Christine Monteith on the Pebble Beach Coast

How do you re-coup your $32,000,000 investment in a home that sits on the Pebble Beach golf course? You can rent it for $100,000 a week during the U.S. Open in 2010.

You can rent out your home. Monterey Bay Property Management is looking for Pebble Beach homeowners that are willing to put all their personal belongings into storage, shine up their homes and move out for a couple weeks for these projected returns….On the golf course: $100,000, Within walking distance: $50,000, Inside Pebble Beach gates: $10,000-$50,000.

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From the Monterey Herald, August 20, 2008

“Home sales in Monterey County continue to rise, while the median price of sales continues its downward trend, according to a real estate research firm. Compared to July 2007, the number of sales for new and resale properties, including single-family detached residences and condominiums, was up 53.5 percent. There were 327 properties in the county sold in July, up from 317 in June and 213 in July 2007, according to San Diego-based MDA DataQuick. The median sales price was down 44.1 percent year to year, dropping $242,000 in the past year from $549,000 in July 2007 to $307,000. ”

So sales are up but prices are down. The downward trend in prices has allowed people that could not afford a home to now purchase. Many of the homes being purchased are foreclosures in Seaside or Salinas selling under $350,000. Buyers are qualifying for loans and purchasing. Any one who bought their home over 6 years ago and are selling now will still make a profit on the sale. This market is very beneficial for many buyers and sellers.

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To add to my list of “California” experiences (a week long workshop at Esalen, developing a “green” residential building program, practicing Pilates and Gyrokinesis are some of my other “California” experiences), I’m going to Burning Man.

Fortunately, I’m going with a group of experienced “Burners” who are generously sharing their knowledge. Even more exciting is that our group of Burners are building a theme camp, Andy’s Wonder Factory. We are celebrating Andy Warhol and Wonder Bread.

Though our Burner crew has been working every Sunday for weeks now on different camp art projects (a shade tent structure painted to look like a Wonder Bread loaf wrapper, an art installation for the Playa,) we had a last minute push yesterday. We were building the Wonder Wall.

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Our cute and historically designated office on 17th Street attracts the most interesting “walk-ins.”

Yesterday, Bernt Wahl ventured up our front porch stairs to ask about neighborhood names. I wasn’t quite sure what he was asking until he explained that he has developed G.I.S search software to define neighborhoods and provide demographic information. As Former CEO of DataHunt.com to provide information solutions to business. Now has Factle Maps

We had a great conversation about neighborhood names in Pacific Grove, a little history, a little culture. Bernt was speaking at the SCGIS 2008 Conference at the Asilomar Conference Center .

I live just a few blocks from the Asilomar Conference Center, I walk through the grounds on the way to the beach. They host many conferences, my assigned voting place, and also the Pacific Grove Chamber of Commerce Annual Fashion Show. No words can quite describe the experience of the Fashion show (I’ve model several times), it is better experienced first hand.

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We are inundated with cars of ages and makes. The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance has been ramping up around The Lodge and the Equestrian Center for 2 weeks. The multiple “horse power” vehicles have squeezed out the single “horse power” people from our rings at the Pebble Beach Equestrian Center. We are relegated to 2 small rings in the back.

The Gooding Auction tents span a couple of acres, the Blackhawk tent and display area occupies all of the Peter Hay Golf course. The Concours cars, Ferrari being the featured marque this year, will be lined up on the 18th fairway of the Pebble Beach golf course. It is a breath-taking sight.

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Last time that I was excited about the Olympics was the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary. ‘Cause I was working for ABC Sports PR, so I was being paid to be excited. Though working at ABC Sports that year was one of the best years. We promoted the 1987 World Series, Super Bowl XXII and the Winter Olympics, all in just 6 months. That was the last great year of ABC Sports and quite a learning experience for me.

I can’t contain my curiosity for the Beijing Olympics. Today is the day for the opening ceremonies with director Zhang Yimou. His early films released in the U.S. Red Sorghum, Ju Dou to the tragic Raise the Red Lantern were just preludes to what I feel is his best work, “To Live.” Though the family in that story (its tragedies and small joys) are so foreign from my cosseted existence, the intensity of the emotions and atmosphere portrayed by Zhang still brings tears to my eyes.

Now Zhang is the orchestrator of probably the most important cultural and political, though the Olympics are not political event of 21st century Chinese history. Yes, it is that big a deal to the Chinese that all the eyes of the world have now “turned to the East.” (To paraphrase Mao.) Check out the report of the dress rehearsal the the official Olympic website.

And if you don’t think this is such a big deal, when was the last time that you remember that a U.S. President went to the opening ceremonies of an Olympics outside of the U.S. Of course, GW thinks he’s been on vacation since the spring so this is just one more stop on his ’round the world while it’s on the taxpayer’s dime tour.

Though today’s NY Times article on Zhang Yimou is accusing him of toadying to the “Party,” I don’t think that Zhang with his family history and the story that he told in “To Live” could have sold out just to direct the Olympics.

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I just read that the LA Times Real Estate Section is finished. The editorial portion of the section has been cut. With the decrease in Real Estate ad revenue, (most of us have cut back on our ad budgets this year) combined with eyeballs going to the web for information, the Times didn’t see the section as profitable.

Just a few months ago, our local paper, the Monterey County Herald changed the format of the Real Estate Guide (published Saturdays) to include some “editorial” features. (It had been just advertising.) None of the articles are written about local issue. Many appear to be syndicated and as I read these “articles” each week, I suspect that most are “advertorials.” I find it curious that the same company name that manufactures counter top surfaces gets mentioned every week.

As all REALTORs know, people love to talk about real estate. The real estate sections in the local papers give the general population good info and juicy tidbits to discuss. If the local papers move away from providing this info, people will search it out from websites and blogs of local REALTORs.

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