Posts from — March 2009

What is the difference between a real estate appraisal completed for a divorce and a typical loan appraisal?

Here are a few differences:

• The divorce appraisal is very likely to have a retrospective date of value, meaning that the appraised value is based upon a date in the past (the filing date) rather than today’s date. 
• Sometimes  both the retrospective value and current market value (as of today) are needed for divorce. 
• The appraiser in a divorce situation may be called upon to be an “expert witness” if the case goes to court, so it is crucial to include additional research and data within the appraisal report to ensure that value and adjustments are clearly explained and supported.
• The divorce appraisal is not completed according to Fannie Mae guidelines as typical loan appraisals are.
• The divorce appraisal ought to be completed on a general non-Fannie Mae form since the purpose is other than a loan.
• The divorce appraisal is the same as a loan appraisal in terms of confidentiality. No information regarding the appraisal or appraised value is ever shared by me with any other party than the client who ordered the appraisal.
• The appraiser is bound by USPAP in both types of appraisals. These are the uniform standards that guide the appraisal profession.

Whether you are an attorney or home owner, if you have questions regarding litigation or divorce appraisals in the Sacramento Region, please contact me at 916-595-3735 or www.lundquistcompany.com. Offering my appraisal services for litigation is one of the arenas I am available for. In addition to a solid appraisal report, you can expect professionalism, confidentiality, punctuality, courtesy, and reasonable rates.

 You can see our divorce appraisal website also at www.SacramentoDivorceAppraisals.com.

What’s happening in the Eastern Galt market area lately? Galt is a wonderful city located in Sacramento County just South of Elk Grove and North of the San Joaquin County line. I have done quite a bit of appraisal work in Galt over the past six years and have seen many changes within the city - new construction, commercial development, population growth…

The trend graph below shows sales over the past 12 months within Eastern Galt (blue) as well as all current listings (red). What do you see when you look at the graph?

The data in the graph is based upon an MLS search of “Eastern Galt”, which is defined by the parameters shown in this map.

Real Estate Data for Eastern Galt, CA as of 03/05/09:

• 31 active listings
• 45 short sale active listings
• 40 pending listings
• 68 sales over past 90 days
• 239 sales over past 12 months

City of Galt Links:

• City of Galt
• Galt Wikipedia Page
• Galt Historical Society
• I Love Galt
• The Galt Herald

If you have any questions about the data above or have a potential need for real estate appraisal service, feel free to contact me. Make sure to explore the Galt links too and you may encounter a sense of community among some local residents – that’s priceless.

The Sacramento Redevelopment and Housing Agency (SHRA) has a great website containing foreclosure information and resources. In their own words:

“SHRA offers a list of resources with links to agencies that can provide counseling and additional helpful information if you are facing default or foreclosure on your mortgage loan.  

If you are facing the loss of your home, attend a community meeting or workshop for education and information about avoiding foreclosure, or call a HUD-certified home ownership or credit counseling agency on our resource list for help. You may also be able to get foreclosure related legal assistance at no cost. If you are having difficulty with your mortgage payments, call your loan servicer’s hotline (pdf) for assistance.”

I hope this helps. Please pass it on to anyone you might know who could use a resource like this.

I snapped the photo below the other day when going to Modesto for an inspection (yes, while driving – kids, don’t try that at home). This is the Ripon Water Tower and it’s an easy landmark to spot because of its large size and location right next to Highway 99. Ripon is located South of Stockton and just North of the Stanislaus County line (click HERE for map).

I am always intrigued by landmarks, design, bridges, houses, and other structures. What landmarks exist in your community? What do you think locals as well as passersby notice in your area when driving along the freeway or one of the main streets? 

Ripon Information:

• City of Ripon Website
• Ripon Wikipedia Page
• More Pictures of Ripon Water Tower
• Picture of Ripon Water Tower During Construction
• Ripon Record Newspaper
• Other: Website with photos of Sacramento Region water towers

What has been happening in the Anatolia real estate market lately? Anatolia is a planned community located in the Southern territory of Rancho Cordova near Sunrise Blvd. & Douglas Rd. 

