Category

Buyers

Apr 15
0

Location, Location, Location…

By | Buyers, Sonoma County info, Visit WineCountry, Wine Tasting, Winery with picnic place | No Comments

Number one rule in Real Estate: location, location, location. Recently I have been working with buyers relocating to Sonoma County. It’s fun, I get to ‘brag’ about Sonoma County, the ‘bragging’ is easy, Sonoma County is a great place to live. And yet within Sonoma County, there are many nuances as to neighborhoods, micro climates, schools, personal preferences.

I remember moving to California, I was brand new in USA, everything was different. Luckily, when we moved into our first rental there was a handyman who gave many great tips as to shopping etc. I had a map on the table and every time he mentioned something I asked him where is was and marked it on the map. This was a while ago, now I would search it with Google maps and write it down as a list. However, maps are great to get started thus I have maps for those who want to get introduced to Sonoma County and when we go house hunting. And besides a map, a list of great professionals who are local who are part of the team that makes for a smooth relocation experience… there will be some frustrations anyway…

Even though everything is new and exciting, it is good to make a list of things that are important, if possible even in order of priority… Is it the outdoors, the restaurants, the schools, what popular locally…

Recently I re discovered a great winery in Hopland. It’s about 40 minutes from Santa Rosa to Hopland, a beautiful drive, worth the trip. The winery is Campovida. The property used to belong to Fetzer Vineyards. Next to great wines, there are beautiful gardens to stroll through and you can also stay at the property. Gary and Anna will warmly welcome you as well as the friendly staff in the tasting room, tell them I said hi;)

Mirjam

Apr 01
0

Disclosures – my neighbor is an …

By | Buyers, Disclosures, Sellers, Sonoma County info | No Comments

Buyers beware! That used to be the case and to some degree it still is. When buying or selling real estate, disclosures are an important part of the transaction. The paperwork might feel overwhelming yet, finding things out after you bought the property, realizing you didn’t read the disclosures is worse. Or, as a seller not disclosing important material facts is a major cause of ongoing law suits. When I started out in real estate, one of the first transactions came with an interesting disclosure.  The TDS mentioned that about every 10-14 days, the police ‘visited’ a home across the street due to domestic issues. Deal breaker? No… my client contacted some neighbors and asked them how bad it was. All together it was something that was not a reason for him not to buy the house. Had he found out after close of escrow… the situation would have been different… Stuff like this is a ongoing reason for law suits.

That’s why we have disclosures, these are different per state/county.  In CA, sellers have to fill out statutory disclosures –The TDS is only one of them.

Sidenote: a buyer can not refuse or waive these disclosures required by law, you can find this in California Civil Code section 1103 (d). This means that ignorance is not bliss, so the waiver or refusal of these disclosures is void and not a valid reason to sue.

One other important disclosure is the Natural Hazards Disclosure, in CA a seller is required to provide this, this is done by providing a NHD report. One of these providers is for instance Property ID, there are others, personally I like this one since it’s easy to read and understand and very comprehensive. There are other reliable sources for this report.

These reports inform a buyer about natural hazards like flood zones, high fire hazard areas, landslide areas, protected species etc etc. All these important to know before you buy a property, it might affect insurance rates/policies, or possibilities to build a pool to name just 2.

When I moved to California, the family asked why we would move to an area prone to earthquakes. Our response was that 60% of Netherlands is below sea level, we simply exchanged natural hazards;) However, every so often, the Russian Rover causes flooding too 😉

Bottom line: always work with a real estate agent familiar with the local area and the local mandatory/required/custom disclosures and laws.

Mirjam

Feb 05
0

Insurance Scam?… or???

By | Around the house, Buyers, Disclosures, Sonoma County info | No Comments

As we all know, news sells because it’s catchy and the person writing the headline for a story is usually not the journalist writing the story. With that said, last week one of my buyer clients asked me whether I new about the new Insurance Scam: banks placing forced insurance on properties. Example of a recent article about BofA accused of doing this.

Without going into great detail as to what exactly happened, there is something to keep in mind: Your lender has an interest in your property. When you signed your mortgage documents, you also promised to always keep your property properly insured. If not, the lender reserves the write to put insurance in place. That by itself is a fair warning, if you were the lender, you would want to make sure that there is money to rebuilt a house in case it burns down. Inherent to this, the lender’s first priority is their interest, not yours, so the insurance put in place is first covering the house, not your stuff etc. And they might have affiliations -which are disclosed when you signed the documents- who they will use. Since you are paying for this, they do not shop around for the best rates/coverage.

