Tax Day Delayed

CHIC (PEARL)

When I have a free weekend, I like attending open houses and broker tours to get inspired. I love finding color schemes, design choices, and overall vibes to help our clients not only find a great home but make it their own. And sometimes I use the inspiration to spruce up our own home.

GEEK (Kevin)

Right about now, you’re probably thinking: Kevin’s going to say he worked on a DIY project around the house and helped one of our clients replace their water heater. ANd you’d be half right. I’ll leave it up to you to guess which half. Look for a hint in one of the stories below.

California Dreaming

The Dream For All Shared Appreciation Loan is a down payment assistance program for first-time homebuyers from the California Housing Finance Agency (CALHFA). When you sell or transfer, you repay the original down payment, plus a share of the appreciation in the value of the home. So how can you find your California dream?

CHIC (Pearl)

In order to qualify for the Dream For All program, you need to be a first-time homebuyer, which is defined as someone who has not owned and occupied their own home in the last three years. You also need to occupy the property as a primary residence and complete two levels of homebuyer education. Oh, and your household income can’t exceed $300K.

GEEK (Kevin)

State legislators allocated $300M to this program in the form of 30-year fixed-rate loans starting at 6% with a 1.45% fee. Unfortunately, while we were writing this blog, CALHFA announced that all of the program funds have been claimed as of April 7. Hopefully, additional funding will be allocated in the next state budget. In the meantime, get educated and get ready.

Spring has sprung?

It might be hard to tell with howling winds and frigid temps outside, but we’re officially two weeks into Spring! What do you look forward to the most this season? Showers or flowers?

CHIC (Pearl)

Who doesn’t love flowers? Seriously though, this is typically the perfect time for me to get outside and embrace my green thumb. The cold weather has certainly put a damper on my flower garden because I’m worried about overnight freezes, but that doesn’t keep me from tilling the soil, clearing the weeds, and getting things ready for the big plant.

GEEK (Kevin)

I’ll admit it, I love flowers as much as anybody. So I’m geeked up to help Pearl get our backyard garden in working order. But I also know we desperately need the water and record-setting Sierra snowpack if we’re ever going to escape from this seemingly endless drought. So bring on the April showers, and let the flowers wait for May.

The drought is over! (Or is it?)

The bomb cyclone hasn’t put a permanent end to California’s water woes. But with restrictions rolled back, what are you looking forward to doing with a little extra water?

CHIC (Pearl)

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for a long, luxurious, and languid trip to one of my favorite places: the shower! Two years ago, I cut back on bathing time to help reduce our water consumption, but speed showering often made me forget to clean a body part or two. And even though I promised Kevin I won’t stay in there all night, it will be nice to take my time.

GEEK (Kevin)

I mastered the art of the five-minute shower back in college, so I’m more excited about cleaning the house than scrubbing behind my ears. I’m planning to give our entire home a thorough once-over with a bucket, a mop, a sponge, and a good podcast on my wireless headphones. While I’m at it, I might even clean the shower — if Pearl ever decides to come out again!

Rainy Day Inspiration

What do you do when the rain keeps us indoors and you’ve already finished your Spring cleaning?

CHIC (Pearl)

If you’re lucky like us and get to work from home, rainy days are a chance to have a little adventure around the house. Explore rooms you don’t use as often and look for items you may have misplaced, like garage keys or jewelry. I just found a bracelet I thought was lost forever!

GEEK (Kevin)

A little rain never stopped me from going outside. And with all the atmospheric rivers we’ve seen, you’d be advised to give your home a regular check for overflowing gutters, leaky eaves, and potential wind and hail damage to your roof. You never know when the other shoe will drop!