Mediation as an Alternative Dispute Resolution

We’re going to mediation this week. The parties will be the defendant, the City and County of San Francisco (CCSF) and us, the plaintiff. r2e t4s 1905 for export to adobe Click on this link to see a map of the ranch and surrounding area. In a perfect world, all disputes would end with mediation. In this [...]

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Locked Out – The Battle for LaCosta Ridge

Accessing property via a road that has no deeded rights is common. In the hills around Livermore, very few of the landowners have right-of-ways that have been validated by an official grant of easement. On the other hand, very few of these access roads are disputed. The land seldom changes hands, so the owners are [...]

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Governor Signs SB1058 – Assures Tag and Stamp Money will be used for Conservation

For several years, the COHA has worked with The Mule Deer Foundation and other conservation groups to pass legislation that will assure that money from tag and stamp sales will be used for conservation. In the past, tag and stamp money has been funneled away from intended uses creating great consternation for hunters. In an [...]

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Title Insurance

How many times have I purchased title insurance over the years? Can’t even imagine. It’s one of those expenses that you assume you must do, and you must if you have a lender, or you won’t get a loan. However, if you’re purchasing ranch property and you pay cash, you may think about taking a [...]

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What’s a Duck Club Worth?

The value of a duck club is as subjective as any real estate evaluation on earth. An appraiser would look at duck club sales and compare the price, annual operating costs, taxes and acreage to come up with a value. A few days ago I got a call from a duck hunter who was evaluating [...]

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The Homesteaders

Our hill ranch has given me a new sense of appreciation for history. I’ve recently been investigating the history of our property for reasons that I’ll explain in later posts. It turns out that the first owners of our ranch were immigrants that purchased land created by the Homestead Act of 1862. Before that, it [...]

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Creating a Partnership that Lasts

  I recently received the following email. The question was so appropriate that I decided to make a post on the topic.  Good morning Rich,            I bought a 100 acre property here in Ontario, Canada in January with three partners. We have known each other for over 25 years and have hunted together forever. We [...]

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How the Endangered Species Act Affects Wildlife Conservation through Highest and Best Use

The concept of highest and best use is most used by developers and appraisers. A developer will tell you that when a property is economically ready to be improved to a more productive use, it’s time for him to step in. An appraiser will tell you that a property’s highest value is based upon the [...]

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A Week on Vacation without a Camera or Field Glasses

One of the things I can hardly live without is my field glasses. My glasses of choice are Swarovski 7 x30′s and they’re about a dozen years old. They are by far the best optics I’ve ever owned. I own two other pairs of field glasses purchased within the last couple years – not because [...]

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Life Estates – They Serve a Purpose

To many of us, the Life Estate appears to be something that we’ll never see. I remember first learning about life estates when I took my first real estate course in 1977. It seemed like a neat trick. A life estate can be granted to an individual by the owner of a property. First there [...]

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