Scotts Valley Real Estate
Mount Hermon Road land deal struck for $8.5 million in Scotts Valley
By Jondi Gumz, Santa Cruz Sentinel
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/government-and-politics/20180924/mount-hermon-road-land-deal-struck-for-85-million
SEPTEMBER 24, 2018, SCOTTS VALLEY, CA >> The developers with a vision to build a $180 million town center on Mount Hermon Road have agreed to pay $8.5 million to buy property owned by the city of Santa Cruz, property that is crucial to bring the project to fruition. The buyers are Scotts Valley Town Green Land LLC, formed by Palisade Builders of Campbell with Chris Foley of Ground Matrix of San Francisco, working with Doug Ross of Palisade Builders in Campbell and Santa Cruz developer Owen Lawlor.
The deal goes to the Santa Cruz City Council for approval Tuesday. The property, part of the former Skypark airfield, consists of three parcels totaling 8.15 acres. The site fronts on Mount Hermon Road, one of the busiest streets in Santa Cruz County, near the intersection of Kings Village Road. It’s sandwiched between the U.S. Postal Service and where Scotts Valley developer Corbett Wright is making progress on building a Starbucks drive-through and a brewpub restaurant called “The Hangar.”
Newly rebranded as the Town Green, development of the former airfield has been discussed for more than 20 years. The property was appraised at $8.3 million last year, would be sold “as is,” meaning the developer would be responsible for any cleanup. Wright paid $520,000 to the city of Scotts Valley for his 1.5 acres after incurring expenses for soil remediation, building demolition and decommissioning a well. The city of Santa Cruz will not get a lump sum right away, as the Town Green developers requested a 15-month escrow in light of the time needed to gain approval for a project of this size. The developers would put down a $25,000 deposit immediately, another $50,000 in 90 days and $100,000 in 180 days. All deposits would be nonrefundable. The terms would allow the buyer to request three extensions of six months each, with the city of Santa Cruz able to grant a fourth six-month extension.
The 2008 Town Center plan covering 58 acres calls for 300 housing units, parking for 1,475 cars, a town green and 310,000 square feet of retail. Scotts Valley officials concede the last goal is overly ambitious given changing shopping habits. The city of Scotts Valley Redevelopment Agency had an option on the property, paying the city of Santa Cruz $5,000 to $20,000 for the privilege, until the state ended the redevelopment program.
In 2016, Doug Wiele of Foothill Partners in El Dorado Hills was enthusiastic about working with Wright and the town center project bringing in new retailers but Wiele backed away. Last year, three firms approached the city of Santa Cruz about buying the Skypark airfield property. In March, the Scotts Valley City Council chose Palisade Builders as the preferred developer for its vision of 288 housing units, 32,000 square feet of restaurant, market hall and retail space, a town green and parking garages.
This month, the council gave the developer 120 days to produce a site plan showing demolition and construction, types of uses, proposed square footage, ingress and egress for people on foot and in cars, potential tenants and financial projections.
New Scotts Valley mayor eyes affordable housing as key priority
By Jondi Gumz, Santa Cruz Sentinel
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/government-and-politics/20171221/new-scotts-valley-mayor-eyes-affordable-housing-as-key-priority
December 21, 2017, SCOTTS VALLEY >> New Scotts Valley Mayor Jim Reed said he plans to work on affordable housing. Reed, chief of staff for San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, was elected on a 5-0 vote Wednesday night for his new role. A three-term Scotts Valley City Council member and mayor in 2009-2010 and 2013-2014, he said he wants to look at best practices of other cities.
A common scenario is for 15 percent of homes in a development to be sold at a lower price, making them affordable to buyers with less income, but those buyers have to give up appreciation to retain affordability. Reed said he’s interested in “affordability by design,” where homes are smaller and thus have lower asking prices.
As for the long discussed Town Center project, he said the economic development subcommittee has changed the criteria due to the “Amazon effect.” With more people ordering goods online, the demand for more retail is slacking. So the Town Center project will be primarily a housing project, with an affordable component, he said.
He’d like to have senior housing and “lifestyle” commercial — restaurants and bars — to complement “The Hangar” brew pub at Skypark, which developer Corbett Wright and partner Rob Stuart are building on Mount Hermon Road. “It’s the market,” said Councilman Randy Johnson, who served as mayor in 2017, explaining why there’s no rush to build retail stores. “Developers are risk-averse.”
Jack Dilles, elected in 2016, was chosen vice mayor on a 4-1 vote, with Councilwoman Donna Lind nominating Councilwoman Stephany Aguilar. Dilles said he is concerned about five-year financial projections presented by City Manager Jenny Haruyama and the upcoming expiration of the eight-year sales tax voters approved in 2013. A special meeting is planned early in the new year to set city priorities.
City Clerk Tracy Ferrara said a new user-friendly website is coming in April.
Public Works Director Scott Hamby, who worked for the city 32 years, is retiring Dec. 29. He will be replaced on an interim basis by Steve Hammack, a Scotts Valley resident who retired after a career as a parks manager, working for state parks, the city of Santa Cruz and San Jose.
