We sold our house in just one week.

For every home you hear about that sold after just a few days on the market there are hundreds that wait months for an offer. Keeping your home ready and waiting to sell is demanding and often eliminates any patience a seller had when they started the process. Check out what is happening in my reality real estate series, MyForSaleSign and my latest article, “Demands High – Patience Low.” Don’t forget the MyForSaleSign daily blog where we announced today that one of the properties we are following has an offer.

Welcome to Summer!

I know the weather the past week or so has been summer like but today is the first full day of summer and the longest day of the year. We will have more sunlight today than any other day of the year. We hardly notice it here in California but up in Alaska, where I grew up, it was always a great celebration with lots of parties and events to mark the occasion.

If you are following my reality real estate series, MyForSaleSign, I posted a new article today, Competition in Yuba City: How does our listing compare? Randi and Tony have been the best clients, keeping their great condo/townhouse in show condition week after week. We just lowered the price and I wanted to take a look, from a buyers perspective, at the other homes that compare our listing.

Dump to Doll House

Check out the latest the first of three articles on our experience in turning a dump into a doll house at my reality real estate page, MyForSaleSign or on my weekly column at Roseville & Rocklin Today.

Still more to do

Another week is slipping by and although I feel like I was busy, in the end I can’t say I accomplished as much as I had hoped. For one I didn’t get a new column posted over at Rocklin & Roseville Today and I wanted to write another piece for MyForSaleSign. What we did accomplish is getting the June Newsletter published, still in the final printing so if you are not on my mailing list and would like to be, let me know by email or filling out this short form.

During the week we have added another 350+ homes to the available inventory here in the Sacramento real estate market. As I mentioned earlier in the week, there does not seem to be any reason we will not exceed the record high of homes on the market later this summer. I continue to be surprised that asking prices continue to resist the kind of drops we saw last year as inventory was building. Right now, according to HousingTracker we have 16,967 homes on the market with a stable median asking price of $399,000. I have a great listing out in Natomas and we just lowered the price from $511,350 to $499,000 in hopes of increasing showing activity. It is a great house on Beretania Way and if you or anyone you know is looking for a nice home, I would be happy to arrange a showing.

Speaking of showings, if you are out and about in the Yuba City area tomorrow, stop by and say hello. I will be holding Randi’s condo/townhome open from 1 to 4 PM.

Have a great Friday and weekend

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.

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.

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.

Waiting and more waiting

Check out the latest update at MyForSaleSign main page at jalone.com. Randi and Tony are doing well, although getting a bit fatigued keeping the place ready for a showing. Tony is ready to get it sold and get back out to find their first house together. No open house this weekend but I am feeling good about getting some showings.


We are looking forward to a quite, sunny and warm weekend. Keep track of me over the weekend with Twitter.

Magic Formula

I have looked at so many real estate agents sites that promise to have a proven method of selling or proprietary marketing plan and I have spent more than a few hours thinking about how to sell a home. We have tried, promotions, talking signs, giveaways and all sorts of advertising. Is there a magic formula for selling a home? Check out our latest reality real estate series at MyForSaleSign.

New stamps and price

With all the hoopla about the new Star Wars stamps and mail boxes that resemble R2D2 I discovered this morning that a first class postage stamp is going from 39 cents to 41 cents next month! I think the stamps are cool, and I will use them on my June Newsletter but, darn sending a letter is getting expensive!

I am busy this week, today I am showing new homes to our MyForSaleSign heroine, Randi. We saw some wonderful homes on Saturday and want to compare those to new construction. Check out the MyForSaleSign blog for the latest update. Tomorrow I will be working with some clients who are moving to the Sacramento area and looking for a new home. In addition I have some interviews set up for this week for potential new team members that came as a result of our advertising. Finally, we are mailing the April Newsletter and I have some work to do on a few files, finish my report on social network sites I use (here is a link to My Space web page) and publish my February results for Rocklin and Roseville.

My occasional rant...

…got long enough today that I used it for my column over at Rocklin & Roseville Today, “It shouldn’t be this difficult.” Remember it is Friday, the weather is wonderful and spring is calling my name.
Overall it has been a good week and I suspect with the nice weather holding a bit longer we will see some buyers out this weekend. We have a serious buyer up in Yuba City who we are hoping will make an offer on the MyForSaleSign subject property. In addition we had another showing so the place is starting to get some action. The latest update for my reality real estate series is here.

