Q: A couple of years ago I purchased a duplex in Fair field as an investment. I have tenants in both units and, until now, haven’t had any problems. Around November, one of the tenants just stopped paying rent. When I’d call them they would say that someone in the family was sick, or the husband just lost his job, and the story kept changing. They haven’t paid a penny since so I got online and paid for a service that was sup posed to walk me through how to evict them. I filled out their online forms and filed them with the court here in town. Then I had the sheriff serve the papers on the tenant. I waited five days but nothing happened. I just found out that the tenant filed an answer to my complaint saying that the house was uninhab itable and attached a laundry list of problems with the property, which they say means I can’t evict them for non-payment of rent. I’m not sure what to do now. Help.
A: As for the “what to do now” part, you know what I’m going to say. You need to take all of the paperwork to an attorney. Here’s why.
California and New York are the leading consumer-protection states in the country. Translated, that means the laws are written to protect the consumer, in this case your tenant.
And that has all gotten a lot more complicated since the dozens of laws passed during the pandemic over the past couple of years.
A subset of all those laws are designed to deal with slum landlord situations. They require landlords to provide adequate housing for their tenants. If the
hold rent, but only under certain
The details of the habitability statutes are too complex to fully recite here, but I can give you a
A non-working or unsafe electrical system would qualify, as would a missing door or broken
talking about a leaking roof, but there could be flooding issues during heavy rains.
A lack of running water or a broken furnace also qualifies as a habitability problem that would justify the tenant withholding rent.
However, a broken air conditioning is not considered a habitability problem, even if the rental agreement calls for a working air conditioner.
Holes in the carpet or vinyl flooring, or even broken cabinet doors don’t qualify either.
In general, only items necessary to provide the most basic of housing quality, such as security and safety, are habitability issues that will stand up in court.
Any other problem the tenant may have with the landlord is simply a breach of contract lawsuit outside of the scope of
See Jones, Page 10
TOTAL SALES: 6
LOWEST AMOUNT: $575,000
HIGHEST AMOUNT: $815,000
MEDIAN AMOUNT: $707,500
AVERAGE AMOUNT: $707,500
222 East 2nd Street - $750,000
03-02-23 [3 Bdrms - 1439 SqFt - 1984
YrBlt], Previous Sale: 08-25-15, $483,000
762 Barton Way - $650,000
03-02-23 [3 Bdrms - 1902 SqFt - 1988 YrBlt]
420 Canyon Court - $790,000
02-27-23 [4 Bdrms - 1536 SqFt - 1980 YrBlt]
329 Columbia Circle - $575,000
02-28-23 [2 Bdrms - 1161 SqFt - 1994 YrBlt]
251 Panorama Drive - $665,000
02-27-23 [4 Bdrms - 1735 SqFt - 1975 YrBlt]
324 Panorama Court - $815,000
02-28-23 [3 Bdrms - 1874 SqFt - 1973 YrBlt]
DIXON
TOTAL SALES: 7
LOWEST AMOUNT: $430,000
HIGHEST AMOUNT: $780,000
MEDIAN AMOUNT: $700,000
AVERAGE AMOUNT: $668,071
625 Amesbury Drive - $430,000 03-01-23 [3 Bdrms - 1632 SqFt - 1965 YrBlt] 1840 Gold Street - $638,500
