A Beer Lover's Guide to Gold Country: Grass Valley, Nevada City & Auburn
If you're road-tripping through the Sierra foothills between Sacramento and Tahoe, you're driving straight through one of Northern California's most underrated craft beer corridors. Grass Valley, Nevada City, and Auburn — three historic Gold Rush towns strung along Highway 49 and I-80 — are packed w
5 Reasons the Draft Horse Classic Feels Like Nevada County Living
Every September the Nevada County Fairgrounds in Grass Valley fill up with draft horses the size of small trucks, and half the county shows up to watch them work a full arena. This year the 39th Annual Draft Horse Classic and Harvest Fair runs Thursday, September 17 through Sunday, September 20, and
5 Curb Appeal Fixes to Sell Faster in Lake of the Pines
If you are getting ready to list in Lake of the Pines, curb appeal is worth more of your time than most sellers think. I have watched buyers form an opinion of a home before they even get through the gate, and that first impression carries all the way through the showing. A handful of focused Lake o
Should You Price Your Nevada County Home Differently This Fall?
I've had a few sellers ask me some version of this question over the past couple of weeks: does it still make sense to price the way we would have in June, or does fall change things? It's a fair question, and looking at the latest Metrolist MLS numbers, the honest answer is yes, it changes things.
Alta Sierra vs. Auburn: Which Sierra Foothills Lifestyle Fits You
I get asked about Alta Sierra vs. Auburn more than almost any other matchup in the Sierra Foothills. The two communities sit less than 20 minutes apart, and both give you oak-studded hills, easy Sacramento access, and a slower pace than the suburbs most of my clients are leaving. But the price, the
Grass Valley vs. Nevada City: Which Has the Lower Cost of Living?
Photo credit: Unsplash I get some version of this question almost every week from buyers weighing Grass Valley against Nevada City: which town actually has a lower cost of living? They sit less than five miles apart, share that same Gold Rush charm, and from a distance they can look like the same ma
What This Fall's Concert Calendar Reveals About Living in Grass Valley, CA
I keep a running list of reasons I give people who are still deciding whether to make the move to Nevada County, and this fall's calendar at The Center for the Arts and the Nevada Theatre just handed me a new one. When a town of under 15,000 people can pull a full six-week play run and two touring n
7 Mistakes First-Time Homebuyers Make in Lake Wildwood, CA
I've walked a lot of first-time buyers through their first offer in Lake Wildwood, and the same few mistakes show up again and again. It's a beautiful gated community in Penn Valley, and it's different enough from a typical Grass Valley or Nevada City purchase that buyers who don't know what to expe
What the Fed's September Meeting Means for Nevada County Mortgage Rates
I hear the same line from buyers almost every week right now: "I'll wait until rates come down." It is a reasonable instinct, but it is worth looking at the actual data before you build a plan around it. Nevada County mortgage rates are tied to national policy, and the next real signal comes on Sept
