Don’t Pay For Title Insurance!
January 5th, 2009 categories: Market Commentary, Real Estate Info
The Law Protects Buyers From Sellers
Right now in the Sacramento real estate market, the banks are running the show. Write a contract and, if it’s accepted, you’ll get back a lengthy disclosure/counter offer from the bank with a litany of items not included in the normal California Association of Realtors contracts and much redundant information you’ve already signed.
It will seem as if you don’t have any choice in the matter of what you must agree to in order to buy a home. One of the conditions of every bank owned transaction I’ve particiapted in is that the buyer doesn’t have a choice as to what title company will be used. If the buyer is committed to the home, I don’t care what title company is used as long as the transaction closes and my buyer gets the home.
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Strikes Family Bowling Center
January 4th, 2009 categories: My Favorite....
Strikes Family Bowling Center Specials
The family and I went to Strikes again this Sunday for the Sunday morning before 11am special. I had thought, as the ad said, that they were discontinuing this special as of 12/21/08 but they carried it forward making it a great value for a Sunday morning time out. The playoff games were on as well, that was a bonus.
Here are some more specials I got while I was there:
Family Night Special - Monday through Wednesday from 3pm to 6pm. An hour and a half of bowling and shoe rental for up to 6 people, one 16″ cheese pizza, one pitcher of soda and one $5 arcade card good toward the Rock Wall, Laser Tag or arcade games just $39.95.
Early Bird Special - Saturday and Sunday 9am to 11am. $1.50 per game and $1.50 shoe rental.
Late Nights - Sunday through Thursday after 930pm. $2.50 per game, $3 shoe rental or $12.50 for unlimited games and shoe rental.
Great place to go for family entertainment and sports. There are flat screens every where. It’s awesome.
Tags: strikes family bowling
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Sacramento and Placer County Real Estate
January 4th, 2009 categories: Market Statistics, Real Estate Info
Active Listings Watch
I’m going to start tracking inventory levels in the two counties that I predominantly work in as well as providing the information for the average home listed in each county.
With the moratoriums that have been placed on foreclosures over the last quarter of 2008, it will be interesting to see where we were before they were lifted. From all indications, there may be a lot of inventory coming on the market in the coming months but we won’t know until we get there. Overall, at this point, inventory levels are down from the summer of 2008, that is to be expected given the moratoriums.
How many homes there are for sale combined with the pace of sales (are the sales keeping pace with homes coming on the market, reducing the inventory or is the inventory increasing despite the sales volume) all weigh in to ultimately what values will do. This is simple economics of supply and demand.
The inventory levels stated here should be deemed accurate but not exact as there are sales that occur outside of the multiple listing service where this information is derived.
Sacramento County Active Listings
As of today at 9:45am, and it changes every hour, the total active listings for Sacramento county is 6540 single family homes for sale in all statuses. This is the bulk of the market and fluctuates so it’s only completely relevant the moment it’s taken.
The average home for sale in the County looks like this:
3 bedrooms, 2.29 baths, 1773 square feet priced at $262,563. This average home has been on the market for a combined 122 days.
A home like this is clearly over priced as a properly priced home should sell much more quickly but it serves as an indication of where the market is for Sacramento county.
Placer County Active Listings
Placer county, as most know, is much more rural and less populated than Sacramento county. The average prices in Placer county are higher than in Sacramento county.
As of today at 9:50am, there were 1980 active listings in Placer county. Of these listings, the average home for sale looks like this:
4 bedrooms, 2.93 baths, 2571 square feet priced at $551,340 and has been on the market for a combined days of 149.
Throughout the year, every month, I’ll post a new article about active listings in each county. Again this will be great information as we begin to come out of this crisis into a normal market. Honestly, having said that, I don’t know if we’ve had a normal market since I’ve been in the industry. What the heck is a normal market anyway? 
Tags: homes in placer county, homes in sacramento county
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Happy New Year!
January 2nd, 2009 categories: Market Commentary
I guess I’m a little late on the bandwagon with holiday wishes but none the less, best wishes for the New Year to you. I hope your holiday season was safe, festive and fun.
May this year be better than last year. I was considering doing a peice on last year but I thought I’d leave “the dead to the dead”, so to speak.
