The Emerald Hills Blog

According to the results of the latest blog poll, Emerald Hills residents like the rural feel of their neighborhood just as much as they like the views they get of the Bay Area.    Those are certainly two qualities that probably best exemplify the Emerald Hills Area.   Here are the final results of the poll:

Perhaps you are already aware of the Green Building Ordinance that was enacted by the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors earlier this year, but it certainly slipped under my radar.  But if you are planning to remodel a significant portion of your Emerald Hills home, or you’re looking to build a new home entirely, be aware that you will have to spend some “green” to make your new home “green.”

This Ordinance, which passed on February 12 of 2008, applies to all unincorporated areas of San Mateo County — thereby including Emerald Hills.   The idea behind this ordinance is to encourage responsible and environmentally friendly building practices for all new residential and commercial construction, as well as those remodel projects that are over “50%.”   Sounds like a great idea in theory, but there are strings attached for homeowners.  According to the Ordinance,

“Approval of any building permit for new construction or a 50% or greater remodel of a single-family dwelling, a two-family dwelling, or a low-rise multi-family residential project shall not be granted unless the applicant submits a checklist demonstrating that the project receives:

1. 50 GreenPoints or higher on the appropriate GreenPoint Rated Checklist, OR,
2. Leed Certification”

GreenPoints and Leed Certification are defined and outlined in the Ordinance, so it’s well worth reading.

What would an ordinance be without a cost?  This one is no different.   Applicants for a building permit will be required to post the following bond:

• $5,000, or $1.50/square foot for the total square footage of the building, whichever is higher.
• Compliance to the Green requirement outlined in 1) or 2) above must be verified by an inspector.  If not, the project must be brought into compliance, or the bond will be forfeited.

On top of the fees, you’re likely to cough up another $1,000 or so to get a qualified inspector to verify compliance to the aforementioned standards.  Here is a copy of the ordinance, as well as a link to the County of San Mateo Website, where you can find more information and get contact information:

SM County Green Building Ordinance

San Mateo County Green Building Program

RecycleWorks.org Site

As I mentioned before, if you have any questions on how this may impact your remodel project, you are urged to contact the San Mateo County Planning and Building Department at (650)363-4161.

So like I said, going green in San Mateo County is now going to cost some extra green…

Being a Roy Cloud grad, I have always had a soft spot for that section of Farm Hill Estates that’s sandwiched between Jefferson Avenue and Farm Hill Boulevard.  Most of the kids I went to school with lived in this area, so there are always LOTS of memories when I drive through.

Many of the people who live in this area now also have children who attend Roy Cloud School.  That’s why I always like to highlight a good “family” home in this area when I see it hit the market.  949 Stony Hill Road fits that role quite well.

This is a very clean, 4BR/2.5BA home that is being offered at $1,249,000 by Pam Piers Hammer of Coldwell Banker.   This home has lots of good things going for it — it’s nicely updated, and has a very nice open and functional layout.  The extra office space is a big plus for those who like to work out of their home.

Most of the street is on a hill (hence the name Stony Hill) but this particular lot is on the relatively level mid-section of the street.  This means the 7,700 square foot lot is essentially flat, which is another plus.  The back yard is nicely landscaped, and there’s a newly refinished deck that’s great for entertaining.

Finally, one of the big attractions here will be the location.   It’s in a great neighborhood and it’s a breeze to 280 for the commute.  Oh yeah, let’s not forget the whole Roy Cloud connection.

Be sure to check this one out….

Technology is a wonderful thing, don’t get me wrong.   It has changed our lives immeasurably, and when applied properly, this change is positive.  But keeping up with the “latest and greatest” in technology presents an interesting paradigm.  At what point does the race to improve technology outpace the benefits that technology brings us? This is a phenomenon known as “feature creep.”

We’re constantly being implored to “upgrade” anything we own that is remotely electronic.  Whether it’s the operating system of a computer, or your mobile phone, we’re cramming more features into the things we use daily.

To give you an example, I recently upgraded my operating system because I heard that it had some great new features, which turned out to be true.  But the new OS routinely fights with old software and plug-ins that I already have installed, making for an often unpleasant experience (aka crashing..)    So am I better off for upgrading?   Hmmm, I’m not sure yet…

Here’s another example.  My old faithful coffee pot finally died an unceremonious death yesterday, so I went out and purchased a new one.   LOTS of cool features on this new one — it even uses the word “Programmability” which should have immediately made me tremble.  (Let’s not lose site of the fact that all I want is a hot cup of coffee..)

Well, after 45 minutes of reading the owner’s manual several times, I figured out how to make a cup of coffee with this baby.  And it was a good cup of coffee mind you…  but 45 minutes? And I’m an Engineer, for goodness sake!

So how does this rant relate to Real Estate and homes?   Well, our homes are being invaded by technology.  TV’s, ovens, washers and dryers, sound systems, and heating controllers all have small microprocessors running them.  Consequently, it’s irresistible for manufacturers to program lots of features into these appliances…whether we need them or not.    Some feature are definitely cool, some we wouldn’t use in a million years.

Is having all of these features good if you’re selling your home?   Not necessarily.  I was showing one of my clients a home a few weeks ago, and we made the mistake of trying to figure out how the heating system worked.  I’m pretty sure we could have altered the path of the Space Shuttle with this heater controller, but I’ll be darned if we could get the heater to go on.  Needless to say, this didn’t make a positive impression on my buyers.