Over the past 90 days there have been 93 sales within the Anatolia market area (95742 zip code of Rancho Cordova). These sales are depicted below on the graph:

There are currently 92 available properties in the Anatolia market (per MLS). It is possible that not all builders within Anatolia are listing their properties on MLS, though it is typical for them to do so in today’s market).

Anatolia Neighborhood Data in Rancho Cordova, CA:

• 92 current Active listings (Active, Active Short Sale)
• 48 current Pending Listings
• 93 sales over past 90 days
• Median Price over past 90 days: $300,000
• Low Sale over past 90 days: $170,000
• High Sale over past 90 days: $513,000

The information above can be informative to the casual reader who is interested in local data, for the Anatolia home owner, and also for prospective home owners. If you are pondering the data and have questions or any sort of potential appraisal needs, please comment above or contact me at 916-595-3735 or www.lundquistcompany.com

This is one of those things that many of us may not know much about until we actually experience personally. My hope in this entry is to offer a bit of insight into the process of estate settlement as it pertains to real estate valuation.

How it Works: When an estate has a transfer of ownership due to death, it is very common for a real estate appraisal to be needed for tax and/or inheritance purposes. Typically an attorney or accountant will order an appraisal during such a circumstance or have a family member or heir choose an appraiser for the job at hand. 

Retrospective Value: In these instances it is fairly typical for the appraiser to perform a ”retrospective appraisal”, meaning that even though the property is inspected today, the property isn’t valued off of today’s date, but is instead based upon a previous date (usually the date of death of the owner of the property). For example, if an owner of a property passed away on May 16, 2008 and the current date is March 2, 2009, the appraiser would inspect the property today but then base the value on what the market was doing on May 16, 2008.  

Retrospective appraisals can be challenging in that the appraiser needs to decipher the trends and perceptions of market participants in a previous time period instead of whatever is happening right now (which could be completely different). In a market like today, if much time has elapsed since the death of the property owner, the difference between the retrospective value and today’s current value can be striking, huh. 

Other Types of Value: In addition to needing a retrospective value in situations like this, sometimes the ordering party will also request a current “as is” fair market value or value based upon the date the title transferred from the deceased to the heir (if the transfer was after the date of death).  Remember, every situation is unique and the type of appraised value required all depends on the particular needs of the estate. 

The Good News: If you are in a situation like this or expect to be soon, take assurance that the type of value is not something you have to spend time worrying about. A good attorney or accountant can help direct you toward the type of value they need for your estate. And a good appraiser will know to contact the attorney or accountant to clarify exactly what is necessary in case the owner or heir is not exactly clear. Your circumstances may be very difficult understandably, so the hope is that at least the professionals around you can help to smooth over some of the details like this so you don’t have to think too much about them. 

I am available for any questions at 916-595-3735.

Many local residents are wondering if they’ll need to contest their property taxes this year. Will the assessed value from the Sacramento Assessor be accurate? Will it take into consideration the substantial decline in last year’s market? Hopefully so.

Each local county has specific steps for home owners to follow to contest their property taxes if the owner feels the Assessor did not get it right. There are basically four steps to follow to appeal your property taxes as I have outlined in an article I wrote, “The Skinny on Lowering Property Taxes.” During this process the home owner is asked by the local Assessor’s Office to offer evidence for a lower opinion of value than what the Assessor came up with, but since not all home owners can provide that themselves, property owners sometimes need to hire a credible and local specialist to help provide solid and convincing evidence for the true value of their property. As a licensed and experienced real estate appraiser based in Sacramento, part of the supporting evidence I offer for home owners includes graphs of market trends, standing before the appeals board on your behalf, charts, convincing data and analysis, the best available comparable properties, and among other things, other properties that are not comparable but may have been used to support the Assessor’s value.

For your reference and in case you own rental properties in other counties, here is a list of Assessor websites for 10 Counties in the Greater Sacramento Region, Central Valley, & Bay Area:

• Sacramento County Assessor’s Website
• Placer County Assessor’s Website
• Yolo County Assessor’s Website
• El Dorado County Assessor’s Website
• San Joaquin County Assessor’s Website
• Stanislaus County Assessor’s Website
• Merced County Assessor’s Website
• Sutter County Assessor’s Website
• Yuba County Assessor’s Website
• Solano County Assessor’s Website

As a Sacramento-based real estate appraiser, I may be able to help you in this process. Please let me know if I can be of any assistance. You can reach me at 916-595-3735.

