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We had no idea why this page became so popular until Kathie Griffin told us it was at the top of the page on the KCRA channel page. Welcome to all of you from that site. This page is really excerpts from our local monthly newsletter called the Miner's Pick. We'll try to keep the page more up to date now that we know it has such appeal. Please check out the rest of our website for the finest in real estate in the Mountain Ranch area.
June 2008
Many of you may know that here in Mountain Ranch we live within the boundaries of the Delta Community College District. We pay taxes on bonds issued by the district and we were promised a Calaveras County campus in the last bond election, presumably located in the Toyon area between San Andreas and Valley Springs. Due to some apparently poor planning, that campus doesn’t seem likely to materialize.
We think it’s time to take a serious and well thought out look at this situation. One of the tales of woe we hear is that our young people don’t stick around Calaveras County after high school. Why is that? We know of several students around here who make the daily journey to Columbia College in order to further their education. They probably spend at least two hours of their day (more if they take Community Transit) commuting to a campus that offers them a chance at higher education. Others must go to the Delta College campus in Stockton. What message does this send to them? If there’s something worth having you have to leave Calaveras County to get it. Not a good idea in our humble opinion.
Recently there has been a lot of talk about the economic woes of this county and various proposals have been put forth about how to increase retail sales by adding a big box store somewhere within the county. Well no matter what your opinion is about the big box concept, this would only be a small portion of the equation. We believe that if we create a well educated work force, businesses will beat a path to our door. Columbia College is known for it’s hospitality curriculum among other things, why don’t we create a curriculum that emphasizes green technologies? Perhaps a curriculum to train machinists? How about water and waste treatment technicians (Thank you Bob Dean for that one).
The point is that we need to start thinking for the future and break the short term easily digested political pablum that we’ve been handed for far too many years. Let’s create something that no one has done before. Let’s regain control of our future by boldly saying that this current way of doing things isn’t working. Let’s ask to be set free of both of the community college districts that divide this county and begin one of our own. Amador County doesn’t even belong to a community college district! Let’s partner with them to provide a relevant, useful curriculum that allows our young people to stay and thrive in Calaveras County.
In order to accomplish this it’s going to take some political will instead of political cowardice. You’ll hear it can’t be done by those who don’t want to try. If you believe that this is a reasonable idea, talk it up to your friends and let’s see how far we can go when we do it for ourselves and our children.
December 2007
We spent an interesting afternoon participating in the Board of Supervisors hearing to consider dropping the moratorium on new applications for general plan amendment and zoning changes. One of the more interesting items heard was from Supervisor Tom Tryon, who has continually advocated that no development occur in the county without the project having access to surface water and sewer. Supervisor Wilensky continues to throw out comments about failed and contaminated wells as if every other well has a problem with it.
The area surrounding Mountain Ranch. has no surface water available. The only potential for any surface water near here is the lake at M-24 Ranch called Emory Reservoir and we can’t imagine the good folks who live there being too keen about sharing their nice lake water and watching it drain every summer to accommodate a municipal water supply. We know we wouldn’t. There is no current sewer system, although from an engineering standpoint that problem is much easier to solve and less expensive than developing and delivering fresh water.
Where does that leave us? We think that it’s going to be a long long time before we see any development around here. Is this a good or bad thing? A lot of dedicated people have met time and again to map out the future of our fair area and it appears to us that all that work is going to be tossed out like the baby with the bath water. This is a shame because we have accomplished quite a bit as a community. We’ve surveyed residents and compiled the results of the survey. Most residents wanted to have any future development concentrated around the center of town while leaving the rest of the country pretty much as it is. It’s safe to say that without water there wont be any future small or medium subdivisions around these parts. As a homeowner, this is probably a good thing as real estate is driven by supply and demand. No new supply? Values go up.
We hope that in the future deliberations about the general plan, at least some consideration will be given to the unique qualities of the Mountain Ranch area. Will they? Stay tuned!
