National Open House - November 4th!

I can't believe November is upon us! Well...a couple months ago I posted about the upcoming National Open House. It is this weekend...I will be holding open my listing at 5902 Casa Alegre in Carmichael from 11am - 2pm. It is a great dual master suite 2 bedroom / 2.5 bathroom condo in a great community in Carmichael. You can view more details at http://www.5902casaalegre.com/. Hope to see you there!

http://www.ErinAttardi.com • http://Erin.Golyon.com

Creative Seller Incentives...

Hmmm...have ya'll heard about the couple in Pennslyvania? This story made national headlines! Bob and Ricki Husick are selling their house, have no heirs and built the house in 1993. They want $399,900 for the four-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath home, which is located about 20 miles north of Pittsburgh. Under the Husicks' offer, the buyer would get the sale price back when they die. Wait, there's more: If the buyer agrees to care for the couple in old age, he could also inherit the rest of their estate!

Here is a link to the story:
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7008997698



http://www.ErinAttardi.com • http://Erin.Golyon.com

Time change...

Not sure about ya'll, but when I woke up on Sunday morning, the time on my cell phone had automatically changed. Maybe this is a setting on my Blackberry that thinks daylight savings is the last weekend in October? Good thing my alarm clock went off and I did not miss my early appointment! Yikes!



http://www.ErinAttardi.com • http://Erin.Golyon.com

Public Transit in Sacramento...

Public transportation is not as sophisticated in Sacramento as it is in other cities, however we do have Light Rail and a number of bus lines. You can map a public transit route from one area of town to another using http://infoweb.sacrt.com/. It will tell you exactly which transit lines you must take, if and when you must transfer to another line, etc.

I have a friend who takes Light Rail from Folsom to downtown Sacramento and back for work each day...not only does she not have to pay to park downtown, but saves loads of money on gas.


http://www.ErinAttardi.com • http://Erin.Golyon.com

Ready for Halloween?

Fog Willow Pumpkin Farm; 11011 Cecatra Drive, Wilton, CA 95693. Phone: 916 687-4547

Gibson Ranch; 8556 Gibson Ranch Road, Elverta, CA. Phone: 916-991-2686.

Pumpkin Acres; 3101 El Centro Road, South Natomas, CA. Phone: 916-929-7546.

Pumpkin Paul's; 5910 Hazel Ave, Orangevale, CA Phone: 916-988-7727.

Vern's Pumpkin Patch; 5415 Kenneth Ave., Fair Oaks, CA. Phone: 916-256-5069 .

Sleepy Hollow Pumpkin Patch & Corn Mazes; 210 S. Harding Blvd., Roseville, CA 95678. Phone: 877-672-2624.

Cool Patch Pumpkins; 38140 Russell Blvd., Davis, CA. Phone: 530-304-0163.

Dave's Pumpkin Patch; 3010 Burrows Ave, West Sacramento, CA 95691. Phone: 916-849-9450.

Ugly Ray's Pumpkin Patch & Petting Zoo; 19376 Old River Road, West Sacramento, CA, 95691. Phone: 916-997-8573.

Woodland Cornmaze & Pumpkins; County Road 103 and East Main Street, Woodland, CA. Phone: 530-666-7194.

http://www.ErinAttardi.com • http://Erin.Golyon.com

Neighborhood Spotlight: Curtis Park

Curtis Park was subdivided from the Curtis Ranch Homestead by William Curtis in the late 1800's and early 1900's. There are several different subdivisions within Curtis Park, including Curtis Oaks, West Curtis Oaks, Highland Park, Heilbron Oaks, and many others.

William Curtis died on January 27, 1907, shortly after the Curtis Oaks subdivision map was filed. After Curtis' death, a man named J.C. Carly picked up where Curtis left off and continued the development of Curtis Park. In 1919, J.C. Carly and the Hickman Investment Company proposed a conditional gift of land for a park to the City of Sacramento. The land was a strip 2740 feet long and 300 feet wide.

Curtis Park is predominantly a residential neighborhood of approximately 2,500 homes, comprised almost entirely of single family homes. Present are many classic architectural styles, such as Victorian, Craftsman, Colonial Revival, Arts and Crafts, Tudor Revival, and Spanish Revival.

I recently received an email from a former resident of Curtis Park asking about the current market climate on the 'prime streets' there. Literally the next day, I started working with a new client to find a home in Curtis Park. Curtis Park has always been one of my favorite neighborhoods, and I do tour and preview many homes there, but honestly I have not yet listed or sold a home there. I did some probing for both people, and found the following stats...

