What's wrong with this picture??

If ya'll follow me on Twitter, you will already know that this afternoon I went to a home inspection. Turns out the venting for this water heater is not connected to it in any way. Gotta love bank owned homes!

I can not emphasize enough the importance of getting a qualified professional set of eyes (a home inspector) to check out the home you are looking to purchase. Most buyers will not think to open up whatever closet the water heater is hiding in to look at it...and most would not know what they are looking at anyway. My client looked at it and had no idea anything was not as it should be!

This is just one of many things that home inspectors check out...the inspection fee is money well spent!

This Ain't the Sacramento Short Sale Blog...or is it??

Some one who shall remain nameless told me this morning that I should rename my blog...

As much as I love doing short sales, and negotiating them takes up a good chunk of my day, I try to keep the post topics of my blog pretty well-rounded. After all, this is the "Sacramento Real Estate Blog" - not necessarily the "Sacramento Short Sale Blog."

However because short sales are such a large part of what I do (as of right this second, I have 16 active short sale listings in the greater Sacramento area, and that number does not include my buyer transactions, pending sales, or my many already closed transactions), it is inevitably a topic that I have a lot to say about.

I have put in place very systematic processes for negotiating these. I do not farm the negotiation of short sales out to a 3rd party. I negotiate them myself. That's right - sometimes I awake before 5am to place calls to loss mitigation operations on the East Coast. Sometimes I spend in excess of an hour on hold with loss mitigation. Luckily I am an excellent multi-tasker! I am actually on hold with Bank of America right now!...yes I am blogging, replying to emails, answering calls on my other line, filing paperwork, catching up on my social networking, etc.

I just want to emphasize to the anyone reading this who may be researching short sales in Sacramento - this is an ever-changing short sale market we are in. Short sale lenders make and break their own rules on a daily basis. There are many complexities to these transactions, and no two short sales necessarily alike, although there are certain consistent elements in each one.

Luckily I have been doing so many short sales that I am able to anticipate many of these changes before they create actual problems.

Next week I will be posting Part II of Erin's Short Sale Experiment, where I measure the number of short sales vs. "regular" and bank-owned listings...very excited to see where that data is heading...

California Introduces Legislation to Extend the First Time Buyer / New Construction Tax Credit

California elected officials introduced two pieces of legislation today...the first increases the cap for the state first time buyer new construction purchase tax-credit program by a proposed $200 million (currently capped at $100 million), and the second would extend the length of the program by at least a year (current cut off date is February 8, 2010). Funds are almost all allocated under the current plan for the tax credit.

My thoughts? While this sounds great and all, I would prefer to see a balanced budget passed first. Keep in mind that the Federal $8,000 first time buyer tax credit is still available through December 1, 2009!

Do you know the way to Half Moon Bay?

...Ok, so that was a lame Burt Bacharach song lyric reference for those who are not paying attention... whatever...

If you follow me on Twitter, you will already know that this afternoon I returned from a 2-day strategic planning session with the Sacramento Association of Realtors. Every three years, SAR has an off-site meeting of the minds to outline the direction of the association for the next three years. With the guidance of a facilitator from the National Association of Realtors, we set several goals, and outlined possible strategies for achieving those goals. I was honored to be one of the people invited to attend.

I know I say this a lot, but Sacramento is extremely fortunate to have such a forward-thinking Association of Realtors. I wish more of our own Realtor members (and non-Realtor DRE real estate licensees, for that matter) and the residents of greater Sacramento were aware of all the wonderful things SAR does.

California New Home Purchase Tax Credit - Hurry up, it's almost gone!

In a press release, the California Franchise Tax Board stated that almost all of the California New Home Purchase Tax Credit has been allocated already. There was a limited amount of money available for this tax credit, and it was available for new construction purchases by first time buyers in California between March 1, 2009 - February 28, 2010. We are only 4.5 months in...

THIS IS NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE FEDERAL TAX CREDIT! The federal tax credit of up to $8,000 is still available to those who qualify and purchase their home prior to December 1, 2009.

