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Wildfire Insurance Fund

A new law took effect July 12 that should provide financial salvation for investor-owned utilities when they make payments to wildfire victims for wildfire losses suffered due to the utilities' equipment. It does NOT reimburse individual victims of fires or issue insurance policies. It just covers the utilities' fire losses from fire caused settlements or legal judgments. The fund will total $21 Billion, with half of that coming from Southern California Edison, PG & E, and San Diego Gas & Electric. One wrinkle in PG & E's participation is its bankruptcy. In order to join, this utility must exit bankruptcy not later than next June 30. The remaining half would come from the...

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Are You Properly Insured?

One of the most important things in home ownership is making certain you have enough insurance and the right kind of coverage. Failure to do either can leave you in the middle of the worst nightmare you can imagine!  It's safe to assume that you, kike most homeowners already has homeowners insurance.  Most likely you obtained it when you initially bought your home.  If for no other reason, you did so because it's a condition of your mortgage.  This will cover you in the event of fire, storm damage or personal liability to visitors in your home.  It won't cover you in the event of flooding.  If you live in a declared flood danger zone, you should have flood insurance that specifically...

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Build An Estate – Cut Your Taxes

It's everyone's greatest dream--get wealthier and reduce your taxes to boot.  You probably think that the scenario is impossible--just can't be done. BUT it is not only possible.  It's done regularly.  How?, you ask.  Well, it's fairly simple! The way you increase your assets in tis case is to buy and hold real estate.  It really makes no different what type of real estate--a house, warehouse, office building or condo.  All types are suitable for this method.  The slightly more complicated aspect is the tax reduction aspect of the deal.  That's handled by virtue of part of the tax code.  The tax code section is Section 1031.  The way it...

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Prices Rise Slightly

In the latest statistics released on home prices, the median price for Marin County in May, 2019 showed a 1.3% increase from the year earlier figures.  Marin's median is now $1.2 Million, up from the 2018 number.  In the greater Bay Area, the trend was not quite as good, with the median at $860,000, a reduction of 1.7% from the 2018 figure.  The total number sold in Marin was totally flat from last year's number, with sales for each year in May totaling 372 properties sold.  Overall, the market appears good due to two factors:  Interest rates have dropped somewhat, making the cost of buying easier for folks to afford; and there has been an increase in inventory, year to...

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IPO’s Don’t Raise Prices

I've covered the effects of IPO's on house prices in the past on a couple of occasions, but the correlation of the former doesn't always lead to a rise in the prices of homes.  Good examples of the separation of offerings and home prices can be demonstrated by recent IPO's by Uber, Lyft and Pinterest, to name a few.  If IPO's automatically led to a boost in prices, then Bay Area homes should have taken flight like the proverbial rocket.  However, San Francisco's median price only jumped1.2% higher in May than a year earlier.   Condo prices have actually fallen by nearly 3/4 0f a percent in the same period.  Another factor in the slowdown on prices is the usual summer slowdown in the...

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Fire Safety–CLEAR THAT BRUSH!

It's not new, but recent wildfires in the North Bay have once again emphasized the imperative need to maintain a brush free 'safety area' around your home. Frequently, when a fire breaks out in the area, homes that have the latest in everything, including sprinklers and fire retardant shingles, are incinerated just as rapidly as those not so equipped. Avoiding this tragedy can be as easy as mowing the lawn. The theory is that by denying sparks or the leading edge of a wildfire the fuel necessary to feed and propel the fire forward a homeowner can stop the fire dead in its tracks. At a minimum, doing so can slow the blaze enough to allow a homeowner or firefighters the room and time to turn...

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Market Happenings

The latest going on in the market shows things seeming to go in opposite directions at the same time. Numbers of homes sold in April have increased by almost 50% over March, while rising less than 1% from a year ago.Median price, however, has decreased in both categories! WHAT does this mean? Long experience indicates that this proves the market is still healthy, BUT that certain tenets must be observed, regardless whether a Buyer or Seller you may be. Homes properly priced and 'done' are still selling, not infrequently with multiple offers and over asking price. Folks out there still want as much as they can get for their Dollar. Just in the past month and change, we personally have had...

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IPO’s and Market Values

It seems like yesterday!  Huge new IPO's are again starting to hit the stock market.  Execs of these companies are making millions and every day another household name may enter your portfolio. Uber, Lyft, various media posting firms, to name a few, are issuing publicly traded stock and piles of money are changing hands. SO WHAT?, you shout Unless you are lucky enough to get some of the new stock at issue, you have to wonder how it affects the housing market.  The answer is fairly simple.  It's a matter of fact that when people come into money, one of the things they like to do with it is buy a new house.  If there are enough of these folks walking around with overflowing pockets, it can...

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Prices Still Climbing in Marin

In statistics released yesterday by Core Logic, home prices are still going up in February, 2019, both in comparison to January and compared to a year earlier. Fueled in large part by anticipation of a number of IPO's, more people are jumping onto the market and spending more money to claim the home they want. Last month, total sales in Marin were 180 homes sold.  This figure is 26.8% higher than the number from January, while it simultaneously is 7.1% higher than the same month in 2018.  Similarly, the median price for the period, at $1,025,000, showed an increase of 11.4% from that of January and--hang onto your seats--15.7% higher than a year earlier! These numbers were also fueled by a...

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