Selling a House With Unpermitted Work in California
What California sellers must disclose about unpermitted work, how to choose between disclosing, legalizing or removing it, the state's path for unpermitted ADUs, and how lenders view it.
Staging a Mid-Century Modern Home: Scale, Sightlines and Restraint
How to stage a mid-century modern home around its floor plan: furniture scale, clear sightlines through glass, atrium and yard staging, and California's disclosure rule for altered photos.
Selling a Mid-Century Modern Home: What to Fix and What to Leave
Which repairs to handle before selling a mid-century modern home, which original features to keep, the gray zone in between, and the California disclosure items that shape the list.
Renovation Loan for an Older Home: Options for Mid-Century Houses
How FHA 203(k), Fannie Mae HomeStyle and Freddie Mac CHOICERenovation loans work for a mid-century house that needs a roof, glass or heat, plus home equity options for current owners.
Lead Paint Disclosure for Pre-1978 Homes, Plus Asbestos Testing
The federal lead paint disclosure steps for pre-1978 homes, how California's disclosure form treats hazards, where asbestos may be in a mid-century house, and renovation rules.
Section 1 and Section 2 Termite Reports on Post-and-Beam Homes
What Section 1, Section 2 and further inspection mean on a California pest report, where post-and-beam homes tend to show wood damage, and how buyers and sellers use the report.
How to Check Permit History on a Mid-Century Modern Home
Where permit records for Bay Area mid-century homes live, how to search them step by step, how to request original plans, and what to do when the house and the records don't match.
Insurance for Older Homes in California: A Mid-Century Owner's Guide
How to insure a 1950s or 1960s post-and-beam home in California: rebuild limits, code upgrade coverage, wildfire mitigation discounts, the FAIR Plan and nonrenewal notice rules.
Mid-Century Home Inspection Checklist: What to Check, System by System
Which inspections to order for a 1950s or 1960s post-and-beam home, and what to check on the roof, slab, wiring, glass and original materials before your contingency ends.
Mid-Century Modern Terms: A Glossary for Buyers and Owners
Plain-language definitions of the mid-century modern terms in listings, inspection reports, city guidelines and historic surveys, with links to deeper pages.
Mid-Century Modern Design Principles: Overhangs, Orientation and Glass
Deep overhangs, careful siting, closed fronts, open backs and planned landscapes: how Eichler-era houses were designed for the California sun, and how to update them.
How to Read a Mid-Century Floor Plan Before You Tour
Find the original model, then read the zones, the shape, the glass and the slab. A six-step method for reading an Eichler or post-and-beam floor plan before a tour.
Eichler Carports, Entry Courts and Blank Street Walls Explained
The closed-looking front of an Eichler is deliberate. How carports, garages, entry courts and fences shape the street side, and what the records say about changing them.
Mid-Century Tract Homes vs. Custom Moderns: What Buyers Should Know
Tract moderns came as sets of models; custom moderns were drawn for one lot. How to tell them apart and why it matters for research, historic value, rules and remodels.
Mid-Century Clerestory Windows and Window Walls: How They Work
High clerestories in front and full-height glass in back: how mid-century houses bring in daylight, protect privacy, handle heat and keep their window pattern.
Butterfly Roof Houses and Other Mid-Century Rooflines Explained
Butterfly, flat, shed and low gable roofs each tell you something about a mid-century house. Here is where each came from and what the roofline means for owners.
Mid-Century Modern vs. Ranch: How to Tell California Houses Apart
Both are low, one-story postwar houses. Here is how framing, roofs, siding, windows and garages separate a Contemporary-style modern from a California tract ranch.
Eichler Atrium Models vs. Courtyard and Gallery Plans Explained
Atrium, courtyard and gallery plans each handle privacy and light differently. Here is where each Eichler plan type came from and how to read it from the street.
How to Tell If a House Is an Eichler: A Six-Step Check
Eichler is a builder, not a style. Use records, the street face, the structure and the original model to confirm a true Eichler, and learn which remodels don't change the answer.
Flat Roof Solar on Mid-Century Homes: Placement, Batteries, Billing
Getting a low-slope roof ready for solar, placing panels to suit the architecture, where batteries can go, how PG&E and Palo Alto solar billing work now, and what to ask in a sale.