Happy Leap Day

Leap day (February 29) is an intercalary day inserted in a leap year. Leap day has been associated with age-old traditions, superstitions and folklore. It is also recognized as a day of observances and celebrated as a birthday for those born on February 29.

Leap day, also known as leap year day, is an extra day added to the month of February in a leap year. February 29 is the 60th day of a leap year in the Gregorian calendar. It occurs every four years in years evenly divisible by four except for centenary years not divisible by 400.A leap day is more likely to occur on Mondays or Wednesdays rather than other days because the Gregorian calendar repeats itself every 400 years. Therefore February 29 can occur 15 times on a Monday or Wednesday, 14 times on a Friday or Saturday and 13 times on a Sunday, Tuesday or Thursday. The next time leap year will fall on a Friday is going to be in the year 2036.

Each week I write the local real estate column at Rocklin & Roseville Today, check out the column I published yesterday, Apple or Orange?

Have a great leap day and a safe weekend!

Why isn’t my house selling?

Most homes on the market in the Sacramento area are overpriced and do not compare favorably to houses in the same price range. One of the most common questions heard by Sacramento real estate agents is, “If they think my home is overpriced, why don’t they offer me something lower?” Find out why I don’t agree with my listing clients when I hear this question in my current Rocklin & Roseville real estate column, “Apple or Orange?”

Lost Weekend

Every year about this time we get teased with some early spring weather and it feels good. We know there are always a few more storms to pass through but when they come I am not ready. This weekend was a perfect example, it had been beautiful the previous weekend and then wham, lots of rain and wind.

Psychologically, I was prepared for more sun and pleasant days. When it didn’t happen, I found it hard to switch gears. Open Houses are not a lot of fun on rainy days. Sitting alone in an empty house waiting for visitors who would rather be home or shopping in the warmth of a mall is not high on my list. The increased activity in the market came to a screeching halt for a few days and we got lazy around our house.

A bright new shinny Monday dawns and we are still in the fog. Car keys are missing from their normal spots, backpacks full of notes sent home from school have been unread, and all portable phones are not on their cradles and are uncharged. We have lost the weekend war, none of our plans were accomplished and we have made it more difficult to move forward with this new week. But the sun is out, the sky is blue and some of that spring feeling and energy is slowly growing inside. A couple of cups of coffee help too!

Let's Move to Sacramento

If you live or want to live in California you have a greater probability of being able to afford an entry level home in Sacramento than almost any other area of the state. According to a recent report by the California Association of Realtors more households in Sacramento can afford to buy a home than all but one other area of the state. Check out my report on this story, “Where can we afford to buy” over at my weekly column at Rocklin & Roseville Today. I have also published it on my news page at jalone.com.

By the way, if you or someone you know is a real estate agent who is tired of working alone in a big company environment and/or is interested in joining a small but growing full service real estate brokerage we would love to talk with you. Send me an email or give me a call at 916 290-9339.

Price Reductions

If you have been reading my blog or Rocklin & Roseville real estate column you know that I have been saying there is pressure on sellers to lower their price to get showings. After talking with two of my listing clients we have made decisions to lower the asking price on their property.

The first property we lowered is a new listing, it has been on the week less than two weeks and although we have had a fair amount of activity, we have not had an offer and do not have any solid prospects. This is my current short sale opportunity, Roseville Street, and we have a strong need to move this one along so we have reduced the asking price to $249,000. It would be a great house for a single parent, young couple or even an investor as I think you could rent this completely remodeled home easily.

The second property, Tanus Circle, in Rocklin is a different story. We have had this home on the market for months and the sellers have been reluctant to lower the price because they have added so many upgrades and improvements they feel the home is worth more than some of the other property in their neighborhood. Unfortunately, most of the homes in their neighborhood were built in 2004 and 2005 so most of them, if not all, are now worth less than the original owners paid for them. After a number of short sales, the overall value of the neighborhood has dropped. My clients are dropping their asking price by over $44,000 to $449,900. This is a great neighborhood in a nice Rocklin location and at this price the buyers will be getting a beautiful home that compares very well to more expensive homes.

Smorgasbord Wednesday

Congratulations to Robin Sweigart of MagnumOne Realty, who just last week got her first real estate sale in contract. Robin did a great job with her listing on Paizano Court and based on what I have seen looks like she has a strong buyer and hopefully a smooth escrow and closing. Good work, Robin!

I have had a number of emails about my latest column at Rocklin & Roseville Today, “Don’t blame the sub-prime lenders.” Several were from Realtors who agreed with most of what Michael Hill had to say and a couple were from lenders who indicated their companies were doing exactly what I suggested, attempting to come up with a new and innovative loan product for the current market. One that expands the ability of borrowers to qualify for a mortgage that is affordable. In both cases I responded back asking for details but have not heard anything back. At least it sounds like some lenders are at least giving some thought to what homes cost today and how to make buying and paying for them affordable. I did get one email saying my premise was wrong, prices of homes will fall at least 50 percent more and that is the only way houses will be affordable.

