In an effort to cut down on paper generated by our industry, as well as lower our overhead to continue to offer price matching of our services, and hopefully someday reach more customers, we have discontinued the mailing of our monthly sales updates for Belmont, and are posting the information on-line. This will enable us to provide more information than before and we hope this move towards virtual based services will positively impact our environment while allowing more people to contact us.

Please feel free to comment about the new forum we have implemented.

Click on the picture to see the full-size report on Belmont Sales.

New Rules!

The following was inspired by Bill Maher’s hilarious "New Rules" on his show Real Time on HBO.

When everyone takes things too seriously, we can all use a little humor…

New Real Estate Rules:

• Buyers–when working with discount or on-line brokers who don’t show property, stop complaining when the actual listing agent doesn’t accommodate your every whim-you’re getting a discount remember? Grow up-call your agent.
• Sellers-stop thinking your home is better than everyone else’s-they can’t all be the best.
• Agents-stop calling for access to listings that say "Vacant, GO DIRECT"-you’re wasting our time.
• Title companies-start calling us when the deed records, not hours later. We’d much rather work with a professional organization than get free cookies at a sign off.
• Lenders-you’re supposed to be forging lasting relationships, not devastating ones. Stop being short sided and do the right thing for your clients or Congress will do it for you.
• America-stop repeating things so they’ll eventually become accepted fact–anyone remember "Weapons of Mass Destruction"?
• That brings us back to on-line brokers-stop calling everyone but yourself "Traditional Agents"-most agents today are anything but traditional. From now on you’ll be called "Virtual Agents" and every one else a "Professional Agent".

Disclaimer: This information is for entertainment purposes only and includes no legal, accounting or real estate advice nor is this response in tended to be specific to your situation-consult a specialist for your specific situation.

Belmont Bragging Rights–Just for fun of course…

There’s just got to be a reason why people choose to pay more to live in one city over another..help me figure it out! (Tongue in cheek folks…)

We live in a little town called Belmont. We bought a home there because back then no one else was. That meant it was a lot less expensive than other towns. San Carlos is a nearby town that a lot of people like to live in; though the cost of owning a home is a lot more there. And the affordability seems disproportionate to their differences. People always said they wanted to live there for the schools; though recent school data suggests that either schools do not have as much impact on where people live as years ago or buyers aren’t reading about it. Is that because literacy in America is down? The schools in San Carlos have always been known for their superior academic excellence; recently however, Belmont has school test scores which have surpassed her neighboring town.

Perhaps it’s lower crime rate that buyers are using to justify paying more for a similar home? No one likes to have their house broken into or their car stolen-not in the suburbs-that’s why we moved there in the first place. But Belmont’s violent crime rate is lower than most of the country and lower than any city she borders-San Carlos included.

Is it perhaps that Belmont just isn’t good at promoting itself? What else could affect the allure of San Carlos over Belmont? According to the latest census results the folks in San Carlos on average make more money than the residents of Belmont–$9,000 a year more to be exact. That’s good too since the median home costs $122,000 more according to August 2007 reports.

Maybe it’s all those sidewalks. I’ve always loved sidewalks; they remind me of being a kid. It’s good to feel like a kid again, though I wouldn’t want to pay $122,000 more to do so. I think I’d rather save all that money and take more vacations to feel like a kid.

I like to eat too. San Carlos has a lot of good restaurants and a lot more to choose from than Belmont. Could it be that other people enjoy eating as much as I do and are willing to pay dearly for it? Though-last time I ate in a San Carlos restaurant I don’t remember them asking for my residency card when they offered me a table.

What could it be that draws people to San Carlos over Belmont? They do have a lot of nice flags-you know-the ones with flowers and a lot of colors that they fly everyday-as if to show the world that their town is more colorful than others.

It could be the streets. The streets in San Carlos are much more laid out like a grid pattern-straight and predictable. Belmont’s streets are just the opposite-unpredictable and like a small mountain town ought to be. Maybe that’s why there’s less crime? Everyone knows criminals aren’t that smart or they wouldn’t be doing what they do for a living. Maybe they just get lost going to Belmont.

It makes my wonder where they’d all live if there weren’t city boundaries? But which name would we use-Belmont or San Carlos? I guess San Carlos since it’s got a Spanish name like most people think bay area towns ought to have.