November 2007
This was some of the worst writing I've ever done and I'm not going to put it all over the internet :)
October 2007
We’ve been reading a lot about the credit markets and interest rates lately. We tend to keep a pretty close eye on these things because interest rates are the single most important factor in the real estate market. Obviously, the lower the interest rate the more people can afford to borrow money for the purchase of homes and land.
So why is so much being made of the current “credit crunch”? There have been several changes in the past 10 years to the mortgage business, the most striking of these is the “privatization” of mortgage backed securities. We’ll try to make this easy, but it’s fairly complex.
Most of us bought our homes with a loan furnished by a local lender. Have you ever asked yourself where they got the money? There are 2 major semi-government organizations (known as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: I’ll call them F&F) that buy individual mortgages that conform to their standards from local lenders, thereby giving the local lender more money to loan to others. So, the money circulates around and everybody’s happy.
Now we introduce private money. Where does that come from? They basically use the same model, but they don’t have the same standards that F&F do. So a private lender (most likely what’s known as a hedge fund or even a mutual fund sponsored by a big brokerage firm) packages up these mortgages and sells them to investors. The problem has been that these collections of mortgages were made to people who couldn’t qualify for a mortgage that met the standards of F&F. So as people default on their loans, the money stops flowing in and people stop getting paid. Prices of the mutual fund fall and now everybody's not happy!
Private firms try to stop the bleeding and voila! We have a credit crunch.
Our local mortgage reps tell us that getting a loan using the Freddie and Fannie standards is a piece of cake today, but trying to get a loan without having all the documentation necessary in the F&F type loan is like having your fingernails pulled out one by one.
Moral of the story? Quality borrowers and quality property make for a smooth deal. It’s also the reason we have so few foreclosures around here. Confused? So are most of the reporters that write stories on the subject!
September 2007
We recently held a staff meeting in our office and every member was asked this very question. The consensus was that this market is definitely slower than in days past, but with over 100 years of combined experience, certainly nothing like the worst markets any of us has seen.
We wondered out loud if we asked the same question of a dozen shoppers across the street at Sender’s Market, if we would get the same answers. We agreed that we probably wouldn’t!
So what’s the difference? We confess it probably takes an optimistic person to practice real estate in the first place, but we read the same information that the public does. We think the difference is that we are in the business every day. We see offers, counter-offers, negotiations and communicate with lenders and escrow professionals all the time.
We know that good property, priced right still sells!
We know that the market in this area is very different from the markets in San Francisco, Sacramento and LA. Our market is different than the markets in Valley Springs or Copperopolis as well. If you ask us about the stock market, we’re probably just as poorly informed as the next person, yet we participate in that market like most people do with some of our retirement money. We don’t pay attention to the day to day ins and outs of that market.
We DO pay very close attention to our local real estate market. When the local real estate market moves one direction or another, it’s our job to stay on top of it and provide information to our clients that helps them make the best decision to suit their needs and desires.
We are in the service business. It’s our mission to continue to provide the most excellent service possible.
We advise buyers and sellers in the purchase and sale of their homes, land and businesses. We negotiate transactions, research compliance with state and local laws, make sure that lenders and escrow agents follow the instructions in contracts, locate property corners, inspect for obvious defects in property conditions, arrange for pest inspections, well and septic inspections. We support community events and organizations.
How’s the market? I wouldn’t want to be in it without a professional to guide me!
August 2007
Do you like a bargain? Sure you do! We’ve been noticing that home buyers in today’s real estate market are starting to make offers on property that six months ago we would have been considered insulting to our sellers. In a normal market we expect the a buyer may make an offer 2 to 5 % lower than the asking price and be happy with some negotiation that leads to a transaction a little below the asking price.
We’ve seen some offers made in the past couple of months at 15 to 25% below the asking price. We know of a few properties where the offer has either been accepted (the seller desperately need to sell) or when a counter offer was made, the buyer simply walked away to make another offer on another property. We like to refer to this as bottom feeding, and it’s an indicator of 2 things.