2007 Curtis Park "prime streets" (Sutterville to the south, Marshall to the north, Franklin to the east, and 24th to the west):
-Avg original list price: $583,188
-Avg sales price: $557,054
-Median sales price: $545,000
-High sales price: $830,000
-Low sales price: $324,000
-DOM: 56
-$/square foot: $323.65

-YTD # of Sales: 28 sold with 5 currently pending
-Short sales: 1
-REO's: 0

2006
-Avg original list price: $553,486
-Avg sales price: $529,654
-Median sales price: $480,500
-High sales price: $842,000
-Low sales price: $325,000
-DOM: 43
-$/square foot: $335.93

-# of Sales: 27
-Short sales: 0
-REO's: 1

2005

-Avg original list price: $614,640
-Avg sales price: $588,459
-Median sales price: $585,000
-High sales price: $934,000
-Low sales price: $335,000
-DOM: 34
-$/square foot: $330.14

-# of Sales: 33
-Short sales: 0
-REO's: 0

For an area with such a wide range of property conditions, architectural style, etc., other than the average days on the market rising, these numbers have remained consistent.

Links:

http://www.sacmag.com/media/Sacramento-Magazine/March-2007/Great-Neighborhoods/

http://www.sierra2.org/index.html

http://www.insidepublications.com/pdf_stories/05-12/MYN%20ITC-Dan%20Brown.pdf

http://home.comcast.net/~murpete/index.html

http://www.95818realtor.com

http://www.erinattardi.com/ • http://erin.golyon.com/

The Real State of Real Estate

I read this article by Gary Watts, a real estate broker and economist in Southern California. It is a really long article, so I just have the first few paragraphs here...you can read the entire article by clicking the link at the bottom...while he specifically relates this data to the market in Orange County, I am happy to provide specific info to anyone who wants it specific to Sacramento.

Enjoy!

Brief History of Real Estate Downturns

The housing analysts tell us we are in the 25th month of the current housing downturn. Historically, housing downturns average 27 months so we may be near the end. Although there has been a significant decline in sales volume, home prices have continued to show small amounts of appreciation. With the Fed cutting interest rates, Congress passing bills to aid housing, and more money available for home lending, the financial markets will begin calming down. This down cycle will come to an end, just as they have done since 1970, and an excellent buying opportunity may lie ahead.

1970s:

With a protracted war in Southeast Asia and OPEC doubling the price of a barrel of oil, real estate sales and prices came under great pressure. However, by the late 70s inflation caused prices to rise and, as the decade came to an end, home prices in Orange County had risen 15.04% on an annual basis.

“The median price of a home today is approaching $50,000 . . . housing experts
predict price rises in the future won’t be that great.” – National Business - 1977

1980s:

With inflation hitting 21.5% and home loans reaching 18%, the Federal Reserve began to tighten credit to reduce inflation. This caused home sales to decline, but home prices continued to appreciate. That decade, the worst year was 1984. Orange County recorded price appreciation of only 0.90%.

“The golden-age of risk free run-ups in home prices is gone.” – Money Magazine – 1985

By the late ‘80s, defense contracts began to pour into southern California and once again, the housing boom was on. Home prices in Orange County rose that decade at an annual rate of 9.43%.

1990s:

On Nov.11, 1989 the Berlin Wall came down and, by January of 1990, Congress cut the defense budget. In a short period of time, a lot of highly-paid workers in defense and manufacturing had lost their jobs. Orange County home prices declined from 1991 to 1996 by 3.22% annually, for a total of 19.33%.

“A home is where the bad investment is.” San Francisco Examiner – 1996

In the last 3 years of the decade, Orange County home prices rose 27.42%, wiping out all the losses of the early ‘90s and ending the decade with a net gain of 0.90% annually. In OC, the 36 year annual average for home appreciation has been 9.76%!

2000s:

http://www.impactre.com/Forecast.html.

