Santa Cruz Real Estate Blog

Upgrading Home to Pro, Perfect for Happy Aging

Once upon a time your house was filled with the laughter and happy chaos of children but now they have all grown up and moved away from the family home. Should you be looking for other Pacific Grove homes for sale? Why not consider instead remaining in your familiar home and neighborhood and upgrade and redesign the spaces to better meet your needs as you grow older.

Many older adults choose to downsize to smaller homes once their children move out on their own but many more choose the option of upgrading their current family to make it more “user friendly”. The facts are that with aging the body sometimes just can’t do what it once did, as well as it did. That does not mean however that you need to move away from the treasured family home and all the memories made and stored there. Upgrading the family home to meet your current and future needs is a viable and acceptable option.

Upgrading and Redesigning for Better Functionality

Your family home likely had more than one storey to it, with numerous bedrooms and likely more than one bathroom. Even though your kids have moved out you know they will be back, filling the house once again during holiday gatherings, or simply for surprise visits. And if they should have children of their own in the future you will definitely need those rooms and extra bathrooms. 

For now, for you and your partner, the house can be redesigned to make your everyday life easier. Simple additions and adjustments can make for less strain and chance of injury, ease of movement, and better accessibility.

Ideas and Tips to Help You with Your Redesign Plans:

As you may already be aware aging does not always...

Fashionable Mask to Express Your Personality Amidst COVID

covid maskIn Monterey, your mask can be fashionable and express your personality. Take a deep breath before you begin. Basic knowledge of your sewing machine is necessary for this project. For all seams always remember to backstitch at the start and finish of each seam. You will have options for securing the mask to your face with elastic or shoelaces. You will need thread, material, scissors, two 7 inch pieces of elastic or four 15 inch shoelace pieces, an iron and sewing machine. A six-inch piece of pipe cleaner is optional. If you use round elastic, you will need to tie a knot on each end to keep it in place once sewn in. The material can be anything breathable.

Decide on the fabric you want to use. Some can be quite fashionable while some others can actually be quite helpful in filtering out aerosols of the covid -19 particles. Use one layer of tightly woven cotton with 2 layers of polyester spandex material. A sheer fabric like you see on evening gowns can also be used. This combination is likely to provide performance close to the hard to find N-95 mask. You can also use silk or flannel on the inner lining as well. A good quality cotton fabric, the type used for quilting, with a polyester liner is also is great. 

covid mask...

Foreclosure and Forbearance Protections: Small Landlords and Homeowners

Urgency legislation that took effect immediately on August 31, 2020.  Requires servicers to comply with applicable federal guidance regarding COVID-19 forbearance.  Servicer must comply with special notice and information requirements if a forbearance is denied.

A mortgage servicer shall comply with applicable federal guidance regarding borrower options following a COVID-19 related forbearance as provided by the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), the Federal Housing Administration of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, or the Riral Development division of the United States Department of Agriculture.

With respect to a nonfederally backed loan, a mortgage servicer is required to review a customer for a solution that is consistent with the guidance to servicers as provided by the above entities. However, It is the intent of the Legislature that a mortgage servicer offer a borrower a post forbearance loss mitigation option that is consistent with the mortgage servicer's contractual or other authority.

A borrower who is harmed by a material violation of this law may bring an action to obtain injunctive relief, damages, restitution, and any other remedy to redress the violation and reasonable attorney’s fees and costs to the prevailing party.

If the mortgage servicer denies a forbearance request, they are required to explain why if the request was made before April 1, 2021. The servicer must specifically identify any curable defect in the written notice; Provide 21 days from the mailing date of the written notice for the borrower to cure any identified defect; Accept receipt of the borrower's revised request for forbearance before the aforementioned 21-day period lapses and; Respond to the borrower's revised request withing five business days of receipt of the revised request.

...

Housing: Residential Entitlements Extended

Requires cities and counties to evaluate the impact of government actions on the cost of housing and associated impacts to minority communities and extends by 18 months, the time frame for the expiration, effectuation, or utilization of a housing entitlement for any housing entitlement that was issued prior to, and was in effect on, March 4, 2020, and will expire prior to December 31, 2021.

The California Building Industry Association writes in support, "This important measure has two critical components. First, it encourages local governments to consider the impacts their zoning decisions have on communities of color, and second, extends the expiration date of building permits or other entitlements necessary for, or pertaining to, a housing development project. This proposed legislation recognizes the extreme health and financial devastation due to this pandemic-induced recession has had on Californians and proposes a measured and time-limited response.

This law extends by 18 months any applicable time frame for any “housing entitlement.” This extension applies to any such entitlement issued prior to and effective on March 4, 2020, and that will expire prior to December 31, 2021.

