Real Estate News From Jenell Fontes VanDenBos

  Can't afford Assisted Living? Don’t Let Grandma Live in the Street! Looking to add space to your home: This is what you need to know! California recent changes to ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit) laws are a game changer — they unlock fast, cost-effective ways to add living space, increase rental income, and boost resale value, while also solving a very real family problem: caring for aging parents without breaking the bank. With housing rules loosened across the state and demand for multigenerational solutions rising, adding a permitted guest house or granny pod can turn wasted backyard square footage into a practical, income-producing, and deeply personal asset—giving you flexibility, financial upside, and a place for Grandma (or Grandpa) that keeps family close and safe.- California rewrote the ADU rulebook in recent years — it’s easier and faster than ever to add a legal secondary unit on your property. - Value drivers: home values often track square footage and bedrooms. A...

Top Questions to Ask When Hiring a REALTOR? You should interview your realtor as you are hiring them for one of the biggest financial decisions of your life! This is not a job for your cousins, uncles, friend… YOU need a professional: 🔎 How long have you been in residential real estate sales? Is it your full-time job? JENELL: “I became a realtor in 2009! Wow… This is my full-time job, and I have a staff of two full-time realtor agents to handle marketing and transactions. I’m grateful to have a full support staff at Coldwell Banker for marketing, legal and more. I also have an MBA and I understand how the market works and the bigger picture of your financial health.” 🏘️ How many homes did you and your real estate brokerage sell last year? JENELL: “We SOLD 27 homes last year ranging from $230k to $5.2 Million. I mostly work with investors and can show buyers how to leverage their money to create generational wealth! I was recognized in the Palm Springs Life Top 25 Realtors, Verifi...

The Coachella Valley housing market continues to evolve, shaped by shifting demographics, remote work trends, and lifestyle-driven migration. In 2026, the buyer profile—especially in the $500,000 to $1.5 million range—reveals a diverse and dynamic mix of purchasers drawn to the region’s unique blend of luxury, climate, and investment potential. In 2025, buyers in the Coachella Valley were largely driven by lifestyle upgrades and post-pandemic flexibility. Remote and hybrid work allowed more people to relocate from high-cost urban centers such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle. Key buyer groups included affluent retirees, remote professionals, vacation home buyers, and real estate investors. Emerging trends in 2026 include younger affluent buyers, primary residence purchasers, multi-generational households, and international buyers seeking both lifestyle and investment opportunities. Buyers are primarily relocating from Southern California, including Los Angeles, Orange County,...

On the verge of summer 2026,  this is what’s keeping buyers & sellers up at night. Buyers — the single biggest risk is the unknown. If you haven’t met with a loan officer and a real estate agent, make that your first step. Create a  plan now, even if you think your purchase is a year away. Assemble your team early — this isn’t a process you should go through alone.  Let us help you find free MONEY! Sellers — if you’re even thinking about selling, now is the time to meet with an agent and schedule a walkthrough. Decide which repairs, maintenance items, or projects should be completed now. Plant those smaller trees now in a year they will be SELL Ready! ALSO, do the reno now so that you can enjoy before the sale! Understanding the seasonality of the market and having a plan will dramatically reduce stress and make you more money in the long run! Need help making a plan? Contact Jenell and together we can navigate the questions— we’ll connect you with a loan officer...

You’ve secured your tickets and booked your stay with Jenell and the team—now it’s time for the fun part: planning your outfit! Coachella has become just as much a fashion event as it is a music festival, but the best looks balance style and practicality. When planning your festival fit, keep these four items in mind: shoes, a functional bag, layers, and essentials. THE SHOES: Choose comfortable shoes—you’ll be walking and standing most of the day. Test them out beforehand, skip spike heels, and opt for flats, wedges, boots, or even creatively styled flip-flops that match your vibe. THE PURSE: Pick the right purse. A small crossbody or wristlet works best—big enough for your phone, wallet, water, and essentials, but light enough to move through the crowds hands-free. THE LAYERS: Don’t forget layers. Desert days are hot and nights cool down quickly, so bring a light wrap, crochet cover-up, or jacket you can easily tie around your waist or bag. Add fun accessories, sun protection, and a ...

Now if you have been paying attention to the Coachella Valley something peculiar has been happening, it is explainable but it exemplifies a larger problem in our current real estate market. Today there are approximately 650 active properties on the market as of February 2022. Around this same time last year, there were over 2,000 active properties on the market. Now to make it clear the typical  inventory  of the Coachella Valley is usually somewhere between 4-5,000 units. Currently this is a clear identifier demand is extremely high, but how long can that last as supply remains so  low . As interest rates continue to rise there is going to be a decrease in buyer demand, and we can already see that as the average days on market increases. This past year we saw houses being sold within hours of being posted on the MLS, multiple bids above asking price, and the sheer force of movement that has filled up the valley with transplants and former city-sl...

