Showed up for home inspections and found a small lake on the side of the house instead...

So I arrived at a Tahoe Park house I have in contract with one of my buyer clients a couple weeks ago to do inspections, and found a lot of water in the gutter out front. My first thought was the seller was over-watering the grass. Then as I got out of the car and approached the house, I could hear the sound of running water. That's not good. I immediately opened the lockbox and went inside the house. Luckily there was no evidence of water inside and I did not see anything leaking in there. I went into the backyard and did not immediately see anything until I went around the side of the house so see what's in the photo...standing water. I found the main water shut-off and turned it off. The sound of the running water, which was coming from under the house, stopped thankfully.

Luckily we caught this early-ish...a roof inspector had visited the house the previous afternoon and said there was no water, so it had been spewing water for much less than a day at the most. This de-railed our inspection plans for the day -- the home inspector and termite inspector have to go under the house, and it was WAY too wet for that.

The seller had a plumbing contractor address the issue under the house where a connection between two pipes had basically blown out. A week later the sub-area of the house had dried out and we completed the home and termite inspections. Both buyer and seller are thankful it was not worse. And my buyer is thankful this happened before she owned the house...

Checked out the Boise Regional Association of Realtors...

Yeah, I know it's super nerdy, but luckily my husband doesn't mind that I like to check out other Associations of Realtors when we visit other towns. We spent 5 days in Boise checking out the local craft beer scene, the Oregon Trail, birds, the state Capitol, and generally goofing off...so naturally I visited the Boise Regional Association of Realtors. Although we went on a Saturday when their offices are typically closed, they were having a first time home buyer class and welcomed us! Super nice people and a neat facility. I enjoy seeing what other associations do...

New Listing - 3052 8th Avenue, Sacramento (Curtis Park area), CA 95817

Adorable 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1,148sf home on a deep lot near Curtis Park in Sacramento! You will love the spacious layout with vaulted ceilings, remodeled kitchen with maple cabinets, stainless appliances, and granite counters. New engineered hardwood flooring in the living areas, new carpet in the bedrooms, and freshly painted interior. Huge backyard is a great blank canvas for your landscaping creativity. Newer central heat and air, newer water heater (both replaced in 2014), and attached garage. Close proximity to the park, schools, fun shops, great eateries, and more! Don't wait! Offered at $364,900. Subject to seller's 1031 Exchange (at no cost to buyer). For more photos and information, please visit 3052 8th Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95817.

Does your electric clothes dryer plug match what is in your future home?

Most often when showing homes, my buyer clients will briefly look in the laundry room to see if the dryer connection is gas or electric. Most often though, they do not realize that not all dryer plugs are the same. Some have 3 prongs and some have 4 prongs in different configurations. If you are looking for a home and have an electric dryer, you may want to check to see what type of plug configuration you have. This client got all moved in to his new Carmichael home and realized the plug on this dryer did not match what was already there. It took a couple days to get an electrician out to the house to change it out.

New Listing - 2619 Concord Avenue, Davis, CA 95618

Adorable 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1,504sf Davis home on a huge .20ac lot in a great cul-de-sac location. You will love the spacious open layout, separate living and family rooms, vaulted ceilings, and laminate flooring. Large master suite with door to the backyard, large closet and dual sinks in the bathroom. Lots of recent updates including new central heat and air in 2015, new composition roof in 2016, clear pest, and freshly painted interior and exterior. Huge backyard is the perfect blank canvas for your landscaping creativity. Close to UC Davis, award-winning K-12 schools, shopping and more! Don't wait! Offered at $519,000. For more photos and detail, visit 2619 Concord Avenue, Davis, CA 95618.

Things that appraisers believe are adverse conditions that must be repaired prior to closing...Part 1...

As I spent Monday morning painting 2 exterior door frames and trim on one of my listings, I thought of a great idea for a series of blog posts...I think it will be educational to post items that appraisers note in their appraisals as adverse conditions that require repairs prior to funding a loan...so buyers and sellers take note!

I should preface all of this by disclaiming that appraisers will have differing thoughts on what will constitute an issue that must be fixed as a condition of making a loan. This is the perfect case in point.

This particular home, a +/- 10 year old home in Natomas, was initially in contract with a buyer who ultimately could not complete the purchase -- that buyer's appraiser did not call out any adverse conditions requiring repairs. The home went back on the market, and the new buyer had to have her own appraisal. That appraiser noted the exposed wood in his appraisal report. On the photos, you will see the worn paint on the photos to the left and them my handiwork to the right. My seller has relocated to another state so I gladly painted this for her. Initially I had planned just to touch up the areas with exposed wood, but the new paint was more vibrant than the existing paint. So I ended up painting the entire exterior door frame and trim. And I think it turned out looking pretty nice.

Appraisers are generally on the look-out for health and safety issues. Missing smoke detectors. Missing carbon monoxide detectors. Unstrapped or improperly strapped water heaters. Missing deck railing. Exposed electrical wiring. Obvious dryrot. You get the idea.

This appraiser was a little picky to call this an adverse condition in my opinion. In my experience, most appraisers will let something like this slide -- as the first appraiser did in this case -- unless it is really bad. By really bad, I mean like there is a significant surface area with exposed wood (more than this anyway), or peeling paint all over the house.

Peeling paint on a home built before 1978 can have other implications (like if may be lead-based paint that requires special remediation), and that is another post for another time.

Quoted in an article in Comstock's Magazine about the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) loan program...buyer beware!

A few months ago I wrote a blog post about the potential minefield involving the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) loan program. This month, Comstock's Magazine published an article about this and quoted me. The PACE program has its place, but property owners need to know that NO, it is not guaranteed that you can transfer these loans to a new owner (and what home buyer would want to pay more for a home, and assume a loan for the upgrades that increased its value?). And NO, it may not be possible to refinance your home with a PACE loan attached to it. The contractors I have spoken to about this program sell it as "free money." Nothing is free...buyer beware! Here is a link to the full article in Comstock's Magazine.

A Deja Vu moment finding my puppy laying in the laundry basket...

If you have been reading my blog for a long time -- like 8 years -- you may recall that several years ago, I found my dog Harold laying on my freshly washed and folded laundry. Harold was a big bloodhound of about 120lbs, so he stretched out across the sofa. He was so cute it was hard to be mad at him, though I did have to rewash all that laundry. Flash forward to this week, and I found our new addition to the family, Citra, laying in and on a laundry basket full of freshly washed towels. They were still warm from the dryer. Doesn't she look comfy? I was less than thrilled. But geez, she is so freaking cute. It was a deja vu moment.