Living in Contra Costa County

History of Antioch California

History of Antioch California

Antioch California was established 1850 by two brothers; William and Joseph Smith and originally called Smith's Landing.  In 1851 the towns first preacher persuaded the residents to change the name to Antioch after the city in the Bible.

Coal was discovered in the nearby hills in 1859.  Copper was discovered in 1863 and oil in 1865; neither proved to be a long term viable commodity in the Antioch area.  The City was incorportated in 1872.

The first newspaper; the Antioch Ledger was established on 3/10/1870 and went it's first 47 years without missing an issue.  In 2005 it was absorbed in the Contra Costa Times.

Living in Antioch California

Living in Antioch

Living in Antioch provides people with many exciting community events, parks, fine dining, golf and social opportunities. Antioch homes are some of the most affordable in Contra Costa County.  Antioch with almost 100,000 people is the hub of East Contra Costa County.

Right now there are a number of Antioch Bank Owned Homes. Living in Antioch offers entry level properties and many Luxury Homes in planned communities. Homes in Antioch provide homeowners with easy access to our classic and charming downtown featuring many fine eating establishments, unique stores and shops, fine parks, library and community services.

Living in Antioch puts you right on the exciting Sacramento and San Joaquin Delta for boating, fishing and other water sports.

Homes in Antioch California

Homes in Antioch

Antioch is a bedroom community in Contra Costa County and offers a combination affordable housing with a fine community. Located in East Contra Costa County it is next to upscale Brentwood and Oakley to the east and Pittsburg to the north.

If you are looking at Homes in Antioch you may click here to Search Antioch Homes. Homes for sale in Antioch include nice starter homes up to 4000 SF plus Luxury Homes. When looking at Homes in Antioch you will want to make sure to see all of our exciting neighborhoods to find our where you fit best. Antioch is an Excellent Community for First Time Home Buyers.

Best Buy on Antioch Home

Best Buy on Home in Antioch CaliforniaAntioch Home for Sale

This home is the Best Buy on a Home in Antioch California

This Antioch Home for Sale Features:

  • Three Full Bedrooms

  • Two Full Bathrooms

  • Full Kitchen and Dining Room

  • Attached Two Car Garage

  • Granite Counter Tops

  • faux Hard Wood Floors

  • Court Yard and BBQ Area

 

All of this for under $100,000.00.  

For more information go to Home2C.net

For Recorded Information or to schedule a Private Showing call 1-800-950-6159 ext 7771

Pumpkin Murder - It happens in the Best of Families!

Halloween

If you have been following the adventures around here you know we bought 2 of the now famous Blue Pumpkins for baking and an Orange one for the kids to Carve.

My wife cooked up one of the Blue Pumpkins, carved it out, pureed it.  There was enough Pumpkin in it for 12 Pumpkin pies, 3 large loaves of Pumpkin Bread, Pumpkin Soup, Pumpkin Pancakes, some Low Carb Pumpkin dishes for me, and we still have some left.

But the little wolverines disquiesed as children wanted to get to that big orange one.  So we did.  I handled the knife work.  But I was told he had to have an angry face and a "Cheese" eye.  Now I was not sure what a "Cheese" eye was so the 5 year old drew it on the Pumpkin for me.  I think a "Cheese" eye is a side ways triangle that looks like a cut of cheese.  So we have one Cheese eye.

Tonight we are taking them to the Halloween Party open to the Community at Cornerstone Christian Center.  They will have face painting, petting zoos, bounce houses, rides, shows, and trunk or treating for candy.  They are living under the delusion they will be allowed to come home and keep big bags of candy in their bedroom.  Are they in for a surprise.  No doubt tonight my wife will be searching it and clearing it of "Dangerous" stuff; dark chocolate, licorice, Sugar Babies (or anything with Carmel), Candy Corn, and Coconut Products.  I would be helping her but alas I am on a diet.   They will get the rest of it doled out slowly.

