Weekly Gratitude: Mother Nature

“May the stars carry your sadness away, may the flowers fill your heart with beauty, may hope forever wipe away your tears.” - Dan George

Recently, we had a chance to travel to some beautiful places across California — from the coast to the mountains. We felt rejuvenated by the wonder of mother nature! And you don’t have to be a “nature lover” to reap the advantages of living in this amazing state.

According to research, taking the time to notice nature can be just as beneficial for people who don’t feel a sense of kinship or oneness with the environment. But how could you not when you look at these trees?

Geek's Number Talk: San Mateo County Market Snapshot

You can probably feel it in the warm pre-summer breeze, but the housing market continues to heat up around the Bay Area, and particularly in San Mateo County. Sales volume and median prices are well above the pandemic market of a year ago, and properties are on the market two days less on average!

Chic vs. Geek: Hardening Your Home

Drought conditions combined with summer heat make the upcoming fire season even more threatening for homeowners. How can you prep your home? We’ve got some tips!

CHIC (PEARL)

Things any of us can do:

GEEK (KEVIN)

Things not everybody should do:

Things that should be left to professionals:

Geek's Number Talk: Size Matters (Redux)

With more people working and educating their kids from home, it probably shouldn’t come as a big surprise that bigger homes are trending. As you’ll find from this graph, Santa Clara County saw a huge spike in sales by square footage in Q3 2020. We’ll see if things shrink back to normal in 2021.

Chic vs. Geek: Condos and Townhomes and PUDs – Oh, my!

You might think they’re all the same, but there are some important differences every homebuyer needs to know before getting started. Good thing we’re here!

CHIC (PEARL)

We’ve all seen condos listed as townhomes and vice versa. And then there’s planned unit developments (aka PUDs), which could be advertised as either one, but are more like single family homes. How do you know what you’re getting before you get too far down the road? If you want to know for sure, you have to look at the preliminary title report that sellers provide to buyers in their disclosure.

GEEK (KEVIN)

Okay, so what’s the difference between a PUD and an HOA? Well, PUDs are basically detached single family homes in a subdivision or other master plan community that offers additional amenities. In a PUD, you own the home, lot, and common area, and PUDs offer a more traditional landowner rights structure than HOAs do, given that HOAs impose particular regulations on residents.