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Although the available inventory of Sacramento real estate homes on the market has remained steady for the past month and is down from where we were six months ago the median price for a home has continued to decline. The median price for a home, according to HousingTracker was $319,000 as of February 11 and is down 1.8 percent from a month ago. Looking back further the median price has dropped 16.1 percent in the past month and over 20 percent in the last 12 months. As we move into the tradi... Read Full Post

The standard 30-year fixed rate mortgage has been around for a long time and must have been revolutionary when it was introduced as it opened the door to home ownership. If you believe the current real estate market is experiencing evolutionary problems that can’t be fixed with a short term stimulus package then we need some of the big and trusted players in the mortgage industry to lead the way in developing a new standard mortgage product as revolutionary as the 30-year fixed rate loan wa... Read Full Post

Happy Valentine’s Day to you! I was reading a recent travel blog post from Kevyn & Dave while they were in Puno, Peru and they were talking to a local about the festival they were enjoying. He questioned the number of festivals we have here in the US. We have some holidays and a few days like Valentine’s Day that come about as close to a festival as we have. I think we should have some festivals….they sound like fun! In the meantime we can send a few cards out, give away some chocol... Read Full Post

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and you don’t want to forget to do something nice for the special person in your life. Last year I arranged and took my husband, Michael, out for a romantic dinner. I made the reservations, got a babysitter, preordered our meal, and paid the check. I know he appreciated my effort but all-in-all it didn’t turn out to be what I expected. The restaurant I chose, Ruth’s Chris in Roseville, added extra tables for the evening and jammed everyone together. Unbelie... Read Full Post

With so many articles and news reports about the struggling real estate market why don’t we hear more about short sales? I wrote my first article on short sales back in June of last year, “Short Sales: Road to Riches?” but still get emails and calls asking what they are, can we use it to sell our house and should we consider buying a short sale house? If you are interested in short sales or the answer to any of the questions above, check out my latest article, “Short Sale Questions.�... Read Full Post

As I mentioned yesterday, the Sacramento real estate market appears to be experiencing some increased activity which is good for my business and hopefully for some of the sellers out there. I enjoy helping clients buy or sell and being busy sure beats waiting for the phone to ring. Unfortunately the Sacramento area real estate market is still overburdened by the large number of homes on the market. Typically, February is the month we start to see inventory starting to grow after five months o... Read Full Post

Even in a slow downward pointing real estate market like we have here in the Sacramento area you still experience the normal seasonal ups and downs. Just from what we have going on at MagnumOne Realty and the way my phone has been ringing the past few days I can tell we are starting to see a surge of activity. This is exactly what you would expect. We are through the long winter month of January and as we move rapidly through February people are starting to think about spring and making moves... Read Full Post

Lately I seem to get myself in situations where I am defending Realtors and trying to explain that most agents care about their clients and do everything we can to help them. I found a blog post from a fellow Realtor who operates in New York that says it better and takes it another step and includes balancing the career with family responsibilities. Check out my column over at Rocklin & Roseville Today, “What my father told me” and read the details about this amazing blog post. Read Full Post

Another year and more Super Bowl parties than one can attend. Especially if Michael is recovering from a cold Mikie brought home and I am getting it. Growing up in Alaska, I don’t know much about football; have never been to a professional game and only a few Stanford games with Michael. Watching it on TV is not my idea of a good time but I do like spending time with friends and family so if it is football that brings us together, well I guess I can pretend to know what is going on. What I ... Read Full Post

The earth rotates around the sun once every 365 and about 1/4 days. So, by adding an extra day every four years, we get mighty close to keeping the calendar consistent with the earth's annual trip around the sun. And to be very precise, the earth orbits the sun every 365.242190 days. So, on years ending in "00", (except those not divisible by 400) we skip Leap Year and Leap Day. This is leap year and we get our extra day on February 29th. If your birthday is on Leap Day, congratulations, you ... Read Full Post