Archive for April, 2009

El Dorado Hills Real Estate Market Update: March 2009

The El Dorado Hills real estate market does seem to be trying to make a recovery. The prices hover around the half million mark and then dip for one lucky home buyer month to then rise again. A total of 35 homes sold in El Dorado Hills this month – that’s an increase in unit volume by 16.7% year over year. And the number of homes sold look much better than last month’s 26 as well!

19 foreclosures sold this month (an increase year over year of 90%), 4 short sales closed escrow (an increase year over year by 33.3%) and 12 non-distressed homes also sold (a drop for the same period of 29.4%). Approximately two-thirds of all properties sold are now distress sales.

Average price per square foot has fallen 8.6% year over year from $188.79 to $172.48 this month. Home buyers have also afforded themselves homes on average 18.3% bigger than they did last year at the same time. The average sales price is now $584,737 which is 8.1% higher year over year than $540,985. The median sales price is currently $486,600.

Inventory is at 7.9 months based on the last year of sales and 9.5 months based on the last six months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is at 1.7 months and 1.8 months respectively.

Arden-Arcade Real Estate Market Update: March 2009

The number of sales continue to surprise! More foreclosures sold this March than the total number of homes sold last March. 1296 foreclosures closed escrow this month – an increase of 74.4% year over year. 220 short sales also closed for an increase year over year of 189.5%. Unfortunately, non-distressed sales fell further: just 320 sold this month, down 19.4% year over year. Overall unit volume is up 51% year over year with a total of 1836 homes sold.

The majority of all sales are now distress sales, which comes as no surprise. 70.6% of all sales are foreclosure sales, 12% are short sales and 17.4% are non-distressed sales.

The average sold price per square foot is now $112.70 down 26.9% year over year from a high of $154.24. The average sales price is down to $181,685 from $261,337 for the same period – that’s a drop of 30.5%. The median sales price is currently $160,000 down 35% from $246,048.50.

Inventory is at 3.5 months based on the last year of sales and 3.6 months based on the last six months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is at 0.9 months.

Natomas Real Estate Market Update: March 2009

As soon as foreclosures hit the market in Natomas, they seem to get picked up by home buyers. On average 128 foreclosures sell in the area every month. That’s more than 40 a day! Not surprisingly then, foreclosure sales make up 70.5% of the total real estate sales. Short sales – although gaining momentum – made up only 11.6% of the total market share with the rest 17.9% going to non-distressed sales.

A total of 173 homes sold in Natomas this March: 122 foreclosure sales, 20 short sales and 31 non-distressed sales. Overall unit volume is up year over year by 41.8%. Foreclosure sales are up 58.4% short sales up by 150% and non-distressed sales are down 16.2%.

The average sold price per square foot currently rests at $110.31 down 23.7% from $144.48 a year ago. Average sale price is at $198,368 down 24.4% from $262,287 a year ago and median sales price is at $192,000 down from $255,000.

Inventory is at 3.8 months based on the last year of sales and 3.9 months based on the last six months of sales.

Fruitridge Real Estate Market Update: March 2009

A total of 99 homes sold this March in the area of Elder Creek and Fruitridge for a total unit volume increase year over year of 86.8%. Foreclosures alone have jumped in sales by 131% and short sales by 250% while non-distressed sales have dropped by 40%. Of the 99 sold homes, 83 were foreclosure sales, 7 were short sales and 9 were non-distressed homes.

90% of all homes that sell are now distress sales with only 9.1% being non-distressed. Foreclosure sales take the major chunk of the sales pie at 83.8% of sales and short sales are the remaining 7.1%. We are beginning to see a marked increase in short sales.

Average price per square foot is now at $68.87 down 41% from $116.55 year over year. The average sales price is $79,254 down 42.2% from $137,187 for the same period. Median price is currently at $58,000.

Inventory is at 2.9 months based on the last year of sales and 2.6 months based on the last six months of sales.

Franklin – Freeport Real Estate Market Update: March 2009

Sales in the Franklin – Freeport area show no signs of slowing down. If a record number of homes sold last year, this year has broken the record and then some. A total of 287 homes sold in the area in the month of March this year – that’s a unit volume increase of 168.2% year over year.