Whatever the reason I like our little town-as unpredictable as it is.

You can read more about our little town here in our blog BeautifulMountainBlog.org

Disclaimer: This information is for entertainment purposes only and includes no legal, accounting or real estate advice nor is this response in tended to be specific to your situation-consult a specialist for your specific situation.

Feel free to post your YouTube videos so we can see what your family vacations or reunions were like.

Don’t have a YouTube account? It’s simple log into YoutTube.com and sign yourself up then upload a video or montage and you’re up and running.

Here’s an example of one we did after our Labor Day visit to Johnson Island Lake Erie Ohio.

We stayed on Johnson Island for the Labor Day weekend with Christine’s best friend, Kim, her boyfriend and her two sisters.

Johnson Island is a small spot on Lake Erie where Kim owns a small vacation home on the shore. During the Civil war this island was used as a Confederate encampment to house the prisoner’s during the war. There’s a small historical graveyard which is home to the 206 confederate soldiers which died during their internment—either by wounds, natural causes or execution.

The amusement park is world renowned Cedar Point.

I edited the video using the Microsoft Movie Maker included with all Windows products.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anXt3QyJG8A

Here’s a place to discuss the best book you’ve read all year—or ever.

My brother is a veracious reader who always has at least five books he’s reading simultaneously. Thanks to him I am never at a loss for a recommendation. Myself, I’m only good for perhaps two at a time but it takes me forever to get through them. I tend to stay away from fiction simply because there’s so much to learn so I reserve fiction for vacations.

One of the more recent books I’ve read was by Simon Winchester, “A Crack in the Edge of the World”. Mr. Winchester is a geologist and he amazingly manages to write with interesting prose. The book centers on the 1906 earthquake but the author begins at the far eastern end of the world and works his way across the North American and Pacific plates until he reaches San Francisco. I never knew for example that one of the most active places in our country for earthquakes is the city of New Madrid in Missouri and reading about that event is worth the price of the book alone; or that the beautiful National Park of Yellowstone will be the end of the west as we know it.

The book is a fascinating read and especially recommended for those of you living in Belmont—so close to the San Andreas Fault.

Belmont Chamber of Commerce

Belmont School District

Live weather in Belmont

Belmont Forum

Did you know you can watch many of Belmont’s government meetings on-line? If you are interested in seeing what goes on in planning comission or concil meetings tune into Belmont’s webcast and see what they are uo to.

BELMONT CITY COUNCIL WEBCASTS

The City of Belmont, in cooperation with The Midpeninsula Community Media Center is currently webcasting City Council Meetings. Viewers can tune in to the live webcasts the second and fourth Tuesday nights of the month beginning at 7:30pm, unless there is a study session, in which case the webcast begins at 6:30pm. Viewers can also see any past meeting since August 2006, or any particular agenda item within those meetings. The Planning Commission meetings can be viewed online on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. The archives are available on our web site at the link below. Watch The Live Webcasts Now! The Webcasts are now available during City Council and/or Planning Commission meetings by clicking on the "Watch Now" image below.

Watch Archived Council Meetings. Watch Archived Planning Commission Meetings. < Back to homepage

If you arrived at this page you probably already know what a blog is–if not here’s a brief description as provided by Wikipedia:

A blog (a portmanteau of web log) is a website where entries are written in chronological order and commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Here’s your chance to discuss all things Belmont and get feedback from your politicians, neighbors, and industry professionals. Of course our posts will be mostly related to real estate and we encourage you to check in frequently for market updates and commentary, but we also have a thing or two to add about  life in Belmont.

Want to be a regular poster? Email us to become and invited guest author–or simply reply to any comment already posted.

Feel free to comment about anything important to you–obviously refraining from expletives, slander or other things which could get you in trouble.

We hope this will provide a unique way for Belmont residents to communicate and improve our city and its attributes.

Sincerely,

Drew & Christine Morgan-Sponsors

These are the Neighborhood Associations that we are aware of in Belmont. Some have their own web page and others simply a contact.

This PDF file shows the boundaries for the various associations. Click on the name of the association in this document to rech the same links as below.