The first is, there are still folks out there looking to buy homes in this area, they’re becoming a bit more selective and they’re a bit like the last people that show up at a yard sale. They want a real bargain. The second is that this market is probably within 6 months of reaching it’s lowest price point. Most real estate appraisers use comparable sales as their best method of determining value and as we get sales recorded at these lower prices, the “market” reflects these lower prices. According to the real estate website Zillow.com, my own home has “lost” $30,000 in value over the last 30 days. (This is mostly due to the fact that a real “fixer” home sold across the street from me last month at a huge discount to the market.) Since my home isn’t for sale, this is of no concern to me, and the Zillow valuing model isn’t very accurate in this area for the lack of numbers of homes sold compared to a place like the Bay Area so don’t panic! We’re still ahead of the 10 year trend line for prices in this area and the market is still active. Not all buyers are bottom feeders either.
This is the time to work closely with your real estate agent in setting your asking price and evaluating offers. The motivation of both buyers and sellers is a very important consideration these days and the more that a transaction can be looked at without the emotional strings that come with buying and selling a home, the better chance of success.
July 2007
Calaveras County Supervisors are still at trying to get their arms around a definition of legal access that wont land them in court.
Many of us in the real estate industry have been trying to help them through this process by attending meetings and hearings, but I’m not happy to say, they seem to want to do this the hard way. If you remember back from this column, the problem originated when someone over in Vallecito wanted to get an Administrative Use Permit for having weddings at their winery. The problem is that the road they needed to use was very narrow and having 100 cars drive up and down the road at one time is unsafe and the landowner at the head of the road objected and threatened the county with legal action is the permit was granted. The county counsel’s office decided that since the easement was unrecorded, then the person didn’t have a right to the permit. That was probably the right thing to do. County Counsel then took it further objecting to ANY permit of any kind being issued unless the person requesting it could prove what was unfortunately called “legal” access. This put about 2000 parcels in this county in jeopardy of not being able to obtain ANY permits of any kind.
The county basically said to people, if you want a permit, you’ll have to go to court to get “legal” access granted to your property. We’ve always maintained that the county could not have created any “illegal” parcels in the first place, therefore they can’t take away the right to build on the land now. Call or write the supervisors with your opinions. Email to bos@co.calaveras.ca.us or call Steve Wilensky at 754-9525 to let him know.
June 2007
Fire Season opened much earlier this year than normal with much lower rainfall than normal. As of this writing we’ve already had a couple of larger than usual fires in our area.
Here are some things you can do to be prepared for fire season;
If you haven’t already done so, please make your home fire safe by removing low lying vegetation for 100 feet around your house (or to your property line, whichever is closer). Fire crews look for what they term defensible space around homes. If they can defend your home, they will, if you haven’t helped out by removing vegetation, they may move on to your neighbors. In a fire situation, power may go out and you won’t be able to spray water on your roof or deck. If you have a generator that can power your well you’ll be able to wet things down in advance.
Central Fire passed an ordinance banning fireworks of ANY kind during declared fire season, so please recognize what a threat they pose to you and your neighbors and wait til New Years to set them off.
May 2007
Once again we are seeing an improvement in the activity of the real estate market here in Mountain Ranch and the surrounding area. The buyers are out there but they have also been shopping the market so value is their primary focus.
We’ve said it before right here on this page and in person, that pricing your home is the most important single factor in being able to sell it. Those of us who practice our profession in this area know this market better than anyone else. We pride ourselves on being not only accurate in our assessment, but honest in our presentation to you about the value of your property. Properties which are overpriced don’t sell and the situation can end up as a no-win for anyone.
Unfortunately, there are agents out there that don’t follow this model and we feel it diminishes the respect the public has for our industry. If you are serious about selling your property, give us a call and we promise to be straight up and on the money.
April 2007
Do you have a legal right to get to your property? I’ll bet you are sure that you do. Calaveras County recently (actually almost 6 months ago now) decided that unless you live on a county maintained road, or had an easement recorded as part of your deed, you don’t have legal access to your property and they won’t issue a building permit!
