Sacramento Real Estate Gal

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Federal Reserve cuts Interest Rate by 0.75%
2008-03-18 19:17:00
Another rate cut came in today. The Fed cut interest rates by .75% down to 2.25% now.If you are a home buyer wondering if this will affect mortgage rates, the answer is probably yes. But maybe not in the direction you are hoping. Head on over to Dan Green's Mortgage Reports to get an idea of why.
More About: Breaking News , Federal Reserve , Interest , Rate , Cuts

Ask Sacramento Real Estate Gal Answers!
2008-03-17 18:48:00
I received this email the other day and thought it would be interesting to answer it online. I know the recent foreclosures have created this problem for many tenants in the Sacramento area and all I can say is that my heart goes out to them. I have always emphasized that landlords treat their rentals as a business - an ethical business - and this is obviously no way to do so. Read on:Sacramento Real Estate Gal, We are renting a house in Fair Oaks. The mortgage went into default in December, but we continued paying rent through February. The landlord has denied any problem every time we ask her. My husband decided to withhold March rent because she definitely won't refund our deposit. She served us with eviction papers March 10th, we received a Notice of Trustees sale on the door March 11th. The sale is scheduled for April 1st. We have been told we have to pay rent, don't pay the rent...what should we do? - S.P.S.P.,My recommendation to you would be to start looking for another pl...
More About: Real Estate , Answers

HUD introduces changes to RESPA
2008-03-16 19:13:00
HUD recently released some changes to the Good Faith Estimate to help real estate buyers better understand the loan they are getting. Read the details here. While these measures help, I believe there is no substitute for an honest mortgage person who makes sense of the numbers for you.

Oh, baby!
2008-03-14 17:51:00
While this is not the good news I was referring to in my earlier post, it certainly beats everything else right now! Yes, that's my (as yet) unborn daughter and I'm so thrilled to share the news with everyone. Will she be another Realtor and take over the family business? Hmm... who knows? Are we looking at a future mogul? (mogulette?)
More About: Baby

Have I Forgotten the Landlords?
2008-03-12 21:40:00
Nope. In fact, Im spending the day working on that Landlord e-book I promised to get out this year. I'm still very excited about it.I might even have some great news about it this week!
More About: Landlords , Forgotten

Sacramento Condos for February: the Numbers
2008-03-10 18:03:00
Median price actually rose for Sacramento condos in February 2008. Yes, that's right - it rose. And even though this might be seasonal, I'll take my good news wherever I get it. So there.Median price for condos in Sacramento was up 18.9% from January to hit $170,000.Pending sales were higher as well at 116 over January's 93. Solds were at 59.There are two things that stick out at me as I look at these numbers: For one, the number of pending sales do not equal the number of solds the following month. With the huge gap between the two, it makes me wonder if it is just the short sales that aren't going through that show up pending every month and cause problems with the stats, or if it really is people changing their minds. Too much choice can be pretty disconcerting for a lot of otherwise happy home buyers.The second thing that I notice that is actually good news is the number of houses entering the market every month has dropped. If you looked at the numbers for single family re...
More About: Numbers

Sacramento Real Estate Statistics for February: Single Family Market
2008-03-07 19:29:00
Yesterday I wrote about how pending sales are higher all over the country and the National Association of Realtors expects a housing recovery beginning in sometime late 2008. Nice to know some of the statistics from Sacramento county tell the same story. The latest numbers from the Metrolist MLS for the month of February:The median price has steadied, it seems, at least for this month - $255,000 it remains, the same as January's median price.2155 new listings were added to the market and 864 sold, pushing existing inventory to 8749, a smaller number than January's 9042 actives. This brings existing home inventory to about 10.1 months, down from last month's 11.9. Here's another caveat, however. Pending sales were higher again - a total of 1474 houses went into contract in February - 21% more than January's pending sales, which were already higher than December's. I hear rumbling underneath the surface! If all these pending sales go through inventory numbers could look very dif...
More About: Family , Estate , Real Estate , Market , Statistics