Of these 287 homes, 242 were foreclosure sales alone – and remember I am talking about just a month here. That means about 80 foreclosures sold in the area of Franklin – Freeport every single day! 25 short sales and 20 non-distressed homes also sold this month. Year over year we see a 191.6% increase in foreclosure sales, a 400% increase in short sales and just a 5.3% increase in non-distressed unit sales.

Non-distressed home sellers have been hit harder than expected. Prices have fallen to levels uncontemplated by anyone. The average price per square foot is now $75.94 down 36.7% year over year from a high of $119.98. Average sale price is down 41.6% from $104,413 to $178,674. The median sale price is down 44.4% from $162,000 to $90,000 for the same period.

Inventory in Franklin is at 2.6 months based on the last year of sales and 2.4 months based on the last six months of sales – another indication that real estate sales in the area are showing no signs of slowing down!

Home Sellers: Top Five Landscaping Tips

So we all know we’re after curb appeal. Home buyers don’t know it but they decide within the first two minutes of looking at a home (sometimes mostly from the outside) if they are interested in going in or not. And so, home sellers must pay attention to curb appeal. What’s curb appeal? Simply put, curb appeal is how the house looks from the outside, or, the sidewalk and landscaping plays a big part in first impressions for any one.

If your home is set to impress its potential home buyers, the landscaping must be impeccable. This does not mean that you have to get a professional and spend thousands of dollars on landscaping, but it does mean that you should pay extra attention to detail and remember the outside of your home as much as the inside. Grass isn’t just grass!

First, it must be Green!

If you are one of those people who like to water the garden and spend hours outside enjoying digging in the dirt and fertilizing, first of all, I’m jealous. But secondly remember that the potential home buyers might not feel the same way. Most people don’t have the time or energy or simply aren’t interested in spending time in the garden.

They do want a thriving lawn however and some plants that look nice year round. Be sure to have sprinklers. Not only will it be an amenity that should add some extra value to your home, automated sprinklers will guarantee that your property remains green even when you are moving or are away for a week or so, which can happen when you are looking for a new home or have already moved into one. These might be times when you don’t have those extra hours to relax watering the lawn and yellow blotches in it will take away from the curb appeal of the home. An additional benefit in the hot Sacramento real estate summer is that your lawn will look happy (and your home will look cared for) when compared to the bank-owned homes out there and stand out from the competition!

Neat & Tidy wins Buyers

If you have lived in the home for a while chances are you have had fun with your backyard and front yard. You may have been so excited to have a patch of ground you can call your own (if this home was your first, especially!) that you may have grown anything you came across on your strolls through nurseries and perhaps even The Home Depot. I know because I was like that. Anything new that seemed to look good got planted. Sacramento is also forgiving to a lot of plants that seem to need just water and sunshine and as a result almost all kinds of plants do well so it’s easy to go berserk.

When it’s time to sell the home however, you are entering a whole new world. You don’t want your potential home buyers to say they like the home but the garden will need a complete overhaul because it’s messy. Or that they think it might be too much work. Or – oh, God! – do those rosebushes come up? When it comes to selling your home, think like a home buyer. Keep it tidy, neat and green.

Draw Attention to It

If you have a wonderfully maintained and easy to manage landscape, it can sometimes be easy to miss. If it is in the backyard, don’t put your dog there and have the home buyers see it just through the windows. Any amenities and anything beautiful in your home that is going to stay must be showcased. So open the curtains wide to the garden and take the dog somewhere else. Ideally, invite the home buyers outside. In the backyard, this could mean a barbecue or patio area in the middle of where you want them to look or in the front or side yard, it could mean a quiet reading bench or bird bath with a path leading to it. Showcase your garden as you would your favorite china!

Remember the Neighborhood

It’s important not to do overdo it however. It’s always important to remember the demographic of the area. There’s a law in real estate that is called the Principle of Conformity and it says that the home most like the others in the area has the highest value and properties that diverge too much from the others in the neighborhood lose value as a result of their differences. While this does not mean that you should try and make your home a cookie cutter of all others, it does mean that you should give some attention to who your potential home buyer might be.

Sometimes it’s a good idea if you are considering putting your home on the market to take a drive through the area and see what the other homes look like. Better yet, search the MLS and find homes that have already sold for what you would consider a reasonable value that were owner occupied. Your Realtor® can provide this information as well. Borrow some ideas from them. Are they low maintenance with mainly rock? Are they indulgent and extravagant? Do they just have a lawn? You might not want to stray too far from the pack in this regard.

