Horses and Wine Country
This page is devoted to all things horsey in Sonoma County, and elsewhere if relevant. Please watch us grow, and let me know if you would like to contribute your writings and photos or horsey news to the site. (with credits and link love of course!)
The place to start linking to if you are interested in horses and Sonoma County, is the Sonoma County Horse Council. This volunteer led group was founded in 1993 to advocate for horse-owners and horse-related businesses in Sonoma County. Like many such organizations, it was formed in response to a threat, in this case a plan by the Sonoma County Planning department to require use permits for most equestrian related facilities, despite zoning regulations which permitted equestrian uses as agricultural. If you follow the links, you will see they have come a long way, and assembled a powerful voice out of a diverse, horse-loving community. Sonoma County has one of the highest rates of horse ownership in the country.
 I have posted about this important organization before, but wanted to permanently add some links on this page as well. In addition, they have assembled a useful list of links to local and regional equestrian resource groups, including places to ride and one of my favorites, Bay Area Equestrian Network. For a link back in time to a 2006 article about horses and wine country from Bay EquestMagazine, click here.
When I started to ride seriously as an adult, my Hanoverian/Thoroughbred cross Reilly and I trained with Sarah Sheehy, Terry Church and Siri Larssen, all in either Marin County or Sonoma county at the time. I have stayed in touch with them over the years and just received word of an updated website, Natural Sporthorse.com which links them all together and promotes Natural horsemanship, inspired by Tom Dorrance and others, for the disciplines of hunters, jumpers and dressage. The purpose is to develop a partnership with your horse based upon improving the rider’s balance and feel so as to allow the horse to develop their utmost potential in a sound, healthy and natural way. There are many practitioners of natural horsemanship in Sonoma county. Natural Sporthorse links to some of the best and has links to many other resources as well. Worth a visit!
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What Holiday Break? January 2012 Sonoma County Real Estate Market Off to a Fast Start
Here I sit on New Year’s eve weekend–in the sunshine out by the pool writing some blog posts for the new year. What was going to be a sleepy quiet week between Christmas and New Year’s has been anything but! I have written two offers this week and have two new listings coming on the market in the next couple of weeks. Am also getting good activity on some other listings! What gives? Normally this is a pretty quiet time of year in the real estate market but activity has barely taken a breath for the holidays! I am not complaining, not by any means. I think it is a good sign that the market is so active. Other agents I know are very busy, home inspectors are booked solid and there is a decided hint of optimism in the air. Now I realize that there are lots of challenges and difficulties in our economy and the real estate world. About 30% of homeowners owe more than their homes are worth. We are not heading in to a dramatic turnaround anytime soon. By the same token though buyers don’t seem to be waiting on the sidelines and sellers with equity also have decided to get back on the playing field. With interest rates ridiculously low, this bodes for a busy January. Welcome to 2012! We will be back this week with a more detailed look at the market for real estate in Sonoma County. Until then, Happy New Year!
Welcome 2012 in Sonoma County with a Guide to New Year’s Celebrations
Welcome 2012! from Sonoma County
One of my favorite local Sonoma County Guide sites, “Sonoma Uncorked”, appears to be active again with a nice interactive map guide to New Year’s Eve celebrations from Healdsburg to Petaluma.
Whether you choose to go out or stay in this evening, here is wishing you the best for a FANTASTIC 2012! from Wine Country and Horses.
National Geographic Travel names Sonoma County One of the Top Destinations in the World for 2012
Tucked between Costa Brava, Spain and the cottage country of Ontario is Sonoma County, one of the top travel destinations for 2012 according to National Geographic.
Why am I not surprised? I liked it so much that after many years of touristing trips and then horse boarding here, I moved here in 1999 from the Bay Area. Now I help clients and friends from all over the world find the perfect property here. Meanwhile I am constantly amazed at the beauty of Sonoma County, from the one of the most spectacular rugged coasts in the world to the redwoods, vineyards, horse farms and orchards from Sebastopol to Healdsburg to Glen Ellen and Sonoma.
Anyway when I heard the news that National Geographic named Sonoma County as one of the top twenty places to visit in 2012, I couldn’t agree more. I am a shameless booster! ( and I have to say some of those other spots look pretty tempting as well! The Virunga Volcanoes!….Take a look!
(West Sonoma County photo courtesy of Autumn Photo Blog)
Newly Pending Home Sales in Sonoma County up 65% Year over Year October 2011 vs. 2010
It’s early November and finally time to pull the home sale statistics from our Multiple Listings Service (MLS). I first pull one years stats and then pull stats going back two years and even three years as I try to decipher the trends. This month you can see what I learned by looking back at different timeframes.