Foreclosure Article
2008-03-07 04:41:00
I've been telling you for a while that fear in the real estate market is driving a lot of people to run to the safety of their (rented) homes. Instead, read this article and decide for yourself if the foreclosure crisis is overblown.If your home rose in value 53% in the last five years, really, do you have to worry quite so much?
More About: Article , Foreclosure

New FHA Loan Limits for Sacramento Released
2008-03-06 23:24:00
Just in:New (increased) FHA loan limits for Sacramento One-Family $580,000Two-family $742,500Three-family $897,500Four-family $1,115,400Check your area here.
More About: Loan , Released , Limits

Good News for Sacramento Real Estate?
2008-03-06 22:14:00
Pending sales are up, which means more buyers are out looking at homes.Could this be good news on the horizon for Sacramento?
More About: News , Estate , Real Estate , Good News , Real

First-time Home Buyer Mistakes: the Deadly Three
2008-03-04 19:21:00
First time home buyers, as hard as it may be, try and stay away from these three cardinal mistakes I see repeated over and over again. These three mistakes are deadly to your home shopping and home buying experience partly because they can make you want to run to the comfort of your (rented) apartment, even if you have fully decided to buy a home this year.Mistake #1: Looking for the Perfect Home There is no such thing as the perfect home. Yes, you may quote me on that. In the years of homeownership myself and selling houses to others I have reached this one conclusion that there is no such thing as perfect. When you are searching for houses all you will get is good enough. It is what you make of it that makes it perfect.Now I know there are some people that will walk into a home and know that it is absolutely the one they want. "It's perfect!" they might even say. But I contend that what these clients see is the home as it will become when they have moved in and had their way with ...
More About: Time , Buyer , First Time , Deadly

Mortgage Rate Trends
2008-02-29 19:14:00
Another dose from Sacramento Real Estate Gal's mortgage expert Huck Ferrill:One would think from the news, that mortgage rates are falling like crazy. Not true!While the Fed Funds rate has dropped rather precipitously, my clients have been surprised to hear that some mortgage rates have actually risen. For example, the range for a 30 year fixed rate loan is actually about 50 basis points higher now, than two weeks ago, ranging from about 6-6.25% depending on whether one pays points or not. The reason is mortgages are longer term instruments whose rates move roughly with US Treasury notes and bonds, as opposed to a short term rate like Fed Funds. A ten year Treasury is currently yielding about 3.8% currently, up from a recent low of 3.4% in late January.These are still good rates, however. My point is that it's a bad policy to delay purchasing or refinancing in hopes rates will drop. One might wait a long time. So essentially, if rates and the resulting payment look good now, go fo...
More About: Trends , Mortgage , Rate

Real Estate Quote of the Week
2008-02-28 19:20:00
While technically not related to real estate, it is a good investing quote often forgotten.The future is never clear, and you pay a very high price in the stock market for a cheery consensus. Uncertainty is the friend of the buyer of long-term values.- Warren Buffett.
More About: Estate , Real Estate , Week , Real , Quote

Selling 101
2008-02-27 18:54:00
While in search of good customer service, in the last year, I have come across three basic types: the ones that don't care, the ones that involve you in their drama and the ones that talk down to you. The third kind is by far the worst. I shudder as I think what would happen to my clientele if I started telling them that the house they were in love with is just too horrid to be inside. See, I'm not even good at making this up.But it seems to be the lead selling companies out there that do this most often. In my early days of Sacramento Real Estate Gal, someone from one of these House-or-Home-Something-Value-Something-d ot-com called and asked me how I was generating internet leads. His big argument was that's the new frontier. I told him I wasn't interested in internet leads, which was true at the time. "Not interested in internet leads?" he repeated and laughed. Maybe it was the same guy that called today. Because this time he wanted to sell me an exclusive zip code and bragged ...
More About: Selling