New Listing - 10966 Stourport Way in Rancho Cordova / Capital Village 95670

Barely lived-in 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom home in fabulous Capital Village community-close to Parks, Shopping & Restaurants, with convenient access to Hwy 50. You will absolutely love the open layout, high ceilings, beautiful kitchen with upgraded tile counters and stainless appliance, large bedrooms, lots of closet space, low maintenance yard, 2-car attached garage! Offered at $249,000 subject to lender approval of short sale. For more photos and a video tour, please visit http://www.10966stourportway.com/!

VA Loan - Sacramento Buyer Success Story!

I had to share a success story from a closing I had earlier this month. I represented a buyer for the purchase of a 1910 Midtown Sacramento home. The buyer used a VA loan to make his purchase. Fast forward to the end of the story - he purchased his home for $0 down, and $0 out of pocket...and gets to take advantage of the $8,000 federal tax credit for first time buyers! What!?

This story is so fantastic for a couple reasons...the first reason is that there is a bit of a stigma attached to VA lending programs. Why? Mainly because these loan programs have some terms and conditions that conventional conforming loan programs do not. Listing agents and sellers are under the impression that VA loans take longer to process...there are health and safety considerations that the appraiser must take into account...the property must have a section one pest certification...there are certain fees that the seller must pay for the buyer... The second reason this story is so fantastic, is that my client literally did not spend a dime to purchase this house...VA is one of the few true 100% financing programs left.

Sellers usually select the path of least resistance in selecting which buyer to work with. Offers with VA financing generally end up at the bottom of the stack.

We were fortunate enough to discover a property that had flown under the radar. It had been sitting on the market for about 2 months, was occupied by tenants, and the property could be shown by appointment only. We patiently scheduled an appointment several days in advance...turns out we were the first and only showing of this house. My clients really liked the house, and we immediately wrote up an offer...because of its extended time on the market, we were aggressive with our offered price and terms. We asked the seller to pay ALL of the buyer's closing costs (over 4% of the purchase price), provide a pest clearance, roof certification, among other things. They accepted the offer as written the next day!

The appraiser did his inspection of the property within a few days, and the appraisal report was received within about 5 business days. The appraiser only noted one issue that was required to be repaired prior to the close of escrow (not bad for a 100 year old house!). Pest and roof inspections were performed...both were certified with few repairs. My client did his home inspection, and there were no issues found that were objectionable to the buyer.

There was enough money in my client's credit from the seller for closing costs, that we were able to invoice the inspection fee to escrow...my client did not pay anything out of pocket, and his entire $2,000 deposit was refunded to him after the close!

Anyway - buyers and sellers - keep an open mind with VA lending programs. Strategize with your Realtor on the best way to make this a win-win transaction.

Sacramento County Property Tax Assessment Appeals...more...

To follow up on my post from two weeks ago regarding the Sacramento County Tax Assessor's "Decline in Market Value" property tax valuations, here is a little more information...

The Assessor's office has posted a "Decline in Value Proposition 8 Frequently Asked Questions" page pertaining to their re-assessment process, and their review and appeal process and timeframes for value re-assessment for this upcoming tax year...

Does HUD owe you a refund?

Now why would the US Department of Housing & Urban Development owe anyone a refund?? There are actually two types of refunds associated with the mortgage insurance premiums for FHA loans...

-Premium Refund: You may be eligible for a refund of a portion of the insurance premium if you acquired your FHA loan after September 1, 1983, paid an up-front mortgage insurance premium at closing, and did not default on your mortgage payments. You will need to review your settlement papers (from when you obtained your loan, coincidentally this paperwork is called a HUD-1) or check with your mortgage company to determine if you paid an up-front premium.

-Distributive Share: You may be eligible for a share of any excess earnings from the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund if you originated your loan before September 1, 1983, paid on your loan for more than seven years, and had your FHA insurance terminated (for example, paid off, or refinanced) before November 5, 1990.

Of course there are exceptions...check out HUD's fact sheet about HUD/FHA refunds.