With that said, a lot of homeowners do not open all the mail they receive from their lender, some of it is advertizing, some of it is real. Word to the wise: ALWAYS open ALL the mail you receive from your lender. They will warn you when they feel the need to place insurance on your property so you can take action. AND also make sure that your lender is always mentioned as a beneficiary on your insurance policy. That is one of the reasons a lender wants to see proof of insurance when you purchase or refinance your home.

I talked to my insurance agent, Erin Temple of Vantreo Insurance about this and she confirmed that it happens quite a bit, main reason homeowners not opening their mail. She used even an example of a person who bought a home and told her ‘the title company just got me a policy’.

Insurance is important, depending on where you live, some coverages are more important than others: right now there is a 15 year record cold in Netherlands, good to have insurance coverage for this, in Sonoma County we have other priorities like high fire hazards or pools. Your insurance agent is aware of local hazards and will advise accordingly, locally I find Erin a great resource for all my questions/concerns.

Mirjam

Jan 22
0

Short Sale = not Bank Owned

By | Buyers, Disclosures, Sellers, Short Sale, Sonoma County info | No Comments

In general when you see overviews of Distressed Sales, REO/bank owned sales are put together with Short Sales. This might give the false impression that a Short Sale is a bank owned sale. However, a SHORT SALE IS NOT OWNED BY THE BANK!!!

Just to give a perspective: when a homeowner sells a home there may be several ‘contingencies’. Example: I’d like to sell my home but I need to find another home. In this case when an offer is accepted, the seller asks for some time to find an other home. This can be any amount of time agreed upon. When the seller finds the home they like, they release that contingency and the buyer can move forward with the purchase of the home. Another fairly common one is a builder who sells new homes: I am selling this home and you can buy it when it’s finished.

A short sale is similar: in this case a home owner likes to sell his home but the house is worth less than the mortgage amount. In case the seller is not able to come up with the difference (deficiency) he/she needs approval/agreement as to how the deficiency is handled. Once this approval is given, the contingency is removed and the buyer can move forward with the purchase.

Agreed, bank approval can be a little more complicated and yet that is not the point. In the case of a short sale, the seller is the legal owner of the property. Like a ‘regular’ sale, the seller provides all statutory disclosures as well as all other info pertinent to the house. Think for instance information about the trees in the yard, the history of the house/remodels, just name it.

So yes, a short sale is a distressed sale in the sense that seller is not able to keep their financial commitments. However if you talk about the house itself: any sale can be a distressed sale. I see short sales that have been very well maintained and show pride of ownership and I see regular sales that have been very poorly maintained.

So next time you see a short sale: it’s like a regular sale with a seller contingency.

Mirjam

 

Jan 16
0

Million Dollar Views!

By | Buyers, Disclosures, Sellers, Sonoma County info | No Comments

Number one rule in Real Estate World Wide: Location, Location, Location. It’s all about the perfect location, either surrounded by trees, at the end of the cul-de-sac, next to a harbor or on top of a hill with the 180 degrees views. What is a view worth to you? When you buy a home, chances are that you will need a mortgage and thus an appraisal is involved. Recently I asked Eric Kirby, a local appraiser how much a view is worth. He explained that it is  about comparable properties,  maybe even in other neighborhoods,  calculate the difference – sometimes using a price per SqFt. But that it is not always easy to put a dollar value on a view.

A few years ago I sold a town home in Vista del Lago in Santa Rosa CA. It was the only one with the view. At that time, about $25,000 was given for the view. The town homes without the view sold for $400,000, the one I had listed ended up selling and appraising for about $425,000. Just asked the same question to a local mortgage broker (Seliga Financial), he mentioned a  sale in Marin County where about $200,000 was allowed for the views on a market value of $1,700,000. Both examples show that there is no set percentage, it’s all about the local market situation.

Sidenote: there are no guarantees that a view will stay the same: trees grow and might block a perfect view over time. And when these trees belong to your neighbor there is not a whole lot you can do. Something to keep in mind when you decide to buy a home, either on a bay/harbor in Zwartsluis, on a hill in Sonoma County or a hill in San Francisco.

How important is a view to you? And what would be your perfect view? I haven’t decided yet…

Mirjam