Posts from — August 2009

I inspected a property in the city of Auburn on Friday, and while taking comp photos I snapped the following image of the gold miner statue at the lower end of Old Town Auburn and I-80. I always like passing by this statue. Roadside America has a brief article about this work of art and a local Auburn Realtor has posted a more in-depth article HERE. Enjoy.

www.SacramentoAppraisalBlog.com Gold Miner Statue in Auburn: Photos from the Field

On Saturday, I took 801 black and white pictures while riding my bike on the American River trail in Rancho Cordova and Sacramento. I built a mount for my bike (for only 87 cents, by the way) to hold down my camera and then I had to manually push the button to take photos. The images were then placed in sequence to show as a “video”. You can see my previous outing HERE.

I road an average of 15 mph throughout this brief ride and I tried the “continuous shooting” feature on my camera so that as long as I was holding the button down, my camera was taking photos.

I think the video got a bit washed out in the middle because of the sun. If you notice, when there are few trees along the bike path, the pictures look very bright. It was either that or evidence of my camera’s death since the last frame in this ride was the very last breath of life for my camera (bummer).

By the way, at the very beginning of the video there is a snake on the trail. Did you see it? A group of riders stopped to watch it cross the pavement.

I’m no photographer, but just a guy who loves biking and is experimenting with taking photos while on the road. This is my third “video” like this and I can only see my methodology evolving over time to capture some of the essence of the trails and how fun it is to ride them. The first “video” I made is much inferior to the second and third, but I’ll keep it up because that’s usually how experimentation goes. We tend to get better at what we do as time goes on.

www.SacramentoAppraisalBlog.com Riding my Bike on the American River: Round 3 – A “Video” in Black & White

The deadline for appealing property taxes in the following counties in the Greater Sacramento Region will be here very soon (especially in Placer County). Please have a look at the information below and let us know if you have any questions. We are available to help home owners understand the property tax assessment and appeals process, and to assist home owners in disputing their property taxes if it makes good economic sense for them.

NOTE: If the Assessor sent you a letter and specified a certain appeals deadline for your property, whether commercial or residential, then disregard the deadlines below and stick with what your local Assessor said.

County / Deadline for Formally Appealing Property Taxes

• El Dorado County (November 30, 2009)
• Merced County (November 30, 2009)
• Placer County (November 30, 2009)
• San Joaquin County (November 30, 2009)
• Sacramento County (November 30, 2009)
• Solano County (November 30, 2009)
• Stanislaus County (November 30, 2009)
• Sutter County (September 15 if they sent you a letter in the mail, but otherwise November 30, 2009)
• Yolo County (November 30, 2009)
• Yuba County (November 30, 2009)

You can visit our website at www.SacramentoTaxAppeals.com, call us at 916-595-3735 or email us at info@SacramentoTaxAppeals.com so we can look into your situation and figure out if appealing your property taxes looks like a good move for you this year. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

www.SacramentoAppraisalBlog.com Reminder: When is the deadline for appealing property taxes in various counties? (Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, El Dorado, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Sutter, Yuba, Solano)

I put together a series of city-wide graphs to show the past three years of home sales within Folsom, El Dorado Hills, Rancho Cordova & Citrus Heights. It’s always interesting to me to take a look at a market-wide graphs to try and make sense of what property values have done over a specified time period. When looking at data like this, I ask questions like: What is the lower end of the market doing? Have there been any changes in the upper end? What does the overall trend look like? Declining? Stabilizing after a decline? Increasing? What types of circumstances may have triggered a change in the overall price levels during various times over the past three years? New laws or regulations? Unemployment? Loan rates adjusting? Economic factors? Zoning?

All graphs below are based on information from Sacramento Metrolist between 08/28/2006 to 08/27/2009. The points on the graphs represent single family residential detached units.

Number of Sales in the Past 3 Years:

• Folsom:  2,183
• El Dorado Hills:  1,665
• Rancho Cordova:  1,732
• Citrus Heights:  2,374

What do you see? What does it look like the market has done in the areas below? Does anything stand out to you or surprise you? What do you notice about the higher end of the market on all of the graphs?

Folsom Real  Estate Market Trends: 

 El Dorado Hills Real Estate Market Trends

Rancho Cordova Real Estate Market Trends:

Citrus Heights Real Estate Market Trends:

City-wide data is important to look at because what is happening in the overall city can sometimes have an impact on smaller niches and portions of housing within the same city. This is not always true, but it’s relevant to at least be aware of what is happening in the overall market so that we can more readily decipher a city’s sub-markets.

