Memorial Day Weekend Events

I will be working all weekend, however there is a lot going on...being a native Sacramentan, I have been to the County Fair and the Jazz Jubilee. Both are great events, and it appears that the weather will be cooler than the typical 100 degrees that we are used to for these events...

Sacramento County Fair runs from May 22 - May 26 and is at Cal Expo. There are rides, exhibits, concerts, games, etc. Admittance is actually free, but parking is $8.

Sacramento Jazz Jubilee runs from May 23 - May 26 and is in mainly in Old Sacramento, but there are also performances at other locations like Raley Field (Rivercats Stadium), the Crest Theatre, various downtown Sacramento locations, etc. Ticket prices vary from $10 - $100 depending on how old you are and how many days you want to attend.

Also, if you have been listening to my radio show, you will have already heard about the Memorial Day tribute at Mount Vernon Memorial Park in Citrus Heights. Starting at 11am on the 26th, there will be a celebration to honor veterans with live music, jet flyover, giant flag parachute jump, etc. For more information, call 916-929-1251.

The Bee Chimes In

The Sacramento Bee published an article yesterday about the increase in the volume of closed real estate transactions...finally! As I have been saying for about the last two months now, there are several micro-markets in Sacramento that are really hot in certain price ranges. I am working with several buyers right now that have been in multiple offer situations...some of them got the property in the end thanks to some create manuevering on my part...and some of them have submitted 6+ offers, all coming up short. It is the wild west right now!

Sacramento County Drops Assessed Value on 85,000 Homes

As I mentioned on my radio show last night, the Sacramento County Tax Assessor is lowering the assessed values of 85,000 homes in Sacramento County. To read the press release, click here.

Residents should start receing notificiations very soon that their 2008-2009 tax bills will reflect anywhere from a 10-30% reduction.

Aww...shucks!

Not sure if any of ya'll have ever visited a national real estate website called Trulia, but is has some neat research tools...most notably they have a consumer Q&A forum called Trulia Voices. It is a great Q&A forum with about 30,000 members that just celebrated its first year "anniversary." I have been participating in the Q&A (mainly the A) part of the website for almost the entire year, and recently I was named one of about 30 Trulia MVP's for my contributions to their forum. You can view my Trulia Profile here. Pretty cool!

Calaveras County Jumping Frog Jubilee

I went to this when I was a kid, and on Saturday afternoon after I finish showing property, my husband and I are going to check out the Calaveras County Jumping Frog Jubilee...festivities actually start on 5/14 and go through Sunday 5/18.

New Listing - 6191 Viceroy Way, Citrus Heights, CA 95610

Adorable 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home in Citrus Heights is offered at $209,000 and is nicely upgraded with laminate flooring, granite counters, ceiling fans, central heat & air, newer roof, and more! For more information, please visit http://www.6191ViceroyWay.com. Sale is subject to lender approval of short sale - please call Erin Attardi at 916-342-1372 for more details.

Sacramento Mother's Day Activities

Mother's Day is this Sunday, and I am taking the day off to hang out with my mom. I have been looking for activities for the day, and thought I'd share some ideas;

• Whole Earth Festival in Davis; there will be different activities, workshops, speakers, and entertainment - topics include Holistic Living, Yoga, Organic Farming, Solar, etc. The hours Sunday are 9am - 6pm.
• East Sacramento Garden Tour in East Sacramento; tour beautiful garden in the Fabulous 40's neighborhood from 10am - 4pm. Tickets are $20-$25 and proceeds will benefit the David Lubin Elementary School.
• Mother's Day Walk in Herald; take a walk on the 7-mile nature trail that starts along the shores of Rancho Seco Lake. The walk starts at 8:30am and parking costs $5.
• Geranium Club show in East Sacramento; buy mom some flowers at their 60th annual show and sale from 10am - 3pm at McKinley Park.
• Alicia Keyes Concert in Sacramento; check her out at Arco Arena at 7pm. Tickets are $37.75 - $123.25.

Meet Robert Kleinhenz

I attended the Sacramento Association of Realtors monthly main meeting this morning. The speaker was the California Association of Realtors Deputy Chief Economist, Robert Kleinhenz. Interesting insights. I wish I could have taped his presentation because he cited so many statistics and graphs. Couple interesting things... The Sacramento market specifically, has one of the highest affordability rates in the entire state - at about 53% (CA rate is 33%, and US rate is 65%). He makes the claim that the majority of the problem our market is suffering from the tightening of lending standards, which limits buyers' ability to purchase, especially for higher priced homes (jumbo lending over $417k). Basically his prediction is that the peak of the foreclosures will occur through the end of this year, and then start to decrease...once the REO inventory starts declining, the market in general will start to get back to a place where there is buyer / seller equilibrium.

New Listing - 6184 Merlindale Drive, Citrus Heights 95610

Classy Citrus Heights Home in great location! You will love the vaulted ceilings and the open layout. It has a beautifully remodeled kitchen with custom cabinets, granite counters, breakfast bar, and stainless appliances. The master bedroom is spacious and has a large updated bathroom with large closets, and a separate tub & shower. It has newer laminate flooring downstairs and carpet upstairs. It sits on a corner lot, and has a huge .19ac backyard with an awning and horse shoe pit. Per the seller the roof is just a few years old. Must see! Sale is subject to lender approval of short sale. For more photos and a virtual tour, visit http://www.6184merlindaledrive.com/. Call Erin Attardi at 916-342-1372 to arrange a showing.