We’ve been very heavily involved in trying to make headway with the County on this issue and so far we have absolutely no results to show for it. Other real estate agents in the county have had meeting upon meeting with the staff of the Planning and Building Departments and we have been promised that the issue will come before the Board of Supervisors as a study session. When? Well we were told in December that it would be “next year”. I guess we should have pinned them to a definite date!
We try to attend every Board meeting and we address the board from time to time on the subject, but we fear we are wearing out our welcome politically. If anyone out there in the community shares our concern on the issue, we invite them to attend a board meeting and let them know that the matter needs to be settled. This year! You might find it entertaining as well as productive. Thanks.
March 2007
We have a colleague over in Murphys who routinely sends his value oriented clients over this direction. His comment usually is “Things are so inexpensive over there in Mountain Ranch” . He has a point. Things are less expensive here than along Highway 4 or even in Valley Springs for that matter.
When an out of the area agent lists property around here inevitably they bring the “big city” price with them. Many times we are asked to provide an estimate of value for someone considering selling their home or land and we strive to get as close to the actual market value as possible. It’s only human nature to pick an agent based on the one who gives you the highest price, but there’s more to it than that. Too high a price means it won’t be shown as much as a property that has the right price on it. When a property comes into the MLS every agent sees a picture and a price attached to the property. If the price seems too high, most agents won’t give it a second thought. A property priced right gets the agent on the phone to their clients with a message that says you need to see this, it’s a good value.
The moral of the story is, if you want to sell your property, price it right and if you want it priced right , call us. Keeping it local helps you achieve your goals and gets your home sold.
January 2007
After making the above prediction about Phil, I thought it might be fun to throw out some predictions about what might happen in Calaveras County this coming year. Hold on to your hat.
Reptile Rights advocates will succeed in preventing the Frog Jump from using frogs. The Fair Committee will replace our web-footed friends with logs, creating an entirely different competition. Mark Twain will roll over in his grave.
Calaveras County will make a land use policy that absolutely everyone agrees with. Hell will freeze over.
Valley Springs will develop an Indian Gaming Zone modeled after the Las Vegas Strip. It’s motto? Valley Springs, what happens here ends up in Stockton. Everyone in the county ends up with a job.
Sheep Ranch is discovered for the 5th time in it’s history. This time it sticks and it becomes a major tourist destination. The residents flee in horror.
Calaveras County welcomes it’s 3000th winery and grape vines outnumber oak trees for the first time and acorns go on strike for better growing conditions.
The Miner’s Pick receives a Pulitzer Prize for outstanding journalism by all it’s contributors. Fortunately this column is ignored by the judges. Have a prediction of your own? Call me. 754-3030
December 2006
Contrary to popular belief, buyers shop for homes all year round, including the holiday season. In fact, sellers who put their homes on the market during the holiday season (roughly between November and January) may have an advantage because there are fewer houses on the market so there's less competition. Our market in Mountain Ranch is no different and in fact may be more attractive. There are several other reasons to consider putting your home on the market during the holidays:
1. Many home buyers have extra time off during the holiday season so they have more time to look for their new home.
2. Because of the limited supply of homes for sale, sellers may be able to receive a higher purchase offer than expected.
3. Buyers looking for homes during the holidays are usually highly motivated to buy before the end of the year so they can get extra itemized income-tax deductions for mortgage loan fees, interest and pro-rated property taxes.
4. Festive lights and holiday decorations can help a home "show better."
5. Because January is traditionally the month for transfers, having a home on the market at the end of the year can capture the transferees who may not be able to wait until the Spring to buy a home.
November 2006
We would like to take this opportunity to thank those who participated in the “Best of Calaveras” readers poll, conducted by the Calaveras Enterprise. We are thrilled to be voted the best real estate company in our region. Thank You! We’re leading the competition in sales volume since the beginning of this year and we’ve also been able to obtain a higher percentage of the asking price for our sellers. Let us prove to you why we were voted the best. Putting you first is the reason we are #1
On a somewhat separate note, we would like to put an end to the doom and gloom that others speak about the current real estate market.
