REAL ESTATE TRENDS by Samia Cullen
Action Plan For A Healthy Move For Seniors We discussed in my last article how a senior can assess their living situation to determine if they are ready to downsize. In this article I devise an action plan that will help seniors make a smooth transition: 1. Learn about types of senior housing. Visit senior communities and apartments in the area you are planning to move to. Marketing directors often will be happy to give tours of their facilities and explain the different types of senior housing. Among them: Senior apartment complexes cater to older adults, but residents must be able to care for themselves. Retirement communities are self-contained residential complexes with support services and recreational and social amenities. Continuing care retirement communities offer three levels of living environments—independent, assisted living, and skilled nursing. Become familiar with all the facilities in your area. 2. Talk to trusted advisers. Clergy, an attorney, relatives, a physician, or good
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friends are all excellent sources of unbiased advice. Discuss the difficulties you are experiencing, such as physical hardships, anxieties and loneliness. Let your advisers help guide you to the right decision. Talk to a real estate agent. A good real estate agent is a good resource for different housing communities and options that are available in the area that you are planning to move to. They are also a good resource for other services that cater to seniors that will help you make a smooth transition. Take notes. Write down notes at the end of each meeting followed by your comments. Make lists of advantages and disadvantages. List on one side of a sheet of paper all of the reasons a move would be good and then list on the other side all the negatives. Reflect. Put the paper away for a couple of days, and then reread the answers. After reflection, the right path to take could become obvious.
I offer complimentary staging when I list your home. Contact me at Alain Pinel Realtors (650) 384-5392 or send me an email at scullen@apr.com. Follow my blog at samiacullen.com
Learn the Guitar this Summer Carol McComb’s “Starting to Play” workshop includes the FREE use of a Loaner Guitar for the duration of the classes.* Regular cost is just $160 for nine weeks of group lessons, and all music is included. *“Starting to Play” meets for one hour each Monday night for nine weeks beginning June 16. Students are encouraged to bring their own guitar, but both nylon-string and steel-string loaner guitars are available. Other classes at more advanced levels are also offered. A full brochure is available at Gryphon.
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Stringed Instruments Since 1969
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Michael Repka Before you select a real estate agent, meet with Michael Repka to discuss how his real estate law and tax back-ground benefits Ken DeLeon’s clients.
Managing Broker DeLeon Realty JD - Rutgers School of Law L.L.M (Taxation) NYU School of Law
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Every moment until now has prepared us for the uncertainty of life we’re about to face. — Kate Marinkovich, a graduating senior at Palo Alto High School, during her commencement ceremony. See story on page 5.
Around Town
NEXT STOP, PULITZER ... Local high school journalism programs cleaned up at this year’s San Francisco Peninsula Press Club High School Journalism Awards, which were presented last week at the San Mateo County History Museum in Redwood City. Gunn High School student newspaper The Oracle took home first place in the “general excellence” category as well as in layout and design. (Paly’s Verde Magazine was right on The Oracle’s heels, snagging second place in general excellence.) Gunn student photojournalist Stephanie Kim also got a third-place nod for her feature photo “Behind the scenes: construction.” Palo Alto High’s The Paly Voice got its fair share of honors, too: first place in website content and a secondplace sports photo (by Maddy Jones, “Sophomore forward Nika Woodfill controls the ball”). Eastside Preparatory School student journalists prevailed in writing categories, snagging first and second place for news story (Corrine Forward’s “Gunshots rattle school into lockdown” took first and Amanda Russell’s “Thieves wheel away bikes, then roll out of sight,” second) as well as garnering second place for an editorial (“Panther Editorial – Words of wisdom for freshmen,” also by Forward). Eastside’s student newspaper, The Eastside Panther, tailed The Oracle in layout design, with second place. The Palo Alto schools were competing in a pool of 13 Peninsula high schools. The competition drew 563 entries in 12 categories from 255 students, with 40 individuals receiving accolades, according to the press club. FUTURE, VISION, GROWTH, DISCUSSION ... The city’s community-engagement initiative, Our Palo Alto, kicked off in April and is continuing with fervor in May and June with three scoping meetings to be held as part of the visioning phase of the 2030 Comprehensive Plan update process. The first, on the “critical issues” part of this update, took place yesterday. The second meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 20, 6 to 8 p.m. at Palo Alto
High School’s English Resource Center and will focus on growth management, discussing looming questions such as “What are the regional growth trends in Silicon Valley?” and “How do we manage growth?” The focus of the third scoping meeting, “Alternative Futures,” is a bit more hazy. It will recap the two previous meetings and “discuss potential alternatives to the ‘what happens if we do nothing’ scenario,” the city’s website states. The Tuesday, June 24, meeting will take place at the Elk’s Lodge, 4249 El Camino Real, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOR ... A one-year pilot grant program launched by the city last April has been determined a wild success and, as such, renewed for a second year. The “Know Your Neighbor” program, designed to help neighbors connect with one another, offers grants to people who have innovative ideas for community events. (Last year, the grants paid for a week-long camp in the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, ending with a Friday night block party: a food truck night at Johnson Park: Barron Park’s “Movie in the Park” event and more). Last year, the City Council allocated an initial $25,000 for the program, which drew 36 grant applications, with 23 approved for a total of $18,875. The city said that more than 3,200 community members participated in the various activities. People may apply for grants for up to $1,000 to fund activities that increase communication among neighbors, enhance neighborhood pride and identity, bring neighbors together across generations and cultures, and create new and innovative ideas for neighborhood events, Palo Alto officials stated in a press release. The city is kicking off this year’s program with an informational meeting June 10 in the council chambers at City Hall. Applications will be available online on June 11 at 8 a.m. and can be submitted beginning June 16 at 8 a.m. More information on the program and the application form are posted at the city’s website (cityofpaloalto.org). N
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