May 27
0

Location, Location, Location: Historic neighborhoods

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

Living in the Netherlands, it is not unusual to live in a home built in 1700’s, thus about 500 years old. Think about Leiden, Zwolle and even for instance Zwartsluis. World wide you will find many historic neighborhoods, great places to live. As to Santa Rosa I am talking about the older part generally quite often referred to as the JC area.

Before buying a home in an older, historic neighborhood, it’s good to know how this affects the home owner. For the Netherlands, there is an organization for historic monuments, ‘Monumenten Zorg’. The goal is to preserve these properties that have historic value. Take the city of Leiden. Should you buy one of these homes, it’s not unusual to have your remodeling project limited on the outside as well as the inside. A new kitchen? Need a permit. Change of color on the outside and even sometimes the inside? Need a permit. Sidenote: this is extreme, even for Netherlands: it usually affects only the outside, then it’s called a “beschermd Stadsgezicht” -> Protected City Image (that’s the best I can come up with as to translation)

This is not the same for every neighborhood, take for instance the JC area in Santa Rosa, only the outside of a home is considered. The Cultural Heritage Board reviews proposed alterations for historic homes. A good resource is the Processing Review Procedures for Owners of Historic Properties.  Currently there are 8 designated Preservation Districts in Santa Rosa: Burbank Gardens, Cherry Street, McDonald, Olive Park, Railroad Square, Ridgeway, St. Rose and West End.

Bottomline… it’s prudent to do your homework before buying a home. Your local realtor is a great source of information.

Mirjam

 

May 22
0

Loan Modification: are you sure?

By | Foreclosure, Making Home Affordable, Mortgage, Short Sale, Sonoma County info | No Comments

I had a meeting with a homeowner who accepted a perfect loan modification last week. Some thoughts to share:

A Loan Modification is what a lot of homeowners in distress are wishing for. However they can be quite stressful and very difficult to obtain. Percentage wise, only a few are working out. The Pro Publica website has some interesting numbers.

The most successful loan modifications are the ones where the loan has adjusted to a high interest rate and the only thing that makes the payment affordable again is a rate adjustment. These are quite often successful. However, according to CoreLogic in the last quarter of 2011 about 22% of all residential properties with a mortgage are ‘Upside down’ or owe more on their house than it would currently sell for.

What I see more and more happening is that a bank will recast the borrowers loan amount down to the current market value of the house and the deferred amount will be due when the borrower sells the house… That is a great option yes???? Or maybe not????

If you are planning to stay in your house and have no intention of moving, this is a good solution. It will take a very long time to regain some equity in your property but then again, you have to live somewhere…

But what in case you need to sell? Maybe next year? And the house is still not worth what you owe on it? Then you should still a short sale… This is a good option, however, keep in mind that any forgiveness of debt is a taxable event. So if the bank agrees with the short sale, you still owe taxes on the amount forgiven. Right now, under the Mortgage Debt Relief act a lot of home owners do not have to pay taxes on the forgiven amount. For now the Mortgage Debt Relief act ends December 2012. This means that as of right now, if you end up selling your house next year, you’ll end up paying taxes on the amount forgiven: Say the bank takes a $100,000 loss, that is considered regular income…

Something else to keep in mind: for a bank to accept a short sale, you need to have a hard ship. The fact that your house is to small/large due to a change in family situation is NOT a hardship. Side note: the average home owner in USA moves about every 6-8 years.

Bottomline, I see more and more that a loan modification is not the best solution for many home owners. It totally depends on your situation. Weigh your options carefully before accepting the loan modification.

Mirjam

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 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