“Housing entitlement” is defined in the statute to include:

  • A building permit, including extension of any applicable time frame within which an applicant must request issuance of a building permit;
  • “A legislative, adjudicative, administrative, or any other kind of approval, permit, or other entitlement necessary for, or pertaining to, a housing development project issued by a state agency”;
  • “An approval, permit, or other entitlement issued by a local agency for a housing development project that is subject to [the Permit Streamlining Act]”;
  • “A ministerial approval, permit, or entitlement by a local agency required as a prerequisite to issuance of a building permit...

Residential Property Insurance. Fire Insurance - Consumer Protections

Assembly Bill 2756 Residential Property Insurance - This measure seeks to provide greater information to consumers on their homeowner policies. Additionally, it includes provisions which mandate 10% building code upgrade coverage for replacement cost coverage policies which will work to ensure more homes are rebuilt and existing housing stock is maintained when disaster strikes.

C.A.R. supported this measure as it provides more transparency to homeowners on information related to their home insurance policy.

Assembly Bill 3012 Residential Property Insurance -  This measure among other provisions, provides that certain information be included in a notice of nonrenewal of a homeowners insurance policy, clarifies that a policyholder shall receive the full amount of what would have been recoverable if the home were to be rebuilt at the original location, clarifies that policies which include additional living expenses (ALE) shall not limit claims if the home is uninhabitable, but not destroyed.  Additionally, the bill states that a policyholder is entitled to a payment of 30% (up to $250,000) of the stated policy limit for contents coverage in the event of a total loss without itemization and directs the FAIR plan to create a clearinghouse of policy information that should be made available to admitted insurers to encourage them to offer policies to FAIR plan customers.

C.A.R. supported this measure as it will help to alleviate the home insurance crisis that many Californians in wildfire prone areas face.

Senate Bill 872 ...

Fire: Defensible Space: Creation of Ember-Resistant Zone within Five Feet of a Structure

Establishes, upon appropriation, an ember-resistant zone within five feet of a structure as part of the defensible space requirements for structures located in specified high fire hazard areas.  Requires removal of material from the ember-resistant zone based on the probability that vegetation and fuel will lead to ignition of the structure by ember.  

However, CAL Fire will NOT changer defensible space inspection practices and forms or enforcement to to implement the requirement for an ember-resistant zone until the director makes a written finding that the legislature has approrpriated sufficient resources to do so, which the director will post on CAL Fire's website, that the Legislature has appropriated sufficient resources to do so.  Moreover, this law is to be "based on regulations" by CAL Fire, and the promulgation of these regulations is "contingent upon an appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act of another stature for this purpose."

Current law requires a person who owns, leases, controls, operates, or maintains an occupied dwelling or structure to maintain a defensible space of 100 feet from each side of the structure.  This bill would require more instense fuel reductions between 5 and 30 feet around the structure and create an ember-resistant zone within 5 feet of the structure to help reduce ember ignitions.

1)  An ember-resistant zone shall include any attached deck.

2)  Required the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) to not change defensible space...

From Our Blog

Posts By Category

All Categories Carmel California (9) General topics (28) Health (13) Home Technology and Related Topics (7) Housing Market (19) Laws affecting Realtors (10) Monterey (3) Pacific Grove (2) Pacific Grove Victorian homes (2) real estate laws (8) Real Estate related topics (79) Santa Cruz,California (45) Selling A Home (12) Seniors and health (12)

Posts By Month

Grab Our RSS Feed
Current Homes for Sale
Santa Cruz County
City # Price Range
Aptos Homes 355 $195k - $13.0m
Capitola Homes 132 $90k - $8.0m
Rio Del Mar / Seascape Homes 181 $195k - $13.0m
Santa Cruz Events 707 $15k - $23.0m
Santa Cruz Homes 707 $15k - $23.0m
Santa Cruz Real Estate 707 $15k - $23.0m
Monterey County
City # Price Range
$0-$300000 154 $150k - $7.6m
Alta Mesa-Monterey 154 $150k - $7.6m
Big Sur Homes 14 $425k - $32.0m
Carmel Homes 387 $10k - $34.0m
Fishermans Flats 154 $150k - $7.6m
Glenwood Circle Monterey 154 $150k - $7.6m
Monterey Homes For Sale 154 $150k - $7.6m
Oak Grove Monterey 154 $150k - $7.6m
Old Town Monterey 154 $150k - $7.6m
Pebble Beach Homes 96 $849k - $39.0m
New Listing

Email Alerts

Subscribe Today!
Why List

With Us?

Learn More!
What People

Are Saying

Recommendations!