Buying A Home, Scotts Valley? What Else Besides Your Income Matters?
Here are the other things you must pay attention to as a smart consumer looking to buy a home that go beyond your income qualifications.
by Scott Sheldon
Scotts Valley Patch
April 21, 2015, Scotts Valley — Buying a home? You will need patience, resilience to rejection, and sound financial planning, if are serious about pulling it off. Your income is important, but the rest of your financials need to be in order as well.
You need not earn gobs of money to be successful in purchasing a home, well, depending on your area. You do however, need to have enough income after personal obligations and a mortgage payment left over. Your income is the only measure the lender has to offset a liability, i.e. a new mortgage payment. You need to be able to show consistent income coming in, and enough of it, that your mortgage payment and other current liabilities you may have are manageable in relationship to your monthly income before taxes.
Other loans Generally, the more loans already in place before a mortgage is considered is what use first lenders use first including liabilities like car loans, student loans, credit card payments etc. While having those against your income doesn’t limit your ability to borrow on a mortgage, it’s not necessarily a red flag as long as these things plus a new mortgage payment is 45% of your income or less. Put simply, if you were to earn $9,000 per month income pretax, the lender would want $4950 per month of that $9000 per month left over allocated towards other things after considering debts + mortgage payment. The remaining 45% of that income $4050 would go towards paying the mortgage payment and other liabilities at the maximum comfort level the lender would have in granting you a loan to buy a home. Ideally consuming less, totaling a lower payment to income ratio is ideal for long term affordability.
Your credit score can be as low as 600 which is the minimum credit score to get a mortgage these days on an FHA mortgage. A higher score results in more loan offerings and more opportunity. The credit scores does dictate what loan program you can go apply for which ultimately might sway a seller in determining which offer they go with. Remember how you look on paper not only to the mortgage company whom you’re hiring to procure financing, but also the seller and the real estate agents should not be ignored. This is a big factor many home buyers overlook.
One such example is the following… let’s say your credit score is in the 620 range, and as such you are going with an FHA Loan. FHA Loans still have a stigma attached to them amongst the real estate agent community that they are harder to obtain and the FHA is more picky on property type which ultimately means a more problematic escrow. Real estate agents influence all the parties including buyer and the seller alike. In other words, if you have an FHA pre-approval and you’re buying a home there is a possibility the seller might frown upon that and look more closely at other offers in relationship to price, but also in relationship to loan program because Conventional Loans are the cream of the crop. Your finances can impact loan program which can ultimately have the ripple effect in your ability to procure home successfully. You be able to get a loan, but convincing a home seller becomes another challenge entirely. Have your loan professional consult with both real estate agents, always.
Down Payment – If you meet the income limitations you may be able to obtain a 3% conventional loan. Otherwise, a 3.5 % down payment for an FHA Loan is pragmatic alternative. Looking at FHA, you can apply for an FHA Loan to acquire a home with as little as 3.5% down all the way up to the maximum conforming loan limit in the county in which you are buying. For example in Sonoma County, California the maximum FHA Loan Limit is $520,950 and the FHA will allow you to take a mortgage with that little of the down payment despite that size of mortgage.
Alternatively, if you’re looking a loan beyond $417,000 you would need at least 10% down for a Conventional Mortgage up to the max Conforming Loan Limit. Using Sonoma County, CA again as example same $520,950 loan limit applies.
If you desired loan is $417,000 or lower all you would need for conventional loans 5% down. The 3% down program that just became available through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac contains, more stringent guidelines reducing borrowing power which is not conducive to giving you multiple options for maximizing your purchase potential in a competitive market.
Down Payment Assistance working with the down payment assistance program? Well while you might be qualified with the down payment assistance program, you will more than likely will have a very difficult time getting into contract especially against competing offers on the same property, with more skin in the game.
Closing costs expect to pay at least 2.5% of the purchase price in closing costs as additional cash beyond your down payment to acquire a home. Gone are the days of seller credits for closing costs, and thinking you have a chance of getting into contract. This does vary between markets, but is harder to come by as the economy is in recovery mode.
The reality of today’s market shows strong demand for housing coupled with little supply,which means competition. A seller credit for closing costs pre-approval is less strong and here’s why…. You are making an purchase offer to buy a home $400,000 with seller credit closing cost credit request of $10,000. The credit for closing cost of $10,000 results in the direct loss of net monies to seller. This means your offer is really $390,000. You might end up getting a seller credit based on an inspection of the property, or as result of new information during the process, but that would happen later on in the escrow process with your real estate agent’s guidance.
To buy a home, you will need access to cash, and make sure to have your financial house in order. Looking as strong as you can on paper does help increasing your odds of getting into contract on a home. One additional way to spruce up your offer is putting more cash down lowing your mortgage loan amount subsequently lowering your mortgage payment creating a long term manageable housing obligation that will last well into the future.
Original Article: http://patch.com/california/scottsvalley/buying-home-scotts-valley-what-else-besides-your-income-matters
Santa Cruz Real Estate News 