Search the HUD database to see if you are due a refund by clicking here.

California Foreclosure Moratorium Starting Tomorrow...

According to an article in the Sacramento Bee today, California is imposing a new 90-day foreclosure moratorium starting tomorrow - Monday, June 15th.

A loss mitigation rep in the short sale department from GMAC actually told me this was coming a few weeks ago. He was the negotiator for a short sale that I closed with THREE mortgage loans. The first (with GMAC) was approximately $389,000, the second (also with GMAC) was approximately $73,000, and the third (a SMUD loan that had been used to finance energy efficient dual pane windows for the house), was approximately $9,500.

The house was sold for $219,000, and the written short sale approval came for all three loans within 16 days from the date we received the offer. I was able to negotiate a FULL payoff for the SMUD loan, with the remainder going to GMAC's two loans. Why were they so eager to pay off the SMUD loan in full to get this process over with?

According to the negotiator, their rationale was that they wanted to recoup any funds as quickly as possible via the short sale because the upcoming moratorium would more or less indefinitely delay GMAC's ability to foreclose and resell the house in a timely manner. Not sure if other lenders will look at their short sales in the same manner...time will tell...

Sacramento County Real Estate Statistics - May 2009

Hmm...if you read my post last month about April 2009 Sacramento Real Estate Statistics, you will remember that I commented on the (under) supply and (over) demand in Sacramento County. Our inventory here has decreased yet again, and we have a 2.7 month supply of homes. 6 months of inventory is widely regarded as a balanced market with buyer/seller equilibrium. Well, Sacramento County's median price jumped pretty substantially last month. Will it continue? If you are curious to see graphs for a specific zip code, just shoot me an email and I will send them to you. Source: Trendgraphix

Sacramento Short Sales on the rise..."Erin's Sacramento Short Sale Experiment!"

There has been a lot of buzz lately about just how many short sales are on the market in Sacramento. I can tell you that I have a growing number of short sale listings myself. For me, there is not too much difference in negotiating 5 short sales or 25...I am dealing with the same lenders repetitively, and I have developed a great system to negotiate them. The number of short sales vs. bank owned properties vs. traditional sellers on the market right now is pretty interesting. So interesting, in fact, that I am going to do a little recurring experiment. Let's call it "Erin's Sacramento Short Sale Experiment."

I am no scientist (I took bone-head science - astronomy in college, ok?), but I am going to take a few zip codes and dissect them. How many short sales are there right now? How many will there be in the same areas in a few months?...and over time? What percentage of all of the listings will be short sales? My hypothesis: the number of short sales will grow over time, as will their dominance in our marketplace (overall percentage of listings).

So for my experiment, let's look at the zip codes 95624, 95610, 95826, 95818, and 95819. We'll call this sample (as of today's MLS data) the "control data" for my experiment. We will revisit these cross sections over the next few months, and see how this plays out. Oooh! How fun!!

95624 is the section of Elk Grove closest to Hwy 99. As of right this second according to MLS, there are a total of 290 active listings there. 199/290 listings are short sales. That is more than two-thirds of the inventory there!! The median price in that zip code in May 2009 was $234,000 according to Trendgraphix.

95610 is a section of Citrus Heights. As of right this second according to MLS, there are a total of 126 active listings there. 76/126 listings are short sales. Slightly less than two-thirds of the inventory there. The median price in that zip code in May 2009 was $208,000 according to Trendgraphix.

95826 is a section of Rosemont and College Greens. As of right this second according to MLS, there are a total of 90 active listings there. 56/90 listings are short sales. Slightly less than two-thirds of the inventory there. The median price in that zip code in May 2009 was also $208,000 according to Trendgraphix.

95864 is a section of Sierra Oaks, Arden Park, and Arden Manor. As of right this second according to MLS, there are a total of 147 active listings there. 25/147 listings are short sales. Slightly less than one-fifth of the inventory there. The median price in that zip code in May 2009 was $430,000 according to Trendgraphix.