Some Ideas for Sacramento

Lastly, here are some plants tested by me that do well in Sacramento and manage to stay neat and tidy and also look great. Geraniums are always perfect, especially in borders. They do well in the area and are hardy to the occasional freezes. Bougainvillea is a lovely plant and is a wonderful accent to a home but plant it only along a south facing and protected wall. That way, it can get some heat from the wall even in the winters and survive. Honeysuckle is very easy to grow in Sacramento along a fence, but it must be pruned hard every spring. If you’re not a good pruner, don’t bother with honeysuckle. Same with jasmine. Pink jasmine is a lovely creeper, but it must be pruned and needs lots of sunshine. Avoid hard to care for plants like tropicals and orchids.

This is part of a top five series for homebuyers and home sellers. Be on the lookout for more top fives in the weeks and months ahead!

Citrus Heights Real Estate Market Update: March 2009

Citrus Heights real estate continues to see a high demand amongst home buyers. In fact, overall unit volume is up 79.6% year over year in this investor-friendly community in Sacramento county. A total of 97 homes sold here last month of which 69 (or 71.1% of total sales) were foreclosure sales, 13 (or 13.4% of all sales) were short sales and 15 (or 15.5% of total sales) were non-distressed homes. Almost 85% of all sales are now distress sales.

Year over year, foreclosure sales have seen an increase of 115.6% while short sales have seen an increase of 225%. The only sales suffering are of course the non-distressed properties that have fallen 16.7% for the same period.

Average sold price per square foot has dropped 22.1% year over year from a high of $150.39 to $117.09 currently. The average sales price has dropped $23.3% from $214,083 to $164,172. Median sales price for the same period has fallen 32.9% from $230,000 to rest at $154,400.

Inventory for Citrus Heights is currently at 3.4 months (based on the last year of sales) and 3.8 months (based on the last six months of sales.)

North Highlands Real Estate Market Update: March 2009

With foreclosures and short sales galore, the real estate sales aren’t slowing down any time soon in the North Highlands area of Sacramento county. A total of 47 homes sold in March of this year as compared with 34 last March – that’s a unit volume increase of 38.2% year over year.

35 foreclosures sold this month along with 4 short sales and only 8 non-distressed homes. You can tell where the bargain hunters are! Thus 83% of all sales are now distress sales. But year over year, we see an increase in sales in all the above. Foreclosure sales have seen an increase of 25% year over year, short sales an increase of 300% and non-distressed homes an increase of 60% for the same period.

The average price per square foot has dropped 31.4% year over year. The price has plummeted from $118.59 to $81.41. Average sales price has fallen 31% from $137,719 to $94,989 currently. The median sales price is currently $85,000, down 39.7% from $141,000 year over year.

Inventory at North Highlands is at 2.2 months.

Land Park Real Estate Market Update: March 2009

As the Land Park area of Sacramento continues its slow real estate recovery which seemed to have begun last month, we see a drop in sales. A total of 13 homes sold in the area this month, which is a unit volume decrease of 31.6% year over year. Only 1 foreclosure and 1 short sale closed escrow this month along with 11 non-distressed properties. Land Park is one of those areas that has a relatively low number of foreclosures and distress sales and could be the first to begin a recovery.

Average price per square foot in Land Park is also higher than last month’s $270. It is currently at $281.09, still lower however than last year’s (at the same time) sold price per square foot of $300.49. Average sales price is 13% lower year over year to rest at $393,931 from a high of $452,468. Median price is at $335,000.

Inventory is at 4 months based on the last year of sales and 4.2 months based on the last six months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is at about half a month.

Orangevale Real Estate Market Update: March 2009

Real estate sales in Orangevale seem to have picked up over last month as well as year over year. A total of 33 homes sold in Orangevale this month, of which 22 or 66.7% were foreclosure sales, 6 or 18.2% were short sales and 5 or 15.2% were non-distressed sales. Year over year, overall unit volume is up by 37.5% no doubt fueled by foreclosures and low prices. Foreclosure sales are up 57.1% year over year while short sales are up 100%. Non distressed properties are down 28.6% year over year.