Let me preface by saying that this autumn the market is VERY active, at least that is my perception, shared by other realtors I know as well as home and pest inspectors, etc. There seem to be more equity sellers and there seem to be more buyers, including at the upper price ranges. But I always like to go back and look at the market stats to further understand our market and anticipate future trends that can help my clients make the best choices about how to sell or buy a home.
Anyway, what jumped out at me this month was the fact that “Newly Opened Sales” are up 65% over last October at this time from 366 to 603! What a change–I guess it confirms the experiences we have been having, right? (Take a look below, and you can scroll through all the graphs for the latest stats I pulled. Also if you go to the Scribd website you can see previous stat collections I have published. To see all of them you can look through the archives of this blog, which I began in the summer of 2007.)
Sonoma County Home Sales Report Report October 2010 through October 2011
OK so a 65% increase in Newly Pending Sales is great news, but let’s look at two years history to see if we can learn anything else. Take a look below. From October 2009 through October 2011, Newly Pending Sales are up ‘ONLY” 31%, year over year. Still pretty good but not as mind-blowing!
And I recalled that last autumn was very slow, since the first time home buyers’ tax credit had expired and most people using it had pushed their purchases earlier in the year.
Sonoma County Home Sales Report (two years back) October 2009 through October 2011
OK, so for those of you who are real data geeks, here is the same collection of stats going back THREE years through October 2009. This time the data are compressed in to quarterly figures, smoothing out some trends. Now when I look at the same Newly Pending Sales, they are only up 3% over 2009–and remember what a shocking time that was. Lots of foreclosure sales. Since then, bank owned pending sales have actually DECLINED 16%, meaning equity sales are accounting for a larger portion of home sales now versus three years ago. Make sure you note the “Months Supply of Inventory” figures in each graph (if you’re still with me.) That is probably the most telling trend. HOUSING INVENTORY is VERY LOW now at the current sales rate, with only 2.8 months supply versus 4.2 in autumn 2009. In 2010 the supply of homes was over six months, indicating the brief lull in sales.
Anyway enjoy reviewing this data. If you want my help in actually buying or selling a home, I can help you to do that too!
Sonoma County Home Sales Report (two years back) October 2009 through October 2011
Planning on Building or Remodelling a Sonoma County home? Check out PRMD
This is a building you or your contractor will become very familiar with if you plan to remodel or build a home in Sonoma County. You should also visit and investigate any property you are thinking of buying. Your realtor should be able to show you around. There is a lot to see and do here.
But why don’t you just start with looking at the county planning department’s website? There is a lot of useful information here and it is a good place to start.
Some of my favorite links:
Online Permit History Here you can see the online records for a property, which is a start, but you really need to go in to the office and have them pull the microfiche of the records to get at the detail. And CAUTION, you may not get all that there is to know about a property. Some of the records were destroyed in a big fire a number of years ago. Some may not have been scanned in. (TIP: other records with conflcting information may be contained at the County Tax Assessor’s office. These are only available to the owner of a property. This little point can be important with a country property where there might be some confusion about how many bedrooms might be officially allowed with that particular septic system.)
Sonoma County Zoning Regulations
This is an important place to look to notice just how many horses or chickens you might be allowed to have. Or whether you can have a home business, or a guest house or granny unit. Agricultural working housing? This is the place to go once you know a property’s zoning.
FAQ’as about septics, code enforcement, you name it.
This is where you start.
Want to know what the permit fees will be for that new home you want to build? or what it costs to have an on-site inspection?
There is a lot more to find at Sonoma County’s PRMD website. What is your favorite page?
The Most Beautiful Time of the Year in Sonoma County Could be Now
Typically we think of springtime or summer as the most beautiful time of the year but for all of October and now November here in Sonoma County wine country of Northern California it feels like right now is the best time of year. We had some early rain (after six typical dry months) in September. The grass has gone from golden brown to emerald green. The vines and trees throughout the county are turning red, gold and orange. The skies have been brilliant blue and the weather has been delightfully warm but not too hot. LOVE IT. Maybe that is part of the reason why the real estate market has been so active this fall. Much busier than the typically busy summer months. Perhaps it is 30 year fixed rate mortgages at 4 percent? Ten year fixed jumbo loans at 3.75%!!! Perhaps it is health of many tech companies and startups in Silicon Valley and San Francisco. Who knows for sure but it has been a great time to be showing and selling property and out and about on these beautiful days. Has kept me away from the blog for a bit. I apologize, and I am back!