On the other hand, one of the glaring downfalls of city-wide data is that information is too general to really draw neighborhood-specific conclusions from. As we all know, each city or area typically has a host of different types of neighborhoods, and these pockets of real estate can vary drastically from each other in terms of buyer perception, price range, and many other factors. For example, Rancho Cordova has two main zip codes and the 95742 zip code (Anatolia) is far different from most of the 95670 zip code (everything else). Or properties near Old Town Folsom may have weathered the market differently than those in Empire Ranch. Or Governor’s Village and Serrano in El Dorado Hills may show differing market trends because of location, square footage, year built, or some other factor.

With all that being said, I am very curious to hear your observations and insight about the city-wide trend graphs above. Feel free to comment above (just below the post title)  or email info@lundquistcompany.com. If you are in need of additional and more specific research or an appraisal, let’s talk soon (916-595-3735).

www.SacramentoAppraisalBlog.com Real Estate Market Trends: Past 36 Months of Sales in Folsom, El Dorado Hills, Rancho Cordova & Citrus Heights (August 2006 – August 2009)

The cities of Los Banos and Patterson are located in the Central Valley of California off of Interstate 5 in Merced County and Stanislaus County respectively. If you are not from the area, but you have traveled through California along I-5, chances are you have at least seen exit signs for both Patterson and Los Banos. I have appraised many properties in both cities over the past year and I figured I would throw up some quick and informative data as an FYI. The data below is based upon the past twelve months of sales in MLS for single family residential detached properties.  

City of Los Banos Real Estate Market Data: 08/28/08 – 08/28/09

• Last year the city of Los Banos in Merced County had 1555 sales
• 1379 of these sales were bank-owned properties (89%)
• 70 of these sales were short sales (4.5%)
• 93.5% of total sales in Los Banos were either bank-owned or short sales
• Los Banos has a 18.4% unemployment rate as of July 2009 (EDD)

City of Los Banos Links:

• Los Banos City Website
• Los Banos Enterprise (local paper)
• Community Website: Our Los Banos
• Los Banos Wikipedia Page
• Los Banos Chamber of Commerce

City of Patterson Real Estate Market Data: 08/28/08 – 08/28/09

• Last year the city of Patterson in Stanislaus County had 1108 sales
• 989 of these sales were bank-owned (89%)
• 83 of these sales were short sales (7.5%)
• 96.5% of total sales in Patterson were either bank-owned or short sales.
• Patterson has a 21.9% unemployment rate as of July 2009 (EDD)

City of Patterson Links:

• Patterson City Website
• Patterson Irrigator (local paper)
• Patterson Wikipedia page
• Patterson Centennial Website
• Patterson-Westley Chamber of Commerce
• Patterson Apricot Fiesta

What do you notice form the data above? Does anything stand out to you? Why do you think both of these communities have been plagued by foreclosures as well as a high unemployment rate? Feel free to share your thoughts by commenting above (just under the post title).

Please contact me at 916-595-3735 or info@lundquistcompany.com if you have any questions about the data above or a need for more detailed analysis or valuation.

www.SacramentoAppraisalBlog.com Quick Statistics: Los Banos & Patterson Sales in 2008-2009 – Foreclosures & Short Sales

Have you wondered what properties in the “Capital Village” neighborhood of Rancho Cordova are currently selling for. I’d like to satisfy your curiosity by providing all 28 of the current MLS listings (as of 08/28/2009). Please note that Beazer may also have other properties for sale that are not listed through MLS. For more information on “Capital Village”, see previous posts HERE and HERE as well as a Capital Village video tour I put together. By the way, “DOM” stands for “Days on Market”.

What do you notice about the listings above? Does anything stand out to you or surprise you? Let me know if you have any questions about the data or a need for additional research or valuation services. I know the Capital Village market area well. You can comment at the top of the post (just below the main post title) or contact me at info@lundquistcompany.com or 916-595-3735.

www.SacramentoAppraisalBlog.com Current Houses for Sale in the “Capital Village” Neighborhood in Rancho Cordova CA: Aug 2009

I think I may have produced the first official video of the new silver horse on Marconi Avenue & Eastern Avenue in Sacramento. Okay, this is not my biggest achievement in life and there will be no awards, but I definitely thought it would be fun and creative to put something together. As I mentioned in a previous post, while driving around between appraisal inspections, I stopped by the new Rite Aid shopping center on the aforementioned corner and snapped some photos. Today when I passed by this gleaming statue again, I couldn’t help but grab some more images and put them online.

