What are buyers looking for? From mundane to gadgets. November 20, 2008 Just today I came across an ad for a garage lift (Garage Lift) showing how you can park two cars in a single car garage with the help of a nifty lift that tucks one car away in the basement. Supposedly saves you money from building an additional garage…Knowing my luck, I’d crush the car on top trying to get mine out from the basement! I can see where it might be a valuable addition to homes with a tight footprint in high cost areas, but for most of us with the luxury of ample lot space, a double car garage is the much more easy alternative! Kitchens and baths are still extremely important. Kitchens that can double as a living space are incredibly popular. It’s difficult to cram party goers into an 8x8 foot space while you finish up cooking the appetizers. Updated appliances make cooking easy and fast. I built a new home a few years ago and I wouldn’t trade my Advantium microwave/halogen oven for anything – same goes for my induction cook top. Having set fire to my previous kitchen I appreciate the fact that nothing will burn on the cook top! However, guests who bring over a ceramic saucepan with their potluck are a little bemused as to why my stove doesn’t work for them but it works for me – “Magic!” I say. Buyers are looking for bright, inviting kitchens, with plenty of space for all the gadgets they’ve accumulated over the years. Many cooks drool over walk in pantries and space for a matching fridge and freezer. Solid surface counters are still one of the most desirable features, but now there are other options such as composite granite, cork, stainless steel to choose from. Islands are starting to look like furniture and freezer, refrigerator and warming drawers still remain popular, and are even migrating out of the kitchen into other areas of the house. I wish I’d gone with a warming drawer instead of a heated towel rack in my bathroom – the rack only warms the section of the towel it touches. Hardly worth turning on in the morning. And talking of bathrooms - over 50% of Japenese now have some kind of water washing toilets. Charmin beware. You can find these nifty toilet seats on Amazon for less than $500 - it's worth watching the promotional videos! (Toto Washlet) Many buyers appreciate good lighting – from well designed artificial light to energy efficient windows that let in sun and open the home to views. Other improvements are integrated sound, ipod docks and of course, home theaters. With motorized screens, projector lifts and darkening shades, it is possible to combine a living space with a home theater with a flip of a button. During the day, a formal living room – by night a ground shaking cinema showing the latest Indiana Jones movie! This is an inactive RePage. If you are Mike Jackson and wish to reactivate this page, please visit www.RePagesOnline.com for instructions.

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Local Information for Pleasanton, CA

Latitude: 37.67253 -- Longitude: -121.882517

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ZIP Codes for Pleasanton, California	94566  94568  94588
Area Code for Pleasanton, California	925
Time zone for Pleasanton, California	PST

Other Area Cities:   Castro Valley, CA  San Ramon, CA  Pleasanton, CA  Danville, CA  Dublin, CA  Diablo, CA 

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Pleasanton is a city in Alameda County, California and was incorporated in 1894. According to the city's website, the city has a total population of 67,724. Pleasanton is home to the headquarters of Safeway Inc. and the now-defunct PeopleSoft. Both Oracle and Kaiser Permanente have offices on the former PeopleSoft headquarters in Hacienda Business Park. Although Oakland is Alameda's county seat, a few county offices and a courthouse are located in Pleasanton. Additionally, the county jail is just a stone's throw away in the neighboring city of Dublin. The Alameda County Fairgrounds are located in Pleasanton, and the annual County Fair is held there during the last week of June and the first week of July. Pleasanton is sometimes referred to as "P-Town". -- Source: Wikipedia.com