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.

Photos from the Field: Oak Park Vacant “Starbucks Building”

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I inspected a property in Oak Park yesterday, and while on the road I snapped a shot of the now vacant “Starbucks building” on Broadway. It’s been just about two weeks since the Oak Park Starbucks shut its doors. I know it can be popular in some circles to hate Starbucks, but this one felt a little different because it was connected to an exciting commercial renovation project for the community. Now it’s just another vacant building, one among many, in the current real estate market.

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Businesses starting and failing is a part of the cycle of capitalism, and that’s just life, but let’s hope for great things for the next company that moves in on this corner. If you are familiar with this project, how does the image above strike you? Does it make you sad? Or are you full of optimism for what is next? Feel free to comment above.

www.SacramentoAppraialBlog.com Photos from the Field: Oak Park Vacant “Starbucks Building”

A Look at Home Sales & Unemployment in Rancho Cordova

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I thought it would be interesting to take a look at Rancho Cordova sales over the past several years and simulataneously check out unemployment rates during that same time period. Is there a relationship between unemployment and the value of real estate? Generally speaking, the higher the unemployment rate, there is a good chance of lower home prices because the probability of buyers being able to purchase houses at higher prices decreases.

The trend graph below records all single family detached sales in the city of Rancho Cordova through Sacramento Area Metrolist. The unemployment figures are based on data provided by EDD. What do you see in the graph? Does anything stand out to you or surprise you about the sales (blue dots) or listed unemployment rate?

Rancho Cordova Sales and Unemployment Rates September 2006 to September 2009

Below is a view of the past 12 months of sales. As can be seen, the unemployment rate has risen sharply over the past year. It looks like overall the top of the market has seen a decline in property values. At first glance, when viewing a graph like this, it’s easy to gloss over the details, but when looking closely, it’s clear that there are less sales at higher levels over the past months, aren’t there? More specifically, there are few sales above the $400,000 level over the past 180 days.

Rancho Cordova Sales September 2009 and Unemployment Rate by Lundquist Appraisal Company

I don’t want to be misleading in any way by indicating that unemployment is the sole determining factor for property values. That’s not what I am saying. I think there is a relationship between unemployment and the housing market, but that unemployment is only one of the factors involved. This point is illustrated perfectly by a current phenomenon in many sub-markets in the Sacramento Region. Bidding wars, multiple offers, and higher prices have become more commonplace for certain price levels. Despite unemployment rising, the lower supply of housing inventory over the past months has really helped to fuel this phenomenon because there has been more willing buyers than available houses (and prices are very attractive too because of how far they have come down from several years ago). Other factors to consider that may impact the real estate market are supply and demand, governmental regulations, interest rates, consumer confidence in the economy, etc…

Please let me know if you have any questions. You can call me at 916-595-3735 or contact me at ryan@lundquistcompany.com.

www.SacramentoAppraisalBlog.com A Look at Home Sales & Unemployment in Rancho Cordova

Superfun vs. Superfund

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There is a big difference between “Superfun” and “Superfund”. One is all about having a great time and the other deals with hazardous waste sites in the United States. I know which one I’d rather have. 

If you are not familiar with the Superfund website, it’s worth checking out. Their website states:  

imagesSuperfund is the name given to the environmental program established to address abandoned hazardous waste sites. It is also the name of the fund established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as amended (CERCLA statute, CERCLA overview). This law was enacted in the wake of the discovery of toxic waste dumps such as Love Canal and Times Beach in the 1970s. It allows the EPA to clean up such sites and to compel responsible parties to perform cleanups or reimburse the government for EPA-lead cleanups.

Our territory in California is located in Region 9 and at www.epa.gov/superfund you can see all Superfund Sites in Region 9 as well as Cleanup Sites in California. For locals, you might recognize names like Mather Air Force Base, Sacramento Army Depot, Jibboom Junkyard, Travis Air Force Base, Riverbank Army Ammunition Plant, or AeroJet.

www.SacramentoAppraisalBlog.com Superfun vs. Superfund

A Mailbox in Dixon, CA: Photos from the Field

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I’ve never personally appraised a home for a higher amount because of the type of mailbox it had, and I’ve never heard of a mailbox actually increasing the market value of a property. Have you ever encountered buyers who purchased a home for more because it had a nice mailbox? Probably not. With that being said, I’ll say in principle that many times a good looking mailbox is often a byproduct of a house that has been well cared for. This isn’t always true, but generally speaking, when a home owner has taken the time to add attention to even the mailbox, usually effort has also been given to the actual house itself. Have you found this to be mostly true also?

While snapping comp photos today in Dixon, CA after inspecting a property I am appraising, I happened upon the mailbox below. I know, a mailbox can be sort of like piece of art, and either you’ll love it or hate it, but my eye caught a hold of this one because of the telephone-pole vibe as well as the metal craftsmanship that was probably custom-designed or maybe even welded by the owner. I thought this was a very creative example of a mailbox and it really fit well with the overall presentation of the home (and sure enough, the rest of this house looks very decent too, which supports my generalization above). 

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There are certainly many more examples of mailboxes out there. We’ve all seen the chicken mailbox, the duck, the giant brick pillar, or the miniature mailbox that is designed and painted just like the actual house. Have a look at the links below to find out more about what is out there (and even the history behind mailboxes).

Mailbox Links:

If you have an additional link suggestion, please comment above. Also, if you have a picture you took of a wild mailbox, email me at ryan@lundquistcompany.com and I’ll post it here so long as it is appropriate.

www.SacramentoAppraisalBlog.com A Mailbox in Dixon, CA: Photos from the Field

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