Carbon Monoxide Detectors in the Home

California residents must have carbon monoxide detectors in their homes as of July 1, 2011.
Who is impacted? This timeline applies to single-family homes, inclucing individually-owned condominiums, (owner or tenant occupied) that have appliances that burn fossil fuels or homes that have attached garages or fireplaces. Types of fossil fuels include coal, kerosene, oil, wood, fuel gases, and other petroleum or hydrocarbon products, which emit carbon monoxide as a byproduct of combustion.

For all other types of housing, such as apartments and hotels, detectors should be in place as of January 1, 2013.

How much does a CO detector cost? Approximately $20 to $60. If you own rental property, this is a critical, low cost item your property must have.

Is telecommuting in your future?

Having spoken with a realtor friend in Incline Village, she shared with me an interesting thought. If you've ever thought about leaving the Bay Area (or wherever you live) in favor of a more desireable location like Incline Village Nevada, you may be able to save money on your income tax. Here's how. Nevada does not have a state income tax. So if you telecommute, you may be able to bypass paying state income taxes. Let's say you work in the Bay Area and telecommute. If your paycheck comes from a corporate office outside of California, you can have them mail your check directly to you in Nevada. If however your check from a California company, you're out of luck in that you still will be charged a state income tax. Note: All tax related issues should be confirmed with your CPA since I am not a licensed tax person. But it may well be worth your time to investigate. You may abe able to make California money while living a higher quality of life in a less expensive location! If you'd like a personal introcution to my friend in Incline Village, please let me know and I'll be happy to connect you.

Market Update for San Jose Homes

When running sales statistics of home sales for San Jose homes, I was pleasantly surprised to see prices up across the board from last year. It’s interesting that the media is still telling the world how bad everything is in our area. When I look at inventory, it appears that there is less than 5 months of homes for sale in Santa Clara County. Less than 6 months reflects a seller’s market while over 6 months reflects a buyer’s market. I suppose that since we’re not seeing homes go up at a 20% per year clip, the media thinks of it as a bad market.


Anyhow, another factor soon to be playing a role: The stalling of foreclosures being repossessed by the bank. According to Steve Goddard, President of The California Association of Realtors®, certain banks in the state have ceased their foreclosure process to ensure that they are complying with certain laws and processes. In the short term, that may limit the number of homes coming on the market thereby increasing prices. Over the longer term, I suspect it will take until the end of 2011 for a large price surge, but it is coming. Take a look at the appreciation chart on my website. To see it, click on the link on the left that says “Appreciation by Area”. For the top 10 ways to get the most money when selling your home, call or click Gary Nobile at http://www.garynobile.com/ or (408) 247-4029.