Mar 18
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Carbonmonoxide Detectors… It’s the law.

By | Around the house, Buyers, Sellers | No Comments

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAPer July 1 2011 all homeowners in California, must comply with the Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act of 2010. This means that every home must have a Carbon Monoxide Alarm. The reason for this law is because carbon monoxide poisoning is the leading cause of accidental deaths in the United States. Carbon monoxide is an odorless gas produced whenever any fuel is burnedCO-detector. It can enter the home from sources as seemingly innocent as a gas stove, furnace, or wood stove, usually due to leakage, back drafting, or poor venting.

Do you have one installed in your home? Unless you are renting a home chances are that were not even aware of this legal obligation. It’s not unusual that home owners buy and install one when they are selling. Reason: it is part of the required seller disclosures and when a property is appraised (when a buyer needs a mortgage) this is one of the items an appraiser looks for.

But as a general rule, it is good to have one installed. According to California Safe Homes website, only 54% of the CA residents have a CO alarm. I am planning to do this the coming week;)

Mirjam

Feb 10
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Power Outages and the Location of your Home

By | Buyers, RE Investing, Sellers, Sonoma County info | No Comments

Have you ever noticed that if there is a major power Street with Powerlines outages, some neighborhoods seem to be without power longer than others? And sometimes a neighborhood   close to an urban area might be longer out of power than other areas. I noticed in our area, parts of Fulton and the Russian River area tend to be out of power longer than the direct surrounding area.

Coming from the Netherlands where all power lines are in the ground moving to an area with power lines above ground was something to get used to. They are part of a street view,  sometimes blocking a view or going over part of a property, affecting the desirability of a property. Power lines above ground are more vulnerable to outages during storm or Powerlines blocking a viewwhen a trees falls on a power line or a pole holding the power line is hit by a car. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pa., have concluded that the average U.S. electrical utility customer experiences 214 minutes of power outage each year. The research also indicates that the U.S. ranks towards the bottom among developed nations in terms of reliability of electricity service. The last Superbowl had a 30 minute power outage.

Super-Bowl-2013With that said, to a certain extent one can predict whether a neighborhood will have shorter or longer power outages in case of a major power outage. The PG&E website gives some good guidelines: “First hazardous situations, such as downed wires. After that the focus is the largest number of customers and on repairs that will restore service to critical facilities such as hospitals, water pumping stations and police and fire departments.

Should you desire to do so, you can make this part of your due diligence before you decide to move to a certain neighborhood or area. If you know upfront that the neighborhood you decide to move to is always the last one the power is restored, invest in a good generator or an other alternative power source.

Mirjam

Jan 20
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Vacant Home Insurance – not your regular home owners insurance

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

I am surprised how many people believe that a home needs to be vacant in order to be able to sell it. Especially in the Netherlands, the majority of the homes that are for sale are vacant. When we sold our home when we moved to the California we had already moved here but had a tenant in the home for a little bit. We always felt it is better for a home to be lived in. In Sonoma, on average about 30% of the homes that are for sale are not occupied.

Besides the importance of staging a home and giving itHouse on Fire the appearance that it is occupied, it is of an even greater importance to inform your insurance agent that you no longer live in the home. The normal home owners insurance does not cover a vacant home. Vacant homes have a higher risk as to damage and burglary, thus the policy is more expensive. Yet that is a small price to pay in case something happens.

Erin Temple from Vantreo Insurance mentioned that not all insurance companies offer coverage for vacant homes, this is depending on company, location and situation.

Forest fire- house on fireI know, insurance is not something that is on our minds on a daily basis (for sure not on mine) and yet it is so important. I have come to the conclusion that a knowledgeable insurance agent is key in having the proper amount of coverage. Someone who explains what is covered and what is not covered in language that is easy to understand while making sure there are no gaps in the policy. BTW, I can highly recommend Erin, please feel free to contact her with any questions/inquiries.

Last week the property of one of my friends Burglarparents was burglarized. The burglars took the kerosine heather and the wood stove, besides a lot of other things. Apparently since the heaters were permanently attached to the house, they were not insured, it was in the small print in the policy. Both are very expensive to replace, a hard pill to swallow when you receive the bad news that certain things are not covered. That is why it’s a good idea to review your plans with your insurance agent BEFORE a loss happens.

Mirjam

 

 

Dec 23
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Living Trusts and Your Home – Are you properly insured?

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

Buying, selling, owning Real Estate affects many aspects of our life. Every time when someone asks: what does a Realtor do? I always say: that depends on the situation. When helping a home owner with a short sale, there is a lot of financial documentation to be taken care of. Other times marketing the property to the right niche of buyers needs a lot of attention. It all depends on the local Real Estate market and the personal situation.

Recently my insurance agent Erin Temple with Vantreo Insurance mentioned an important ‘detail’ with regards to trusts. Many home owners use qualified personal residence trusts (QPRTs), other forms of trusts and limited liability companies (LLCs) as vehicles to reduce tax liability and/or provide other legal protection of assets.

However a ‘trust’ as well as an LLC  are different legal entities and as thus should be named in the insurance policy. Say for instance the home owners/casualty insurance names Mr. and Mrs Smith as the insured, yet the home is for instance put in a trust, the trust is the legal owner of the property, not Mr. and Mrs. Smith. In case something happens, this might be a good reason to deny a claim.

Mathew Sweiffler, a local Financial Planner -who I can highly recommend btw- forwarded an interesting article about the subject.

There are so many details that are extremely important, I highly recommend you check your insurance policy to make sure have the appropriate coverage BEFORE something happens. Both Erin and Mathew are great resources if you have more questions.

Mirjam