Kirsten's Sonoma Real Estate Blog

One of my favorite hang-outs is Sonoma's Sunflower Caffe, a popular Sonoma restaurant for locals and visitors alike.   That's because it's typical laid-back Sonoma scene --- very low-key.  The Sunflower offers great lattes, mochas, teas, and a menu featuring healthy breakfast items, sandwiches, and some seriously good salads for brunch or lunch.   Mid-to-late afternoons is happy hour with special deals on wine and beer.

The  Sunflower is a great place to hook up with old friends and clients which I did yesterday.   Another patron took this picture and you can tell by looking at it that she'd had (steady now) waaaaaaay too much of their tempting coffee.  

 I've got a special place in my heart for the Sunflower which goes back to the days before its time.    In the '70's there was a gift shop in this spot called the Landmark.  I remember selling all sorts of things back then...including Takahashi mugs and ash trays.    But back to today.  Check out the Sunflower's website and get the lowdown from people who've been there and posted their reviews on Yelp.  You'll see it's definitely worth a visit.  Hope we meet up there!

Sonoma County Economic Indicators - Some Good News for Real Estate! 

The Sonoma County Economic Development Board has just released a 16 page report looking ahead at our local economy and, among other things, it cites good news about housing affordability.

The report says declining Sonoma County real estate values have helped broaden home buying opportunities fhere.  It also says the per-capita income here has exceeded the national average and that new business creation in Sonoma County actually went up in 2009!

It's a quick read and definitely worth your time if you are interested in economic news --- and who isn't today? Click here to read the full report. 

It's important to point out the county-wide report does not take into account Sonoma real estate micro-markets.  If you want detailed information on the real estate market in Sonoma, Glen Ellen, Healdsburg, Sebastopol, Petaluma or other towns and areas give me a call...or email me.  I've got the data and can break it down for you. 

When you come to Sonoma Valley you've got to stop to smell the roses in Sonoma Plaza.  When they are in bloom...and it's often...it's just one of the things I love to do in Slow-noma.

I'm posting today to share the latest news in our local paper, the Sonoma Index Tribune, about Sonoma's official acceptance as a member of Cittaslow.  This is the international organization that celebrates a more natural, healthy, and relaxed way of living.  A delegation from Cittaslow has been visiting and you can read all about it in today's edition of the Sonoma IT.

The next time you're in Sonoma, be sure to stop in Sonoma Plaza where rose bushes abound.  And if you've got time...as here you should...give me a call and I'll show you my Slow-noma.  Dress casually and wear your walking shoes.  We'll just meander around. 

I hit the road this morning to check out our broker tour for Sonoma real estate listings.  Sixteen properties made the Sonoma tour this week.  Asking prices start at $289,000 for condos - two of which are located in the Spanish-style complex known as La Mancha on the western side of Sonoma.  The condos are about 1200 square feet with 2 bedrooms and 2 baths.  Other listings include:

• 19167 Robinson Rd - $295,000 - 3bed/2ba, approx 1300 s.f., a condo that's a short sale.
• 17600 Johnson Ave - $323,000- 2bed/1ba, approx 850 s.f. - bungalow built in 1949.
• 18105 Railroad Ave - $325,000 - 3bed/2ba, approx 1430 s.f. single level, built in '76
• 290 Mountain Ave - $399,000 - 2bed/2ba, approx 1700 s.f. - 2 story townhouse close to shopping, schools, and the plaza.
• 592 Baines Ave - $435,000 - 3bed/2ba, approx 1560 s.f. - 2 story home built in 2000.
• 594 Zinnia Ct - $439,500 - 2bed/2ba, approx 1650 s.f. - single level in adult 55+ community.  This is a short sale.
• 955 Lori Ct - $675,000 - 3bed/2ba, approx 1800 s.f. - single level built in '78 - short sale.
• 18919 Riverside - $759,000 - 7bed/4ba - approx 3500 s.f. - single level built in '79.
• 19253 Kenleigh Dr - $809,000- 4bed/3ba, approx 2100 s.f. - multi-level on 2.5 acres built in '76.
• 136 France St - $998,000- 3bed/2ba, approx 1830 s.f. - single level in prime eastside neighborhood built in 1970 - this is returning to the market & was originally listed at $1,079,000.

