Need to list your Sacramento home quickly? Here are a few tips to get it ready in a short amount of time...

I tour a lot of homes. A LOT. And not just in the course of showing a lot of homes to buyers. I make a weekly habit of looking at properties for the sake of reference, to know and be familiar with what is on the market in certain Sacramento area neighborhoods. This helps me help both my buyers AND my sellers.

One thing I see frequently is a complete and total lack of preparation of a home for sale. As in this photo here to the left in a Land Park home I toured - this home seller covered a big mess of stuff with some blankets. And it looked crappy. Take a few minutes and box that stuff up...WHY would a seller not want to present a home in the best possible light? And that leads me to wonder why on earth would a seller choose a listing agent who doesn't help them or suggest ways to get the house ready to sell?

I do sometimes get calls from folks who want to list their home right away...and with RIGHT AWAY comes a time crunch to get a home presentable for showings. Perhaps it's a short sale situation and there is a risk of foreclosure looming? Maybe it is a divorce situation and there is a court order to sell? Perhaps they found another house they want to buy and need their existing home on the market now? Whatever the case, it happens. Here are a few quick ideas for home sellers who want to have their home on the market asap...

First and foremost - clean your home. If you do not have the time to clean it yourself, please hire a professional. It is really important that your home smell clean, the bathrooms be free of the ring around the toilet, the shower enclosure be free of scum, the kitchen appliances and fixtures are free from grease, and the floors are clean. Added bonus if you can have your carpets professionally cleaned and your windows professionally washed.

Mow the lawns. At least the front lawn, even if you do not have time for the back yard. Blow leaves and tidy up planter beds. If you have kids, put them to work pulling weeds or scooping dog poop. Most buyers form their impression of a home within seconds of seeing the exterior. If the exterior looks uncared for, that's usually an indication of what the interior will look like. Added bonus if you can power wash your driveway and front walkways.

De-clutter as much as it's possible to. If this means your have to cram stuff into your closets or garage, then by all means do it. You will have to pack for moving anyway. Grab a few boxes and start thinning things out - put some of the knick knacks away, put away the unfolded laundry, box up your DVD collection, maybe pack-up the winter or summer clothes (depending on what time of year it is). If you have kids and their toys are everywhere, get a Rubbermaid tote that you can throw all of the toys into for showings. Added bonus if you can do something simple like set your dining room table with clean linens with a pretty, fragrant vase of flowers in the center.

These are the basics to maximizing your home's appeal with time constraints...of course if you have more time to prepare, that's ideal. Because taking some time, when you have it, to truly prepare a home for sale can yield a higher selling price in a shorter time on the market. But that's another article I wrote...

Sacramento Christmas tree recycling for this holiday season...

It's that time of year -- the de-holiday-ification of your home is probably either underway already or planned to be underway soon...and with that, many of us need to dispose of that dried out old Christmas tree that's been sitting cheerfully in the front window. Depending on where you live, you may be able to leave your tree on the curb for pick-up or take it somewhere for mulching...

Within the City of Sacramento limits, you can leave your tree out for curb-side removal as a part of the regular seasonal leaf pick-up until January 31, 2015. The cost is included in the fees residents already pay.

Within the unicorporated Sacramento County areas (like Arden, Carmichael, Fair Oaks, Orangevale, etc), you can take your tree to the Sacramento Recycling and Transfer Station at 8491 Fruitridge Road between 8am - 5pm, Monday - Saturday. There is no cost for this service.

Within the City of West Sacramento limits, you can take your tree to the Yolo County Landfill at 44090 County Road 28H between 8:30am - 4pm, Monday - Saturday, or 9am - 5pm on Sundays. There is no cost for this service.

Within the City of Citrus Heights limits, you can set tree at curb side (next to your trash can) on your regular trash collection day from December 26, 2013, through January 17, 2014.

