Here are the latest unemployment rates for all cities and CDPs in Placer County as of September 2010 per EDD. For reference, the unemployment rate in Placer County in Sepetember2009 was 10.9% (as opposed to 11.5% in September 2010). It’s not a surprise to see an increase in umeployment over the past year since that is happening all over the Sacramento Region.

It’ll be interesting to see if there is an increase in unemployment in the Roseville area next month in light of the Gallteria mall burning last week. This of course assumes companies will not be able to provide work for employees over the next few months as the mall is rehabbed and also that employees live locally in Rosevile and Rocklin. It’s reported, for instance, that Macy’s will relocate their Galleria employees until the work has been completed, but there is nothing definitive yet about what Nordstrom will do. In the mean time too there is a “Keep Shopping in Roseville” page on Facebook.

Do you know anyone that works at the Galleria Mall? How have various employers and employees handled the situation thus far?

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.

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.

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?

I recently inspected a bank-owned huge fixer of a house in the Oak Park area of Sacramento, and I put together a one-minute video below (or HERE) for you to experience a bit of what I saw. This house sold for less than $20,000.

By the way, I do have the full blessing of my client to use images of this house they purchased. I would never violate my client’s confidentiality by posting pictures or sharing information like this without the absolute blessing of a client. Thank you also to Bill Cobb for the music. Let me know what you think.

If you’re a sports fan like me, you know the big story in basketball right now is whether LeBron James will be moving on to a different team or staying in Cleveland. This topic has dominated sports talk radio today, but the one thing I kept thinking of throughout the conversation thread was LeBron’s house.

If LBJ ends up playing in New York, for example, what is he going to do with his mega mansion in Cleveland? I remember reading an article several years ago about his 35,000 square foot 11-bedroom house that includes a bowling alley, casino and barber shop. Could he sell it without taking a huge loss? Is there a market in Cleveland for a house like this?

If you are considering remodeling or adding on to your house, think about resale value and what will be most acceptable to a pool of typical buyers in the future. Even though you might really like to add a ferris wheel, triple your square footage, or make your home feel like the bat cave, if you plan to sell your property in the not-too-distant future, you may want to consider whether there is a market for such a feature. Is your addition really considered an improvement to most buyers or will it be a distraction in the marketplace? Any thoughts?

It’s interesting to compare median price levels from one year ago to today’s median price levels. In many areas we have seen a definite increase in property value. What does this mean? What is fueling this trend? I used some data from a South Sacramento neighborhood in the video below to highlight this very phenomenon. If you don’t see the video in your email subscription or RSS, click HERE.

Yesterday I wrote about the Plumas Lake real estate market, and since I inspected a property in Olivehurst today (just north of Plumas Lake), I figured I’d include a few supplementary images of the area.

This photo was taken today in the southern portion of Plumas Lake (Cresleigh Meadows / Plumas Ranch). Vacant residential lots are commonplace these days and seen in the Plumas Lake area and throughout the Sacramento Region in many cities and counties.This vacant lot is located right across the street from a brand new park, and I loved the contrast of residential cables, brown grass and grazing sheep. 

Many newly constructed communites have “coming soon” signs for future residential and commercial construction. In general there is not enough profitability for local builders at this time, so postponed construction during the economic downturn is very standard protocol. Just think of how many jobs (and excited residents) there will be when the economy turns around and building can resume.

www.SacramentoAppraisalBlog.com Sheep in Plumas Lake: Photos from the Field