Sellers who have non-permitted additions to their homes face a bit of a dilemma in the Santa Clarita area. If they disclose the additions as non-permitted on the MLS, they may be inviting the City or County inspectors in to assess them for the additions, which may result in penalties and an increase in property taxes. If sellers do not disclose non-permitted additions, there is the possibility that the buyers may sue later if they discover that the additions were either not permitted or sub-standard after the close of escrow.
First of all, if you are planning on making additions to your home, whether it's a room addition, a loft or a patio cover, be sure to obtain the proper permits. Depending on where you live, these will be obtained from either the City of Santa Clarita or Los Angeles County. This article applies to additions that have already been completed, and is not to be interpreted as a way to get around the permit process.
Not all additions that are done without permits are sub-standard. In fact, many are done to code (or better) and would have passed inspection if the owners had followed the proper procedures for obtaining permits and inspections. However, both City and County officials are concerned about the safety of unpermitted additions lately, and are most particularly concerned about garage conversions, so code enforcement has definitely been stepped up in recent months.
Code enforcement officers are concerned about two distinct factors: 1. Making sure that homes are safe; 2. Increasing City and/or County revenues.
The permit process increases City or County revenues in two ways: The permit process itself requires fees, inspections and other procedures, and the permits are used to communicate increases in property values to the Los Angeles County Assessor, which increases your property tax bill.
So, do you disclose non-permitted additions or not?
The answer is YES, but there are proper ways to disclose additions that may be non-permitted to maximize the protection for the sellers. Most Realtors will use the "confidential remarks" section of the MLS to indicate something like "room addition done without permits", which opens the door for the Code Enforcement team to come in and investigate, and also chases away many potential buyers. Assuming that you are not a qualified building inspector, how do you know whether the additions were done to code or not? Building codes are changing constantly, so a procedure that may have been "to code" years ago may not be to code today.
According to Barry Stone of HouseDetective.com, the best way to disclose additions that may not be permitted is to use the following wording: "No guaranty is made regarding compliance with building codes." Also, be sure to notify the buyer in writing that they should obtain appropriate inspections for the home, including the additions.
As a buyer, you have the right to request copies of permits for all additions (including room additions, garage conversions, lofts, kitchen remodels and patio covers). Always have a qualified inspector perform a complete home inspection prior to releasing your contingencies for the purchase of a home. A home inspector may not be able to determine whether or not a room addition was done to code, since he will not be able to look inside the walls, but he will be able to point out any obvious deficiencies.
One thing I love about LA is the amazing wealth of talent we have here!
This morning I met with Jeff Turner, Dustin Luther and other tech geeks for our first "Doctor's Note" meetup. After that, it was off to lunch and some play time at the Apple Store with Jeff as our guide.
Everyone has their own favorite technology and their own ways of using that technology, so it's great to get together with other tech-oriented people once in a while to see what's new and how people are using existing tools. Check out our video comment on Rain City Guide for an on-the-fly video post courtesy of Director Jeff and the local Apple Store for an example of how videos can be used on blogs. [Yes, they were trying to convert me to Apple, and almost succeeded!]
If you're in or near Los Angeles, be sure to catch Dustin's half-day seminar in Pasadena on May 30. I guarantee you'll pick up some great tips both during and after this seminar, since Dustin includes a free 90-day email-based training program to all in attendance. At this seminar, Dustin will team up with Jim Marks of Virtual Results for 4 hours of hard-hitting, no-sales-pitch training that should keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time. Topics will include websites, social networking, blogging and marketing. Register here, and I'll see you there!
P.S. Be sure to ask Dustin if his wife is ok after her meetup with a sparkling-clean window. Sorry, Dustin, had to put that in! ;-)
Property taxes are one of the biggest expenses of owning a home, other than paying the mortgage, especially if you live in an area with Mello Roos assessments on top of the regular taxes.
Many areas of Santa Clarita do have the Mello Roos assessments (or sometimes called CFD if you bought from Lennar), and thus any changes to your annual property tax bill should be carefully scrutinized.