Within the City of Folsom, they will hold the annual Christmas Tree Recycling Drop-off Event on Saturday, January 3rd and Sunday, January 4th, 2015.  Trees will be accepted at Rodeo Park located at the end of Stafford Street. Both dates are from 9am to 3pm.

Within the City of Rancho Cordova, they offer curbside pickup of natural trees set next to trash can on regular collection days, Friday January 2nd through Friday January 9th or cut to fit in green waste carts for regular green-waste collection days.

Within the City of Elk Grove, leave your Christmas tree on the curb next to your grey green waste container by 6am on your collection day until January 23rd, 2015. If your tree is longer than six feet, they request that you cut it into 3-foot or shorter pieces.

As 2014 comes to a close, has Zillow figured out how to accurately estimate Sacramento home values?

If you have been reading my blog for a while, then you probably already know that I usually get a chill down my spine when one of my clients mentions "the Z word." What's the Z word? Zillow. What is Zillow? Zillow.com is a website that, among other things, provides information about neighborhoods and properties.

Zillow is a neat website. I have an agent profile on Zillow. I have clients who have found me using Zillow. However, my general thought about Zillow is that while it's a fun consumer tool that provides property information to people looking to buy or sell (or even rent property now), the vast majority of the time, the "Zestimate" (aka, the value that the website dreams up for a certain property), is usually not close to the market value of a Sacramento area property, and the homes listed for sale on the website are not current.

I posted a few times last year about how the sales prices of my transactions compare to Zillow data. I've closed 10 transactions in the last couple months so let's take a look to see how close Zillow is to the actual selling prices of these properties. This information is CURRENT as of today, December 22nd, 2014.

2 Alvares Court, Sacramento, CA 95833; this was a nice updated home with a pool that I sold (represented the buyer) in the Natomas area. The original listing price was $235,000, and sold on 9/15/14 for $235,000. Zillow's Zestimate: $226,000 -- approximately 3.8% below it's selling price. 
 
2480 Sandpiper Way, Cameron Park, CA 95682; this was a beautiful home with a view that I listed (represented the seller) in the Cameron Park area. The original listing price was $359,900, and after multiple offers this sold on 10/15/14 for $362,000. Zillow's Zestimate: $340,522 -- approximately 5.93% below it's selling price. Ironically, Zillow does not note the recent home sale...

11532 Linday Way, Gold River, CA 95670; this was a bank repo home I sold (represented the buyer) in Gold River. The original listing price was $374,900, and this sold on 10/15/14 for $340,000. Zillow's Zestimate: $381,702 -- approximately 10.92% above it's selling price.

6725 Swenson Way, Sacramento, CA 95822; this was a home I sold (represented the buyer) near in South Land Park on a HUGE lot. The original listing price was $449,000, and this sold on 10/17/14 for $437,000. Zillow's Zestimate: $391,758 -- approximately 10.35% below it's selling price.

3716 Lankershim Way, North Highlands, CA 95660; this was a home I listed and (represented the seller) in North Highlands in Sacramento. The original listing price was $149,900, and after multiple offers this sold on 10/22/14 for $159,500. Zillow's Zestimate: $142,915 -- approximately 10.39% below it's selling price.

329 Berthoud Street, Sacramento, CA 95838; this was a short sale home I listed and sold (represented the seller) near the Natomas / Del Paso Heights area. The original listing price was $169,000, and after learning it needed about $20,000 in work between the termite and roof inspections, it finally sold on 10/28/14 for $155,000. Zillow's Zestimate: $153,574 -- approximately 1% below it's selling price.

2180 Irvin Way, Sacramento, CA 95822; this was a cute updated home I sold (represented the buyer) in Hollywood Park. The original listing price was $275,000, and this sold on 10/30/14 for $258,000. Zillow's Zestimate: $224,040 -- approximately 13.16% below it's selling price. WOW.

5000 Priscilla Lane, Sacramento, CA 95820; this was a cute updated home I listed and sold (represented the seller) in Colonial Village. The original listing price was $169,900, and this sold on 11/20/14 for $162,000. Zillow's Zestimate: $153,372 -- approximately 5.3% below it's selling price.

