As a North County San Diego real estate broker, I often carry a laptop when when showing San Diego homes to clients. And so do many of our real estate clients. These days, we avoid Starbucks because they charge for their wifi service–and instead head to the closest Panera Bread, almost any public library, or other resting points where we can easily hop online. I believe that someday this will be a useless list, because wifi will be ubiquitous. But until that day, here’s a starter list of free San Diego hot spots. Some may require that you ask for a password, but won’t require a swipe of your credit card. (Don’t forget, though, that wireless networks are not secure, and be careful of the information you transmit.) Some local wifi spots in North San Diego County would include: E Street Ca... 04/23/2008

Yet another marvelous outdoor event is yours to enjoy this coming weekend. The 25th Annual Encinitas Street Fair sponsored by the Downtown Encinitas Mainstreet Association, will be held in the heart of Encinitas on Saturday and Sunday from 9 AM until 5 PM each day. The fair is held along the coast road (Route 101) from D to J Streets. Estimated attendance is around 100,000 so it should be a great event (with weather expected to be in the 70s). This is an amazing outdoor festival, with 450 vendors offering a wide range of arts, crafts, clothing, food and much more. There will be entertainment on 4 different stages consisting of music, dancing and singing – A Beer Garden (at Karl Strauss), a Community Stage (Hansen Surfboards), a Court Yard Stage (at the Lumberyard Shops and Restaurants)... 04/21/2008

No, we’re not talking about how surfing in and of itself will save the environment. Of course if you could commute to work that way and save the gas… But this is such a cool idea I wanted to share it. Encinitas, California is known for many things, in particular poinsettias and surfing. Surf shops are everywhere, as are surfers and their boards. There are a number of prime surf beaches, with Swami’s being the most famous. Being as popular as it is, one can readily find a surfing school to teach you how to ride the waves. I have written a bit about surfing in my area, and some folks even say I look like a surfer dude at times. I am not a surfer…yet. Why not learn to surf in a way that will help the environment? A new surfing school founded by Torrey Trust, Surf eCo, will teach you how t... 04/19/2008

Ever Golfed in Encinitas Ranch? If you have ever driven off Leucadia Blvd, then you have seen all the golfers out at Encinitas Ranch having the time of their lives. Ever wondered how it would be to own your own piece of real estate in Encinitas Ranch? Right now  there are some great Encinitas Ranch Homes for Sale  if you are considering investing in an upscale golf community in North County. Encinitas Ranch is a very desired area to live in and purchase real estate. SEE ALL ENCINITAS RANCH REAL ESTATE LISTINGS HERE            Take a look at recently sold homes in Encinitas Ranch below. Please feel free to visit http://www.dustybrazil.com/ for any of your real estate needs in North County. Comparative Market Analysis                                              04/01/2008

Carlsbad and Encinitas home owners now have a place to find the best buys…at the NEW Best Buy (760-479-0114) in Encinitas just off El Camino Real at the Encinitas Town Center. Home owners in Carlsbad, Encinitas and Cardiff now have a new mega-store for shopping in their backyard, as opposed to having to head to San Marcos or Oceanside. Located in the former CompUSA facility (which closed last year), the new Best Buy, while smaller than the mega-stores in San Marcos and Oceanside, provides area residents with the wide selection of appliances, electronics, music, computers and other techie stuff they are used to at the Best Buy stores Best Buy in Encinitas joins a broad range of other large-store opportunities for Carlsbad, Encinitas and Cardiff residents, which include: Bed, Bath and Bey... 03/29/2008

The Encinitas Civic Center is a hub of many activities that support the management and operations of the town. City Council Chambers are there, as are a number of building departments, just up the hill from the downtown area near the train station. A charming feature of the civic center is the Art Gallery, in the Encinitas City Hall. I had the pleasure of viewing this gallery for the first time the other day where artist/glassblower Lea de Wit was featured. Lea’s handcrafted glass art is magnificent, and a true testimony to her talent and creativity as an artist, and a reflection of her excellent training in Italy under glassblowing masters, Elio Quarisa and Davide Salvadore, as well as with renowned glass sculpture artist Karen Willenbrink-Johnsen. It is no surprise that the juried se... 03/14/2008

Encinitas has long been one of North County San Diego's favorite beach communities with some of the most prime real estate and view properties in California. Encinitas is well known for its quaint villages, seaside plazas, flower farms, plant nurseries, beautiful cliffs and over 6 miles of rugged Pacific coastline, steep mesa bluffs and a loyal surfing culture. The surfing here is a draw for all ages and is enjoyed all year long.The community is mainly residential with a wonderful array of shops, restaurants and galleries and a charming business corridor along the 101. Encinitas has an approximate population of 60,000 and with temperatures between 40 and 85 degrees year-round make Encinitas a spectacular place to visit or call home.The City of Encinitas was founded over 100 years ago an... 03/12/2008

