Sacramento Real Estate Gal

RSS Feed Homepage

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

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

Sacramento County Statistics January 2008
2008-02-05 19:44:00
Here are the latest numbers on single family residences from the Metrolist MLS:January was a slow month in terms of sales and disappointing as the median price dropped another 9.4% over December's median sale price to $255,000.2523 units came on the market as new listings in January in Sacramento county now bringing single home inventory to 9042, about 11.9 months of unsold homes.The silver lining? 1209 homes went pending in January 2008, 16.8% higher than December's numbers. Perhaps this fall in homes has inspired many to head out - first time buyers and investors alike.Check the trends: December's numbers for Sacramento real estate; November's Sacramento real estate statistics; October's numbers.Also read: Population Projections for Sacramento; Statistics and How to Read ThemTomorrow, I'll have statistics for Sacramento condos. Be sure to check back!
More About: Real Estate Market , County

Sacramento Mortgage Update
2008-02-04 23:23:00
Sacramento Real Estate Gal's mortgage expert Huck Ferrill has the following mortgage updates for you today:Much has been happening lately on the residential real estate front, some well publicized, like the huge number of foreclosures, and some not so well publicized. In the last month for example, I?ve been prequalifying about a half dozen prospective buyers per day! Entry level houses ($100,000 - $300,000 in Sacramento area) seem to be enjoying the greatest interest by both first time homebuyers and investors looking for more rental property. One of my clients, a well recognized listing agent of bank repo property, reports that the nicer homes are seeing multiple offers not long after they?re listed. So far, prices haven?t risen but, I suspect that if that trend continues, for sale inventory will drop, and prices will start to rise. This is probably a great time to be buying if you or someone you know is looking for an investment or their first home. Mortgage news - 2008 is the ...
More About: Update , Sacramento

MLS Search is Live!
2008-02-02 03:21:00
In the past, I've been sending you to the Elite Properties site to search for real estate in Sacramento, but now you can search for homes right here on Sacramento Real Estate Gal. Just follow this link.Bear with me while I add more links to automatic email updates of properties and the such, but for now the MLS is searchable right here!Enjoy!
More About: Breaking News , Search , Live

Sacramento Foreclosures Affect Pets
2008-02-01 18:55:00
Here's a side to the Sacramento real estate market that has been largely ignored - the pets of foreclosed homes. According to a recent article in the Sacramento Bee, a large number of homeowners leave their pets behind either tied to a tree or just stuffed in closets when they leave a foreclosed home.If you're facing foreclosure and cannot afford to take your pets with you, at least consider adopting them out. You can go to the Sacramento Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals on Florin-Perkins Road and surrender them for $30. Website is here.If you know you won't be able to take your pets with you (and honestly foreclosures take months) advertise them as adoptable. Here are some tips on how to do so and here are some more.
More About: Pets , Foreclosures

Real Estate Book Review: Retire Rich from Real Estate
2008-01-31 20:04:00
Amazon.com WidgetsMarc W. Andersen's Retire Rich from Real Estate : a Low Risk Approach to Buying Rental Property for the Long-Term Investor is a book that keeps coming to mind when I talk to clients interested in owning rental properties. This is a book that will appeal to even the most serious and cynical of investors out there. Andersen sidesteps issues of quick profits, piles of money, and other "flashy" images and words and focuses on what's important. He uses statistics and real numbers to show readers how buying real estate and holding it - in the words of Warren Buffett "forever" will eventually lead them to wealth. However, the path is not as easy as it sounds and Andersen has no problems telling you of the various pitfalls you will encounter as a landlord.There is no dearth of good advice in the book related, but not limited to, the common questions most investors would ask if they were serious about their investments, such as:- do single family homes make better rentals...
More About: Real Estate , Book Review , Review

REO Buyers: Three Things to Watch For
2008-01-31 01:00:00
Yesterday I wrote about how the new short sale addendum protects buyers from waiting forever for the house they made an offer on to get approved. Later in the day it made me wish we had something similar to that for bank-owned homes. The unfortunate truth with bank owned homes is that the buyers are almost always relying on every inspection in the book they can think of and then just plain luck.Here are the three most important things however that buyers need to watch for when it comes to bank-owned homes:1. Timelines always get mangled unless they are in the bank's favor - I remember being frustrated with short sales in the past because the lender would come back with an approval that was good for fifteen days. Most escrows take 30 days. However, this last weekend I wrote an offer for a bank-owned, foreclosed home for a client. The offer was more than fair - it was full price, cash and the buyer was paying for half the escrow costs. It has now been ten days and we hear the same t...
More About: Watch , Things , Buyers

Rate Cut as Expected by Most
2008-01-30 20:16:00
The Federal Reserve just cut another 1/2 point - federal funds rate is now down to 3.0%Read the details here.
More About: Breaking News , Rate