The numbers from December are in, and it’s a familiar story. But while sales of homes and condos are still below the same time last year, the gap is narrowing as inventory slowly returns. But buyers still need to act fast with homes spending an average of 23 days on the market. As far as the bottom line, median sales prices were up year-over-year, more so for homes (16%) than condos (5%).
Let’s take a deeper dive into state legislation coming on the books this year that will impact the real estate industry.
Thanks to AB 968, which takes effect July 1, if you sell a property with one to four dwellings within 18 months of acquiring the title, you’ll need to disclose information about any repairs or renovations you’ve had done, in addition to contact info for your contractors and any permits you obtained. Most of this is already covered under existing disclosures in the Seller Property Questionnaire (SPQ), which may be updated to add specific disclosures for flippers.
AB 1033 allows for ADUs (aka Accessory Dwelling Units or “Granny Flats”) to be transferred as stand-alone properties, separate from the main dwelling. The property must be classified as a condo, and each lienholder must consent to establishing the condominium. Making matters more complicated, if the property lies in an HOA, the HOA must also approve the condo classification. Fwiw, experts don’t expect this law to be used too often.
According to research noted in Psychology Today, helping others may “benefit the giver more than the recipient on a neurobiological level.” With that lingering in our minds, Kevin and I had a chance to visit our client's new hospitality business early this year in Costa Rica. Their retreat is in a jungle — literally next to a waterfall, where they get all of their water.
We had a chance to help them fix up the water system and refurbish some furniture. Now Kevin is thinking of creating renewable electricity from the waterfall as well.
We loved being invited by our clients to be part of their super cool project!
Did you know? The United States is home to 4% of the world’s population, yet produces more than 12% of the trash — to the tune of 4.9 pounds per person per day – and over 28% of our garbage is packaging. That means we throw out 82 million tons of material every year.
Want a scarier number? Every 15.5 hours, we throw out enough plastic to fill the stadium where the Dallas Cowboys play, and 91% of it isn’t recycled. It’s enough to make you want to refill that olive oil bottle instead of buying a new one.
It’s no secret our groceries come with a lot more packaging every day, but we probably don’t think about it more than once a week when we take out the trash. The Almanac takes a look at two Peninsula “refilleries” trying to reduce our collective climate footprint.
They say the best things in life are free, and that’s (mostly) true. But sometimes it’s fun to splurge a little. What are your favorite splurges and the little things you can’t live without?
It’s my job to find our clients stylish homes at a price they can afford, so I’m used to getting more with less. When it comes to food, I can’t resist the occasional “cheat day” to try a new restaurant or bring home premium ingredients for one of my favorite dishes. But at the end of the day, the finest meal is made even finer with the company of friendly neighbors — and you can’t put a price tag on that!
I’m also fairly frugal and try to get our clients the most bang for their buck with home improvement. That said, I lose my will power in the power tool section of the hardware store. There’s something about the whirring of an electric drill that makes me open my wallet. But when I come home, I can’t wait to grab a shovel and dig around our backyard garden. It’s very relaxing.