95818 is a section of Midtown, Land Park, and Curtis Park. As of right this second according to MLS, there are a total of 75 active listings there. 12/75 listings are short sales. Slightly less than one-fifth of the inventory there. The median price in that zip code in May 2009 was $382,000 according to Trendgraphix.

95819 is a section of East Sacramento. As of right this second according to MLS, there are a total of 71 active listings there. 14/71 listings are short sales. Slightly less than one-fifth of the inventory there. The median price in that zip code in May 2009 was $378,000 according to Trendgraphix.

Welp...let's see how this takes shape over time!

New Listing - 511 Woodside Oaks Unit 4, Sacrament 95825

Great 2nd level 2 bedroom, 2 baths, 1,106sf unit in Alicante Villas! Remodeled kitchen with granite counters and stainless appliances, vaulted ceilings, remodeled bathrooms, lots of closet space, private patio with a view of the community pool. Offered at $99,000 Subject to lender approval of short sale. For more photos and detail, visit http://www.alicantevillascondo.com/.

California Association of Realtors Conference in Sacramento

In addition to performing my duties for my clients as usual this week, and putting on a fundraising event with the SAR Young Professionals Council, I attended the California Association of Realtors Conference in Sacramento.

I attended Legislative Day on Wednesday...got to learn about CAR's position on the latest statewide initiatives that affect property ownership and transfer. On Thursday, I attended the very first CAR Young Professionals Network meeting...which was very cool. Then on Friday, I actually participated in a roundtable discussion panel regarding the use of tech tools in real estate.

It was a busy week. LOVED IT!

Young Professionals Council BBQ & Vendor Fair Fundraiser

Today, the Sacramento Association of Realtors "Young Professionals Council" put on a BBQ and Vendor Fair fundraising event to raise money for SAR's Scholarship Fund. We had 46 participating vendors, great food, ice cream, DJ music, and LOTS of donated raffle prizes. We weathered an unexpected summer rain, but a good time was had by all! While the final tallies are not in just yet, we estimate that we raised over $4,000 for the fund.
Right before our event today, SAR held a ceremony to present its annual scholarships to Sacramento-area graduating high school seniors. Today SAR gave over $44,000 in scholarships. Did you know that SAR's Scholarship program award dollars exceed that of the California Association of Realtors, and also that of the Nationals Association of Realtors? AMAZING.
This is YPC's second time doing the Vendor Fair fundraiser. Last year's event raised over $3,300, which was donated to the Mustard Seed School at Loaves & Fishes. We already set a date for next year's event, which will take place in early May 2010.

New Listing - 104 Hartnell Place, Sacramento / Campus Commons 95825

Spacious Campus Commons Village 3 end unit condo! 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, Remodeled kitchen with stainless appliances, granite counters and breakfast bar. Laminate flooring througout. Serene low maintenance yard and 2-car garage. Access to great clubhouse, pools, spa, tennis courts. Lowest HOA dues in Campus Commons! $299,000 subject to lender approval of short sale. For more photos and detail, visit http://104HartnellPlace.com.

Sacramento County Parcels Assessed Value Reduction Per Proposition 8 Decline in Market Value

Well, it's June 1...know what that means? That means the Sacramento County Tax Assessor's office has formally re-assessed the tax assessment basis for parcels in Sacramento.

If you follow me on Twitter, you will already know that I learned that the Prop 8 Decline in Value Re-assessed value for my own house has just been reduced by $201,000...that equates to a savings for me of roughly $2,010 per year, or roughly $167.50 per month. WOW. Not that I am stoked that the value of my house has dropped, but I am very that the tax assessment has been substantially lowered.

Visit the Sacramento County Tax Assessor's list of parcels that received a Decline in Value Reassessment. While many properties were reassessed, there are many that were not reassessed. For example on my street, only 4 parcels were reassessed (and there are at least 20 homes on my street). If you disagree with your property's reassessment, or if your property was not reassessed and you think it should be, you can file an appeal. The form will ask you for sales of like kind property from January 2009 (or as close to that date as comps are available), so feel free to email me and I can provide them to you.