San Marcos - A Well Rounded Community

Save the date and visit the Museum and Heritage Park

Sunday May 1st, 2011

Last year the San Marcos Historical Society was the lucky recipient of an Arts & Culture Grant sponsored by the City of San Marcos.

The grant funded a  28 picture photo history exhibit entitled “San Marcos – A Well Rounded Community” and is located in the newly completed Welcome Cetner at Heritage Park. 

The Open House will take place on Sunday, May 1, 2011 from 2:00 pm until 4:00 pm, in the Welcome Center at Heritage Park, which is located in Walnut Grove Park.  The Mary Y. Connors Hall, Cox and Bidwell Houses will also be open for tours that afternoon.  Please feel free to print the flyer below and spread the word.

For more information and to become a member of the San Marcos Historical Society contact them by email or phone.

760-744-9025
sanmarcoshistory@att.net
www.smhistory.org

FHA increase to borrowers

Last week FHA mortgage insurance premiums increased for all loans processed after April 18th

  

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FHA loan borrowers who are putting less than 5% down will have a monthly mortgage insurance premium of 1.15%

  

FHA borrowers who are putting 5% or more down will have a 1.10% factor for mortgage insurance.

  

Calculated for less than 5% :

Purchase Price  $200,000 - Down Payment $7,000 (3.5%) = Base Loan Amount $193,000

Up front Mortgage Insurance Premium $1930.00 ( 1.00% - Which is ffinanced) Total Loan Amount $194930.

Monthly Mortgage Insurance = $193000 x 1.15% = $2220 divided by 12 = $184.96 per month

    

 

Calculated for 5% down payment:

 

Purchase Price $200,000 - Down Payment $10,000(5%) = Base Loan Amount $190,000

Up front Mortgage Insurance Premium $1900.00 ( 1.00% - Which is financed) Total Loan Amount $191900.

Monthly Mortgage Insurance = $190,000 x 1.10% = $2090.00 divided by 12 = $174.17 per month
  

Even though many condo projects in the San Diego area are not approved for FHA financing due to delinquency rates and owner occupancy rates, there are still many properties out there that can be FHA financed. 

"Green"scaping

Here in Southern California there are many, many (too many) green lawns that require a very high volume of water.  It's nice to see that there are some homeowners out there changing their yard landscapes to include drought tolerant plants.  I snapped this photo early this morning of a California Native, Agave Shawii.  The Agave Shawii is found only on the coast of Southern California and Baja California.  This particular plant is located a little further inland and could have possibly come from a local nursery.  I've noticed that our nurseries have a wide variety of Native California Flora in stock and with water prices rising, I am sure that they will continue to sell more and more.



The 1910 Bell is back in San Marcos

The 1910 School House still stands in San Marcos but the bell has not been here for many years.  That is until last week!!  The 19010 School House bell returned last week and is housed at the San Marcos Historical Museum on Sycamore in Walnut Grove Park. The Youtube video is a bit long but watch it all the way through so you can enjoy the ringing of the old bell.  The San Marcos Historical Society is always looking for volunteers and members so if you have an interest in history, please join us.

Mission San Lius Rey and the Young Adventurers

A visit to the Mission San Luis Rey "King of  the Missions" with the Young Adventurers

Founded in 1798 and named after St. Louis IX, King of France, the Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside, CA was the 18th of 21 missions built from 1769 to 1823. 

In January of 2011 the Young Adventurers visited the Mission San Luis Rey and learned a bit of California history.




The Church was not completed until 1815, several years after the Mission was founded.

 


The Barracks.  Our volunteer and Mission San Luis Rey docent speaking to our group of Young Adventurers. The barracks, now fenced off to protect what is left of the old buildings, housed between 5 and eleven Spanish Soldiers and is located in the front of the mission.

 





The Young Adventurers and volunteers gathered in the front of the oldest pepper tree in California. The seeds for this tree were brought from Peru my a sailor in 1830.  There were others but this is the only original still standing.



The Lavanderia complex where they washed clothes and bathed was fed by diverting water from the, nearby San Luis Rey River. The Entire Lavanderia complex was surrounded by and adobe wall to keep wildlife out.

 




Shower facility on the grounds of the Lavanderia.  Notice the two small terracotta pipes above the rock retaining wall. 

 

At the end of the day, the docent gave the students a quiz, which was a group effort and they did quite well.  The had fun and learned a bit, GREAT DAY!!





Baja Garden at San Diego Safari Park

Baja Garden at San Diego Wild Animal Park Safari Park

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For your Real Estate needs in North San Diego or Southwest Riverside County........
Make the Call to Hankins and Hall
Lela 760-591-0020 DRE#01407710
Steve 760-809-1637 DRE#01764446

Lela Hankins and Steve Hall are full time real estate professionals providing full service in real estate to Carlsbad, Encinitas, Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos, San Elijo Hills, Escondido,Fallbrook, Bonsall, Rancho Bernardo, Valley Center, Temecula, Red Hawk, and Murrieta


If you are in the market for a great lender that understands all loan types including FHA and VA, contact Brian Skaar at Brian Skaar.com

Hiking in San Diego - Lake Hodges and the Piedras Pintadas Trail

Piedras Pintadas (painted rocks)

There are several trails within the San Dieguito River Park that are well traveled by hikers, bikers and runners.  For a short hike that provides spectacular views in addition to many markers along the trail that identify plants and their uses, visit the Piedras Pintadas trail at Lake Hodges in Rancho Bernardo.  The interpretive trail markers indicate what the plant was used for by the local Kumeyaay Indians and the Kumeyaay name for the specific plant. 

Although not visible in any of the photos below, there are pictographs on the larger boulders drawn by the Kumeyaay several hundred years ago. Anyone planning on taking this hike should being a set of binoculars in order to view the Native American rock art since the site is now off limits due to vandalism.

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