Posts from — August 2010

I got a kick out of this aerial image. I have three appraisals in my bag right now in the City of Galt from a very loyal client, and during the course of research I came across a property located near F Street right next to the Galt water tower. This was a potential comp that I didn’t end up using.

A water tower like this is something that should be disclosed in the appraisal report because it could be a potential hazard if it fell. That wouldn’t be good. Additionally, there may be a reaction in the marketplace for the location. Some buyers would pass up making an offer on this property, whereas others might not care. Ultimately, through the course of research, the appraiser needs to come to a conclusion if there is any value to be assigned to the location based on what the market is showing, and if so, how much that reaction is worth.  

I’m curious to hear from home owners or prospective owners on this topic. If your property is located next to a water tower or within fall distance of another type of structure (power tower), have you encountered any difficulties with financing or reselling your property? Or if you were in the market to make a home purchase, would such a location be a turn-off or no big deal?

Your comments are welcome below. Thanks so much. I really appreciate everyone visiting my blog.

I inspected a condominium last week in the Hillcrest Park neighborhood in Vallejo, CA. I wanted to share a graph of sales within the subdivision over the past five years. What do you see?

While in the Hillcrest Park neighborhood, I shot the following video as I was considering the vast decline in property value and the impact foreclosure can have on a neighborhood – even beyond real estate values.  

Condominium properties have been hit hard in many niches within the Greater Sacramento Region because the price of single family detached homes has become so much more affordable, and an HOA fee plus a mortgage payment often does not make good economic sense for buyers. Why pay more for a condo when you can get a detached home without an HOA fee, right? That’s often the rationale.

By the way, if you are in the market to purchase a condominium, I would strongly suggest you research the health of the HOA before making a purchase. It would be tragic to purchase a condo only to find out the association is bankrupt.

Did you play with Legos as a kid? After building a four-story home last night with my six-year old son, I snapped a few photos to show just how much Legos can teach us about real estate. These images will give you a glimpse into some of the things I see while inspecting properties in the Sacramento area. Have a look and let me know if you notice anything else too.

I hope you enjoyed the pics. If you have any questions about real houses in the Greater Sacramento Region, give me a call at 916.595.3735, catch me on Facebook, or email me at ryan@LundquistCompany.com.

Put on your economist hat and let’s take a look at the past decade of unemployment rates in Sacramento County based on the month of June. What do you see? Comments are welcome below.

June 2010     12.6%
June 2009     11.5%
June 2008     6.9%
June 2007     5.4%
June 2006     4.9%
June 2005     5.1%
June 2004     5.9%
June 2003     6.3%
June 2002     5.8%
June 2001     4.5%

This is an inspiring video by Gary Vaynerchuk. He is the author of the book Crush It and I think he has some good points to consider for business and the way things have changed in recent years, not to mention his encouragement to follow your passions and do what you love. Today is actually the first day of my Crush It book club too, so I am very excited. Anyway, I’m sitting here typing up an appraisal report and listening to this in the background. Yes, there is a VERY long list of potty language, but putting that aside, what do you think? What stands out to you about what this guy is saying?

The real estate market has been an interesting ride over the past years in the Greater Sacramento Area, and the ups and downs of the market tend to show up when viewing a property’s sales history in Tax Records. I’m always curious to have a look at what houses sold for in 2005 or 2007 and what they are selling for now. I came across a house in the Serrano area of El Dorado Hills and I found the sales history below to tell a story about the market. This story could have come from mostly any area of the Sacramento Region really because in most cases there is a huge difference between property valuess in 2005 and 2010.

8/25/2005  $916,500 (original sale from builder)

6/30/2008  $735,000 (sale from original owner to new owner – not a short sale because the original owner put down $200,000+ on the original purchase).

2/04/2009  $429,500 (transfer – not a public sale – deed in lieu of foreclosure. We have seen banks exercise this option quite a bit so a property technically does not go into foreclosure). 

5/27/2010  $551,000 (resale on the open market).

What do you think?