• 563 2nd St. East - $1,895,000 - ALREADY IN ESCROW! - 3bed/3ba, approx 2400 s.f. - charming older home extensively remodeled on .57 acre blocks from Sonoma Plaza.  It is a charmer....as you can see........

• Finally.....650 Alder Court - $2,500,000 - 8bed/8ba, approx 6000 s.f. - Craftsman style in Armstrong Estates w-pool and guest house - near Sonoma Plaza- built in 2001.  This home was on the market last year and the price has come down significantly.  It's large home that makes a big statement...even under a grey sky.

New listings are coming on the market almost daily as we head toward the Sonoma spring selling season.  If you want to chat about the inventory or market conditions call me on my cell or shoot me an email.  It's always fun to talk Sonoma Real Estate.  By-the-way, the property descriptions provided in this post contain information presented by Bay Area Real Estate Information Systems and has not been verified, is not guaranteed, and is subject to change.  All the more reason to contact me for a chat!

Sonoma Winter Weather has its good, its bad, and its beautiful aspects.  January is the wettest month in Sonoma.  The past two weeks have brought us torrential rainfall.  The immediate good news is we may be spared a fourth consecutive year of drought conditions.  Our ten days of rain made the front page in today's Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

The bad in Sonoma winter weather is the toll it can take---localized flooding, road deterioration, damage to the environment.  One night last week I was working on my Sonoma Real Estate Blog and I heard a noise that's hard to describe.

If you've ever heard the sound of a tree trunk splitting in a storm, you'll never forget it.  It's a tearing, shredding, wretched noise followed by a thud when it hits the ground.  My neighbor was lucky.  The 200-300 year old Bay that crashed on her property barely missed her home.

However...and here's the beauty...while she was surveying the damage she stumbled upon a mother-lode of wild mushrooms---chanterelles.

So a rainy January day in Sonoma is full of beautiful blessings, too.  The day that tree came down I grabbed my camera and went in search of the Sonoma beauty I know and love.  Here is a sample of what I found...

If you want information about Sonoma Real Estate...and more specifics on our weather or other aspects of living in Sonoma....email me or call me on my cell.  I'll shower you with info.

Changes are coming for the Sonoma Farmer's Market but not without great controversy.  Beginning each year in early April and running through October, local fans of the Sonoma Farmer's Market combine produce shopping with socializing in the center of town on Sonoma Plaza.  It's a charming, yet relatively small-scale, market that many of us cherish.   The future of the Sonoma Farmer's Market has been murky due to criticism of its management.

But now, a vote by the Sonoma City Council has shed some light on what may lie ahead.  A story in the Sonoma Index Tribune provides details on how market managers won the council's suppport to retain leadership of this popular local event.  You can read the story here.

It's a relief to many that changes in the operations of the Sonoma Farmer's Market will be made.  It's an even greater relief to the residents of Slow-noma and Sonoma Valley (like me) that these changes will apparently be subtle....at least for now.   Here's to a great growing season in 2010 and a bountiful year for our splendid Sonoma farmers.

Thursday of each week we have our broker tour of Sonoma real estate listings.  Today the tour of Sonoma real estate listings was short with  five properties ranging in price from $189,000 to $799,000.  Here's a quick run-down:

