So you say you are looking for a home where you can:

1) add value

2) build “sweat equity”

3) move the entire family

4) convenient location on the Santa Cruz Eastside

5) Walking distance to restaurants, shops and hospital.

Let me know if you’re interested… I’d love to help a buyer write a winning offer or find similar like properties that you can add your personal touches to and enjoy the Santa Cruz life style.

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Here are 5 reasons why having a digital savvy realtor using virtual real estate technologies benefits buyers and sellers in today’s demanding market: https://bit.ly/YourREadvisor

I’m a transition specialist – I’m a native born SF, proud of my city and the Bay Area and I love helping families pursue their home goals. I’m a member of the National Association of Realtors, California Association of Realtors and Silicon Valley Association of Realtors. I have an advance certificate as a Senior Real Estate Specialist and I’m also an affiliate member of the Professional Fiduciary Association of California, Silicon Valley Chapter

Today  we feature three properties in Redwood Estates, Ben Lomond, and Los Gatos mountains that allow multi-generational housing, acreage for spreading out and the proximity of being near major tech hubs and headquarters. The properties in Santa Cruz Mountains offer exceptional views, peace & tranquility – what better place to gather family with a sprawling compound and room to play!

21399 Lee Dr Los Gatos, CA 95033 3 bedroom/ 3 bath 2,535 SqFt, 1 acre lot Listed by Compass at 1.45M

For more info: https://bit.ly/340XLDv

Wonderful neighbors, great community and excellent Los Gatos schools.

Coming Soon – Ben Lomond 3 bedroom / 5 Bath 5,656 SqFt 200+ acres Listed at 4,250,000.

Call me for more details: 831.346.2743

485 Cresci Road Los Gatos, CA 95033

4 bedrooms / 3 bath 3,263 SqFt, 4.5 acres Listed at 1.249 by Coldwell Realty

For more info: https://bit.ly/331c9ws

This property at the time of recording has been on the market for 138 days, but don’t let the days on market worry you about the stigma of ‘something must be wrong with the property’!

Often these mountain properties have longer days on market but also remember we had the CZU fires (Here’s my vlog post https://youtu.be/gLbKNZ9SX9I ) and sometimes new buyers who aren’t used to the features of country living (such as living with septic, well water, foundation inspection, just to name a few) all these new systems can be a bit alarming to ‘city folks’! Having an inspection and becoming familiar with reports is important so buyer and seller know how to proceed.

If you’re interested in any of these listings or interested in discussing what your home is worth, give me a call 831-346-2743 text or voice.

I’ll help you get through any new transitions you’d like to make with ease and confidence so you can focus on what’s important in your life. 

831-346-2743 text anytime!

Lynne Watanabe MacFarlane, MCDM, SRES | Realtor

PFAC Silicon Valley affiliate

Intero | A Berkshire Hathaway Affiliate

Text/voice: 831-346-2743

DRE# 02066698

www.lynnemacfarlane.com

Today in this video we share the areas of the wildfires in the Greater SF Bay Area. We also discuss the importance of creating a Wildfire Safety Plan for Older Adults who are living alone. Also, please note that if you and your family have evacuated Intero has a special discount with Country Inn and Suites –  Address: 1350 N 4th San Jose  Phone: (408) 467-1786

If you or a loved one are in need of any assistance, please don’t hesitate to call.

(831) 346-2743 text anytime
LMACFARLANE @ INTERO .COM

Thank you, take care & be safe.

Packing an emergency kit: Assemble an emergency suitcase your family elder can quickly grab in the event of a fire. When a wildfire requires evacuation, every second counts.

Establishing good practices: Developing precautionary habits can keep an older adult safer when it comes to a home fire or a wildfire. Put glasses and hearing aids on the bedside table. Always have cell phones charged. If an older adult uses a wheelchair, walker, or cane, encourage them to keep it nearby.

Purchasing an emergency radio: In the event of a power outage, an emergency radio allows older adults to stay connected. Whether it is a crank radio or a battery-operated one, there are a variety of options to choose from.

Planning evacuation routes: It’s also important to plan escape routes from every room in the house. For rooms upstairs or homes on a higher elevation, you may want to order fire escape ladders that attach to windows. If your loved one may have trouble climbing down a ladder, they should stay close to the ground floor.

