Anna May's Blog

Last week I made public my decision not to run for re-election to the Hayward City Council and focus on the November school board election instead.

Why?

Schools are ever so important to the vitality and success of our communities, both in terms of educating our children and preparing them for their futures. Schools are also of utmost importance in helping neighborhoods come together to keep our communities safe and desirable for families who choose to live there.

How is this related to real estate?

Real estate values are largely driven by the quality of the schools. Families are willing to pay more for a home to live in a reputable school district rather than pay less for a home and send their children to private schools.

Two news articles referencing my decision to run for Hayward school board can be found here: http://www.insidebayarea.com/hayward/ci_14450892 and here: http://www.insidebayarea.com/hayward/ci_14507799.

Does anyone out there think it’s okay for scavengers to take your discarded recyclables from your curbside before garbage day?

Tonight I overheard a resident on my street confront a scavenger. He told him not to come back to this street. The man argued with my neighbor and said ”Not your problem!”.

Wanna bet?

The recycling/garbage company relies on collecting our recyclables and it IS our problem when people steal it. Our garbage rates are affected by what the recycling/garbage companies are able to collect. Wanna pay more for garbage service? Then go ahead and let scavengers steal your stuff.

As for me, I will continue to call the police and report their presence every time I see them going through mine or the neighbors’ trash…

When I was a kid, the neighbor’s plum tree grew over the fence into our yard. My siblings and I picked the ripe fruit and made plum jam with Dad.
 
Would the neighbor have had a right to be upset with us for picking “his” fruit? If we didn’t like the fruit or the tree, would we have had the right to chop off the branches that were growing into our backyard?
 
Attorney Robert Sakai offers the following information:

Short answer: You have the right to pick the fruit.  You also have the right to chop off branches on your side, however you can’t do it in a way that would damage the tree and you can’t go onto the neighbor’s property to do so.
 
Source Material:
 The law regarding the obligations of co-owners of boundary trees is that both must act reasonably and not damage the trees to the detriment of a neighbor. Booska v Patel (1994) 24 CA4th 1786, 30 CR2d 241. This means that a landowner has the right to cut the branches or roots of a neighbor’s tree to the extent that they encroach on to the landowner’s property, but this right is not absolute and there are limitations. Booska v Patel, supra. Furthermore, the landowner may not go onto the neighbor’s land and cut down the tree. Fick v Nilson (1950) 98 CA2d 683, 220 P2d 752.
 
Arborists are consulted in boundary disputes to advise whether and to what extent overhanging tree branches from a neighbor’s tree can be cut back or removed without causing unnecessary injury to the tree, and also to advise on the most reasonable method to mitigate root intrusion. On the law of boundary trees, see §8.30. An arborist may also be needed to identify the species of tree because many species are protected by local ordinance. See §10.14. In easement disputes, plant experts, such as botanists, horticulturists, and biologists, are retained to conduct forensic evaluations of plants to establish whether the disputed area has been traveled for the statutory 5-year period. If relocating an easement is an option, counsel should consult these experts to determine which of the proposed relocation areas minimize impacts on trees and vegetation.
 
If the dispute involves blocked views or plant encroachment, and removal of vegetation is an issue, local ordinances may potentially affect the recommendations of plant experts. Some municipalities, for example, have view ordinances that give property owners the right to maintain views existing at the time the property was purchased and the right to require that trees blocking these views be trimmed or topped. See, e.g., Oakland Mun C, ch 15.52 (Views). Other municipalities protect native tree species by requiring special permission to remove these protected trees. See, e.g., Glendale Mun C, ch 12.44. See other ordinances cited in §§10.14-10.15.
 
CC § 834. Trees on Land of Two or More Owners: Trees whose trunks stand partly on the land of two or more coterminous owners, belong to them in common.

So, go out there and make some plum jam!

According to film location scout Wilson Wu, the “rent” or “location fee” earned by a homeowner for a film shoot is free from federal taxation as long as you don’t have more than 14 film shoots in a  tax year. (Check with your tax advisor to see if you qualify!)

Good deal, eh? Especially in this economic time when a location fee can easily pay for a whole month’s mortgage.

