Since the Anatolia area of Rancho Cordova is located four miles south of Highway 50 in a more secluded portion of the city, all the neighborhoods in that area are often referred to as “Anatolia”. There are actually currently three distinct communities in this area though and only one of them is under the Anatolia HOA. You can see the HOA outlined in red below and also the Sunridge Park and Kavala Ranch neighborhoods nearby – both not a part of the HOA (yet identified as such at times). 

It’s important in real estate to understand neighborhood boundaries since buyers might be attracted to certain neighborhoods for a variety of reasons. Some buyers might prefer the Anatolia HOA, the clubhouse and slightly older houses (2005+), while other buyers might be attracted to new construction in Kavala Ranch or Sunridge Park (over 50% of sales last year were new construction). As you can see in the graph below, Anatolia has the highest and lowest sales in the 95742 market, while Kavala Ranch and Sunridge Park seem to fit nicely in the middle of the range of sales in Anatolia. 

Can you think of any other neighborhoods in the Sacramento area that are lumped together under one title despite being distinct communities? If you live in the Anatolia area, what drew you to the community? Regardless of where you live, do you prefer an HOA or no HOA?

If you have any real estate appraisal, consulting, or property tax appeal needs in the Greater Sacramento Region, contact me at 916.595.3735, by email, on our appraiser website or via Facebook. 

Are websites like Zillow accurate? Let’s compare my last five appraisals with Zillow estimates. These are all subdivision non-custom homes in the Sacramento area. I won’t give the property addresses of course because that would violate client confidentiality.

1) House in Tracy: Zillow high by 9.2%
Zillow said $295,000, whereas my appraisal was $270,000. The condition of this house makes a huge difference in market value. Actually, if this house was in decent shape, $295,000 would be a bit on the low side (quick sale value). 

2) Elk Grove House: Zillow low by 1.4%
Zillow said $207,000, while my appraisal on this 95624 property was $210,000. Not too shabby. Pretty close.

3) Elk Grove House: Zillow high by 6.25%
Zillow said $170,000, while my appraisal on this 95758 property was $160,000.

4) Rancho Cordova House: Zillow high by 41.6%
Zillow said $177,000, but my appraisal on this house in the 95670 zip code was $125,000. Zillow most likely used an area as square footage that should not have been used since Tax Records shows this property with a much larger square footage than it actually has. Zillow was also unaware of condition issues. Even if the property was pristine, $177,000 would still be on the high side since remodels are typically $150-160K right now for this area. The market is fairly patchy too in this neighborhood as some streets show much better than others.

5) Sacramento Property: Zillow high by 30% 
Zillow said $94,000, but my appraisal for this property in the 95824 zip code came in at $72,000. Remodeled or flipped properties tend to sell closer to $100,000 in this neighborhood. The subject is average in most regards- not a fixer.

Conclusion: It’s really hit and miss with Zillow. As I said in a previous article, websites like Zillow seem to have greater accuracy in tract markets with ample sales, but even then they are only so good because they cannot sift through value indicators like condition, important neighborhood boundaries, the difference between distressed sales and regular sales, upgrades, and a local appraiser’s knowledge of the market area.

Will websites like Zillow replace real estate appraisers some day? Personally, I’m not so concerned because: 1) These websites are not very accurate and therefore probably not a good source for making legal or lending decisions. 2) Lenders and other users of appraisal services need to use real humans who can do a professional and accurate job – and humans carry E&O insurance (ding, ding, ding). The bottom line is that it all comes down to money. Lenders probably can’t sue an online “machine” for messing up their value, but they can sue a human.

What do you think?

If you have any real estate appraisal, valuation consulting, or property tax appeal needs, contact me at 916.595.3735, www.LundquistCompany.com or via Facebook.

What’s been happening in the Rancho Cordova real estate market? I’d like to give you a glance below at the overall tend over the past few years as well as some current data tidbits too. Keep in mind that a specific property in Rancho Cordova may or may not fit in with the general trend shown below. 

As you can see, when looking at all sales from 2006, property values have clearly declined over time. There is a very obvious downtrend, wouldn’t you say? Additionally, there is a wide value spectrum too, which represents a big difference in neighborhoods like White Rock, Lincoln Village, Walnutwood, La Loma, Stone Creek, Sunriver, and Anatolia.

