I was in the Capital Village neighborhood of Rancho Cordova today and I snapped the following picture. I like the way the white sky in this photo blends with the background of the website. It’s been foggy and cloudy this week in Sacramento.
Sacramento
“Obama Cam” Photos in Sacramento
I’m disheartened to hear stats on President Obama’s “Making Home Affordable” program. So far it doesn’t look like the program is working very well (at all). A CNN article last week stated “The administration projected that between half and three-quarters of applicants would have new mortgages at this point. As of the end of November, the number is 4.3 percent.” That’s not good.
In light of this less-than-wonderful news, I thought it would be interesting to use the “Obama Cam” app on my mobile phone to snap a few images of some local REO and Short Sale properties in the Sacramento area. The “Obama Cam” application overlays an image of President Obama (17 to choose from) on any picture taken with my mobile phone (an Android G1).
These images are in no way meant to belittle the President, make a political statement for any political party, or even rant about the Making Home Affordable program. There is actually a deep element here for me since the shots juxtapose governmental programs with real life local distressed properties. I’m reminded of the ever-present struggle in today’s economy for so many households, that recovery is going to take a long time, and also that good intentions in Washington DC do not necessarily translate to good results on “Main Street”.
What do these images evoke in you? Why is the “Making Home Affordable” program not yet working as it should? Please give your two cents and feel free to share your experience. By the way, do you have an app like this on your phone? Your comments are welcome below.
www.SacramentoAppraisalBlog.com “Obama Cam” Photos in Sacramento
Exit Realty West Hosts Successful CanTree Auction
Congratulations to Exit Realty West for their fantastic Christmas CanTree auction last night. The event was managed well (with humor) and there were so many generous Realtors, agents, mortgage consultants, and others that handed over cash for gift baskets, 49ers tickets, wine bottles, Kings tickets, cookies, and other random stuff. I know Jeff Dominguez and Francisco Cuellar of Exit Realty West put in some hard work to pull this off. Great work guys!! Thank you for advocating for families in need and providing a hub to bring others together to participate.
The photos are a bit blurry. My mobile phone takes really great pictures, but when it comes to shots in a dimly lit room – not so good.
www.SacramentoAppraisalBlog.com Exit Realty West Hosts Successful CanTree Auction
The Assessor’s Value vs. True Market Value
This is a graph I put together earlier today for a home owner as part of the total package for appealing his property taxes. All dots represent model match sales over the past three years in a specifically defined neighborhood in the Sacramento area. The Assessor’s Office bases their value for this year on January 1, 2009, which is represented by the vertical line. For reference, I also included all model match sales through November 2009. What do you see? How does this graph strike you?
When looking at all model match sales, it’s not hard to see that the Assessor valued this property too high. In this case, the assessed valued was only about $30,000 higher than true market value, but this amount is still $300+ out of the home owner’s pocket for the year. It’s more common for me to help property owners dispute their taxes for residential properties when there is a greater savings of $500, $1000 or even thousands of dollars, but in this instance the home owner felt strongly about moving forward to contest the Assessor’s value.
Let me know if you have any questions. You are welcome to call me at 916-595-3735 or visit www.SacramentoTaxAppeals.com. Remember, the deadline for appealing property taxes in many counties surrounding Sacramento is November 30, 2009.
www.SacramentoAppraisalBlog.com The Assessor’s Value vs. True Market Value