When bargains and foreclosures abound, prices always take a hit. Average price per square foot is now $134.43 down 23.8% year over year from a high of $176.32. Average sales price is down 20.7% for the same period from $261,436 to $207,237. The median sales price is down 20% to hit $193,000.

Inventory based on the last 12 months of sales is at 4.8 months and based on the last six months of sales is at 5.6 months. Foreclosure inventory is at 2.2 months.

Antelope Real Estate Market Update

The Antelope real estate market seems mostly unchanged from last month. Sales are still strong and interest in distressed properties remains high. A total of 63 homes sold this month – 41 foreclosure sales, 13 short sales and 9 non-distressed homes, showing the tilt strongly towards foreclosures. In fact, 85.7% of all sales are now distress sales. Overall unit volume is higher year over year by 16.7%.

Average sale price per square foot is not $118.06, lower year over year by 16.7%. This is perhaps the reason for the average home sold to be about 5% bigger this year than the last. Average sales price has taken a 12.4% plunge year over year from a high of $232,052 to $203,240. Median sales price is currently $204,000. This is an 11.3% drop year over year.

Inventory is at 3.3 months based on the last year of sales and 3.6 months based on the last six months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is at 0.5 months, a statistic that could potentially signal an end to the housing woes in Antelope were it not for the 16 months or so of short sale inventory.

Greenhaven Real Estate Market Update: March 2009

Interesting. Greenhaven’s real estate market has always been interesting and this month is no exception. A total of 18 homes sold this month, which year over year shows a drop in sales by 28%. 11 foreclosures and 3 short sales sold along with 4 non-distressed homes. The numbers looked quite a bit different last year at this time with 3 foreclosures, no short sales and 22 non-distressed homes.

The average sold price per square foot is almost unchanged over last month at $169.34 but shows a drop of 18.2% year over year! Interestingly enough, the average home sold is also 18.2% bigger year over year. This might be a case of homebuyers making the most of the lower prices to afford bigger homes. Average sales price is down year over year by a small 3.3% and higher than last month’s average sales price. It is currently $346,394. Median sales price is currently at $261,500.

Inventory is currently at 4.2 months based on the last year of sales and 5.3 months based on the last six months of sales, pointing to the slowing trend in home sales. Greenhaven still has 28 short sales still on the market, dragging out its recovery.

Fair Oaks Real Estate Market Update: March 2009

Sales in Fair Oaks have been better in March than they were last month, but still haven’t kept pace with the demand in January. A total of 24 homes sold in Fair Oaks this month: 12 foreclosures, 5 short sales and 7 non-distressed homes. The 12 foreclosures are unchanged from a year ago, whereas we see a 30% dip in demand for non-distressed homes year over year and an increase in short sales. No short sales closed this time last year and this March, 5 have closed escrow. Overall unit volume is up by 9% year over year.

Average sold price per square foot has dipped 23.7% year over year from a high of $184.39 to currently $140.60. Average sales price has fallen 36.3% from $355,964 to $226,573 for the same period. Median sales price is currently at $219,500, a plunge of 23.3% year over year. Interestingly enough, the average home sold is also 16.5% smaller year over year, so the more accurate measure of prices is the average sold price per square foot.

Inventory is at 5.8 months (based on the last year of sales) and 7.3 months (based on the last six months of sales).

Home Buyers: Stress & How to Deal with It (Part 3)

If you’ve been following this three part series or if you’ve recently made the decision to buy a home (actually, correction: if you’ve EVER made a decision to buy a home or bought one) you probably know that it can be one of the most stressful times of your life. There’s paperwork flying around, Realtors® are talking in acronyms and then, after all that is over, you get to pack and move into a new neighborhood and a new place which you know little about. Welcome to world of purchasing a home! Here we’re trying to break down the more anxiety-provoking days during the process and giving you some tips so you can at least be aware of all that you might encounter during this process. So, onward!

Stressful Day #6: Signing

Okay, so you’ve done inspections and found nothing amiss. All the disclosures have been received and signed. Approved. The loan seems to be going through just fine and the home appraised for its value. Whew! Wait, wait, wait. It’s not time to sit back and relax just yet. There is still the part of the big signing. This might be a day you are looking forward to with bated breath or it might be the one thing besides horror movies that makes your hair stand on end. After all, this is what your friends jokingly call “signing your life away.” (I know, I get that all the time.)

