Santa Cruz Real Estate Blog

Ethical Considerations of Ridding Humanity of Diseases

Although some researchers feel a moral obligation to cure genetic diseases with DNA editing techniques such as CRISPR, others hesitate to embark on gene editing of human eggs, sperm and early-stage embryos(called germline editing) whose DNA changes can be passed on to future descendants. These practitioners feel that not enough is understood, and further research is critical for exploring the early development of embryos and fetuses. Such research would resurrect ethical questions about creating and destroying viable or non-viable fetuses, and the creation or termination of human life.

virus

One example of a lethal inheritable genetic disease, potentially curable through gene-editing, is Huntington's disease, caused by a gene defect that will trigger a fatal brain condition even in someone with just a single copy of the gene. Gene editing could remove the defect from an egg cell to prevent the disease from being passed on to descendants. Some laboratories are working now, trying to edit egg stem cells to rid them of inherited genetic disease. The end-to-end process is multi-step, and would no doubt first be worked out in animals such as cattle, pigs, and rabbits.

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Alzheimer's Breakthrough Sheds New Light on the Disease

If you suffer from Alzheimer's or know that a loved one is struggling with the condition, it's important to note that new scientific breakthroughs may provide the public with key insights regarding the disease. Learn more about the efforts of researchers and how their findings could revolutionize the approach to curing the disease by reviewing the following outline:

cholesterol treatment

Beta-Amyloid And Alzheimer's Disease: A Brief Overview

To fully understand the scientific breakthroughs that have transpired in the field of Alzheimer's research, one must first grasp the relevance of beta-amyloid within this sector. As Lund University's researchers understand, toxic clumps of beta-amyloid are believed to be the root cause of Alzheimer's. In the past, researchers thought that beta-amyloid should be eliminated. However, new findings indicate that the protein should be stabilized. 

The History Of Beta-Amyloid

For quite some time, members of the scientific community have thought that beta-amyloid appeared almost immediately in cases of Alzheimer's. It is for this reason that the phrase "popcorn plaques" was coined. Now, however, infrared spectroscopy images reveal information that contradicts this basic assumption. Specifically, researchers are now able to note molecular, structural changes that take place in the brain. 

In discussing the images, professor of experimental neurology...

Top Googled Real Estate Question- What Does Contingent Mean in Real Estate?

The number three googled real estate topic this week was “What Does Contingent Mean in Real Estate?” This question saw a 130% rise in inquiries. As buyers are shopping for homes it is not uncommon to see the word contingent come across in home listings, real estate articles, and more. Or for a seller to see this word pop up in an offer agreement.Top Googled Real Estate Question- What Does Contingent Mean in Real Estate?

What does the word contingent mean when it comes to real estate?

In real estate contingent is a status stating that the seller has accepted a buyer’s offer and that the offer has certain requests to be met before the sale becomes final. If the buyer or in some cases the property is unable to meet the contingencies then the buyer may back out of the sale agreement and receive their earnest money back.

In general the fewer contingencies in a purchase agreement the better it is for the seller.

The Most Common Contingencies in Real Estate

According to the National Association of Realtors Confidence Index Survey, 76% of offers had contingencies in the purchase offer. These were the top four contingencies reported in the survey:

Inspection Contingency

This is a smart contingency that every home seller should come to expect...

Importance of Vitamin D to a Healthy Adult Cardiovascular System

Researchers and medical professionals continue to reinforce the importance of vitamin D intake to ensure proper bone health. But more recent headlines like “More severe heart disease found in patients with vitamin D deficiency”, “Vitamin D Deficiency Associated with Asthma Exacerbation”, and “Childhood Vitamin D Levels Tied to Adult Atherosclerosis” leave little doubt that there is more significance to this vitamin than most people may realize.

What is Vitamin D?

vitamin dVitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin that your body can not make on its own; it needs help from nature. That help comes in the form of exposure to natural sunlight. Being fat soluble means your diet must contain some fat if you are trying to get enough vitamin D through your diet alone. It also means you need to have a healthy gut, and be able to eat and digest fat effectively, in order for your body to be able to absorb the fat and the vitamin. This essential vitamin is also necessary for your body to absorb calcium from the foods you eat. Most people are familiar with calcium’s ties to good bone health, but it is also involved in muscle contraction, regulation of body cell growth, reducing and preventing inflammation, and ensuring a healthy immune system. To do all that, this mineral needs vitamin D.

Vitamin D and Your Heart

Your heart is only a part of the cardiovascular system, the system that keeps healthy blood circulating throughout...

Prop 19 - Allows to Move Your Tax Base Without Penalty to Other Counties in California

TAX SAVINGS FOR OLDER HOMEOWNERS

Thanks to Prop 19, seniors, retirees, and all homeowners aged 55+ can move closer to family, medical care, or to a home that better meets their needs anywhere in California without a
tax penalty.

