New Listing - 970 Marvel Stripe Terrace, Davis, CA 95616

Better than new 2 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom tri-level home in the highly-sought after Heirloom at the Cannery Davis! You will love the gourmet kitchen with granite countertops, subway tile backsplash, and stainless steel appliances. Amazing covered patio terrace off the kitchen brings the outside in. Downtstairs bedroom and full bathroom built to ADA standards. Large upstairs master suite has a walk-in closet, en-suite bathroom with dual sinks and stall shower. Laminate floors throughout, inside laundry, 2 car attached garage. Energy efficient features include tankless water heater, EV plug-in ready, and owned solar so you'll enjoy maximum comfort and minimal energy bills. The Cannery boasts abundant walking trails and parks, outdoor gym equipment, and an urban farmhouse style club with massive heated pool, hot tub, fire pit, BBQ areas, and game room. All this located within a bike-friendly Farm-to-Fork community! Conveniently located near shopping, downtown Davis and the UC Davis Campus! Don't wait! MLS# 19045861. Offered at $515,000. For more photos and detail please visit 970 Marvel Stripe Terrace, Davis, CA 95616.

New Listing - 7446 Saint Tropez Way, Sacramento, CA 95842

This 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1,018sf property is the perfect blank canvas for your personal style and touches! With deferred maintenance throughout, you can look forward to restoring this once cute home to its former glory with your major renovation project. You will love the open layout, spacious living room and dining areas, kitchen with ample storage space, big bedrooms, and large pass-through bathroom with two sinks and stall shower. Attached 2-car garage. Big backyard with covered patio. Nicely located close to shopping, public transportation, and freeway access. Don't wait! MLS# 19048048. Offered at $225,000. For more photos and detail visit 7446 Saint Tropez Way, Sacramento, CA 95842.

New Listing - 6134 & 6136 Merrywood Drive, Rocklin, CA 95677

Excellent investment opportunity with this well-maintained Rocklin duplex! Convenient, high-demand location. Each unit is a 2 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, attached 1-car garage and are essentially mirror images of each other. Spacious units flow nicely with lots of living space, open floorplans, big bedrooms, updated kitchens, en-suite master bedrooms, ample storage, private/fenced backyards. Both units have dual pane windows, central heat & air, and composition roof. Right 6134 unit is month-to-month and $1,250/mo. Left 6136 unit is leased through May 2020 and $1,520/month. Located near shopping, public transportation, parks, schools, and easy access to I-80. Offered at $449,900. For more photos and information please visit 6134 & 6136 Merrywood Drive, Rocklin, CA 95677.

No sellers, you cannot swap out your fancy Nest Thermostat before the close of escrow...

As one of my seller clients was finishing the final move-out from his home recently, he called to ask me how he should plan to get the extra keys to the buyer at closing. Once we determined he would leave extra keys in the house for the new owner, he then said he "was leaving as soon as he removed the Nest Thermostat and replaced it with a standard one." 

UMM, NO. Thankfully he and I had this conversation, and thankfully it was before he removed it. This off-hand comment saved him and saved me a lot of trouble. A thermostat is a fixture and generally stays with the property. 

Ironically, about a week later one of my other seller clients asked me about removing a Nest Thermostat at a different property. Thankfully this was long before closing and he did not have a screwdriver in his hands. I explained that it needed to stay with the property. 

Paragraph 8 in the current version of the Residential Purchase Agreement addresses items included and excluded from the sale. It specifically states that existing "mechanical" systems stay with the property. It also goes on to say that "home automation" devices and "control units" are included in the sale. This is the default unless you specifically exclude those items from the transaction.

So no, sellers, please do no remove the Nest and ride off into the sunset with something that belongs to the new owner of the house. You will have to replace it with another Nest at your expense.

Now, if you are really attached to your Nest, you can take it with you -- if, and only if -- you do one of the following:

(1) Remove it and replace it with a regular thermostat before you put the house on the market. At that rate, the buyer will never know there was a Nest in the first place. 

--OR--

(2) Make a note in MLS that the Nest is not included in the sale. Maybe even put a little note on the unit in the house in plain sight for potential buyers to see. You will want the buyer to be aware of this at the beginning of the transaction. Then be sure that paragraph 8 in the purchase agreement specifically excludes the Nest from the sale. Then you may remove it at closing. If you make the comment in MLS, but the contract itself does not reflect the exclusion, then the Nest must remain with the house. (this confuses a lot of buyers, sellers, and agents alike)

And really, you can substitute a the same general two formulas for other items in the home that the seller wants to exclude from the sale. Like grandma's antique chandelier. Or your custom fish-shaped mailbox. Or the rose bush in the front yard that your mom gave you.