While not really signing your life away, you are agreeing to pay a loan for a home purchase over the next (usually) 30 years. The sheer length of time and total amount can be pretty scary. Also the fact that you come to title company and the escrow officer is sitting there with a stack of papers thicker than your college thesis can be stressful. This is what you need to know: most of that paperwork is just more disclosures. A lot of the paperwork is what you have already seen. What you need to pay the most attention to is the little stack marked “NOTE.” That is the single most important thing you are signing that day.

The note contains the loan amount and the interest rate you are getting. This should have been told to you already by the loan officer, so you simply need to ensure that nothing has changed. Also the type of mortgage will be spelled out as well and that should be unchanged as well. Another document you should pay attention to is the closing (or settlement) statement. This will list the amount you have paid already as your good faith deposit and other charges like escrow fees, loan points, title insurance. If you have negotiated these will the seller, make sure that the closing statement reflects that. The escrow officer will help you out understanding these. This is a good reason to sign at the title company instead of at your home with a notary. The escrow officer is aware of every detail on the settlement sheet and the notary might not and can answer any question you might have.

Stressful Day #7: Keys & Moving Day

Almost there! This stressful time is almost over, home buyer! Once you have signed the loan documents, the escrow officer sends them back to the lender for approval and then the loan is funded. Usually once the loan funds, you can get keys, but we like to wait until you are on record as the owner of the home in the county in which the property is located. That can delay your keys by about 3 – 4 hours. The title company will usually call your Realtor® once the deed is recorded in your name and the county has sent confirmation. Then most Realtors® will just meet you at the property and give you the keys from the lockbox. Welcome to your new home!

Hopefully, you haven’t fainted from the excitement and / or anxiety at this point because you have more work headed your way. What? Haven’t you heard that moving day can be stressful as well? All those things you have to move to the new place without breaking? Unless you’re in a time crunch it’s a good idea to wait a day or two after getting the keys to schedule moving day. Take a breather. Go over to the new house and camp out if you want. Enjoy it. You’ve just bought yourself an investment for a lifetime. Relax, sit back and take it in for a while!

Homebuyers: Stress & How to Deal with It (Part 2)

Buying a home is stressful, right from the day you make the decision to buy one, it seems like. Here we’re going over some of the more anxious days you might have as a new home buyer. Especially as a first time homebuyer, it’s important that you know what to expect during the purchase period and escrow so that you are not thrown off guard.

Stressful Day #3: When the Check gets Deposited into Escrow

Good faith deposit checks are usually between 1% and 3% of the purchase price, so to buy a $200,000 house, the deposit can be fairly large. Upto $6,000 is a sizeable amount of money to anyone so it’s normal to be nervous when it leaves your bank account. Always ensure that you know the money is going to a title company (or a trust account, but mostly a title company is used) and that your Realtor® has a receipt of the money received by the title company going into your escrow. There will be a photocopy of the check on the receipt.

Good faith checks are deposited within three business days of acceptance of the offer, so be sure to move money out of savings and place it in checking if that’s what you need to do so that the check is cleared. Ideally, as soon as you start looking for a home you should try and make most of the money you will use for the purchase as liquid as possible. The down payment goes to the title company last so you might have some time for that, but the good faith should be kept in your checking. It will be deposited by the title company into escrow where it will stay until the end of the escrow at which time it will be added to your account for all the money you are paying into the purchase of the property. (Or course, contingencies in the contract protect it so if anything isn’t resolved in terms of repairs or appraisal, you get the deposit back.)

Stressful Day #4: Inspections

Talk of the good faith deposit segues well into talk of inspections because the contract usually has contingencies associated with it. If the home does not appraise for example for the price you intend to pay for its purchase then you have the right to cancel escrow and get your deposit back. Perhaps the contingencies that protect you most are the inspection contingencies. You should get everything that bothers you checked out, but the most common inspections are termite (also called wood detroying pest inspection), roof and a complete home inspection.

It’s always a good idea for you to be present for each of these. You may have them scheduled on the same day to save time. And since you will be paying for these, it’s a good idea to get your Realtor® to let the listing agent know that they have been scheduled and on what day. Lately with REOs the power does need to be turned on for the complete home inspection. Your Realtor® will have to give the inspectors access to the home.

