Analyzing California Real Estate Boom by Judith Brickman A day doesn't pass when a self-anointed talking head doesn't make solemn noises of "California Real Estate bubble". I'm a hands on Realtor in Pleasanton, California, San Ramon, and Danville. We are the epicenter of paradise, 20 minutes east of San Francisco. Mount Diablo, Spanish for devil, looms 3500 feet over our towns along famous Freeway 680. Have you ever been to Pleasanton, California, San Ramon, Danville? The bubble-speakers, surely, have not. Here you find yourself right smack in the middle of the nation's entrepreneur valley, where people speak with their wallet. Consequently, everything I say brings financial consequences. Economics 101 teaches that value and price are determined by relative scarcity, and these scarcity laws certainly apply to our corner of paradise. Suppose, places like Nebraska had our sunny, mild climate, surrounded by these magnificent hills, the strongest peak skills job market in the world, the dozens of wineries of the Livermore Valley, and the 20 minute light rail BART ride to the heart of the world's most beautiful city, San Francisco. How much would those Nebraska homes be worth? Reliable sources report that Nebraska isn't Silicon Valley. Drive out of Omaha in any direction, you won't be dining at the Ahwahnee lodge at Yosemite, nor will you be hitting the slopes at Tahoe, or be swimming with the whales and dolphins at Stinson Beach. OK, there's still Denny's, but that makes my un-bubble point. Denny's isn't Pleasanton, California, or Danville, or San Ramon. My wallet whispers that the Real Estate bubble is in Nebraska. What is the meaning of Real Estate "bubble"? Hot air is the main ingredient, as in hot air balloon. The bubble speakers clearly insinuate "artificially" high prices, fueled by speculators, signaling an all but certain crash correction, as in a game of monopoly. These guys need to ease up on those Denny's burgers, rings, fries, and creamy desserts. That clogs anybody's analytic powers. Here is a clear fact. The Washington Post's Joel Garreau, in his eye opening book, THE NINE NATIONS OF NORTH AMERICA correctly identifies edge cities like Pleasanton, California, Danville, San Ramon, near the epicenter of "EcoTopia", the Pacific Rim "nation" that is propelling California, the United States, the world, into the twenty second century, and perhaps, the twenty third, as well. Garreau wrote his book in 1981. I couldn't put it down. My family and I caught the wave. In 1985 we sold our mansion-like home in Ridgewood, New Jersey. The 3000 mile exodus to the Golden Land of No Limits comprised 4 children, husband, grand piano and Mercedes. We never looked back. Good bye the pious wisdom of tradition, hello ignition, land of the Rule Breakers, the nut-jobs, dropouts, UC Berkeley, University of San Francisco, Stanford, and misfits who create backyard diversions like Genentech, Google, eBay, iPod, the Grateful Dead, Lockheed, and Oracle. Out here, quality of life competes with vested stock options, as Job One. The resultant home values are reflected in the prices of the homes. It isn't so much that prices are "high"; it is that the value of the quality of life in Pleasanton, California, Danville, San Ramon is exceptional. We all speak with our wallets. Last week I listed a nearby home in Alamo, California, for a shade under two million. It sold within ten days. I maintain an informational website that provides, free of charge, the critical tools that every home seller, or, buyer, would want, irrespective of who represents them. You can look at it right here: http://www.judithbrickman.com/ Back to our paradise corridor. The Real Estate dollars that are spent here are the dollars of Rule Breakers, entrepreneurial businessmen, executives, and scientists who help to provide the cures, the communications, the entertainment, and the educational infrastructure that is leading mankind to the greatest wealth, and life expectancy in history. No bubble. No dumb money. I'm the Realtor; I deal in stubborn facts. The Rule Breakers flock to Pleasanton, Danville, San Ramon for the quality of life that is constantly regenerated. Look at the sophistication of adjacent Walnut Creek. Here is Trump, without the pump. What is the future price trend of Real Estate in Pleasanton, Danville, San Ramon, and the adjacent cities of the Diablo Dougherty Valley? That depends on whether you think that our greatest medical breakthroughs are behind us, or yet to burst on to the scene. Whether we have achieved the peak of our communication capability, or whether present day connectivity is in its smoke signal infancy. As I said, we all speak with our wallets. Look at your stock portfolio, that's the sharpest snapshot of your vision of the future. The latest fashion-speak, along with "bubble" is of a "flat" stock market. Flat for whom? For the flat thinker? My portfolio is up 29% since the first of the year. Different visions, different wallet actions, different results, indeed, different worlds. Three years ago we helped our daughter to purchase her $350,000 condo. She is just now refinancing. The bank reappraised it at $690,000. She just got engaged, and they are planning to purchase a new home to launch the marriage. Is she selling her condo? Certainly not! No bubble. What would happen if she were to put the condo on the market? You would see a bidding contest by, perhaps, six to eight qualified buyers. Demand exceeds supply. What does our daughter, and these bidders know, that the bubblespeak gurus do not? One in three legal immigrants to this country make a beeline to California. We are the magnet for the very best, and brightest Rule Breakers. They all resonate to the same mantra, in life, pick the winners, and cut the losers, paradise is a pretty safe store of value. Sorry, Omaha. The answer is, that in our slice of the nation, Pleasanton, Danville, San Ramon, and the adjacent cities of the Diablo /Dougherty Valley, the only bubbling that is evident is the bubbling of ideas, entrepreneurial ingenuity, and, living life to the fullest. Diablo Dougherty Valley, CA, is truly the valley of the winners. Please visit http://www.judithbrickman.com for more information.

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