I started receiving small Supplemental Assessment bills recently, and for a while I was getting a bit of a run-around in resolving these. Persistence pays: When I called the Los Angeles County Assessor's Office yesterday, I finally got routed to the person who could take care of this situation for me.
Here's what happened: A few years ago, I had filed permits for a patio cover, and then decided I didn't like the contractor and didn't move forward with building it. Apparently Los Angeles forwards the information on permitted items to the County Assessor's office, regardless of whether they have proof of whether the item was actually completed or not, so this showed up on my property tax bill as an addition to my home.
The gentleman from the Los Angeles County Assessor's office who called me back yesterday was aleady here this morning to verify that these items had not been completed, and he said he'll get my property tax bill corrected right away.
Lesson learned: If you receive a Supplemental Property Tax bill in the mail, don't assume that it is correct. Call the Los Angeles County Assesor's Office and ask for an explanation of the addition. If you have been charged for items that were permitted but not completed, you'll need to schedule a time for someone from the Assessors Office to verify this. I was lucky - the gentleman I spoke with lives near me, so he stopped by on his way to the office this morning. Problem solved!
This morning marked the first day of the Spring Ant Invasion Season at my house... I woke up to find them streaming through an electrical outlet above my kitchen counter.
Since I'm "going green" as much as possible, using toxic ant sprays, especially in my kitchen, is not an option.
Here are some "green" tips for taking care of ant invasions:
Keep kitchen counters clean! Make sure there are no food products or food debris left on the counters overnight. Easier said than done with kids in the house, but if you leave your counters clean overnight, you'll have less chance of them being black with ants in the morning.
Store grain-based products (cereal, crackers, etc) in sealed containers rather than the cardboard boxes they come in. I've found that the ants consider Kashi with Blueberries a special treat, and I'm guaranteed to have an ant invasion when I leave an opened box in the pantry.
If you find yourself in the middle of an ant invasion, purchase Terro ant baits and put them near the invasion area as well as anywhere you see them entering the house. These are non-toxic ant baits that use a combination of pancake syrup as a lure and borax to kill the ants. You can purchase them at Home Depot and similar stores or online at http://Terro.com.
Use a damp sponge to wipe up all ants that are running around so they don't start exploring other parts of your kitchen.
Be advised that Terro ant baits do not stop the ants in their tracks - the product is meant for them to bring it back to their nest for others to feast on as well, thus killing off the Queen and preventing further invasions from that source. The ants seem to love the stuff - they'll stream right into the plastic ant traps to feast on that sugary syrup.
Although it is not advisable to have pets eating the traps, the manufacturer says that there is not enough borax in a single trap to cause any concern. Borax is a mineral that is mined in the deserts of California, and is commonly used in soap products like 20 Mule Team Borax.
While I love going out to eat in the Santa Clarita area, I prefer to avoid places that are having troubles with cleanliness. Somehow the thought of having rat doo-doo in my food just doesn't make for a pleasant dining experience.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health helps us to choose clean restaurants by posting ratings in restaurant windows (those A, B or C signs) and publishing closures and ratings online for the public's review.
Thankfully, most of the restaurant closures in the Santa Clarita area since January 18, 2008 are for gas station quickie stores rather than full-fledged restaurants.
The establishments closed for vermin infestation during the last three months were the following:
Dr. Donuts on Seco Canyon (Saugus). This is not their first closure due to vermin issues.
Hasley Liquor and Deli (Castaic)
Kwik Stop #4 on Seco Canyon (Saugus)
Mandarin 88 on Valencia Blvd. (Valencia). This location was also cited for vermin harborage, meaning that no live rodents were seen dancing in the food at the time of the inspection, but there were bite marks, etc indicating their presence.
Mobil Mart #13026 on Valencia Blvd (Valencia)
Juice It Up on Newhall Ranch Rd. in Valencia was also closed recently, apparently for having either no potable water supply or no hot water.