A brilliant November day and old vine zinfandel in the Russian RIver Valley appellation of Santa Rosa, Ca
One person’s artistic vision is grounded in Graton
Hollynn D'Lil in her Graton Garden courtesy of the Press Democrat
My friend HolLynn D’lil is like many of my friends and clients who have moved to Sonoma County from successful lives elsewhere. She had a vision, a feeling, a sense of the possibilities that her new life could be in our pocket of country paradise a short hour north of San Francisco. She wanted room to garden and a studio for painting and a home environment that nurtured her creativity.
More so than many, she did not allow a bare flat patch of dirt and a dated home deter her from realizing her vision. Now she lives in a creekside sanctuary in the heart of the small Sonoma County community of Graton. I first walked on to HolLynn’s property for a dinner party last fall, which was my first meeting with her as well. Within five sentences I said to her–have you ever thought of having your home on the West County Garden Tour ? (a benefit for Food For Thought in Forestville). She said–I have always wanted to do that but didn’t know who to approach. This May 15th she was one of eight gardens and homes in West County featured on the tour. Yesterday, the Press Democrat newspaper did a feature story on HolLynn’s journey. I thought I would share it with you as a wonderful example of the creation of a dream in Sonoma’s West County.
Welcome to Mortgage Notes from Otto Kobler
I am very pleased to welcome Otto Kobler of Maximum Mortgage as a guest contributor to Wine Country and Horses. There are so many things going on the in the world of lending, and so many opportunities and challenges that I welcome Otto’s expertise! From jumbo loans to FHA loans for first time buyers and everything in between, Otto has years of knowledge and experience to offer.
Plus he fits the wine country mold–besides being the branch manager of Maximum Mortgage in Santa Rosa and very active in the local real estate community, he and his wife grow highly ranked Syrah grapes on five acres in Green Valley between Graton and Forestville, also known as the Russian River Appellation.
There are lots of lending topics to discuss. Today Otto is going to talk about financing for country property. It may not be as hard as you think.
Often when I talk to people interested in buying country property in Sonoma County, their first question is, “Can I get a loan?”. The perception is that it is so difficult to get a mortgage today, that anything other than a standard subdivision home is not financeable.
Here’s the reality. There are plenty of country properties getting financed today. Horse properties, properties with vineyards and vacation/second homes, they are being bought and sold and yes, financed.
Just recently, a couple from San Francisco wanted to buy a country property as a weekend home. The home was on half an acre and dated. It definitely needed some updating. Interestingly, they were renting a home in San Francisco, so, as first time buyers, they were able to qualify for a low down payment FHA home loan that also provided funds for the updating of their new home.
Financing for horse and vineyard properties had been tougher to get until recently. The reason being is that many lenders were equating the horse/vineyard aspects of the property to commercial activity. Now, it is true that either a vineyard or a horse property can be a commercial venture. But the reality is that smaller vineyards produce very little extra income. Horse properties are similar. It’s much more about the joy of the adventure rather than a big money maker. The grapes from my property go to a small boutique winery. My family name is on the label and the wine has been well received by wine critics. That’s small vineyard success.
In any case, today’s residential mortgage lenders do not want to lend to commercial properties or properties that are commercial in nature. That reluctance to lend has changed recently, so unless it is a massive vineyard or horse facility, good low interest rate financing is available.
To find out what loans are available to purchase your country property please email otto@maxmort.com or call 707-694-6604.
First Quarter Reflections: 2011 Off to a Fast Start but Challenges Remain
Since the first Monday morning after New Year’s Day, the Sonoma County real estate market has been incredibly active with some of the highest rates of pending sales in the last several years. Most realtors I know have been very encouraged by all the activity, particularly after activity in late 2010 ground to a near halt for most agents.
But many challenges and obstacles remain, and MANY opportunities exist in this market as well. We will continue to delve into these in more detail over the coming months but for now, here are some of the high points.
The median sales price in the county has declined over the last several months. What this generally means is not necessarily that values of individual properties have declined so much, although I think there has been some softening. What it means is that the action this last winter was in the low end of the market–that is homes under $350,000.
Our market is currently dominated by first time buyers, investors and, to a lesser degree, second-home/retirement buyers.
First time buyers are often FHA buyers with as little as 3.5% down. FHA allows these buyers to receive down payment assistance–either gifts from family members or government-sponsored down payment assistance programs such as CHAFA. (News Flash: CHAFA in California is currently on hold due to a funding shortfall.)
Real Estate Investors are out in force both in Sonoma County and nationwide. Bargain-basement pricing, interest rates in the fives and a strong rental market are attracting investors in record numbers. Previously high prices kept investors out of our markets for years.
Many investors are buying homes to hold and rent. With 25% down, you can buy a rental and pay interest in the low 5’s. Homes that cost $200,000 to $300,000 can cash flow today. Someday we will have appreciation again and you can add that to the tax benefits and cash flow of the current rental market. (Talk to your tax advisor about how a rental property can benefit you, and talk to me if you would like me to run some numbers for you.)