I am intrigued by landmarks, architecture, neighborhood design (porches especially) and how things like this make up the feel for a neighborhood. Moreover, my career as a real estate appraiser helps me to continually analyze the appearance of neighborhoods and properties.

Enjoy the video on the Lundquist Apppraisal YouTube page or below.

www.SacramentoAppraisalBlog.com The First Official Video of the Silver Horse on Marconi Avenue & Eastern Avenue in Sacramento

After work and getting the kids down to an early bed time last night, it was time to do run # 2 for my latest project. At dusk I headed over to the American River trails in Rancho Cordova to take some photos while riding my bike. I showed a video in a previous post of the first round of this biking / photography experiment, and now I have a second video.

Last time (the first time), I manually held the camera on my handlebars and managed to snap 800+ photos while riding. Yes, my fingers and wrists were extremely tired. The video turned out okay considering it was a first stab, but since I wanted to increase stabilization this time, I put on my MacGyver thinking cap and ended up making a contraption to mount the camera on my handlebars. The great thing too is that this device cost me only 87 cents.

I found that the mount helped to stabilize the camera a whole lot better (not perfect though), but since I still had to manually click each of the 653 pictures, I am still on the hunt to find a way to take images with a remote or some other method so that I can give maximum attention to steering. The more I can steer straight, the better the end product will be. Whatever the case, it’s fun to be creative and to learn something new. You can see the new video on my YouTube page or below.

If you have any ideas or resources for me to improve my technique and explore the possibilities for biking / photography, I am open to your suggestions. Thank you.

www.SacramentoAppraisalBlog.com Riding my Bike on the American River Trails: Turning 653 Pictures into a “Video”

I am typing up an appraisal report right now for a divorce and I figured I’d take a minute to give a little window into one of the facets of our business. My company works with home owners and attorneys to provide real estate appraisals during the process of divorce. We are typically contacted by either the home owner or attorney to provide our services. We know divorce is not an easy time, so we do our best to make the appraisal process as smooth as can be.

Here are a few tidbits about the difference between an appraisal prepared for divorce and a typical loan appraisal:

• 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 todays date. A real estate appraisal for a loan uses present day market value in most cases.
• 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 many loan appraisals are.
• 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 (unless where required by law or subpoena to do so).
• The appraiser is bound by USPAP in both types of appraisals. These are the uniform standards that guide the appraisal profession.

I was running some data today in various counties and wanted to share a bit here. The figures below are based upon information provided by the Employment Development Department. Since I do appraisals in multiple counties surrounding the Sacramento Region, it is very important for me to know understand real estate markets as well as possible. In appraisal jargon, knowing a local market is called ”geographic competency”.

In my mind, part of being in touch with a local market is to keep tabs on unemployment. Could the unemployment rate for a city be an indicator of the overall health of a local community sometimes? Or could rising unemployment impact housing prices and values? What else can unemployment rates tell us? What do you think?

July 2009 Unemployment in San Joaquin County:

• Stockton:  19.2%
• Lathrop:  11.3%
• French Camp:  48.7%
• Manteca:  14.0%
• Ripon:  9.6%
• Tracy:  10.1%
• San Joaquin County Overall Unemployment Rate:  16.0%

July 2009 Unemployment in Solano County:

• Dixon:  9.2%
• Fairfield:  12.6%
• Green Valley CDP:  10.5%
• Suisun City:  11.9%
• Vacaville:  8.6%
• Vallejo:  14.2%
• Solano County Overall Unemployment Rate:  11.5%

Please let me know if you have any questions about the data above or any other cities or Census Designated Places that were not listed above. The lists are not exhaustive for every city and CDP in the respective counties. You are welcome to contact me at 916-595-3735 or info@lundquistcompany.com.

www.SacramentoAppraisalBlog.com San Joaquin County Hits 15% Unemployment Rate for May 2009

I have been thinking of doing a little photography / biking experiment for the past couple of weeks, and yesterday I made it happen. I set out to snap some pictures from my bike (and then make a video out of it). I manually took 882 photos while holding a small Canon SD300 in my hands. You can see the video below or HERE directly.

