They say the flames traveled 200 feet per second. I saw, I worried, called 9-1-1, hurried to gather keys and phone and laptop, turn cars around, and run to neighbors. Across our lane, our daughter kicked through a corral fence and cut wires to free the miniature mule and goats. She pushed a dog into the car. All were not saved. They say the wind gusted over 70 miles per hour. A steady slap of sand turned everyone sideways as we prayed it would somehow stop. Soon enough fire was on three sides of us, and we drove into the
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As a Boomer myself, I have taken care of my parents’ and grandparents’ homes and transitions as they grew older. I joke with my daughter, “I’m organizing my life so you have a really great Estate Sale some day.” Seriously though, it is so beneficial to prepare for your future your own way, on your own time. As a certified Seniors Real Estate Specialist, I feel it is important to help my Clients with issues related to aging. Whether for you or a family member, I can empathize, and offer my network of resources to help make life easier to
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How Smart are Smart Homes? Is smart home technology getting warmer? Now should you invest in home automation? The marketplace offers a plethora of gear to conserve energy, both yours and your utility company’s. “Smart home” technology refers to automation and control— it’s a subcategory of passive or net-zero-energy building. It takes energy-efficient concepts a step further, and seeks to control systems to optimize the energy that is produced or conserved. Smart means turning systems on and off automatically according to a model of efficiency, so nothing is wasted, while increasing comfort and ease. You can upgrade your home to
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Looking Back and Looking AheadLooking back, and looking ahead, there is no time like the present to borrow and buy. The City of Napa median price is up 14% year over year. If you purchased a median priced home in January, 2016 at $570,000 it is worth $650,000 in January 2017, a year later. Your home increased in value $80,000! That’s $6,666 per month= one could look at that as the monthly cost of not buying. And, if you purchased last January with a loan, say with 20% down, you used $114,000 to earn $80,000 in one year – that’s
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Linda Fischer Awarded as a Top Rated Real Estate Agent in NapaOnline PR News – 28-November-2016 – Napa, California – Linda Fischer has been selected as one of the Top Rated Real Estate Agents in Napa to be featured on TV Top Real Estate available on Xfinity On Demand. TV Top Rated Real Estate features videos of Top Rated Real Estate Agents and their homes listed for sale which will allow consumers to select the best Real Estate Agent when buying or selling their home. As a top rated agent, Linda Fischer is one of the exclusive agents that is
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Who Knows What 2017 Will Bring? Napa and surrounding areas will most likely continue on their trend lines: prices increasing gradually, inventory limited, perfect properties selling fast and challenging properties taking longer, a seller’s market for the most part, cash as King, and pre-approved financing essential. Interest rates have recently gone up a quarter point, and may again. Nevertheless, these are historically low rates, lower than appreciation, and real estate outperforms most alternative investments. Purchasing power will decrease with any rise in interest rates, so there is no better time than the present to purchase. Equity can be yours in
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The Key To Home Posted By Linda Fischer At 4:37 PM •
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Even drive-by curb appeal is part of “staging.” If you’re thinking about selling, set the scene long before your first Open House. Look at your home as part of a streetscape, and consider what it “says” in marketing terms. Does it look tired and taken for granted, or does it look well-loved, desirable, the envy of all the neighbors? Here we have the same house, Before and After it was readied for sale. With a little vision you can transform what looks like a rental into what looks like a gracious home, and, put money in your pocket. In a
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And who’s flocking to these median-priced homes in Napa? Nothing about the median home price is normal in Napa. Or local. The median single-family home is now more than $575,000. What “normal,” average, “medium” single family can afford that? If a normal, average family is 3.3 persons, and it is, then a 3 or 2 bed, 2 or 1 bath home is what they need. In this price range in Napa, those houses are getting smaller and smaller, 1000 to 1500 square feet. That is getting very close to “cottage” in size and number of rooms, in fact overlapping. Charming,
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