Buyers, you get to decide - do I walk or do I drive?
A common request from buyers in my area, as I expect it is in yours, is the ability to walk to some amenities - restaurants, shopping, parks, or the beach (that one comes at a cost in my area!!). I can often tell whether this is feasible, depending on the buyer's budget, but it is also a factor of what "walking distance" means personally.
5 minutes?
20 minutes?
And what kind of route do you need to take?
This is something the buyer really needs to check out in person to be sure.
The Walkscore is a calculation that will help determine if an address is "walkable," based on distances to a variety of amenities, or if the area is more "car dependent." You can calculate a walkscore for a particular address pretty easily (or your clients can). And our MLS uses it as well.
I did a series of articles on Walkable Neighborhoods to provide some insights into the types and costs of properties available in an area that was "walkable" to shopping and so on - Carlsbad Village, downtown Encinitas, Cardiff, Del Mar, and La Jolla Village.
Here's a link to the latest article and the series of previous "walkable" neighborhood articles on Oceanside, Del Mar, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Cardiff, Solana Beach and Rancho Santa Fe (note - these were written some time ago so pricing may be different, as will availability of actual listings):
Walkable Neighborhood Series - Real Estate in Upscale, Affluent La Jolla Village
So what about driving?
Wouldn't it be useful to know about driving times and distances? Or the best routes to take in a particular area?
Of course one learns that over time, but there are a couple of neat tools on-line to help if you are not familiar with the area.
Like Walkscore, Drivescore will provide a map and calculate a driving score based on the number of establishments within a convenient driving distance of a particular address (your perfect home, for example) - the more businesses, the higher the score.
DrivingRoutePlanner is another cool tool for calculating the best route to take when you have multiple stops to make - it will help figure out either the quickest route or the shortest route, depending on what stops are most important.
In our area there are a number of sites that will give you up to the minute traffic reports - good to know if you want to avoid the worst traffic on our freeways or see where the congestion is. This morning, before Thanksgiving, looks all green, for now!!
CAL Trans provides numerous webcams around the state that allows you to check on live streaming views of traffic on major routes. Here's one on the 5 freeway in the San Diego area.
A Google search in your area will likely bring up similar sites you can use.
Happy driving...or walking. Whatever suits your fancy.
**************************************
ALL ABOUT THE CALIFORNIA RELOCATION DUDE
If I can provide more information about Carlsbad homes and real estate for sale and surrounding areas, the housing market in general (or locally), or otherwise assist you, friends or family in a home search or sale, please contact my mobile office or text me at (760) 840-1360 or email me at JeffDowlerSolutions@gmail.com
Serving Carlsbad (including Aviara, La Costa & Carlsbad Village), Encinitas (including Leucadia & Olivenhain), Cardiff, Solana Beach, Del Mar, La Jolla, Rancho Santa Fe, San Marcos (including San Elijo Hills), Oceanside, Carmel Valley, Escondido, and San Diego
Carlsbad Breaking News ~ Oceanside Breaking News ~ Encinitas Breaking News
All content ©Copyright by Jeff Dowler. All rights reserved.
