The AT&T Golf Tournament mostly escaped rain on Friday and Saturday with 24 year old Dustin Johnson taking the lead. Every year as the tournament approaches I am asked by potential sellers what impact the event has on efforts to sell a home in Pebble Beach, Carmel, or the other peninsula communities.

The AT&T golf tournament and other events such as the Concours d’Elegance in August are very important because they bring people to town and remind those who watch the events on TV or read about them in the media that the Monterey Peninsula is a special place.

While a few homes will go into escrow during this weekend, the reality is that most attendees who are here for the tournament are far more interested in the golf, restaurants, and other activities than they are in looking at homes for sale. What happens most often is visitors for an event such as the Pro-am have a great few days here and decide to visit again in a few weeks or months on a follow up visit. It is on their return trip that they are more likely to learn a bit more about the different communities and explore the possibility of buying a home here.

This year the tournament fell on the same weekend as Valentine’s Day which is unfortunate for local commerce and for real estate as well. A Valentine’s weekend that doesn’t have any other major event will bring folks to town who are interested in walking on the beach, a romantic dinner, and exploring Carmel’s art galleries, Pacific Grove’s coastline, playing golf at Pebble Beach, and…..visiting a few open houses.

With any luck, next year we can all take long romantic walks through town-without rain-on Valentine’s Day, and enjoy the AT&T tournament on an equally sunny but different weekend.

In early December I had the priveledge of being the first Realtor to book a Zeppelin charter for some of my more adventurous real estate clients to look at their recent purchases from the air.  The twelve of us, plus the two pilots, departed Monterey airport and headed south east towards Carmel Valley. In advance I was able to provide the pilots with the GPS coordinates for a few of the passenger’s homes so we could more easily find them from the air.

The Zeppelin is Coming Back to Monterey…..

The Zeppelin is usually based in San Jose at Moffett Field from where it provides air tours of San Francisco. It also occasionally travels to Napa Valley. And, it will be back over Monterey, Pebble Beach, and Carmel on Thursday February 12th–The Thursday of the AT&T Golf Tournament.  [More information about schedule and costs below]

Our Trip

We headed out to just past Carmel Valley Village and on the way overflew the Del Mesa Development which is a short distance from the mouth of Carmel Valley on the North side.  [See CarmelValleyReport.com for market updates on the Valley.]

Cruising at about 40MPH we flew 1,000 feet above the ground past the village and the now closed Carmel Valley Airport.

We buzzed a few homes in Carmel Valley and then made our way west and flew over Carmel.  My two sons were able to identify their elementary school and we were able to easily identify the Sunset Center and a few other Carmel landmarks. [Carmel Real Estate info at www.carmelreport.com]

From Carmel we headed to Pebble Beach. [PebbleBeachReport.com] Looking back at Carmel Beach you get a sense of the view from the windows.

The airship is surprisingly quiet– much quieter than inside a commercial airplane. It is interesting to note that in addition to the large windows on each side, there are two windows that remain open. Given that you are only traveling at 40 MPH there is almost no wind noise but you don’t want to get to close without a hand on your hat.

There are no “bad seats” on the airship.

Except for takeoff and landing everyone is free to move around the cabin, discuss what they are seeing and even interact with the two pilots.

It is an amazing way to spend an hour and gain a whole new perspective of the Monterey Peninsula.

Information about Schedules and Flying

The Ship is scheduled to return to the Monterey area on Thursday the 12th. There are a couple of one hour tours scheduled about midday and a bit later in the afternoon. The standard rate is $495 per seat for the hour tour plus tax. However, they are running a special for this visit of “buy one and get the second one at 50%” and buy 5 get the 6th free.

If one wants to charter the entire ship (12 seats) the cost is $4,950 plus tax, equivalent to paying for 10 seats with 2 free.

If you would like to fly on the 12th drop me an email at malone@malonehodges.com or call my cell phone at 831-601-4740 and I can tell you more about our experience on the flight, the schedule for the 12th and set up a reservation.

 The airship website is at airshipventures.com. If you contact them directly mention my name and the discount offer. I hope to see you on the 12th!

Malone