We’re still busy; all of our agents are working with people looking for the right property. We have transactions in escrow. Our website is experiencing near record volume of hits and people keep dropping by to have a conversation about buying property.
Properly priced real estate is still moving and the real estate market around here definitely is not dead.
Give us a call or visit our website and see the difference!
October 2006
Well after some pressure, the Calaveras County Building Department has issued a public memo stating their procedure about issuing building permits. A copy of the memo is available online by visiting the following web page; www.mountainranchrealty.com/memo.jpg
A slew of other issues remain unresolved and a small group of people have been hammering away at the process people hoping to show them the path they’re on isn’t the correct one. Supervisor Wilensky has told me that he has received a lot of phone calls from readers of this column and is the only supervisor (in our humble opinion) that is actually interested in working out a solution. The other supervisors deserve your input on the problem. The issue still hasn’t been scheduled for a public meeting yet as the staff (again in our opinion) is trying to get a handle on the variety of conflicting ordinances, policy directives, and (dare we say it) common sense driven solutions. We don’t envy the folks that have to untangle this one. This situation could have been easily averted by leaving things the way they were and THEN going about trying to solve the problem.
We promise to continue to monitor the County actions on this subject and inform our readers of any continuing developments. In the meantime, we encourage you to read the agenda for the Board of Supervisors in the Enterprise or online at http://www.co.calaveras.ca.us/board_of_supervisors.asp
We are trying to produce a list of properties that are on prescriptive easements throughout this area, but it is a daunting task. We’ll keep you informed.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank those who participated in the “Best of Calaveras” readers poll, conducted by the Calaveras Enterprise. We are thrilled to be voted the best real estate company in our area. Thank You! We’re leading the competition in sales volume since the beginning of this year and we’ve also been able to obtain a higher percentage of the asking price for our sellers. Let us prove to you why we were voted the best. Putting you first is the reason we are #1
September
Your property rights are being threatened by Calaveras County!
The new Community Development Agency (formerly the Building Department and Planning Department) has decided that they will not be issuing building permits for property which does not have “legal access”. The County has decided that legal access means either deeded access as shown on the public record or court ordered legal access (which can be obtained by obtaining a judgment in Superior Court). In this part of Calaveras County at least there are many parcels of property that are accessed by what is know as a prescriptive easement (an easement obtained by what is legally defined as “open, notorious, and hostile use”). Roads such as Baker Riley past the pavement, Old Greek Mine, Prussian Hill, Rimrock Valley, Oak Lane, etc; (the list goes on) are such prescriptive easements. We think about 2500 parcels are affected. Lets say you own a home on one of these roads. If you need to replace the roof, you need to get a permit from the Building Department. Sorry but they wont give you one. Want to build a deck? Forget it. Remodel? Pool? Garage or Barn? No way Jose!
The Board of Supervisors directed the Agencies involved to bring back ordinance language to effect this change permanently. The Board also suggested that all of their ordinances need to be followed including section 17.04.030 which states that “each use of land or structure shall have legal access from the nearest public road. Such access shall be constructed to the standards of the department of public works for the land use proposed.
So lets say you manage to convince the 3 property owners between you and the county road to grant you deeded access, Now you’re obligated to build a road to your property that meets the county standard. If there are more than a few parcels behind you this could mean a 24 foot wide, 2 inch thick, asphalt road with 6 foot shoulders. All at your expense, just to get a re-roof permit! Or you can hire an attorney, to sue your neighbors, to get a court ordered legal access. If this sounds stupid to you, Call the Board and let them know!
August
It’s the heart of the fire season and as of this writing we have been spared having any fires of significance. One of the most important things one can do to protect their home from becoming a statistic is to clear away flammable vegetation from around their home.
As of January 1,2006 the California State Public Resource code requires that homes have a 100 foot clearance (or to the property line) around the home. The standard before that was 30 feet. This is most important as firefighters need the space in order to defend your home from a wildfire.
