Catching up

After the wonderful Memorial Day weekend we have been working hard here at the Jalone Real Estate Group to get back up to speed. Traci Butler has a couple of very nice transactions in process, Megan Warn is working on an important marketing campaign focused on my Mikie’s school and yesterday our Realtor –in-Training, Kelly Baker passed her Real Estate Principals exam with flying colors. I am working with several clients including my Feng Shui friends. We have Jody Mahoney busy writing up her bio for the Meet the Team and individual group member pages Michael is building.

I hope you all had a nice weekend and getting back in to the swing of things as we head into June and the last few weeks of spring. By the way, we are working on our June Newsletter and if you are not on our mailing list, we would love to send you a copy. There is no obligation and all you have to do is sign up here.

Up, up and beyond!

Another week of watching inventory of homes for sale in the Sacramento area continues to grow and I don’t see anything on the horizon to stop this year’s inventory from exceeding the record highs we experienced last year. As of May 21 there were 16, 608 homes in the greater Sacramento area as counted by HousingTracker. This is an increase of 260 from the week before and an increase of 6.3 percent in the last month and 26.1 percent in the last three months.

The difference this year is although increasing inventory puts downward pressure on pricing the median asking price in the Sacramento real estate market has remained resistant to any significant drops. Looking at the first five months of 2007 shows that average median asking price in January of $402,399 has only dropped to an average of $399,000 in May. In the past month the drop has only been .2 percent.

So far, the Memorial Day weekend looks like it has been busy for sellers with lots of open houses and potential buyers out looking. Don’t forget to check out my latest updates over at MyForSaleSign and check out the new Meet Our Team page.

What should I do?

An email question leads to an interesting situation about a home owner concerned that he would have to pay to sell home today and the amount he has to pay will only grow over time. It is a far cry from the days when homeowners were making more in growing equity than they did at their job. Check out the email and my response in my newest article, “I can’t sell it for as much as I owe. What should I do?” which is posted on my Sacramento Real Estate News page and over at Rocklin & Roseville Today in my weekly column.

Great being home!

I am back today from my quick trip to Alaska to see my Mom on Mother’s Day and help Michael remodel our zero-lot line house in Anchorage. I have decided to add our sale of the Anchorage house to my reality real estate series, MyForSaleSign so check it out over the next few days as we post some before and after photos. Our only disappointment in the trip was that we were not there to see our great contractor finish the job. Dave Northup of Northup Construction has done a spectacular job so far and know as soon as the kitchen cabinets, which were shipped to New Mexico, arrive in Anchorage he will get it completely done.

Well, like most of us returning from a few days away, the next few days will be very busy. I have several new client meetings this week that I am looking forward to and Michael has some updates and changes to the website that we discussed and he wants to do.

Getting Ready to Head Home

Well, our quick trip to Anchorage is almost over. We have a busy day with some last minute tasks over at the Lamplighter property, some errands to do and a final dinner with friends and family. Been a great trip but we are starting to get anxious to be at home and get on with the final few weeks of school and then summer.



I have some new clients I will be meeting with on Monday and Tuesday and I am looking forward to that as well as wrapping up a few things that I have been working on from here. Today’s technology makes it possible to do a great deal but being in your own environment is the most effective.



Not much news in the real estate business these past few days, rates are edging up, there is talk the Fed could or should lower rates and the number of stories about the industry continues to grow. Some reflect growing confidence in a recovery and others saying it may be 2009 before we see any positive changes. In our area I continue to see downward pressure on prices as more homes come on the market and buyers not afraid to make offers significantly below asking prices.

MyForSaleSign

Check out my newest chapter on my reality real estate series, MyForSaleSign. In addition to tracking what is happing with Randi and Tony in Yuba City, we are now following the day to day activities of my personal property in Anchorage, Alaska. For the latest update and check out the MyForSaleSign blog.



I am hopeful adding the Anchorage home to the mix will be entertaining and informative. This will allow me to write about the process from the owner/seller prospective and see how well we do, following the advice I give my own clients.

Another Week – More Inventory

The number of homes coming on the market is happening faster than sales, expired listings and those withdrawn by their owners. I the past week, ending May 14th, the number of available homes increased 179 to 16,348. According to HousingTracker we have seen inventory grow 7.1 percent in the past month and is on tract to exceed our record highs we experienced last August.



