Planning to Retire Soon!

If you are planning to retire in the Philippines soon, I suggest you visit several excellent websites on pro's and cons of retiring in the Philippines. However if you want to retire in the provinces, where life is simple, standard of living cheaper, less traffic congestion and pollution, availability of fresh seafood and vegetables compared to the big cities, my island province is the place for you! If this is your first time in my site, welcome. Some of the photos and videos on this site, I do not own. However, I have no intention on the infringement of your copyrights. The photo above is the front yard of Chateau Du Mer- Our Retirement Home in Boac, Marinduque, Philippines

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Telephone and Door to Door Real Estate Solicitations


The last couple of weeks, I have received three telephone calls and one door to door solicitation from real estate agents asking me if I have intention of selling my house. I said no to the telephone callers. However, the two door to door salesmen from Weichert Realtors left in my door steps a sales brochure describing why one should live in Fair Oaks, California.

I know that the real estate business in our neighborhood is on the up side and booming. The house across the street from us sold within one day after the open House. Two more houses in our development sold two weeks after it was advertised. The real estate values have increased about 6% since last year and the interest rate had remained low. So this is a good time to buy if you can find your dream house in our neighborhood.

I was curious on the sales brochure left by the two good-looking real estate agents. The brochure had a short article titled "Life in Fair Oaks, California". It has three sentences of introduction that I do not know as follows:

"The area we know as Fair Oaks was first developed in 1895 as a Sunset Colony of the Howard and and Wilson Publishing Company of Chicago. We have so many amenities in our community. These are just a few of our favorite attraction.

1. American River Parkway: Enjoy fishing, rafting, and swimming along the American River Parkway. Enjoy the American River Bike Trail for runs, walks, bike rides and enjoy the trees, wildlife and serenity of the flowing river. The aquatic Center offers many day experiences including rowing, rafting, kayaking, paddle boarding and host many events as well as camps for youth.

2. The Village of Fair Oaks: The village offers so many attractions from great antique shopping, day spas, hair salons, restaurants, parks, bars, theaters and more. Annually there are many runs through the village and many events such as Christmas in the Park, Treat or Tricking in the Village, Classic Car Shows and Ethnic Food Festivals. While enjoying time in the village you will see chickens roaming in the streets. The chickens own the village with their friendly demeanor and they have become a fixture in the community.

3. Fair Oaks Park: The town is home of many amazing parks. Some of the popular ones are Fair Oaks Park which has soccer fields, baseball diamonds, sand box, basketball hoops, BBQ pits and play structure for Children. Phoenix Park offers a dog park, play structure, walking trails and soccer fields which are used year round by the Fair Oaks Youth Soccer and Lacrosse Programs. The Northridge Country Club is a great place to golf and relax over lunch with Friends.

The brochure also list 23 popular restaurants in the area serving a variety of food from fast food and gourmet and ethnic restaurants and eateries. I was disappointed however, that there is no Filipino restaurant in the list. One has to drive all the way to Elk Grove ( south of Sacramento- a 30 minute drive in the Freeway) or to North Sacramento( McCleland Air Force Base neighborhood-just a 20 minute drive in local traffic) if one has a longing for Pinoy dishes.

As a conclusion, we moved to Fair Oaks in 2002 after my retirement from USFDA not for the above amenities. We moved here to be close to our children and grand children. However, I now realized, Closeness is not a Place but from the Heart. One consolation at least Fair Oaks is much, much closer compared to Marinduque, Philippines-our second home.

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