Many cities have enacted ordinances to protect various trees within their city. A long-time Palo Alto homeowner recently achieved a court ruling forcing his neighbor to remove Coast Redwood Trees whose roots were damaging his house. The legal actions were made more difficult by a real estate agent who indemnified the buyer of the house in order to get the house sold.A short summary by the long-time owner: In 2021, I sued my neighbor, with a one-sided result in my favor. I claimed for damage under state law #3479, and my neighbor’s ONLY defense was: “I was complying with PA’s tree ordinance”. The PA ordinance will not win against superseding state law. The 7-page opinion of the state judge never even mentioned the PA ordinance because it’s irrelevant against state law. But I still was forced to sue and pay my (winning) legal fees. My neighbor chose foolishly to go…
Let's look into Los Altos real estate.Los Altos House Prices And Los Altos Condo PricesAfter 2020, Los Altos condo prices began to sag downward while house prices continued to climb. It remains to be seen if this is a true change in demand or a temporary effect created partly by condo owners being quicker to change their housing to something new. The COVID-19 pandemic led to expanded remote work opportunities. The potential reduced commute costs could entice condo owners to swap their Los Altos condos for larger housing across the SF Bay. Prospective first-time homebuyers would also see the change as shifting a decision towards a larger Tri-City home.Newark Condo Prices and House PricesBoth house prices and condo prices continue to rise in Newark after 2020.Union City Condo Prices and House PricesBoth house prices and condo prices continue to rise in Union City after 2020.Fremont Condo Prices and House PricesBoth…
Although JLee Realty does not handle rental properties for clients, we watch what is happening in it to better understand Los Altos real estate. On Sept 17, 2023, the San Jose Mercury News published an article titled “Bay Area rents see biggest drop in 27 months“. The article presents the ease of finding a one-bedroom apartment near Lake Merritt. The article cites ApartmentList.com as a source for the trends they cite, including a 3.1% year-over-year decline for the San Jose/Sunnyvale/Santa Clara metro area.The housing rental market has weakened, but the headline could create a misleading impression. The sky is not falling for the rental market. Look at the graph below created by Zumper.com.The peak rental price for a 2-bedroom apartment was reached in Aug-Sept of 2022. The “biggest drop” is being calculated from a price peak and isn’t a good choice for judging long-term trends. I’m looking at two-bedroom rental…
The Los Altos Hills average size of houses sold reached an all-time quarterly high on Aug 18, 2023. However, the average size of Los Altos homes sold was at the lower side of recent trends.What makes this catch our attention is that the average house size for eight San Mateo County cities (Foster City, Menlo Park, Millbrae, Pacifica, Portola Valley, San Carlos, San Mateo, and Woodside) and for Palo Alto spiked upward to their highest-ever quarterly values. The trend was so broad that the San Mateo County average size of houses sold also reached an all-time high.Although no reason is known for the spike in the average size of houses sold in San Mateo County, it appears that Los Altos and Los Altos Hills are probably not similarly affected. Learn more about Los Altos real estate.
A 1031 exchange is used to defer taxes on the sale of your investment property when your proceeds are invested in a new investment property. Although you probably consider a house you bought with the intention of flipping to be an investment, it is not considered by the IRS to be a property that was bought for investment purposes and thus does not allow it to be used in a 1031 exchange.Tax professionals recommend keeping an investment property obtained in a 1031 exchange for two years as a rental property. Some professionals will say that one year plus one day is sufficient for the 1031 exchange to avoid an IRS challenge.In 2008 the IRS issued a safe harbor rule saying it would not challenge the 1031 exchange because of the sale of your replacement property if:You rent the dwelling unit to another person at a fair rental price for 14…