According Jeff Daniels of CNBC, citing a recent study by UCLA, California housing market is cooling off. Job growth and demand for housing in the state remain strong, but home sales have slowed and prices are falling across the state. Rising interest rates are a factor, but do not account for all the cooling in the market. The average home … [Read more...]
Can New Zoning Laws Take My Home?
Zoning laws change; where a houses once stood, commercial buildings are moving in and taking over, and zoning is changing from residential commercial. When this happens, a few important questions arise: Is my home legal? Can I get a loan on my home? Can I rebuild my home if destroyed? A property's zoning status is classified as legal, … [Read more...]
Affordable Homes v Urban Sprawl
(photo credit; city-data forum) Freelance News Hollister California, by Steve Loos Many folks recently attended our local county planning meetings arguing against arbitrary growth control measures. Growth control measures were put in force all across the county in a good-hearted attempt to stop the loss of farmland and to end urban sprawl, such … [Read more...]
Should I Remodel My Home?
The Alvin Bynum house, circa 1875, photo date 1954 The BIG question I just spent $100,000 on a new fancy kitchen, so why isn't my home worth $100,000 more than it was yesterday? I get this question enough that I thought I would write a short blog. However, I come from a long line of Irish engineers and in our family nothing is worth … [Read more...]