Sacramento Appraisal Blog

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Lundquist Appraisal Company

Inteview: Mistakes Investors Make in Real Estate

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Part 3 of 3: I sat down recently with Sacramento real estate broker Joel Wright to discuss real estate investment and some of the common mistakes investors make. Joel specializes in working with investors and he knows his stuff. In this video we hit on topics such as lending, paying all cash, buying the wrong property and other topics. Let me know if you have any questions and check out The Wright Report also for a very detailed analysis of the local market. View Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 below.

What other investor mistakes would you add to the list?

If you have any real estate appraisal, consulting, or property tax appeal needs in the Greater Sacramento Region, contact me at 916.595.3735, by email, on our appraiser website or via Facebook. 

Thou shall know thy neighorhood boundaries

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It’s so important to know exactly where one neighborhood ends and another begins. Misunderstanding neighborhood boundaries can have a dramatic impact on perceived property value. When dealing with a short sale situation, loan modification, property tax reduction, bankruptcy, or really any transaction, it could really backfire if the decision makers for your loan or legal documents do not take into account important market boundaries.

Let’s look at the map below as an example. The area traced in red is a portion of the Central Oak Park neighborhood in Sacramento, while the area traced in blue is known as Tahoe Park West.

Both of these areas are really separate neighborhoods despite being right next to each other (divided by Stockton Blvd). There is actually a huge difference in property value between these two areas as indicated on the trend graph below. The median price level throughout most of the past year in Tahoe Park West hovered around $150,000, while the median price level for Central Oak Park was closer to $60,000.

It’s easy to imagine how online valuation websites (like Zillow or Cyberhomes) or even inexperienced real estate professionals might make sincerely wrong value judgments by looking at all sales within a 1/4 mile radius or some other parameter that does not encapsulate the true neighborhood. That’s why it’s so important to work with professionals who really understand the local market.

How might misunderstanding neighborhood boundaries really do some damage?

If you have any real estate appraisal, consulting, or property tax appeal needs in the Greater Sacramento Region, contact me at 916.595.3735, by email, on our appraiser website or via Facebook.

10 highlights of the NorCal Real Estate Expo

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I went to the NorCal Real Estate Expo yesterday. It was a fantastic event attended by well over 700 local real estate professionals (mostly Realtors). Here are ten highlights from my day at the Expo: 

1.  The best part of the NorCal Expo was running into so many familiar faces. It was great to mingle with Realtors, loan officers and title reps I know. I probably had 100 little conversations and 20 or more in-depth connections.

2.  It was so nice to meet others in person like Meghan Wood & Jennifer Klein, who I had only previously connected with on both Facebook and Twitter.

3.  Jim Pelley gave an outstanding talk. He really connected well with the audience and catered his stories to the real estate world. I wish he would have spoken twice actually.  

4.  I met Frank & Brian from Think Big Work Small and sat in on their talk. I honestly thought they would discuss video marketing, which I was excited about, but their presentation was still very good as they shared about B2B marketing. I also met Mike Mueller who taught a great class on advanced blogging (though 45 minutes is really short to cover a good amount of material).

5.  I received two appraisal orders during the day.

6.  I had an investor in the Bay Area give me a call while at the Expo after he found me online. He wanted to discuss duplexes in the local market, zip codes to avoid, rent, etc… After talking for 10 minutes or so, I was able to refer him to a trustworthy broker to help him find the right property. Hopefully this will turn into business for both parties.

7.  Alyssa Lozano did a wonderful job with the fashion show. I am by no means an authority on fashion by any mild stretch of the imagination, but it was so fun to see Realtors Heather Pearce and Chris Little among others strut their stuff on the runway. Rob McQuade did a fantastic job as the emcee too. Alyssa and her real estate models worked very hard on this production.

8.  The Twitter hashtag for the conference was #norcalexpo. Following conversations on Twitter during a convention is a really great techie way to connect with others. I found some new people to follow, gained new followers and had fun and helpful interactions too. If you go to a conference, find out what the hashtag is so you can be a part of the conversation. Have you done this before?

9.  I saw two other appraisers at the Expo, which was really great. It’s surprising though to not see many appraisers take advantage of networking with hundreds upon hundreds of local real estate agents.

10.  On a superficial note, I brought home some girly pens from vendor booths for my wife (an author). She always likes when I do things like that when I go to conferences. It’s the small things, right?

If you were at the Expo, I’d love to hear about what you thought of the day.

If you have any real estate appraisal, consulting, or property tax appeal needs in the Greater Sacramento Region, contact me at 916.595.3735, by email, on our appraiser website or via Facebook.

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