Dave Roberts

Hi,
For Santa Rosa or any other city, I recommend that you use Google Maps to get started. A list is useful, but not as good as a map that shows you neighborhood names and where they are. Google isn't all-knowing, however, and they have missed some areas. I think the Santa Rosa Press Democrat has a good roundup on the web site I reference below. They (and the local MLS) divide the city into four quadrants bounded by Highway 12 and Highway 101. Within each of those quadrants are multiple neighborhoods. Just as an examples the northwest section has the JC area, Fountaingrove, and Rincon Valley. Each of those is distinct in character of the homes. There's not enough room here to do a full description, so visit the PD site to get more detail. - Fri May 9 2008, 07:11

Hi Erik,
There are two parts to the answer. The first part is whether or not Sonoma County is doing the same as San Mateo in the excellent answer Artur provided. The short answer is that they have just started being more reasonable about reassessments. Until very recently they did not generally allow downward revisions of value and the appeals process was almost never successful. That is now changing.
The second part that you need to look at was hinted at in what Flaaash said. Values are generally dropping in the Russian River area, but not below values from four or five years ago. If you bought at the peak of the market in August of 2005, your home has probably dropped between 15% to 25%. If you bought before 2002 it is very unlikely that your home has dropped beneath the appraised value the tax assessor has established based on your purchase price plus annual 1% increase. - Wed Apr 16 2008, 00:16

Hi,
There is a big value spread depending on what kind of 10 acre property you have. There are currently two active listings for 10 acre parcels of land near Sebastopol, one at $719,000 and one at $950,000. Only three properties of that size have sold in the last year. They ranged from $550,000 to $1,350,000. That should give you some idea of how much the value can change depending on what your property is like. The high value property was in an apple orchard close to town, and the lower value was for a more distant ranch property without as many improvements.

The site linked below will let you select Lots and Land and you can see what's on the market right now. - Sun Apr 6 2008, 15:54

There are a range of property pricing strategies in the market right now. REO properties are being reduced to levels that are good deals in any market. On the other hand, many owner occupied properties that aren't facing short sales tend to be priced as if market corrections weren't happening. I think it makes sense for you to keep a close eye on the market and watch for the occasional listing that is just what you want at a price that is reasonable. There are certainly properties being sold every day in Sonoma County that represent excellent value today and into the future.

Whether you buy now or later, a close house and price watching strategy will keep your finger on the pulse of the market . You will be able to sense when properties start to move faster and prices stabilize and even begin to rise. Many people in our office sense that we are near the bottom of the market, but others are less sure.

I did a quick check and there are three properties in the Sebastopol area over $1,000,000 that seem to be decent opportunities. There are many, many more in Santa Rosa.

I put a link to a Sebastopol map search page that you can adjust for the price you are looking for. If you keep track of the individual homes as they come on the market, you will know when to buy. - Sat Apr 5 2008, 16:15

In Sonoma County today there are 17 three bedroom homes on the MLS under $300,000. Some are in areas that are higher crime than others. Three out of the 17 are single story. Two of those are in Cloverdale and one is in southwest Santa Rosa. The lowest price single story, 3 bedroom home in Petaluma is $434,000 for just under 1300 square feet of living space.
I guess the answer to your question is yes to Sonoma County in general and no to Petaluma. - Sat Feb 16 2008, 20:40