Lakeside CA- San Diego County Rental

Step into a home that is perfect in every way for the discriminating tenant. This home was built as a custom designed retreat for the owner who is leaving the area. Enter through the huge hand carved mahogany doors to a custom winding staircase.. Home is approximately 1500 s.f. One huge master bedroom with fireplace and hand carved teak mantel. "Walk-in" granite shower and designer glass bowl sink. 2nd bathroom has glass bowl vessel sink and hand carved mirrors.Open floor plan with gorgeous kitchen and sliders to large deck with astounding views. Separate dining area and open living room make this space perfect for entertaining. Marble, granite and teak custom touches throughout. Custom lighting. 2nd bedroom is very small but good for child or at home office. 2 car garage. Walk up to the private roof deck with 360 degree views. Surrounded by 5+ acres of land with lemon, avocado and tangerine trees. Perfect for the upscale couple who desire a one-of-a-kind home with no next door neighbors. $2995/month. Horses and dogs ok. Drive by and e-mail deborah.stone@cox.net for more info.

           Front of Home located near Wildcat Canyon, Lakeside, CA

  Walk-in Travertine Shower in Master Bathroom

Patio off Kitchen with views of the Lakeside Hills

           Kitchen

Although I live on the West Coast, New England is where I grew up. I would like to share some photos I have taken.

    Pumpkins

Old Barn in New Hampshire, Mt. Washington Valley

Mushrooms

  View over the Mt. Washington Valley

Autumn Leaves

My Favorite Food

Driving from Portland Maine to Mt. Washington Valley takes about 2 hours. The road is one lane, with views around every corner. Having family that lives there makes it a great vacation get-away to hike and fish. Although Southern CA is equally as beautiful and lends itself to outdoor activity, I still marvel at the "smell" of Fall in New England!

Water Water Everywhere Nor any Drop to Drink...........

Hopefully this will remain just a line in Coleridge's poem “Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner” and not a reality. 

The price of water in San Diego County has risen sharply, and many people are trying to conserve as best they can. 50%-60% of a household's water usage is spent on landscaping. If that isn't enough to make you rip out your lawn blade by blade and “hard-top” it, I don't know what is.

But alas, there is a less drastic measure to be taken and one your neighbors will thank you for.....that is called....**drum roll** Xeriscape, landscaping and gardening in ways that reduce the need for supplemental irrigation.

I first met Wes Hudson when we both worked at the same R.E. company. When I heard he opened up a Landscape Design business North Park Native Plants I was quite eager to talk to him.

North Park Native Plants in San Diego is a local small business that focuses on combining 2 environmental concerns:

The successful use in residential garden settings of local native
plants that make up the natural habitats that surround us in San
Diego.

The need to address the growing water crisis in California by replacing water guzzling lawn with gardens that can thrive with no additional water beside rain, once they are established.

North Park native, Wes Hudson working on my landscaping.

Did you hear this? NO watering the lawn. EVER.I was already making plans for how I was going to spend the extra money.I was in love.......I just had to have it.

So I hired Wes to design and landscape my yard.

Day#1 saw the destruction of my pathetic yard and removal of all the top soil. Then a round of spraying the ground with weed-killer for 2 weeks, then respraying the new growth. After the lawn looked like a lunar landscape, the fun began! A giant truckload of Decomposed Granite (DG) was dumped on the drive way. A layer of black vinyl was first placed onto the old lawn bed then the DG went on top of that. A multitude of drought tolerant plants came next, some quite prickly (near the sidewalk to discourage dogs and bad neighbors). So far, I was amazed at the beautiful results even though it may take a year before they fill out and reach full height.

These plants look sparse now but wait until next year.

One of the beauties of Native Plants is the way they naturally reflect the
seasons in our particular climate. Wes tells me that there could be a
60% reduction in total water usage!

Still my beating heart!

Call Wes for a free estimate. He knows his stuff, is fairly priced and is fun to work with.

www.northparknativeplants.com 619-846-0585

In the past 13 years since I have been living in in So Cal, Metro San Diego neighborhoods have experienced increased revitalization. North Park is one of these areas.

North Park has always been a “diamond in the rough”. North of Balboa Park and just adjacent to upscale Hillcrest North Park has gone through some growing pains, only to emerge as an ethnically and economically diverse area with a downtown center that is hip and flourishing. There is also a vibrant arts scene, and many chic new eateries.The 805 is the backbone of this area, and one can get to just about anywhere in San Diego County in 20 minutes.