Rancho Cordova and Gold River may share a zip code, but they are definitely distinct. The truth is that any city or area has certain neighborhoods or places where properties tend to sell for more for certain reasons – even if they do share a common zip code. This is true in portions of the 95670 zip code, which contains Gold River and portions of the city of Rancho Cordova. 

The graph below analyzes the entire 95670 zip code and contains Gold River area sales in blue and Rancho Cordova sales in red (not 95742 zip code – “Anatolia” neighborhood of Rancho Cordova).  

“Gold River HOA” excluding “Gold River Station” – 95670:
- 74 sales in past 12 months
- 12% of sales were bank owned
- 2.5% were short sales
- Low Sale: $235,000
- High Sale: $650,000
- Overall Median Price for Past 12 Months: $414,000

Rancho Cordova – 95670:
- 458 sales in past 12 months
- 64% of sales were bank-owned
- 12% of sales were short sales
- Low Sale: $71,150
- High Sale: $580,000
- Overall Median Price for Past 12 Months: $190,000

“Gold River Station” in Gold River – 95670:
- 17 sales in past 12 months
- 41% of sales were bank owned
- 1 short sale
- Low Sale: $263,000
- High Sale: $340,000
- Overall Median Price for Past 12 Months: $315,000

The data above is from mid-February 2009 and is based upon Sacramento Area MLS through a search of SFR properties. It is interesting to see a much higher foreclosure rate in the city of Rancho Cordova in the 95670 zip code in comparison to the Gold River community.

Lundquist Appraisal Company is based out of Rancho Cordova and knows the local area very well. We do also appraise properties within ten counties surrounding the Sacramento area. See www.lundquistcompany.com or www.ranchocordovaappraiser.com for more information.

NOTE: The lower Western portion of the Gold River area is comprised of an area called “Gold River Station”. Since Gold River Station is not a part of the Gold River HOA, it was prudent to look at data separately from Gold River.

This blog hosts a “Lowest Priced House on MLS” category because it’s always interesting to see what the good ol’ American dollar can buy these days in this wild market. The last winner was a $12,500 house, but this time we’ll take a look at the lowest-priced multi-unit property (2-4 units).

And the winner is…. $35,900 (4 units)

414 S Conejo Avenue is a bank-owned property in Modesto and is described as a 4-unit property with 2 detached single family units as well as one 2-story duplex on the same lot (per MLS). As of today the property has been priced at $35,900 for 11 days. The lot size is 0.24 acres and the units appear to have been built in 1945 per Tax Records. This property sold previously in March 2006 for $330,000. The previous MLS listing from 2006 stated that the units had the following bed/bath count: 3/1, 2/1, 1/1, 1/1.

The current MLS listing states “this is a cash deal”, which is indicative of the condition most likely. If you have further questions, I am glad to put you in touch with the Agent. And no, I don’t have any connections with the Agent or this property.

What is going on in the Folsom, CA real estate market within the Sacramento region? Below is a trend graph as well as data. NOTE: looking at data from an entire city at once may not be indicative of every niche within a city because certain neighborhoods or areas within a city do better or worse than others, don’t they? Still, city-wide data is important and indicative of what is happening in the big picture. 

When looking at the trend graph above, there sure are quite a bit of red dots(current listings) as of late, huh? Moreover, it appears there are listings which came on the market many months ago, yet they are still on the market. It is evident that there is a much greater percentage of properties listed or sold under $400,000 now in comparison to one year ago. The trend line and data indicate a decline in value. What else do you see?

Real Estate Data for the City of Folsom:

• 708 sales over past 12 months
• 177 current Active listings
• 85 current Short Sale listings
• 82 current Pending listings
• 125 sales over past 90 days
• Median Price over past 90 days: $380,000
• Average Price per square foot over past 90 days: $190.19
• Median Price over past 12 months: $420,000

The data above is based upon an MLS search through Sacramento Metrolist of all single family detached properties within the City of Folsom.