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Sheri’s Palm Springs Area Blog

Whether it be real estate updates, restaurant reviews, events, or highlights of unique homes in Palm Springs, follow Sheri as she covers all that Palm Springs and the surrounding area has to offer.

Dining Around The Desert: Cork & Fork’s New Fall Menu

Cork & Fork Wine Bar, La Quinta

Cork & Fork Wine Bar offers small plates using the highest quality ingredients, organic and sustainable whenever possible. The new Fall Menu is one of their best and my husband Bill, and I have often been enjoying it.

One of my favorites is the Grilled Figs served with Burrata on Prosciutto, drizzled with truffle honey, olive oil, balsamic and basil and topped with candied pecans. My other go-to is the Crispy Cauliflower with a Sriracha aioli, Pine Nut Gremolata and pomegranate molasses. It’s addictive, trust me!

Comfort Food Also Served Here

If you are a comfort food lover, and who isn’t, consider the Grown Up Grilled Cheese with braised short rib, aged sharp cheddar, smoky tomato jam and truffled arugula.

Bill’s favorite Cork & Fork pizza is the Nonno with smoked mozzarella, Fulvio’s Italian sausage, shallots, rosemary and balsamic. Consider also the Rustic with wild mushroom mélange, parmesan, alfredo, gorgonzola, mozzarella and fresh herbs.

Cork & Fork also offers a nice selection of salads, street tacos, and soups. In fact, the soups are some of the best we’ve had from Tomato Basil to French Onion with a twist.

Eclectic & Affordable Wine List

Cork & Fork also features an eclectic list of affordable wines and beers by the glass and bottle, with pairing advice for their dishes.

If you’ve been reading these reviews for any length of time, you’ll know that I’m a dessert lover and the Butterscotch Pot Du Crème with crème fraiche and Maldon flake sea salt is delicious. They also feature a special gelato or sorbet every night.

This review wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the excellent Cork & Fork staff including Chef Andie of course. Cork & Fork Wine Bar is located at 47875 Caleo Bay in La Quinta (760) 777-7555

From Sheri Dettman
In Sheri's Palm Springs Area Blog, Dining Around The Desert

3 More Homes Recently Sold At PGA West, La Quinta

55497 Medallist, PGA West - Priced at $1,385,000

30 PGA West Sales Year-To-Date by Sheri Dettman & Associates

Our Sheri Dettman & Associates team recently sold three additional PGA West La Quinta homes. That brings our 2014 year-to-date total to 30 PGA West sales. More importantly for PGA West home sellers, our small team of specialists found 23 buyers for those 30 homes. No other La Quinta area agent or team came close to that success ratio.

Buyers and sellers of PGA West homes are trusting Sheri Dettman & Associates in growing numbers as our 2014 sales at PGA West are up 154% over 2013. We have now completed a total of 93 La Quinta area sales transactions so far this year and are currently working with just over 1,000 active buyer clients.

80860 Hermitage, PGA West - Priced At $779,000

54447 Riviera, PGA West - Priced at $613,000

From Sheri Dettman
In Recent Sales, Sheri's Palm Springs Area Blog, Golf Communities, Selling - Info For Sellers

New Palms Golf Club La Quinta Video Tour

View The New Palms Video Here
Our Sheri Dettman & Associates video team was at the Palms Golf Club in La Quinta bright and early today. And while they were shooting two new properties being listed for sale, they also captured some great shots of the Palms golf course, the community, and the beautiful Santa Rosa Mountains.

The Palms golf course will be re-opening to members for play on November 15th after the annual two-month re-seeding process. And as you can see on the video the Palms golf course is looking pretty darn good.

Palms residents love the fact that there are no homes located up and down each fairway. Instead, the Palms features wide view corridors and all homes are located around the outside perimeter of the Palms golf course.

If you’re looking for some of the best views in the Palm Springs area, you’ll want to consider the gated Palms community. My Sheri Dettman & Associates team has helped dozens of buyers and sellers in the Palms community, so please don't hesitate to contact us–even with a simple real estate question.

From Sheri Dettman
In Sheri's Palm Springs Area Blog, Golf Communities

Dining Around The Desert: Mimmo’s Italian Restaurant & Bar

Keeping Our Recent Italy Trip Food Experience Going

Having just returned from our Italy vacation in September, you might think that my husband Bill and I might have had enough Italian food for a while. You’d be wrong!

Here we discovered a gem of a restaurant hiding in plain site right off of Hwy 111 and San Pablo in South Palm Desert. Mimmo’s opened just over two years ago and has been going strong ever since.

Dine Inside Or Out Front In The Patio Area

Victoria, Sheri Dettman & Mimmo

The owners, Mimmo and Victoria Di Salvo warmly greeted us at the entrance and offered us our choice of seating either out front on the enclosed patio or inside. And as soon as we were seated our waiter appeared at the table, offering water and bread with a wonderfully flavorful tapenade that was bursting with a fresh olive goodness.