I rode through the trails surrounding the “Stone Creek” neighborhood in Rancho Cordova and then I headed North on Kilgore to International. I then cut through the “Capital Village” neighborhood in Rancho Cordova on the way back to my truck in the parking lot of CVS Pharmacy.

This was a little experiment and I’m glad I did it. There is definitely some room for improvement in methodology, so keep in mind that this was a first stab. I’m not a photographer by any stretch of the imagination, but just a guy who loves to ride throughout my home town.

www.SacramentoAppraisalBlog.com 882 Pictures from my Bike (Rancho Cordova)

Here are the most recent figures for unemployment in Sacramento County as of July 2009 per the Employment Development Department. The figures below consider both cities and Census Designated Places (CDP) for July 2009 (also compared with May and June 2009). Data for August 2009 has not yet been released (wait about one month for that). 

As of July 2009, Sacramento County as a whole has an unemployment rate of 12.0% ( June was 11.6% and May 2009 was 11.1%). The State of California has an 11.9% unemployment rate (up from 11.6% in May & June 2009). I also posted data for Placer County HERE in case that is of interest to you.

What do you notice about the data below? Does anything stand out to you or surprise you?

Arden Arcade CDP  11.7%  (June 2009 11.4%)  (May 2009 was 10.8%)

Carmichael CDP  8.9%  (June 2009 8.7%)  ( May 2009 was 8.2%)

Citrus Heights city  8.5%  (June 2009 8.3%)  ( May 2009 was 7.8%)

Elk Grove CDP  9.8%  (June 2009 9.6%)  (May 2009 was 9.0%)

Fair Oaks CDP  6.7%  (June 2009 6.6%)  (May 2009 was 6.2%)

Florin CDP  17.9  (June 2009 17.6%)  (May 2009 was 16.7%)

Folsom city  5.5%  (June 2009 5.4%)  (May 2009 was 5.1%)

Foothill Farms CDP  15.3%  (June 2009 15.0%)  (May 2009 was 14.2%)

Galt city  18.1%  (June 2009 17.8%)  (May 2009 was 16.9%)

Gold River CDP  2.0%  (June 2009 2.0%)  (May 2009 was 1.9%)

Isleton city  12.9%  (June 2009 12.5%)  (May 2009 was 11.8%)

La Riviera CDP  6.6%  (June 2009 6.5%)  (May 2009 was 6.1%)

Laguna CDP  6.2%  (June 2009 6.1%)  (May 2009 was 5.8%)

Laguna West Lakeside CDP  8.1%  (June 2009 8.0%)  (May 2009 was 7.5%)

North Highlands CDP  17.6%  (June 2009 17.3%)  (May 2009 was 16.4%)

Orangevale CDP  8.6%  (June 2009 8.5%)  (May 2009 was 8.0%)

Parkway South Sacramento CDP  20.0%  (June 2009 19.7%)  (May 2009 was 18.7%)

Rancho Cordova City  13.8%  (June 2009 13.5%)  (May 2009 was 12.8%)

Rancho Murieta CDP  3.7%  (June 2009 3.7%)  (May 2009 was 3.5%)

Rio Linda CDP  17.5%  (June 2009 17.2%)  (May 2009 was 16.3%)

Rosemont CDP  9.5%  (June 2009 9.3%)  (May 2009 was 8.8%)

Sacramento city  14.1%  (June 2009 13.8%)  (May 2009 was 13.1%)

Vineyard CDP  5.6%  (June 2009 5.5%)  (May 2009 was 5.2%)

Walnut Grove CDP  26.2%  (June 2009 25.6%)  (May 2009 was 24.5%)

Wilton CDP  7.4%  (June 2009 7.2%)  (May 2009 was 6.8%)

As you can see, the only city or CDP (Census Designated Place) above that was without an increase in overall unemployment numbers from June to July 2009 was Gold River. If there was a prize for lowest unemployment rate in Sacramento County, Gold River would be the winner at 2.0%. On the other end of the spectrum, Walnut Grove has the highest unemployment rate in Sacramento County at 26.2%.

Let me know if you have any questions about the latest figures and how unemployment impacts the local real estate market. You are welcome to call 916-595-3735 or visit our company website at www.lundquistcompany.com

www.SacramentoAppraisalBlog.com Unemployment Rates in Sacramento County Over the Past Three Months: May, June & July 2009