New from San Diego, California: San Diego Association of REALTORS selects Kimberly Dotseth as its 2011 Broker of the Year. On Saturday, January 12, 2012, I was named the 2011 Broker of the Year by the San Diego Association of REALTORS, a tremendous honor considering our chapter of the National Association of REALTORS has over 11,000 members in San Diego County. We are also the largest branch of NAR in the state of California. If interested, the press release is here: And if I can help you when selling or buying your home, you know that I am right here for you ~ let's get to work on your behalf! ~Kimberly

This email arrived today from a client who recently closed escrow, completely unsolicited and unedited. I will protect the writer's identity so I took it out.  As you can imagine, it made my day. This career has made me endlessly happy and all the other things I did prior to selling residential real estate and owning a real estate brokerage lead me here.  I dreamed of moments like this.  Thanks to the writer of course, and all those who get us to the points in our lives where we are blessed with this kind of communication: Hi Kim, I feel so bad that it has taken me so long to sit down and write you a note, but I wanted to be sure I had the time to genuinely express how grateful we...

Recently, Parade Magazine had an article on how to help veterans in easy ways that are not expensive. I decided to try all the links before I shared them with you and these are the ones that are my favorites: Homes For Our Troops constructs homes for severely injured vets who served after 9/11. Make a cash or equipment donation. The Disabled American Veterans provides free transportation to men and women unable to travel to the VA for medical purposes. You can volunteer to drive a DAV van for those in need. I have a particular soft spot for Guardian Angels for Soldiers' Pet, where you can foster care for a soldier's pet while they serve our country or while they are receiving...

Today I am recommending a fun and very relaxing, gorgeously designed blog called Hooked on Houses. I saw it for the first time on Twitter thanks to Edina Realty mentioning an archive blog post about the Mary Tyler Moore house. This Tweet caught my eye because I was in the Mary Tyler Moore house a couple of years ago when it was vacant and for sale. It was completely amazing, trust me, and I felt the house was affordable for what it was and the fine neighborhood it is in. Mary's apartment was in the building, but of course was not in the building. TV magic! The house is now a stately manor and that blog post about the show and the original facade is here.  If you are interested in...

Today I bring to the market a property I know well: I have lived near it for fifteen years. 7965 Playmor Terrace is now for sale after 35 years. My neighbor has decided to sell her dream house and I thank her for hiring me to make it happen. This is a rare Mandeville floor plan with four bedrooms, two bathrooms, two stories and a large patio. With 1,450 square feet and everything new from ceiling to floor as of 2006, this is a great property. (She told me to tell you: we even got all new doors!). One bedroom and one bathroom are on the main floor. The remodel took many, many months and it shows. The property has a new kitchen layout. It's open and white with all new appliances. Three...

Every now and then I like to bring you my favorite homes that have just hit the San Diego market and typically I choose properties under $500,000.  First, those are the houses that sell first and the fastest. Second, it's a price that many out of state buyers who think they can't afford California begin to think about moving to California. My criteria is tough. No tenant-occupied homes, no bank owned homes with rare exception and NEVER a short sale home. They are a total waste of your time and my time. These are homes that are for sale by regular people and all are traditional sales ~ every seller has equity in their home. I require that the property be a minimum of two bedrooms...

These two properties are so special that I am giving them additional time on my real estate blog and am available day and night to speak to you about them. They are ready for your inspection. Like all of my listings, these are traditional sales ~ the best kind. My sellers are never distressed and only sell top quality properties in which they have good equity.  These are great properties for you to consider today. 303 Coast Boulevard #1, La Jolla, CA 92037~ White water La Jolla condo, reconstructed to spectacular results. Truly breathtaking property. Now less than all Coast comps, priced at $1,200,000. 6193 Soledad Mountain Road, La Jolla, CA 92037~ Quarter acre on Mount Soledad...

<--- Photo of what I saw on the HP website this weekend. Anyone get an HP TouchPad this weekend? If you did, you either paid $149 for the 32GB version or $99 for the 16GB version. And you're lucky. One day before Hewlett Packard announced they were killing the TouchPad after disappointing sales following its July launch (yes, last month), I was at Costco looking at this mountainous display of TouchPads. Shiny! All very pretty and Costco-y, they were $499 for the 32GB version and I thought it might finally be the tablet for me. Our Multiple Listing Service, to operate correctly, requires that any computer or  tablet utilize Adobe Flash. Alas, Apple hates Adobe , so no Apple products...