Let’s take a closer look at the 95670 zip code in Rancho Cordova(not Gold River – that’s a different market). Sometimes sales in Gold River and Rancho Cordova are grouped together on graphs because they have the same zip code, but that’s not proper in my opinion. Regarding the 95742 zip code, we can take a look at data in a future post if you’d like (just let me know). Overall it looks like there has been a decline in sales prices over the past year, though not as steep of a decline as in previous years. The trend toward more stability is similar to Citrus Heights.

Now let’s put an age parameter on the data to see if there is any difference between properties built before and after 1990. As you can see when comparing the graph above with the one below, newer areas in the 95670 represent the highest sales in the zip code (this would be basically be the Stone Creek area and Capital Village).

Here is a spectrum of price per square foot for all sales in Rancho Cordova (95670) over the past year. Remember though, don’t just take your square footage and multiply it by the average price per square foot. That’s not always the best idea to determine the value of your house. See my previous post entitled “Is price per square foot an accurate way to measure the value of a house?”

Specific Rancho Cordova Real Estate Market Data (95670 zip code):

• 165 sales over the past 90 days.
• 89 current active listings
• 55 current active short sale listings
• 42 current short sale contingent listings (this means an offer has been submitted already)
• 39% of all sales over the past year were REO (bank-owned)
• 22% of all sales over the past year were Short Sales
• Roughly 61% of all sales were distressed in some regard (REO or SS)
• Unemployment in Rancho Cordova is 14.6% per EDD (as of 11/2010)
• Unemployment in Sacramento County is 12.8% per EDD (as of 11/2010)

By the way, here is a video from the Rancho Cordova Historical Society with over ten minutes of old photos and maps of Rancho Cordova.

If you’ve been looking for Rancho Cordova real estate information, I hope this was helpful for you. What do you see in the data above? Does anything stand out to you? Keep me posted if you have any questions or a need for a real estate appraisal or property consulting. I am a member of the Rancho Cordova Chamber of Commerce, and I do appraisal work for estate planning, probate, divorce, second opinions, FHA, property tax appeal, private loans, bankruptcy, and so much more. Call 916.595.3735, email me, or visit my company website.

Home owners ask me sometimes about the average price per square foot for their neighborhood. Honestly, I pay attention to the price per sq ft as one of many real estate metrics, but it’s not the end-all solution to valuation by any means. Let me illustrate my point by presenting a graph of all sales in the Anatolia neighborhood of Rancho Cordova over the past twelve months.

Over the past 90 days Anatolia has had an average price per square foot of $103. If Joe the Home Owner then took this figure and applied it to his home, let’s see what he comes up with. Imagine he has a house at 1000 square feet. In theory, Joe’s house should be worth $103,000 (1000 x $103), but the graph shows homes at 1000 square feet sold between $140 to $150 dollars per square foot actually. Let’s look at 2000 square feet. It looks like $103 works very well for some houses, but other properties at 2000 square feet clearly sold closer to $250,000 (that would be $125 per sq ft). Let’s look at even larger homes. Many 4000 square foot properties sold well under $103 per square foot, and houses around 5,550 square feet sold closer to $81 per square foot ($450,000 / $103). 

As you can see, an average price per square foot figure is not constant for all houses in a neighborhood. Simply multiplying your square footage by the average price per square foot for your area, city or zip code may or may not work, and will very likely not give you an accurate number.

Question: When looking at the graph above, what size of home do you think might give you the best return on your dollar?

What’s been happening in the Rancho Cordova real estate market North of Highway 50 (referred to as the ”Riverside” portion of Rancho Cordova due to being on the side of the freeway with the “river” – clever, huh)? Let’s take a look below at some data and graphs. What do you notice?

Rancho Cordova Real Estate Market Trends (North of Hwy 50):

Over the past 90 days there were 83 sales North of Highway 50 (not including South of Highway 50 – Stone Creek, Anatolia, Capital Village…). All data is based upon single family residential units.

• 20 current Active listings
• 53 current Active Short Sale listings
• 44 current Pending properties
• 59% of sales since January 1, 2009 have been bank-owned sales
• 19% of sales since January 1, 2009 have been short sales
• Low Price over past 90 days:   $76,000
• High Price over past 90 days:  $265,000

The graph above shows all the current listings North of Highway 50 in Rancho Cordova (including pendings).