North Park definitely has an inescapable “pulse” and on my recent visit there, I could see that previously vacant stores were replaced by some very unique businesses.

  Claire de Lune Coffee house in North Park.You can even find poetry  readings by locals here!

  Off the Record sells a huge selection of 33 rpm records...like The Beatles!

 Get your shoes repaired.......

                                         Or get a tattoo...

  North Park Beauty Supply...with a seriously huge selection                   

 Local color:  skateboarding..........

                  Checking in with the office...........

  Taking a much needed energy drink break.............

                On a peaceful midday stroll in North Park....

Condos in North Park are still priced very reasonably. On a recent search of homes for sale in metro San Diego you can find one BR condos in the low $100K's all the way up to homes over $1,000,000. A recent search of the MLS showed 25+ condos on the market between $100K and $150K. If you are a young professional renting an apt. than now may be the time to purchase a condo in this Metro San Diego neighborhood.These are great prices for urban digs within 10 minutes drive of downtown San Diego. Public transportation is available too.

Sure, I can:

Ride my bike instead of my car. (try riding a bike on the So Cal freeways). Eliminate Starbuck's from my daily routine (aww, this hurts). Brown bag it daily (hate making sandwiches in the morning). Sit in my dark, cold house with no lights on.....(enough said)!!

But I have found 10 painless ways to save money in San Diego:

1. Use the clothes dryer for 2 minutes to "fluff" the fabric, then hang on a rack in the sun.

2. Change all light bulbs to "low energy".

3. Recycle plastic grocery bags to use in the trash.

4. Check fees at your bank. I did some comparison shopping for small business accounts and even though there was only $20/difference a month,it's money in my pocket, not theirs.

5."Sun-blocking" curtains & ceiling fans reduce heat (and cold) thus lowering energy costs substantially.

6.Check your cell phone carrier & cable t.v. providers regularly. They don't want to lose you to the competition, and often have "new programs" to offer you. I just saved $20/month from my Verizon wireless bill, & $30 from my cable bill, with not much difference in my old service plan.

7. Sign up for SKYPE, and lighten up your monthly cell minutes. For $2.95 month, you can call unlimited within the USA, and for a bit more, all through Europe. Check out www.skype.com

8. Stop paying high prices for "processed" foods. You will not only save significant $$, but you will be much healthier.

9. Stop buying bottled water. My refrigerator has a “filtered water system”. If you do not have this, you can purchase Brita Water Filtration System at Target and filter your own water. Or use both and have double-filtered water.

10. Stop buying software. I found Avira (anti-virus) and Open Office org. (replaces Microsoft Office) both online for FREE. Google.docs now offers FREE web-based templates

Using the above methods I save over $100/month.............. and I have some of the lowest utility bills in my San Diego neighborhood.

Recently, one of my neighbors put their home on the market. I might add that this is a stunning home and is professionally landscaped and decorated. I have an office in my home that faces this house. From one of the windows, I can see all the activity and the "comings and goings" of agents with clients. Now before you tell me to "get a life"......I just want to make it clear I don't stare out the window all day (ok sometimes I do).... but I do hear voices and doors closing when the weather is warm and the windows are open. 

My feeling was that this property was not priced right, as a matter of fact it was priced significantly higher than the competition. I had the agreement of Comps and a few local friends who are agents. The neighbor is a friend, but decided (for reasons I do not understand nor want to get into) to hire a "neighborhood specialist".

 In the past 2 weeks this is what I witnessed:

3 sets of clients driving up, walking around the house, looking up the street and then down the street, and then getting in the agent's car and driving away.

3 couples brought by agents who entered the house and spent approximately 3-5 minutes inside.

1 couple brought by an agent who spent 5 minutes walking around the outside and backyard.

Several cars coming to a slowdown, looking at the house and then driving off.

No Offers  or interest to date.

Now there is absolutely no scientific methods I have used nor do I assume I have seen all the showings, but when I witness the above scenarios during the first 2 weeks of the sale of this SFR in a very strong market in an urban neighborhood in San Diego..... I can't help but draw the conclusion that this house is not priced right for the current market conditions.

I hope the present agent picks up on the feedback he will hopefully get from the the Buyers' agents. Of course he may have just wanted to "get the Listing" at any price. Over pricing a home does a major disservice to your client and wastes valuable time. It doesn't get the property SOLD. It is deceitful, makes you look stupid and it is bad business practice.