I’ve assisted location scouts with residential, commercial and municipal properties in the last few years. A few examples:

The filmmaker for the indie film “Once Beautiful Past” rented a home we had on the market, Hayward City Hall made some money by renting out office space for an evening, and a vacant closed-down fast-food restaurant in south Hayward was used for a TV commercial shoot.

Are you interested in offering up your property for a film crew to use?

This week I attended a community meeting where a resident complained that a couple she knew was pulled over by the police because they were reported driving around a certain neighborhood repeatedly. 

Now, when I bought my house 5 years ago, I sat in my car outside the house one night while I was in escrow marveling at the beautiful house I would soon move into. A neighbor noticed I was there and approached my car to ask what the heck I was doing there. Although I was embarrassed, I was also quite pleased with my decision to move into a neighborhood where the residents were in tune with what was going on and who was or wasn’t supposed to be there.

So, going back to that meeting:  The folks who were pulled over were said to be driving around that neighborhood because they were interested in a few homes that were for sale there. Yet, instead of seeing the police pulling them over as an opportunity to ask about the safety of the neighborhood, they chose to see themselves as victims. (sigh)

We need to quit our belly-aching about things that happen and look at them as opportunities!

It all started when I was a teenager, sneaking out the family car before I had my driver’s license. My escape from the house enabled me to see how others lived with my frequent visits to neighborhood open houses.

When I became more adventurous (and driver’s license in hand!), I would drive to San Francisco to see the more affluent, vibrant neighborhood open houses in areas that greatly appealed to me. Seeing homes that belonged to successful, affluent people gave me incentive to achieve more for myself. As soon as I turned 18, I was already working on getting my real estate license and soon after that, I was working as a loan agent. (I had to fib about my age to get the job — Come on, would YOU want a 19-year old doing YOUR home loan?)

Fast-forward to today, when I am in the stage of life where I need to give myself incentive to work harder by buying  a too-big-for-me house.

Back to work now…

Would you rather pay more for a home in a reputable school district or opt to send your children to private schools?

Soon we’re closing a purchase on a home that brought in almost 30 offers within the first week. We priced it according to the local market and the offer we accepted was without the road-blocking contingencies of loan or appraisal.

The risks of accepting a higher offer was explained to the sellers. Although the offer accepted was still well over the list price, we made sure that buyers had enough money in the bank to make up the difference in case the appraisal did not come in at the offer price.

A few years ago I paid $6000 more than the asking price because I WANTED that property! Serious buyers are willing to offer more in order to get what they want. Others refuse to pay more than the appraised value, often times due to lack of additional funds in the bank.

Either way, real estate is an investment. You have to pay to play!

“Those who are prone to bouts of spontaneity are subject to being bit in the butt.”

Who has fallen in love with a property very quickly only to find out after buying it that it isn’t what you bargained for? It seemed to have all the right stuff — location, strong bones, aesthetically pleasing characteristics, comfortable dimensions, etc.

Real estate investments are just that: Investments.  Whether it’s a property that we intend to occupy forever or one we intend to keep as a short-term wealth-building exercise, some investments are worth their weight in gold and the life experience of the home-buying and home-maintenance adventure.

Five years ago, I bought my 1926 house on a whim as incentive to work harder, figuring a heftier mortgage would do the trick. There was only one neighborhood in the entire city that held my interest. It was the Historic Prospect Hill, which has been home to former mayors, Major League baseball kin, doctors, lawyers and judges.

Leading up to being in escrow by day, I was the analytical real estate professional about the purchase and what I’d offer. At night, however, I was emotional and quite girlie about the more romantic notions of living under the Prospect Street veil and in a home that felt so “me”.  Purposefully, I mentioned nothing about the purchase to those were likely to be judgemental about where I’d buy and what I was buying. Within a few days I was in escrow.

When you bought your home(s), were you satisfied with the reports supplied by the seller? Were you well aware that what you were buying wasn’t perfect and bought it anyway? With one home I purchased, I knew exactly what I was getting into, although I did find out later that there were important things about which the seller was dishonest. But I loved it so it didn’t matter much to me…

I’ll never regret the decision to buy the home I’m in now. Only an act of God will cause me to part from the lovely structure. It has been the source of intense joy and shelter and mystery…