Some Changes
You may have noticed a few changes on my site over the last couple weeks. Since ceasing working on CapitolCityForeclosures, I’ve been working toward making this site better for all who visit.
With that goal in mind, if you have any suggestions as to what you’d like to see that would make your experience here better, provide more resources for you or any suggestion at all, please feel free to comment on this article. Any comments are appreciated.
Once again, Happy New Year to you and yours.
Rob Saxe
Tags: happy new year
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Horseshoe Bar and Grill, Loomis
December 28th, 2008 categories: Community Events
New Years Eve Celebration at the New Horseshoe Bar and Grill
I’ve been to the Horseshoe Bar and Grill many times and it’s always been the place to go in Loomis. That said, Loomis isn’t teeming with night life but the ” ‘Shoe” gives the downtown area new life especially with a special menu for New Years Eve.
On New Years Eve, they are offering a special, 4 course meal at $50 per person. The regular menu will not be available but no matter what they are serving, it will be worth the time and money. The food here is very good.
The meal begins with Butternut Squash Raviolis in a sweet and sour pear emulsion. Then they throw Ahi Tuna Lollipops at you followed by a Coriander Crusted Lamb Loin. That’s just course #1.
For reservations, and I recommend that you make them, call 916-652-4100. Ask for Brandee, she’ll do her best to take care of you.
Click here to find out more.
Tags: new years eve
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Lease Options in Sacramento
December 28th, 2008 categories: Market Commentary, Real Estate Info
Great Option for Investors and Buyers
As the mortgage markets have gotten tougher and the foreclosure boom is in full stride, bridging the gap between buyers and sellers has become a necessity of moving real estate between parties in the Sacramento market. Buyers who are completely qualified are having difficulty buying homes due in large part to the majority of the market being bank owned and the financing being provided by government backed lenders. (Click here to understand why this is an issue)
While there are pros and cons to lease options, the same can be said for mortgaging a home with a bank. Just ask anyone in the Sacramento region who is $100K, or more, upside down in their homes!
I’ll attempt to touch on what a lease option is and give a few tips for getting one completed. The basic elements of a lease option are:
Tags: homes in sacramento, sacramento lease option
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Rocklin and Roseville Real Estate
December 26th, 2008 categories: Market Commentary, Rocklin/Roseville Open Homes
Interactive Open House Map for Sunday, 12/27 -12/28
I’ve created a interactive Google map with all of the open houses scheduled in the MLS for Saturday, December 27 and Sunday December 28. Click on the link below to view all the open houses for Sunday. There aren’t many due to the holidays. I’ve also included the lowest price home for each zip code included in the report.
Google Interactive Open House and Lowest Priced Home Map
Every week I’ll be updating this map with all of the open houses for the upcoming weekend. The schedules in the MLS sometimes don’t get posted until the last minute, ie. on Friday mid day or sometimes as early as Thursday. I’ll be creating these every Friday morning while looking for updates throughout the day.
It happens that the agents scheduled to hold any given home open have to cancel at the last minute for whatever reason. If you’re interested in a specific home and would like to see it, why not give me a call for a private showing? This will ensure you get to see the home you’re interested in.
If you’d like a private showing, please click here to contact me.
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Information courtesy of Metrolist, Inc.
Tags: Open homes roseville, Open Houses Rocklin
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Sacramento Mortgage Rates
December 25th, 2008 categories: Market Commentary, Mortgage Information
Long Term Mortgage Rates Hit All Time Low
According to Mortgage News Daily, mortgage rates have fallen for the 8th straight week with a new low average of 5.14% for a 30 year mortgage with less than a point paid. That’s pretty low and a record since Freddie Mac began tracking this in 1971. A check of the Freddie Mac Mortgage Survey confirms this as of December 24th.
On NPR yesterday morning, it was reported that there has been 48% jump in mortgage applications over the last week alone, the highest level in almost 5 years.
That’s good news for our local market or any market for that matter. After the first of the year, there will be many more homes available for sale since the foreclosure moratoriums have been lifted by various entities both private and public. Lower interest rates will help to keep inventories levels under control DEPENDING on the economy. If the recession deepens into something worse, it won’t matter much what interest rates do as the unemployment situation will have worsened and even fewer people will be able to buy.
The Key
Tags: mortgage, sacramento real estate
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