Welcome to the neighborhood

Yesterday I met my new neighbor. I was sad to see my old neighbors go, but divorce has a way of forcing moves and sales. I shot this aerial of my neighbor’s house which just begins to describe how nice the location is.

The home is 4600+ square feet, and resides on 2.5 acres. It’s a 3 bedroom plus den, and has a 3 car garage. My new neighbor is already working furiously remodelling the home. He’s removed all of the carpet and is installing travertine in all of the old carpetted areas. He is remodelling all of the fireplaces with stone surrounds, and remodelling the entertainment center in the family room. He wants to give the home a more Tuscanny feel instead of the current modern feel. And then, as if that weren’t enough, he’s planning on building a significant Casita over the location of the current putting green. He wants space for guests, a gym, and 2 or 3 more cars of garage parking.

Meeting him, he mentioned to me what he’d paid for the home (Of course, I already knew it was $2.2M), and I remakred it was a fairly high amount for a home that has less than 5000 sq feet. However, we both agreed that the lot has significant “blue sky” value. The view day or night is simply tremendous, as the home looks across a small valley to the hillside across, with the homes stacking up and up. It’s very reminiscent of viewing a small Mediteranean village from the ocean water. And then you can’t forget the city light view as well off in the other direction. And the lot easily supports the value addition of the Casita.

It’s sastisfying on so many levels to have met my new neighbor. He’s helped home values in my neighborhood, already. He’s improving the home right next to me, which will only help home values even more. And he’s a commercial developer, so he’s an active real estate colleague. I still hate losing my old neighbors, but if you have to have new neighbors, this family is darned near perfect.

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