Halloween

Antioch Halloween Fun

Antioch Halloween Fun!Antioch Halloween Fun

What do you do on Halloween?  Do you have something fun and safe planned for the kids?  Can they still have the fun of Trick or Treating and get lots of Candy?  Safely? 

Well there is an option that will allow your children to have a safe, fun, and exciting Halloween for your kids with Trunk or Treating.

Cornerstone Christian Center will host a Hallelujah Night Carnival on Halloween.  There will be Bounce Houses, Lots of Games, Face Painting, and free food.  The kids can go Trunk or Treating where they go from decorated car in the parking lot to decorated car getting candy (and I know some go through this trip several times). 

There is always sometime of show.  One year it was Feats of Strength featuring a strong men and another year it was a magic show.

Cornerstone Christian Center is located at 1745 East 18th Street, Antioch, CA.  For more information you can call 925-779-2000.  It runs from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM.  They ask for a bag of candy donation.

Why I like Walmart!

Why I like Walmart!

People either love or hate Walmart.  Those that love it like the low prices they can get on a number of products and the ability to find everything they want (almost) in one store.  Those that hate it feel it puts local mom and pop stores out of business and pays low wages.

Walmart

By galaysobi on Flickr - They even have them in China!

I like Walmart because of the selection and low prices.  I know when I come through the door I am not gonna have a personal shopper and it can be a bit of o chore getting help.  But I like saving money and I like convenience.

For those of you that do not like Walmart I think that sometimes they do put small businesses out of business.  This is sad, but the reality is if not Walmart then someone else will.  Furthermore the business that thrive against Walmart are those focused on specialty items and customer service.  Good things to focus on.  Walmart cannot compete with my local hobby story for most of my hobby needs/wants.  If you want a high end racing bike; don't go to Walmart.  Don't try Walmart for really unique Lego Models either; Walmart only carries what it can buy in bulk.

As an aside I do not like Walmart's backing of the National Health Care Plan and this has been a turn off for me.  But that is another issue for another day.

The Low wage issue is one of Walmart's best features.  Walmart is one of America's job training grounds and we need to appreciate that.  Yes, many people at Walmart do not make a lot of money.  I bet they do make more money than many people at a lot of those small mom and pop stores you always whine about.  They also make more than people at some other entry level jobs.  No one has to work at Walmart; usually they have more applications than positions.  But if someone does work at Walmart they can move up.  A lot of top people at Walmart started at the bottom or they can learn job skills to take to another job.

The most important job skill people lack in this country is the ability to show up to work on time and work as a team.  We don't need a government program for this.  We need Walmart and more companies like Walmart.  Young people and people new to the job market need to get these skills; they can get them at Walmart.

Walmart also provides part time work for senior citizens needing a little extra income.  Ultimately if someone does not like working at Walmart they should find another job.  If there are no other jobs maybe we need an economy and a tax system that creates high paying jobs rather than tearing Walmart down.

Antioch Housing Market

Antioch Housing Market. This report on home sales in Antioch California is based Single Family Homes reported on the MLS as of August 13th 2009. Due to late reporting the numbers in this months Antioch Market Report might vary slightly from Last Months Antioch Market Report.

Antioch Market Report

I have taken a hard look at Short Sales this month since they are dominating the local market. The number of Bank Owned Homes on the market continues to shrink. Last month it stood at 59 and is now down to 49, the slide continues.

Compared to the total number of sales there is a lot of pending homes. I suspected this might be because of the long wait it sometimes takes to get a short sale cleared through the bank. However, the numbers are unclear on this point. The number of Pending that are Short Sales is about 50% which is the same percentage of amount of Active Listings that are also Short Sales.

The high number of Pending compared to active and overall sales can also be tied to new lending restrictions and appraisal issues. I think getting a loan processed in 30 days is getting harder and harder to do, especially with FHA financing and minimal down payments. The new appraisal procedures have also hung up a lot of loans.

