Danville CA Real Estate

Need to replace your old water heater?  It’s not as hard as it sounds.  I found this great article on how to do it yourself.  Careful, these guys are heavy, especially old used water heaters.

Water heater replacement

Happy thanksgiving from Sugarbowl resort.  Today is their opening day for the season.  The temperatures have been cold enough for them to make snow, so they have been feverishly blowing the stuff.  Tickets are $40.  Not my kind of skiing, but hey, I get excited about the opening day of the season.  I can’t wait to get my kids back out on skis.

For more info go to www.Sugarbowl.com

The Danville, CA Winter activity guide is now available.  In it you will find all of the programs offered by The Town of Danville Parks and Recreation.

Danville Winter 2008 Activity Guide

The fall edition of the ‘Danville Today’ magazine is available,  In it you will find all sorts of community information and answers to questions about projects that are going on to improve the town.

Danville Today

I was driving back from my cabin in Tahoe and as I went over the summit, sure enough, there was some snow mixed with rain.  I sure got excited seeing that!  Maybe it will be an early season this year.  Yesterday morning I looked out at my temp gauge above my hot tub and saw the needle dip below 40.  lt looked to be about 38 give or take.  YEEEEEHAAAW!

pic of first snow courtesy of Sugar Bowl

The new Expedition Lodge at Kirkwood Mountain Resort broke ground with a projected opening date of December 2009.  It is a ski in-ski-out shared ownership lodge with 22 3 and four bedroom residences with club house.  8 ownership interests will be sold for each residence.  Expedition Lodge is part of the ‘Registry Collection’, which means that you can trade for other resorts in the group.  Available floor plans are on their website.

Big changes are in store at Homewood Mountain ski resort in Lake Tahoe.  JMA Ventures, the San Francisco development company, best known for rebuilding Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco, owns both Homewood and Alpine Meadows and plan some major changes at Homewood.  The plans include a small village at the north base, a mid mountain lodge with gondola, and even underground parking.  They are also planning private residences at the South Lodge.  The village at the North Base will have an ice rink and community swimming pool.

Construction is still a couple of years away, but the plans for the North Base have been solidified.  The small village will contain an ice cream shop, hardware store, market, 50 room hotel, spa and a 40 condo complex.  They are also considering making the resort “green” by using hydro powered lifts and increased public transit.

I guess this is good and bad.  For us die hard Homewwod skiers and boarders gone will be the days of $27 lift tickets.  I tried buying my mid-week pass the other day that used to cost me $175 and is now $299.  It sounds like it will be an amazing facility though.  I wonder how long it will take to connect both Alpine and Homewood.  You can buy a dual pass now for both resorts.

We’ll see how it goes.  The environmental review process is expected to be completed by around 2008.

The key to home remodeling vs. return on investment (ROI) today is comparing the condition of your home with the rest of your neighborhood or city.  What do comperable homes have to offer in terms of ammenities and upgrades?  Often simply bringing your home up to the standard of similar homes will determine how many days or even months your home will be on the market when you decide to sell.  Here in Danville CA, like many parts of the country, we have a market that is leaning more towards a buyers market.  That said, if your home is priced properly compared to homes with the same ammenities (# beds and bath, granite, etc.), it will sell in a reasonable amount of time.  

Also, I have found that buyers in this area want a home in ‘move in’ condition.  They don’t want to have to start the remodel process once they move in.  This means that buyers are willing to pay a little more if everything to upgrade the home has already been completed for them.  I have also found that homes that are not up to current standards of ammenities often lose a disproportionate amount in their sales price, or rather what buyers are willing to pay for that home.  As we all know, a home is only worth what a buyer is willing to pay for it.  In other words, the market determines the price of a home and we as realtors need to be skilled at reading the market to determine a sales price that is acceptable to the market or what someone is willing to pay for the home. 

Call me if you need some advice on market conditions or how your home stacks up to other comperable homes in the area at 925-216-3126 or shoot me an email at mailto:Marc@MarcWimmerHomes.com

Below is a chart from Remodeling Online that does a good job of showing ROI on improvements: