I initially went searching for ways to save money on – well, I forgot what I started searching for, but grocery shopping and cooking were on my mind. I ended up at MommySavers.com and decided instead of focusing on one thing, I’d just send you over to Kim’s site to take a look for yourself.  There are too many good things to just look at one.

The sidebar is full of great departments like Frugal Decorating Ideas which includes a post on how to decorate like Pottery Barn on a budget.  Good stuff.

Cooking, Groceries and Recipes – oh yeah, that was my original thought.  Under Grocery Shopping you’ll find Saving Time and Money Grocery Shopping, Be Smart With Your Cart, Save up to 50% On Your Grocery Bill – 50%?  Wow.

Popularity: 66% [?]

Popularity: 57% [?]

I’ve written about Donna before. She personalizes just about anything – including cookies, which she doesn’t recommend eating.  But she makes some of the coolest products I’ve ever seen.

She’s competing on HGTV’s website to win “Your Best-Kept Design Secrets.”  So get on over there and vote for donnaTILE!

You might want to hire her for your project before she gets all-Oprah famous and you have to wait in line.

Donna Kobyluk
donnaTILE
650.610.9001
dkobyluk [at] AchieveLaserEngraving.com

Popularity: 41% [?]

Not!  He’s got 30 Ways To Save and they’re easy!  You can do it!

Popularity: 55% [?]

Popularity: 45% [?]

Filoli Grounds

News has gotten out that home owners may be able to get their property taxes adjusted based on the reduction in value of today’s market by petitioning the County of San Mateo Tax Assessor’s Office.    Scammers have found a way to get at home owners by charging for the service. Thing is the county does this for free.

I’ve helped several clients get it done – it’s not hard and you don’t need to pay anyone.  In fact, if you want help, let me know.  I’ll help you with some of the information you’ll need to provide.

After the county sent out an alert I started contacting clients.  This is what I got back, “I also want to thank you for the warning yesterday.  My mom just sent out a payment of $180 for the recalculation of their property tax.  I called her immediately so she could put a stop on the check.  I think she stopped it just in time.”

Got a San Mateo County real estate question?   Call me at 650.888.9268 or send me an email Vicki [at] CallVicki.com.   If you like what you’ve read, subscribe to the San Mateo Real Estate Blog feed.

Start your home search here with me at San Mateo Real Estate Blog.

Popularity: 52% [?]

I read a lot of blogs – maybe more than I should.  But Teresa Boardman is a leader in the field – real estate and blogging – and just a nice person – so I follow her more than most.

Yesterday afternoon there was a post from Teresa about inventory plummeting in St Paul.  Hmmm, I thought.  Has inventory plummeted in San Mateo County?  I don’t think so – well, not in the last couple of months, but what about previous years.

So how does today’s count of 1335 homes for sale compare?  Well, it’s not what Teresa’s seeing in St Paul, but it’s lower than it was February 2008: 1633.  2007:  1032.  2006: 945.  No wonder 2005 was crazy – only 591 homes were for sale in all of San Mateo County!

Since many, many buyers are seeking a deal and focusing in on short sales and bank owned properties they’re not always such a deal and are seeing multiple offers.

Popularity: 39% [?]

There were a 173 new homes for sale this week – by far the largest number since I started counting at the beginning of December of last year.  The number of homes sold is also one of the highest numbers we’ve seen: 88.

The most expensive house to sell this past week was a 4 bedroom, 4 and 1 half bathroom home in Woodside.  This 4,344 square foot property sold for $2.5 million

The least expensive sale was in East Palo Alto.  A 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom, home of 970 square feet sold for $205,000.

Picture story:  I was super excited when I was leaving Filoli a couple of weeks ago to spot a few deer just lounging around that I had to pull over – much to the surprise of the guy at the gate.  “Then he said there’s more over there.”  I turned behind me and there was a flock – are bunches of deer called flocks?  Anyway…

Got a San Mateo County real estate question?   Call me at 650.888.9268 or send me an email Vicki [at] CallVicki.com.   If you like what you’ve read, subscribe to the San Mateo Real Estate Blog feed.

Start your home search here with me at San Mateo Real Estate Blog.

All the best,
Vicki

Popularity: 47% [?]

Regular folks all over the country are asking, “Where’s my stimulus package?”  Well, Intuit has come to the aide of small business owners with its Small Business United program.

“Small Business United is a multi-phase initiative that will bring a much needed stimulus package to the more than 27 million small businesses in the country.  The stimulus package includes more than $350,000 in small business grants and donations, plus free business tools and products from Intuit.”

Popularity: 38% [?]

The state of the economy didn’t stop Gilead from moving forward with its plans to purchase the Electronics For Imaging headquarters. CoStar Group reports Gilead has completed its partial acquisition of the Electronics For Imaging (EFI) headquarters along with an adjacent 30-acre parcel for $137.5 million.

During such an economic meltdown, not only Foster City will appreciate the strength and growth Gilead is bringing to the area but so will the rest of the county.

Got a Foster City real estate question?   Call me at 650.888.9268 or send me an email Vicki [at] CallVicki.com.   If you like what you’ve read, subscribe to the San Mateo Real Estate Blog feed.

Start your Foster City Home Search.

Popularity: 38% [?]