1. $189,000 - Attached Single Family Home.  4bed/2ba, approx 1300 sq.ft., 2 story.  This was a bank-owned property sold to a broker last year at $160,000 who is re-selling it now.  It's described as "move in ready and renovated."  It's located just of highway 12 in "The Springs" area of Sonoma Valley.
2. $380,000 - Detached Single Family Home.  3bed/2ba, approx. 1339 s.f., single story.  This property is a short sale.  The owners paid $650,000 for it in September '05.  Located on Sonoma's "west side" near bike path.
3. $409,000 - Detached Single Family w-separate unit.  2bed/2ba, approx. 1200 s.f. single story.  Detached unit has kitchen/bath and is approx. 400 s.f. and is tenant occupied.
4. $539,000 - Detached Single Family in Temelec a 55+community.  2bed/2ba., approx. 1500 s.f. single story.  This property has been extensively remodeled.  Temelec is on the southern end of Sonoma Valley and is conveniently located for access to the Marin, San Francisco, and Petaluma.
5. $799,000 - Single Family home in Glen Ellen.  4bed/2ba, approx. 2400 s.f., 2 story.  Backs up to creek.  It's been for sale since January 30 of 2009 and was first listed at $959,000.

If you want more information on these Sonoma real estate listings you can email me or call me @ 707.337.1182, There are many more Sonoma real estate listings available, too.  I look forward to talking with you!

I've often heard people  say,  "I want to retire in Sonoma."  Lots of folks do.  The median age here in Sonoma is 47, according to officials at City Hall.   That fact may have had something to do with a t.v. commercial that was shot in town today.  It could  just be a co-incidence but I found the linkage between the subject of the ad and the mature and relatively well-heeled population of this lovely town quite interesting. 

As I drove into the office on Sonoma Plaza today I noticed a production crew on nearby First Street East.  Curious ex-reporter that I am, I went over to find out what was going on.  A security guard said MJZ Productions out of LA was shooting a commercial for Merrill Lynch about its retirement planning programs.

Two actors caught my attention.   Posing as shoppers, one young-ish woman emerges from a boutique with a bag while another gazes through the window.  Didn't see the script but the big blue signs were hard to miss.  She's looking at one that says "hesitation."  It might have been stage instructions and you can make of it what you will but I saw the scene as further evidence that a new day has dawned and that those thinking about a more stable economic future had best conserve rather than spend their money impulsively.

So how does all this tie into whether you might want to retire in Sonoma?  It's pretty simple.  If you do, you'll need significant financial resources.  We have a famously great quality of life in Sonoma but it costs more to live here than many other places.   65% of Sonoma's residents own their homes.   However, the average sale price in 2009 for a home in Sonoma was over $700,000, 

Since the start of 2010, I've counted 30 "new" Sonoma Valley Real Estate Listings.  They're priced from $297,500 to $3,895,000.  There's absolutely no way this last estate property offering can be considered new.  It's been a real estate listing for sale on and off since November of 2007 when it hit the Multiple Listing Service at $5,500,000.  Quite a few of the other newbies have long listing histories, too.

Today's sellers need to know their properties aren't going to sell if they are over-priced to begin with.   My advice to sellers in Sonoma Valley today is "price to sell" while the buyers are showing interest.  And buyers are shopping for property right now...due to low interest rates, available inventory, and who-knows-what else in their personal lives.   

I'm going to be introducing two new Sonoma real estate listings soon myself.  They aren't on the MLS yet.  The sellers are preparing them to look their best.   Even smarter than that, though, these sellers decided to price them to sell.  You can contact me for more tips on getting ready for market,  Looks like 2010 could be a very active real estate year.

I've never made an appeal like this but I'm asking every member of the Active Rain community to ACT NOW to help save lives the lives of children in Haiti.   The devastation is beyond anything most of us will ever see, let alone experience.  CNN has reported that over half of Haiti's citizens are under age 18.  If we ACT NOW and donate to relief efforts we can save lives.

Most of us have felt sadness and compassion following other catastrophic disasters and many of us have made donations in the recent past.  Yes, times have been tough for real estate professionals but most of us have a roof over our head right now, plenty of drinking water, and more food than we need.  ACT NOW, ActiveRain friends, and then go kiss your kids, hug anyone else in sight, pet the dog, and get back to your blogging.   Just take a minute or two...right now...to show that you really care.

I made my donation...and it was modest...to Doctor's Without Borders.  We can all afford to donate something...even $5.00 will help.  Which disaster relief organization are you going to chose?  Let's save lives and then get on with selling homes!