Sacramento Appraisal Blog

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Real Estate Appraisal

The Slowdown of Sacramento Construction

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Builders were really cranking out houses throughout the Sacramento Region during the housing boom a few years back. I remember 5+ years ago going to virtually any builder website and seeing pockets of projects they had going on from Merced County to Sutter County. The market was hot, profit was ripe, and prices were high too.

I happened to be on Beazer’s website today and I noticed they only have one project right now in the Sacramento Region (Capital Village – as shown below). Times certainly have changed, haven’t they? I know, I know, this is not great news. So let me give you something uplifting to end on. If you are feeling discouraged about life and the housing market, give local real estate broker Keith Klassens’s recent post a read.

The Dinky Diner in Clarksburg

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I took a few hours off today to head to Clarksburg with my wife to fit in a little anniversary date. We enjoyed a scenic drive through several Sacramento Delta towns, a light lunch, a short visit to the town of Locke, and some wine-tasting. In all the times I’ve appraised property in the Delta area, I’ve actually never stopped to eat, so I was delighted to enjoy The Dinky Diner. This little mobile set-up (as pictured below) is located on top of the levy about one mile south of Old Sugar Mill along South River Road. We were impressed with the burgers, the small town feel, and the great vibe as we sat outside on a park bench overlooking the Delta. What a fantastic little joint.

Would the Sound of a Train Drive you Crazy?

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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.

Is your Condominium Approved by FHA/HUD?

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I hit the jackpot yesterday when talking with a local realtor, and it ended up being a “two birds with one stone” situation. Here’s what happened.

Earlier in the day I emailed a Facebook Realtor friend and asked her if she ever sold a condo in a particular subdivision in the city of Folsom. There are ZERO recent condo sales in this subdivision in Empire Ranch, so I want to get as much firsthand information as possible. Well, my friend gave me a chunk of insight, but it turned out that she needed some help because she was having financing issues with one of her deals in the “Rivage” condo subdivision in Folsom.

Anyway, through the course of contacting listing agents for research for my appraisal, I talked with Realtor Ann Boswell of Insight Real Estate. I had never spoken with Ann before, but she ended up being a wealth of information for not only the subject subdivision, but for “Rivage” up the street. Ann spent a good 10-15 minutes on the phone with me (I love when Realtors take time like that. It’s good on so many levels). 

It turns out that since Rivage has not yet completed construction, some of the buildings are FHA approved and others are not. That could be an issue, don’t you think? It’s funny to think that despite these buildings being next door to each other in the same new development, some of them don’t make the cut (yet) to be guaranteed by HUD. More specifically, per HUD’s website, only buildings 1 and 13-26 are currently approved by HUD/FHA.

Two birds with one stone? One, I got insight into the subject subdivision. And Two, thanks to Ann Boswell I was able to resource my Facebook friend with information on Rivage and why her deal was maybe having some issues. But most of all, I was able to give my Facebook friend the name of someone at Wells Fargo who could help her get her condo on the HUD approved list.

You can search HERE to see the HUD/FHA approved condominium list.

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