So Cal Real Estate Journal

Just Listed in Temecula

This upgraded end-unit 2 bedroom, 3 bath town home is located in a quiet complex reminiscent of a rural mountain resort village. Newer features include an extra-large capacity water heater, 2-inch horizontal blinds throughout and fresh neutral-colored paint. All 3 baths have been upgraded, and Italian tile has been installed in the bathrooms and master bedroom walk-in closet. Additional features include vaulted ceilings (no popcorn), Ethernet hardwiring both upstairs and down, a rare, landscaped backyard retreat, and an attached 2-car garage with cabinets and workbench. Enjoy an ultra-convenient location near Rancho California Road. The local elementary school and high school are close, the I-15 is just 2 blocks away, and within walking distance you'll find the duck pond, grocery store, gym, restaurants, a movie theater and shopping center.

View more photos and details of this Temecula home!

Just Listed in Carmel Mountain Ranch

Enjoy entertaining in this absolutely beautiful 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath home with panoramic views. Located on the golf course in Carmel Mountain Ranch's gated community of Heritage Hills. This home is located on a cul-de-sac and enjoys a kid-friendly setting and proximity to shopping, the library and Highland Ranch Elementary School. Features include a kitchen with beautiful custom cabinets and granite countertops, a huge master bedroom suite with a library, two large bedrooms, a 2-car garage with custom cabinets, central air conditioning and heating and a large living room with a fireplace. There is a great community pool, spa and club house. The piece de resistance of this home is its gorgeous backyard where you'll find two patios covered by beautiful trellises, a built-in BBQ, a grassy area for the kids to play and expansive views of the golf course.

View more photos and details of this Carmel Mountain Ranch home!

Beautiful 4BR/3BA Cul-de-Sac Home in Temecula

This stately 4 bedroom, 3 bath cul-de-sac home is light and bright with classic architectural touces combined with modern home craftsmanship. The great room is open and inviting, perfect for the entertainer. It includes a handsome fireplace and flows into the gourmet kitchen with granite counters, custom cabinets, dining nook, phone desk and recessed lighting. The downstairs level also features a bedroom and full bath. Additional features of this home include a bonus room, master bedroom suite with spacious master bath, 2 walk-in closets, upstairs balcony, front porch, laundry room and 3-car garage.

For more photos, visit Southern California Featured Listings on my website.

A Way to Research Area Schools When Moving with Children

Anyone who has children will tell you - one of the primary factors when moving to a new neighborhood is the area's school district. Now if your children are already enrolled in a private school, you can skip this post. But if not, read on...

My website has a tool to help you find out more about the local schools.

Let's say, for example, that you're thinking about moving to Carlsbad. On my homepage, you'll see a table with information divided up between Buyers, Sellers, Investors and Information. Under the Information column, select School Information.

From this page you can choose to search by district name, school name, or county. Since Carlsbad is in San Diego County, select San Diego.

Once you're on the San Diego County page, select Carlsbad Unified School District from the list of "School Districts in San Diego County." You will reach a page that looks like this:

 

You can now view the beginning and end dates for school sessions, the educational climate index and other information. When applicable, you will also be given the district website address, which you can copy and paste into a new browser window.

Another interesting feature is the "Schools to Compare" box. Select 2 to 5 schools and you'll get a screen with more information about each of the schools you've selected - such as the amount of full-time teachers employed, or what the school's technology measure is.

Have fun researching Southern California school information!

Home Surfing Can Be Fun

Given the popularity of HGTV, I'd say that seeing how other people live is certainly something people enjoy doing. For some, it's pure entertainment. For others, it's a search for knowledge as they think about buying, selling, remodeling or just redecorating their home.

I guess the same thing goes for the Search For Homes/Featured Properties pages on real estate agent websites around the country.

How many of you have visited a city or town somewhere, then returned home and did a little Internet research to see what price range homes were going for in that location?

Many real estate agents require you fill out a guestbook or some other form with your personal information before they let you see the up-close-and-personal photos of the house on the hill you've always dreamed of, or the condo so close to the bay that you can watch ships sailing right past your living room's sliding glass door.

I'd like to invite you to visit my Southern California Real Estate website's home search page. While you can sign up to receive email alerts when new lisings that meet your search criteria come on the market, you're more than welcome to browse through and just see what's out there. There are no mandatory guestbooks to fill out.

Surf away!

How Are Your Resolutions Coming Along?

The hustle and bustle of the holidays has died down and we're all back to "the daily grind," so to speak. Back to work! So how are those New Year's resolutions coming along?

The New Year is a great time to embrace the idea of a new beginning. Whether it's an excuse to exercise regularly, quit smoking, or go on a low-fat diet, you and I get the chance to look ahead and anticipate that the upcoming year will be better than the last. Here are some humorous quotations to think about as you prepare to embark on our New Year's journey:

• "A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other." - Anonymous
• "An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves." - Bill Vaughan
• "Many people look forward to the New Year for a new start on old habits." - Anonymous
• "Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right." - Oprah Winfrey
• "My New Year's resolution: to tolerate fools more gladly, provided this does not encourage them to take up more of my time." - James Agate
• "Now there are more overweight people in America than average-weight people. So overweight people are now the average, which means you've met your New Year's resolution." - Jay Leno
• "The best thing to give up in a New Year's resolution is to give up giving up." - Anonymous
• "Youth is when you're allowed to stay up on a New Year's Eve. Middle age is when you're forced to." - Bill Vaughn

My best wishes to you and your family for a healthy and prosperous New Year.

Sincerely,
Brad Butner
Your Real Estate Consultant For Life...

My Work Takes Me All Over Southern California

Hi. I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Brad Butner, and I am a REALTOR®. Welcome to my Southern California real estate blog.

As a Broker Associate, my work takes me all over Southern California, and I enjoy handling transactions in a broad cross-section of communities. I guess you could say there's never a dull moment in my line of work.

With this blog I hope to keep you informed on real estate issues in the various Southern California markets, and of helpful tools that I come across.

I have a website, if you'd like to find out more about me. It's called Southern California Homes Online, and you can use it to search for homes in San Diego County, Orange County, Los Angeles County, San Bernardino County and Riverside County.

I hope you'll feel welcome to contact me if you ever have any questions about anything that's going on in these communities. Whether you're considering buying or selling a home for the first time, or you're an experienced investor, I'd love to help you as I've helped many others.