Whenever title transfers on a deed, a real estate appraisal is usually needed. Situations like the death of a loved one, inheritance of property, divorce, refinance, estate settlement, and buyout of other persons on title warrant a credible real estate appraisal so that decisions can be made about the property. 

Tips for Hiring an Appraiser for a Title Transfer Situation:

• Make sure the appraiser knows the real estate market where the property is located. This is key toward producing a reliable appraisal. It’s okay to ask the appraiser questions about his/her experience.
• Help the appraiser understand why the appraisal is needed. Did you inherit property? Are your elderly parents moving and title is transferring to you? Was there a death in the family? Is there a divorce or break-up in progress? The appraiser is bound to confidentiality and cannot by law share your situation with others.
• Inform the appraiser what type of value is needed. An experienced appraiser will be able to easily figure this out with you in just a couple of minutes of conversation. Is this a market value as of today’s date or do you need an appraisal based upon a previous date? For example, in estate settlement appraisals, it is common for the appraisal to be based upon the date which title was transferred in the past or the date of death of the loved one. This is called a “retrospective value”.
• If you are a home owner working with an attorney and it would be easiest on you for the appraiser to work directly with the attorney, that’s definitely doable. I see it work out either way and I defer to whatever the client needs and prefers.
• Remember that the lowest-priced fees for appraisals usually produce the lowest-quality of work (my fees are very reasonable). The last thing you want is for an unreliable appraisal to get in the way of what you are trying to accomplish with a transfer of title.

If you have any questions about the information above or would like to talk more, feel free to call me at 916-595-3735, see my company website at www.lundquistcompany.com or email me at ryan [at] lundquistcompany [dot] com.  I am available to help you in your time of need and I am glad to speak with you about your situation.

I snapped the following shot while inspecting a Beazer property the other day in Rancho Cordova. This type of sign is very typical in many portions of the Greater Sacramento Region for new construction.

In hopes of selling off their inventory, most builders these days use marketing language such as “Foreclosure Pricing” or “Closing Costs Back to You” or “Tax Credits”. Builders definitely have to compete with the foreclosure and short sale properties within the marketplace and so there is quite a different marketing strategy from what we saw just five years ago. Let’s take 2004, for example, the Builders could pretty much command whatever price they wanted (prices went up 10K a month like it was nothing), “upgrades” were quite pricey, and the builder was definitely in control. Nowadays the buyer is in charge, sometimes the “upgrades” are now included as more standard features, concessions and closing costs offered within the purchase price are more normative, and prices have come down substantially in most areas.

What other ads or signs have you seen in the local market?

Tip for the Buyer of New Construction: Make sure that you are paying fair market value for the house you are purchasing. You need to have a reliable appraiser who understands the current market. It’s nice to get closing costs and concessions included within a purchase price, but if the purchase price is padded so greatly with these things, one must wonder if the house is really worth what it is being sold for. For example, if a house is being sold for $325,000 and there are $25,000-$35,000 worth of concessions within the purchase price, maybe the house is truly worth $290,000-300,000. If the house was offered for sale without concessions or closing costs covered within the purchase price, what would it sell for? That’s a good question to ask and it might save you some money in the long run. Obviously though many times the inclusion of concessions and closing costs is what helps the deal get done and assists the buyer’s financing. Even though prices are much lower in California right now, it is still very difficult for the bulk of buyers to put down 20% of the cost of a home (hence the popularity lately of FHA financing programs with 97% loans).

If you have any questions, feel free to call me at 916-595-3735, see my company website at www.lundquistcompany.comor email me at ryan [at] lundquistcompany [dot] com.

How are unemployment levels doing in Sacramento County right now? How is your city or area doing? Have a look at the data below to check out your area or places nearby to where you live. Do you think there is any impact on property values when unemployment rises? Might this lead to more foreclosures? Do you think the large decline in price levels over the past year in many areas below might be related in part to the large percentages of unemployment which have increased sharply? Does it seem like some of the hardest hit areas are also struggling with higher unemployment rates?

Unemployment Rates are based upon information provided from the Employment Development Department from February 2009.

State of California      10.1%     

State of California One Year Ago   6.2%

Sacramento County    10.7%

Arden Arcade CDP      10.4%

Carmichael CDP          7.9%

Citrus Heights city      7.5%

Elk Grove CDP            8.7%

Fair Oaks CDP            5.9%

Florin CDP                 16.0%

Folsom city               4.8%

Foothill Farms CDP      13.7%

Galt city                   16.2%

Gold River CDP           1.8%

Isleton city               11.5%

La Riviera CDP            5.8%

Laguna CDP               5.5%

Laguna West Lakeside CDP   7.2%

North Highlands CDP    15.8%

Orangevale CDP          7.6%

Parkway South Sacramento CDP   18.0%

Rancho Cordova City   12.3%

Rancho Murieta CDP    3.3%

Rio Linda CDP             15.7%

Rosemont CDP            8.4%

Sacramento city         12.5%

Vineyard CDP             4.9%

Walnut Grove CDP       23.6%

Wilton CDP                 6.5%

For further reference and to look up unemployment information and rates on any county or city in California, see the following links:

• EDD State of California Stats
• EDD California County Stats
• EDD California City & CDP Stats

If you have any questions about the data above or any other appraisal-related issues or thoughts, contact me at 916-595-3735 or www.lundquistcompany.com