REO List and update for Sonoma County

Bargain hunting buyers are back in the hunt for homes in Sonoma County. In the last thirty days there have been 226 new residential REO properties added to the market, primarily in Santa Rosa, but with homes in Petalua, condos in Rohnert Park, and even a wine country property near Healdsburg. 68 of these new REO listings have already been bagged by people who appreciate bargain prices. Anecdotally we are hearing stories of multiple offers and overbids that are firming up prices at the low end of the market. 

My crystal ball is not clear enough to tell me we are at the bottom of the market. However, what is demonstrated by the renewed activity by buyers is that many investors and wanna-be home owners have decided that the time is right to begin to buy again. We have sales of REO properties from $107.000 to nearly $1,000,000, so there are bargains to be had at all price points.

I'll extend to all my ActiveRain readers the same offer I made to readers of my sonoma.net blog. I will do a custom search of REO properties in Sonoma County for you if you tell me what areas of Sonoma County you are interested in and/or what price range you want. I can set this up either as a one time search or an ongoing automatic search to look for new REO listings.

Healdsburg Historic Home Tour

Healdsburg has some beautiful old homes. Sunday, May 4, 2008 is the date for the 18th Annual Healdsburg Historic Home Tour. This great event is sponsored by the Healdsburg chapter of the American Association of University Women as a benefit for Healdsburg schools. The weather almost always cooperates and the tour is a wonderful opportunity to see homes that are almost never open to the public. You can follow the links above to purchase your tickets in advance, but you can also pick up tickets on Sunday at the Healdsburg Museum on Matheson St. As you'll see later in the post, you can also stop by to see me at an open house in an 1895 Victorian that isn't on the tour.

In addition to the six historic Healdsburg homes that will be open to the public on the self guided tour, there are two historically significant homes in Healdsburg that are currently being marketed by Healdsburg Sotheby's International Realty. One is an 1871 Greek Revival home at 227 North St. in Healdsburg. This classic is on a very deep lot and has living spaces on three levels. It's available to see, but on an appointment only basis. If you're in town for the home tour, it's worth walking by this very significant home. It's one of my favorite buildings in town, even as a hard core fixer. You can click on the image of the house to get more details about the property.

The second historic property we are listing will be open to the public during the same hours as the historic home tour, from 1:00 to 4:30 pm. This Victorian, built around 1895, is located at 401 Matheson just a few blocks from the plaza. In addition to the main Victorian, there are two duplexes and an additional studio in back of the property. I'll be hosting the open house and would love to meet any ActiveRain readers who stop by. 

State Energy Conservation Rebates

Free Money! Hey, you can't say the government never did anything for you if you don't look around. This database contains great information about all the various ways you can get help, refunds, rebates, and information about renewables and energy efficiency. Most states have programs to encourage people to invest in energy saving technologies, but it's often hard to find the programs that are suited for you. This site contains everything you need to know. It includes information from the federal government, state government, local government, and utilities. Information includes rebates, but also information about construction, weatherization, and other topics that vary by state.

Sebastopol California bucks the market trends

Sometimes a graph is the best way to demonstrate a trend. I have been working with Altos Research to develop charts for Sonoma County. I love country property and small towns, so I generated some charts for Sonoma, Sebastopol, Healdsburg, and some of the other agriculture-surrounded towns in Sonoma County's wine country. One of the surprises that jumped out at me was that Sebastopol, alone among the Sonoma County towns, has continued strong median prices in the top quartile of the market.

This is a live chart, so the data will change over time, but as of the middle of April, 2008, the upper quartile of homes in Sebastopol is about 5% above a year ago. For Sonoma County, that increase in value during the past year isn't replicated anywhere else. The data set for charts like this is small. Not a lot of properties are changing hands, so one or two large sales can skew the market. Still, this is a good demonstration that real estate in Sebastopol is still strong.

Here's some more Sebastopol market data:

Once again, the data is live so these comments are for mid-April, 2008. The blue line represents median days on market for the top 25% of homes. There was the typical mid-winter doldrums period where the time increased, but the chart clearly shows that homes at the high end of the market are selling faster than any other market segment.

This final chart shows both the early spring uptick in people listing their homes for sale in Sebastopol, but also a healthy reduction in overall inventory back to levels from a year ago (as of mid-April, 2008) before the August meltdown in the sub-prime market.

If you are interested in the Sebastopol market, you can subscribe to a weekly report on many Sonoma County cities from my sonoma.net site.

Alexander Valley Estate Sites

Sonoma County has a well deserved reputation for scenic beauty. We're hilly enough to get above the valley floors so we can look out over both near and distant views. The farmers have planted the plains and hillsides with some beautiful vineyards to look at, and the areas too steep or too dry for vineyards have nice combinations of meadows, oaks, and redwoods to keep the eye enchanted.

