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Tahoe Park

Sellers, you don’t need 20 offers

September 8, 2020 By Ryan Lundquist 27 Comments

Sellers, getting twenty offers is the dream, right? That way you can be choosy about accepting the buyer with the strongest terms and probably a higher price too. But do you really need that many? In other words, can you get the same price with just a few offers? Let’s kick around this idea today.

THE SHORT VERSION:

1) No surprise. Getting more offers tends to lead to a higher sales price.
2) Sometimes just one offer can go way above the list price.
3) Homes with one offer also more regularly close way below the list price.
4) You don’t need 20 offers (but it sure does help).

THE LONGER VERSION:

Let’s look at some visuals and then consider some takeaways.

County Visuals: First off, I’m concerned these visuals are going to be confusing, so sorry if you’re thinking, “Dude, I only see dots and I have no idea what’s going on.” The goal is to show how much higher the sales price is compared to the original list price while considering the number of offers. Basically, when a dot is at 100%, it means a home sold at exactly the original list price. Or if a dot is at 110%, it sold 10% above the list price. Or 95% means it sold 5% lower than the original list price.

Question: What happens to prices when there are more offers?

The big plain truth: The truth is properties with more offers tend to close higher above the original list price than properties with fewer offers. Duh, I know we could have said that without the research, but it’s good to see what stats actually show rather than going with what we feel might be true. With that said, sometimes a home with just one offer can actually close at the same high percentage above the list price as a home with ten offers. So technically you don’t need ten to twenty offers to command a huge price (but it sure does help).

Neighborhood Visuals: Let’s check out some neighborhoods too instead of just the county. What do you see?

Conclusion: There are fewer data points to consider in the neighborhood visuals, but the takeaway is the same as the county (see above).

QUICK THOUGHTS:

1) 20 offers: If you’re getting 20 offers, it’s probably because you’re priced too low unless that’s what every listing is getting.

2) Aim for a few: Price it reasonably and you’re more likely to command a few solid offers and statistically be in the zone to compete above the list price. The reality is you don’t need 20 offers to get a huge price (but it helps).

3) Hang in there buyers: It’s not easy out there right now, but it’s worth noting not every sale is getting ten offers. It may feel true, but the stats don’t show it is.

4) Not everything is getting bid up: While many properties go 10% to 15% above the original list price, many homes sell below the list price. The narrative is Bay Area buyers are swooping in, paying cash, and everything is getting bid up, but that’s not true when looking at how many homes recently sold below the original list price (basically any dots below the 100% line).

5) Clear advantage: Having lots of offers gives sellers a huge advantage to be selective and accept contracts with the best terms (and probably higher prices).

6) Layers of the market: Not every price range is experiencing the same dynamic when it comes to multiple offers and getting bid up. This is why it’s so dangerous to take an experience with just one property and call it a trend for the market. Maybe. Maybe not.

I hope that was helpful. Thanks for being here.

Questions: How many offers do you think is ideal for a seller to get? Why are some listings able to command a huge price even though they only get one or two offers? What is it about those ones? Any other insight? I’d love to hear your take.

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Filed Under: Market Trends Tagged With: Appraisal, Appraiser, bidding wars, buyers, competitive market in Sacramento, Downtown, East Sac, East Sacramento, El Dorado County, Home Appraisal, homes getting bid up, House Appraisal, housing market, Midtown, Oak Park, Placer County, real estate trends, Ryan Lundquist, Sacramento County, sacramento regional appraisal blog, sellers, Tahoe Park, Whitney Ranch

Horses aren’t allowed & a big market update

January 14, 2020 By Ryan Lundquist 19 Comments

The other day a client asked me to include a statement in my appraisal that horses are allowed on the property. It was a huge lot, so it seemed like that might be okay… But I said NO for a very specific reason. Let’s talk about this and then for those interested let’s take a deep look at the local market.

A conversation with the city:

Me: Are horses allowed in the Tahoe Park neighborhood?

City: No. You need agricultural zoning for that to work. City of Sacramento code says: “It’s unlawful to keep, harbor, or maintain any bovine animal, horse, etc… on any parcel located in the city.” There are some locations that will work in the northern part of the city due to agricultural zoning, but not this location.

Me: What if it’s a really large lot though?

City: No. You need agricultural zoning.

