Sacramento Appraisal Blog

Market trends and real estate appraisals for divorce, estate settlement, loans, property tax appeal, pre-listing and more. We cover Sacramento, Placer and Yolo County. We're professional, courteous and timely.

Social Media and the Future of Real Estate Event

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Sacramento Social Media ClubI’ll be sitting on a panel at an upcoming event called “Social Media and the Future of Real Estate”. I’d love for you to come check it out on May 8 at SAR HQ at 6:30pm. If you cannot make it in person, the event will stream live on Ustream or you can follow it on Twitter with the hashtag #SMCSAC. But let’s face it, it would be nice to meet up in person. The Sacramento Social Media Club describes the event as follows:

Social Media is a Real Estate Game Changer– How do you create a meaningful social media balance?

Social media and the internet have transformed the way real estate professionals connect with their community. Many have embraced it and some are struggling or resisting the inevitable. Throw in facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, Pinterest and a vast amount of growing networks and it can be downright overwhelming!

Presented by Social Media Club Sacramento, a panel of Real Estate professionals who have had success with social media will discuss social media best practices, how to balance your professional with your personal brand and how social media impacts real estate today.

Panelists include: 
Heather Ostrom, Realtor®, Coldwell Banker Sun Ridge, @RosevilleRockLn
Ryan Lundquist, Appraiser, Lundquist Appraisal Company, @SacAppraiser
Tamara Dorris, Realtor®, Davis & Davis, @tamaradorris
Laura Monroe, Virtual Assistant, Creative Agent Solutions, @LauraMonroe
Moderator: Chris Little, Real Estate Broker and President Elect of Sacramento Association of Realtors, Little Real Estate Services, @Chris_Little

For more information check out the Eventbrite page and the Facebook event page. Let me know if you have any questions. I hope to see you there.

If you have any questions or Sacramento area real estate appraisal or property tax appeal needs, contact me by phone 916-595-3735, email, Twitter, subscribe to posts by email or “like” my page on Facebook

Juggling foreclosures & short sales in Sacramento

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We are seeing fewer foreclosures lately in Sacramento, which is a good thing. But at the same time, the foreclosure rate going down seems in part be a result of more effectiveness with short sales. This is important for consideration since short sales are still considered distressed sales and very often sell for less than traditional sales and even foreclosures (depending on condition of course). As you can see in the chart below, the overall percentage of distressed sales has remained fairly similar over the past few years (but definitely down from stats in 2008 when a wave of bank-owned sales hit the market).

Is this interesting to anyone besides me? Or am I just a numbers geek?

Sacramento County distressed sales chart by Sacramento home appraiser blog

For reference, The Sacramento Business Journal reported yesterday on a decreased level of notice of defaults (NODs) during the first quarter in both California and Sacramento County. Theoretically, if there are less defaults this year, we should see the percentage of foreclosures continue to decrease.

The Point: We are seeing glimpses of recovery in the housing market, but the market is still distressed. Let’s take any good news in context.

If you have any questions or Sacramento area real estate appraisal or property tax appeal needs, contact me by phone 916-595-3735, email, Twitter, subscribe to posts by email or “like” my page on Facebook

Weighing the distressed market in Sacramento

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It’s really interesting to look at the percentage of foreclosures and short sales among certain price segments in Sacramento County over the past quarter. Generally speaking, the higher the price, the lower the percentage of foreclosure, and the lower the price, the higher the rate of foreclosure. Why do you think there are more distressed sales at lower price levels? Why does the percentage of distressed properties tend to decrease as price levels increase?

distressed sales in sacramento county graphy by Sacramento Home Appraiser

NOTE: I wanted to show distressed percentages up to $1,000,000, but there were only 24 sales in Sacramento County between $650,000 to $1,000,000 over the past quarter, so the data was too sparse to really establish a trend. The data above $500,000 in fact starts to get really limited.

If you have any questions or Sacramento area real estate appraisal or property tax appeal needs, contact me by phone 916-595-3735, email, Twitter, subscribe to posts by email or “like” my page on Facebook

10 things NOT to do when the appraiser comes over

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I’ve written before about how to prepare for an appraisal inspection, but I wanted to revisit the topic from the other side today. Here are 10 things NOT to do when the appraiser comes over.

  1. Walk around the house in your birthday suit.
  2. Let the dogs run loose to lick and bite the appraiser at will.
  3. Lock your doors so the appraiser doesn’t have access to each room.
  4. Watch “adult” movies (this actually happened once…. yikes).
  5. Let the appraiser surprise sleeping house guests. Rise and shine.
  6. Make things as messy as possible.
  7. Refuse to discuss any recent updates to your home.
  8. Follow the appraiser around as much as possible.
  9. Buy lavish gifts in hopes of boosting value.
  10. Don’t make a list of recent improvements.

You know I’m only having fun, and I’m pretty sure you can sift through what I’m saying to understand a bit more how to be ready when an appraiser comes to inspect your property. If not, please read “What should you do before the appraiser comes?” If you have any questions, let me know.

Anything you’d add to the list?

If you have any questions or Sacramento area real estate appraisal or property tax appeal needs, contact me by phone 916-595-3735, email, Twitter, subscribe to posts by email or “like” my page on Facebook

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