Northern California Real Estate
Northwest Sonoma County and Southern Mendocino County
Recreational And Estate Properties
We have been doing this since 1976

SOLD

$654,321 - 168.26 Acres
Sold For: $575,000 December 15, 2007
20295 Kelly Road
Lot 10 Lake Sonoma Ranches or Wickersham Ranch
Healdsburg, CA
AP# 114-200-014 MLS #20733364

Due to fixing the slip in the driveway we have 50 yards of loose gravel. You need a 4x4 for that portion for a little while.

This is a potentially beautiful property which has not been taken good care of. It can be fixed.

LOCATION

Behind Lake Sonoma, 45 minutes from Healdsburg, 40 from Cloverdale or 35 minutes from the boat ramp at Lake Sonoma. 5.1 miles of this is on a good gravel road. 45 minutes to the Pacific Ocean, although the easement is not good through the west.

TERRAIN

Rolling hills to extremely steep. About 70% covered with Tan Oak , Bay, Madrone , Fir and White Oak in that order. There is no commercial timber. Several meadows, good views , private.

VINEYARD, ORCHARDS, ETC.

5 to 7 acres look fairly easy and up to 20 acres, if you are aggressive, could go into a vineyard. About 7 acres are now clear and may not require a conversion.

WATER

One of the best springs you will find in this area is in the meadow by the two trailers. It has never been certified. The only measurement I have seen was in January of 1981. It was flowing at 11 gpm. Spring flow can vary hugely. It could be as little as 2 gpm in the end of summer, which is still a lot, 3,000 gallons per day. The french drains are evidently still working. The collection box is a mess. There is an approximately 2,700 gallon stainless storage tank that should be moved up on the hill if you decide to use the present site. Gravity would then deliver the water with pressure. There are now some small pumps.

The West Wheatfield Fork of the Gualala River is the Southern boundary for about a mile. It is a spawning stream for Salmon and holds trout. It is not legal to fish in it. It can go down to a trickle in the end of a long summer, but winter flow can be as much as 6 ft. deep and 60 ft. across. It is gorgeous. The eastern tip of this property shares the best swimming hole on the river with the neighbor on the other side of the river. Water rights have not been explored but they may exist. They have never been needed because the spring is very good. We received a little over 50% of the normal rainfall last year and the creeks and springs are the lowest I’ve seen them in the 37 years that I have been in this area.

THE WEATHER

With an average of 65 to 70 inches of rain per year Kelley Road could close again. It has not since 1986. The 4 months of winter can be tough. Summers are typically nice and you can figure temperatures will be about the same as Healdsburg, about 7 to 10 days of very hot and the rest in the 80’s. The nights are always cool. It is closer to Cloverdale which is 5 degrees warmer but this is higher and about 10 crow miles from the coast.

EASEMENTS

Due to a mistake by the title company who handled the creation of the subdivision in 1971, I do not believe the neighbor on Lot 1 has an easement over an old skid road as was intended across this property. Access to this property has been changed since I first sold it in 1977 and it now comes directly off Kelley Road. The mobile homes were brought in on the old but I think still existing easement. The new access passes over a small portion of Kelley Road property that was created by a difference between where the original easement was intended and where the road was actually built. Since there is a valid easement over Kelly Road, I do not think this is a problem. The road on this property going to the river is partially on Lot 1. It has been used regularly since 1977 and should fall under the prescriptive easement guidelines.

KELLY ROAD

Starts as a left turn off Rockpile. It was created as a logging road in the 1950’s. It went through a period of over 20 years where the Corp of Engineers owned it and it was a mess. I formed the road association that was in effect until 1999. About then, Dave and Bunnie Lewers were the successful bidders and they now own it. They have done an excellent job of bringing it back to a useful, well maintained and locked road. It goes to Annapolis but a buyer of this property does not have an easement past this property to the west. This is the way to the Pacific Ocean. The road fees are $400 per year.

UTILITIES

There are none. Propane can be delivered. It is a good solar site as it faces south. Wind as a back up would be ok. Hydroelectric would be marginally possible in the winter from the spring. Cell phone inside the mobile homes may require a directional antenna. Reception is good outside. I live off the grid because it was not cost effective to bring in P.G.& E. My phones are my own microwave repeater. My satellite gives me internet and could give me phones. A dish gives me TV.

LIVING THERE

Is possible. The water volume is more than good. The spring would have to be certified between July 5th and October 31st. I will have it done by then. No percolation work has been done but it probably would be okay. It will take about $1,000 for a preliminary evaluation and about $5,000 to actually run percolation tests. The driveway is 3/10 of a mile and varies from 10 to 20 % grade. Huge improvements could be made for around $15,000. It would have to be approved by the CDF. There is a 2 year old slip in the driveway we are doing a temporary fix on.

MOBILE HOMES

2 were brought in about 1978 without permits. They are 10’ by 50’ and 12’ by 50’. I do not know who has title to them. They are personal property. . A pig lived on and off in the smaller one for several years. It might be salvaged. The bigger one could be storage. They are in pitiful condition.

VINEYARD

Within a mile, but out of site, there is about 38 acres planted vineyards. They are cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and zinfandel. Other possibilities are chardonnay, cabernet franc, and possibly pinot. The soils look good. Rainfall is about 65 inches per year on the average. Having a vineyard here may offer a better source of water than anything from near the Russian River.