Me: What if it’s an emotional support horse? (I wish I asked)

The point: On paper it might look like a horse property, but what does zoning allow? That’s the question. This is a good reminder to call the city or county to verify what is legally possible. To be fair owners can sometimes obtain a variance, but otherwise horses weren’t going to fly in this tract subdivision.

Class I’m teaching on Jan 16th: I’m doing a big market update at SAR from 9-10:30am. We’ll talk through the market, tips for talking to clients, and ideas for where to focus business. I’d love to see you there. Sign up here.

Any thoughts?

—–——– Big local market update (long on purpose) —–——–

This post is designed to skim or digest slowly.

A QUICK LOOK AT CONTENT

  1. Recap of 2019
  2. Loans & cash over the past decade
  3. The number of sales in 2019 vs 2018
  4. Distressed sales in Sacramento County
  5. Sales above $1M over the past eight years
  6. Sales below $100K over the past eight years
  7. Sales volume “recovery”
  8. Not a crash, but on the lower side
  9. Price growth is slowing down
  10. Comparing last year vs this year
  11. Price Cycles
  12. Housing supply is anemic
  13. More visuals for surrounding counties

Scroll down to see what captures your interest. There are a number of new visuals too. I used a different format. What do you think?

DOWNLOAD 145 visuals: Please download all graphs here as a zip file. See my sharing policy for 5 ways to share (please don’t copy verbatim).

1) Recap of 2019: The year ended up feeling somewhat normal after a painfully dull last half of 2018 that left us wondering what would happen in 2019. Price gains were modest, there were slightly fewer sales compared to the prior year, and it typically took several days longer to sell in most counties (besides El Dorado taking over ten days longer). Here are some trends to watch in 2020.

2) Loans & cash over the past decade: These visuals are brand new and I hope you like them. Conventional financing has taken off this past decade, right? FHA used to be more common until conventional products began offering lower down payments. There was actually an uptick in FHA though this year, so let’s keep watching that. Cash sales are not a big factor in today’s market despite sellers thinking they are.

3) The number of sales in 2019 vs 2018: There were more sales at higher prices and less at lower prices. This makes sense for a market that showed upward price movement. 

4) Distressed sales in Sacramento County: It’s astounding to think that 84% of sales in Sacramento County were distressed in early 2009, whereas now we have fewer than 1.5% bank-owned sales and 0.5% short sales. People keep asking me if we’re poised to see these numbers start increasing again. Technically there’s really no place to go but up since distressed sales have bottomed out. But I wouldn’t expect these to increase dramatically because there’s no mechanism in place right now that would trigger mass-distressed sales. There is not the ticking time-bomb of adjustable rate mortgages or an economic collapse. But if we had a devastating economic downturn or some other huge issue, that could change things. There are definitely voices that talk about a coming “wave” of distressed properties, but this wave has not materialized despite prophecies for many years. Granted, bank-owned sales are up very slightly this year, but it’s not statistically significant. I’ll keep you posted with any changes.

5) Sales above $1M over the past eight years: This is a fascinating way to look at the market. I know there are many colors, but here is the number of sales above $1M for each respective year. What’s the trend?

6) Sales below $100K over the past eight years: On the other side of the price spectrum, here are sales below $100K. There aren’t too many these days. I know, everyone wants to go back to 2012. But the problem is financing was hardly available back then to so many people who had a foreclosure or short sale on their record. So even though prices were right so to speak, financing wasn’t.

7) Sales volume “recovery”: We’ve begun to see sales volume come out of a funk as it was down for over a year. However, there’s an asterisk to this news because we’ve seen sexier volume over the past few months, but we’re also comparing these recent months to a REALLY dull season last year. So of course the numbers today look better. My advice? Take this news with a grain of salt and save rejoicing for the spring season if we see this trend continue.

8) Not a crash, but on the lower side: As I said above, we’ve been having a definitive sales volume slump since mid-2018, but lately volume has been stronger. The number of sales this year has basically been down about 3% or so from last year in the region, though when looking at the past five years we can see volume is down closer to 5% or so. But here’s the thing. Sales volume this year was still on the lower side of normal (and even higher than 2014 which was a dull year). This is a good reminder to look at stats in a wider context instead of having tunnel vision stuck on one or two years. For reference, when the market crashed in 2005 we saw a 40% drop in sales volume over one year.