My suggestion? Remove whatever it is you do not want to include BEFORE the property goes on the market and replace it with something else. That way, the buyer does not know anything different and everyone has the same expectations.

Quoted in the Sacramento Bee about buyers who write cover letters to sellers when making an offer...featuring two of my clients!

Meet my clients, Koy and Daniel, who were featured in an article that ran on the front page of the Sacramento Bee over the weekend. They wrote a letter to the seller of an Elk Grove home explaining why they loved her home, and she accepted their offer out of 12 competing offers. Personal notes to sellers can be very effective sometimes. And as I am quoted saying in the article -- if a seller can emotionally connect with why you love their home, sometimes that is enough to tip the scale in your favor.

New listing - 10589 Malaga Way, Rancho Cordova, CA 95670

Adorable 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom home in Rancho Cordova! You will love the spacious light and bright open layout, laminate floors throughout, updated kitchen with granite counters, stainless appliances, and breakfast bar. Formal dining area and large open living room. Spacious bedrooms with ample closet space. Composition roof new in 2015, dual pane windows throughout, central heat and air. HUGE corner lot with lots of sunny space to garden or play! Large covered patio is great for backyard gatherings. Fruit trees, extra long drive way for additional parking. Located in close proximity to parks, schools, shopping, light rail, and more! Don't wait! Offered at $295,000. MLS# 19036483. For more photos and information please visit 10589 Malaga Way, Rancho Cordova, CA 95670.

Buyers - you should rekey your newly purchased home!

You just closed escrow and got the keys to your newly purchased home, yay! But who else might have the key too? Even if a seller has turned over all the keys in their possession, you as a new homeowner have no idea if that seller gave a copy of the key to a family member, or a neighbor, contractor doing work at the property, or hid a spare under a rock in the front yard.

Replacing all of the lock hardware in a house can cost a several hundred dollars. Most homes have at least a front door, back door, and door into a garage...three new locksets are expensive! And some homes would need more than three. But there is a much less expensive way.

Some new home owners do not understand that in order to rekey a lock, the entire lock-set does not need to be changed out. A good locksmith can reuse existing locks, reconfigure the inner-workings, and make a new key that fits. 

And scheduling a locksmith to come out, rekey locks and make you copies of new keys is more like $125-$150. This is a small price to pay for added security at your new home.

Quoted in a Sacramento Bee article this weekend about the spring Sacramento real estate market...

I was quoted in a Sacramento Bee article by Tony Bizjak over the weekend about the local market conditions. True to the norm for this time of year, the Sacramento area real estate market is going nuts. It's spring. And this is what predictably happens here every year. And in the hot (temperature) part of the summer, things will likely slow down a little, and that too will be normal and part of the predictable Sacramento real estate cycle.

In any market, the key is to be strategic.

If selling, how does the home present online and in person? If the property does not look amazing, buyers may not be as interested or willing to pay market value. Is it priced correctly and in line with comparable sales? If it is not priced correctly, you will miss your target buyer audience. Have you properly disclosed inspection reports, known material facts, and issues up front? Not disclosing potential issues up front before and during contract negotiation will be an engraved invitation for a renegotiation later. Are you realistic in your expectations? Most homes do not sell to the unicorn bay area buyer over-paying with all cash.

If buying, what are your short and long term goals? Are you rushing into things? Contemplate your options. The best decisions are usually not made impulsively. Are you comfortable with this monthly payment in the event of an economic issue? Don't get in over your head. Are you doing enough due diligence and property investigation? Inspect, inspect, INSPECT. Please know what you are buying before you close the transaction. What are the comparable sales? Is the listing over or under priced? Look at comparable sales with your agent and make an appropriate offer whether that is below the listing price or above. Sorry, looking at Zillow doesn't count. What does the seller need out of the transaction? Especially in competitive situations, tailor your offer to the seller's needs - often, the right terms may be a win for the seller over highest price. Are you realistic in your expectations? I know your parents, favorite uncle, and BFF said to make a lowball offer because that is what they did 30 years ago or that's what worked in Texas or what they saw on HGTV, but seriously that may be a total waste of your time.