San Lorenzo Valley Real Estate Blog by San Lorenzo Valley

Dog's carpet accident could cost thousands to fix

Why must tenant pay to recarpet whole house? Thursday, January 17, 2008

Question: My husband and I, along with our two small children and one dog, recently moved out of a townhome that we lived in for 2 1/2 years. The property manager is telling us that due to the use of a store-bought steam vacuum cleaner to clean up where the dog had an accident, the carpet in the entire house has to be replaced. He said it will cost us within the vicinity of $1,400-$1,800. We put down $600 for a deposit and $400 for the pet deposit. Is he able to do this? Landlord attorney James McKinley replies: You are responsible for any damage done to the rental property by your pets, guests, children or yourself. In most cases, a security deposit can be used for three things: to remedy defaults in payment of rent; cleaning; and to repair damages beyond normal wear and tear. Even if not legally required in your area, it would have been helpful if your landlord did a pre-move-out ..(read more)

Best way to eliminate roof algae

San Lorenzo Valley roof algae issues are at a all time high Applying 3-ingredient solution preferred to high-pressure wash Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Q: We have a house that was built in 1979, in a neighborhood of other houses all built around the same time. Our house has a gray composition shingle roof that has developed large dark stains in many areas. Other homes in the neighborhood with gray or charcoal roofs also have it, but the ones with light-colored roofs don't. Is it algae? If so, would zinc strips help? --Shirley L., via e-mail A: It's very likely that the staining is indeed some form of algae growth, I drove around Boulder Creek adn took several photos. I contacted the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association to confirm that this is their opinion as well. As to how to deal with it, their recommendation is as follows: "Algae discolorations are difficult to remove from roofing surfaces, but may be lightened by applying a solution of ..(read more)

Is it common to pay the buyers closing costs?

Q: My agent told me that to sell my property faster I should offer to pay the closing costs for the buyer. It seems that my agent is aiding the buyer over doing his job and helping me sell. I feel like he should be getting the best sell price for me. Is it common for the buyer to pay closing costs? A: When you're in a very slow market with plenty of competing homes for sale, you have to differentiate your house from the other houses on the market. One way to do that is to offer a cash bonus to the agent who brings the buyer. Another way is to offer to pay some or all of the closing costs for the buyer. There are other ways to market your property and make it seem better and different than your competitors. It sounds like your agent has assessed the local real estate marketplace and found that your property isn't as competitive as it should be. Paying the closing costs is one way to boost your profile. But I suggest you might also want to offer a cash bonus to the buyer's agent. ..(read more)

Seller didn't mention loud neighbor

Does buyer have recourse against seller for nondisclosure of 'constant screaming'? Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Q: I bought a house several months ago. The sellers didn't mention the tremendous amount of noise that the neighbor makes. Almost every Sunday, the neighbor next door (it's a duplex, so we share a wall) screams while watching sports, and not just when his team makes a touchdown or a home run either -- it's constant screaming every couple of minutes for the entire game. After the game, he blasts Pink Floyd's "Money" really loud, and keeps screaming the "Woo-woo" part long after the song is over. I've asked him to keep it quiet, especially because I work rotating shifts and sometimes need Sunday afternoon to sleep. His answer was to scream louder. Since our last conversation, I've noticed trash thrown in my yard. I contacted the local code-enforcement officer, who said that the law covers only noise from animals, car stereos ..(read more)

2 Home-inspectors have disagreement

Recently a couple considered buying a home in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California. Before writing up an offer, they reviewed the seller's disclosure package. The package included the seller's disclosure statements about the property's condition, a termite inspection and a home inspection. Based on the fact that the property appeared to have no significant defects, the buyers made an offer and the seller accepted. Subsequently, the buyers decided to hire their own home inspector, just to make sure that the seller's inspectors hadn't missed anything. The buyer's home inspector made a more thorough examination of the property, which revealed that the property had serious drainage problems. Based on the new information, the buyers asked the seller to lower the purchase price by the amount of the repair estimate. The seller stood by his inspector's opinion and refused to concede anything. The deal fell apart. Be aware that if the buyers in the above scenario had purchased the ..(read more)

Neighbors squabble over retaining wall

Should homeowner tear down wall or provide easement? Friday, October 19, 2007

Patti Lyles http://www.FeltonProperty.com Q: My neighbor recently extended a retaining wall for a driveway and encroached upon our property by a distance of 12 inches by 9 feet. We had our property surveyed three weeks after the construction and discovered this. Our neighbor proposes that we settle the problem by providing him with an easement for this use. What would be the implications in this for us? A: The issue you face is quite common. Frequently, neighbors do not know the exact location of their lot lines. Other times, contractors doing work for the homeowners fail to follow the property lines when making improvements to homes. The most common problem between neighbors has to do with the installation of fences. Depending on the configuration of the lots, bushes, trees, other obstacles and the location of the home on each lot, neighbors frequently pick a line that ..(read more)

Death of Father, inherited 1.2 million dollar home in Santa Cruz, what to do?