Other investors are buying to renovate and flip. I have seem some great flip jobs and some bad ones, but for the most part I think these investors are doing a service in renovating some of the really troubled real estate inventory out there. Some of these investors are buying foreclosed properties off the courthouse steps (not recommended for the amateur), others are looking for good opportunities on the open market. A listing of mine just sold–it was a HAFA short sale by Wells Fargo. It was purchased by a cash buyer who is going to do some renovations to the property and put it back on the market in 3 or 4 months. I am seeing a lot of new home builders who are spending the recession taking this approach to business.
The other segment that is seeing signs of life is the upper-end market. In the wine country of Sonoma County and beyond, there are MANY MANY more sales of properties priced at $1,000,000 or above. The luxury market is gaining strength and cash buyers are out in force to take advantage of bargain prices. There seems to be a consensus that prices have dropped to a more accurate level as sellers have become more realistic about today’s market valuations.
But there is a gaping hole in the move-up market. If people owe more than their home is worth then they have no equity to take and put in something bigger or different. Sales of homes from $500,000 to a million are pretty sluggish. There are some great opportunities to buy properties at a great discount in this price range.
Who will be taking advantage of these bargains?
I work with many out of town buyers new to the wine country, typically coming from urban areas looking for a wine country lifestyle. They might be selling their home in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles or NYC. This would be a sideways move or maybe a downsize. Maybe the kids are off in college or retirement is in sight.
I also see many second home buyers who are taking advantage of our bargain pricing to own a home that they can use as a weekend place or rental now. Generally there is a plan to move in fulltime someday. Often these are folks who love gardening, food and wine or have horses and want to keep them at home.
As the headline said, challenges remain. Lending standards are tight and often shifting. (I am glad to see standards tighter, don’t get me wrong, but it pays to be aware that they are constantly changing.) The cost of home-buying for FHA buyers went up this week. Rates have inched up slightly. The jumbo loan limits will increase this fall. Many people are concerned about their jobs or have lost them or been cut back. The move-up market is nearly non-existent.
But that said, there are opportunities in challenging times. You just need to know where to look!
2010 Sonoma County Real Estate Year in Review
I thought I would kick of 2011 by looking back at the Sonoma County home sales data for 2010. I pulled the closed sales data for all residence types in all of Sonoma County for the last 13 months (December 2009 through December 2010.) This includes single family residences, farms and ranches and condominiums.
It is difficult to discern any particular long term trends in the last quarter’s data. There has been a slight decrease in the number of home sales and a slight increase in listings of homes for sale over the last 2 or 3 months. When inventory climbs and sales drop for an extended period we see price declines. You can certainly see that if you look back at the sales figures from 2007 through 2010.
I don’t think that is what we are seeing in this case. What seems to be happening is that “regular” home-sellers removed their unsold homes from the market for the holidays, which is a pretty typical pattern. That left bank-owned homes on the market and indeed they represented a slightly higher percentage of sales in the fourth quarter. I also do think that we had a early winter this year, not just all the rain we had early, but in the sense that the first time homebuyer tax credit expired over the summer and it had caused some buyers to accelerate their buying to earlier in 2010.
Been Down So Long it Looks Like Up to Me?
We have seen a greater increase in the number of non-distressed homes on the market over the last 15 months or so. We have also seen more higher priced homes come on the market, both distressed and non-distressed. The increase in unit sales of the higher priced homes led to a gradual slight increase in the median price. So when the median price has gone up it is NOT because the value of individual homes has increased, but because the mix in prices of homes sold has changed to include more expensive homes. (NOTE: In 2009 the vast majority of sales were for homes price under or at $300,000 dollars.)
What most local Sonoma County agents that I have spoken with seem to feel is that we have achieved stability in prices under $400,000 over the last couple of years. I can’t believe it but it has been two years (!!!) since I first called a bottom in the median Sonoma County home price. Wow, what a tough two years.
What we continue to see however is softness in prices as the value of individual homes increases above $500,000, one million dollars and two million dollars. Buyers are out there at all these price points (in diminishing numbers) and it is interesting to see how they will studiously ignore homes that are overpriced, and how they will pounce (with multiple offers typically) when a listing price hits that magic number that the market perceives as a good value.
Two Different Looks at Last Year’s Home Sales Numbers
Here are the sales figures for 2010. I will post a three year view along with these numbers at my Scribd account. It is interesting to look at the trends over a longer timeframe.
Meanwhile, please call or email me if you have any questions about this data and what it might mean for your particular real estate needs.
Sonoma County Homes Sales Trends 2010 Year in Review