 Prop 19 removed unfair location and price restrictions, allowing older homeowners to transfer the tax base of their home to a new home.*

SAVINGS FOR HOMEOWNERS WITH SEVERE DISABILITIES

Prop 19 also removed unfair restrictions on Californians with severe disabilities, allowing homeowners to move to a replacement home anywhere in California without
a tax penalty.*

 Under Prop 19, homeowners with severe disabilities can transfer the tax base of their existing home to a replacement home up to three times.

HOUSING RELIEF FOR VICTIMS OF WILDFIRE AND NATURAL DISASTER

After wildfires destroyed more than 24,000 family homes in the past few years, wildfire victims have faced massive property tax hikes when relocating to another home.

 Prop 19 allows ...

Mobilehomes: Exemptions from Rent Control Disallowed Until 2025

The exemption from local mobilehome rent control laws for leases of 12 months or more is disallowed temporarily until January 1, 2025.

Previously, the law exempted a rental agreement in a mobilehome park that is in excess of 12 months’ duration, and that meets other specified requirements, from local rent control ordinances.

This new law prohibits the above-described exemption from rent control in mobilehome parks for rental agreements from applying to a rental agreement entered into on or after February 13, 2020. These provisions are repealed on January 1, 2025.

Assembly Bill 2782 is codified as Civil Code Sections 798.17 and 798.56, and Government Code Sections 65863.7 and 66427.4.  Effective January 1, 2021.

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Stillwater Cove, Ocean View Homes in Pebble Beach

Individuals who have thought about purchasing Ocean view homes in Pebble Beach should know that doing so will grant them access to one of the region's most scenic areas: Stillwater Cove. Filled with numerous attractions and recreational activities, this region will keep you and your family active and alive during vacation season or throughout the entire year should you choose to settle here permanently. 

stillwater cove in pebble beach

Beautiful Beaches

One of the biggest benefits of buying Ocean view homes in Pebble Beach is that doing so situates you near the public beach at Stillwater Cove. The beach extends out below the community's golf course and is filled with beautiful white sand. Individuals who enjoy the active lifestyle can scuba dive when they visit the beach, and touring companies will oftentimes make kayaking tours available. Those who prefer to rest and relax on the beach can sunbathe and take in the beautiful scenery without moving a muscle!

Tourist Attractions

stillwater cove fishing in pebble beach...

How To Make Your Home Safe And Secure For Your Senior Years

29798 Highway 1, Carmel, CA 93923As people age, it's important for them to do all that they can to make their golden years healthy and happy. While there are many steps that should be taken to realize this objective, preparing the home for one's senior years is incredibly important. This is the case for many reasons, including the fact that the home preparation process can decrease the likelihood of accidents and injuries. Luckily, preparing your home for your senior years can be relatively simple. Use the information and instructions outlined below to complete the process quickly and correctly:

1. Move Downstairs

One of the best ways to increase your level of safety within the home is by moving downstairs. Maintaining a bedroom upstairs is a recipe for disaster. This is the case because living upstairs will require that you travel up and down the stairs throughout the day. Doing so will increase the likelihood of unwanted trips and falls. Another issue with living upstairs is that doing so can make it more difficult for you to leave the home in the event of an emergency. An alternative to moving downstairs is relocating to a single level home. If you're considering this option, note that you can purchase Camel homes for sale that conform to your requirements for safe, secure living.

2. Use Proper Lighting

In addition to moving downstairs, make sure that you use proper lighting. Poorly lit regions of the home will make it difficult for you to move freely. Also...

COVID-19 Rent Moratorium Rules Extended Statewide | Mobilehomes

The COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act is applied to mobilehomes in mobilehome parks.

Applies all of the protections of the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act of 2020 to persons who rent space in a mobilehome park. See the summary of this law above in under the heading Landlord/Tenant: "COVID-19 Tenant Protection Act of 2020"

The COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act of 2020 extends tenant rental relief protections to the Mobile Home Residency law by defining "landlord" to include an owner of a mobilehome park and an owner of a mobilehome park space or lot, and requiring that any notice to pay rent or quit for a mobilehome renting space in a mobile home park comply with all of the notice rules, including provision of a 15-day notice, statutory advisories and a blank declaration per the Tenant Relief Act. The UD process would adhere to the all of the same procedures under the Tenant Relief Actc with exceptions that are specific to mobilehome eviction such as, for example, that a UD may not be filed for at least 60 days after service of a notice to pay rent or quit.

These provisions were part of a larger bill Assembly Bill 3088 and are codified as Civil Code Section 798.56 and Code of Civil Procdure Sections 1179.01 through 1179.07.  Effective immediately on August 31, 2020, as urgency legislation.