The Average Price Per SF for Homes in Antioch California, which is a key indicator I watch continues to climb steadily from $104.00 per SF to $105.00 per SF.  Homes for Sale in Antioch California represent a great buying opportunity for Investors and First Time Home Buyers.

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Delta Vacuum and Sewing

Delta Vacuum and Sewing is one of the finest stores of its type and is unique in East Contra Costa County and maybe all of Contra Costa County. Delta Vacuum and Sewing is located at 1868 A Street in Antioch, on the corner of East 18th Street.  You can call them at 925-757-4981.

Detla Vacuum and Sewing

Detla Vacuum and Sewing

Delta Vacuum and Sewing offers new and used sewing machines and vacuum cleaners from all of the leading manufactures. They also provide service, repair, accessories, parts, and extended service contracts.

All of the stuff I mentioned above a Delta Vacuum and Sewing is everything you would expect from a store with that name. There is probably a lot more that I am not aware of, but what Delta Vacuum and Sewing has that is truly unique is the owner, Mike.

When I go into Delta Vacuum and Sewing with a problem I can talk to Mike and be confident he will give me the most cost effective solution. Mike’s business is about providing a real service to the community and his long term customers.

Last year my wife was having a problem with her sewing machine. Now I am going to issue a disclaimer right here. I know nothing about sewing machines. I cannot even tell you what type or model. Apparently it is to sewing machines what my 67 Mustang was to cars. My wife told me it would be very expensive to replace. When I took it into Mike at Delta Vacuum and Sewing I found out a used one, not quite as good might cost $600.00 at a minimum. The newest models of the same line could run thousands. They don’t make the parts for my wife’s sewing machine anymore (Can you believe those things have computer components in them). Mike and his crew took it and repaired some things on the inside, found some used parts and fixed it for a little over a hundred dollars. The other day Mike showed me some after market stuff for my vacuum that saved me 33% on the cost with no diminished quality.

These days we all want to save where we can, and to take care of the things we have and to save money you need quality Delta Vacuum and Sewing. Mike at Delta Vacuum and Sewing will help you get the most from your sewing machine or vacuum to save you money. And if you need to buy Delta Vacuum and Sewing offers a full line of quality new and used equipment.

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Antioch Indoor Sports Center

Antioch Indoor Sports Center

Antioch Indoor Sports CenterThe Antioch Indoor Sports Center is one of the coolest things to come along in Antioch in a while. The Antioch Indoor Sports Center is next to Aladino’s Pizza on Sunset and is run by the same people Aladino’s used to just have batting cages then the got the land next door and went wild.

The Antioch Indoor Sports Center features a large skating rink geared towards roller Hockey, but the have free skating, indoor soccer, and I understand the can set it up for Arena Football. Oh, and if I didn’t mention it, the Antioch Indoor Sports Center also has leagues for these sports.

The Antioch Indoor Sports Center is sure to become the center of indoor sports such as Hockey, Indoor Soccer, and Arena Football in East Contra Costa County. Now that the people in East Contra Costa County have a place to call home for arena oriented sports I suspect these sports will become even more popular. Contra Costa County is an active and vibrant place to live and East Contra Costa County is one of the most affordable parts of the county, while offering a great quality of life with businesses like the Antioch Indoor Sports Center. Antioch Indoor Sports Center

The Antioch Indoor Sports Center has more than just arena sports. The support my personal favorite – Baseball! Yes baseball, not indoor baseball, but they do have batting cages and these are some of the best in East Contra Costa County. They are big heavy machines that pitch fairly consistent into the strike zone. Right now the machines are a variety of speeds, all oriented towards baseball, but they are expecting to get softball machines.

What do you get when you bring sports and pizza together? A great social environment and Aladino’s and the Antioch Indoor Sports Complex are big supporters of community sports programs often hosting team meeting, parties, gatherings, and practices. And you can probably swing a deal on the pizza. Did I mention the food is good?

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