Want to find the cleanest places to eat? Here are the restaurants with recent scores of 100 from the Department of Health. There are plenty of other restaurants with high ratings, but these are the ones with perfect scores. Note that some of these scores date back to 2006, so situations could have changed since then.
BJ's Restaurant in Valencia (at the mall)
Burger King #7777 in Castaic
Dippin Dots on Haskell Canyon Rd in Saugus
George's Bistro on Newhall Ranch Rd. in Valencia
Pasta Michi on Wayne Mills Place in Santa Clarita
Pinkberry in Valencia (at the mall)
Subway on Rockwell Cyn Rd in Valencia (most Subways score in the high 90's)
Taco del Mar on San Fernando Rd in Newhall
Wings Pizza n Things in Castaic
There were only three C-Rated facilities in the Santa Clarita area, including Kwik Stop #4 noted above, Hayk International Market on Cinema Drive in Valencia, and the Chevron on San Fernando Rd in Newhall. No restaurants on the Santa Clarita area had scores that were too low to rate.
The Santa Clarita area is well known for being a great place to live in the Los Angeles County area, in part because of its outstanding schools. This year, the California State Board of Education has named five Santa Clarita elementary schools to their list of 2008 California Distinguished Schools.
Valencia's Bridgeport Elementary, NorthPark Elementary, and Charles Helmers Elementary schools were honored with the Distinguished Schools award this year, as well as Saugus' Emblem and Mountanview Elementary schools.
The California Distinguished Schools program was started in 1985 to honor schools with quality educational programs, and alternates each year between awards for elementary and secondary schools.
Charles Helmers school not only met the API (Academic Performance Index) requirement for distinguished schools, it far exceeded the minimum requirements for a Distinguished School with an API score of 907. Mountainview Elementary almost broke the 900 mark as well, with an API score of 893. The other three schools had API scores above 800.
Extracurricular activities are in abundance at these schools to enhance the students' educational experience. Mountainview boasts an accomplished orchestra. Helmers benefits from a unique relationship with the Los Angeles Music Center, which brings visiting artists to the school. Bridgeport and NorthPark have visual and performing arts programs as well.
If you're thinking of relocating within the Los Angeles County area and haven't checked out the Santa Clarita Valley yet, now's the time to take advantage of the family-oriented quality of life and great schools that Santa Clarita has to offer!
On the short sale (pre-foreclosure) front in Santa Clarita, many homes listed as short sales are now receiving multiple offers from buyers. Some of these buyers intend to occupy the homes, and some are investors deciding to take advantage of the lower home prices.
Within the last couple of weeks, virtually every home that I called that was listed as a short sale had at least one offer outstanding. Granted that not all of these offers are anywhere near the asking price, but at least the interest is growing and many Realtors are reporting that they are getting at least one offer at or near the asking price.
Remember that with short sales, the asking price is just a starting point - the bank has generally not approved a sale at this price. And some Realtors are listing these homes with come-on prices that they know are nowhere near what the banks will accept, just to encourage buyers to submit offers at any price.
The good news is that once these homes are sold, they will no longer be competing with regular non-distressed homeowners for buyers. The not-so-good news is that many banks are still very slow to respond, often taking months to respond at all. And often the banks are still responding by rejecting all offers, sending everyone back to the drawing board even though they are very close to the bank's BPO's (Broker Price Opinions) and appraisals.
If you're considering making an offer on a short-sale home, be sure that you have a Realtor who is experienced in handling short sales. Also, be sure to get pre-qualified with a direct lender (not a broker) so you can submit that pre-qualification letter along with your offer. The better qualified you are, the more likely the bank will consider accepting your offer.
After several long years of battling the proposed CEMEX sand and gravel mega-mining project in Santa Clarita's Soledad Canyon area, legislators and local lawmakers have apparently reached an agreement to relocate this facility to the Victorville area instead.
Santa Clarita residents have argued that the proposed CEMEX mining facility would be located too close to existing homes, thus creating a negative effect on the quality of life and home values in that area. The Soledad Canyon mining operation, if approved, would have been located closer to existing homes than any other large-scale mining operation in U.S. history.
