Guerneville, CA

Just about to wrap up another FHA 203k in Guerneville, CA. This was such a cute little home but the septic system had failed. This is just what the program was designed for.

It was apparent from the start that this was going to be a small job as everyone knew the septic system had failed and that is all that was to constitute the "scope of work" but when we got to the property for the first time it was raining and the skylight was leaking with water all over the hardwood flooring. We spent the first half hour of the inspection drying the floor to minimize the damage that might have occured had we not been there.

The job by any standard was a small one but since the rain came it showed all of us there was another issue at the home that no one had anticipated. Greg Loberg of Well Fargo Home Mortgage was the lender on this project. He is a pleasure to work with as he gets them closed.

So many lender profess to be 203k lenders only to find that after 60 days they pass it off to someone like Greg who can close in 30-45 days consistently. Keep up the good work Greg. Greg should be your choice for renovation lending from San Rafael to Guernville.

Our fall vacation was quite the adventurous one… we pretty much did it all! One of our fast track pit-stops was Armstrong Redwoods State National Reserve, just north of San Francisco and west of Santa Rosa, CA. The Redwoods are absolutely breath-taking!!! Just a brief history of how the Redwoods came to be…

The serene, majestic beauty of this Grove is a living reminder of the magnificent primeval redwood forest that covered much of this area before logging operations began during the 19th century. Armstrong Redwoods preserves stately and magnificent Sequoia sempervirens, commonly known as the coast redwood. These trees stand together as a testament to the wonders of the natural world. The grove offers solace from the hustle and bustle of daily life, offering the onlooker great inspiration and a place for quiet reflection.

The ancient coast redwood is the tallest living thing on our planet! These remarkable trees live to be 500-1,000 years old, grow to a diameter of 12-16 feet, and stand from 200-250 feet tall. Some trees survive to over 2,000 years and tower above 350 feet. Coast redwoods are classified as temperate rainforests and they need wet and mild climates to survive. The rainfall in Armstrong Redwoods averages 55 inches per year and the trees are often shrouded in a mystical fog that helps to maintain the moist conditions needed for the redwoods to survive.

Source: parks.ca.gov

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The communities of Forestville, Guerneville (including Rio Nido), Cazadero, and Monte Rio are collectively referred to as the "Russian River" area in our local MLS. There are differences among the towns, but they share the river, magnificent redwoods, and a big base of summer cabins that have been converted to year round use. The housing stock ranges from cabins living unchanged under the redwoods for fifty years to wonderfully updated homes with private beaches or small vineyards.

Economically, the river areas feature Sonoma County's least expensive homes, lowest rents, and an abundance of foreclosed properties. The downturn in the economy hit this resort area hard with many tourism related jobs vanishing. Still, it's affordable and reasonably close to Santa Rosa. The river areas serves as a bedroom community for the capital of the county which has a better job market and the Santa Rosa JC is a magnet for people who stopped their education too soon.

The first chart show the impact of the downturn in housing values on the river. In contrast to areas like Healdsburg and Sonoma that have only a few REO properties, the river area is swimming in distress with both short sales and REO listings as a significant part of the market. In Guerneville, REO sales are a plurality of transactions. Monte Rio and Forestville fare a little better with open market sales as a plurality of transactions. Only tiny Cazadero, one of the wettest spots in the continental United States showing a strong core of open market sales and just a few distressed sales.

The picture is strikingly different when we chart average sales values for the various sales types. In this chart, Forestville shows no sign of distress in their open market sales. In fact, the values for home sales in Forestville appear to be as high or higher than much more affluent areas of Sonoma County. I would think this would be a result of one or two high end sales, but the first chart shows 20 sales, so it's not a fluke from one sale. Forestville is more than holding its own on the open market sales front.

When you get to distresses sales, however, Forestville is in the same boat with Guerneville and Monte Rio. REO sales in all three cities are selling for substantially less than open market and short sales.

There are some distressed housing bargains in the Russian River. Smart buyers in 2011 have obviously been willing to pay significant prices to get into the Forestville residential market.

Muddy Redwood

Although it sounds like the name of a west coast blues singer, the Muddy Redwood from the title doesn't sing. In fact, this Muddy Redwood is famous only to the few people who hav hiked on the 87 acre property near Guerneville this redwood lives on.

During a long ago episode, a nearby creek backed up creating a muddy reservoir this tree occupied for a short time. The tree has an old burn scar that is out of the reach of most rains, so the mud has persisted for many years.