Talus is a NEW residential Development that you might want to know more about because this project is changing the face of property development for the Coachella Valley! For those of you that have recently driven on Avenue 52 or Jefferson on their way to PGA, Tradition or Griffin Ranch, you may have noticed a new sign on the way that reads "Talus." You might be asking yourself what is Talus? Or maybe you already googled it, or heard some people at the office or the gym talking about it. But I want to discuss the implications of this enterprising project for the surrounding neighborhood, and I think we should go over it together. Talus is a brand new resort experience developing in our backyard! This project includes hotels, The Montage and Pendry, two notable luxury brands that will be hosting the resort-styled hotels, private branded residences, a new restaurant, spa facility, conference center, club house, and more! The first part of the project should be finished by mid 20...

NFTs and Real Estate! Today I want to discuss a topic I have seen buzzing through the headlines for the past year, but hasn't exactly been explained in a way that I have been able to really understand or realize the importance of. That's right! We're going to talk about NFTs in Real Estate, how they relate to the industry now, in the future, and what exactly the technology is thats supposedly going to replace my job! I just read an article about a virtual property, that is a digital 3D image of a home has just sold for over four million dollars in the Sandbox metaverse. That's right, you cannot live in the home, it doesn't have a pool, or a backyard, or any bathrooms! Not ones that you can use anyway, and it sold for well over what most people make in a year, if not several years of earned income and savings. Now, that definitely made me a little bit curious about what's going on with NFTs and how they might play into the real estate market, today and in the fut...

The purchase of a home is for most people the largest investment they will make in their lifetime! Your home is both an investment and a place to live.  For the past decade I have worked with a lot of investors and the same principals that make my investors rich, apply to any real estate purchase. Here are some real estate buying tips I learned from the investors I've worked with! First off, it is all about the numbers!  Make sure the numbers work up front, define and estimate  if there is money to be made and upside in the resale due to market, trends, or added value… Basically, if the numbers don't add up from the beginning then don't make the deal. Hoping that the market improves isn't a tactical game plan, you need to back up your predictions with cold hard facts and proven economic growth patterns.  This is where you need the help of a trusted real estate advisor that understands the local market.  Secondly, make your mone...

2018 Real Estate Investment Strategy Your HOME is your largest asset...   Will 2018 be the year to buy, sell, hold or rent your property? Taking the time now to evaluate your real estate assets, will pay off in the future. What was once a viable asset in your real estate portfolio may have changed due to the movement in home values, rental values and changes in the tax law.    Now is the time to find out if your real estate strategy is still on track....    Good Information makes Good Decisions The first step is to appraise the current market value of each of your assets. This is not necessarily what you paid for it or what you wish you could sell it for, this is the appraised value of the asset. There are a couple of excellent websites that can help you get a ballpark figure, but I recommend contacting a real estate professional who knows your local market to give you an opinion. Key questions they can help you answer include, how is the real ...

Is it time to Buy, Sell or HOLD? Buy Low and Sell High!  Those are great words of advice to live by,  but trying to figure out the market to the perfect high and the perfect low would take a crystal ball...  I had a client that said to me once, "Jenell I don't have to sell at the high or buy at the low, I just have to get close."   Many times as consumers we only see the drastic highs and lows of the market in an exaggerated curve of the overall state of the union and or statistics for real estate for the state of California  or even the Coachella Valley as a whole.  But, the nuances of the specific markets vary incredibly.  In any one of these scenarios there will be parts of that market that are up and some that are down or steady.  The micro data can be drastic and still even out the curve to present the market in an up or down curve.  The value of your real estate and weather it is a buyers or a sellers market varies by economic ...

Welcome to Summer time, if visions of sandy beaches and cool breezes come to mind then you don’t live in the Coachella Valley.   As you may know it gets a little HOT here in the summer.  The good news is there are plenty of fun summer events to distract you  on those days when it is just inhumane to be outside.  Here are some of my HOT picks for Summer Fun in the Desert!    Palm Springs Restaurant Week    June 2nd -11th This is by far one of my favorite events in the summer… The selection of restaurants is incredible and the menus offered by the participating restaurants is wonderful.  This is not an early Bird Special this is truly these restaurants showing off their best fare!  So, take a few minutes and check out the link many of your favorite restaurants are probably already featured and make your reservations ASAP many of these resultants book up fast. https://visitgreaterpalmsprings.com/restaurantweek/ Sp...

curb-appeal-for-dummies Welcome to "Curb Appeal" for dummies...   Are you thinking of selling your home, then curb appeal is one of your top priorities, but if you are not thinking of selling your home improving curb appeal can actually change your life.   curb-appeal-for-dummies  (for more suggestions click here and check out my Pinterest) They say you can't judge a book by its cover but I can tell you that you for SURE can judge a home by it's "Curb Appeal'.  Since so many of us actually enter our homes on a daily basis through the garage the front of your home might have been over site for it's resident.   So, park on the street tomorrow and come into your home as a guest.  Try to see everything with fresh eyes.   The three DUMMY basics are:  is it clean,  is it tidy and is it well presented . You don't have to spend a lot of money, but Dead Plants are Out (they only work during October where you can try to pawn them off as scary H...