4436 Wyman Drive, Sacramento, CA 95821; this was a home I sold (represented the buyer) in Arden near the Carmichael border. The original listing price was $265,000, and this sold on 11/20/14 for $260,000. Zillow's Zestimate: $251,937 -- approximately 3.1% below it's selling price. 

5020 Kokomo Drive, Sacramento, CA 95835; this was a short sale home I listed and sold (represented the seller) in Natomas. The original listing price was $259,900, and this sold on 11/25/14 for $265,000. Zillow's Zestimate: $246,126 -- approximately 7.12% below it's selling price. 

I have said it before and I will say it again...I think a couple conclusions can be drawn from the information above. First, Zestimates are generally not accurate - so if you are thinking about buying or selling, you can see that the values generated by this website are all over the board higher or lower. They don't take into consideration property features that can not be quantified. Is it on a main street, is it near a park, was the kitchen remodeled, does it have unique architectural features...? Second, some area neighborhoods have a lot of varied housing stock - they are not cookie cutter homes. Some areas in the same zip code have drastically different values or pricing trends. Third, our dynamic Sacramento area real estate market has changed significantly in the last couple of years, and Zillow has a long way to go to catch up to pricing these trends and factoring them into their mathematical equations that determine these values. But it is still a fun website for entertainment purposes. 

If I can assist you determine an accurate price range for your Sacramento area home, I welcome your call or email.

Nextdoor - the Social Network for your Sacramento neighborhood...

Not sure how many of you have discovered Nextdoor, but it's a useful social network for your neighborhood. I hadn't heard of it until recently. My husband and I just bought a new house earlier this summer, and at the urging of our mail carrier, we joined our local Nextdoor.

It's really cool. You will see a variety of items of neighborhood interest -- anything from requests for contractor referrals, announcing a garage sale, requesting a local babysitter for the kids on Friday night, the local high school fundraiser, notification of a vehicle break-in, a suspicious person in the area, etc.

I'd highly suggest joining Nextdoor! I've found it to be very valuable.

Sacramento County Sandbag Locations

In light of the "Stormageddon" that is apparently going to hit Sacramento tonight and tomorrow, it might be a good idea to get some sand bags to protect your home from water intrusion.

County Self-Service Sandbag Filling:
-  Sacramento County Branch Center, 3847 Branch Center Rd.
-  Sacramento Metro Fire Station #112, 6801 34th St. (North Highlands)
-  Orangevale Community Center, 6826 Hazel Ave.
-  Westside Park, 6555 West 2nd St. (Rio Linda)
-  Jose P. Rizal Community Center, 7320 Florin Mall Dr. (South Sacramento)
-  Sacramento Metro Fire Station #106, 2200 Park Towne Cir. (Arden Arcade)

These are open 24 hours a day, and you just need to bring your shovel. Sand & empty bags will be provided for residents to fill.

My 3rd California International Marathon Finish! Please don't make me walk up or down stairs today...

The weather could not have been more perfect yesterday - low of 50 degrees and a high of 65 - as my husband and I ran the California International Marathon. This was my third finish (2011, and 2013 were my other years), and my husband's second finish. Neither one of us qualified for Boston Marathon, in case you were totally wondering. I'm not THAT fast. Next up, I will attempt my first "Ultra" run - a 50k in February. While a marathon is 26.2 miles, a 50k is about 31 miles. What's another 5 miles? That's what my friends keep telling me...so I'm going to tell myself that 5 more miles can't be that bad. We shall see what my body thinks, because it's a little hard to walk for a few days after a marathon...today I toured a 2-story Land Park home with a basement. Two sets of stairs were rough, but I made it!

Sacramento Holiday Gift Giving Guide -- celebrate and support some amazing local businesses...