The data above is not meant to be exhaustive or be representative of every niche North of Highway 50. The Riverside portion of Rancho Cordova contains a multitude of neighborhoods and they are not all comparable to each other. You don’t have to be an expert in real estate, for example, to explain some of the differences between Sunriver, White Rock, Cordova Meadows or Croetto. So when data is lumped together as above, it does not mean that there are sales below $100,000 in every neighborhood North of Highway 50, or that the percentages of bank-owned and short sale properties are the same in each neighborhood either, or that there were even sales within certain areas of Rancho Cordova in the past 90 days.

The data above is meant solely for educational purposes. If you have a need for more detailed analysis or a need for a valuation for estate settlement, purchase, refinance, bankruptcy, pre-listing, litigation or any other type of appraisal purpose, feel free to reach me (Ryan) at 916-595-3735 or www.lundquistcompany.com.

www.SacramentoAppraisalBlog.com Rancho Cordova Sales & Listings: Past 90 Days North of Highway 50 (”Riverside” portion of Rancho Cordova)

Yesterday I took some photos from the field of the “Stone Creek” neighborhood in Rancho Cordova.

Stone Creek is a fairly new community within Southern Rancho Cordova in the 95670 zip code just South of Highway 50 in between International Drive & Mather Air Field basically. Stone Creek has a unique plan in that it has a large bike/walking path that basically surrounds the entire subdivision. Additionally, Stone Creek has a very nice 21-acre park (Stone Creek Community Park).

This neighborhood is not difficult to spot since there is a giant water tower on the Eastern end of the tract. Have you seen this one while traveling South on Sunrise Blvd?

Stone Creek is just North of Mather Air Field and there is still some vacant land to be built on (probably when the market rebounds). The image below is of the Stone Creek community in the background along with vacant land in the foreground.

This is a view of part of the bike trail/path along the perimeter of the subdivision.

I am very familiar with the Stone Creek neighborhood from my real estate appraisal experience within the community. If you have any questions about Stone Creek or any potential real estate appraisal needs, please contact me at www.lundquistcompany.com or 916-595-3735.

Here is a quick post to show what you can buy a house for in the 95670 zip code in Rancho Cordova these days. It looks like there are some good deals, huh? The 95670 zip code covers the North side of the freeway (”Riverside” portion) as well as some of the Southern side of Highway 50 (Stone Creek, Capital Village, some older tracts). There are currently 193 listings in MLS for detached single family residential properties.

If you have any questions about the Rancho Cordova real estate market, feel free to give us a call at 916-595-3735 and see www.lundquistcompany.com or www.ranchocordovaappraiser.com

“Anatolia” is a newly-built HOA community in Southern Rancho Cordova located within the 95742 zip code. There are roughly 2000 housing units which have been built since 2005 and construction is still ongoing. Below you will find some of the latest real estate market trends in Anatolia as of today’s date.

The following graphs take the past thirteen months of sales into consideration and are based upon data provided through Sacramento Metrolist.

“Anatolia” in Rancho Cordova Real Estate Market Data:

• 347 sales over past 12 months
• 80 sales over past 90 days
• Average of 26.67 sales per month over past 90 days
• 201 current Listings
• 7.5 months of housing supply currently listed on the market (due to aggressive pricing, this inventory may not necessarily be on the market that long. In fact, the previous 90 days had 8.5 months of inventory and then the six months prior to that had 12.4 months of inventory. It would appear then that right now the inventory is decreasing).
• Median Sales Price over past 90 days: $288,000
• Median Sales Price over previous 90 days: $312,016
• Median current List Price: $275,000
• Median Listing Days on Market: 54

Please feel free to give your two cents, ask questions, or provide any supplementary information or data by commenting above. You are welcome to contact me for additional information and questions too at 916-595-3735 or www.lundquistcompany.com

I had a conversation today with a friend about Rancho Cordova real estate market trends and I made this graph to show her in an image of what words so often say – that the market has declined.

