Top Ways to Improve Your Property Value - Part 3

This week's post is Part 3 of our reoccurring theme, "Top Ways to Improve Your Property Value".   Today we will be looking into projects or enhancements you can do to increase your property's value throughout the years.  Adding entitlements to your property is a great way to give your particular parcel its highest and best value.  An entitlement is a legal agreement with a governing municipality to allow a certain building type to occur on the site.

There are a few ways you can add entitlements to your property.  An example is adding a pond or a well onto your land.  With these types of entitlements, project coordination is typically required with multiple agencies.  For example, the California Regional Water Board will most likely be involved, along with the local permitting agency to ensure regulations are upheld.  Other entitlements can be in the form of special zoning or land-use improvements.

Although coordination and management of a project with multiple agencies sounds daunting, it is something the pro's at Hogan Land Services do on a daily basis.

If you have an existing feature on your property such as a pond or stream, contact us to find out if we can help you add entitlements, and increase your property value!

See you on our next view from the field!

Hogan Land Services Team

#hoganls

Our Favorite Field Shots of 2014

Did you catch our photo from last week's blog post?  If you missed it, you can view it here.  This week we want to share some of our favorite landscape shots from 2014 that our surveyors have snapped while they are in the field. 

“It is one of the joys of my profession, that my “office” extends to such amazing places.  I am lucky to experience so many wonderful places and witness moments as shown in photos such as these; that convey only a glimmer of the magic and joy that I get from “working” in such places.” - HLS Surveyor.

 From lush forests, to views stretching out to the San Francisco bay, our team is excited to share these photos with you!  We can't wait to see what views 2015 will bring.

                                         

See you on our next view from the field!

Hogan Land Services Team

#hoganls

Groundwater & Wet Weather Testing Window

Happy 2015!  With a new year, the window for Sonoma County's Groundwater and Wet Weather Percolation testing has opened for a limited time.  As many of you know, 2014 was a record dry year for California.  The impact of the low rainfall can be seen throughout the state.  The lack of rain these last few years caused the 2013/14 window for Wet Weather Percolation and Groundwater testing to last a mere few weeks, creating a disadvantage to many pre-construction projects.

Luckily Sonoma County has been saturated with a few storms over the last few weeks, and the window for Wet Weather Percolation and Groundwater testing looks promising for 2015. The testing window for Percolation has just opened for Petaluma, Sonoma, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Guerneville and Cloverdale.  If you have been needing a Wet Weather test, please call us to get on the schedule!   The window for Groundwater testing can be conducted 10 days after rainfall of .8 inches within a 48 hour window for the specific geographic location.  We monitor the rainfall daily in our office, therefore our staff will be able to respond quickly and effectively if your project opens for Groundwater Testing. We don't want anyone to miss out on this opportunity.  Once the testing window closes the next possibility will be in 2016.  So make sure you don't miss out! See you on our next view from the field! Hogan Land Services Team #hoganls

Happy New Year!

Happy New Years Eve!

2014 has been a fantastic year for the Hogan Land Services team.  We are thankful for our great clients, amazing staff, and everything in between.

Cheers to a successful 2014, and best wishes to all as we enter 2015!

See you on our next view from the field!

Hogan Land Services Team

#hoganls

Update from our Santa Cruz Office

Hogan Land Services' Santa Cruz location is running full steam ahead!  Meeting other local businesses and supporting the Santa Cruz community is creating excitement for the future as we continue to grow into our new home here.  

Santa Cruz is a thriving community full of opportunity and potential projects.  The connections and relationships we are forming today will lead to a successful collaboration to help you improve the value of your property.

Offering all of the same services, Hogan Land Services is eager to get our foot in the door with all different types of projects.  Whether you have a property out in the country or are looking to remodel a home situated right downtown, we can help ensure your project is managed correctly, built to code, and ultimately turn your vision into a reality. 

We had an amazing sneak peak at a fully collaborative project that is nearing a successful completion.  The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) invited us to view the La Selva Trestle along the County's Branch Rail Line.  This project involved multiple Engineering firms and a rigorous permit processing period.  Now, the end result is a full improvement for the County, the Santa Cruz community, and the Regional Transportation Commission.  Below is a picture from our site visit and everyone agrees, not much beats an office day spent at the beach!

To find out more about our Santa Cruz office, visit our website and click on the "Santa Cruz" tab.

See you on our next view from the field!

Hogan Land Services Team

#hoganls

Top Ways to Improve Your Property Value - Part 2

Time for another installment of "Top Ways to Improve Your Property Value".  In this segment we are reviewing a topic that is difficult for many homeowners to manage on their own.   And in many cases, property and homeowners may not even know a problem exists on their land.

Un-permited work whether done by you, or the previous homeowner can lead to violations against your property, decreasing value until the work is remedied!  This can be in the form of grading or earth movement, un-permited barns or accessory dwelling units, to a deck add-on or sunroom that did not go through the County regulations and process.

While some of these items may look like they increase your property value, unattended violations negatively impact your assets and even the re-sale value of your home.

Hogan Land Services has dealt with many violation resolution projects, and we know they come in all shapes, sizes and circumstances.  

If you are a new homeowner, and are unsure about some work done on your property, give us a call and we can review County records and reports to determine if the work was done legally or not.  If the latter is true, we can help develop and plan and process to get your violation corrected and legalized to County standards.  Even if the violation has not been reported yet, it is important to address the issue and work through solutions to have the work legalized.

The team at Hogan Land Services is determined to come up with creative, cost-effective solutions for all of your property needs.  We know that resolving a violation that you may not have even had a part of is frustrating, and thats why we are here to help!  Even if you are not ready to go through the entire legalization process, knowledge is power - and the experts at Hogan Land Services want you to know everything about your property.

  

See you on our next view from the field!

Hogan Land Services Team

#hoganls

The Napa Earthquake - A Look Back

The earthquake on August 24, 2014 will be remembered by people in Napa and Sonoma County for years.  The 6.0 registered quake occurred at about 3:20 A.M. and many were awakened by the jolt.

As Civil and Structural Engineers, the team at Hogan Land Services sprang into action.  For two weeks after the quake, we offered a free site review of your home, workplace, or property to assess the damage, and determine accessibility.  We received an enormous response from homeowners all over Napa and Sonoma County.  Some were unsure if their property had been affected, while others reported obvious damage.

The level of reported damage ranged from minor to severe, but we treated every case with extreme care and caution.  Structural damage is a serious issue!  We helped property owners determine the extent of structural movement or damage, and advised how to remedy the issue.  Our goal was to ensure your home, workplace or building was safe - and provide recommendations on how to proceed.

We were happy to support the community in a time of need, and our team of Engineers rose to the occasion with site visits nearly every other day in September.  Below are a few images from the structural damage we witnessed.

                            

Although it has been months since the Napa Earthquake, it is always important to do a visual check of your home 2-3 times a year.  If you have witnessed any movement or cracking in your home, please call us for a site review!

See you on our next view from the field!

Hogan Land Services Team

#hoganls