9) Price growth is slowing down: Price growth has been slowing, which basically means prices aren’t rising as quickly as they used to. Though technically the monthly and quarterly data below show higher price growth this year. Does that mean the market has been more aggressive? Has it begun to rebound? Not necessarily. I recommend being hesitant about sharing this positive-sounding news because the market was REALLY dull last year. Thus when we compare monthly and quarterly numbers today with dismal stats from 2018 it can really inflate the figures.

10) Comparing last year vs this year: All year long most price metrics have been up about 2-4% each month compared to last year, but these past three months they’ve been higher. This is likely due to stats sagging last year during a dull 2018 fall season. I know, I keep mentioning that. Additionally, mortgage rates went down a few months ago and we’re likely seeing some of the effect of that.

11) Price Cycles: Markets go up and down. That’s just what they do. Here’s a look at the past few price cycles in various counties. This is a fascinating way to see the market. Do you see the price deceleration in this current cycle? Also, in El Dorado County I pulled my stats just two days ago and the median price was down 0.1% instead of at 0% in my recap image above (that’s why the numbers are slightly different).

12) Housing supply is anemic: There isn’t much on the market right now, so buyers are hungry for good product. Remember, the spring market usually comes alive in the sales stats by March, but this means the market really started to move in January and February when these sales from March got into contract. Anyway, inventory looks to be mirroring what we saw a few years prior to last year’s dull season as you can see in the image directly below. There should be more homes hitting the market in coming months if we have a normal seasonal rhythm. Sellers, there’s nothing wrong with listing in January or February either. If you sense demand is there and especially if rates go down, you’ll have a captive audience.

13) More visuals: I know, there are too many visuals already. But here’s more. I never post them all either, so check out the download if you wish.

SACRAMENTO REGION (more graphs here):

SACRAMENTO COUNTY (more graphs here):

PLACER COUNTY (more graphs here):

EL DORADO COUNTY (more graphs here):

DOWNLOAD 145 visuals: Please download all graphs here as a zip file. See my sharing policy for 5 ways to share (please don’t copy verbatim).

Thanks for respecting my content: Please don’t copy my post verbatim or alter the images in any way. I will always show respect for your original work and give you full credit, so I ask for that same courtesy. Here are 5 ways to share my content.

Questions: What stands out to you about the market last year? What are you seeing right now? Anything to add?

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Filed Under: Market Trends Tagged With: 2019 market recap, 2019 real estate market, 2020 real estate market, cash, City of Sacramento zoning code, FHA, foreclosures, Home Appraiser, horses, House Appraiser, multiple offers, price growth, sacramento regional appraisal blog, sales volume shrinking, Short Sales, Tahoe Park, VA, Valuation

Appraisal waivers & the foreclosure wave

February 27, 2019 By Ryan Lundquist 12 Comments

I have two things on my mind today. Yesterday I had a conversation about appraisal waivers and “hybrid” appraisals, so I wanted to share my take. Then I have some new graphs to help tell the story of the foreclosure crisis.

APPRAISAL WAIVERS & “HYBRID” APPRAISALS:

Here’s a Q&A with with Scott Short on appraisal waivers and “hybrid” appraisals. I get things changing for appraisers in light of big data, but diminishing the role appraisers play seems like a bad idea for the housing market. Watch here. If you want to just hear the “hybrid” part, it’s at 7:12.

By the way, a local appraiser named Barry Cleverdon had an accident a few weeks ago and is currently in a coma. Here is Barry’s GoFundMe.

THE FORECLOSURE CRISIS:

1) Healing: The foreclosure rate in the United States is way down. I would guess most markets have essentially healed. In Sacramento County ten years ago 84% of sales were distressed and now that number is less than 2% when considering both short sales and bank-owned sales (REOs).

2) Not the same in every neighborhood: When it comes to distressed sales, some areas and price ranges did better than others as you can see below. This reminds us the market doesn’t experience the same exact trend everywhere.

3) The power of equity: Areas with more equity and higher prices tended to fare better with the number of distressed sales. I know that’s what we’d expect to see, but it’s interesting to actually see it. It’s amazing how equity (and probably better jobs) can create opportunity and even help people weather a storm.

4) The promise of a new wave: Many have promised a new wave of foreclosures, but we just haven’t seen it. I hear things like, “Dude, there are so many Notice of Defaults right now.” That may be true, but not all of these NODs end up hitting the market. Or if they do go into foreclosure they may likely be sold on the court steps before MLS.