The Alexander Valley is one of the premier appellations for Sonoma County wines. It's famed for Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, and famed wineries like Silver Oak, Geyser Peak, Jordan, and Clos Du Bois are located here. At the north end of the valley on the eastern slopes just a stones throw from the Russian River are two parcels that I am lucky enough to be putting on the market.

These estate grade parcels are suited for either small vineyards or horses, and the views would justify a sprawling, open floor plan with windows and outdoor living spaces to encourage appreciation of the surroundings. I've put together a Real Estate Show for the lower 20.5 acre parcel that fronts on River Road outside of Cloverdale. You can get more details about this and the adjacent site at  the Alexander Valley Land web site

Gail Ryan Gets her Due

We all have friends and coworkers that work hard and may never hear a word of praise or recognition. I wanted to take a minute out of my day, and yours, to send a shout of recognition to Gail Ryan of Healdsburg, California. Gail is a realtor at Healdsburg Sotheby's International Realty with superbly comprehensive knowledge of our town. She's the first to know of new listings and her brain contains histories of all the families who helped build the wine industry in Sonoma County.

That's all great and by itself would make Gail a wonderful addition to any office. What sets her apart is her fierce dedication to her rental clients, both the owners and tenants. She juggles thousands of details of repairs, vacancies, and showings with an impressive combination of telephone expertise, knowledge of available subcontractors and their foibles, and the occasional trio of girl renters who may have had just a little too much tequila.

She was just awarded the North Bay Bohemian's Best of the Year for 2008, an honor she richly deserves. Congratulations, Gail.

If you're looking for someone to manage your rental property in Healdsburg:

Gail Ryan
Healdsburg Sotheby's International Realty
709 Healdsburg Ave
Healdsburg, CA  85448
707-431-9757

gailryan@healdsburgrealty.com

Greener than thou.

Tossing an old refrigerator is greener than installing solar panels? You're got to be kidding, right? Solar is green. Solar is cool. Solar is NOW! Refrigerators are like, boring, boring, boring. How can tossing something as retro as my garage beer refrigerator be greener than solar.

 Well, if you will bear with me while I haul out some dusty old ideas from economics...<cough, cough, blowing dust away> , I'll try to explain it to you. It's somewhere around here with the slide rules and punch cards...Ah, Here we are, Life Cycle Costing.

It's the magic bullet the California Energy Commission uses to explain why they make builders use better insulation levels or use insulated glass in new construction. The principle is that it's unfair to efficient technologies to only look at the initial cost. For example, R-30 insulation costs more than R-13. Likewise, well-sealed windows with low-e glass cost more than single pane, leaky windows. If builders only considered initial cost, they wouldn't build energy efficient homes. However, when you look at a reasonable time frame and add in the cost of energy, the higher insulation levels and better windows make economic sense. 

It made enough sense for the California Energy Commission to mandate that builders take life cycle costs into consideration when they built starting back in the mid 1970's. Today California uses less residential energy per capita than any other state. It's mainly because of life cycle costing. (see chart at the bottom of this post)

So let's take a quick look at the old refrigerator vs solar panels is the same type of argument. If we assume that a new refrigerator uses about 450 kilowatt hours per year and our old garage-based beer cooler uses 1,000 kilowatt hours per year, we see that investing in a new refrigerator for $1,000 bucks saves about 550 kilowatt hours every year for the ten year productive life of the refrigerator. That's a cost of about 20 cents a kilowatt hour or $1,100 over that time span. Not great, but not too shabby. The cost savings basically paid the entire cost of the refrigerator

I'm not going to take you through the whole calculation about sizing photovoltaic systems including modules, batteries and inverters, but as a rule of thumb, a 1 kilowatt peak solar system will generate around 1,600 kilowatt hours per year in a sunny climate and about 750 kilowatt hours per year in a cloudy climate. That means that for a system that would generate the extra 550 kilowatt hours over a year to run the less efficient refrigerator you would be spending between $4,000 and $6,000 (rough approximation). Over the 20 year payback of the solar installation you would definitely get your investment back in avoided electricity costs and tax credits.

I thought I knew the answer to this question before I started, but I'm going to declare this a green tie. Tossing the old reefer into the recylcing pile and buying a new one is a better use for $1,000, but mainly because you can't get a fully functioning solar installation for that price. If you had $20,000 to invest for the long term, installing a PV system for your home or business could eliminate your electricity bill...forever. That's pretty green.

Thanks to Paul from Las Vegas for triggering this post.

 Where does your state stand?

Going Green for $1,000 or Less

Dumping the Old Fridge is Greener than Installing Solar Panels

Let's face it. The greenest things you can do for your house and the planet fall a little short in the WOW Factor. Old refrigerators and freezers, and by that I mean almost any model from before 2000, are energy wasters compared to today's most efficient models. Dollar for dollar the best thing you can do for your house is to buy new refrigerators and freezers that use substantially less energy. Payback on a new machine can be as little as two years and most local utilities offer some sort of rebate or upgrade program to encourage their consumers to get a newer model. The government has some useful information about the Energy Star program

The second half of the green refrigeration solution is to make sure your old model gets recycled...and I don't mean the garage to keep your sodas cold, either. If you absolutely, positively want your sodas cold, buy a new refrigerator for the garage or rec room. Your old one, whether it's in the kitchen or the garage, is an energy pig. Modern recycling will safely remove the Freon or other refrigerant and send the steel off to to be made into something new and shiny. You can send it away knowing it will have a rich and worthwhile second life. Don't forget to keep your magnets.