Creating a neighborhood escape plan: Just like you need two escape routes from the senior’s home, you also need two separate ways out of their neighborhood. If one is blocked by fire, they won’t lose time trying to figure out what to do. When the order comes to evacuate, it’s also important to know where a safe place to retreat is.

California Fire Resources

If you or your friends are affected by the California wildfires, below are links to some helpful resources:

Fire Resources for Realtors®

·        C.A.R. Disaster Relief

General Fire Resources

·        California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) website

·        Fire Incidents Map

·        Evacuation Checklist

·        Air Quality Information

·        Wildfire Relief Funds

Here’s the latest from MLSListings Silicon Valley and Coastal Regions

– Single-Family Homes Market Overview

The SF Bay Area real estate market continued to show its strength during July, even in the midst of the COVID19 pandemic.

Median prices again rose across all five MLSListings counties compared to July 2019; the lowest gain was 7% in Santa Clara County, and the highest increase in median price was 19% in San Benito County.

Closed sales remained robust across the board, both month-over-month and year-over year.

Further displaying this resilience, median days on market dropped in every county except for San Benito and new listings coming on the market grew versus last year in all counties except for Santa Cruz.

Inventory stayed problematic in all counties, with 4 out of five counties showing year-over-year decreases.

Santa Clara’s inventory is 1/3 less than this time last year and Santa Cruz inventory is down by 35%.

While San Mateo showed a modest 12% gain in inventory, it is still at historically low levels.

Even with the strong demand, premiums paid (amount paid over asking) is close to 100% in all counties and steady with both last month and last year in all counties except for San Mateo, which saw a 4% drop in average premium paid, from 105% of list last year to 101% of list this year.

In recent years co-living has gained popularity not only in younger 20’s demographics, but attracting popularity for 50+ Boomer generation. Typically, seniors who opt for the co-living lifestyle as homeowners enjoy additional income from roommates and companionship!

What’s the difference between Co-Living versus Co-Housing?

In co-living people without family ties choose to cohabitate in a single dwelling. Typically, each resident has a private bedroom but other rooms (such as kitchen, laundry room, family room) are considered shared common spaces. In a co-housing community, each individual or family has an independent living unit (single family home, condo or apt) and they might share common facilities such as pools, a library, conference or fitness space.

Silver Tsunami

In the SF Bay Area we know that the lack of affordable housing is difficult as it can hit the senior population hard. As the ‘Silver Tsunami’ and senior households continues to expand over the next two decades, households in their 80’s will be the fastest-growing age group according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. Many of those households already face cost burdens.

Santa Cruz – Watsonville Share of Households age 65+ www.jchs.harvard.edu

As the cost of senior communities continue to rise, along with visitation restrictions which COVID19 has placed on family members not being allowed into these senior communities, the desire for multi-generational housing continues to escalate. These are hard questions all families must decided what is important to them. Families are looking for more options as our lifestyle has shifted during these stressful health crisis times our community and family interdependence has become of greater necessity.

What are Co-Living Advantages?

1. Sharing household responsibilities can lessen the load and housemates can have complimentary benefits such as one roommate’s ability to drive to the store and another can prep food and cook. This might allow individuals to live independent and active lives.
2. Fewer seniors own their own homes these days, more are likely to have a mortgage or even a second mortgage. Co-living can help homeowners afford to stay in their home but creating passive income with rent. Sharing space means dividing up utility costs and home maintenance expenses too.
3. Loneliness is one aspect of aging-in-place that co-living can help remedy. A sense of belonging and community can be nurtured with scheduled co-living events such as “Italian Night!” and plan cooking a dinner while playing Italian opera and watch a favorite Italian movie!

Preventing Co-Living Conflicts

Create a written agreement outlining who pays for what and when. Housemates with declining cognitive abilities and/or mobility issues can make living together difficult so a mutually agreed upon rental contract will help avoid co-living conflicts.

Make sure to interview to find the right fit housemate. Look for someone who is financially stable, and shares your interest, values and lifestyle. Always discuss privacy expectations and do consider looking outside an age range. When meeting with a prospective roommate for the first time, always meet in a neutral public location for safety reasons. Get references from previous roommates and consider a background check and credit check; protect oneself.

Consider a trial period and see if all personalities get along! Will pets or habits become irritating after two weeks? Will you need to consider ‘overnight guests’ and does each roommate need to seek permission and could this be considered an invasion of privacy for some? Some people need more privacy than others and having a written agreement can help communication and expectation.