New Listing - 8263 Leesburg Way, Elk Grove 95624

Look no further - this is your dream home! Contractor's own home has more upgrades that you can imagine! Fantastic open floorplan boasts 1,862 square feet (per assessor's records) of living space, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms. Step inside to find a beautiful formal living room, custom painted interior with beautiful mouldings, decorative window coverings, a formal dining area and more. You will love the custom covered cement patio, complete with built-in gas BBQ and refrigerator. That's not all - there is also an inviting built-in swimming pool and waterfall, and spa. Also is a spacious lawn area, separate dog run, and side yard with two large sheds! Offered at $369,000. Sale is subject to lender approval. For more details, photos, and a virtual tour, visit http://www.8263leesburgway.com/.



http://www.ErinAttardi.com • http://Erin.Golyon.com

More on private transfer taxes...

For any of you who read my post a few weeks ago regarding "private transfer taxes" (http://sacramentorealestateblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/private-transfer-taxes-be-aware.html), you may be interested to know there are a couple of new laws in CA that will govern and disclose these fees...as far as I know though, these fees are still legal to record on property deeds.

New Disclosure for Private Transfer Fees: Effective January 1, 2008, a seller who must provide a Transfer Disclosure Statement must also provide, at the same time, a disclosure statement of private transfer fees if applicable. A transfer fee is defined as any fee that must be paid upon transfer of real property as imposed by deed, CC&Rs, or other documents, with certain exceptions (such as, but not limited to, transfer fees imposed by probate, trust, court order, or a governmental agency). The new disclosure statement must contain, among other things, a notice that payment is required, the amount of the fee, and the entity to which payment must be made. (Source: Assembly Bill 980.)

Recording Private Transfer Fees: Also effective January 1, 2008, any person or entity imposing a private transfer fee must, as a condition of payment of the fee, record the instrument creating the transfer fee and a separate notice of "Payment of Transfer Fee Required." These two documents must be recorded concurrently in the county recorder's office for which a property is located. The notice of "Payment of Transfer Fee Required" must include the following information:
- Names of the current property owners;
- Assessor's parcel number and legal description;
- Amount of the fee (or percentage of sales price);
- Actual dollar-cost examples of the fee for residential property priced at $250,000, $500,000, and $750,000;
- When the fee expires if applicable;
- Purpose of the funds;
- Name of entity to be paid and that entity's contact information for sending the funds; and
- Signature of that entity's authorized representative.
The title of the notice of "Payment of Transfer Fee Required" must be in at least 14-point bold type. For transfer fees imposed before January 1, 2008, the receiver of the fee must, as a condition of payment of any fee after December 31, 2008, record a notice of "Payment of Transfer Fee Required" by December 31, 2008 (or record a substantial equivalent as specified). (Source: Assembly Bill 980.)


http://www.ErinAttardi.com • http://Erin.Golyon.com

New Listing - 728 Morey Avenue, Sacramento 95838

Don't miss this affordable turn-key home! With 4 bedrooms and 1 bathroom, this single story gem was recently renovated with permits by licensed contractors, and has a great open floor plan. You will love the oak kitchen cabinets, tile counters, and white appliances, remodeled bathroom, dual pane windows, new carpet, freshly painted interior and exterior, ceiling fans, composition roof, central heat and air conditioning, huge yard, and more! This listing is offered at $199,000 - $205,000 (call Erin Attardi for details). For more detail, photos and a virtual tour, visit http://www.728moreyavenue.com/.

To view all of my listings, visit http://Erin.golyon.com/listings.html.





http://www.ErinAttardi.com • http://Erin.Golyon.com

More fun charts...

Before I could log off after my last post, I got an email asking for the housing inventory trend over a larger period of time...That I can post! Here is the 5-year inventory chart.

http://www.ErinAttardi.com • http://Erin.Golyon.com

Current Inventory

Ok...so the September statistics are out. While the actual number of resale single family homes on the market dropped, the closed and pending sales are also down a bit in Sacramento County. Based on the current numbers, there is 15 MONTHS of resale inventory on the market! The chart is pretty compelling! Some areas weight this far more than others. For example, in 95818 (Land Park / Curtis Park), there is 4.4 months of inventory. On the other side of the coin, in 95832 (Meadowview), there is 67.5 (!) months of inventory. FYI a "normal" market with buyer and seller equilibrium has roughly 6 months of inventory.

DO NOT OVERPRICE YOUR HOMES!!!

I do have the full market report Trendgraphix/MLS reports, but they are miles long and I can not post them all here. If anyone wishes to have them, I am happy to email you directly...please email a request to me at erin@erinattardi.com.

Source: Trendgraphix, Metrolist MLS

http://www.trendgraphix.com/

http://www.ErinAttardi.com • http://Erin.Golyon.com

Rent-O-Meter

Not sure where this website gets its data, but if you have an investment property and are unsure what the average market rents in surrounding areas are, this could be a good resource...

