As Davis home prices continue to soar, UC Davis is exploring a program to help newly recruited faculty and staff better navigate the local real estate market.

University staff, working with deans and administrators, is developing a "concierge" real estate service of sorts to help attract talented faculty and staff. As planned, the program might provide new recruits with information on the local real estate market, mortgages, real estate agents and brokers, local school districts, and relocation assistance and resources.

"Though we can't do anything about the cost of houses in Davis, we can help educate our newly hired employees about the local real estate market and, hopefully, make the transition much easier for them and their families," said Mary Hayakawa, director of the department of Real Estate Services, who is helping to shape the business plan. Hayakawa anticipates launching the new effort by early 2006 when the next faculty recruitment period peaks.

One thing is clear -- Davis real estate is increasingly pricey, especially if one is relocating a professor from Ames, Iowa, who is accustomed to spacious housing at reasonable costs.

In January 2005, the median sales price of a home sold in Davis was $540,000, according to DataQuick Real Estate News. That was a 37 percent increase over the same month one year ago.

"The opportunity to live close to campus has been an attraction for faculty members being recruited to UC Davis," said Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Virginia Hinshaw.

Hinshaw said the high cost and limited supply of housing in Davis is a factor when trying to lure brainpower to campus. "Faculty members, especially junior faculty, are often unable to buy a house here, and this hinders our ability to recruit them," she added.

Customer service approach

The competitive market makes a helping hand all the more useful. In this spirit, Hayakawa and her colleagues are describing this as a concierge service.

Demand will exist, to be sure. In recent years, the campus has annually been hiring more than 100 new faculty members. And many more inquiries on Davis housing routinely come from prospective new recruitments. While it is hard to put a figure on how many staff might relocate to the Davis area from out of town, Hayakawa knows the number is high. And she has personal knowledge of the process as well.

In February 2004 Hayakawa accepted her present job with UC Davis and moved from the Los Angeles area. "Coming from the high housing prices of west Los Angeles, I was surprised at the relatively high housing prices in Davis. On top of this, any relocation, especially when moving a family, is stressful."

She added, "It's so important to try to make it a happy, positive experience."

The UC Davis model for this service may be unique, said Katie Hetrick, an analyst in Real Estate Services who is spearheading the drafting of the business plan with Hayawaka.

"We are still in the early planning stages and are working through a lot of issues," Hetrick said. "For example, we do not want to duplicate services elsewhere on campus."

She noted that while many other UCs and universities nationwide offer housing services, the purpose of the UC Davis effort is to go beyond this and provide substantial assistance to new faculty and staff.

"It's all about customer service," Hetrick said.

Already, Davis, like all UC campuses, offers a mortgage origination program for faculty home loans. Faculty can obtain up to 40-year variable rate loans at maximum amounts of 85 percent to 90 percent of the home's value.

As Hayakawa puts it, it will not all be about numbers -- quality of life is important, too.

"We're envisioning a package of information about what it's like to live in Davis," said Hayakawa, adding that they hope to expand these services to include information on areas like Sacramento, Woodland or Winters.

It is also a process of centralizing tips that already arrive on the unit's doorstep. Hayakawa said sometimes Davis homeowners stop by the Real Estate Services office on First Street to announce they would like to rent their house to a faculty member.

With the new program, a waiting list for local landlords could be created, Hayakawa observed, and given to out-of-town recruits who would rather rent than buy when they first arrive in town.

"Many people prefer to lease a house and learn about the market before they buy one," Hayakawa said.

The department of Real Estate Services is responsible for contract development and management for all UC Davis property transactions -- acquisitions, dispositions and leases as well as property management functions affiliated with these transactions. It is part of the Office of Resource Management and Planning.

In March 2004, the campus reorganized the unit so that all university real estate activities and services are now provided by one office on campus. The idea is to provide the campus with one-stop shopping assistance for all space needs off campus -- and this effort is an example.

The university does have some of its own housing to offer new recruits. Aggie Village in downtown Davis consists of 21 single-family homes and 16 split-lot town homes. And last week, UC Davis moved another step ahead with its new West Village neighborhood when it selected a development partner.

"We see this type of program as a natural fit for the success of West Village," said John Meyer, vice chancellor of the Office of Resource Management and Planning.

The 224-acre West Village site west of Highway 113 would serve about 4,350 residents when construction is completed by 2015.

Finally, on the rental side, the campus offers fully furnished apartments for visiting scholars.

'A friendly front door'

To spread the word once the new program is ready, the Real Estate Office will create a Web site, folder and brochure. This informational material will be given to deans' offices and campus units to use as appropriate when recruiting new candidates.

For a seven-person office -- and with local housing such a popular topic -- the thought of the phone ringing off the hook is daunting.

"We're anticipating being pretty busy during recruitment season," said Hetrick, noting that plans call for the program to be self-supporting. "In the end, we think of this as creating a friendly front door for those coming to UC Davis."