The Joy of Attic Crawling

If the boring wisdom of getting a new refrigerator can't get your green gene fired up, how about a nice crawl through the attic or subfloor? It's very likely that as much as 20% of your heating and air conditioning dollar is being spent to heat and cool parts of your house you don't live in. Improperly sealed ducts, bad connections, and lack of insulation are major sources of wasted energy.

The good news is that I'm not going to ask you to crawl through scratchy fiberglass in your own attic. No, you get to hire a duct cleaning and repair specialist who can bring specialized equipment to clean and pressure test your system. Sadly, there's nothing glamorous left on your roof to show your neighbors you are Greener Than They Are. Maybe later.

Finally, the big bucks to show up the neighbors

Sorry. I feel like the Green Scrooge. You came for hot and sexy green-ness, and all I have for you is warm lime sherbet. I've already walked you through a new refrigerator and some duct repairs. Next on the cost efficiency list wouldn't normally be shiny new photovoltaics or a roof top wind turbine, but attic insulation, dual glazed windows, and weatherstripping instead. Still, it's my post and I'm going to skip that smart stuff and give you a chance to beat the neighbors to have the first photovoltaic installation on the block.

For around $600 installed, you can have a simple, cost-effective, energy saving, building-preserving, roof-extending, moisture reducing solar attic fan. It's a great way to introduce yourself to solar energy, do your house a favor, and have a small touch of one-upmanship in your neighborhood. They work from morning until night all year around helping to keep your attic air circulating. It will help keep your house cooler in the summer and help prevent moisture accumulation in the winter.

Three Green Cool Suggestions

These three green ideas aren't as HOT as some newer comprehensive strategies for sustainability. What they have in common is modest price tags that the average home owner can fit into their long term green budget. Each of them can be accomplished for under $1,000 and typically in one day. Going green can be fast, affordable, and create great long term savings. In my book, that's sexy enough.

Glory Stories - How Fast Can YOU Sell?

I was schmoozing with a friendly agent during a preview yesterday. We got to talking about how many properties you have to show a buyer to get a sale. The answers are obviously all over the map, but we were in about the same ballpark of ten to fifteen properties for a routine transaction. We got into a quickest sale story and we each had a one-showing sale to share. However, she told me a tale that had us both beat.

She's mentoring a new agent who is working hard to learn the business, but is still a little green. She is visiting open houses to see how they're done. Last week she was standing in front of an open house and a couple came out the door after visiting the house and stopped near her. She chatted with them for a few minutes and gave them her card.

They called the next day to have her write an offer, so if the deal goes through for her she'll have the distinction of selling a home without ever showing it. I hope she doesn't think it will always be that easy.

I'd love to hear your stories of quick victories or drawn out sales in the comments.

1871 Greek Revival near Healdsburg Plaza

California's historical architecture has been buffeted by earthquakes, floods, and fires. There just aren't a lot of residences that date back into the 1800's. That's why I am absolutely thrilled that Eric Drew, the owner and broker for our Healdsburg Sotheby's International Realty office, has obtained the listing for this historic Greek Revival home in Healdsburg.

One of the most visible and well preserved examples of a two-story Greek Revival residence in Healdsburg, this home has been a visual landmark for over 130 years. Built by and for John Marshall in 1871, this residence was considered outstanding at the time of its construction. The construction of this home also coincided with the arrival of the railroad, so this was an eventful period in Healdsburg.

The detailing on this house is superb with quoins in still excellent condition on the corners and lovely detailing at the bay windows and portico. The grace of the lines and design is complemented by the almost half acre lot the house sits on.

It's likely the lot could be divided and a buildable second lot of approximately 10,000 square feet could be created.

The interior detailing of this Greek Revival home is fundamentally intact. The stairs and bannister here show the wear and tear of more than a century of use, but are sound. The baseboard, window and door casings, and other trim elements are present and in decent condition.

In recent years the home has suffered from deferred maintenance. The original brick foundation is failing in places although the house remains remarkably plumb and level. A new foundation could be built that would create additional high quality space in the current basement area.

The list of other repairs needed is extensive and makes this a residentail project suited for owners with experience in restoriation and remodeling and with a keen interest in historical restoration. At the same time that new owners would be undertaking a major project, they would also be gaining instant recognition and appreciation from the community for restoring an important landmark. This is a perfect fit for an old house enthusiast who wants a public relations coup when they relocate to the wine country.

Please contact me if you would like more details about this property.

 UPDATE- MARCH 19 - This house is now in escrow.