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Wow, we just reduced our 53rd Street listing in Sacramento down to $137,500. This is property that is worth looking at by first time home buyers and investors. Not only does it have curb appeal in a rapidly improving neighborhood but it has a double size lot with a cottage in the back. The small cottage has a private driveway off of 20th Avenue and the two structures are separated by a privacy fence. The house needs some work but has the potential to be a real jewel. Speaking of nice homes on... Read Full Post

As you may know we have recently been working on a number of short sales here in the Sacramento area. This includes working with both sellers and buyers. They clearly add a level of complexity and administrative work to each transaction and require an extreme level of patience from everyone involved. Each lender has their own process and requirements which is understandable but some are so much more difficult to work with. Wells Fargo in particular seems to be at the top of the “wish we did... Read Full Post

The news and commentary from my National Association of Realtors has not always been something to be proud of. More often than not they have, in my opinion, been guilty of delivering propaganda than telling readers the truth. That may be a bit harsh, but clearly they can find a way to put a positive “spin” about some very negative trends in our National real estate market. I naturally read their news releases and carry the requisite salt so after reading a story this morning, “Existing-... Read Full Post

As you may know I spend a fair amount of time and money on maintaining a web presence. I believe that more and more people are using the internet to find everything from soup to nuts. That includes homes, where a recent report by the National Association of Realtors said a huge percentage of homebuyers search for a home online before contacting a Realtor. I know from experience that some of my clients first learn about me from my website. More often than not they are directed there by one of ... Read Full Post

As you know this year, Easter is this Sunday. Why is it so early this year? Easter always comes on the Sunday after the first, or Paschal, full moon following the first day of spring. Spring arrives on Thursday and the moon will be full on Friday, the earliest Paschal moon since 1913. And that means Easter, the Christian holiday marking the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is this Sunday. It won't come this early again for another 220 or so years. By the way, it turns out my “Irish Luck” sto... Read Full Post

Irish Luck. His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog. There mired to his waist in muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death. The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman’s sparse surroundings. An elegantly dresse... Read Full Post

From the Sacramento Bee – March 14, 2008 The Sacramento-area housing market is still declining, but a surge of buying by investors in February helped spark the first major slowdown in Sacramento County's long slide since 2005, DataQuick Information Systems reported Thursday. Some highlights: • Sacramento County showed a February median sales price of $257,000. That was down 27.7 percent from a year ago. But it was up from $253,000 in January. The median price is the point at which half se... Read Full Post

Well, if I didn’t have it before, the extra daylight at the end of the day has certainly brought on a bit of Spring Fever in me as well as the Sacramento real estate market. At MagnumOne Realty we have all been busy which reminds me we really need to find another agent who believes in building relationships with service and exceeding client expectations. Based on our antidotal information the activity level in real estate market all over the Sacramento area has dramatically increased in the... Read Full Post

Don’t forget, Daylight Saving Time officially begins this year on Sunday, March 9th at 2:00 AM but for most of us it means we set the clocks forward when we go to bed on Saturday night. This year DST will run through November 2nd. Some interesting notes about Daylight Saving Time: We don’t actually save any daylight. Turning the clock forward an hour, effectively moves an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening. The official spelling is Daylight Saving Time, not Daylight Savings ... Read Full Post

I have spent the better part of a month showing homes to a nice young couple with a baby. It has been difficult because he wants to stay on a strict budget and she doesn’t want to live where the homes with the features they MUST have are located. During our last trip out, just as conversation, I mentioned this cute little house I have listed as a short sale and said it was too bad it didn’t meet any of their requirements. They were looking at newer homes; my listing was built in 1948. The... Read Full Post