King Tides

What is all this about King Tides? Well, the simple answer is that a King Tide is the highest tide of the year in a coastal location. Since we are blessed with many coastal locations, if you are photographically inclined, you can join the California King Tide Initiative, which is dedicated to capturing images of King Tides. Just be smart and alert about it, there have been several tragic losses of late. It's always good to know whether the tide is incoming or outgoing before we strand ourselves on a narrow beach. Even with your wits about you, sneaker waves are no joke.

Weather.com

We had King Tides last month and more are upon us, January 9-11. What does this have to do with real estate you might ask? Well, you may want to consider King Tides if you are considering buying property in Tam Valley, for example, or near the Embarcadero or even in the Mission. With sea levels on the rise, King Tides can spell flooding, and offer insights into future conditions.

WCGH

Also it's just cool to know what the ocean and bay are up to, especially if you sail, dive, canoe, fish, surf, swim, or like to hike or play along the seaside. There is no shortage of tide apps for the smart phone user. Three I like are Shralp Tide, Tides Planner, and Tide Graph. Or you can just pick up a simple tide guide at surf and marine shops, spend a little more on the awesome Tidelog  (The Warming Hut carries them) or go here online. 

Why Winter is a Great Time To Be Looking at Property

Though it may not be a convenient time to buy a home, there are some really good reasons why winter is an excellent time to look at property.  This article lists several advantages from a real estate perspective. As your microclimate obsessed Realtor, I must point out that this close to Winter Solstice, the darkest time of the year here, the truth of how much light and warmth is available in a given location is easy to see.

All too many home owners have bought homes in late spring, when the home is bathed in light, only to discover that by September, the home is in the cold shadows by 2 in the afternoon. While you can make educated guesses, based on slope and aspect of a home site, at this time of year no guessing or visualizing is necessary, just cruise the neighborhoods you favor in the morning and evening and you'll see where the shadows are. 

Here we see holiday elves standing on the North facing South side of the street at around 2:00 in the afternoon. Dark and cool, even on a bright sunny day. I'm guessing the folks across the street have smaller heating bills. In a free standing single family home the same will hold true, south and west light will bath a home all day, unless it is blocked by a hill, or other buildings.

Then there is the moisture/flooding factor...  I've been hearing stories of several homes in escrow that leaked during the last big storm- it was a doozy and if leaks were ever going to happen they happened then. So much better to learn about potential flooding or water intrusion issues before you buy a home. Winter buyers are less likely to be surprised than summer buyers. Just sayin...

San Anselmo Fairfax Patch

Water Intrusion, Take 2

Will and Guy

Our Broker spoke to a packed house at Zephyr last week, sharing "war stories", though, given the season, and the nature of the stories, it was really more "scary stories" about what could possibly go wrong in a real estate transaction, that might lead to a lawsuit.

Number One subject of lawsuits?  Water intrusion. Given my last post, I thought I'd better follow up with more encouragement to clean those gutters, keep an eye out for plumbing and window leaks (repair asap!), and read your disclosure packages carefully. Number Two is square footage, which is why you often will not see a number in marketing materials, but that's for another post.