Real Estate Blog

As a Real Estate professional I get asked this question daily. I have my ideas and opinions and quite frankly they change as the "market" changes. But the one constant for me has been this: Any given property is worth what someone is willing to pay.

If you are trying to sell a property in today’s market put yourself in the shoes of a buyer. Ask yourself this question:


...

Selling your home, when you boil it down, is really about 3 things: the Property, the Promotion, and the Price.



The Property is the one thing over which you, the Seller, have control. It is your house. You have complete control over the color, the carpet, the landscaping, the décor, the features…simply put, it’s your house. As a Realtor, I’m happy to walk through your home ...

Home Front: Quarterly home sales worst yet for Sacramento area

Sacramento-area home builders just keep singing the blues.

July, August and September brought their worst quarter yet in this long housing crash: just 616 sales in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties, the Folsom-based Gregory Group reports today.

Actually, nearly all the region&rsqu...

A couple of years ago it seemed that there was no price ceiling in our market and today we are asking is this the bottom? Is there a bottom?

Here are some of my thoughts on the current market.

Our inventory is starting go down and with sales up a little we can see the beginning of a more balanced market taking shape.

When Buyer’s and Seller’s are on equal fo...

Mortgage fraud bills sent to Schwarzenegger

As financial carnage from the housing crash continues across California, state lawmakers have sent several bills that crack down on mortgage fraud to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s desk.

In recent days, the Assembly and Senate have jointly passed bills to ban loan modification companies from asking for upfront fees and make mortgag...

As a Real Estate professional I get asked this question daily. I have my ideas and opinions and quite frankly they change as the "market" changes. But the one constant for me has been this: Any given property is worth what someone is willing to pay.

If you are trying to sell a property in today’s market put yourself in the shoes of a buyer. Would you pay what you are asking?
If...

Great California Garage Sale opening draws thousand in Sacramento


Leila Torres stood with two companions Friday across the street from the huge state surplus goods warehouse in North Natomas and surveyed the long line of people waiting to enter the Great California Garage Sale, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s latest tactic to raise money for the state budget.

The morning ...

Sacramento-area home sales remain sluggish

By Jim Wasserman
jwasserman@sacbee.com

http://www.sacbee.com/business/story/2130021.html


Sales of existing homes in the Sacramento area climbed 2.6 percent from June to July – far short of the surprising 7.2 percent rise nationally that sent stocks soaring Friday.

A July report showed sales of 3,495 existing ...

Real Estate Sales

Posted: Friday, Jul 24, 2009 - 05:11:08 pm PDT

http://www.cdapress.com/articles/2009/07/24/real_estate/1-real-estate-sales.txt


Email this story Printer friendly version By Press staff and
The Associated Press
Jeff Chiu/Associated Press In this July 21 photo, a home for sale is shown in San Francisco. A real estate group’s report sai...

Home Front: Despite programs meant to help, many homeowners still frustrated

By Jim Wasserman
jwasserman@sacbee.com

http://www.sacbee.com/business/story/1978579.html


Day in and day out since 2007, callers who struggle with mortgages throughout the Sacramento region, those who can’t sleep for worrying, who want to stay with houses that have lost $150,00...

Sacramento area misses move-up homebuyers -- they’re staying put

By Jim Wasserman
jwasserman@sacbee.com


http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/1959684.html

Almost four years into the real estate crash, a once-thriving sector of the Sacramento-area housing market – the move-up buyer – has become a virtual dead zone that must revive itself for a true reco...

Here’s more evidence that the housing market is recovering.

Two major home builders, Toll Brothers Inc. and Hovnanian Enterprises Inc., say their losses were shrinking compared to last year because buyers are coming back to the market.

Other encouraging news came from IHS Global Insight, a research firm, which said home prices fell on average at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in t...

It isn’t unusual for GreatWest GMAC Real Estate professionals to be approached by home buyers interested in procuring a “fixer-upper” home. Certainly in our current market with many bank-owned homes available, finding such a property shouldn’t be difficult.

However, there are certain things to be considered prior to purchasing that can help safeguard any investment of money, time and eff...

The Case for Buying a Home Right Now
Low interest rates and very flexible prices make this a good time to be a buyer.
By BRETT ARENDS - WALL STREET JOURNAL

Talk about capitulation! Judging from my mailbag following last week’s coverage of the Case-Shiller housing numbers, almost nobody has a good word to say about the real estate market any more.

I’m an insti...

