All Forum Posts by: Jenifer Levini

Home to Charles Schultz, the creator of Snoopy Comics, Montecito Heights in Santa Rosa, California, is arguably the most beautiful and sought-after neighborhoods in Sonoma County, wine country. This chalet-style home, sits atop the sunny side of the hill, overlooking bucolic Rincon Valley and tree-filled Bennett Valley with views to Anadale State Park.

This 2-story Custom home on a 1/3 acre lot has a huge Southeast-facing deck off the living room with big views, outdoor dining and seating areas perfect for morning coffee, lounging in the afternoon sun, and enjoying local wine with friends. Or, watch the moon rise from the east-facing hot tub, next to the shady kitchen patio. Master bedroom features wonderful views from its own private enclosed deck. Newly Remodeled kitchen with Custom cabinets- every feature know to cabinets-, stainless appliances, 25-year LED lighting, and built-in wine cooler. New hardwood floors and carpet throughout. Master suite, 2 bedrooms and a 2nd bath with rain-style shower over tub. Attached 2-car garage, park-like grounds complete this extremely comfortable home. The home was rented as an Airbnb making $6000+/ month on season, $4000/month off season long-term rental.
Perfect family home located in the award-winning Rincon Valley district - Madrone Elementary, Rincon Valley Middle School and Highest-rated Maria Carrillo High School.
Centrally located to wineries in Kenwood, Dry Creek Valley, Healdsburg, Glen Ellen, Sonoma, & Sebastopol within 15 minutes. Convenient commute location, just 1 mile off Highway 101. Santa Rosa is the county seat of Sonoma County with world class restaurants, an indy movie theater, & huge Howarth Park with miles of hiking trails and a climbing wall within 1 mile of the house.
Sonoma County Airport, about 15 minutes door to door, has flights with Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, United Airlines, & Sun Country Air. SMART train makes getting from San Francisco or Marin County to Santa Rosa as easy as sitting on a fast train.

Currently listed at $949K. Available for $899K when the current listing expires in July. Dont wait! Every other home with a view on this hill has sold for over $1.2M

video: https://vimeo.com/272479202

Enjoy sunshine and tiny houses! TinyFest California will be representing the West Coast for Tiny Houses Across America. The event will be held at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds in San Jose.

Check out the big variety of small homes, including Tiny Houses on Wheels, Shipping Container Home, Skoolies, Van Conversions and other surprising structures. Discover the joys of living simple and meet fellow members of the #tinyhousetribe.

The event starts Friday night, then continues all day Saturday and Sunday.

More event details on Facebook: TinyFest California 2018

Tickets at http://tinyfestcalifornia.com/

This conversation capsulizes the complexities of housing. And why strategies that work in some parts of the country are not relevant to others. And even that simple theories like supply-and-demand arent at the root of economic decisions. 

@Jay Hinrichs that container development in Oregon looks amazing. Have they or you tried to do that in California? I had read that California wasnt officially allowing people to live in containers. Then I saw entire villages of containers behind high walls in San Francisco.

LLC laws are different in every state. Ask a lawyer in your state what you should do. If you pay for one hour of lawyer time, you could save yourself tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars of liability exposure in the long run.

This is one of my nightmares. As a lawyer who writes rental agreements in California, I always ask landlord's if there is a possibility of the tenant dying in the unit. The state of California has a looooooooooong list of language that could be in the rental agreement governing what happens to the unit if the tenant dies. It covers the heir's rights to the tenancy, and the disposition of the deceased tenant's property, etc. It's very complicated because a tenant can pass down the right to occupy a rental unit. In California, if this happens, it could take many months for the landlord to regain control. All of those months there could be no rent paid. 

Most the landlords I work with decide to skip including that morbid language in their agreements. Then I read this a realize that maybe we should include it.

@Michele Fischer I dont think that grouping arrest, abandonment and death together, then giving a third party who is not a party to the agreement the right to make the decision about who occupies the unit in the future is a good idea. But it might make sense to get information  about who is responsible for removal of a tenant's belonging if you believe there is a high likelihood that they will be left behind for some reason. On some rental applications there is an emergency contact question.