• Belmont Heights Civic Improvement Association
• Central Neighborhood Association
• Cipriani Neighborhood Association
• Farallon Homeowner Association
• Homeview Neighborhood Association
• McDougal Neighborhood Association
• Plateau-Skymont Neighborhood Association
• Sterling Downs Neighborhood Association
• Western Hills Neighborhood Association

Download belmont_neighborhood_associations.pdf

MARVIN GARDENS
1160 OLD COUNTY RD
BELMONT, CA 94002

CHINA VILLAGE RESTAURANT
600 RALSTON AVE
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-593-1831

CHEZ SAIGON
1316 EL CAMINO REAL
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-596-0878

NARITA JAPANESE CUISINE
1001 ALAMEDA DE LAS PULGAS
BELMONT, CA 94002

AVANTI PIZZA
2040 RALSTON AVE
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-508-1000

TOTOS PIZZERIA AND RESTAURANT
1200 EL CAMINO REAL
BELMONT, CA 94002

HOLA MEXICAN RESTAURAT & CANTINA
1015 ALAMEDA DE LAS PULGAS
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-591-1735

DOCS BAGELS & DELI
Address 1027 ALAMEDA DE LAS PULGAS
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-592-4000

IRON GATE
1360 EL CAMINO REAL
BELMONT, CA 94002

SHORELINE GRILL
2039 RALSTON AVE
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-595-1520

GIN MON RESTAURANT
1079 ALAMEDA DE LAS PULGAS
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-592-3663

SUSHI MONSTER
955 RALSTON AVE
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-595-3965

DIVINO RESTAURANT
968 RALSTON AVE
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-551-1171

AVANTI PIZZA
2040 RALSTON AVE
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-508-1000

LA HIQUERITA RESTAURANT
520 MASONIC WY
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-593-7019

HOBEES
1101 SHOREWAY RD
BELMONT, CA 94022

Phone 650-596-0400

VIVACE RISTORANTE
1920 RALSTON AVE
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-637-0611

AUSIELLOS
864 EL CAMINO REAL
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-595-9531

HONG KONG RESTAURANT
945 RALSTON AVE
BELMONT, CA 94002

CAPRINOS ITALIAN RESTAURANT
1000 6TH AVE
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-591-4156

PAPA MURPHYS TAKE N BAKE PIZZA
1602 EL CAMINO REAL
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-594-4877

LUNAS RESTAURANT
1500 EL CAMINO REAL
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-637-9257

QUIZNOS SUB
1480 EL CAMINO REAL
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-591-6095

THE VANS RESTAURANT
815 BELMONT AVE
BELMONT, CA 94002

WHISPERS CAFE & CREPERIE
390 EL CAMINO REAL
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-594-0000

INDULGE ASIAN BUFFET
1000 EL CAMINO REAL
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-588-9350

VIVACE RISTORANTE
1920 RALSTON AVE
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-637-0611

MOUNTAIN MIKES PIZZA
390 EL CAMINO REAL
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-593-4178

TAQUERIA EL METATE
120 HARBOR BLVD
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-595-1110

IHOP RESTAURANT
510 EL CAMINO REAL
B ELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-992-8887

CAPRINOS ITALIAN RESTAURANT
1000 6TH AVE
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-591-4156

ST JAMES GATE
1410 OLD COUNTY RD
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-592-5923

DOMINOS PIZZA
1501 S EL CAMINO REAL
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-592-2712

SUBWAY
1602 EL CAMINO REAL
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-589-0573

DIVINO RESTAURANT
968 RALSTON AVE
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-551-1171

KELLYS SANDWICHES
1094 ALAMEDA DE LAS PULGAS
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-592-0608

PILGRIM KITCHEN
311 EL CAMINO REAL
BELMONT, CA 94002

THE NEW HARBOR
150 HARBOR BLVD
BELMONT, CA 94002

PEETS COFFEE & TEA
1200 EL CAMINO REAL
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 510-594-2100

WENDYS RESTAURANT #2104
698 RALSTON AVE
BELMONT, CA 94002

HONEY BAKED HAM
210 EL CAMINO REAL
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-595-8551

LITTLE BELMONT COFFEE SHOP
232 HARBOR BLVD
BELMONT, CA 94002

Phone 650-592-6721