California
Here’s How Nashville Homeowners Can Win Amid a ‘Flood of California People Coming In’
“You’re custom made for movin’ on,” crooned Chris Stapleton in his 2020 country hit “Nashville, TN.” But these days, it looks like Music City is made for moving in.
Nashville made the list of top 10 U.S. migration destinations in November, according to a report last week from Redfin―with more new arrivals from Los Angeles than any U.S. city. And as the domestic migration slows generally from the highs of the pandemic, Nashville is also one of the few cities in the U.S. where the inflow has increased compared to a year ago.
For Nashville sellers who may have already been planning a move, the influx presents an opportunity. And with relatively inexpensive updates, sellers can maximize returns on a sale by appealing to the tastes, needs and preferences of Angeleno buyers, realtors say.
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“There is a flood of California people coming in, and we’re welcoming that,” said Rebecca Norris DiNapoli, an agent with Compass in Nashville. “And they’re buyers who generally want luxury properties.”
Luxury in Nashville, she added, “used to be $2 million to $3 million. Now, it’s $5 million to $10 million.”
In Los Angeles County, the median home listing price was $1.249 million in November according to the latest Realtor.com data; and the most expensive listing is a Bel Air estate asking $139 million.
When a Californian client calls, “I can almost read their minds,” said Michelle Maldonado, an agent with Compass in Nashville. “They want an open plan, 6,000 to 10,000 square feet, high ceilings, lots of light, great outdoor space with a lot of usability outside. What they don’t want is to do any work. They want something ready.”
While a seller can’t change whether a home faces east or west, “you can change paints to reflect the light better,” said Amy Doyle, an agent at the Agency in Nashville. “A lot of people paint the house white with that in mind. We had clients from Los Angeles this week, and the first thing they said when they walked into a property was ‘it’s too dark.’”
More: Too Early to Prep Your Home for a Spring Sale? Think Again.
Outdoor living space is also key, said Doyle, who added that the largest proportion of visitors to the Agency’s website have been from California.
“They’re used to spending time outside, so a patio, deck and pool matter,” she said. “A seller might consider amplifying the outdoor living space by making a porch bigger, adding a fire pit or even presenting a rendering if there’s no pool but room to build one.”
Jessica Harrison, an agent at Zeitlin Sotheby’s International Realty in Nashville, agreed.
“Screen in a back living area―Californians bring this up because they don’t want the bugs, but they like to be out there at night,” she said. “Add an outdoor fireplace, and mount a TV above it. We encourage sellers to think about the home through the lens of the buyer’s lifestyle―entertaining, relaxing and enjoying a luxury moment.”
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For some Angelenos, indoor luxury trumps outdoor extravagance, said Maldonado of Compass.
“They have high-end tastes, and prefer top-end appliances, quality countertops and real wood floors,” she said. “Pre-2020, I would have told sellers it’s not worth doing the floor, except for maintenance. Now, at a certain price point, the house has to be really pulled together to get bang for the buck.”
Paint and lighting are “huge, and they’re easy fixes,” she added. “I’ll even have sellers replace lightbulbs. Angelenos are used to a lot of light.”
Doyle, of the Agency, even recommended replacing tired wooden banisters with more characterful wrought iron―and renovating a dated kitchen if budgets permit.
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“Energy-efficient and smart appliances matter to this buyer,” she said. “People are using smart-home tech and eco-friendly appliances as a way to market homes. That’s a big California thing.”
Guest accommodations can be a sweetener for some Los Angeles buyers, said Chris Grimes, an agent with Corcoran Reverie in Nashville. “These people are relocating from across the country, and leaving behind family and friends. Once the dust settles, those people want to come visit.”
A guest house or suite “is a common desire for transplants,” he noted.
And because nearly all Los Angeles buyers in Nashville want turnkey properties, Grimes said, part of a seller’s presentation to them should include every aspect of a home’s maintenance and upkeep.
“If I were to sell my home right now, I would package all of this information together―here are appliance warranties, the landscape company, the housekeeping people, the services we use,” he said. “And get a clean inspection report to share, even if it means spending on repairs. It’s money well-spent and speaks volumes to potential buyers.”
More: Santa Fe’s Mansion Tax Is in Limbo—That Gives Buyers and Sellers a Window of Opportunity
Some buyers balk at spending money on upgrades, Grimes said. “They tell us the buyer’s going to make changes anyway, so why bother? But that was 10 years ago. People just want to see themselves moving their lives and their furniture, especially buyers from California.”
This is all advice that carries into the future, too, as Nashville agents don’t see the Los Angeles inflow abating anytime soon.
“We’ll continue to stay in high demand and for good reason,” said Sotheby’s Harrison. “We’re the No. 4 job market in the country, across all industries. We have amazing infrastructure, great schools and incredible jobs. And we’ve still got a lot of land, which they don’t have in L.A. We can handle the number of people coming here.”
Even at the high end, buyers are drawn by Nashville’s “reasonable” property taxes and the absence of state income taxes in Tennessee, according to Harrison.
“As a ballpark, you’d pay less than half in property taxes here on a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home than in L.A,” he said.
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California
California voters to decide on Proposition 6, which would end forced labor in prisons
California voters are set to decide whether to ban forcing inmates to work as a form of punishment, which civil rights advocates have called a remnant of the state’s history of slavery.
