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...