Turns out this could be a more complicated legal question than I originally thought.

We're getting a pretty good crowd on Meetup. People are coming from all around the bay area, all around the south bay and all the way up to San Mateo and San Francisco. If the group gets too big we may move from the couch area to the upstairs bar area. This will give us our own bar with cocktail tables and high chairs.

We'll still  be upstairs in Brunos. 

Please RSVP so I can reserve the right area.

I have tried to develop MHP and RV Parks in California. The counties I looked in have virtually no land that has the zoning that allows MHP that isnt already a MHP. In other words, they have zoned against future development of parks. I believe this is a political decision resulting from the belief that MHPs become slums that attract "trailer park boys." With the invention of tiny homes that attract a different demographic, I am hoping this stigma changes.

Converting MHP and RVP to tiny home villages is the wave of the future. It will put more homes in the same space, but allow for different arrangements/groupings (not just rows) that are more pleasant for living. It will also create a lot more income for park owners!

Although he is the guru of MHPs, I would caution against applying Frank Rolfe's financial analysis to California real estate questions. Things are just different here than they are in the mid-west. When I met with some mid-west mobile home park owners to talk about conversion to tiny homes, and we got down to the numbers, they just couldnt comprehend the idea that people pay $300-600K for a mobile home in the Bay Area. They deal with numbers like $15K. A multiple of 20X changes the dynamics.

If you find land to build a MHP let me know. I'm interested and can help with the legal work.

Here's the link to RSVP and join the group, if youre not already a member
https://www.meetup.com/Santa-Cruz-Real-Estate-Investor-Meetup/events/249239499/

Join us in Santa Cruz for the "monthly" real estate social meetup! Meet lots of people, come enjoy the conversation and share a beverage and delicious snacks.

We talk about some of the local and out-of-area deals that people have been doing. At the last event conversations tapped into out-of-state investing opportunities, tiny homes, cannabis property, partnering on deals, buying bulk REOs, finding realtors and property mangers in out-of-state areas, valuations in other areas of California like Modesto & Mendocino County, and getting permits in Santa Cruz county. Bring your deals and let's negotiate.

If you have never come, this is a SOCIAL event. No lectures, no formal pitching, no products, packages, gurus or anything besides avid investors telling stories and getting advice on our adventures.

When: Thursday, April 19, 2018, 7pm

Where: Brunos

Please support the local business we mob by spending some money and tipping for the great service we receive! They will have both food and nice drinks. Remember, evening traffic can get a touch thick so give yourself some time. I'll hang there till it ends (about 9:30pm depending on how conversation flows).

Can't wait to see you all, reply if you want to come.

- Jen Levini, Esq. 

People typically come from: Santa Cruz, Felton, Boulder Creek, Ben Lomond, Brookdale, Bonny Doon, Lompico, Scotts Valley, Live Oak, Capitola, Soquel, Aptos, Watsonville, Freedom, Corallitos, Pajaro, Seaside, Castroville, Moss Landing, Salinas, Gilroy, Morgan Hill, Marina, Aromas, Monterey, Carmel, Los Gatos, Campbell, Saratoga, San Jose, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Davenport, & Half Moon Bay.

Hi Jay Black, I'm a real estate lawyer & investor, in your neighborhood. I set up LLCs for investors. Although you might assume that I'm going to suggest that you set up an LLC, I'm not. The reality is that a lot of potential investors never become investors for one reason or another, most of the time having to do with the high prices of real estate around here. Forming an LLC in California with a great Operating Agreement & business practices that protect you from liability isn't cheap. It's better to save your money until you're sure you actually have a property to place in the LLC. Typically, closing takes at least 30 days. In that time you can form your LLC. Right now the State of CA Secretary of State is processing applications in 2-3 weeks. If your business isn't too complicated, the rest of the paperwork including the OA, EIN, bank accounts... can be created in 2-3 weeks. My advice is to wait until you have a property under contract that looks likely to close, then form your LLC. When you make the offer, the buyer should be your name "or assignee." This will allow you to assign the contract to your LLC and close with title in the name of your LLC.