Posts from — July 2010

What do you get when a builder runs out of money in the current economy, but is only half-way finished with a house? Answer: Probably a foreclosure. This was certainly the case with three 2,222 square foot 4/2.5 properties on the corner of 37th Street and 12th Avenue in the Oak Park Area of Sacramento. 

I am very pleased to see these foreclosures were purchased earlier this year in a bundle deal by the same buyer for $35,000 each, and they are currently being rehabbed. When I think of an area improving, this appears to be a win because improvement happens one house at a time, doesn’t it?

What’s going on in the Sacramento real estate market in the South Oak Park area? I plotted some sales in the 95820 zip code and wanted to share the following. The trend graphs below are based on recorded single family residential sales in MLS for the following boundaries: 12th Avenue to the north, Highway 99 to the west, MLK Jr Blvd to the east, and Fruitridge Road to the south.

Do you see in the graph how a few horizontal lines help us see a clearer picture? It looks like the top has decreased, the bottom has increased, and the middle has become more tightly-packed together.

The second trend graph takes a closer look at the past year of sales from above. I like this one because it really shows a clear separation between the bulk of the resale market and the rest of sales in the neighborhood. Properties that were purchased previously as bank-owned fixers are now being rehabbed and they look to be selling between $100,000 to $125,000 for the most part.

How would you describe this market? What is influencing change? What has driven the upper end down and the bottom level up? Do you think government financing and tax credits are playing a role in some of the changes above?

Please share your insight. Questions? Contact me at 916.595.3735, “like” my Facebook Page, comment below or email ryan@LundquistCompany.com.

No, this is not a storage container, but a stripped AC unit on a bank-owned multi-unit property in Sacramento. Why do you think REO properties are such easy targets for theft? I gave some thoughts to this a few days back in an audio post. Obviously the properties are vacant, so it makes it easier to give the “five finger discount”, but is there something more sociological to consider here. Is it deemed more “acceptable” to take things that belong to a faceless bank as opposed to an actual person? Your insight and thoughts are welcome in comments below.

I’m very excited to announce that I started an audio component to the Sacramento Appraisal Blog. Well, I actually began doing some “podcasts” earlier this year, but things will really be taken to a whole different level now. WordPress just announced a “Post to Voice” technology a couple of days ago where you call a number, leave a message up to an hour in length, and that message posts instantly to your blog. This should be fun and handy for quick thoughts, interviews, and even recording things like a concert or seminar.

Since I self-host all my wordpress themes, I had to break down and get a free blog at www.wordpress.com since “Post to Voice” is only available there right now. The “audio” portion is linked up throughout my “full blog” here though, so it should be easy to sync together. Check out my brand new audio blog at www.SacramentoAppraiser.wordpress.com

I already put up three posts: Why I’m starting an audio blog, New 2010 property tax assessments (days away from being announced), and Bank-owned Properties and a Sense of Entitlement.

What other ways do you think a technology like this could be used? What are the pluses and minuses of audio vs. text?

I got news a couple hours ago that fireworks for the annual youth fireworks fundraiser at Cordova Neighborhood Church were stolen late last night from the metal storage container on church property. Thieves broke in and took nearly everything. In short, this fundraiser is THE big fundraiser of the year for kids to earn their way to summer camp as well as pay for other activities throughout the year. Right now the church is out between $8,000-$10,000.

This is actually my home church, so it’s definitely personal for me. But objectively speaking, it’s not okay to steal from kids and churches. Bottom line.

But there is good news because fireworks will be re-stocked by this afternoon. If you are thinking of making a purchase anyway, please consider going to 10600 Coloma Road in Rancho Cordova. Also, see the Rancho Cordova Post for more details. I think News 10 also came out to run a story. Let’s respond together. Feel free to spread the news by Twitter, Facebook, or however you’d like. Just remember that there is a massive 4th of July Parade tomorrow morning on Coloma Road, so plan around that major traffic jam (street blocked off until 12pm basically).

Happy 4th of July everyone!!!!

Photo by Bryce Cooley – used with permission.

I took this photo a few days back as a comp photo for an appraisal I’m doing near the Del Paso Heights area of Sacramento. This image tells an obvious story of a new roof being installed – but not just a newer roof, but a different type of roof. The house is being transformed from flat to hipped in style. The first image is an MLS photo.

The interesting thing to note while driving through this neighborhood is that there was at least one other house having a gable or hipped roof installed. Moreover, though there are still quite a few flat roofs in this neighborhood, many roofs have already been converted to a higher pitch. I’ve seen this same phenomenon in West Sacramento too. Does this say anything about the market?

Which style of roof do you prefer?