When making trend graphs in many local areas and cities in the Greater Sacramento Region, I often think the overall trend looks like a ski slope. This one above is maybe a bit more bunny-slope-like, but still, you get the point. If you have questions about the local real estate market, feel free to contact me at 916-595-3735 or www.lundquistcompany.com

A Closing Thought:  Looking at market trends doesn’t often times “bring gladness to the heart of man” so to speak (that was a quote from Chimay, if you follow), so let’s remember that relationships and so much of life can be wonderful even though home values aren’t much to brag about right now.

What’s been happening in the real estate market in the city of Rancho Cordova in 2009 so far? Below is a graph and some stats for you: 

Rancho Cordova Real Estate Market Trends in 2009:

• 179 total sales in MLS in 2009
• 77 current Active listings
• 129 current Short Sale listings
• 104 current Pending listings
• 99 of 179 sales were in the 95670 zip code
• 80 of 179 sales were in the 95742 zip code (Anatolia)
• Overall 2009 Median Sales Price for 95670:  $165,000
• Overall 2009 Median Sales Price for 95742:  $290,000
• Low Sales Price in 95670 in 2009:  $75,000
• High Sales Price in 95670 in 2009:  $420,000
• Low Sales Price in 95742 in 2009:  $220,000
• High Sales Price in 95742 in 2009:  $510,000

Property Taxes in Rancho Cordova (and Surrounding Counties):

While on the subject of Rancho Cordova, I wanted to say a few words on property taxes. When looking at my blog stats and what keywords people are typing in to get here, it is clear that property taxes are on the minds of fellow Cordovans as well as many locals in surrounding counties. There are quite a few people finding this blog by searching for things like “How to Lower Property Taxes in Rancho Cordova”, “City Taxes in Rancho Cordova”, “Stockton Property Taxes”, or “Placer County Property Taxes” (etc…) 

I hope the following information proves to be helpful:

1.Our local cities (including Rancho Cordova) do not collect property taxes. Property taxes are handled through the local Assessor’s Office (for Rancho Cordova, that would be the Sacramento County Assessor’s Office).

2. The Sacramento County Assessor’s Office has not yet released their assessed values for 2009. Their assessed values will be based upon January 1, 2009. You should receive a letter in the mail if they determined that your property taxes have decreased based upon a decline in value last year.

3. When the Assessor’s Office releases their assessment of your property in hopefully May 2009, you can follow a specific set of steps to contest the level of your property taxes if you disagree with their opinion (this process is the same for anyone in Sacramento County or for that matter, anyone in surrounding counties. The exact dates for appealing taxes may differ, so you can check with your local Assessor with specific dates).

4. Read an article I wrote called “The Skinny on Lowering Property Taxes” that gives you the gist of what you need to do to contest your property taxes. I would be glad to help you with this process also. Please see www.SacramentoTaxAppeals.com for further information.

Local Assessor’s Offices in Surrounding Counties:

Let me know if you have any questions. I am glad to talk you through the process of appealing your property taxes in Rancho Cordova (or elsewhere) and help you understand what you need to do. Even if you are in a surrounding county that I also serve (Placer, Yolo, El Dorado, San Joaquin….), feel free to give me a call at 916-595-3735. Just last week I spoke with two property owners who found me through this blog and I was able to shed light on what they need to do for 2009 property taxes and also what they could have done in 2008.

One of the key factors for our market to improve and get back to “normal” is for the oversupply of foreclosure properties to be absorbed. Basically, it’s a messy real estate market out there in the Sacramento Region, and the mess has to be dealt with to move on.

Sacramento MLS allows us to analyze past sales as well as current listings to see how many properties sold as bank-owned or short sales and so on. What about future listings though? How many foreclosures will be coming to the market? Two interesting data sources for this type of information are Realquest and Realist.

RealQuest provides a free service online for anyone to view properties which are in “Pre-foreclosure” (coming soon to the market unless something happens to stop them – loan modification, catch up on payments, legislation, act of God, etc…), “Auction” (you’ve seen the commercials for the auction properties where “there are 2000 properties to sell off and they MUST sell this weekend”), and “Bank-Owned” (yes, the bank has title already).

