Doug Buenz
Real Estate Broker
Alain Pinel Realtors
(925) 463-2000
Email me!
I am a local Real Estate Broker with Alain Pinel Realtors serving the Pleasanton and the Tri-Valley area. I am an avid watcher of the local real estate market, as well as cultural and political events. But that is what I do, not who I am... » read more
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Well, not really. But it looks pretty tempting, especially after looking at Cafayate, Argentina, a new 1300 acre luxury home enclave that will ultimately have 360 homes built. It’s a bit remote though. After flying to Buenos Aires, you are still another two hour flight and three and a half hour drive away.
Estancia …
When the going gets tough, the tough turn to cartoons! A few new ones courtesy of Town Hall.
Of course we are! We live in the Tri-Valley! And a new Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index survey confirms that we are perhaps the happiest place on earth – with apologies to Disneyland (cue up “Shiny Happy People” from REM).
Silicon Valley was rated as the happiest big metro region, with San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont coming in fifth. …
Mt. Diablo is a wonderful place to explore all year round, but this time of year is a particularly beautiful time to see the mountain in all its springtime splendor.
Great post from Roberta Gonzales called “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff” about keeping things in perspective. Roberta is a fellow Pleasanton resident and Channel 5 Weather reporter. If you don’t follow Roberta, you should. She has great insights into weather and life in the East Bay. Add her blog to your RSS …
Have you ever had a hard time finding the tools and other items needed for a home repair job? If you have teen age kids, I know the answer to that is yes. They start with “I promise I’ll put it back” when they are younger and graduate to just not telling you …
While Draeger’s Market has a century old history in the Bay Area, it was a relative newcomer to the East Bay when the Peninsula-based grocer opened its doors at Blackhawk Plaza in 2008.
Since then, the market has thrived and tapped into the local foodie population that appreciates finding organic produce, high quality meats and cheeses, …
One of the hot topics around the 680 Corridor these days is a the proposed changing of the name of Mt. Diablo, our most well known landmark. An Oakley resident filed a petition with the United States Board on Geographic Names to change the name of Mt. Diablo, which in spanish means “devil”. …
Talk about expensive real estate. The “skinniest” house in New York City sold for $2.1 million. The house, originally built in 1873 is a mere nine and a half feet wide and 42 feet long. That’s 400 sq ft, or $5,250 per sq ft. Ouch.
According to Yahoo News,
The red brick building …
Okay, lenders these days are getting absolutely ridiculous, if not down right stupid. Us REALTORS are a pretty pliable bunch, and we have learned to roll with the punches as lenders struggle to cope with new regulations and edicts from the all-knowing federal regulators, who are largely responsible for this mess in the first …
So you were eying that beautiful little bungalow in Shanghai or perhaps a country estate in Hangzhou. Maybe you had your eye on a rental property in Jinan. Not so fast. According to Reuters, China is moving to prevent “hot money “ from causing real estate prices from rising too fast.
“Relevant departments …
Yahoo Finance published a great article on things you should try to avoid buying this year. Thank god real estate did not make the list. A couple of the more interesting items:
Home telephone service
It will probably take a while, but home landlines could become as archaic as the rotary phone.
According to a Centers for …
Came across this site yesterday thanks to my friend Jay. It is www.Ted.com. The tagline is “Ideas worth sharing”. It is a collection of video lectures, speeches, and presentations on a wide variety of subjects by well known authorities. A quick scan includes videos on business, science, biodiversity, physics, cello, nanotechnology, …
I’m all for being bold in colors and schemes for houses. But I think these owners might have pushed the envelope a little too far. This are one of the main reasons why neighborhoods have CC & R’s. Courtesy of oddee.com