I do believe we will see some continued depreciation of home values in the Sacramento real estate market but there will still be too many homes that too many buyers can’t afford. If we are going to see any recovery in the next year it has be because some of the larger and trusted lenders develop new and innovative loans that make higher priced homes affordable to more buyers.

In the meantime, more houses are coming on the market in the Sacramento area, asking prices are declining and I am getting calls about short sales.

If anyone is interested in joining a fantasy baseball league and taking over a team in a “keeper” format please let my husband, Michael know. Their group is shy one manager and the season is rapidly approaching.

Sacramento home prices are still dropping

Although the available inventory of Sacramento real estate homes on the market has remained steady for the past month and is down from where we were six months ago the median price for a home has continued to decline.

The median price for a home, according to HousingTracker was $319,000 as of February 11 and is down 1.8 percent from a month ago. Looking back further the median price has dropped 16.1 percent in the past month and over 20 percent in the last 12 months.

As we move into the traditional spring selling season we can expect to see more homes coming on the market which will continue to put pressure on sellers to lower their asking prices.
What we are seeing at MagnumOne Realty is no showing activity for overpriced homes. I would estimate a good 80 percent of the houses on the market are overpriced. We brought a new listing on the market last week, 316 Roseville Street, at what we felt was a competitive price but the lack of showings has demonstrated we may have missed the mark and we will be working on getting it reduced this week because it doesn’t do anyone any good to have it sit vacant and not shown.

Creative Lenders Needed

The standard 30-year fixed rate mortgage has been around for a long time and must have been revolutionary when it was introduced as it opened the door to home ownership. If you believe the current real estate market is experiencing evolutionary problems that can’t be fixed with a short term stimulus package then we need some of the big and trusted players in the mortgage industry to lead the way in developing a new standard mortgage product as revolutionary as the 30-year fixed rate loan was when it was introduced.

To learn more, check out my column over at Rocklin & Roseville Today, “Don’t blame the sub-prime lenders.”

Closer to home: Congratulations Kelly! Yesterday, Kelly Baker, one of our new agents at MagnumOne Realty, closed her first ever solo real estate sale. Typical of today’s market it was a short sale and Kelly did a great job for her client, a Soldier who is being deployed to Iraq. She took over the listing from another agent who didn’t have any experience with short sales and with my help we were able to get it priced correctly, had 17 showings in the first weekend and had it in contract within three days. Not bad for a first sale and her client who has enough to worry about can cross off having to face foreclosure.

If you know Kelly, send her a congratulations email, she would appreciate it!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine’s Day to you! I was reading a recent travel blog post from Kevyn & Dave while they were in Puno, Peru and they were talking to a local about the festival they were enjoying. He questioned the number of festivals we have here in the US. We have some holidays and a few days like Valentine’s Day that come about as close to a festival as we have. I think we should have some festivals….they sound like fun! In the meantime we can send a few cards out, give away some chocolate and spend at least a few hours with our special someone.

Happy Valentine’s Day from me and the team here at MagnumOne Realty.

Valentine Day Reminder & Open House

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and you don’t want to forget to do something nice for the special person in your life. Last year I arranged and took my husband, Michael, out for a romantic dinner. I made the reservations, got a babysitter, preordered our meal, and paid the check. I know he appreciated my effort but all-in-all it didn’t turn out to be what I expected. The restaurant I chose, Ruth’s Chris in Roseville, added extra tables for the evening and jammed everyone together. Unbelievably, we were seated next to someone I know so my plan to have some alone time turned into a visit session. Although we had a good time, it isn’t how I want to spend another Valentine’s Day.

This year we have a very special dinner planned at home, and with the weather as nice as it is we may even sit outside. I am sure we will be alone and I know I will have a good time with my Valentine.

The nice weather has really had an impact on almost everything. I am very busy with clients, we are getting showings on our listings and it seems everyone’s spirits have been lifted by a few days of warm sunshine. I’d like to think spring has started ahead of time but am bracing myself for a few more winter storms before we can count on warm sunny days.

Open House - Speaking of getting out on these nice days, we will be holding our newest listing open on Saturday. If you or someone you know is interested in looking at a great short sale opportunity, stop by our Roseville Street property in Old Roseville anytime between 1 and 4 PM and say hello to Kelly Baker. This very charming 1948 bungalow has been completely remodeled and has a wonderful feel to it and best part is it sits on a double size lot and has approval to build a studio or mother-in-law cottage. We put it on the market on Tuesday and it has already had a good deal of activity so I don’t think it will take long to sell.