Two weeks ago I asked friends on LinkedIn which areas they wanted to see, and that’s how this post was born. I didn’t get to everywhere, but I got to most areas.

MAKE GRAPHS LIKE THIS: If you want to know how to make a graph like this, here’s a tutorial for how to put a few different layers of data on one graph.

BLOG BASH: Just a reminder my wife and I are hosting a party at Yolo Brewing on Saturday March 2nd. It’s an excuse to get together and you’re invited. It’s okay if we’ve never met too. I’ll be buying the first 100 beers. Details here.

Questions: What do you think of appraisal waivers and “hybrid” appraisals? What stands out to you most in the images above?

If you liked this post, subscribe by email (or RSS). Thanks for being here.

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Filed Under: Market Trends Tagged With: 2-4 unit sales in sacramento, 95815 sales, Arden Manor, Arden Park, bank-owned sales, College Glen, distressed sales, East Sacramento, El Dorado Hills, Elk Grove, Folsom, foreclosure epidemic, foreclosures, Land Park, Lincoln, Meadowview, REOs, Rio Linda, Rocklin, Roseville, Short Sales, Tahoe Park

Being neutral, price per square foot, and the Governor’s new digs

January 21, 2019 By Ryan Lundquist 35 Comments

I have a few things on my mind. Let’s talk about me being asked to recruit for a brokerage (really), price per sq ft, and the Governor’s new digs.

1) WHY I SAID “NO”:

A brokerage recently asked me if I would help them recruit agents. The idea was I could use my influence to attract agents to a certain brand and then get a commission for each person I recruited.

I said NO, and my answer will always be NO. I probably don’t even need to mention this, but I want to communicate clearly. As an appraiser I won’t take sides. I’m neutral in my work, but my independence also extends in the way I interact with the real estate community. This is why you’ll see me speaking in many different places and real estate offices. I’m here to educate, not advocate. The truth is if I said yes I would’ve instantly destroyed my credibility.

2) PRICE PER SQ FT:

Here’s a look at price per sq ft trends in a few local areas. I plan to share more graphs like this throughout the year if people like them. Does anyone want to see a video tutorial for how to make these? Let me know. What do you see?

Two Takeaways:

1) RANGE: There’s always a price per sq ft range, which means there’s never just one price per sq ft figure that applies to every property in a neighborhood. Sellers often want to hijack a price per sq ft figure from a sale down the street, but that’s one of the quickest ways to overprice. My advice? Pay attention to price per sq ft, but most of all ask yourself what the comps are selling for. That’s exactly what appraisers are going to do.

2) OUTLIERS: There are clear outliers. As an FYI, usually the highest price per sq ft figures end up representing the smallest-sized homes or over-the-top unique properties.

3) THE GOVERNOR’S NEW DIGS: 

Gavin Newsom is the new governor of California and he just bought a $3.7M house in Fair Oaks. This price point isn’t much in many areas of the country, but it’s actually the fifth highest residential sale ever in Sacramento County. This home is said to have over 12,000 sq ft and it’s located on 8 acres. It’s near the American River, but not on the river. Now two of the top five sales in the county have a connection to a governor (the other was the mansion Ronald Reagan started to build in Carmichael in the 1970s).

Here’s a picture I took of the front gate this week, and here’s a video from a previous listing if you wish to see the home. Not too shabby, right?

Value thought: In the future we’ll have to consider whether there will be a price premium or not for this home because a governor owned the property.

CLASS I’M TEACHING: I’m teaching my favorite class at SAR called How to Think Like an Appraiser on January 31st from 9-12pm. We’ll dig deep into comps and adjustments (and have some fun). I’d love to have you come out.

I hope this was helpful or interesting.

Questions: Would you pay more if a governor previously owned the home? What do you think of my recruiting story? I’d love to hear your take.

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Filed Under: Random Stuff Tagged With: abusing price per sq ft, Appraiser, being neutral, El Dorado Hills, Folsom, Gavin Newsom residence, Governor Gavin Newsom, Governor's home in Fair Oaks, Home Appraiser, House Appraiser, Midtown price per sq ft, objectivity, Price per sq ft, real estate recruiting, role of appraiser, Roseville, southcliff neighborhood, Tahoe Park, using price per sq ft in real estate

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