Sandy Vickrey's Winters, CA Blog

Well, I guess Yolo County is looking for money like  everyone else so, they have found  a creative way of raising funds.   If you have built anything in the county and did not bother to get a building permit, now is your chance.   Why on earth would you want to do that you might ask?  Because according to my favorite lender, my sister, Vicki, investors who are buying loans are getting very particular and will not buy loans where they think there has been  work done without a permit.  What if you bought a property and the previous owner did not get a permit, are you liable, yes, you are.  So if you think you might fall in this category you need so seriously look into caught up.  I will post more on this soon,  I won’t keep you hanging.  If you live within the city limits you come under the jurisdiction of that city, this is for those people who fall under the rules of the Yolo County building department. 

Well, let’s start with the knee.  We have just completed week one.  John still hurts and can’t understand why he has to do his exercises.  Told him if he  doesn’t, he won’t get his mobility back.  Bitch. 

On the real estate front, Dave and I finally sold 309 Edwards Street!  We put this puppy pending last August.   Think this is my longest career escrow!  Sure hope so.  The property was a 3/2 manufactured home.  The key word here is "manufactured".  That kind of home has its own set of lending rules.  We all learned more that we ever want to know about manufactured home on this one.  I am so happy for both the Buyer and the Sellers to finally get this done.  I want to thank them both for hanging in there on this one!  Did I mention the sales price was $114k?  Simply amazing as Huell Houser would say.

Finally, we have a new listing in the office!  Yeah!  It is a nice 4/2 single story in the new subdivision across from St. Anthony’s center.  I can hardly wait to show it.  I really like this floor plan.  List price is $274+-.  Shouldn’t last long.  

My daughter is a sophomore at Sierra Nevada College at Incline, NV.  She has been taking skiing this semester.  Yes, I am paying  for that class.  She tried snowboarding when she was younger but wasn’t impressed.  This is the first time she has tried skiing and has enjoyed it.   Anyway, she is not a fan of the Olympics and has not watched over the past two weeks.  I talked to her tonight and she said that her school is going to Squaw Valley to ski tomorrow as some Onlymic athlete has a tie to her school and she will be at Squaw tomorrow.  Oh, that would be Julie Mancuso!  She didn’t know so had to look it up, guess what?  Mom was right!  Have a great time, Devon, should be an awesome day in many ways.

Monday morning I had to have my husband, John, down in Vacaville at 6AM for his total knee replacement.   Those who know me well know I am not a morning person.  However, I got him there 5 minutes early!  Please be impressed!  Check out my Facebook page for pictures as I always seem to have  a problem posting them here.  John came home on Thurs afternoon and my son, Chad, and I have been playing nurse ever since!  Finally I will have some more time to Blog.  Thanks for your patience. 

My friend, Judy and I stopped at BJ’s Brewery in Vacaville on our way home form San Franciso, tonight.  I called in when we hit Fairfield to put our name on the list and was told it was a 45-60 min wait.  When we got there we found a mom and son just finishing and they told us we could have their table, but one small problem, she couldnt’ find her wallet!  They had been to the movies but they couldn’t find her wallet in the car.  They called over the manager and explained the problem, she offered to call her husband at work and give them the ATM number over the phone.  The manager said , NO PROBLEM, I will comp  your meal.  Not what the lady had expected but again the manager said, I will pay for your meal.  The funny thing was that he thought that my friend and  I were part of the party and he was ready to comp 4 meals.  Never even asked why we couldn’t pay for her.  We were all over whelmed so I told him I would put this on my Facebook page and blog.  The amazing thing was that this manager had no idea what a huge thing was doing.  While we were waiting for the manager to come this lady told me that she had been  diagosed with caner back in October and has under gone 3 cancer surgeries and is undergoing chemno and radiation.  On top of that, this women came back to the restaurant just as we were finishing to pay her bill.  She had gone all the way back to her home in Fairfield and then to the Brenden theaters in Vacaville where someone had turned in her wallet, complete with her cash.  But, still, Bj’s would not take her money. On top of this, her 14 yr old son could not have been nicer nor more supportive of her suffering all this embarassing stuff.  His name is Dillian, want to give him credit.   You just don’t see this kind of service any more so I told Bj’s I would put this story on my Facebook pageand blog as I was so touched.  Everything about this just came from the heart.  So, if you are in Vacaville, stop by BJ’s and have something to eat, they deserve our business.

The Turkovich Winery on Railroad is having their Grand Opening this weekend.   Be sure and stop by and take a sip or two of their delicious wines and cheeses.  They are featured on the front page of the Winters Express, www.wintersexpress.com,  if you want to read the article.  The Syrah is one of my personal favorites.  After some wine tasting there and at Berryessa Gap you can have a “small plate” at the Putah Creek Cafe.  They have updated their menu for lent, I plan to try the crab cakes, one of my personal favorites.    Then on to The Palms and hear Roland White’s All-Star Bluegrass Band, the show starts at 8pm.  Have a great weekend, I plan to!

I have a wonderful new listing out in the country.  Positas Road is on the West side of town just past Pleasants Valley Road.    It is up on a hill and has wonderful views of the foothills.  The house has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths with a large two car garage.  This home has lots possibilities.  Call me  today and make an appointment to see it before it is gone.

On Valentine’s Day my husband, John, sister Vicki and hubby Tom and son Jack and girlfriend Morgan all went for a train ride!  Jack and I had found a special Valentine’s Day Romantic Train Trip through the Niles Canyon.  We all met in Sunol, just south of Pleasanton.  The old fashioned train had one club car set up as an old fashioned bar from the 40’s, complete with music.  During our two hour ride we sampled wine and cheeses from the Livermore Valley.  They did a great job choosing both the wine and cheeses.  All the help were volunteers who had worked on restoring the train.  It was a very relaxing ride with beautiful scenery.  They will have rides every weekend in August.  Check them out and take a ride, I recommend it.

I have several nice rentals available for immediate move in.   I have everything form a fully refurbished 2/1 duplex to a custom 4/2 home on a humongous lot.  Prices start at $1000.  Call the office at 530-795-4183 and schedule an appointment with Cheryl, my assistant, or myself.

201 Almeria is a nice, new, bank owned,  listing ready for viewing.  It is very neat and clean and ready for move in.  The home has newer carpet, paint, blinds, kitchen cabinets an droof.  It has a really nice, large backyard and is located close to many of the schools in town.  This is priced at $184,900. so won’t last long and will probably sell for more that  the list price.