It can be a wonderful experience co-living with others. Co-living can be multi-generational or the same age, but whatever one decides to do I hope you’ll enjoy the company and appreciate your differences!

** Looking for a Multi-Family Home? Click here for a Search for Single Family Homes with 5+ bedrooms, CA

If you’re interested in other cities, let me know, I can set-up your customized search to assist your needs.

Do you wonder where the people are coming from when they move to Santa Cruz County?

1. Santa Clara County
2. Alameda County
3.  San Mateo County
4. Los Angeles County
5. Contra Costa County

Looking at today’s Santa Clara County inventory we’re seeing some ‘normalization’ as we are approaching mid-June.

Looking locally at Santa Clara County, here’s a comparison of the last two years with this year’s Active and Pending listings. Blue indicates 2918 (which was a banner year, partially due to the low inventory), Orange indicated last year 2019 and today 2020 in Red.

Pendings in Santa Clara County SFR took a big dip, pandemic related but the good news is that in June we’re quickly rising and catching up to 2019 and 2018 numbers. (See below)

From MLS/Aculist I pulled the latest data (June 16th) taken from the 5 Bay Area counties (San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito) for New Listings (yellow) & Sold Homes (blue) from March 16 – June 15th.

As indicated, once we could begin showing properties the listings increased. (See below graph)

Here is a market snapshot from May 2020 comparison to last year’s May 2019 for single family homes and condo and townhouses.

**If you are interested in receiving market data in your neighborhood, let me know, I’m here to assist you with explaining what’s going on in your community. 

Lynne MacFarlane, MCDM, SRES

Your Link Between SF Bay to Monterey Bay

PFAC Silicon Valley affiliate

831.346.2743 text/cell

Lmacfarlane @ intero . com

Local small businesses are struggling.

The once bustling Donut Station was the morning spot for parents to stop and buy boxes of donuts for schools, churches, work.

I know through personal experience, bringing a pink box of a dozen donuts for colleagues to take ‘over the hill’ makes people’s day a little brighter, especially when they see that they’re from my beach community of Capitola!

While these shared food items were once frequently gifted, sheltering in place has created a difficult environment, even for items that were always take-out.

I hope you will have an opportunity to visit Donut Station in #Capitola. Hope you enjoy my video interviews too as I wish to highlight how business owners are adapting and showing quiet strength of resilience

Note: the first 100 people who show up at the Donut Station can get a free donut on me, just mention my name and that you saw them! Cheers~ Be well!

The San Francisco Bay Area real estate market had begun to rebound in the first two months of the year 2020, with strong buyer demand, often with multiple offers, after a flattening of prices in 2019. But the shelter-in-place (SIP) and stock market tumble caused by uncertainty of the pandemic slowed  listings and sales.

Just last week real estate agents and other professionals who are deemed as ‘essential workers’ are allowed to work with the CDC guidelines. With these new strict guidelines real estate agents can not show open houses, give tours and must not show homes with sellers who are still residents of the property. Empty residential properties can be shown with a single agent and with only two prospective buyers. Virtual tours using video (real-time or recorded) is highly encouraged (more on Virtual Agents here).

As one can suspect, this has caused much disruption in the buying and selling of homes but it has not prevented sales by any means! Here’s a snapshot of the most important metrics to keep you informed on the real estate landscape, it includes sold homes, new listings, Transactions Fell Through (TFT) and withdrawn homes. These graphs are gathered and summarized for all five MLSListings’ Counties (San Mateo, Santa Clara, Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz Counties) by Aculist/ MLSListings.

Interesting to note is that despite the fact that there is a -25% difference between last year and this year’s new properties on the market, there is -14% difference of sold. This could be because it usually lags 30 days (entered escrow around that time). But not surprising we see an increase of TFT (40%), cancelled (34%) and withdrawn (87%) from last year.

Here we see a big difference between the new 2019 listings in blue vs. the new 2020 listings in orange after SIP.

Here we find a fairly regular pattern between the sold listings in 2019 vs  2020 (by the week). It will be very interesting to note what will happen in the next two weeks.

Until then we wish you good health and take the necessary precautions to keep you and your family well!

Questions? Text me if you have any plans on selling, buying or investing in 2020. Feel free to ask for a complimentary market analysis and we can discuss your needs!

(831) 346-2743 text/voice anytime

lmacfarlane@intero.com

If you want to know what’s going on in the market, sign up here!