It’s a fact that firefighters evaluate which homes can be defended successfully when attempting to stop the spread of a vegetation fire. If an engine company arrives and determines that they can’t save your home because of the proximity of vegetation or other flammable material around the home, they will move on to a place which they can defend.
Removing vegetation doesn’t mean you have to make a 100 foot circle down to bare earth around your home. As long as fire doesn’t have fuel to burn, it wont make any progress. By removing brush below trees and removing limbs up to 8 feet above the ground, you can prevent fire from reaching your home. A nice green lawn is also very effective at stopping fires.
Another thing you can do is install the rainbird type sprinklers around the perimeter of your home. In the event of a fire, you can turn on the sprinklers and efficiently wet down the area.
July
We never cease to be amazed at the real estate signs around this neck of the woods. We’ve seen signs from real estate offices that aren’t even located in the 209 area code! You have to ask yourself, “How well can someone from 50 miles away represent me when I’m selling my home or property?” The truth is they really can’t do as good a job as those of us that make our homes here. Most of those agents from out of the county aren’t members of the Calaveras County Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and therefore can’t even share the information with local agents electronically! We know of one home around here that doesn’t get shown at all because the agent or the seller has to drive over an hour to get here to open the house to be shown. Out of the area agents also aren’t as well informed about our real estate market and prices and tend to overvalue their listings, putting them at a further disadvantage to the market.
There are 2 real estate companies in Mountain Ranch and we like to think that we compete well with the other guys. We are pleased that so many people have chosen us over the years to help them buy and sell their homes and land. We know the Mountain Ranch/Rail Road Flat area as well as anyone and we encourage those of you in the market or planning to be in the market to remember that when it comes to Mountain Ranch Real Estate, make sure you’re dealing with someone who lives here, works here and plays here. Choose a Realtor that doesn’t have to drive 20 minutes to get to your home, Choose Mountain Ranch Realty! You wont be disappointed.
June
The process of determining what we want Mountain Ranch and it’s vicinity to look like in the future continues. A second planning meeting was held last month and committees populated with people willing to serve on them.
It was somewhat disappointing to see the turnout for the second meeting be a third or less of what the first meeting was. This reporter thinks that unless we get a substantial amount of people involved in the committee process, then just a few people who have an agenda to press forward will be calling the shots. If you don’t get involved, please don’t complain about the results later.
There are a few committees meeting in the month of June and while I’m reasonably sure that I don’t have the names correct, the general drift of the committee should be clear.
The Human Services committee will be meeting at 7:00 on Monday June 5th at the Lutheran Church. The Funding committee will be meeting at Noon at the Pickle Patch in San Andreas on June 8th. The Land Use committee will be meeting at 6:00 at the Town Hall on June 12th and the Open Space committee will be meeting at 6:00 on June 15th at the Mountain Ranch Fire Station. Apparently some of the other committees have already met before the end of May.
Remember that this is your community and your contribution to it’s future is important. Please make sure you get involved and stay involved in this important process.
May
The process of determining what we want Mountain Ranch and it’s vicinity to look like in the future continues. A second planning meeting was held last month and committees populated with people willing to serve on them.
It was somewhat disappointing to see the turnout for the second meeting be a third or less of what the first meeting was. This reporter thinks that unless we get a substantial amount of people involved in the committee process, then just a few people who have an agenda to press forward will be calling the shots. If you don’t get involved, please don’t complain about the results later.
There are a few committees meeting in the month of June and while I’m reasonably sure that I don’t have the names correct, the general drift of the committee should be clear.
The Human Services committee will be meeting at 7:00 on Monday June 5th at the Lutheran Church. The Funding committee will be meeting at Noon at the Pickle Patch in San Andreas on June 8th. The Land Use committee will be meeting at 6:00 at the Town Hall on June 12th and the Open Space committee will be meeting at 6:00 on June 15th at the Mountain Ranch Fire Station. Apparently some of the other committees have already met before the end of May.
