About Santa Rosa's JC Neighborhood

This ancient adage simply means that the facts of a matter point to one conclusion. Since I write articles about lending and real estate, I’ll give you the facts and let’s see if “all roads lead to Rome”, that is, we conclude the same thing.

Interest rates on 30 year and 15 year fixed rate mortgages are at historic lows.

Mortgage interest deduction is still intact.

Property values are at or near the bottom of the market in many areas.

Owning a home is as cheap as renting in many areas of the country.

There are lots of homes being sold everywhere in the country.

Loans are being made in all areas of the country.

FHA ( Federal Housing Administration) still makes loans to Buyers with 3.5% down and there are still zero down programs!

Hard Money loans now account for 1% of all loans done in the USA. With a good down payment you can buy a home even if you just did a short sale, had a property foreclosed upon and/or did a bankruptcy or are in bankruptcy.

In the county I live in (Sonoma County), the median price for a home has risen for the last 3 months.

America isn’t going to dry up and disappear. It will recover from the current mess.

What do you conclude from the above?

If you are considering buying a home – go and do it right now!

All roads lead to “Home”.

Five Benefits of Historic Designation !

This summer I have been taking a class on Historic Designation and Vintage homes at the local junior college in Santa Rosa, California. I have learned about numerous aspects of the process for obtaining designation as a Historic Preservation District. The class project, in fact, is a survey of the junior college district housing stock to establish the basis for historic designation. The process centers on cataloging houses in the neighborhood with special historic and architectural features.

The general purpose of historic designation is straightforward: namely, to preserve the special historic and architectural character of the neighborhood. The rules and regulations that accompany Historic Designation require approval by a local board or commission to assure that new construction and exterior renovations within the district are consistent with its historic, cultural and architectural character. But Historic designation has other benefits to neighbors and home owners as well.

As outlined in one of Mark Perry's (course instructor) handouts these include:

1. Housing Rehabilitation Assistance.

Grants and loans for Housing Rehabilitation may be available from housing agencies depending on funding and whether the project meets program requirements.

2. Enhanced Property Values

Historic designation frequently leads to increases in property values as a result of improvements to the houses encouraged by the review process as well as the assurance that the neighborhood will retain its character and quality.

3. Federal Income Tax Credits

Income Properties, which may need rehabilitation, could receive tax credits from the federal government.

4. State Historic Building Code

Usage of The State Historic Building Code provides more flexibility for renovating and upgrading homes within designated historic districts than The Uniform Building Code, which would otherwise apply.

5. Protection of the Neighborhood

There are more stringent controls on new construction and restricting or prohibiting demolition in a historic district which keeps the character of the neighborhood intact.

I owe a debt of gratitude to the people that have organized the project and have done their best to acquaint us with the vocabulary needed for precise description for architectural styles. The two architect's, Mark Perry and Mark DeBacker share the classroom teaching duties and accompanied us on part of the survey. Susan Scott, authored the Survey Resource Book, which gives a glossary of relevant terms and photo examples of different homes and their distinction. Jay Longfellow, who gathers all the inforrmation and inputs it into the correct form for City Council action.

Thank you all for your patience and time. I have learned so much.

Last night there was an initial meeting to establish a neighborhood watch in the Historic District. There had been a couple of incidents were an intruder entered homes were the owners were present. Unnerving to say the least! This alarmed the neighborhood, especially stay at home moms and the elderly. As word of these incidents spread it was decided that the Santa Rosa Police Department should be contacted to speak to our neighborhood as to what they would recommend. As a result we had a neighborhood meeting were three police officers discussed the different aspects of home security and steps that can be taken to deter unauthorized entry. In addition they recommended putting the local police department phone number on your cell phone or speed dial, in part because of an anomaly of 911 calls here in Northern California. Apparently calls from cell phones to 911are routed to an operations center in Vallejo which is in the East Bay. One point that was emphasized is that people should NOT hesitate to report ANY incident that arouses your concerns. It is better to err on the side of safety. Don't worry about being WRONG, the police will investigate further. The phone number in Santa Rosa is 707-528-5222.

Updated for the Interent - Some Basics:

1) Don't announce your vacation on Facebook. It is easier than you may think to look up your address!

2) Security consultant Chris McGoey runs - crimedoctor.com