Friday, July 17, 2015

The Drought vs. Your Lawn

Fretting more and more about what the drought is doing to your precious manicured lawn, not to mention how it now looks? Well, pay attention! There may be a solution to our agony that doesn't gain the scorn of the neighbors who hate those watering their lawn.

Homeowners in drought-stricken California are nearly three times as likely to remove their lawn during an outdoor home-improvement job, say results from a survey that examines landscaping and gardening trends.patio
In its 2015 Landscaping & Garden Trends Study, home design and renovation content provider Houzz found that 46 percent of Golden State homeowners who are making or plan to make outdoor upgrades will remove the lawn entirely, compared with 16 percent of all poll respondents. Of those who plan to keep their lawn, 39 percent of Californians said they are reducing its size, compared with 36 percent nationwide.
An overwhelming majority of California homeowners – 77 percent – said they were removing or scaling back their lawns to help the environment during the state’s prolonged drought. Another 58 percent seek to reduce yard work, while 56 percent are after a new design motif. Forty-eight percent of Californians said they hope to save money on their water bills, double the U.S. rate.
Hardscape was the most popular natural-grass replacement, with 71 percent of the state’s homeowners opting for this material. Mulch was the next favorite option, planned by 55 percent of owners, followed by ground cover (52 percent), flowerbeds (46 percent), and outdoor structures (35 percent). A synthetic lawn was the least-popular reported replacement for natural grass, at 19 percent, although Golden State homeowners are more than twice as likely to take this approach than those in other parts of the country.
Other environmentally conscious consumers are taking additional home-improvement steps to help ease water usage. Surprisingly, Houzz says, nearly 1 in 5 U.S. homeowners – 17 percent – is installing a rainwater-harvesting system. The study says that nearly all respondents are making some sort of update to their greenery during outdoor renovation projects, and 42 percent are planning to buy drought-resistant plants, shrubs, and trees.
Californians have good reason for concern about the lengthy precipitation shortage; Houzz estimates that 70 percent of the state’s residents are affected by the drought. Their counterparts in Texas have the opposite problem, with 47 percent of homeowners making improvements to impede flooding.

So, there you have it--a lawn and water conservation all together! Need any other helpful info on your home and the current market? Give us a call! We'd be pleased to help: Peter: (415) 279-6466;Jane: (415) 531-4091.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Location, Location, Location!!

Well, no doubt at some point in time, you've heard the old expression "Location, location, location" as it relates to the relative value of real estate.  The following information, just out, appears to further validate this old canard at least as it relates to Bay Area locales.
Bay Area buyers aren’t shy about paying extra for homes located in top school districts and close to desirable urban amenities, says a new study of data from the Journal of Urban Economics.13855784355_447b9c3280_n
CityLab reports that behind residents of the Hawaii community of East Oahu, homebuyers in the Bay Area are more likely than those in nearly any other part of the country to pay extra money to purchase a property in a top-rated neighborhood. Although the article doesn’t provide exact numbers, it says that homebuyers in San Francisco, Marin, and San Mateo counties are willing to pay nearly 25 percent more than the average American to live in the best neighborhoods. The article notes that buyers in San Jose, Oakland, and Santa Cruz are also willing to spend significant premiums to purchase a property in a top community.
CityLab includes a map of the Bay Area that shows that, unlike in New York, homebuyers in virtually all parts of San Francisco will spend more money for a great neighborhood.
“People are very willing to pay for most neighborhoods in the city itself, as well as the surrounding suburbs,” wrote Richard Florida. “Only a few sections of Oakland and Richmond, to the north of Berkeley, rank lower on the quality of life index, but these still do well relative to the rest of the country.”