Link:
http://www.rentometer.com/

HUD proposes to close a mortgage loophole

Those seeking 100% financing, take note:

___

For a decade, credit-challenged homebuyers have used a regulatory loophole that lets them get Federal Housing Administration mortgages without putting their own money down, while at the same time avoiding costly subprime loans. About 7,000 buyers per month were exploiting the loophole, and now the feds are squeezing it shut. The new policy means that prospective homebuyers with marginal credit will have to act quickly if they want to buy houses without putting any money down. Otherwise, they will have to save for down payments or wait for the FHA to roll out its own zero-down program.

At issue is a controversial method of scraping together the down payment for a house. Many subprime lenders require down payments of at least 5 percent. That's a high hurdle for people who already have credit problems; luckily for those borrowers, loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration require smaller down payments -- as little as 3 percent. Lenders mandate down payments for several reasons, the main one being that borrowers are less likely to stop making monthly payments if their own money is at risk. To make sure that borrowers have something to lose, no lender allows sellers to make down payments on behalf of buyers. But for FHA-insured loans, there has been a way to get around that seller-funded prohibition.

The FHA allows homebuyers to accept gifts of down-payment money from nonprofit organizations. There's your loophole: Since the 1990s, the FHA has grudgingly allowed home sellers to "contribute" money to nonprofits, and for the nonprofits to then "donate" the money to homebuyers. In effect, sellers could fund buyers' down payments, which was a no-no, but the enterprise was technically legal because the money was shuttled through nonprofits. The nonprofits collected service fees from sellers. From 2000 through 2006, more than 650,000 buyers got their down payments through nonprofits, representing about one-third of FHA loan volume.

There was a problem, though: studies commissioned by the federal housing department and Congress concluded that these loans were riskier than FHA loans that didn't involve down-payment gifts. This fall, after years of debate, the Department of Housing and Urban Development adopted a rule that prohibits the down payment money from coming, directly or indirectly, from the seller. HUD administers the FHA. The rule takes effect Oct. 31. The down-payment industry has come to be dominated by two nonprofits: AmeriDream, in Gaithersburg, Md., and Nehemiah Corp. of America, in Sacramento, Calif. Both have asked federal courts to block HUD from enforcing the rule. The housing department won't comment, other than saying it will defend itself in court.

"HUD completely disregarded any effort to fix the problems and improve the program," says Ann Ashburn, president of AmeriDream. Among the improvements she suggests: prohibiting sellers from inflating their sales prices to make up for their down-payment contributions and requiring property appraisers to include the down-payment gifts in their assessments. If the new regulation goes into effect on Halloween, it would immediately end down-payment assistance grants from AmeriDream and all its competitors except Nehemiah. Scott Syphax, president of Nehemiah, says his nonprofit won an automatic extension as a result of litigation against HUD 10 years ago, so Nehemiah will be able to serve as a conduit for down payments until March 31.

The heads of AmeriDream and Nehemiah say the new rule is shortsighted. "This particular rule couldn't have happened at a worse time for working families and for the economy itself," Syphax says. "Over 10,000 homeowners are created every single month utilizing this program. Those people immediately will no longer be served." HUD disputes that the new rule will harm the economy, saying in a regulatory filing that it "will have a positive impact on the housing market and on the economy by reducing the number of mortgages that would otherwise default and go into foreclosure." Ashburn and Syphax say they are outraged that HUD would publish the new rule while the House and Senate are weighing FHA reform. House bill 1852 would bar HUD from implementing the rule and would allow FHA to insure zero-down mortgages. A Senate bill would allow HUD to implement the rule and would lower the down payment requirement to 1.5 percent from 3 percent.

If FHA reform becomes law someday -- and that's not a sure thing -- the minimum down payment is likely to be lowered from the current 3 percent. In the meantime, people who want FHA-insured mortgages will have to save up that 3 percent down payment, apply at Nehemiah before next March, or hope Nehemiah or AmeriDream win their court challenges.

Link:
http://www.sacbee.com/845/story/430216.html

Another Crime Mapping Tool...

Link:
http://www.kcra.com/crimetracker/index.html

House Votes to Eliminate 'Phantom Tax'

This is fantastic news!! Read this article from the National Association of Realtors:

The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Thursday to get rid of a tax burden for home owners who have had a loan forgiven or foreclosed on their home because they were unable to make their mortgage payments.