Read more laws here

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Kettlebell Workout Benefits For all Ages

kettlebellGet a grip, Californians---A killer kettlebell workout in Pacific Grove burns fat and sculpts sexy muscles! Plus, it improves balance, strength and stability!

Kettlebell, Arm, Strong Arm, Sport, BodyThink mini bowling ball with a handle. That best describes what a kettlebell is. And like weight-training with dumbbells, a kettlebell can also be lifted, pushed and pulled during a workout. The difference is in the freedom and versatility of movement.

With a kettlebell class in Pacific Grove, you can row, press, swing and jerk the cast iron equipment in different directions with one or both hands. The heart gets pumping, and it makes for a super aerobics exercise with resistance training. It's a gorgeous, oceanview city whose real estate offers plenty of recreational activities.

A kettlebell workout is great for all ages, including seniors, living in the prime real estate of the Pacific Grove area. And although the equipment might look intimidating, it really isn't. Kettlebells range in weight from 2lbs. to 175lbs. That's quite a huge range, meaning there are many benefits to this exercise at individual abilities.

Of course, instruction using a kettlebell is very important. Exercising with too heavy a kettlebell can cause injury to the spine, neck and so forth. There are a lot of kettlebell classes available across gorgeous ...

How an SRES Real Estate Broker Can Help With Aging In Place

Whether it is you or a loved one, transitions can be difficult, especially if those transitions are part of the aging process. Having knowledgeable people on your team can make the that transition easier. For seniors who want to age in place, working with a real estate agent who specializes in the concerns of senior clients can be a plus. A senior real estate specialist or SRES is an important team player when determining how you will spend your golden years. They receive training about the resources available to senior clients and have a well-developed sensitivity to those clients' concerns. 

seniors real estate specialist in santa cruz caWhether it is you or a loved one, transitions can be difficult, especially if those transitions are part of the aging process. Having knowledgeable people on your team can make the that transition easier. For seniors who want to age in place, working with a real estate agent who specializes in the concerns of senior clients can be a plus. A senior real estate specialist or SRES is an important team player when determining how you will spend your golden years. They receive training about the resources available to senior clients and have a well-developed sensitivity to those clients' concerns. 

Aging in Place

Aging in place is a choice made...

Termination of Tenancy Right for Crime Victims Expanded : Landlord/Tenant

This law extends existing provisions of law authorizing a tenant to terminate a tenancy when the tenant or a household member is a victim of domestic violence or elder abuse to also include a crime that caused bodily injury or death, the exhibition, drawing, brandishing, or use of a firearm or other deadly weapon or instrument, or that included the use of force or threat of force against the victim, and expands these provisions to apply if an immediate family member of the tenant is a victim of an eligible crime.

This law extends the existing law as follows:

  1. Adds a crime that caused bodily injury or death, that included the exhibition, drawing, brandishing, or use of a firearm or other deadly weapon or instrument, or that included the use of force against the victim or threat of force against the victim to the existing list of eligible crimes for which a tenant may terminate the lease if the tenant or a household member is a victim.
  2. Authorizes a tenant to terminate a lease if an immediate family member was a victim of an eligible crime.
  3. Authorizes any other form of documentation that reasonably verifies that the eligible crime or act occurred to be given to the landlord.
  4. Adds a victim of violent crime advocate to definition of qualified third party that may sign documentation to be provided to a landlord.
  5. Requires the tenant to provide a specified written statement to the landlord if the tenant is terminating tenancy because an immediate family member is a victim of an eligible crime, the tenant did not live in the same household as the immediate family member at the time of the eligible crime, and no part of the crime occurred within the dwelling unit or within 1,000 feet of the dwelling unit of the tenant.
  6. Requires the notice to terminate the tenancy to be given within 180 days of the date that the newly added eligible crimes occurred.
  7. Prohibits a landlord from requiring a tenant who terminates...

Eco Friendly Bridges May Save Time and Money for Carmel Valley Home Builders

Carmel Valley is an incredibly beautiful area with unique terrain. The terrain is one of the appeals of living here, but it also means that Carmel Valley homes for sale are often on steep hills or otherwise face potential access challenges created by the terrain itself. 

However, there is a solution. New research shows that glulam timber bridges can last between 75 and 90 years under ordinary use at the relatively low traffic levels you are likely to see on county and township roads in parts of Carmel Valley

These are bridges built from glulam, an engineered wood product that combines wood strips with glue to create a superior structural component compared to unmodified wood timbers. They are also cost effective. 

The research was conducted at J. Lohr Structures Lab. They calculated the typical load and stress tested the bridge to simulate use over a long time frame. The amount of stress incidents the structure survived suggests that such bridges can last for decades.

