You somehow managed to fit everything in your old home into boxes and you’ve got the keys to your new home. Now that you’re ready to settle in, you’re probably wondering if all the chaos will ever settle down so that your new house will truly feel like home. In addition to the obvious unpacking, there are several ways you can start the settling in process.
It would seem like the easiest and quickest way to settle in would be to quickly unpack everything, but you don’t want you and your new home to become overwhelmed with stuff. Hopefully, you were methodical about your packing, making sure each box was packed by room or usage, but if not, you can access a copy of your moving company’s inventory list.
When unpacking, start with the kitchen first, followed by the bedrooms and bathroom. Arrange furniture in each room and adjust if needed. If you didn’t get a chance to de-clutter when you were packing, do it as you unpack by putting items into a keep, donate, and sell pile. For any items that you plan to get rid of but don’t necessarily have the time to deal with right now, put them in self-storage. Be sure to research the costs of storage units in your area – the average price of a self-storage unit booked in Santa Rosa, California, over the past 180 days is $110.48. Moving the things you don’t want or need out of the home gives you more incentive (and space) to organize everything you’re keeping, knocking out two birds with one stone.
There will be things you miss about your old home, but what’s stopping you from bringing your old home’s atmosphere into your new home? Bring in familiar sights and sounds such as the ticking of your kitchen wall clock or the scent of vanilla from your diffuser (you can grab an affordable diffuser at Walmart for around $20 if you don’t already have one). If you have a favorite piece of artwork but aren’t sure where you want to hang it yet, set it against the wall for the time being to create that homey, lived in feel.
Recreate your routine as well. For example, if you had a drop-off system for shoes, coats, book bags, and keys, implement the same one here. You might have to make some new adjustments, but ideally, your location will change and your routine will stay the same. While it’s certainly nice for your new home to remind you of your old one, don’t be afraid to switch up the décor. Brighten up rooms by hanging mirrors (Kirkland’s has a great selection of mirrors starting at $19.99) and layering lighting (ambient, task, and decorative). You can even decorate your home with plants too by using this guide courtesy of World Market. As an added bonus, you can shop their store in Santa Rosa to find all sorts of unique decorative pieces, furniture, art, and more.
When settling into your home, don’t forget that your backyard needs some love too. Your yard is where you will relax, host parties, watch your children play, and let your pets roam, so it makes sense that you’d want to spend some time sprucing it up. A great way to create both a relaxing environment and a little bit of privacy is to plant a living fence made of trees and shrubs. As a bonus, evergreens, plants, and trees stay green all year long, turning your backyard into a true oasis. Make it an even more inviting space by creating your own patio using pavers and sand. Just outline your patio, dig up the landscape, and add landscape fabric, then use sand or gravel to lay down a base for your pavers or stones. Once you’ve laid your patio, fill in the gaps with the remaining gravel, set out your patio furniture, and enjoy.
It might not seem like it now, but your new house will eventually feel like home. Once you unpack, start adding personal touches both indoors and out. Before you know it, you’ll forget why you were worried in the first place.
Make sure that your family and friends know that if their home was severely damaged by the recent wildfires, they may be eligible to to move their tax base (Proposition 13) to a replacement property. You may even be able to relocate to one of the some participating counties.
California Revenue and Taxation Code Sections 69 (Prop. 50) and 69.3 (Prop. 110) allow owners of properties severely damaged or destroyed in a Governor declared disaster to transfer the Prop. 13 base year value of the damaged or destroyed property to another property.
Under Revenue and Taxation Code Section 69, a Prop. 13 base year value transfer is permitted within the county where the property was damaged.
Revenue and Taxation Code Section 69.3 allows owners of damaged property to bring their Prop. 13 base year value from the county where the property was damaged (intercounty) to one of the 10 counties currently permitting these transfers.
The participating Section 69.3 counties are Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Modoc, Orange, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma, Sutter and Ventura. Please check with the specific county for details before you make a decision to purchase a property there.
For more information please check the Sonoma Count Tax Assessors website. http://sonomacounty.ca.gov/CRA/Assessor/Real-Property/Tax-Savings/Governor-Declared-Disaster/ or call the Assessor’s office at 707-565-1888.
If you, family or friends have been effected by the recent fires in Sonoma County and have Insurance questions please take the time to come tothis free workshop hosted by the California State Insurance Commissioner himself.
The California Department of Insurance (CDI) invites consumers impacted by the recent wildfires to attend an informative insurance workshop. This is your opportunity to meet Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, who will be addressing the issues facing the victims of the wildfires as they move forward towards rebuilding and recovering. This is open to the public.
There will also be an opportunity for consumers to speak one-on-one with a CDI representative with regard to any insurance questions or concerns you have. For a one-on-one session, we recommend that you make an appointment in advance by contacting the CDI’s Hotline at 1-800-927-4357. Walk-ins will be accommodated on a first-come-first-serve basis.
Sonoma County Real Estate median sales price rose to $590,000 in August, a year-over-year increase of 9 percent. Supply conditions have not changed from the previous five months, Low inventory and long search times for buyers seem to be the norm. We are in a sellers market with the Month Supply of Inventory (MSI) at 1.8 months. Which means that if no new homes were to come to market then all existing homes for sale would be sold out in less than two (2) months.
Click Here for a full page view of the Sonoma County Real Estate July 2016 Market Report.
Sonoma County Real Estate median sales price receded a bit after breaking the $600,000 mark in June, falling to $575,000. The Monthly Supply of Inventory (MSI) finished at 1.9 months, nearly the same as levels recorded over the previous four months.
Buyers paid 97.9 percent of original prices, identical to July 2015. The pace of sales was also similar to one year ago, with homes selling in an average of 57 days.
Our real estate markets in Sonoma County include the cities of Cloverdale, Cotati, Healdsburg, Penngrove, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, and Windsor. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes all single-family homes and farms and ranches in Sonoma County.
Sonoma County Real Estate’s median sales price has hovered in the same general range for the past 12 months and hit a yearly peak in May: $580,000. The pace of sales has been quickening each month thus far in 2016, with properties taking an average of 60 days to sell in May.
Similar to the two previous months, the Monthly Supply of Inventory (MSI) finished May at 1.8 months. Sonoma County homebuyers paid an average of 98.2 percent of original prices.
The median sales price for Bay Area properties rose year over year in nearly all regions. The lone exception was San Francisco single-family home prices, which were down $40,000 from May 2015. Prices hit one-year highs in Contra Costa, Marin, and Sonoma counties, while homes in the East Bay commanded eye-popping premiums of nearly 20 percent.
Click Here for a full page view of the Sonoma County Real Estate May 2016 Market Report.