Verify wiring instructions before you wire funds to escrow...

So luckily I have not experienced this first hand with any of my clients, however I know other agents who have clients that have fallen victim to this. Beware...falling victim to this scam can not only derail your home purchase, but also completely derail your life.

BUYERS: WHEN YOU WIRE YOUR DEPOSIT OR DOWNPAYMENT FUNDS TO ESCROW, BE SURE TO VERIFY THE WIRE INSTRUCTIONS AND ROUTING INFORMATION WITH YOUR AGENT AND ESCROW DIRECTLY.

I can not emphasize this enough. If you receive an email with wiring instructions, call and personally talk to your agent to verify the information is correct and legitimate.

Sadly enough, there is an online email scam that seems to be getting more prevalent. Criminals will hack into a real estate agent's email and just sit back, read the emails, and monitor activity and the progress of transactions...then, when it comes time for a transaction to close, the hacker will use the agent's email and send wiring instructions to the client -- impersonating the agent. The wiring instructions lead to offshore bank accounts, not to escrow. One funds are wired to an offshore bank account, they can not be recovered.

Again, this is not some rumor. I know real people this has happened to. I know an agent whose client wired over $100,000 to Nigeria -- lost and gone forever. Don't let this happen to you! I have recommended to my buyers NOT to wire funds at all, and obtain cashiers checks and deliver them to escrow directly. The California Association of Realtors has a new advisory/disclosure document that addresses this as well. Just be careful.

Make sure to read inspection reports provided to you...

Not long ago, I represented the buyer for the purchase of an investment property in Rancho Cordova. The duplex had previously been in contract with another buyer who ultimately was unable to complete the purchase. That buyer had obtained a few inspections on the property, which were passed along to us as disclosures. They had also negotiated a section one termite clearance with the seller and that repair work had been completed already. Section one work includes remediating things like treating for active termites and repairing deteriorated wood. That's obviously nice!

However upon reading the original termite inspection that the clearance was based upon, I noticed there was a glaring omission. The sub-area, aka the crawl space under the structure, had not been inspected and was not included in the clearance! That's a big exclusion...often times a home that looks pristine on the exterior can have major issues underneath.

So, we requested that a smaller inspector come back out to the duplex, one who could fit underneath, and complete the inspection. The supplemental inspection found some rotten floor joists. Obviously that needed to be addressed, and we negotiated that the seller took pay for those repairs.

The moral of the story is -- make sure to read inspection reports that are provided to you.

From my family to yours....

From my family to yours, for whatever you might be celebrating this time of year -- I hope you have a great holiday season and a fantastic new year. Here's to 2017!

Water Conserving, Low-Flow Plumbing Fixtures are Required in Single Family Homes in California Starting in 2017....

Due to legislation passed in California several years ago, starting in just a few weeks on January 1, 2017, ALL single family homes constructed before 1994 in the state must install water conserving plumbing fixtures. Some basic standards are:
- Toilets: use of no more than 1.6 gallons per flush
- Urinals: use of no more than 1 gallon per flush
- Showers: use of no more than 2.5 gallons per minute
- Internal faucets: use of no more than 2.2 gallons per minute

Generally, if you have replaced these items in your home in your pre-1994 home the last few years and purchased the fixtures in at suppliers in California, what you installed should be appropriate water conserving fixtures.

If you are selling your home, will you be required to upgrade all of your plumbing fixtures? Well, the short answer is no, you are not required to as a condition of closing the transaction. You as seller will have to disclose to the buyer if all of your home's plumbing fixtures are in compliance with the water conservation laws or not. I do suspect that if a seller discloses that fixtures in a home are not water conserving fixtures, then the buyer may be inclined to request that the seller bring the home into compliance with the law and replace all of the non-compliant fixtures.

At this point, I am not sure if or how appraisers will be asked by lenders to determine if a property has water conserving fixtures. Candidly, I am not even sure how one might go about measuring the flow of fixtures, short of turning them on and letting them run for a minute into a large bucket and then measuring the output. That said, I am sure appraisers will figure it out if banks demand it, or home inspectors and plumbers will figure out a way to do this if home buyers demand it...

I have a new listing coming onto the market in January that was built in the 1980's and while the seller was performing some other updates, he proactively went ahead and replaced both toilets, interior faucets, and the shower head to comply with the law.  The cost was about $600. So that is not completely cost prohibitive, but as most sellers try to net as much money as possible out of a sale, I am sure it is an expense most sellers would prefer not to absorb.