This is what RealQuest looks like when doing a property search:

Realist is also a service of First American Core Logic and is commonly known as “Tax Records” for Sacramento Metrolist Subscribers (a paid service). Realist has a new “foreclosure activity” search feature that covers the same categories that RealQuest does. But when looking up data in both RealQuest and Realist, there is definitely a difference. Sometimes the data is very similar, but other times the figures are way off. This may be due to the way RealQuest and Realist categorize their information as well as the difference between a free service (RealQuest) and a paid service (Realist). Ultimately there could be a number of factors why the data is so different, but it’s not the purpose of this post to go into depth about that. The real thrust here is to show that there is a new wave of foreclosure properties coming and we ought to be prepared for that. Let’s continue to be full of hope as well as avoid a lifestyle of worrying, but let’s keep an eye on what is going on.

Market Data from RealQuest & Realist:

City of Folsom in Sacramento County

• Preforeclosure Properties: 296 (RealQuest) 186 (Realist)
• Auction Properties: 46 (RealQuest) 79 (Realist)
• Bank-Owned Properties: 158 (RealQuest) 262 (Realist)

City of Citrus Heights in Sacramento County

• Preforeclosure Properties: 309 (RealQuest) 435 (Realist)
• Auction Properties: 57 (RealQuest) 161 (Realist)
• Bank-Owned Properties: 134 (RealQuest) 330 (Realist)

City of Orangevale in Sacramento County

• Preforeclosure Properties: 136 (RealQuest) 145 (Realist)
• Auction Properties: 26 (RealQuest) 45 (Realist)
• Bank-Owned Properties: 126 (RealQuest) 128 (Realist)

City of Rancho Cordova in Sacramento County

• Preforeclosure Properties: 245 (RealQuest) 256 (Realist)
• Auction Properties: 32 (RealQuest) 107 (Realist)
• Bank-Owned Properties: 223 (RealQuest) 298 (Realist)

City of Fairfield in Solano County

• Preforeclosure Properties: 309 (RealQuest) 710 (Realist)
• Auction Properties: 51 (RealQuest) 283 (Realist)
• Bank-Owned Properties: 140 (RealQuest) 745 (Realist)

City of West Sacramento in Yolo County

• Preforeclosure Properties: 232 (RealQuest) 225 (Realist)
• Auction Properties: 109 (RealQuest) 114 (Realist)
• Bank-Owned Properties: 159 (RealQuest) 207 (Realist)

NOTE: The discrepancy in the data above would be very important to research and explain if the data was actually used in an appraisal report or to support value conclusions in any way. It is very important to use the best available data in an appraisal report because solid value must be based upon reliable information.

The data above was really provided as an FYI for those who may be interested. Since RealQuest provides a free service too, go spend a few minutes on their website, see what you can find, and draw your own conclusions about reliability.

If you have any questions or potential appraisal needs, please contact me at 916-595-3735 and www.lundquistcompany.com

Here are some images from the field today in the “Capital Village” neighborhood within the City of Rancho Cordova. Capital Village is a new and ongoing project by Beazer Homes. It is distinct locally because of its mixed-use concept and unique design (small lots, 1 to 3 stories, units attached or detached, flat or pitched roofing, vibrant or earth-tone colors, close proximity to commercial retail, two parks…).

Vibrant Colors & Unique Design: 

View of one of the local parks and detached units in background:

Construction is currently ongoing within Capital Village.

In the words of Beazer Homes:

Located in Rancho Cordova, off Zinfandel Drive just south of Highway 50, Capital Village is a progressive new home community featuring a combination of various architectural designs, several popular retail stores and restaurants, a mixed-use town center, numerous parks, a water feature and more! Urban living meets true suburban comfort at the new Capital Village community by Beazer Homes.

Capital Village Links:

• Capital Village Blog
• Beazer Homes Website
• Capital Village Video Tour by Lundquist Appraisal

If you are a Capital Village home owner, what is it that drew you to this community? And what do you think now that you are there? What commercial retail shops do you want to see come into your neighborhood?

If anyone has appraisal-related questions pertaining to Capital Village, let me know. I am experienced with appraising properties in the Capital Village market as well as the nearby “Stone Creek” area of Rancho Cordova. I can be reached at 916-595-3735 or www.ranchocordovaappraiser.com  And no, I am not paid to advertise Capital Village. I simply mention things I think I worthy of mentioning.