Palm Springs Natives Offer Festival of Native Film and Culture

This week the Aqua Caliente band of the Cahuilla tribe is offering one of their special events, the annual Festival of Native Film and Culture. Now in its eighth season, the 2009 Festival has already begun and will continue through March 8, 2009 at the Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs. The Festival features films, documentaries, [...]

Coachella Valley Wildflowers

The annual appearance of the ephemeral spring wildflowers native to the Coachella Valley has everything to do with the amounts of rainfall in the winter months, which can vary widely within a relatively small area, and with warming temperatures that encourage blooming. In some areas it’s reported that the wildflowers seem to be peaking early [...]

How Banks Value Your Home or Why They Cut Your Home Equity Line

Have you had your Line of Credit reduced recently because your house value has gone down? Well, if your answer is yes, the following might be one of the reasons, so take note. I came across an article in MSN Money yesterday which caught my eye because it referenced a study by one of my favorite [...]

The News Headlines Shape Buyer Expectations

A recent report on real estate sales and trends here in Palm Springs for December came out in The Desert Sun on last Thursday. More important than the actual numbers or trends reported in the article, the author explains that what is being reported is a distortion; the cause is that when all types of [...]

Palm Springs Weather Redux

Earlier this afternoon, I drove up Racquet Club Drive to photograph the distant mountains capped with snow. It seemed odd that, as I was looking at the snow, a pickup truck drove up behind me and a pool guy dressed in shorts and tee shirt got out and retrieved his skimmer pole to go tend [...]

Tour de Palm Springs 2009

Where better to ride your bike than in the beautiful desert with a backdrop of rugged mountains in the distance! Who better to ride with than Tour de Palm Springs riders! Founder Tim Esser certainly is a believer. From its beginning here in Palm Springs in 1998 with about 400 riders, the Ride has steadily grown to almost [...]

The Palm Springs Lifestyle and Weather

  Palm Springs is located in the Coachella Valley and is a part of the Sonora Desert. Thus being in the desert, we can proudly boast to having well over 300 days of sunshine annually, and only about 5 inches of rain each year, yes that’s right – 5 inches! Our weather is incredible from October through [...]

Palm Springs Modernism Week 2009 – A Celebration of All Things MOD!

The 4th annual Palm Springs Modernism Week 2009 kicks off this coming Friday, February 13, 2009 and will include a wide variety of events over a 9-day period. As in previous years, Modernism Week will begin with the two-day Modernism Show on February 15 and 16, preceded by an evening Preview Reception on the14th, held at [...]

Help for the Beleaguered Real Estate Market – Homebuyer Tax Credits

Wow! It looks as if the congressional stimulus package now coming together in Washington may find a way of providing some assistance to our beleaguered Palm Springs real estate market. The New York Times is reporting today that today the Senate approved by voice vote a measure that, if approved, would provide up to $15,000 [...]

Here We Go Again – December 2008 California Housing Outlook

This is an update of my November 2008 Blog reporting on the state of the real estate market. The California Real Estate Association (C.A.R.) has just released a report stating that the number of single-family homes sold in California increased 84.9% in December from the same period one year ago, with year-to-date sales nearly 27% [...]