead the parade, which begins at the fire station at the corner of Johnson and Caledonia Streets. Post-parade festivities at Dunphy Park include an old-fashioned egg hunt, crafts for the kids, live entertainment, and an Easter bonnet contest. For more info, click here: www.ci.sausalito.ca.us.

Windsor

Easter Egg Hunt, Saturday, March 22, at 11:00 am. 9,000 eggs filled with candy and prizes, including a grand prize of a bicycle for each age group. For kids up through 3rd grade. Also Easter Bunny, games, sidewalk sale. Free. Windsor Town Green. For more info, call (707) 838-1000.

Please visit the appropriate links or call organizers for more info, if available, and directions. Remember to show up on time - the hunts can end within a few minutes. The information presented here is deemed reliable but has not been verified.

Posted by Sylvia Barry on March 19th, 2008 10:32 PMPost a Comment (0)

Red Skelton "Pledge of Allegiance"

March 27th, 2008 8:30 PM

American Flag A friend at my Rotary Club sent us the link to the meanings of Pledge of Allegiance, beautifully done by Red Skelton; 30 years ago. A Class Act!

I thought I'd share this with you all at the time of great changes, divide, worries, insecurity; here is something we should all reflect upon.

This is a great country and let's keep it great for us and for our future generations!

Red Skelton's Pledge of Allegiance

Posted by Sylvia Barry on March 27th, 2008 8:30 PMPost a Comment (0)

A New MLS Search / Property Organizer Just for You

March 26th, 2008 12:57 PM

As I continue to search for better ways to serve you, I have added a new MLS Search/Property Organizer Service where you can search for proerties at your leisure, create and save different searches for easy access, and save favorite properties in your own login.

You will also be able to receive email alerts for properties that meet your criteria.

If you would like to see any property or can not find a specific type of property, please do give me a call or email me so I can help.

Would love some feedback on this. Thanks!

Posted by Sylvia Barry on March 26th, 2008 12:57 PMPost a Comment (0)

A Great Irish Day!

March 17th, 2008 9:12 PM

I had a GREAT day today -

Called somebody who is a victim of the current Foreclosure Scams (yep, and there are many, unfortunately), wondered if they ended up foreclosing on the house. He told me that his lenders are willing to work with him on his loan and he will be keeping his house after catching up on his missed payments and more. I was so happy hearing this news! The first person I know who will be out of this horrible short sale/foreclosure trouble and I thought for sure, he will be foreclosed upon. I am so happy for him and his family! Hope to hear more of these kind of things. It is just a win/win for everybody!

A young, young couple came in and saw me. They are starting a family and they wanted to have their own home. They would never have been able to buy if not for the current downturn of the housing market. They are such a wonderful and sweet couple, so full of hope and I am hust thrilled that I will be able to help them!

Last but not least, a long and difficult negotiation on request for repair finally reached agreement .... It took us a while but we are there ....

May the best be with you!

Posted by Sylvia Barry on March 17th, 2008 9:12 PMPost a Comment (0)

Top 9 Unique Buildings In The World - In Progress

March 14th, 2008 12:46 PM

One great about being a Realtor is that I get emails about unique properties in the world and I thought I will share a few of those with all.

This is from my sister, who has been an Independent Broker for the past 30+ years in San Francisco. I guess we won't see this in the Marin Real Estate Landscape - but here are the top 9 most unique buildings in the world that are being built.

Author Unknown...

Top 9 Unique Buildings In The World

Top 9 Unique Structures in the World Being Built Now

Posted by Sylvia Barry on March 14th, 2008 12:46 PMPost a Comment (0)

Conforming Loan Ceiling Raised to $729,750 for High Cost Area such as Marin County

March 6th, 2008 2:58 PM

Great news we have been waiting for!

New FNMA and FHA loan limits announced today.

14 California counties saw their loan limits for FHA, Fannie and Freddie bumped all the way up to the $729,750 cap. Most were in the San Francisco Bay Area or northern California (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara) with five more in the L.A. area (Los Angeles, Orange, San Benito, Santa Barbara, and Ventura).

The limits are calculated at 125% of the HUD published medium prices, whith a floor of $271,050 and $417,000, respectively, not to exceed $729,750.

This is expected to stimulate the housing market significantly by bringing an infusion of capital into the mortgage market, which should result in lower interest rates across the board; with a direct impact on high-cost areas such as Marin which previously required borrowers to take out costlier jumbo mortgages.

NAR research points out that the increased limit will help an additional 138,000 Americans to own their home and will allow nearly 200,000 homeowners to refinance and potentially keep their home.

An NAR economic impact study anticipated that housing inventory would be reduced and home prices would be strengthened by two to three percentage points.

Mortgage maximums as of Wednesday March 05, 2008

High Cost

One-Family

Two-Family

Three-Family

Four-Family

MARIN

$729,750

$934,200

$1,129,250

$1,403,400

The current BASIC standard mortgage limits for FHA insured loans are

			One-family		Two-family		Three-family		Four-family
	Fannie/Freddie		$417,000		$533,850		$645,300		$801,950

HIGH COST area (such as Marin) limits are subject to a ceiling based on a percent of the Freddie Mac Loan limits The ceilings are currently:
		One-family	Two-family	Three-family	Four-family
	Fannie/Freddie	$729,750	$934,200	$1,129,250	$1,403,400

Section 214 of the National Housing Act provides that mortgage limits for Alaska, Guam, Hawaii, and the Virgin Islands may be adjusted up to 150 percent of the new ceilings. This results in new ceilings for these areas of:
		One-family	Two-family	Three-family	Four-family
	Fannie/Freddie	$1,094,625	$1,401,300	$1,693,875	$2,105,100

This is a listing of the FHA single family mortgage limits. This listing was downloaded from the Department's Computerized Home Underwriting Management System. Since mortgage limits are updated constantly, please contact the Homeownership Center if you believe this information is in error.

Posted by Sylvia Barry on March 6th, 2008 2:58 PMPost a Comment (0)