Proposition 6 would amend the state constitution to remove a provision allowing jails and prisons to impose involuntary servitude on inmates and to discipline those who refuse to work.
California outlawed slavery and involuntary servitude in 1850, but the state’s first constitution contained an exception allowing prisons to force inmates to work or be penalized. The removal of the clause was among the key priorities recommended by the state’s Reparations Task Force created to address the legacy of slavery and inequities that harmed Black people in California.
California is one of 16 states that allow forced labor in prisons. Prison labor would still exist in the state if the measure is approved by voters, but it would be voluntary. State prisons would also be required under Proposition 6 to establish work assignment programs in which inmates can earn credits toward early release. City and county ordinances could also establish pay scales to incentivize inmates to work.
A similar measure in 2022 was put before the state Legislature, but it lost support after it was determined that it would cost California an estimated $1.5 billion a year to pay minimum wage to prisoners.
Proposition 6, which was authored by Assemblywoman Lori Wilson (D-Suisun City), does not change what inmates are paid. According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, inmates earn anywhere from $0.16 per hour for basic labor to $10.24 per day for those who work as firefighters.
A companion bill in the California Assembly would allow the CDCR to set wages for incarcerated workers if a constitutional amendment passes.
Supporters of Proposition 6 say the measure would lead prisons to focus on rehabilitation programs instead of forced work that may not help prepare inmates for life after prison. There is no statement of opposition to the measure registered with the Secretary of State, but opponents have previously argued that the costs to the state are unknown.
Proposition 6’s fiscal impact depends on the degree of changes to how inmates work in state prisons and county jails. According to the state voter guide, any effect likely would not exceed the tens of millions of dollars annually.
California
Closer look at early voting numbers on eve of Election Day in California
SACRAMENTO — On election eve, early voting was pointing to historic turnout numbers. The picture is becoming clear of who is voting ahead of Election Day and who is not.
Paul Mitchell with Political Data Incorporated crunched the numbers, which show that there is a wide gap between younger and older early voters.
“We’re still getting data in, so we just got another little update,” Mitchell said. “Seniors are up to 58% turnout and young voters are at 18% turnout.”
In California, 31% of registered voters have already cast their ballots as of the day before Election Day.
Michelle Macey cast her ballot in Sacramento County, becoming one of the thousands to take part in early voting here.
“I have to get my vote in,” Macey said. “I’m just nervous because it’s coming down to the wire.”
By county, Sacramento was also at 31%, while San Joaquin and Stanislaus were at 29%.
“We still have an environment where older voters vote early and young voters vote late, and that means that campaigns right now are knocking on doors,” Mitchell said.
Bill O’Neill, the El Dorado County registrar of voters, has watched his county’s early numbers thrive.
“I think, right now, based on the number of ballots we’re processing, we’ll be number one pretty soon,” O’Neill said.
The top three California counties for voter turnout so far were Amador at 52%, Nevada at 52%, and El Dorado at 48%.
In El Dorado County, 70% of registered voters 65-plus have already cast their ballots.
For those who are waiting until Election Day to cast their ballots, the political competition poses a different challenge.
“There’s a saying, particularly on the Democratic side of races, that the opposition is not the Republican on the other side of the ticket. The opposition is the couch. It’s Kamala Harris versus the couch,” Mitchell said.
So far, the numbers show Lake County has reported the fewest ballots returned so far with 13%.
California
High winds – up to 80 mph – may bring critical fire risk to California
California firefighters debut C-130 Hercules firefighting air tankers
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection debuted their new custom aircraft that took eight months to modify for fighting wildfires.
SAN FRANCISCO – Residents of highly populated areas in California are being urged to exercise caution around fire sources as several factors combine to dramatically increase the risk of blazes Monday – and even more so later in the week.
More than 25 million of the state’s 39 million people will be under red flag warnings or fire weather watches this week because of warm temperatures, low humidity and powerful winds, as high as 80 mph in some elevations, strong enough to qualify for a hurricane.
“Gusty easterly winds and low relative humidity will support elevated to critical fire weather over coastal portions of California today into Thursday,’’ the National Weather Service said Monday.
The offshore air currents, known as Santa Ana winds in Southern California and Diablo winds in the San Francisco Bay Area, have been blamed in the past for knocking down power lines and igniting wildfires, then quickly spreading them amid dry vegetation.
In a warning for Los Angeles and Ventura counties that applied to Sunday night and all of Monday, the NWS office in Los Angeles said wind gusts in the mountains – typically the hardest areas for firefighters to reach – could fluctuate from 55 to 80 mph.
“Stronger and more widespread Santa Ana winds Wednesday and Thursday,’’ the posting said.
San Francisco Chronicle meteorologist Anthony Edwards said this week’s offshore winds – which defy the usual pattern by blowing from inland west toward the ocean – represent the strongest such event in the state in several years.
Edwards added that winds atop the Bay Area’s highest mountains could reach 70 mph, which will likely prompt preemptive power shutoffs from utility company PG&E, and may go even higher in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
The Bay Area’s red flag warning runs from 11 a.m. Tuesday until early Thursday, and it includes a warning to “have an emergency plan in case a fire starts near you.’’
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