Surprisingly, the median asking price during this current inventory growth has not changed very much. During the past three months while inventory has grown 25.6 percent the median asking price has only dropped .2 percent, all of which has come in the last month.



Well, it looks like another great spring day in Alaska, the buds that were on the trees when I got here are now leaves and it won’t be long before the grey of winter will be totally gone.

Working in Alaska

We had a wonderful Mother’s day weekend highlighted by a girl’s night out to celebrate my Cousin Brenda’s birthday and a nice brunch with my Mom and Dad. Always fun to be back in Anchorage for a few days. Well for the balance of this week I will be working from here and Michael is putting the finishing touch on our remodel project here.



This is a fun time to be here in Alaska, you can almost see the leaves on the trees coming out and lawns turning green. In a month it will be hard to believe there was snow here as it will begin to look and feel almost tropical.

Mother's Day & More

This has been a busy week for me as I prepare to sneak off for a few days to see my Mom on Mother’s Day. Recently I have had the good fortune to be working with a number of clients who are looking to buy new homes. They cover most of the traditional reasons for wanting to buy a home. Some are moving here from other locations but others are looking to have a smaller or larger home.

The inventory of available homes is high, a good percentage are
overpriced and most end up sitting on the market for months. But there is a group of for sale homes that are different. First, they are prepared to sell; they are easy to show and are priced right. In other words they are clean, well maintained, have good features, the sellers are cooperative and the asking price is supported by looking at what similar homes in the area have sold for. These homes are selling. It may not be like it was a few years ago but they are selling much faster than most of their competition.

Buyers have a lot on their side right now but the smart buyers know the luxury of time is not always there when they find the right house.

On this Mother’s Day weekend, let us each remember the best of our mother. Have a great weekend!

Busy Time of Year

May has traditionally been a busy time of year for me and my business and so far this year is not an exception. I have a number of active buyers and sellers I am currently working with and enjoying, the end of school activities are starting, and we seem to always have something going on at home. Over the weekend we started marketing our newest listing, Beretania Way, a great 4/5 bedroom home in Natomas. With almost 3,000 square feet of living space and a huge backyard this is a great family home with easy access to downtown. I also out with buyers on Saturday, looking for a home in the Granite Bay – Roseville – Rocklin area. I know I have been talking about growing inventory and buyers having lots to choose from but the truth is, when you are looking for the perfect home, sometimes it is difficult to find.



The reason buyers sometimes experience difficulty finding their new home is just the opposite of what you would expect when you are in a buyer’s market like we are now here in the Sacramento area. Because there are so many houses to choose from and because most sit on the market for months, buyers, on occasion, look for the house that meets everything they want and get the feeling they have all the time they need to find it. Add to that a media fueled belief that the longer it takes to find the house the cheaper it will be. Invariably these buyers have to lose a house or two before they begin to compromise and find the “not perfect” but right house.

The Worst is Over....err, well maybe!

At least on a national basis there are some analysts who are pointing to what is happening and claiming the current housing slump has bottomed out and starting to recover. Check out my article and review of what Joe Kalish, from Ned Davis Research, has to say in a recent USAA article on the real estate market. You can see my article, The Worst May be Over?, on the Real Estate News page or here in my column over at Rocklin & Roseville Today.

Can asking prices remain steady?

To the dismay of many, as inventory of available homes continues to grow the median asking price has remained almost unchanged. Each month so far this year inventory has grown in the Sacramento area. According to HousingTracker, inventory of available homes has gone from the low 12,000’s in January to the current level of 15,918 as of April 30. All during this buildup the median asking price has not changed much and has been hovering around the $400,000 level. As of April 30 HousingTracker reports a median asking price of $399,000, a .02 percent drop from a month ago.



If inventory continues to expand at the current rate we will see more homes on the market than we did last year when we hit highs of over 18,000 homes for sale in the Sacramento area, as defined by HousingTracker. This will undoubtedly put a great deal of pressure on sellers to lower their asking price to attract buyers. It may be a long hot and disappointing summer for sellers.