Remember that this is your community and your contribution to it’s future is important. Please make sure you get involved and stay involved in this important process.
June
The community of Mountain Ranch took a giant step forward April 24th by inaugurating a planning process by holding a public meeting in the Town Hall. The town joins Rail Road Flat, Wilseyville and West Point in beginning the long journey to provide public input into the General Plan update.
It was great to see over 100 people attend and it appeared that everyone who wanted to speak got a chance to. Even more impressive was that everyone stayed cordial and polite, which is a great credit to why we all live here.
One of the things that the author would have liked to have seen, is more of a “Ask not what Mountain Ranch can do for you, ask what you can do for Mountain Ranch” attitude. This will undoubtedly happen in time, and I hope when the next meeting is scheduled, the people that attend will be more focused on land use issues and the other components that make up a General Plan.
Did you know that under the current proposed zoning the land north of Mountain Ranch Road and all the way to East Murray Creek is designated commercial? Much of that land is currently protected for agricultural use under provisions of the Williamson Act. Obviously, the persons responsible for drawing the maps aren’t really in touch with what happens here, nor could they possibly know all the places in the county they are responsible for. It’s up to us to decide what is appropriate for our community. Your participation is very important, so get involved!
The next meeting will be sometime in early May at a time to be announced. Look for the signs around town.
One of the components of a General Plan is a public safety element. In general, I think Mountain Ranch is a very low crime area, but we all live in a high wildfire risk zone. What do you think about the level of service you receive from the Sheriff and Fire District? Is it adequate? Is it too much? Too little? You can provide your input on the Fire District by visiting their website at www.centralcalaverasfire.org and clicking on the sign guest book link. Your comments are taken very seriously and are very welcome.
Now that the holidays have passed and we’ve had our first glimmer of spring, it’s time to reflect on our community and what makes this one of the best places on Earth to live. Part of the fun of owning a small business is being able to assist a variety of community organizations in their fund raising efforts.
Here at Mountain Ranch Realty, we invite all of our neighbors to join with us in supporting the community based organizations and activities and we salute those of you who have already done so. From those volunteers who pick up the litter on Mountain Ranch Road, to those who contribute to the Mountain Ranch Scholarship Fund we want to say thank you. Please consider giving generously to the following organizations and activities. The Mountain Ranch Youth Alliance, The Mountain Ranch Scholarship Fund, The Rail Road Flat School programs, The Mountain Ranch 4H Club, The Mountain Ranch Little League, Scouting, The Calaveras Arts Council, The Mountain Ranch Park. You get the idea.
Your efforts help make the difference between this being a place where you live and being a place you call home. Your community thanks you.
One special thank you to pass on this month. Everyone knows that nothing gets done without having someone in charge who really makes sure that the rest of us do our part. She never blows her own horn, but she is the person most responsible for the daffodils alongside our bike/pedestrian path and the owner of the Miners Pick.
Thanks Fay Cook!
Back in the good old days of Calaveras County, the common practice was that if your building project was out of sight of the nearest public road, and therefore out of sight of the building inspectors, one might not apply for a building permit. The owner saved some up front money and no one was the wiser. None the wiser until it came time to sell the property. In the old days it was nod nod, wink wink and everyone went home happy. Our real estate purchase form was also only one page back then!
Today, the real estate transaction is far more complex and the number of pages in the documentation can be as high as 28 or more. The phrase that can chill the blood of any real estate agent is “Unpermitted building on property”. Buyers have become more savvy about their purchases and agents have had to comply with a substantial increase in regulations. Unpermitted buildings can have a drastic effect on the price of the property. The money saved up front turns into a costly expense when trying to sell. Some buyers have demanded “as-built” permits from sellers. This involves submitting plans to the building department for what’s already there. Got time? In other cases there may be a demand for a decrease in the selling price to accommodate the existing situation.
In short, getting a building permit isn’t only the legal thing to do, it’s the best way to save yourself some money when it comes time to sell your property.
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