For the last few years in December, I have written blog posts about gift ideas from local Sacramento businesses to give to your favorite resident for Christmas, Channukah, Kwanzaa, or whichever holiday you celebrate. If your holiday festivities involve gift giving, there are many local Sacramento gifts you can give! Here are my top 12 gifts that will make any Sacramentan's holiday, at any age or budget:

• A membership to with the Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates, aka SABA; another gift that keeps on giving! SABA advocates for making Sacramento a more bike-friendly place. Noticed more bike parking around town? Ever taken advantage of their free "bike valet" at a neighborhood event? It's a great organization! Estimated cost: $30/Individual annual membership.
• A ring or a necklace from compliment.; they have something for everyone, from the most girliest girl, to the "gamer babe" sports fan (my favorite, I'm not gonna lie)! Best of all, everything you purchase from compliment. comes with a "compliment" to let your someone special know just how special he/she is. AND a percentage of all sales goes to their scholarship program.
• A subscription to Comstock's Magazine; it's the only monthly Sacramento business magazine! It's always a great read and generally very insightful regarding local commerce, businesses both small and large, and the state of local cities, counties, and otherwise. Estimated cost: $20/year.
• Yummy cookies or chocolate from About a Bite Bakery; by far my favorite local small batch baker. They have provided many thank you gifts for my clients and have some amazing holiday offerings too. They even deliver! Estimated cost for a box of the best "bites" you will ever taste: $18.
• A new or used camera from Action Camera; This boutique camera store offers everything from new and refurbished camera, lenses, and more! They also do cool swap-meets for folks to sell their gear, photo contests, and "meet-up" events for photographers to take photos of neat stuff! Estimated cost: varies.
• A Run Training Program at Fleet Feet; the gift of fitness is a gift that keeps on giving! This super cool running store has a few locations in the Sacramento area (Downtown, Fair Oaks, Roseville, Davis) and offers several training programs for different levels (5k, half marathon, marathon, triathlon, etc). Their store locations offer a huge variety of fitness apparel too like shoes, synthetic socks, nutrition, etc. Estimated cost: $59+
• Dinner at Mulvaney's; one of my favorite Midtown Sacramento restaurants! Neat setting, great ambiance, and amazing food. The menu is constantly evolving, so call ahead or check their website. Estimated cost per person: $50.
• A Growler of beer from Bike Dog Brewing Company;  If you like craft brewed beer, and haven't discovered this place -- you need to go. Tucked away in a warehouse space near the Port in West Sacramento, they brew their beer in small batches on-site...and have a dog and kid-friendly tap room open to the public. They don't serve food, but there is almost always a mobile food truck in the parking lot. My personal favorite is their "Double IPA." Estimated cost per pint: $6.
• Massage from Elite Massage Therapy; Katie at Elite Massage Therapy in East Sacramento whips me back into shape after a long run, and she gives one heck of a theraputic massage too. Estimated cost/treatment: $80/ one hour.
• Some soap from Sudz by Studz;  they make everything from bars of soap, to lotion soap, to lip balm and more. All of their products are hand made from local Sacramento ingredients and cruelty-free. Estimated cost: $10/bar.
• Tickets to a Sacramento Rivercats game; See the San Francisco Giants' affiliate play at Raley Field. I'm a HUGE SF Giants fan, and many of these players are a phone call away from the major leagues! Estimated cost/ticket: $6-30.
• A new home; Sure, I saved the best for last. Nothing says happy holidays like closing escrow on a Sacramento home...sorry if that was a little cheesy! Estimated cost: Priceless. =)

Check out my posts from previous years too -- there some great ideas there as well!
Post from 2013: Sacramento Holiday Gift Ideas

Post from 2012: Sacramento Holiday Gift Giving Guide -- are you giving back to your local economy and small businesses?
Post from 2011; Holiday Gift Ideas -- for your most beloved Sacramento Resident...
Post from 2010; Holiday Gift Ideas for your Favorite Sacramento Resident...
Post from 2009; Sacramento Holiday Gift Idea Guide
Post from 2008; Best Sacramento Christmas Gifts