TOTAL SALES: 16
LOWEST AMOUNT: $225,000
HIGHEST AMOUNT: $1,500,000
MEDIAN AMOUNT: $555,000
AVERAGE AMOUNT: $608,500
5217 Academy Drive - $712,000 03-01-23 [3 Bdrms - 1802 SqFt - 1996 YrBlt]
2780 Ambrosia Way - $650,000 03-01-23 [4 Bdrms - 2385 SqFt - 2021 YrBlt]
943 Brandon Way - $495,000
03-03-23 [4 Bdrms - 1560 SqFt - 1984
YrBlt], Previous Sale: 12-29-17, $350,000
2144 Cormorant Drive - $455,000
03-02-23 [3 Bdrms - 1438 SqFt - 1971
YrBlt], Previous Sale: 00/1992, $142,950
101 El Verano Court - $225,000
02-28-23
Julmar Circle - $500,000
[2 Bdrms - 1072 SqFt - 2005
Previous Sale: 08-19-13, $216,000
Lang Court - $1,500,000
[4 Bdrms - 4433 SqFt - 1969
Previous Sale: 08-24-20, $1,150,000
Prescott Way - $636,000
[3 Bdrms - 1750 SqFt - 1981
03-01-23 [4 Bdrms - 1939 SqFt - 1986 YrBlt], Previous Sale: 09-13-16, $380,000
1105 Suisun Street - $440,000
03-03-23 [3 Bdrms - 1008 SqFt - 1954
YrBlt], Previous Sale: 08-18-20, $365,000
TOTAL SALES: 20
LOWEST AMOUNT: $370,000
HIGHEST AMOUNT: $925,000
MEDIAN AMOUNT: $567,500
AVERAGE AMOUNT: $579,625
136 Bristol Drive - $380,000
02-28-23 [4 Bdrms - 1799 SqFt - 1974 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 08-07-00, $212,000
650 Camellia Way - $495,000
02-28-23 [3 Bdrms - 1057 SqFt - 1958 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 03-01-16, $315,000
570 Camellia Way - $530,000
03-03-23 [3 Bdrms - 1118 SqFt - 1958 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 10-28-15, $340,000
830 Camellia Way - $599,000
03-03-23 [4 Bdrms - 1929 SqFt - 1952
YrBlt], Previous Sale: 03-09-22, $515,000
324 Crow Canyon Court - $645,000
02-28-23 [4 Bdrms - 2003 SqFt - 1995
YrBlt], Previous Sale: 05-02-02, $350,000
896 Granada Lane - $925,000
02-28-23 [4 Bdrms - 3395 SqFt - 1988
YrBlt], Previous Sale: 10-11-17, $780,000
146 Isle Royale Circle - $389,000
03-02-23 [2 Bdrms - 1212 SqFt - 1964 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 04-09-18, $329,000
706 Kingdom Road - $690,000
02-28-23 [5 Bdrms - 2219 SqFt - 2016 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 10-25-18, $547,000
473 Manchester Way - $514,000
03-03-23 [4 Bdrms - 1430 SqFt - 1975 YrBlt]
566 Marvin Gardens Circle - $565,000
03-02-23 [3 Bdrms - 1680 SqFt - 2002
YrBlt], Previous Sale: 10-05-21, $555,000
120 Mckinley Circle - $370,000
02-27-23 [2 Bdrms - 918 SqFt - 1964 YrBlt]
200 Mckinley Circle - $403,000
02-28-23 [2 Bdrms - 1152 SqFt - 1963 YrBlt],
Previous Sale: 06-02-05, $359,000
324 Old Rocky Circle - $760,000
03-03-23 [5 Bdrms - 2819 SqFt - 2001
YrBlt], Previous Sale: 01-17-07, $760,000
296 Plantation Way - $557,500
03-01-23 [4 Bdrms - 1840 SqFt - 1977 YrBlt]
154 Randall Avenue - $380,000
03-01-23 [4 Bdrms - 1806 SqFt - 1975 YrBlt]
920 Rio Grande Drive - $893,000
03-02-23 [4 Bdrms - 3562 SqFt - 2002
YrBlt], Previous Sale: 04-24-02, $478,390
242 Saybrook Avenue - $637,000 02-28-23 [4 Bdrms - 2306 SqFt - 1989 YrBlt], Previous Sale: 03-28-19, $485,000
148 Shefield Drive - $570,000
[4 Bdrms - 1799 SqFt - 1975
Previous Sale: 07-23-14, $335,000
7018 Westminster Court - $625,000
02-28-23 [3 Bdrms - 1809 SqFt - 2012 YrBlt],
These are the local homes sold recently, provided by California Resource of Lodi. The company can be reached at 209.365.6663 or CalResource@aol.com.
