A local realtor named Jesse Garcia of Keller Williams Realty interviewed me last week and the video is live today. We talked about the real estate market in Sacramento, property values, property tax appeals, and Project 680. Jesse is a good guy and I feel honored for the opportunity to chat a bit in his “Information You can Use” blog series. You can view more videos in Jesse’s series on his YouTube channel or on The Sacramento Real Estate Tube. Anyway, check it out and let me know what you think.
Appraisal Stuff
Looking Back on a Sacramento Fourplex
Looking at the sales history of a property can be very telling. In fact, you can often get clues into the happenings of the real estate market. Here is an interesting sales history for a Sacramento fourplex I came across in the course of a current appraisal I’m working on. This is not at all atypical because the market for residential-income properties really boomed in Sacramento (and then it fell hard too).
7/25/2000 – $110,000 sale
7/16/2002 – $278,000 sale
8/18/2004 – $435,000 sale
2/10/2005 – $459,000 sale
9/08/2008 – $377,500 sale (maybe a short sale – did not list in MLS)
5/01/2009 – $104,250 (transfer to bank – foreclosure)
7/13/2009 – $140,000 sale
What do you see? Does anything stand out to you? Let me know if you have any questions about the local real estate market or your neighborhoood. One of the things I enjoy most about my job is that I get to talk with local home owners and real estate agents about important decisions they are making.
Would the Sound of a Train Drive you Crazy?
I took some audio a while back of the sound of a train while on an appraisal inspection. While standing in the backyard of a property, I made the recording below. Do you think this would be a big deal for buyers? Listen to the video HERE if you cannot see it in your RSS or email subscription.
In appraisal terminology, this sound would be categorized as “external obsolescence” because it’s something external to the property that imposes on the property. One ineresting thing to me about external obsolescence is that there is a different reaction in the marketplace to locational challenges depending upon the market. For example, in a market with high demand and low supply (with increasing property values), you’ll find that many buyers will tend to overlook certain location and/or condition issues, whether close proximity to an airport, train tracks, fire station, etc… But in a downward market with less demand and a greater supply, buyers will tend to be picky and pay less for properties with locational issues. So if you are selling your property, know your market well and then set the price accordingly.
I’d love to hear your thoughts or stories about homes with external issues like this. Have you ever purchased or sold a house with a locational challenge? What’s it like to live by such a location? Do you tune it out after a while or does it gnaw at you day after day?
One other thing to consider too is that often times properties with locational challenges are not assessed properly because the Assessor’s mass appraisal process may not really capture negative features of a property that might make it worth less (backing to commercial, next to a gas station, located on a busy street). If you have any appraisal questions or needs due to location, please contact me at 916-595-3735.
What’s the Unemployment Rate in Sacramento County so far in 2010?
EDD finally posted January 2010 unemployment rates. They typically get new data on their website about 20 days into the next month (for the previous month), but this time around they took quite a bit longer. Maybe they didn’t want to release discouraging numbers (just kidding). Actually, they have a new schedule posted HERE in case you’re interested.
The graph to the right was taken from the EDD website. It looks like California is not doing too well compared with the rest of the United States. When looking at the graph or the data below, what stands out to you? Does anything surprise you? In Sacramento County, Gold River has the lowest unemployment rate at 2.6% and Walnut Grove takes home the top rate at 30.5%. These two have actually been bookends on the unemployment rate spectrum for quite some time. Overall Sacramento County has an unemployment rate of 13.10% as of January 2010.
What strikes you about the information above? How do you think unemployment influences the real estate market?