Sonoma County Real Estate

Sonoma County, California is known for its excellent, temperate weather, enticing history, and famous wineries. It is also a beautiful place to have a home, or perhaps for retirement. Sonoma County is 35 miles north, about an hour of driving distance from San Francisco. The county's geography is diverse, with hills, valleys, and beaches. It also has a mix of small towns and metropolitan areas.

Sonoma County's climate also makes this place a desirable place to live, with highs in the 80s during the summer, and temps in the 60s and 70s in the fall and spring. The average low in winter is a warm 57 degrees. Many guests to Sonoma County have turned into full-time residents after enjoying the area as a visitor.

Sonoma County is probably best known for its world-recognized wine making. There are close to 200 wineries in the county, with 1,100 growers. Sonoma County ranks seven in the production of grapes of the nation's counties. About 80 percent of the agricultural land in Sonoma County is used to produce grapes. But Sonoma County is also a growing area for technology companies, with leading companies like Agilent Technologies, Medtronic, JDS Uniphase and Advanced Fibre Communications all calling Sonoma County home.

When determining where to relocate in Sonoma County, it is helpful to learn about each area's cities and towns, as it is very diverse within the regions.

Sonoma County can be split into seven geographical areas, each with its unique attractions and reasons for visiting. The areas are Central Sonoma County, Northern Sonoma County, Russian River, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma Valley, Southern Sonoma County and Western Sonoma County.

Central Sonoma County is home to Santa Rosa, Windsor and Oakmont. Santa Rosa is the county seat, and Oakmont is primarily considered a retirement community. Santa Rosa was named one of the most livable communities by the Partners for Livable Communities. Northern Sonoma County includes the areas of Healsburg, Geyersville and Cloverdale. The Russian River area is composed of the communities of Guerneville, Monte Rio and Duncans Mills. The Sea Ranch, Jenner and Bodega Bay are the main areas in the Sonoma Coast area. In the Sonoma Valley, the towns of Kenwood, Glen Allen and Sonoma can be found. Moving south, the areas of Rohnert Park, Cotati and Petaluma are in the Southern Sonoma County area. And toward the west, the communities of Forestville, Graton, Occidental and Sebastopol comprise the Western Sonoma County area.

If you are looking for real estate near the famous wine country area of Sonoma, the more famous wineries are located in the Sonoma County Valley area. The Sonoma Valley area is home to the recognized wineries of Buena Vista Cameros, Sebastiani Vineyards and Ravenswood Valley. However, there are wineries all over the Sonoma County area. There are also many specific website resources for real estate in the wine country. One prominent site to search for wine country real estate is www.winecountry.com/realestate.

The housing market in Sonoma County is strong, and is a strong force in the local county economy. Despite recent national increases in interest rates, Sonoma County's interest rates remain relatively low. As of September 2005, the sale to list price ratio was 98.9% with an average of 57 days on market for single-family homes. The sale to list price ratio has fallen over the summer, from a peak in May at 100.2%. The September 2005 statistics show the median price of single family homes was at $611,500, with an average price of $697,753. The total number of single family homes sold in September 2005 was 604, a 9% increase from August.

Those looking to relocate to Sonoma County, California can find many relocation and real estate resources online. A good place to start is by looking at www.ehomesonoma.com. This site gives very detailed descriptions of cities and towns in Sonoma County so that you can narrow your real estate search to the desired area. Also on the site, you can search properties throughout Sonoma County by looking at current listings or by specifics. You can also sign up for an email notification when desired types of properties hit the market. All of these services are free on ehomesonoma.com. This site even lists phone numbers for utilities and other companies to help those relocating to Sonoma County set up their new homes.

If you are looking for a specific realtor or service, you can also find those resources online. On www.homegain.com enter Sonoma County, California. There you will find a listing of certified REALTORS in the area. The site also lists homes for sale, and can give you an estimate of your current home's value. The site http://www.sonomacountyrelocation.com also gives listings of real estate services and relocation resources. On this site, you can find Sonoma County Coldwell Banker real estate resources. Coldwell Banker is one of the largest real estate brokers in the world.

When looking online, you will also find many sites for individual brokers and real estate agents. Many of which have great, informative sites with search functions where a prospective buyer can identify the type of home they are looking for, in certain areas and within narrowed price ranges. However, just make sure you are using information from the individual sites where the real estate agent is certified. Many of the sites will have an indicator that the agent is experienced, or is a certified REALTOR. On most of these sites, they also have free services like email notification, searchable listings and other resources for those looking to buy or sell in Sonoma County, California.

Informative resources for relocating and real estate can also be found on Sonoma County's official government site at http://www.sonoma-county.org. Here you can find resources and a citizen's guide for new residents. On the County Government's site, you can also find economic reports for the county, detailing trends and job outlooks in the area. The county government site also includes reports of schools in the Sonoma County area by district for those families with children relocating to Sonoma County.