MCS Housing Community
Watson Road Property
Notes on Watson Road Property

http://207.215.219.134/greathomes/property.asp?PropID=20109173 or: http://www.fhallen.com/FHA/Detail.asp?MLS_NUMBER=20109173&Caller=HomeSearch&County=Sonoma# (if it doesn't come up, click the back button and try again--it seems to require you go there twice before it lets you in)

One of the properties we're looking at sounds quite wonderful. But it's expensive and requires people to buy in with us. We can't afford to buy it ourselves and rent out units because the rents would not cover the extra mortgage. It is in the valley north of Guerneville and has 6 living units on 2.2 acres of land. It has a pool, spa, outdoor kitchen, and existing gardens. The units are all in good shape and need no work before moving in, except for some MCS things like removing carpet.

The buildings are as follows: main house is 3 bed, 2 bath; 1 bed cottage; 1 bed in water tower; 1 studio; 1 duplex with 2 bed each unit. It may be possible to add on to the buildings as this property is in the sewer district.

The total cost is $999,950. This is a lot of money and we can not do it on our own and rent back. We would need people to buy in. It is actually not that expensive compared to buying on your own. Mikel and Cyndi are willing to put up the most money, in exchange for getting the biggest house. So if we paid $250k that means the other 5 units would cost an average of $150k each. Of course the 2 bedrooms would be a bit more and the 1 bedroom and studio would be a bit less, but it would even out. And this is assuming we had to pay the asking price...we can offer somewhat less and maybe it would be accepted.

I can't find out if DSL is available here. It seems like it's available in parts of Guerneville, but I'm not sure. This house is close enough to Guerneville that it's on the sewer lines. I checked the AT&T cable availability page. No cable modems but regular cable TV is available.

10/26 -- Mikel and Cyndi drove by the outside of the property with our realtor. It's in a quiet sunny neighborhood one mile north of the center of Guerneville. If you go another 2 miles or so up the road, you hit Armstrong State Park. The neighborhood is called Armstrong Valley. There is a tiny vineyard (about 5 acres) a mile or so away. We drove past it and there was no smell. They do not aerial spray but they almost certainly use some pesticides. It's owned by Korbel (their main winery is miles away). We felt this would not be a problem. It's the only agriculture in the immediate area and there are many homes, trees, and other things blocking the air flow.
     Cyndi fell in love with the neighborhood. It felt like home! It's quiet and laid back without being rundown. This property is the only one that really looks snooty. It has a low stone wall in the front, a circular driveway, and an absolutely gorgeous house built in 1941. Mikel was worried about the looks but Cyndi thinks replacing the formally trimmed hedges with more casual ones (hazelnuts maybe) and softening the wall with some flowers would go a long way.
     We haven't seen the inside of the homes or the backyard (except for one picture) but this place is very very nice. It looks too rich for our blood but Cyndi's been drooling over it big time. We still don't know the square footage of the units except for the main house (about 2400 sf...we wonder if we could carve a studio out of that space for some rent money). If the units are big enough to justify the cost, we could swing this. It really looks perfect.

From the MLS (Multiple Listing Sheet):
( I'm leaving out any fields left blank)

For more information, contact Cyndi Norwitz at cnorman@best.com - Page last modified 1/13/02