Q: My father died late last year and left a piece of property to my two sisters and me. Ownership is to be divided equally. The property is a house on Opal Cliffs in Santa Cruz, California. Local real estate agents have told us the property is worth $1.2 to $1.5 million. We all live too far away to use or manage the property and have decided to sell. However, one sister insists on doing nothing this year and waiting until next spring to sell. She says she heard one should wait at least a year to sell inherited property and that it "feels right" to wait. Can you give me some reasons why we should either wait or sell immediately? My own feeling is that the taxes for this property are going to be very high once my father's "grandfathered" tax rate lapses. A: First, I'd like to offer my condolences on the loss of your father. Although I'm sure you and your sisters are missing your dad, I can't think of any reason why you wouldn't want to put your dad's house ..(read more)

Seller learns difference between appraised and market value

Stream of low offers confuses home seller Q: I tried to sell a house for the appraised price and was unable to sell at that price. I understand that property will not sell when it is priced too high but the offers I received were $15,000 to $18,000 less than the appraisal just done 5 months ago. I was under the impression that if I advertised the property for the appraised price, it would move quickly. I told one real estate agent when she made me an offer from a client that I was going to have the house appraised again and that I would provide the appraised price to the potential buyer so he could adjust his bid. The agent didn't go for that at all. Can you give me some suggestions as to what I did wrong? When I couldn't sell the house, I finally rented it. A: I think you made a few basic mistakes. First, the appraised value is not necessarily the same thing as the market value. The appraised value of the home is what an appraiser thinks the home is worth based on the sales of ..(read more)

How to Handle Low Ball Offers

If your house has been on the market for quite a while (3 to 6 months), you may have already dropped your price and now you're waiting for the buyers to rush in and make wonderful offers on this now-priced right property. And then it happens. The lone buyer does appear, like a bandit in the night and offers you even less than what you just agreed to. Quite a bit less -- about 10 percent less. So on your $350,000 house, that you just dropped to $324,000, you now have an offer for $299,000. With a seller subsidy request of $5,000. At this point, your net is $294,000. So how do you handle such a low-ball offer. Well, first of all -- don't panic, get angry or lose sleep. Especially, don't reject the offer right off the bat and tell them to come back when they're serious. Remember, it's now a negotiation game and the buyer IS serious or he or she would not have made an offer. Several things have happened before this offer came in. The buyer, with his agent, has researched the ..(read more)

Best way to buy home before current one sells

Interest-only loan option works well in seller's market Monday, September 24, 2007

Most home buyers are resistant to selling their current home before they already have another one tied up. This means buying before selling, which carries an element of risk. One way to approach such a move, if market conditions permit, is to make an offer on the new home that is contingent upon the sale of your current home. This way, you don't put cash down on the new place until you have your equity out of the home you're selling. Although you avoid the risk of owning two homes, you also may have to offer an over-market price to entice the seller into accepting your less-than-certain offer. There is also the risk of losing the house to another buyer who can close without having his or her home sold. Usually sellers who accept a contingent sale offer want a release clause in the contract. A release clause allows the seller to continue marketing the property until the ..(read more)

Discount points or Buydown benefits

Question for Patti: I have heard people refer to "buydown" or "discount" points. What are they? Anwer to Heather: Discount points help BUYERS save costs over the life of the loan. Discount points are fees paid at closing to lower a monthly mortgage payment over the life of the loan. In essence, points are prepaid interest. A point is 1 percent of the loan. So if you are buying a Felton Home and there is going to be a $500,000 loan, one point equals $5,000. This cost is paid to buy a lower interest rate, and is known as a rate buydown. If you intend to keep your home for only a short term----five years or less---then you might not recover the cost of paying the discount points. If you plan to keep your mortgage for a long time, then discount points are an excellent upfront investment. Another key benefit is what discount points for residential real estate are tax deductible in the year they are paid. Consult ..(read more)

How to get it on foreclosure, short-sale properties

Friday, September 07, 2007 Are there any foreclosures, short sales or distress properties in your town or neighborhood? If you answered "no," you probably aren't paying close attention to the local real estate market. Good times or bad, these situations always occur. Even during the peak years of 2004 and 2005 for home sales, there were still mortgage lender foreclosures and distress property sales. Today, the numbers of these sales are rapidly rising. If you're interested, the current buyer's market in most cities is a great time to acquire these below-market-value properties. WHAT CAUSES FORECLOSURES AND DISTRESS PROPERTIES? There are many reasons, but the cause usually is the property owner isn't thinking straight. Reasons for foreclosures include divorce, unemployment, drugs, alcohol, death or serious illness in the family, disputes between owners, local economic conditions, mental problems, and good old-fashioned greed. But the real reason for foreclosures and ..(read more)

"How DUMB is that?" isn't what I want my clients

When I told my buyers last week that Fannie Mae's 2007 Conforming Loan Limit Remains at $417000, they quickly chime in with "How dumb is that?" As a Santa Cruz County Realtor what do you tell them next week if the buyers come back? OMG, The trouble is that $417,000 is the maximum loan amount for a single family residence that Congress will allow Freddie and Fannie to provide, doesn't work in California. It doesn't help my buyers in the San Lorenzo Valley. Which is the cheap seats of the real estate theater in my county, I can't believe this. This may be fine for some parts of California, it does not provide much help for any home buyers and homeowners in Santa Cruz County where the median price in July was $780,000. Even if that went down in the next 4 months the conforming limit would still be a joke. Amazingly, years ago Congress saw fit to raise this conforming limit to $625,500 in the "high-priced" ..(read more)

I want to buy a Felton Home in the next 60 days

Patti Lyles, San Lorenzo Valley Best Choice in Real Estate Q: I want to buy a Felton Home in the next 60 days. You asked me what my FICO scores are. I just found out that the score was below what you would have liked. My FICO scores are a little low, is there a way I can improve my scores very quickly? A: The first rule of maintaining and keeping a healthy FICO score of 720 or higher is NEVER BE LATE! Primarily any MORTGAGE PAYMENTS. I can't emphasize the point of how important it is to never be late on your mortgage payments. But it is not the sole deciding factor of your FICO score, the three major credit bureaus involved with FICO scoring are Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. All three of these companies use algorithmic equations taking in a multitude of factors in determining your FICO score. The FICO score range is between 300 and 850 and to get the best rates from lenders today, a mid-score of 720 is needed. For example, if you have the following three ..(read more)

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