The point here is that it’s very easy to try and fix what wasn’t really broken, and in the process end up making our lives more complicated, rather than less complicated.   Just today, the San Jose Mercury News announced that Google and Apple were the two highest ranking tech companies in customer (i.e. you and I) satisfaction rating.  Here’s the article:

Apple and Google Score High

Why do you think people love those products so much?   Because they’re SIMPLE, and they work.    So be sure to keep that in mind when you consider installing that rack server in your basement that controls the exterior lights, hair dryer, coffee maker, 24-track surround sound, and is web-accessible from your iPhone while you are in a business meeting.  While it may be the cool thing to do, the sheer complexity of the technology may be too intimidating for many buyers….  And that’s how “Feature Creep” can hurt real esate.

It used to be that bigger was better when it came to building houses. For the past few decades, statistics have shown that the average size home in the United States has grown incrementally every year. But new data is showing that this trend may changing for a variety of reasons. People who wanted their 5,000 square foot home are starting to feel the pinch when the PG&E bill is thicker than the phone book. Or many of these families are looking to downsize after the kids have flown the coop.

Here’s a great article from CNN Money that discusses this phenomenon in more detail. Thanks to blog reader Greg for this find:

The Incredible Shrinking House

What does this mean for Emerald Hills, and surrounding areas? Don’t expect the demise of the large home. Folks still like their space, and are willing to pay for it. What you will see, however, is more demand for “intelligent” space — homes that are smaller in square footage, but much higher in utilization…i.e. no wasted or under-utilized space. Formal dining rooms and living rooms are prime examples of dead space.

For those of us in the home sales market, including buyers and sellers, this starts to change the playing field a bit. It will no longer be acceptable to base the value of a home primarily on its square footage. Homes with intelligent design and unique architecture will command a premium despite their smaller size, thus skewing the stoic “$$-per-square foot” metric.

So don’t be surprised to start seeing homes start popping up in the range north of $700/square foot, even if they’re 3,000 square feet or less. If they’re done right, they’ll be in demand and will likely fetch the price.

After all, it’s not the size of the home that matters most….it’s what’s inside that matters.

Yes…. if it’s done properly. That’s where the catch comes in.

There’s much more to staging a house than throwing in some new furniture, hanging a couple of pictures, and putting some faux flowers on the staged dining room table. Anyone can do that.

What separates a good staging job from just a housecleaning is this: A good stager knows how to maximize the strong points of the home, while minimizing those things that may make it less desirable. Sounds a little like a description of putting make-up on? In a way, it is.

How is this accomplished? Since tearing down walls and adding a second story isn’t an option, a stager has to maximize the potential of the home as it stands. They have to visualize how a prospective owner may best live in this particular house, and then create an environment that plays up that theme. For example, if a home has a large kitchen with an attached dining room, they will put their best efforts here to entice the families that tend to congregate in their kitchens. If the kitchen is a disaster, but the living room is the perfect place for a plasma TV, you’d better believe the stager is going to play up the assets of the living room.

The bottom line is that if a home is staged properly, the investment you put into staging will almost always pay for itself many times over. And that is the definition of a good investment.

When it comes to home ownership, there are few things more confusing (and sometimes intimidating) than having to find and hire someone to do work on your home. How do you find a plumber, electrician, painter, or carpenter? More importantly, how do you know if they are good, reliable, and trustworthy?

Obviously, you can ask a friend or someone you know who has had work done recently. That’s always a solid, relevant datapoint…but that’s only one reference. And what if you are new in town and don’t know anyone? The good ‘ol Internet can help out. There are two websites that I will discuss that can help get you on your way:

Angie’s List: http://www.angieslist.com The name-connection to the ubiquitous “craigslist” is obvious in the moniker. Angie’s List was created in 1995 by Angie Hicks in Columbus, Ohio as a way for homeowners to track and rate different contractors in the various home-improvement trades. Since it’s inception, Angie’s List has expanded into many areas, including the San Francisco Bay Area. This site is different from others in two main areas:

• Cost. There is a fee to join ($15 sign-up, approx $5 per month.) The company rationalizes this as a way to get “honest” feedback about businesses. The thought being that only people who are serious about writing honest referrals will go through the effort and pay the cost. I don’t necessarily buy this rationale — it’s very easy for anyone to log in under a pseudo-email address and post a seemingly legit review. But for the purpose of this discussion, I’ll assume the vast majority are real.
• Grading. Angie’s List allows users to grade contractors on an A-F grading scale, just like school, for key parameters such as price, quality, responsiveness, cost etc… There is also ample area for commentary, which is always helpful. As I mentioned before, as long as the reports are legitimate, they are very helpful.

Yelp: http://www.yelp.com Yelp falls under the category of a “social network.” It’s free and easy to join, and you can write reviews on any business from pizzerias to painters. Rating is done by giving a business 1-5 stars. It is a little less structured than Angie’s List, but the commentaries are generally more pointed and frank. If someone screws up on a job, they’re going to get “Yelped,” which is the equivalent of the old schoolyard dogpile. If nothing else, the commentaries are very creative and often amusing.

Diamond Certified: http://www.diamondcertified.org/ Diamond Certified is an organization that reviews and certifies various businesses based on a rigorous qualification process. These businesses are reviewed on a quarterly basis and must maintain a certain rating to keep their Diamond Certification. The positive of this is the obvious neutrality of the rating — no relatives writing the reviews. The downside is that you’ll have far fewer contractors to pick from (maybe that’s a good thing?)

In summary, regardless of whether you find your contractor online or through a friend, make sure to take the following steps:

1. Get additional referrals or customer from the contractor (preferably a live person.)
2. Interview multiple contractors.
3. If you can, go see some of the work they’ve done. Electrical and plumbing is tough, but painting, floors and kitchens are easy to see.

I hope this helps! If you know of any other websites that cater to rating contractors, please post a comment below. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me.