TOTAL SALES: 21
LOWEST AMOUNT: $155,000
HIGHEST AMOUNT: $792,000
MEDIAN AMOUNT: $580,000
AVERAGE AMOUNT: $526,048 124 Aragon Court - $620,000
02-27-23 - 1938 SqFt - 1967 YrBlt], Previous
Sale: 08-11-20, $520,000
1416 Carl Avenue - $550,000
03-03-23 [2 Bdrms - 1197 SqFt - 1942 YrBlt],
315 College Avenue - $588,000
03-02-23 [4 Bdrms - 1978 SqFt - 1989 YrBlt], Previous Sale: 08-18-20, $430,000
269 Cortland Circle - $600,000
02-28-23 [4 Bdrms - 1536 SqFt - 1965 YrBlt], Previous Sale: 09-13-22, $400,000
539 Cotta Court - $595,000
02-27-23 [3 Bdrms - 1690 SqFt - 1990 YrBlt], Previous Sale: 01-26-00, $202,000
See Transactions, Page 14
Buying a house isn’t easy, especially for the first time.
Just ask John Sibilia, who recently experienced all the stress and uncertainty many firsttime homebuyers face.
Another buyer outbid him on one house. He had to back out of a purchase agreement on another. But then his luck suddenly turned after seeing a house in West St. Paul, Minnesota, that had just hit the market for $225,000.
He made an offer the same day, closed quickly, and less than a month after first setting foot in it, he and his dog, Gunnar, were home.
“I don’t regret it at all,” Sibilia said. “But I’m happy it’s over.”
Though Sibilia closed on the house in near-record speed, his path to homeownership started months before that.
Here’s advice all first-time homebuyers need as the spring market gains traction.
Sibilia found Twin Cities agent Mark Philion from a referral while house-hunting on Realtor. com. Sibilia said it was a rocksolid connection because he soon sensed Philion was on his side, helping steer him away from at least one house bound to become a money pit.
Many buyers hire a friend or acquaintance, but you might want to consider someone who specializes in the communities where you want to live.
Here’s why: Though the market has cooled, there are still some areas where there are more buyers than sellers. In some cases, that makes it important to hire an agent who’s well-connected
in those neighborhoods. Those agents often hear about houses that are soon to hit the market.
Meeting with a loan officer before starting to shop is also essential to help understand your budget and secure a preapproval letter.
“If Sibilia didn’t have all his financial tools lined up, and he went into the fight with one hand behind his back,” Philion said, “he wasn’t as strong of a buyer as he could [have been].”
HGTV bills many of its programs as reality shows, but in many cases, what you’re watching isn’t realistic, especially for first-time buyers on a budget.
A survey of house listings priced under $300,000 show many are smaller than 1,000 square feet, have only one or two bedrooms and just a single bathroom. Sibilia’s one-bedroom house is more than 100 years old and is far from perfect, but he doesn’t care. The house has two finished rooms upstairs and space to add a second bath, making it what Sibilia called an “equity builder.” He loves that it has a one-car garage and fenced backyard, things he wouldn’t likely have if he continued renting.
Once you set a budget, try to still shop for houses that cost less than your max. That’s so you have
the flexibility to offer sellers more than they’re asking.
Philion said Sibilia shopped for houses priced at about 25% less than he could afford. That’s because about half the houses Philion’s first-timers want to buy elicit more than one offer and often sell for more than asking.
So when Sibilia decided to make an offer the first day his house hit the market, he was able to offer the sellers extra, making it easier for them to accept before others could see the house and give more competition. There were eight showings set up for that day, 12 for the next day and a weekend open house.
“The last thing I wanted was for that house to go to an open house,” Philion said. “John
Federal Housing Administration mortgages are well-suited to first-time buyers because they require a smaller down payment. But there are a variety of homebuyer assistance programs. Sibilia was able to qualify for a deferred loan to help cover his down payment and closing costs through Minnesota Housing’s Homeownership Program. He qualified for a $12,500 loan he doesn’t have to pay back until he sells the house or pays off the loan. That means he only had to pay about $1,575 out of pocket to buy the house.