Why don’t we hear more about short sales?

With so many articles and news reports about the struggling real estate market why don’t we hear more about short sales? I wrote my first article on short sales back in June of last year, “Short Sales: Road to Riches?” but still get emails and calls asking what they are, can we use it to sell our house and should we consider buying a short sale house?

If you are interested in short sales or the answer to any of the questions above, check out my latest article, “Short Sale Questions.” We have completed a good number of these complicated transactions in the past year and I am happy to share my experience and knowledge.

The Decision is Hard - Selling is Not!

As I mentioned yesterday, the Sacramento real estate market appears to be experiencing some increased activity which is good for my business and hopefully for some of the sellers out there. I enjoy helping clients buy or sell and being busy sure beats waiting for the phone to ring.

Unfortunately the Sacramento area real estate market is still overburdened by the large number of homes on the market. Typically, February is the month we start to see inventory starting to grow after five months of declines. As expected we have seen an increase in homes on the market in the past month. According to HousingTracker, inventory is up 1.5 percent from a month ago to 15,311 as of the first week of February. It is also down 16.3 percent from six months ago which is part of the normal decline after an August 2007 peak. The decline this year was not as rapid or as much as many of us hoped it would be and the result is we have over 20 percent more homes on the market today than we did a year ago.

With fewer potential buyers able to qualify for more restrictive mortgages and foreclosures still on the horizon it will continue to be a difficult market for sellers.

With this situation in mind, sellers should be very careful not to overprice their homes. Nice homes priced attractively and marketed are selling. They are selling here in the Sacramento area and all across the county. Sellers must go look at the competition and have a Realtor who will provide you with a Comparative Market Analysis. Price your home to attract buyers not to scare them away. They days of, “Let’s put it on high and lower it” are over. Regardless of the market every house will sell if priced right, and it will sell quickly.

Our recent listing in Lincoln, was priced aggressively, heavily advertised on the internet, had seventeen showings over the weekend and was in contract with an over asking price offer in 3-days! Does that beat being on the market for 6 to 8 months and lowering the price by a few 000’s every few weeks? If you or someone you know is thinking about selling, give me a call or send me an email. I would be pleased to provide you with a NO obligation analysis and recommendation.

Getting Warm

Even in a slow downward pointing real estate market like we have here in the Sacramento area you still experience the normal seasonal ups and downs. Just from what we have going on at MagnumOne Realty and the way my phone has been ringing the past few days I can tell we are starting to see a surge of activity. This is exactly what you would expect. We are through the long winter month of January and as we move rapidly through February people are starting to think about spring and making moves they have been thinking about since late last fall.

It feels good, it always feels good after a long stretch of winter rain and the sun comes out to shine and warm the day. I enjoy working with energized people and this is always the time of year when most of us have that feeling of wanting to get things done. Who knows I even started thinking about cleaning out a few cabinets this week. Maybe next week it will be my closet project or even getting my husband, Michael, out in the garage to finally clean it out like he promised. It is still early but I feel a sever attack of “spring fever” coming.

Speaking of doing things, Michael’s daughter and her husband, Kevyn and Dave, were here visiting us from their home in Homer, Alaska and are now doing their annual trip. This year it is back to South America and Peru as the main destination. They left on Monday and we got word from them that they had arrived in Lima after a very long and uneventful flight. They are not great enthusiasts for big cities and from the sounds of the last email, Lima was not their “cup-of-tea” so they have already headed further south to Arequipa. Peru. I think this is a mountainous region and has a beautiful canyon area. I know some of you enjoyed reading their travel blog last year when they were in Argentina so here is the link to this year’s version, “Why can’t you think of a title.”

Good Read - Better Advice

Lately I seem to get myself in situations where I am defending Realtors and trying to explain that most agents care about their clients and do everything we can to help them. I found a blog post from a fellow Realtor who operates in New York that says it better and takes it another step and includes balancing the career with family responsibilities. Check out my column over at Rocklin & Roseville Today, “What my father told me” and read the details about this amazing blog post.

Super Bowl Sunday

Another year and more Super Bowl parties than one can attend. Especially if Michael is recovering from a cold Mikie brought home and I am getting it. Growing up in Alaska, I don’t know much about football; have never been to a professional game and only a few Stanford games with Michael. Watching it on TV is not my idea of a good time but I do like spending time with friends and family so if it is football that brings us together, well I guess I can pretend to know what is going on.

What I do know about today is that there will not be too many people out looking for a new house or thinking about calling a Realtor so it is an easy day to dedicate to a party….wow, I wished I felt better.