FINANCING

It is free from debt.

WILDLIFE

I am a fairly serious hunter. Since 1976, I have owned four separate properties that were contiguous to this. The hunting in this are is about as good as it gets in California. There are deer, pigs, quail, turkeys, pigeons, etc. Mountain Lions are reducing all of the above.

VALUE

The 2 recent sales in this immediate area are similar in size. They take twice as long to drive to. They are lacking in ambiance, terrain and privacy compared to this. They sold at $650,000 & $480,000. One in Yorkville which was 30 minutes further with a rustic cabin recently sold for $725,000. This is a better piece of dirt. I think this property cleaned up should sell for $700,000. Between its good access, wildlife, terrain, river frontage, and privacy, this is the best property within miles and I have made over 80 sales in this immediate area. This is the best property of this type on the market now.

NEIGHBORS

I do not see any neighbor from hell here. To the west there is a very rugged 40 acres with a little house with no permits that sold in November of 2000 for $195,000.

LAKE SONOMA

Has about 2,700 surface acres and is 35 minutes away. All water activities and miles of trails are available.

WHERE WE ARE NOW

I sold half the property to M—– in July ’03. I showed him how to dump the other 1/2 through a partition action which he completed in ’05. M—– then got a bright idea of buying a 3 million dollar spec house in Hollywood. I recommended he not do it .He found an appraiser who gave 1.5 mil appraisal on this property and the appraiser found a broker who funded a $ 784,350 first mortgage which was foreclosed on July 17, 2007. M—– tried to sell it before the foreclosure and listed it for $1,050,000 with a local agent. Big surprise. They did not find a stupid buyer.

I started talking to the new owners who are 18 pissed off investors and their Mortgage Broker in early August. I received a signed listing price I recommended on September 21,2007. They are going to loose about $250,000 in capital and lost interest before this is over. They are not willing to put any money into the property to clean up what M—– acquired when he bought it plus the stuff M—– scattered around including about 29 pounds of delicate stuff in a good storage container. He is a Rocket Scientist and a nice guy but not a great financial wizard.

I am spending my money on the clean up and remove some garbage because it is a great property and I can sell it. I am now working on getting firm prices to clean up the rest.

ODDS & ENDS

As I spend time on the property, I re-familiarize with stuff I forgot over the last 30 years and discover new things. Here are some of them:

1. The present driveway is from 10 to 20% slope and will require 3 to 4 turn outs. It will require some mitigation for the grade but if you want to build a legal house it looks possible to fix it. Mitigation could be a chip seal or creating 2 shallow ditches for the tire tracks and cementing or asphalt them. $15,000 to $20,000??

2. The old driveway has a 90 ft. hole 45 ft deep where the culverts washed out. It is gentle but very difficult due to the size of the hole. Then you would have a unhappy neighbor who was told there are easements going through their property and the same potential of loosing the culvert again. It washed out 2 times before. It would be traveling on what I believe is the old easement to Kelly Road from when it was created in the 50’s.

3. The road to the river goes into lot 1 less than I thought it did. It is drivable in most any decent vehicle to about 150 yards from the river. Then it turns into a serious plus 25% 4x4 access. It can be made better. Part of that same road was originally intended to provide access to Lot 1 and it was not legally created plus it came off of a road on paper that never existed. It is physically impossible to create that road now. Lot 1 now has access form Kelly.

4. I am torn between using the existing structure area and CUTTING TREES TO OPEN THE VIEWS AGAIN and starting over in the big meadow in the middle of the property. In either case, I would move the water tank up the hill and pump water with a solar pump into it with an automatic system. This would deliver water under pressure to either building site and eliminate the dumb system that is there now.

5. Verizon Cell service is good to the trailer area. So/so inside them but extremely good on the rest of the property including down where the road hits the river.

6. There is one septic tank below the larger trailer which was for both of them. The top has caved in but it is probably repairable but not legal.

7. The two abandoned trucks are just off the property. I have marked the approximate property line.

8. Much of the old wood we will not pick up will need to be burned in the winter. There are a lot of construction materials that can be used on site.

DIRECTIONS

Leave 101 North at Dry Creek at Healdsburg and go west for 12 miles. You are now on the bridge going over Lake Sonoma and you are on Rockpile Road. Set your odometer in the middle of the bridge. In 11.1 miles turn left onto the dirt road which is Kelly Road. It is a private road with a locked gate. The gate requires a combination. At 17.2 or 5.1 more miles you will see a cable gate on your left. 50 yards past that on the inside of the turn there is a metal gate. This is the entrance and requires a combination. If you see a green gate on your left with # 56, you went a little too far. That is the old easement entrance.

SHOWN

By appointment only.

GPS N38° 44' 47.5" W123° 13' 56.1"
AP# 114-200-14
Elevation 1,195 Ft.
Tombs Creek TOPO Section 6
Thomas Bros Map Page 4 D2

The above information is as correct as we can make it but we are human and we make mistakes. Please consult with everyone you can think of.

Joe White - P.O. Box 728 - Healdsburg, CA 95448
Tel: (707) 431-2151 - Fax: (888) 688-4021

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