The bridge they tested was donated by Gruen-Wald Engineered Laminates of Tea. The U.S. Department of Transportation and the South Dakota Department of Transportation worked together as co-sponsors. 

Such bridges take less time to build than other alternatives. This is beneficial to the community by keeping road closures to a minimum. As we've seen with Big Sur fires or the slide that took out the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge, getting a community back and thriving depend, on speed and cost. For smaller roads and private residences these glulam bridges may one day have their day.

This type of bridge also fits in well with the aesthetic of ...

Unlawful Detainer (UD) Shielding : Landlord / Tenant

In part urgency legislation that took effect immediately on August 31, 2020.  Two laws: One extends UD Shielding for UD actions based on COVID rental debt and the other further expands UD shielding in general.

Until February 1, 2021 for any UD action based on COVID rental debt (owing from March 4, 2020 to January 31, 2021) public access generally to UD filing is foreclosed even when the plaintiff prevails in an action within 60 days of filing.

Beginning January 1, 2021, public access to UD fillings is permitted when a judgment against all defendants has been entered within 60 days.

In 2017, a law came into effect which restricted the general public access to unlawful detainer filings to the circumstance where the landlord prevailed within 60 days of filing.  The effect of shielding public access to UD filings was to impair the usefulness of credit reports in spotting a tenant with a history of being evicted through the unlawful detainer process.

This new law expands this public access limitation even further by eliminating public access even in those limited circumstances when the unlawful detainer action was filed between March 4, 2020, and January 31, 2021, and is based on the nonpayment of rent. It does, however, contain a special exception for the news media to pull unlawful detainer data for the purpose of gathering "newsworthy facts" by a reporter or other persons in the press.

Additionally, existing law allows access to case records filed in an unlawful detainer action to any person 60 days after the complaint has been filed if the plaintiff prevails in the action within 60 days of the filing of the complaint.

This new law, effective January...

About Liver Cirrhosis Treatment. Is It Possible To Cure Liver Cancer?

curing liver diseaseCould Pacific Grove home owners someday benefit from new advances in CRISPR gene editing treatment for genetic diseases? 

MIT researchers have recently developed a method of using nanotechnology to deliver CRISPR gene-editing components into mice for treating defective genes in liver cells. Previous CRISPR delivery methods have used viruses that might in some cases elicit possible immune responses from the body. The new study demonstrates for the first time that you can make a nanoparticle that can be used to permanently and specifically edit the DNA in the liver of an adult animal. The success rate for cutting certain genes in 80% of liver cell using this new delivery system was about 80 percent, the best ever attained with CRISPR in adult animals. 

Daniel Anderson, associate professor of chemical engineering at MIT, and member of the MIT Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and Institute for Medical Engineering and Science is senior author of the study on the Pcsk9 gene which regulates cholesterol levels. He reports that mutations of the Pcsk9 gene in humans is associated with a rare disease called familial hypercholesterolemia. This disorder is treated with antibody drugs that inhibit the Pcsk9 gene and which must be taken on a regular basis for the patient's entire life. Using the new nanoparticle method, the faulty gene is permanently edited in one treatment. Furthermore, the same methodology...

Rent Cap and Just Cause Eviction : Landlord/Tenant

Urgency legislation that took effect immediately on August 31, 2020.  Clarifies permissible rent increases under statewide rent cap law.  Clarifies the exemptions for a duplex.

Eliminates ambiguities under the Tenant Protection Act of 2019 as to exactly how to calculate the consumer price index for the applicable area -- giving the owner greater assurance that a given rent increase is legally permissible.  Clarifies that the exemption for a duplex applies to a single structure containing two separate dwelling units.

Under the Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (commonly referred to as the statewide rent cap and just cause eviction law or "AB 1482"), a landlord is permitted to raise rent by 5% plus inflation as indicated by the applicable Consumer Price Index.  But AB 1482 is ambiguous in describing precisely which Consumer Price Index ("CPI") measurement can be used.  These ambiguities are as follows:

1)  As passed AB 1482 did not specify which CPI measure is applicable such as the CPI-U for all Urban Consumers or some other measure such as the CPI-E or CPI-W.

2)  AB 1482 required that the CPI numbers for specified metropolitan areas rely on the CPI from April.

However, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics ("USBLS") does not include April numbers for San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

3)  AB 1482 prescribed the use of the CPI for the "region" where the property is located as published by the USBLS.

However, the only "regional" number it publishes is for the "West Region" which covers the 13 westernmost states.

4)  AB 1482 is ambigous as to whether the CPI for a given metropolitan area covers every property within the county described.

5)  AB 1482 was silent on rounding up or down the CPI

6)  Any rent increase would be delayed since the USBLS lags...

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