Category

Sellers

May 13
0

Location Wanted: Rural, Views, Surrounded by Nature – the Boonies!

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

Looking for that perfect home in Sonoma County? Depending on what you are looking for, changes are it is not connected to a sewer system but has it’s own waste water system, called a septic system. About 25% of all properties have their own septic system. Without going into details as to upcoming and ongoing changes in the requirements for septic systems -see this link- it is important to know whether the property you are buying or selling has a working septic system. It is one of the inspections to do when purchasing a property with a septic system.

Over the years I have had several situations where either sellers would refuse to do a septic system before putting their home on the market, or buyers not seeing the need to do a septic inspection. Let’s just say that the buyer who initially wanted to waive that inspection was really glad afterwards. The system had some problems which would have cause failure in the future. On a recent transaction, the seller had to put in a sew septic tank since the septic inspection brought to light that the wall in the tank had a hole in it. Luckily the seller was a contractor who had the resources to do this quickly.

Before moving to Santa Rosa, I had never lived on a property with a septic system. My grandparent had a farm in Netherlands, they had a septic system but quite frankly I never knew much about that. The house we live in right now is depending on a septic system for waste water. It’s not scary, it part of living in a more rural part of Sonoma County and I think it a great way to recycle 😉 Sidenote: click here if you like to learn more about septic systems.

Currently I am working to put a property on the market in Franz Valley, a small home on 9 acres. It’s on a beautiful location, there are 2 ponds on the property and yes, the house is on a septic system. We are doing a septic inspection before putting the home on the market, a local company, BDK septic services, will first pump the tank and then inspect the system.

Bottom line, for buyers and sellers: do the proper inspections before buying or selling property, you will be glad you did;)

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 12
0

$ 8,000 Tax Credit, did you take advantage of it?

By | Foreclosure, Making Home Affordable, Sellers, Short Sale, Visit WineCountry, Wine Tasting | No Comments

Who doesn’t want to take advantage of Tax Credits? Remember the Federal Tax Credit programs offering $7,500 and later $8,000 to first time home buyers? A lot of Home Buyers did take advantage of it.

There are some hick-ups with the IRS as to claiming/repaying – see article LA Times -.  What if you  bought the house and ended up buying a house that was not the perfect fit?

Depending on what tax credit you used, it might be worth exploring what the consequences are for you, either selling and buying something else or turning the house into a rental.

The first one in 2008 -$7,500-, for those who purchased homes in 2008, was more like an interest free loan. It had to be paid back in 15 years. See link.

The second one in 2009/May 2010, didn’t have to be paid back but you had to live in the house for 36 months. For both programs, in case you either sell, loose the home to foreclosure, do a short sale, convert the home into a rental, i.e. it stops being your primary residence, you have to pay the credit back. There are some exceptions/rules. See link.

Sidenote: there were different programs for the purchase of new homes during that time. See link.

Depending on your situation, the option of repaying might not be that bad. It’s probably wise to talk to your CPA and discuss numbers with him, however, you might be pleasantly surprised. You may have losses or other situations that offset the ‘gain’ of the credit, if not, maybe paying tax on $8,000 is not the worst option. Remember there are  tax benefits of buying a home. In Sonoma County, home prices have come down a bit more, in general, we lost about 10% last year. Thinking about this, that will offset the fact that you have to pay back the credit.

And last but not least: Living in Sonoma County is great, the next Barrel Tasting weekends are the first 2 weekends in March, it’s the 34th one 😉

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