You're a Realtor, so Show me a Home!
2008-02-27 02:02:00
Lately, I seem to be wading through quite a few clients who come in wanting to see homes and who - unfortunately - I have to turn away. Equally unfortunate is that sometimes they don't understand why and end up getting upset. So this is a post trying to explain my position.There are two sides to a real estate transaction - the listing (seller's) agent and the selling/co-operating (buyer's) agent. When most people call to see a home, unless they call the listing agent directly, the Realtor who receives the call hopes to become their agent, that is, the buyer's agent. This does not mean that he hopes to sell them just that particular home, but simply wishes to work with them until the right home is found. Hopefully, the client likes him enough to stick with him throughout the search.Also, as Realtors, we are ethically required to ask if you are currently working with another agent. If you are not happy with your agent and are looking for a new one, feel free to tell us. But I seem...
More About: Home , Show

Real Estate's Unexpected Fortunes: A Perspective
2008-02-26 20:59:00
It occurred to me this morning in the middle of a phone conversation that I may have changed. (Insert scary dramatic music here.) In a good way. I realized that selling real estate - and certainly buying it as well, may have contributed in a more positive way to my life than I ever thought possible. And before you write me off as another pollyanna, read for yourself and see if it isn't true for you as well, especially if you are a fellow Real tor or investor.Selling real estate forced me to become more social - earlier article about not doing well in an office not withstanding. I was one of those perpetual student types - you know the kinds that don't really ever quit school because they don't know what to do next. I had a long and happy road to a Masters Degree in Writing but wasn't really the best communicator outside of writing well and getting a few stories published in various magazines and anthologies. In my first few weeks of selling real estate though I was out around my ...
More About: By the Way , Perspective , Fortunes

Pollock Pines - Home in the Hills
2008-02-24 18:52:00
Crashing a party is always fun. Well, technically we didn't crash it, but it sounds better to say so. The HAZE club - the Hangtown Association of Zymurgy Enthusiasts - held a snow brew day yesterday in Pollock Pines. A handful of members got together with a handful others and brewed about 150 gallons of beer in the snow. From what I hear, the brewing actually began with shoveled snow, so it was a snow brew in more ways than one.Since we live right in Pollock Pines and belong to the club, we thought it would fun to attend and meet some of our neighbors. We weren't disappointed. Even in the 32 degrees of the garage, we managed to find enough warmth and food while the brewing continued until 3 or 4 pm. We lost track of time.Now if only I had brought a camera. Darn, being a reporter all the time is hard!
More About: Home , The Hills , Hills

"Doesn't Play Well with Others"
2008-02-22 20:02:00
The other day I received a call from a tele-marketer hoping to sell me real estate advertising on Google. Well, nothing came of that, but our initial interaction was interesting. He asked me if I had made it into the office yet. And I said, of course - my office is at my home. So essentially I'm here all the time - unless I'm out showing houses to prospective buyers.Now I didn't always used to work from the house. Initially, when I worked at _______ (insert name of big brokerage) I used to go into the office every day at 9 a.m. and leave at 4 p.m. Interestingly enough, I sell more real estate when I work from home than when I go into the office. Now I understand everyone has different opinions about how they motivate themselves to work and for them it helps to have people around that, for the most part, look busy. What bothered me about an office environment - let me correct that - what bothers me to this day about every office environment I've ever been in, is that very little ...
More About: Play , By the Way

Reads and Feeds
2008-02-22 00:09:00
A few great articles came up on my radar in the past few weeks, so of course I want to share them! Enjoy!This one has got to be my favorite by far. Someday, I will learn to great and brief and say so much by saying so little, just like Seth Godin.Bankrate.com came up with this one today - one of the more balanced articles I've seem about the truth of the real estate market and if you should worry.And finally, you may have more in common with Fred Flintstone than you think!
More About: Real Estate Market , Blogging , By the Way