No, this is not about indecent exposure. You really weren't thinking that, were you?Smoking, and smoking bans, have typically been hotly debated in recent years. I'm old enough to remember when smoking was allowed just about anywhere. Times have changed, and bans have eliminated smoking from many areas, especially here in California.Those who dislike smoking, are allergic to it, are worried about the environment, and are concerned about passive smoking, continue to push for cleaner air and smoking bansSmokers push for their right to smoke, especially in public areas, and pooh-pooh passive smoking One argument against bans has been concern about the potential negative impact on business, especially in restaurants, bars and other public venue. That argument doesn't seem to wash anymore. A... 03/09/2008

We are constantly looking for new ways to slice and dice the MLS data, so today I implemented our new Granny Flat/Casita/Accessory Unit list. There are many reasons why buyers want a place with a room (or building) with its own entrance and kitchen. So, we finally got around to creating this dynamically updated list from the MLS data. We're always trying to create these new kinds of lists? If you have a list that you create or if you know of a list that you think would be interesting and valuable, post a comment and we may give it a go.John Hokkanen, Encinitas Real EstatePS: If you want to see our Granny Flat page for Encinitas and Carlsbad, click here to access our new page. Accessing the list is a separate link on the page. 03/08/2008

I just looked at the front page of our web site and saw the last 12 sales that have been posted by zip code:RECENT SALES BY ZIP92008   $525,000 4998 Eucalyptus Ln Mar 3   $520,380 1750 Andrea Ave. Mar 3   $518,000 4553 Cove Dr #1 Feb 2992009   $619,000 2734 Ascot Avenue Feb 29   $825,000 2814 Atadero Ct Feb 29   $255,000 2352 Altisma Way #7 Feb 2992010   $304,000 2813 Via Diego Mar 492011   $745,000 657 Seaward Avenue Mar 4   $740,000 609 Saltgrass Ave Feb 29   $322,000 803 Caminito Del Mar Feb 2992024   $925,000 1467 Heritage Ln Mar 3   $730,000 1638 Hawk View Dr Feb 29We update this data from the Sandicor MLS data about 5 times a day.  You can see it any time by visiting http://www.EncinitasCarlsbad.com The data concerns me a bit.  There isn't a single property over $1M, and all but o... 03/04/2008

I visited one of my fave restaurants in the Carlsbad area last night, Le Papagayo, in Leucadia (Encinitas) and heard a terrific Cuban band for the first time. Luna Llena (you can listen to some music here)   I love this band…and I think you will too, if you like the sound of traditional Cuban music, vocal harmonies, the pulse of congas and timbales (not the food, silly), and the melodies of the spanish guitar.       Playing to a full house at the very popular Le Papagayo, this band is clearly a crowd favorite, and it’s easy to see why. The sounds of traditional Cuban music seem to go so well with the funky, eclectic beach life in this area of Encinitas, and with terrific Cuban specialties to nosh on while enjoying the live entertainment (as well as a diverse menu of other great eating) ... 02/29/2008

San Diego North County Coastal 2007 Median Home PricesThe North County Coastal San Diego 2007 Median Home Prices are retaining home values better than any other area of San Diego County. Out of the 12 North County Coastal San Diego communities 5 communities had a higher median home price in 2007 than in 2006, 5 communities had a lower median home price in 2007 than in 2006 and 2 communities had the same median home price in 2007 and 2006. The 5 communities in North County Coastal San Diego that were down had 3 of the 5 communities only down by a very small percentage. Only Oceanside 92056 and 92057 had a median home price down by more than 5%. This is still better than many areas of San Diego County. Carlsbad had 3 out of its 4 zip codes with a higher median home price in 2007 compared ... 02/29/2008

We like to plot data on maps so that you can see what's happening.  It tells a more descriptive story than trying to visualize what a list looks like.  Below is our map of Notices of Default (NODs) that have occurred in the past 15 days (supplied to us from a title company).As you will see, the majority of the NODs are in:San MarcosVistaOceansideEscondidoThere were just a few in Carlsbad and a couple in Del Mar, but only a couple. You know that where the defaults are occurring is where trouble is brewing in the home market.  It's not that you can't buy a good home in any of those locations, it's just that you need to use a lot of care or you could really see your home value tumble over the coming year.  Here's the map:This is the detached map of NODs.  We also have NOD maps for condos/a... 02/29/2008