A pest inspection costs about $100, a roof inspection is usually free (you pay for warranties and repairs) and a home inspection can cost anywhere from $300 to $500 depending on the square footage of the home. The home inspection is the longest and can take about three hours. If you have concerns, it’s a good idea to be there for the entire inspection and speak with the inspector about your worries before he gets started. If not, it’s still good to be there so the inspector can point out what he thinks might be an issue.

Stressful Day #6: Paperwork

This one isn’t so bad because usually you receive the paperwork and have time to look over it at your own home. Remember that the disclosures also are contingencies, so if you do see something in the disclosures that you don’t know about, would like more information on or otherwise is unacceptable, you don’t have to shrug and sign. You can still back out of the escrow at any time provided you are still in the contingency period and have received the disclosures during that time.

Do not remove contingencies unless all disclosures have been received. We are beginning to see that with bank-owned homes that disclosures are beginning to take longer. If that is the case, you should not remove contingencies until all disclosures have been received. Ask your Realtor® to double-check this fact and don’t sign your right to back out of escrow until you receive a positive answer.

Hang in there! We’re almost done with the home purchase now! If this seems anxiety-provoking just to read, chances are you are a potential home buyer. The biggest step you can undertake to protect yourself and make the transaction smoother is just to hire an honest and trustworthy Realtor® to be on your side. Good luck! Tomorrow part 3 concludes this series.

Downtown Sacramento Real Estate Market Update: March 2009

I’ve heard that nothing is ever happening in downtown Sacramento and although I haven’t been there to see the nightlife in a while now, I must admit that on the real estate front, downtown Sacramento is always pretty exciting. Due to the low number of homes sold there and the variety of homes itself in the area, the real estate statistics for downtown Sacramento always seem to be very exciting.

Here’s a snapshot of what I mean: 3 foreclosures sold this month, that’s UP from none last March. 5 non-distressed homes also sold – that’s DOWN from last March’s 8. But the overall sales remain the same: 8. Thus year over year, we see no difference in sales. However, the average home sold was 36.3% bigger than last year at the same time. Yes, you read that right. 36.3% bigger – that’s almost 500 square feet!

Sold price per square foot no doubt is helping with affordability. Currently the average sold price per square foot is $212.20, down 29% year over year from a high of $299.03. Average sales price is $393,000, dipping just 3% year over year from a high of $406,313. Median sales price is at $334,000.

Inventory is at 5.8 months (based on the last 12 months of sales) and 7.6 months (based on the last 6 months of sales).

Rosemont Real Estate Market Update: March 2009

A total of 51 homes sold in Rosemont in this month, which is a unit volume increase of about 46% year over year. And at first glance it does seem like nothing much has changed over the last year. A closer look reveals that although the 13 homes that were non-distressed sales last March continued to remain the same number this March, non-distressed sales have been outpaced by distress sales. We have a 53% increase in foreclosures year over year (a total of 29 sold) and a 200% increase in short sales (9 total sold this March.) 75% of all sales are now distress sales.

Average sold price per square foot is currently at $119.63 – a drop of 24% year over year from a high of $157.01. Average sales price is $180,040, which is 20% lower than last year’s $225,329. Median sales price is at $178,695 down 18% from a high of $218,000. Homebuyers have thus afforded themselves homes approximately 5% bigger year over year.

Inventory is at 3 months (based on the last year of sales) and 3.2 months (based on the last six months of sales).

Homebuyers: Stress & How to Deal with It (Part 1)

Let’s face it: buying a home is stressful. Even if you are one of those people who have been waiting with bated breath to finally get into a home of your own and would gladly throw the landlord a party (albeit a very small and cheap one) just to gloat over the fact that you are no longer to pay him rent every month, it is common to have pre-homeownership jitters. So today and tomorrow, I’m going to talk about the most stressful days you can expect to have throughout the home buying process. Hopefully, knowing that you will have these will help you to know how to overcome them and make the experience slightly smoother.

Don’t expect it to be all roses, though. Buying a home is inherently stressful. It involves two very dear things: money and – well – your home, a place you intend to live for a long time. It’s the perfect recipe for worry. But forewarned is forearmed. I know, it’s a cliche, but so true.