Condos and townhouses generally cost significantly less than single-family houses. In the Twin Cities, for example, the median price of a condo was $199,900 during February, about $200,000 less than a single-family house, according to the Minneapolis Area Realtors (MAR).
At the end of the year, 27 of the 37 properties listed for under $100,000 were condos. Philion notes while condos and townhouses come with association dues, the total cost of owning can still be cheaper than renting.
Find out which communities have the most affordable houses. You can shop online without obligation on Realtor.com and other real estate websites.
See Tips, Page 10
Holy cow! I did some research and found some surprising data on the number of single-family homes and condos in Solano County that are currently rental properties. There are approximately 120,000 homes in Solano County and more than 40,000 are not owner-occupied. No wonder we have an inventory problem in our market, with only 410 homes for sale in the county.
Sadly, 5,000 to 10,000 of these properties have landlords that don’t read this section of the paper because they are huge Wall Street hedge fund investors like Black Rock and Starwood Capital. The good news is that more than 30,000 of these rental properties are owned by good, old-fashioned, hard-working momand-pop folks that decided to make real estate part of their diversified investment portfolio, and this is my target audience. My goal is to help my Realtors and our huge number of pre-approved buyers find a house and achieve the American Dream.
After the crash in 2008, it became a buyer’s market and the only Realtors that made big money from 2008 to 2011 were the Realtors that were blessed to be real estate owned listing agents representing the mortgage companies that had to get rid of thousands of repossessed homes. This 2023 market challenge is the opposite. Home prices remain stable,
very few people are in foreclosure and almost all the current homeowners have equity and a low-rate affordable mortgage.
It’s kind of funny and ironic, the government kept their mouth shut from 2003 to 2008 while Wall Street-backed investors and mortgage companies did trillions of dollars worth of bad mortgages, which artificially inflated the market. This time the government did too much spending on the pandemic and supported zero-percent interest rates for way too long.
I am not complaining about the 2.375% fixed-rate mortgage I nabbed in 2021 or the huge amount of profit all my friends and I in the mortgage industry made from 2020 to early 2022, but, yikes, this shortage of homes for sale is painful for us in the business and the thousands of firsttime homebuyers ready to buy now.
Solano County has historically had five to 600 home sales per month, and this year we are averaging less than 300 and almost nobody is refinancing.
Attention landlords, if you were ever thinking about selling your rental home and taking the gain or exchanging your investment property via a tax-deferred 1031 exchange, now is the time to do it. It is a seller’s market on homes between $400,000 and $900,000 because there are
See Porter, Page 10
From Page 7
five ready and willing buyers for every house on the market today. Mortgage rates have come down and the California Dream for All is the greatest down payment assistance program in history. If you are a homeowner that converted your departing residence into a rental from 2020 to 2023 and have occupied that house two of the past five years, you may be able to sell the house now without any capitalgains tax if you are already sick and tired of being a landlord.
If you do face capital gains, you may want to sell one or two of your rental homes and do a 1031 tax-deferred exchange into a beautiful large one-story home for you to move into for retirement in four or five years or maybe a vacation rental in Scottsdale or Lake Tahoe.
You might consider an Airbnb, where if you have the right management, you can
From Page 3
an unlawful detainer, the fancy name for an eviction action.
In your case, remember we’re in California. Since the tenant has raised the habitability issue as a defense, even if entirely unjustified, you will need to be sure to address it in court at your trial.
The tenant only needs to raise the issue and present some small amount of evidence for the legal burden to shift to the landlord.
Once that happens, it’s up to the landlord to prove there have been no habitability issues.
When it comes to putting on your case at trial, I believe you will need the help of an attorney. The judge in your case will be looking very closely at you and will give the tenant every benefit
double your cash flow from your current long-term high-maintenance rental. If you love your tenant, you might want to sell the home to them now that most first-time homebuyers with 680 FICO scores can buy a house with nothing out of pocket. The market is so red hot today, you can sell your rental home on a 60- to 90-day escrow, giving your tenant time to move to a new home.