Encinitas Homes in San Diego 2008 Median PriceEncinitas 92024 median home price was $835,000 in 2007. This is $35,000 more than the 2006 median home price of $800,000 but $5,000 less than the peak price of $840,000 in 2005. Encinitas is a great North County Coastal San Diego beach community and has held its home values well compared to many other areas in San Diego County. Encinitas has 179 homes for sale in February 2008 with a median list price of $1,396,052 and average days on market of 92 days. Encinitas has some wonderful attractions; Moonlight Beach, Swami's Beach, Encinitas Ranch Golf Course, Quail Botanical Gardens, to name a few. Encinitas is just north of Solana Beach and just south of Carlsbad. When you're ready to look for a home in Encinitas, sell a home in Encinitas or hav... 02/27/2008

The weather here today is fantabulous, about 71 degrees. Amazing for February 27th (sorry, those of you living in colder climes – been there, done that). But it’s truly a banner day here. Why? There are banners all over Encinitas along historic Route 101 (affectionately called the coast highway) from La Costa Avenue (at the north end of Leucadia) all the way to Cardiff. The 10th Annual Arts Alive Banners exhibit was recently unveiled, and the 101 banners, each an original work of art, are proudly hanging on the street lights along the main drag through Leucadia and downtown Encinitas (a distance of 6 miles – how cool is that?). The banners will all be sold at a 3-month long silent auction, with the final “live” auction in June. Bidding starts at $150 and can be placed through the Downt... 02/27/2008

For those of you who are shopping for homes in better school districts, we have the tools for you!  Last year we updated our homes-by-school-boundary maps to reflect the updated school scores.   This is just a sample map, but you can get the idea of what this is all about.  The flags show where the elementary school is, the pushpin shows the home, and the boundary lines are color-coded to show you the API score of the school.  In this case, you can see how there are homes in school boundaries ranging from orange (850-899) to green (700-749).  Pretty cool, huh? AND, if that's not enough info for you, we've also created a 4-page article entitled Schools and Homes that discusses a variety of issues relating to San Diego Schools and Homes.  So, if you need this sort of info, just give us a ... 02/27/2008

Foreclosure properties!  Everyone wants to know about them.  So we created some special computer programs to sort through the MLS listings and identify (as best we can) which properties are bank foreclosures and which are not.  (That may sound easy, but it's not as easy as you think.)  Here's an example of one of our new maps for the Encinitas and Carlsbad area.  The pushpins show you the number of bedrooms (number) and price (color).  We also have a condo/townhome map.This map is great because it does a good job of separating the short sales from the already-foreclosed property.  That's important because short sales can be difficult, while bank-owned property is much easier because the banks genuinely don't want to own property.  On short sales, it's a bit more complicated because they... 02/27/2008

ENCINITAS CONDOS Looking for Encinitas Condos and Townhomes? Want to live in Cardiff by the sea right near the Cardiff San Elijo  Lagoon, have your own gym, pool, gated parking, seconds to everything? Sound to good to be true? Think again!I just showed some Encinitas Condos and Townhomes to a client a few days ago. We visited a couple great Encinitas neighborhoods including: Pacific Pines, Park Place, Village Park, and West Hampton Cove. We came to the conclusion Pacific Pines was the best Bang for your buck, at least for her taste.  Right now there are a couple great condos for sale that have just been listed by the Hokkanen Team, see the best Encinitas Condos for sale here in Pacific Pines   here.         Feel free to check out my local area sites including, Cardiff Homes For sale, Le... 02/20/2008

The Encinitas and Carlsbad inventory situation appears to be stable.  Though inventory levels are slightly higher than last year, and prices slightly lower than last year, the market is not the kind of unstable situation that you can find in some of San Diego County's inland markets.  Here's the inventory graph, derived from data taken from the Sandicor, Inc. MLS.The median price graph is as follows:So, median price is flucuating between being higher and lower than last year, though there is a downward trend from last June.  The coming months will really tell the story.  It's important to note that the median price (at which half of the homes sell for less than that) falls close to or within the window of the new conforming mortgage limits making a real difference.  So, if people take a... 02/20/2008

Encinitas MLS San Diego MLSEncinitas San Diego CAEncinitas MLSSan Diego MLSEncinitas is located in North County Coastal San Diego. It is a wonderful beach community with many homes and condos on or close to the ocean. Encinitas has some great beaches to play on one of them is Moonlight Beach at the Encinitas Blvd. exit off of the 3. Head west and when you go over Highway 101 it turns into B Street and at the end of B Street is Moonlight Beach. The Encinitas MLS will help you with your home and condo search and will show you the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, garages, price, and location with great maps of San Diego. These San Diego MLS tools can really help you narrow down your San Diego and Encinitas MLS home search.You can search the Encinitas MLS for all homes and condos and see thei... 02/17/2008