The Mortgage Cancellation Tax Relief Act, H.R. 3648, passed by a vote of 386 to 27. Similar legislation is making its way through the Senate.Since the early 1990s, NAR has supported such measures to eliminate the "phantom tax" on financially-strapped home owners.

“Congress made a good decision that will affect many Americans who find themselves in a truly bad situation,” says NAR President Pat V. Combs. “Changing the IRS code is an issue of fundamental fairness. It would relieve a tax burden at a time when an individual or family has experienced a true economic loss arising from the sale or loss of their home. These families are already in financial distress and are most likely unable to pay additional taxes.”

The current tax code requires a lender who forgives debt to provide a Form 1099 to the IRS stating the amount the borrower has been forgiven. This disclosure applies whether it is a short sale, foreclosure, deed in lieu of foreclosure or any similar arrangement that relieves the borrower of the obligation to pay some portion of their debt. If the property is sold at foreclosure or is sold for less than was borrowed, that difference is considered income and is subject to the tax.H.R. 3648 would ensure that any amount forgiven on mortgage debt secured by a principal residence will not be taxed.

The legislation has a provision to safeguard against abuses. That provision is similar to one that already exists for commercial real estate owners and would treat commercial and residential property equally. "This is not only about the subprime turmoil we are currently experiencing," Combs says. "This is also about families who have lost their home or a need to sell that home for less than the amount owed on their home mortgage because of job loss, divorce, health issues, a decrease in the value of the home or other unfortunate circumstances.

Clearly it is unfair to tax people on phantom income when they most likely have no cash with which to pay the tax."In other news, another bill has been sent to the House Judiciary Committee that would revise the bankruptcy code to allow judges to order mortgage lenders to ease terms for home owners in bankruptcy proceedings. Currently, mortgage lenders can foreclose against a home owner in default 90 days after the filing of bankruptcy.

Link:
http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2007100501?OpenDocument

Private Transfer Taxes - be aware!

"Private Transfer Taxes" are out there, and most buyers and sellers are not even aware that they exist. In California, but especially in Placer County, there are new home builders who have attached special transfer fees to the property deed, which would have to paid in over and over again with every transfer of the property...FOREVER!!! From what I have heard, the builder pays this private transfer fee when they convey the property to the 1st owner...when that owner then sells the property, those fees must be paid again!

Just who benefits from these fees? They are paid directly to a designated "land trust or charity." Hmm...sounds like someone's retirement plan!!

These fees are not an isolated to Placer County, and are beginning to rear their ugly heads in other counties in California, and in other states to. Incredibly, the the National Association of Realtors found that there were no legal mandates to regulate this manipulation of the deed. The California Association of Realtors is working with the California Legislature to attempt to regulate what is going on. Of course, the parties involved that benefit from these private transfer taxes are lobbying heavily against a remedy to all of this nonsense.

These private transfer "fees" are reported to be as high as 1.75% of the purchase price. That means that if you try to purchase a re-sale home where one of these private transfer fees has been levied, you could have a rude awakening at the settlement table. 1.75% of the purchase price on a $400,000 property is roughly $7,000! Who is supposed to pay this fee? The Seller? The Buyer?....for all perpetuity! YIKES!!

Here is an article from the National Association of Realtors...

Link:
http://www.realtor.org/rmomag.NSF/pages/frontlinesledesep07

Downpayment Gift Ban

Well now...as an agent who is certified to assist buyers leverage a few different types of downpayment assistance programs, it is too bad to learn that U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has nixed these for now.

One of the more prominent programs is Nehemiah, which is based in Sacramento. I received an email from the CEO of Nehemiah, Scott Syphax, explaining they intend to fight this ban. According to the Sacramento Business Journal, Nehemiah has already filed suit today.

Write to your local elected officials to voice your concern about the elimination of downpayment assistance programs! Visit http://www.takeaction.ahaanow.org/ahaa/home.

Interesting...I have assisted buyers to use these types of programs in the past, and all have come out as a win-win for both buyer and seller. I am aware that there are unscrupulous agents and buyers who probably have used this program in ways for which it was not intended, and their abuse ruined this for legitimate buyers who truly benefit from these programs.

I will be curious to see where this all goes and what both sides have to say...

Links:
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2007/10/01/daily13.html?f=et76&ana=e_du

http://www.getdownpayment.com/