In 2019, all multi-family and commercial property will also have to comply with these water-conserving plumbing fixture standards.

Sacred Heart Holiday Home Tour - December 2 - 4, 2016

It's holiday home tour in East Sacramento again! 2016 marks the 43rd annual Sacred Heart Holiday Home Tour through the Fabulous 40's neighborhood. The homes showcase some amazing renovation and style while still preserving historic detail. All of the homes are decked out for the holidays too. Advance tickets can be purchased online or at a number of local stops (like William Glen, Emigh Hardware, Kerrie Kelly Design Lab, Pottery World, East Sac Hardware, Parkside Pharmacy, RodWorks, and others) until the Thursday night prior to the tour start for $30. This year's tour is Friday December 2nd from 11am to 8pm, Saturday December 3rd from 10am to 7pm, and Sunday December 4th from 11am to 5pm. Funds raised benefit Sacred Heart School.

Short sales in Sacramento are descreasing but not extinct...

Earlier this year in February, I posted statistics about the decreasing numbers of short sales in our Sacramento real estate market. The numbers of short sales had lessened significantly since the peak of distressed property sales activity, which came in late 2010/early 2011. Just as an update, here is a current snapshot of the short sale activity as of this last month, October 2016. You can see the downward trend even since my last blog post in February. Short sale activity is now approximately 2/3 of what it was earlier in the year. To see a short sale market snapshot from 2009 - 2016, click here.

My own short sale listing activity reflects the bigger market as well. In the heyday of short sales during the bottom of the Sacramento real estate market, more than 75% of my transactions where short sales. Now, this year, short sales represent less than 10% of my transactions...I am still doing them though. Some sellers in certain circumstances still have the need to do short sales. Short sales are not extinct, and I doubt they ever will be...

Meet our second addition - Nugget the mini aussie!

I figured with all of the craziness surrounding election day tomorrow, I'd post some lighter stuff. Last year we added a sweet puppy to our family, Citra. Over the summer we decided she needed a sister, so in September we added "Nugget" to our family. Nugget is also named for a variety of hops used in beer brewing, just like Citra.

They are about as sweet as can be together...but don't let those angelic faces fool you. It's been a nonstop dog party at our house for the last 6 weeks! In fact it was very difficult to get them both to sit still for this photo! And they have both stolen my heart. Citra is 13 months old, and Nugget is 17 weeks old. Looking forward to double the sweet companionship.

Sacramento County Supplemental Tax Bills....triggered by reassessment events and they must be paid...

My husband and I bought another house in January of this year, and just finally this week received in the mail our supplemental tax bill from Sacramento County. 10 months later! Wow...when we bought our last house, the supplemental bill came within a month or so.

What is a supplemental tax bill? Well, one is generated when a property goes through a "reassessment event." Properties are reassessed when there is a change in ownership, significant remodel or addition, etc. A supplemental tax bill reflects the difference between the previous assessment amount and the new reassessed amount...this can be an increase or a decrease depending on the circumstances. Generally, unless we are in a market of significantly declining values, most supplemental tax assessments will be increases, and there will be money owed. (FYI, your house is NOT reassessed by the county if you refinance and the house appraises for a higher amount than your original acquisition value. This tends to confuse people, and it is not a reassessment event.)

In the instance of a change in ownership, the new property tax assessment is based on your acquisition cost. So for example, if you purchased your new home for $300,000, that is your new assessed value. If the previous owner's assessed value was $200,000, then there will be a supplemental tax billing based on the increase of approximately $100,000 in assessed value.

It's not super simple to calculate the amount you owe or when you will owe it though...depending on if the property was purchased during the first or second half of the fiscal year, there may be one or two supplemental tax bills and they may be prorated. Luckily the Sacramento County Assessor's office has an online supplemental tax bill calculator.

In my case, I have a supplemental tax bill for both fiscal years 2015-2016 AND 2016-2017. Boo! But it has to be paid...

For those people who pay property taxes out of an impound account (paid with your monthly mortgage payment), the supplemental tax bill is not paid by your mortgage company. They will not automatically receive a copy of a supplemental tax bill like they do your regular first and second installment payment bills. Sometimes a mortgage company will have collected enough from you during your payments to cover the cost of the supplemental bill -- BUT you must contact your mortgage company, provide them a copy of the supplemental tax bill and find out.