Real Estate Investors Properties In Sonoma Valley

With over 110+/- commercial and residential properties in the valley owned by LeFever Mattson (patient real estate investor* companies), we are concerned for our local small businesses and future home owners and renters. This will accelerate rising rents with investors controlling so much property. Our goal is to document and provide information to the community so that they are informed of this amount of property owned by real estate investors. In the long term it will affect the economy and diversity of our community.

It started with a series of anti-gay Facebook posts made by Stacy Mattson, co-owner of several Sonoma businesses, that went viral in the spring of 2019, as reported in the Sonoma Index Tribune. Stacy Mattson, along with her husband Ken Mattson and business partner Tim LeFever, own Sonoma’s Best Hospitality Group, which consists of over 20 Sonoma businesses targeting locals and tourists alike. As noted in that article, "LeFever, has served as chairman of the board of the Capitol Resource Institute, which has lobbied to repeal state legislation that ensures gay people and gay rights are included in school textbooks and that sexual orientation is protected against discrimination in the schools. LeFever was also part of a group, Privacy for All, that in 2015 proposed a state initiative which would have banned transgender people from using bathrooms in government buildings that matched their gender identity.”

This list has been compiled from various public sources. The entries are only as accurate as our sources, some of which have not been verified. Some entries are estimates, or judgements for various reasons. Consider the list to be a work in progress, and only an “estimate” for our purposes. It’s likely to include some unintentional inaccuracies due to the complex nature of buying, selling, and trading history, which is sometimes difficult to track. It is also difficult for us to stay current with purchases, sales, transfers, etc., as this has become a moving target. Aside from the real estate, there are also businesses that may be included in some sales along with the property, further complicating this valuation exercise.

* A patient real estate investor is an investor who is investing in patient capital. Patient capital is another name for long term capital. With patient capital, the investor is willing to make a financial investment in a business with no expectation of turning a quick profit. Instead, the investor is willing to forgo an immediate return in anticipation of more substantial returns down the road.

Click on Interactive Map to look at the locations of the patient real estate investors properties* in Sonoma Valley

Real Estate Investors Property List

Notes ** / Questions / Estimates /Oddities on the Properties Listed Above

  • The Depot Hotel was listed for 5 M, which we used as the price lacking other data.

  • Cheese Factory was listed for 4.28 M, assessed at 3.7 M and bought for $3,750,000

  • 72 Wagner is a small house on 5 acres purchased for 695 K in June 2015 and sold in

  • a package deal for 11.1 M in Jan of 2022 per Zillow. There were 4 properties involved in the original purchase for $18,050,000 and later transferred for $11,100,000. The reduction in price of 7 M is hard to reconcile, so we have listed that purchase at 18.050 M to maintain a realistic starting value.

  • 230 East Napa was purchased in Dec 2015 for 2.15 M and sold in Sept 2021 for 625 K ... questionable, so we used 2.15 M as value.

  • 900 E. Napa was bought in Dec 2015 for 2.15 M, and sold to a private party in Sept 2021 for 635 K ... questionable.

  • 19340 7th street, E. purchased in July 2018 for 3.2 M and sold to a private party in Sept 2021 for 1.5 M ...questionable, used 3.2 M for value

  • 337 West Spain listed by us at 1.2 M as an estimate

  • 18935 5th was purchased for 3.9 M and sold two months later for 2.163 M

  • Some transactions are hard to reconcile, so in many cases we have chosen to use the original purchase prices instead of the subsequent transfers or sales.

  • Some property values on our list are from the index tribune article 11/25/2022,or the IT article on 5/1/2021

  • Values used in this summary do not account for change in values over time,but are rather as of sale date.

UNPAID PROPERTY TAXES

Tim LeFever and Ken Mattson have purchased over 120 properties (still own over 110) in Sonoma Valley using multiple LLCs and Limited Partnerships (see below). According to Sonoma County’s web site for property tax information, over 30 properties have delinquent and/or defaulted property taxes (taxes that were not paid by their due date). Most of the property taxes owed are for payments that were due in December 2023 and April 2024. In mid-April 2024 the amount of property tax delinquent and defaulted total almost $1 million before dropping to just over $760,000 in early July 2024. Most of the paid property taxes were for properties which recently sold. See the spreadsheet below for details.

Clicking on the ASMT number will open the page on the county web site showing the delinquent and/or defaulted property taxes. For those with defaulted property taxes, click on the “PAY DEFAULTED TAXES” tab to see the amount owed.

SHOW ME THE MONEY

LeFever Mattson had made several purchases, then subsequently sold/transferred the property to another company also owned by the same real estate investor. The values are from various sources, including Zillow and other sources that may use MLS.

Note that the Sales Price in the spreadsheet below may be calculated from the county transfer tax amount, since the sales are usually not reported on MLS, which means the actual sales price is unknown. More investigation and questions need to be answered before a clearer picture of these sales can be revealed.

Tim LeFever and Ken Mattson have created a number of companies. They purchase properties under one of these companies and sometimes transfer/sell the property to another one of their companies.