Living in Carmel Valley | Video Transcription Below
What were your real estate goals before buying your Carmel Valley home?
We were from the Northern California area. We knew we wanted to come back, but at the point, we bought this house we were living in Southern California. So we’re 400 miles away, we knew we wanted to go to the greater Carmel area, and we had a great deal of interest in the Carmel Valley in particular. So we started looking here back in December seriously, and in the first few days, we were in contact with The Heinrich Team, so that’s how we came to know Zach and Ben, and you were the first people and the last people that we talked to getting this house.
How did you hear about The Heinrich Team, Carmel Valley Realtors?
Heidi had a friend in the bay area who was a Realtor. We called and we explained what we were doing. She was thrilled that we were looking in this area, and she recommended The Heinrich Team, so it was a referral by a colleague.
How was the process of touring homes?
It was very exciting from beginning to end. The interesting thing for us, we sat down with Ben and Zach and we described what we were looking for, and the very first home they took us to was the home we ended up buying, but it took us two months to realize how perfect it was. Zach was really a pro, he made these books for us, these informative books for each tour we went on giving market comps, giving summaries of the homes, giving floor plans, photos, contact information, maps. There was an online interactive version and a hard copy version we had in our hands when we went around. The great thing about that was that touring homes can be exhausting, and it was for us because we were driving 400 miles touring and then driving back. The great thing is with Zach’s reference manuals, we were able to really remember each of the houses and all of the features. We didn’t blend them into a gray amorphous mass; we knew very distinctly what each home was. Because of that, I think we were very precise in our likes and dislikes, and again understanding what the market costs were for everything. We over the years I think owned ten different houses; it’s never been this easy or this exacting as it was when we purchased this house through The Heinrich Team.
Did you know that you wanted to be in Carmel Valley?
We did look around, we really cast widely our preferences, and it may have been a little maddening to Zach and to Ben because we were way down the valley, up on the hill in ranches, and we were in Pebble Beach, and little suburban homes, but we knew what we wanted, and again working with Ben and Zach they were able to narrow it down and have different types of homes to affirm our choices, and then very precise homes within the band of homes we were interested in. We did look around, but looking at living in Carmel Valley is where we started, where we focused most of our efforts, and where we ended up buying. A big thing for us was the schools that we had. In the Carmel area, we were really looking at Carmel High School for our youngest son, and that was a big draw to keep us in the school district, so that narrowed it for us quite a bit.
How did it feel when you entered into escrow in Carmel Valley?
It was very exciting, ours was rather complicated. It was a several step process for us to get there. We put our house on the market, and we’re very lucky in Southern California, we had a good Realtor down there. Our house was shown in one day and had an offer in the same day, but it was a contingent offer. The buyers of our house had to sell their house, they had to qualify and buy our house, then our offer here was contingent, so it was kind of a three step process, so we were very excited but very concerned that everything would come together. We were really impressed with The Heinrich Team throughout this process, they were in touch with everyone, all the moving pieces were handled by Ben and Zach and they were in touch with Realtors, appraisers on all sides. Because of that, it really couldn’t have gone smoother, and the testimony to that is that our house closed one day, and the very next day this house closed, and everything worked without a hitch, so it couldn’t have been more seamless in the end, and that was a credit to The Heinrich Team.
Were there any difficulties with your Carmel Valley purchase? If so, how did The Heinrich Team help?
There weren’t difficult times, but there were stressful times a little bit for us due to distances. So we were living 400 miles away, and we were not near a major airport, nor was this near a major airport, so the way we would get around was to drive, and it was almost a full day drive any time we needed something. As you know, there are a lot of moving pieces with inspections and everything that’s going on, and Zach and Ben jumped right in and took care of everything on a local basis with this house, and we were really at peace that they coordinated all of the inspections, any checks, repairs, anything that needed to be done, The Heinrich Team took care of it, and just informed us of everything that was happening. They always answered our calls, they always got back to us with any questions, and they took care of everything start to finish. So again, distance was a stressor for us, but it was satisfied immensely through The Heinrich Team.
Tell us a little bit about the upgrades you’ve made in your Carmel Valley home?
This house was a bit of a diamond in the rough. It was a classic, little old lady who lived here. She left the house, and a new buyer did some upgrades inside. They left the frame of the house, there were no changes to that, but they upgraded the kitchen, flooring, walls, all of this. With that, we moved into a complete house, but there were a lot of personal touches that we wanted to do, and we’ve done in the first few months they were here. We started with this area, the garden, so we had a gardener that came in, and we had a stonemason that came in and built a stone fireplace for us. We had a painter that came in and painted pretty much inside and everything outside so there was natural wood and different colors, and we wanted to go with a white base, so we did all of that. In addition, we put in a hot tub, we had a contractor put in a fence, repair, internal fence, we have small dogs, and we wanted to make sure they couldn’t get out. In addition, we put in a bocce course, and did a lot of grooming on the downhill side. Again for all of this, we were not locals, so we went to The Heinrich Team and told them what we were thinking, and they not only had a referral list, it was very deep on all of them, but they had recommendations up top, and we always went with the first of the recommendations, and we were extremely pleased. The photos will show how happy we are with the final product, but it was the contacts made through The Heinrich Team that brought all of this into being, so we are very pleased. For us, we wanted it done very quickly, as most people probably do, but with that, they were able to coordinate among themselves so that they fazed it – when the stone mason was here, the gardener was on the other side, the painters were inside when teams were outside. The worst day we probably had five different contractors here, but they all scheduled it seamlessly, and it all ended up a very good product for what we were seeking. I credit The Heinrich Team, because we would have been going through the phone book and Yelp trying to do this. Ben and Zach not only had contacts, but they knew these people and they were trusted agents. They delivered for us, and we were very happy with the result.
What’s your favorite part about Living in Carmel Valley?
I would say the pace of life. We grew up in a small town, the wine valley area in Sonoma, and with that, this reminds us of Sonoma when we grew up, so it’s quiet, it’s peaceful, it’s rural, but access to everything you would want. There are theatres, universities, businesses, you have nature, the span of nature is here from parks to coastline, mountains, it really has everything we were looking for, but I think the sense of peace and community that we have here has really worked for us, and we’re very happy to be apart of it and contribute.
What’s your son’s favorite part about Living in Carmel Valley?
I think it’s school. I think the schools too. There’s a particular school that we focused on for him. He goes to a local private school, and he’s been very happy there. It’s met every need and exceeded it for what we were looking for. Through the school, he was able to get a sense of self and settle in very quickly. So for him, I think he feels this is a very inviting, embracing area and it has worked out very well for a freshman in high school, which could be a wobbly time for many. I think he’s really thrived due to what this area offers.
Would you recommend Carmel Valley Realtors, The Heinrich Team, to your network?
Oh absolutely, we already have! Absolutely, to the hilt we would recommend The Heinrich Team and have to anyone who’s looking in the area. The service they provided, they listened to us, they guided us when we needed it, they informed us when we had any questions or concerns, they have a rich knowledge of the area, tremendous experience with all facets of real estate, so for us, they’ve not only delivered, I would say they have really become friends, and we’re very happy to know them and the knowledge and camaraderie that they bring to the entire process. So we feel very welcome to be here, and very proud to have worked with The Heinrich Team throughout.