GreatWest GMAC Real Estate professionals are continuing to hear from troubled homeowners, who are hoping to get a better mortgage, or take advantage of the lower interest rates currently available.

However, the news media has provided many reports about foreclosure scams, and many folks are a little gun-shy of beginning the process that could improve their financial lot.

There ar...

With Easter swiftly approaching, perhaps it is a good time to remind that it isn’t always a good idea to put all one’s eggs in the same basket - Whether it’s real eggs; or investment and financial eggs.

The expression "Don’t put all your eggs in one basket" generally means not risking the loss of everything by placing all your financial investments or future goals ...

With Easter swiftly approaching, perhaps it is a good time to remind that it isn’t always a good idea to put all one’s eggs in the same basket - Whether it’s real eggs; or investment and financial eggs.

The expression "Don’t put all your eggs in one basket" generally means not risking the loss of everything by placing all your financial investments or future goals ...

Join "Operation Easter
Calls for the Troops"
Share Easter — Help Our Troops
Call Their Loved Ones This Holiday

Send a Calling Card to Our Heroes!
More than 178,000 American troops are deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

These brave men and women continue to risk their lives to protect us and our country...

Now more than ever before, Sellers are asking GreatWest GMAC Real Estate professionals, “How can I sell my home for the BEST PRICE, in the SHORTEST AMOUNT OF TIME, with the MOST FAVORABLE TERMS?”

It is imperative that the home be PRICED RIGHT. . .from the start!
There are many things that affect the value of a home, and in today’s market it’s even more important to be sure...

Now more than ever before, Sellers are asking GreatWest GMAC Real Estate professionals, “How can I sell my home for the BEST PRICE, in the SHORTEST AMOUNT OF TIME, with the MOST FAVORABLE TERMS?”

It is imperative that the home be PRICED RIGHT. . .from the start!
There are many things that affect the value of a home, and in today’s market it’s even more important to be sure...

Home ownership not only provides a great shelter for you at tax time. If you are in a higher income bracket that shelter can become even more valuable to you. It can also make good financial sense.

So, you may be asking, "How much of a mortgage payment can I afford?"

Rent:_____________________

Multiplier: X 1.32

Mortgage Payment:_____________

Mort...

Not long ago, a GreatWest Real Estate professional lamented, that after being in the business of selling homes to folks for a couple of decades, something was beginning to happen. The agent was noticing more and more of those “kids” they had sold homes to in the early 1980’s were ringing them up and asking, “What’s up with Reverse Mortgages???”

Of course, those “kids” in the early 1980s,...

We are delighted to be recognized in this RISMedia real estate magazine article for our customer service. Our clients grade us everyday through an independent survey process. It earned us the 2007 Quie which highlights the top 10 offices/companies for customer service. Five years ago, GMAC Real Estate’s CEO John Bearden, saw the value in asking our clients "how did we do?" and jumped on b...

Wonder(n): Something that arouses awe, astonishment, surprise, or admiration; a marvel.

The Pyramids of Giza and ... what else? This weekend’s scheduled announcement of the New 7 Wonders of the World was to come after our deadline, but the much-ballyhooed contest to "elect" the globe’s top man-made marvels got us wondering about awesome icons closer to home. In the spirit of w...

Wonder(n): Something that arouses awe, astonishment, surprise, or admiration; a marvel.

The Pyramids of Giza and ... what else? This weekend’s scheduled announcement of the New 7 Wonders of the World was to come after our deadline, but the much-ballyhooed contest to "elect" the globe’s top man-made marvels got us wondering about awesome icons closer to home. In the spirit of w...

The Secret to Pricing Your Home to Sell
by Jim Remley, Pro Performer Seminars

Contrary to popular belief, when selling your home its value is determined by one thing and one thing only - what a qualified buyer is willing to pay for it. No more and no less. Sure, many sellers will argue that their home has an insurance replacement value, or an appraised value, or a tax assessed value,...

1. Price it right. Set a price at the lower end of your property’s realistic price range.

2. Get your house market-ready for at least two weeks before you begin showing it.

3. Be flexible about showings. It’s often disruptive to have a house ready to show on the spur of the moment, but the more often someone can see your home, the sooner you’ll find a seller.

4. Be ...

Here are the latest real estate statistics for Sacramento, CA. These numbers represent single family (SFR) homes and condos.

Percentage of homes on the market where the asking price has been reduced: 23.5% *

Average December 2006 January 2007 % Change

Asking Price $345,801 $345,432 -0.1%

Sales Price $335,811 $339,052 -1.0%

% of Asking Price 97% 98% 1.0...