The menu has something for everyone with a good selection of Starters, Pasta, Fish, Meat and Chicken, not to mention desserts. Mimmo's also offers a large selection of wines both by the glass and the bottle.

House Made With Top Quality Ingredients

Mimmo's strives to use only top quality local produce, high-quality meats and fish; fresh picked herbs from their garden, organic eggs, sugars and whole grain flours. Mimmo's sauces, breads and desserts are all made in-house and was reflected in every dish we ordered.

My Caprese salad appetizer had a flavorful Balsamic Reduction drizzled on top, and Bill's evening special of vegetable soup was perfection.

For dinner, I enjoyed the fresh Halibut special with lemon and cherry tomatoes with a side of sautéed spinach. The fish was perfectly cooked, light and delicious. Bill ordered the Veal Scaloppine alla Sicula topped with eggplant, tomato sauce and mozzarella. His two sides were Mimmo’s special carrots (think back to the day when carrots cooked in butter and brown sugar at home) and a wonderful soft polenta.

For dessert, we enjoyed house made Tiramisu and the Sicilian Cannoli which has the added touch of Rum and Chocolate Chips in the Ricotta. La Dolce Vita indeed!

Owners Mimmo & Victoria Are Passionate About Food & Service

Mimmo's Patio Area

What made the dining experience come together were the owners. Mimmo and Victoria are lovely, personable people, full of passion for food and for their restaurant and ready to share that with their guests.

Bill mentioned to me that the staff seemed happy to be working there. And as we witnessed, they train their staff well and are hands on to make sure everything is running smoothly.

Here They Know Your Name

As we enjoyed our evening at Mimmo's, group after group arrived, with many being addressed by name. I assume these diners would not be returning if they weren’t pleased with their Mimmo's dining experience.

Bill and I look forward to returning to Mimmo’s, and I’m sure that this will become one of our “go to” places for dinner here in the Palm Springs area.

Mimmo’s Restaurant & Bar: 73-540 Hwy 111 in Palm Desert (760) 346-9712. Closed Sunday’s.

From Sheri Dettman
In Sheri's Palm Springs Area Blog, Dining Around The Desert

Palm Springs Area Homebuyers & Sellers Love Video

12,000 Video Views This Year From Around The Globe

So far this year we’ve had over 12,000 views of our exclusive Sheri Dettman & Associates real estate videos. We’ve always known that people interested in buying Palm Springs area real estate love video tours, and these recent stats seem to back that up.

After all, the desert home buying process is about much more than real estate, it’s about finding just the right Palm Springs area community and property for your lifestyle. And what better way to check out the homes and amenities available in our desert communities than HD video tours.

Video Benefits Our Homebuyers & Sellers

Sheri Dettman Narrating A Video In Our Studios

Videos benefit our buyer clients by helping them get to know our Palm Springs area golf and country clubs, and popular non-golf communities as well through our exclusive video tours. Narrated video tours of our Sheri Dettman & Associates Featured Properties for sale are a great way to tour each property from anywhere in the world.

Our Sheri Dettman & Associates home seller clients benefit by having their properties seen by more potential buyers. A top-notch Palm Springs real estate video tour should succeed in getting potential buyers excited about your home and motivate them to request a showing. If you’re considering selling your Palm Springs area property, here’s more information about Sheri Dettman & Associates video marketing.

Worldwide Real Estate Exposure

Looking at our recent video stats shows the international interest in Palm Springs area real estate. The USA leads our viewership stats followed by Canada, Taiwan, The UK, Mexico, Australia, Israel, Switzerland, Italy, Singapore, France and an amazing sixty-two other countries. Now that’s a wide audience!

Videos Handmade Fresh In-House

My husband Bill Dettman heads up our in-house video production team. We invested in production gear including a video studio with green screen, LED lighting, teleprompter, professional cameras and all the associated gear (sorry, tours of our studios are not being scheduled at this time).

Video shoots of our seller clients homes listed for sale involve a crew of three to four team members. And if you spot some refreshing ice tea or lemonade by the pool in our videos, you might be interested to know those are some of the movie props we utilize on many of our video shoots.

From Sheri Dettman
In Sheri's Palm Springs Area Blog, Buying - Info For Buyers, Buying – Info For Canadian Buyers, Info For Sellers

New Homes At The Signature At PGA West La Quinta

Located at the center of PGA West in La Quinta, is a 42-acre parcel of land that will soon become the last major development within PGA West.

The Signature At PGA West project will be developed into 235-resort style homes in three neighborhoods along with resort lifestyle amenities. About two dozen Signature At PGA West homes are planned to be located along the PGA West Stadium golf course.

The Villas: Spacious one and two story condos from 1,466 to about 2,298 square feet.
The Haciendas: One and two story residences from 1,941 to about 2,429 square feet.
The Estates: Luxury one and two story residences from 2,528 to about 3,479 square feet.

Signature Model Homes Opening In Spring 2015

Model homes are scheduled to open in spring of 2015. As leading PGA West Realtors, Sheri Dettman & Associates will be providing updates as the Signature at PGA West project moves forward.