The Kitchen and more

Saturday was my wedding anniversary and my husband, Michael, attempted to surprise me with a dinner at The Kitchen. He is good at lots of things but surprises are not one of them! This was our third trip to The Kitchen and like the previous two visit it was wonderful.

If you have never been to The Kitchen, put it on your list of things to do. Although they occasionally have cancelations it is always best to make your plans to go several months in advance. Last night Noah was the Master Chef and did a wonderful job of making every quest feel welcome and special. The food and presentation was wonderful. If you go with four of less people I love sitting at the bar where you can see and be part of all the action.

Seems like many restaurants these days are picking simple dishes and doing them spectacularly well. A steak at Ruth Chris’s is a good example, it tastes great but we can all have a steak at home. At the Kitchen, the sheer number of ingredients they use in each dish creates a complexity of flavors you don’t get every day. Last night my favorite was the first course, a spectacular asparagus soup. Here is how they described it, “A Bisque of Young Asparagus with ‘Biscuits, Gravy and Bacon’, Honey-Blood Orange Glazed Pork, Goat Butter and Salt Cured Octopus” The octopus was actually made into bacon, crisp, crunch and an explosion of taste! Check out their website, The Kitchen, for the complete menu, a description of their offerings and for reservations.

The Kitchen is expensive but it is a true culinary event and with the demonstration kitchen format it is a full evening of entertainment and fun. Besides you won’t need to eat the next day or at least, like me, only want a cheese sandwich after all the wonderful rich food.

Check out my latest real estate news article, “The train to Equityville.” You can see it here on our website or in my column today at Rocklin & Roseville Today. I also have some happenings on my reality real estate series, MyForSaleSign

On the Run

Another weekend has just slipped by and now it is busy Monday trying to get everything on track and a few other items. I did publish a reality real estate article, Curb Appeal, on the MyForSaleSign page. Randi and Tony are doing a great job of maintaining their Yuba City condo/townhome while it has been on the market.

I found or Michael found a new toy this morning, Twitter. It is a one blog where you can only post very short entries and it designed to keep your friends informed of where or what you are doing. It looks like fun so; if you have a few minutes check my page, JulieJ or Michael’s. I also added one of their widgets here so my quick posts can be seen. Add me as a friend, my page looks lonely!

National Television for You?

This afternoon I was contacted by a production company working for a National television network. They found my reality real estate series, My For Sale Sign, and felt I would be good a participant in a show they will be filming in the Sacramento area. We now need a family of four who are looking to buy a home in the $350 to $550,000 range, ideally in the Rocklin-Roseville area, and are willing to spend three days of shooting time in mid-march. For additional details see my News Flash page at jalone.com or email me immediately at mailto:Julie Jalone

Busy Friday

Inventory in the greater Sacramento real estate market is edging up but we have been seeing some stability in the median asking price. According to HousingTracker, during the past four weeks ending February 26 available houses for sale grew by 527 to 13,372, a 4.1 percent increase. During this same time the median asking price has remained virtually constant at $400,000.

For those of you following my reality real estate series, My For Sale Sign, I posted my third article, “Hanging in There” which is exactly what my sellers, Randi and Tony are doing as they wait for the buyer we want to find.

Cold Winter Days in Rocklin

I finally completed my review of the Rocklin real estate market for the first month of 2007, “Cold Winter Days.” There was not much good news to report but some of the other communities in our Sacramento area seem to be showing signs of life with increasing sales volume and stabilizing prices so we will keep an eye on Rocklin and see what happens over the next few months.

If you have been following my Reality Real Estate series, My For Sale Sign, I have decided to add a blog to the feature to keep my readers up-to-date. I want to thank all of you who have taken the time to visit and send me emails. I love hearing from you and appreciate your ideas. I will be working on a larger update later this week and will for the first time include some comments from Randi & Tony. For those of you who have asked to see a picture of them, we are working on that too

My For Sale Sign

Today I have started what I plan to be series of articles and blog posts focused on real time experiences of selling and buying a home. We have all the right ingredients; a pretty heroine, romance, dreams and the reality of the current real estate market. Check out my first article, “The Journey Begins” and let me know what you think. I promise to have at least weekly updates and if you have some good ideas or just want to kibitz we will include that too. Send your ideas and comments to ForSale@jalone.com.