The proposed legislation, the Soledad Canyon Mine Act (H.R. 5887), will cancel two ten-year Soledad Canyon mining contracts that CEMEX has with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), thereby ending the possibility of mining at the Soledad Canyon site. CEMEX will be compensated by receiving land near Victorville, California that is comparable in value to the company's investment in the cancelled contracts.
"The City of Victorville is pleased to participate in this agreement that protects community interests and provides for future economic development," says Victorville Councilman Mike Rothschild.
"Years ago, I made a promise to carry legislation to resolve the mining issue between the City of Santa Clarita and CEMEX if an agreement could be reached," stated Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-Santa Clarita). "Today, I am pleased to report that with the help of our friends from the City of Victorville, we have reached that agreement."
This program allows SCE customers to exchange their old energy-hog halogen and incandescent lights (lamps) for the more energy-efficient Energy Star lamps. The exchange is free - just bring in your old lamps (sans shades) and they'll hand you new ones!
This is a great opportunity to get some new lamps, update your decor and save on your electric bill, all at the same time!
The last Operation Light Exchange event was a huge success, with over 10,000 lamps exchanged over a 2-day period.
What's the catch? None, really. You just need to prove that you live in Southern California Edison territory (bring a driver's license or SCE bill), be 18 years or older, and bring in 10 lamps or less.
Click here for more information on this upcoming event.
Getting a home sold in a "buyer's market" can be challenging, especially when there are plenty of bank-owned and short-sale homes to compete with.
With many homes staying on the market in the Santa Clarita area for 6 months or more, why is it that my townhome listing in Valencia sold in only 14 days? It sold based on a combination of price, flexibility, condition, and location.
Let's take a look at the factors involved in selling a home in a competitive market:
Price: You must price according to the current market conditions, not according to what you "want" or "need" to get from the sale, or what it sold for last year.
Flexibility: Buyers want to negotiate, not just on price, but on terms. They may want your fridge or your favorite couch. Be prepared to negotiate, and don't let a deal fall through when you're only $1,000-$2,000 apart - figure out a way to make it work.
Condition: As a seller, you have full control over the condition of your home. Clean it, de-clutter it, and get it ready for showing. Need some tips? Click here!
Location: You cannot change the location of your home, but you can reduce the impact of many factors that may not be attractive to most buyers. If you live in an area with traffic noise, you can minimize the effect by using either fountains or soft music. Some buyers will be so sensitive to noise that this won't help, but there will be many that will appreciate the fact that they can have a calm atmosphere in an otherwise busy location.
Convenience: Make it easy for other realtors to show your home. Lockbox access is best. Don't require an extended period of time (like 24 hours) notice before showing. Many times people change their plans while looking at homes, so a buyer who starts out looking at $400,000 homes may change his mind mid-stream and move up to your price range instead. Don't turn them away just because they didn't call you yesterday morning.
When you're competing against homes that are either short-sales or bank-owned (REO), most likely they haven't been properly prepared for sale. Use this to your advantage, and make your home more inviting than any other home that would be competing against you for the sale. While professional home staging can be a great help, you can make your home more appealing by just using your common sense.
Here's an easy way to check your home's readiness for sale: Walk out your front door, close it, and then walk back in as if you were a buyer seeing the home for the first time. Look at the home as if you were not the owner - look at it as if this was a home that you're thinking of buying. Is there anything that you'd move, remove, or change if you were moving into this home? Does it look clean and ready to sell? Would you need to replace any flooring, or paint any walls? Would you buy your existing furniture today? Do you have to walk in a somewhat random pattern to get from the front door to the kitchen, family room, or bedrooms because there's too much stuff in the way? Are there dirty dishes in the kitchen, stacks of newspapers or mail, or dirty socks on the family room floor?
Getting your home ready for buyers is an important first step in listing a home for sale in a competitive market. Show potential buyers that you love your home, and hopefully they'll love it too!
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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