If you’d like to be on our Sheri Dettman & Associates preferred interest list for the Signature new home development please contact us today! We’ll keep you updated as this new PGA West project is developed and the new models near opening.

Disclaimer: Information presented here is subject to developer changes. Site plan couresy of Signature at PGA West. Sheri Dettman & Associates is a leading real estate team in the PGA West community but is not associated with The Signature at PGA West.

From Sheri Dettman
In Sheri's Palm Springs Area Blog, Buying - Info For Buyers, Golf Communities

The Canadian Dollar & Palm Springs Real Estate

According to the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), the Canadian Dollar will likely continue its long, slow slide and may fall below 85 cents U.S. sometime in 2015.

While CIBC sees the lower loonie as a good thing for the Canadian economy, some Canadians may be rethinking buying a Palm Springs area vacation home this year. Does this make sense?

Is Investing In Palm Springs Real Estate A Good Move Today?

If a Canadian buys a Palm Springs area home today and the loonie later declines, has this buyer not done well by investing in the U.S. dollar asset that is rising against the Canadian Dollar? And if Palm Springs area real estate gains in value again this year would that not be another good scenario?

I’ll be the first to admit that my financial crystal ball is in the shop for repairs. And I never give financial advice (and I’m not doing that here). My point for Canadians is to look at the big picture and speak with your chartered accountant about this scenario.

This Is About Your Lifestyle & Real Estate

Most Canadian homebuyers tell me that they are not simply investing in a Palm Springs area home. Instead, they see themselves investing in a Palm Springs area lifestyle for their family and friends. And if your lifestyle investment just happens to increase in value through real estate appreciation or a rising U.S. dollar, I’d call that a win-win situation.

Palm Springs Area Luxury Home Purchases By Canadians

During the past six months, we’ve seen an increase in purchases of luxury and super-luxury properties here in the desert by Canadians. Recently I helped a Canadian couple find their new country club home that was priced at U.S. $5.6 million. Theses buyers, like other Canadian buyers, are still finding great values here in the Palm Springs area, and they likely see investing in the U.S. as a good way to diversify their investments.

Here’s a link to a related article in The Huffington Post.

Disclaimer: The above information is not intended to be financial or legal advice or a prediction or advice for any financial or real estate markets. If you desire financial advice, please consult your chartered accountant or real estate attorney.

From Sheri Dettman
In Sheri's Palm Springs Area Blog, Buying – Info For Canadian Buyers

Summer Tips For Palm Springs Area Seasonal Homeowners

Summer Tips for Your Vacation Home When You're Away

If you're a seasonal homebuyer from colder areas, you understand the importance of maintaining your Palm Springs vacation home during the summer months. To ensure your property remains in good condition while you're away, consider these essential tips:

Schedule bi-annual AC servicing: Arrange AC maintenance at the start of winter and summer to keep your system running smoothly.
Keep your AC running: Avoid turning off your AC during summer. Set the temperature to 85º F (29.4º C) to prevent furniture and wood from drying out.
Maintain pest control service: Don't halt your pest control treatments. Continuously treat the perimeter of your home.
Explore home check services: Consider hiring a home check company that can periodically inspect your property. They can run water in sinks and showers and flush toilets to prevent sewer gas odor when drain traps dry up in the desert climate.

Tips From a Palm Springs Air Conditioning Professional

Todd Shaw, owner of Desert Air in Palm Springs, advises against setting your thermostat too high when away for the summer. Based on his expertise, Shaw recommends setting the thermostat to 85º F to strike a balance between energy savings and proper maintenance. Desert Air has been serving the area since 1954, and Todd represents the third generation of his family in the business.

Selling Your Home During the Summer Months

If you plan to sell your Palm Springs home in the summer, it's crucial to create a comfortable environment for potential buyers. Our Sheri Dettman & Associates realty team has witnessed cases where buyers walked away from homes with uncomfortably high temperatures. To make your home more appealing, we suggest setting the thermostat to 79º F (26.1º C) when your property is listed for sale.

Disclosure: While we employ Desert Air to service our personal home and office, we receive no compensation for mentioning them here.

From Sheri Dettman
In Sheri's Palm Springs Area Blog, Owning - Homeowner Tips & Resources, Selling - Info For Sellers

New Sheri Dettman & Associates Offices

We recently moved to our newly completed La Quinta offices in Washington Plaza.

46600 Washington Street, Suite 4, La Quinta, CA 92253

We are a hop, skip and a jump from Trader Joe's and Lumpy's Golf.

Directions From The Intersection of Highway 111 & Washington Street, La Quinta

Washington Plaza is located just 0.4 miles south of Hwy 111 on Washington Street
Enter at the light adjacent to Trader Joes which is Simon Street. Or just past Simon Street you find another left turn lane (no light) leading into Washington Plaza.
Sheri Dettman & Associates is located between Trader Joe's and Lumpy's Golf

From Sheri Dettman
In Sheri's Palm Springs Area Blog, Sheri Dettman & Associates

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