Santa Clarita Valley Real Estate

On Friday, February 23rd cycling fans can experience a once in a lifetime opportunity to enjoy an evening with an icon of the cycling world - Greg LeMond. The "An Evening with Greg LeMond Special Guest Kozo Shimano" will be held at Robinson Ranch as the precursor to the Amgen Tour of California, which arrives in Santa Clarita on Saturday, February 24th. The evening will begin with a cocktail hour at 6:00pm, followed by dinner, presentations on the cycling world, and an opportunity to ask questions of Greg LeMond and Kozo Shimano. LeMond and Shimano will share anecdotes about their paths to success including the challenges, triumphs and experiences that have catapulted them to the top of the cycling world. Tickets for the event are $100 per person; please contact Jenni Shadle at jshadle@santa-clarita.com or (661) 286-4012.

City Manager Ken Pulskamp was awarded the League of California Cities prestigious Diversity Award last week at the annual City Manager’s Conference in San Francisco. Nominated by Mayor Marsha McLean, the Award for the Advancement of Diverse Communities was presented to Pulskamp by the League of California Cities on Thursday, February 8, 2007. The Diversity Award recognizes individuals who are instrumental in encouraging diversity in the workplace and in their communities. Pulskamp was honored for his work with the Sister City program in Santa Clarita, as well as for the City’s efforts including the Human Relations Forum, work place practices and programs and the City’s Newhall Community Center, which opened last year. Pulskamp helped establish the City’s sister city relationship with Tena, Ecuador and is active in the Philippino-American community, participating in the groundbreaking of a new medical facility in Sariaya, Philippines. During that mission he arranged to bring medical equ

Mortgage rates eased this week on the heels of Friday's employment report that showed weaker-than-expected job growth in January. 30-year fixed rate mortgages averaged 6.28% this week compared to 6.34% last week according to Freddie Mac's mortgage market survey. Economists at Freddie Mac predict that long term rates will hover between 6.3% and 6.5% this year which would cause the refinance share of origination to contract to 42% from 49% currently

HouseValues got a lot of people talking this week. Questions about the long term survivability of the company echoed through the blogosphere, much of it spurred on by the grumbling of ex-employees . As one of the highest profile real estate 1.0 web properties, I believe HouseValues’ troubles are ultimately a result of the macro changes that are happening right across this industry. It’s pretty clear. Real estate professionals are no longer the gatekeepers of information. On the surface however, HouseValues has not evolved. It’s main sites JustListed.com and HouseValues.com still treat consumers and real estate agents like children and are obviously little more than lead capture tools. Homepages.com is so confusing and poorly designed, it borders on being virtually unusable. In the past, there may have been few other options to turn to; but consumers these days have many more friendly data sources to choose from - Trulia or Zillow , Redfin or Shackprices , and Cyberhomes just to