How I may have Missed the Mortgage Train...
2008-02-20 19:21:00
Here's a riddle for you: What does the Sacramento Real Estate Gal have in common with those home buyer fence sitters out there?Answer: I may have just missed an opportunity to save some money on my rentals (well, at least one of them) and have them cash flow. I was one of those people that got every excited when I saw mortgage rates drop. "How far down will they go?" was the question. Sound familiar?Unfortunately, this is what has happened. And I am still paying about $75 - $100 more on a rental than I would have been had I jumped up and called my mortgage lender. And I may have missed the refinance train. For now.
More About: Mortgage , Train , Rentals

Sacramento Realtors: Communication is Paramount
2008-02-20 04:20:00
In this slow Sacramento real estate market with more short sales and foreclosures than ever, it surprises me how much resistance I seem to run into with just communicating with so many of my fellow Sacramento Realtors . I have heard the same frustration from some other Realtors as well and I wish it wasn't true.The biggest issue we seem to face is that we love to talk to clients, but are not as good as talking to the co-operating Realtor who brings in the offer on our listings. I think I know where the frustration stems from - it comes from the fact that we have an offer, but can't do anything about it because it's not as simple as calling the seller and saying, "We have an offer. I'll come over tomorrow and decide if we can open escrow." It's the fact that then you have to submit the offer to a bank and deal with a long line of phone calls with unfriendly machines, bored loss mitigation officers, and - gasp! - other co-operating Realtors.But it is precisely this market in which...
More About: Communication , Paramount

It's Tax Time!
2008-02-20 03:43:00
I actually like this time of year. We're one of those couples that get a refund (the rental homes and our own home help immensely!) every year - I know, I know, most financial advisors would say that is a way to give the IRS an interest-free loan for a whole year. But I feel like I'm more motivated around tax time if I have a refund coming... and no matter how crazy the year has been financially, we can look forward to a little relief at tax time.That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
More About: Time , By the Way

Does Median Income Have Anything to do with Median Home Values?
2008-02-16 00:54:00
Okay, I'm really sick and tired of this argument. You know how it goes: "Median income has not kept up with median home values in Sacramento, this home prices must fall until everyone in Sacramento can afford to pay a third of their monthly budget toward their mortgage." It's a seemingly innocent calculation and very easy to remember; so simple in fact that it gets quoted again and again and unfortunately believed.Here is a list of areas where median incomes do not - by a long shot - keep pace with median home values. Interesting, huh?Here are a few reasons that calculation, pat and easy as it is to parrot, does not work:1. Not everyone can afford a home. Some people rent. Sometimes all their lives.2. Some people buy more than one house and rent it to others. They are called real estate investors and landlords.On an individual level (and for budgeting and loan purposes) it helps to use the 30% rule. But as a large group and especially when relating to medians, that formula falls a...
More About: Real Estate Market , Home , Income , By the Way , Values

Home Buyers: 100% Financing Getting Harder
2008-02-15 18:57:00
I had mentioned in early December that first time home buyers would have a harder time getting qualified for a loan and that there was still time to buy real estate with zero down before February. My clients at the time had excellent credit scores, great incomes and were buying a house so far below market that even when the lender asked for more comps, we were able to provide them. That excellent purchase went through just fine, but today the Sacramento Bee reports that mortgage insurers may begin to stop issuing PMI for 0 down financing. Unfortunately, thanks to the empty-headed bubbleheads out there, such warnings when issued by Realtors are ignored as "just a sales pitch" with the obvious remark, "Of course you're going to say that - you sell real estate!" That's like saying, borrowing a comment from John Lockwood, to a doctor, "Of course you're going to say it's a good time to get sick - you're a doctor!"
More About: Breaking News , Financing , Home Buyers , Home , Buyers

Happy Valentine's Day!
2008-02-14 18:56:00
If you're wondering what I'm doing today it's getting a special dinner prepared for James. I'm going to be adventurous and try to make ravioli (his favorite) from scratch. In return, I've been promised red roses :) Unless the ravioli looks like a perfect disaster (or maybe if it does!) I'll have pictures later today!
More About: Fun , By the Way , Happy