Keep in mind, landlords, many of your tenants will be moving out soon to buy a house so this may be the perfect time to call your trusted Realtor or mortgage adviser for a free consultation to see all your options.
Jim Porter, NMLS No. 276412, is the branch manager and senior loan adviser of Solano Mortgage, NMLS No. 1515497, a division of American Pacific Mortgage Corporation, NMLS No. 1850, licensed in California by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the CRMLA / Equal Housing Opportunity. Jim can be reached at 707-449-4777.
of the doubt.
Tim Jones is a real estate attorney in Fairfield. If you have any real estate questions you would like to have answered in this column, you can send an email to AllThingsRealEstate@ TJones-Law.com.
Last year when the market was so competitive, buyers waived financing and inspection contingencies to help make their offers appealing. That’s no longer the case.
Sibilia put in an offer on a South St. Paul house, and Philion encouraged him to hire an independent home inspector. It’s good he did. The house needed $30,000 to $40,000 in foundation repairs. Without the inspection, Sibilia said, “I would have been up a creek without a paddle.”
Many buyers are asking sellers to chip in for repairs, closing costs and mortgagerate buy downs, all of which are seller concessions that accounted for nearly 46% of all deals last month, according to Redfin. Because Sibilia paid nearly $10,000 more than the asking price, Philion asked the sellers to help pay some of the closing costs to offset.
Though houses are now taking longer to sell, there’s still a dire shortage of ones that are
affordable to entry-level buyers. And many are selling quickly.
On average, houses priced from $250,000 to $350,000 sold in just 27 days last month. That was five days faster than last year at the same time and swifter than any other price range, according to MAR.
Many experts said the best time to buy a house is when you can afford it, so don’t fret about trying to time the market.
Yes, mortgage rates are higher than last year, but you can always refinance if rates decline. If you’re worried there aren’t enough listings, you don’t know what’s really out there until you start looking.
And if you’re concerned
about buying during the market’s peak, all the latest surveys show if year-over-year prices decline – and they are in some parts of the country – they’re likely to decrease far less in the Twin Cities because prices rose much more modestly than most of the nation.
Philion’s advice is to start the process six months before you want to buy. And if the prospect of competing with other buyers has you waiting on the sidelines, consider shopping from December through February, when there are fewer buyers in the market and sellers are the most serious.
“That’s when sellers really want to sell,” he said. “And for buyers, home ownership is the No. 1 wealth builder, so why wait?”
ABOVE: The sunny perimeters of the pockets allowed for color to be incorporated like these ColorCoded, Price is White and Frankly Scarlet coneflowers.
LEFT: The Garden Guy’s front yard is a little over a half-acre with a lot of trees. Grouping the trees into islands or pockets of non-mow areas helped develop planting opportunities.
The Garden Guy and Mrs. Jan moved to our present house in spring 2019. Ideas flowed like a water fall for backyard plantings, while the front yard was daunt ing, for one big reason: It is over a half-acre with a steep upward slope toward the home.
The Garden Guy was raised in west Texas, where trees were the occasional mesquite. Here in west Georgia, I felt like I was in a forest. Thankfully, in between Texas and Georgia, I got a lot of boots-on-the-ground training while working as a horticulture specialist for Mississippi State University.
Sometimes it can be hard for the preacher to take his own advice, but in this case, the old horticulturist remembered his lectures on taking the landscape modification in bite-sized chunks. If you are facing a landscape challenge, I urge you to take it in steps too. This reduces the stress on the mind and on the pocketbook. After all, The Garden Guy is basically retired
and on a fixed budget.
The first objective was to reduce turf area as much as possible by clustering trees in islands, or pockets. I suppose you might include expansive sweeps or drifts.
This eliminated turf care here and opened up sea of opportunity for dogwoods, Bloom-a-Thon and Perfecto Mundo azaleas, hydrangeas, Double Play flowering quince, Yin and Yang viburnums and my prized Fluffy gold conifers.