Stressful Day #1: Picking the Home

Shopping for a house can be relatively fun. I have only had one client so far who was not excited about looking for the right home. Some clients look on it as an adventure. Others just want it over with. Whatever your idea of house-hunting is, I can’t help but think it is a bit like shopping for clothes and therefore fun. Well, at least for a short while. But once the shopping part is done comes the first stressful day in a homebuyer’s life. It involves choice.

Researchers have found that the more choice we have the harder it is to choose. That is one reason they say life has become more stressful. Just the plethora of choices out there cause us to freeze and make it unable to calculate pros and cons. And on the real estate front, there definitely are a lot more choices today than a few years ago. In the real estate boom, when home buyers found a home they liked – even if it was just one – they had to run home and write an offer before it was gone. Today, you have days and sometimes even weeks to reach a decision. And that makes it harder, not easier.

How do you deal with it? The old fashioned way is as good as any. Get a piece of paper and pick your favorite three homes from all the ones you saw. That by the way is a good measure for when you can take a break from looking as well – once you see three homes you could live in, stop and pick. Then write down the pros and cons of each. Be creative. And don’t stick just to the floor plan and things like bedrooms and baths. Include financials in here as well. If one of them promises to be a long and iffy escrow, put that in as well. Soon, a picture will emerge that helps you decide which one you want to make an offer on. And save the others if you want as back-ups.

Stressful Day #2: Writing an Offer

Any day you just cannot forget your checkbook at home is bound to be a stressful day! But meeting a Realtor® in an office and putting down concrete dollar amounts and dates to be legally bound to can be nerve-wracking, especially to a first time homebuyer. I still remember my favorite couple I sold a home to. They were very savvy first-timers and yet while writing the offer looked so nervous, I brought them a glass of water. Everything worked well for them in the end and they got the home they wanted, but they still remember that day as one of their terrifying ones.

So how to do prepare for this? One way is to get a blank copy of the purchase agreement a day or two before the Realtor® writes it for you. That way, you’re not hit with 20 pages of initialing something you haven’t read before. Another way is just to discuss the offer over the phone and have the Realtor® write it out and email it to you. That way you have time to read everything before signing it and sending it back. Whichever way you decide to do it, remember to read everything. Knowing what you have signed and knowing that the offer has been written to be in your best interests and that you are protected with contingencies will make you feel more confident. And writing that check will not be half as hard as before!

As it turns out, there are more stressors than I thought there would be. So this will be a three part series. Come back tomorrow for more ways on how to deal with them as a new homebuyer. If you are a first time homebuyer, these posts are a must-read. They will help you – in the least – become aware of your anxiety and the reasons for it and at the most overcome it to make your home buying experience smoother than usual.

Elk Grove Real Estate Market Update: March 2009

A total of 236 homes sold in the city of Elk Grove in March: 176 foreclosure sales, 34 short sales and 26 non-distressed homes. 89% of all sales are now distress sales with foreclosures gaining 25% year over year and short sales higher 209% for the same period. So you could say that nothing much has really changed since we last checked in here. Non-distressed sales are down 45% year over year. Overall unit volume is up 19.2%.

Average sold price per square foot is mostly unchanged from last month at $115.69, which should be a welcome change to homeowners in Elk Grove that have seen huge price declines month after month. It is however still a fall of 16% year over year from a high of $138.72. Average sales price has fallen 19% year over year from $306,696 to rest at $248,872. Median price is currently at $235,899 a decline of 20% year over year.

Inventory is at 3.4 months based on the last year of sales and 3.7 months based on the last six months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is at 0.8 months.

Folsom Real Estate Market Update: March 2009

Folsom seems bent on getting rid of its short sale inventory which could be a good thing for home sellers. Short sales seem to be the bright light in an otherwise dull Folsom real estate landscape – well, in terms of sales anyway.

A total of 55 homes sold this month in Folsom – 24.7% lower than last March’s sales of 73 homes. We also see declines in every category of real estate sales except short sales. 13 foreclosures sold (that’s 18.8% lower year over year) and 27 non-distressed homes sold (that is 47.1% lower year over year). Short sales happily gained 150% over last March: a total of 15 short sales sold this March as compared with just 6 last March.

Average sold price per square foot hovers around $182.25 – a decline of 12.5% year over year from a high of $206.85. Average sales price is currently at $373,185, also a decline of 12.9% year over year. Median sales price is currently at $370,000.