Sacramento Real Estate Moguls-To-Be: Where & How to Shop
2008-02-12 01:16:00
Now that the real estate statistics are beginning to show slightly bigger numbers of people headed out in January to look at and make offers on both single family homes and condos, my hunch is that a lot of these people making offers are investors hoping to add to their portfolio before property values head up again. It is important however that you as an investor know where to look and how to analyze a property before you buy it or even make an offer. There is an art to making an offer as well, but more on that some other time.First of all though you should decide if what you want to buy is a single family or multifamily property. Single family houses are homes like we buy to live in, multi unit properties include duplexes, triplexes, apartment buildings and such. I recently learned that multi unit properties are usually better for income purposes, but I still prefer single family homes to some degree, especially if you are an investor just starting out. They give you a better idea...
More About: Estate , Real Estate , Shop , Real , Sacramento

Real Estate Customer Service Lessons - from a Propane Company
2008-02-09 21:10:00
After living in Pollock Pines for more than six months now and learning we really don't like cooking on an electric cook top, we made the momentous decision to switch to propane. So I called the closest propane company. Our conversation, after the initial phone call (which was all about how "free" their service and extras were) went something like this:"I called the other day and I was told that we would probably get a 250 gallon tank installed and that would last us probably 4 - 6 weeks for just a cook stove and maybe a water heater. Doesn't that seem like a lot?""Well, you said it was your only source of heat!""No, I said we were only going to use it for cooking."(With exasperation and tone) "Then it could last you two months - maybe four. Depends on how much you use it.""Okay, and you will get it installed?""YOU must talk to the county first.""The county said you would pull the permits.""No. We install it. We don't dig trenches for it. But it's free - with a two year service ...
More About: Estate , Real Estate , Company , Customer Service , Service

Sacramento Foreclosures - Why the Numbers Need to be Taken with a Grain of
2008-02-08 02:00:00
The California Association of Realtors' Market Matter Advisory just hit my mailbox and I think this is important information in the light of all the bad news of foreclosures out there.If you're reading numbers from Realty Trac, you should remember that the company reports defaults on loans and not properties - an important distinction that could artificially inflate foreclosure statistics since a first mortgage and a home equity line could count as two foreclosures, although they are both on one piece of property.Another piece of information that I don't think most consumers are aware of is that a foreclosure filing includes default notices, auction sale notices and bank reposessions. One property can fall into each of these categories as it goes through the foreclosure process. RealtyTrac counts each of these as separate incidents and can skew the statistics.Now be aware that I am not denying that there are a record number of foreclosures out there. In fact, that is how prices h...
More About: Foreclosures , Numbers , Sacramento , Grain

Real Estate Quote of the Week
2008-02-07 22:48:00
Owning a home is a keystone of wealth.. both financial affluence and emotional security.Suze Orman, financial expert.Read other real estate quotes here: Real Estate Quote by Theodore Roosevelt; Real Estate Quote by John Stuart Mill; Real Estate quote by Anthony Trollope and my favorite one so far by Anderson Cooper.
More About: Week

Sacramento Real Estate Statistics: Condo Market
2008-02-06 19:21:00
Yesterday, I posted Sacramento county's single family residence statistics. Here are the latest numbers for January 2008 for condos:There seems to be a certain amount of agreement with the number of pending sales in both single family homes and condos - both have gone up. And it's not just personal experience any more that we're seeing more people wanting to buy homes for themselves and investment purposes now that prices have fallen so low. I hear this phrase again and again: "I don't want to miss out on this market!"So, about the condos:We have 733 on the market currently. Going by January's sold numbers, that's 18.7 months of inventory. But wait... a whopping 93 went pending sale in January 2008. Since condos are cheaper than single family residences, investors are looking toward them for purchase a lot more.195 new listings for condos came on the Sacramento market in January 2008.Median price has now fallen to $143,000. Follow the trends: December's numbers for Sacramento...
More About: Estate , Real Estate , Real Estate Market , Market , Condo