The islands have sunny hot sides, and shadier cooler sides. The sunny side of the islands opened the door to plants like
Pugster Blue buddleia and Luscious Royale Cosmo lantanas. Then I added more perennials like Color Coded The Price is White and Frankly Scarlet coneflowers, as well as Pyromania Blaze Red Hot Pokers. Behind these I have been able to incorporate Rockin salvias.
With such a large forested front yard, it has at times given me the feeling of wondering whether guests could find the front door. While I exaggerate slightly, here and at several of my other homes over the years, you quickly realize this is the most important area to have a
See Winter, Page 13
From Page 11
pocket of welcoming color.
Here I have created a little dazzle with Luscious Royale Cosmo lantana, Angelface Super White angelonia and Sunstar Pentas. There are also four selfwatering AquaPots that have more of the gorgeous colored conifers like Fluffy and Polar Gold arborvitaes.
The Christmas tree look of the arborvitae are picturesque on
their own; the addition of Superbells Grape Punch, Tangerine Punch and Black Currant Punch have added the "holy wow" factor. The perfect finishing touch was the addition of Dolce Appletini heucheras. So many in my area still don’t understand the effectiveness of heucheras as partners in containers.
The last addition – perhaps unexpected for a front door pocket planting – was a glazed blue bird bath. Partnered with red and white AquaPots, the shiny blue is just a little added magic.
I still spend most of my time out back, and on more than one occasion I have stood in my backyard and wondered where my hummingbirds and butterflies were. Then it hits me: They are playing in the front yard!
Norman Winter is a horticulturist, garden speaker and author of “Tough-as-Nails Flowers for the South” and “Captivating Combinations: Color and Style in the Garden.” Follow him on Facebook @NormanWinterTheGardenGuy. He receives complimentary plants to review from the companies he covers.
your Purchase or
your current
Bring your loan to us so we can get you locked at a GREAT RATE and Finish it up QUICKLY! We don’t mess around, We Get it DONE, We are Local and we DELIVER!
When we write your Pre-Approval Letter to present to the seller, You WILL Close the Deal with us!
R. Kalis
707.759.5129
We can use ANY Bank or Investors Wholesale dept. We are not confined to just one source. Why have 5 banks pull your credit, when we can pull it once and get bids for you from 5 banks??
Both Jim and Darla were born and raised in Solano County, and have 40+ years in the real estate business. Serving Solano, Yolo, Sacramento and Contra Costa counties, they are one of the last surviving independent real estate firms and were voted one of the top ten real estate agencies and Brokers for the past 25 years! Bigger is not always better Thank you Solano County!
Please help us welcome Norene Parker and Debbie Lintao to our team!
NORENE PARKER comes to Jim Stever Realty with 43 years of Real Estate experience. She has excellent communication skills, resulting in positive, successful real estate transactions for her clients. Serving First Time Buyers to Retirees, with dedication, compassion and trust. She enjoys volunteering at Our lady of Mt Carmel Church in Fairfield, Teaching 4th Grade Faith Formation classes.
(707) 486-6407
Top realtors have knowledge of the neighborhoods and areas they represent, comparable sales, title issues, zoning, legal issues, inspections required and insurances needed, to list a few When looking for your next REALTOR, whether buying or selling, give one of the professionals at Jim Stever Realty a call.
DEBBIE LINTAO has joined Jim Stever Realty as an Associate Broker. She comes to us with 34 years of experience as a local lender. Real estate clients appreciate when their agent has a thorough understanding of the mortgage process, including aspects like interest rates, credit scores, down payments, incentives for first-time homebuyers, and the preapproval process. Likewise, mortgage clients find it helpful to have an MLO who understands the real estate industr y, especially in terms of dealing with title companies and working with real estate brokerages. Debbie has both a real estate and mortgage license, setting herself apart from other professionals in the industr y. She is able to offer more value to her clients and other agent partners, due to her extensive education and experience.
(707)-330-3039
er extensive education and 30-3039
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