Inventory is at 4.8 months based on the last 12 months of sales and 5.8 months based on the last 6 months, pointing to the recent decline in homebuyer interest in Folsom.

El Dorado County Market Update: March 2009

The sluggish real estate market in El Dorado county continues. A total of 115 homes sold in the months of March, of which 55 were foreclosures (47.8% of the total sales) 16 were short sales (13.9% of the total sales) and 44 were non-distressed (38.3% of overall sales). Unit volume is just barely higher than last March’s total sales of 104: about 10.6% higher.

Average price per square foot slipped again this month after posting an increase last month. From $165.25 last month, it is currently at $161.83. That is a drop of 16% year over year from a high of $192.32. El Doradians took the opportunity to buy a home 7.2% bigger than last year however. The average sale price suffered a decline of 9.8% year over year from last March’s $414,951 to this month’s $374,330. Median price was not immune to the drop either: it fell 8.1% from $359,000 to $330,000.

Inventory is at 9.7 months based on the last year of sales and 11.2 months based on the last six months of sales. This is significantly higher than last month’s inventory numbers of 7.4 and 8 months. Foreclosure inventory is at 2.7 months.

Sacramento County Real Estate Market Update: March 2009

If real estate sales are what you want in Sacramento county, this month’s market snapshot should make you pretty happy. If price increases are what you’re after, you might be want to stop reading right now. Oh well. Nobody said I was the Florence Nightingale of real estate. (What? Did I just say that? I knew I needed to get rid of this laptop – sometimes it talks on its own!)

Anyway, enough jokes. Let’s get down to the numbers: A total of 1836 homes sold in the month of March. The foreclosures alone outpaced the overall unit sales of last year at this time and that isn’t something to shake a finger at. Total sales last March were 1216. Foreclosures this March were 1296 or 80 more than the total inventory sales. 220 short sales also sold in March of 2009 along with 320 non-distressed homes. 83% of all sales are now distress sales.

Foreclosure sales are up year over year by about 74.4%. Short sales are the clear winner in terms of gaining the most amount – 189.5% over last year and non-distressed sales are down 19.4% for the same period.

The average sold price per square foot is currently at $112.70 which is 27% under last year’s price for March ($154.24). The average sales price has also tumbled 30.5% from a high of $261,337 to $181,685 currently. Median price has dropped 35% to $160,000.

Inventory numbers look better than they did last year as well as last month. Inventory has shrunk further to 3.5 months (based on average sales of the last 12 months) and 3.6 (based on average sales of the last 6 months). Forelosure inventory is now at 0.9 months.

Things to Do In Sacramento While Waiting for Your TARP Bailout Money

Hello.  It’s been awhile.  Some of you were probably thinking, “John Lockwood, is that guy still alive?  I thought he died and Purva Brown took over his web site.”

Well, I’m not dead yet.  I’m keeping up on my fatty foods and my sedentary lifestyle, but these things take time.

Meantime, in case rumors of my continued existence weren’t a shock enough to your system, now is as good a time as any to point out that, contrary to the title, I’m not really getting any TARP bailout money, either.  Fatty foods notwithstanding, Congress doesn’t think I’m too big to fail.

I just poked my head in to make a couple of announcements.  First of all, Purva Brown has informed me that she has passed her California State Real Estate Broker license exam, so congratulations to Purva for that!  I guess it takes the DRE a bit of time to actually process and issue the license, since their site doesn’t reflect the change yet, but I’m sure they’ll catch up any day now.  Presumably the Department of Real Estate is waiting for their TARP money, too.

Less cool than Purva’s accomplishment from my point of view, though arguably of more direct interest to our readers, we have a new search page available that features Google Maps and automatically maps the listings from the search you run so you can check out the exact location — or, as the saying has it — the exact location, location, LOCATION!  I’ve linked to that search page from the navigation links (above) so you can check it out, though if you really hate change and want the old search back, just click on “Web Site” and you’ll see links on the left to the “Older Search Pages”.

I hope you like it.  So check out the new search page, and if you have a minute, be sure to congratulate Purva on passing what I know from experience is a fairly rigorous exam.

And stop saying those things about me.  I’m not dead.  I’m just napping.