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Just when I thought we might start seeing a decline in the number of homeowners who are facing foreclosure the next wave came crashing in. The new wave is a combination of more homeowners who have experienced a financial setback such as a lost job or reduced income combined with continuing declines in home values. A married couple with two incomes making their payments all of a sudden are struggling to when one of them loses their job have lost their option to sell their house, pay down credit card debt and move to more affordable housing because their home is worth less than they owe. Check out my weekly column, Sacramento Short Sales, over at Rocklin & Roseville Today for some of the reasons these homeowners and others should consider a short sale as an…

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Today I conclude my series of articles answering the question, is now the right time to buy a home in Sacramento? Today’s final article is, “Do you know what you want in a home?” and can be seen over at Rocklin & Roseville Today in my real estate column. If you missed the previous articles and would like to read the entire series you can find it on my personal website.

This is a short holiday weekend and we have continued to be busy with Sacramento short sales. Most lenders, other than Countrywide, seem to have a pretty good process and appear to be working at getting as many closed before the end of the year. Countrywide seems confused and disorganized compared to other lenders and the impression we get is that they just don’t care if the house goes to… Read Full Post

As much as I enjoy maintaining my blog there are days when I feel like I have to write a post and times when other tasks pressure me to publish and run. I was thinking about this earlier this week when I went to Mikie’s parent-teacher conference. The subject was writing and how much he has improved since last year. We were looking at some of Mikie’s writing and his teacher told Mikie he would be able to correct some of his mistakes if he took time to read what he wrote. She said, “All good writers read what they write.” 

I think sometimes I am guilty of letting spell-check do my reading. If there are no red, green or blue underlined words it must be good to go. This morning I got an email from a good friend on the East Coast who, I like to believe, reads… Read Full Post

Today I published my fourth in a series of five articles examining the question, Is now the right time to buy a home in Sacramento. You can read it in my real estate column, “How much can you pay for a home in Sacramento,” over at Rocklin & Roseville Today.   

I think the question, is now the right time to buy, is important in light of the current market and economic conditions. So far I have received some positive feedback on the series and hope it helps a few potential buyers make the right decision in regards to purchasing a home in Roseville, Sacramento or anywhere in the area. You can see the entire series of articles on my personal website, www.jalone.com. They are located on here. As some of you know I am spending the week in Alaska. As much as I… Read Full Post

I just posted my third of a five part series dealing with the question, “Is it the right time to buy a home in Sacramento?” The article is posted over at Rocklin & Roseville Today as part of my real estate column, “Is it the right time – are you financially prepared to be a homeowner.” If you want to read the entire series you can find all five articles on my personal website.

Just being out and about today has to make you feel good. Here we are in the second half of November and the sun is out, the sky is blue and it is warm. What more could you ask for.  In the real estate business, we have been busy. I spent all day Friday out with a great new buyer. His company is looking for a home or multi-family unit where his employees can live while they are… Read Full Post

Since I was a bit off my game last week I thought I would spend Veteran’s day morning catching up on my real estate column over at Rocklin & Roseville Today. Well as can happen when you have not been writing for awhile my article, which I try to keep not more than six paragraphs long turned out to be an epic on is now the right time to buy a home in Sacramento. I decided to publish in five parts and introduction and then examining the four questions I feel buyers, especially first-time buyers should consider to determine in now is a good time to buy a home. The questions I pose are, should you stay where you are, are you financially prepared to be a homeowner, how much can you pay for a home and do you know what you want in a home. 

Check out the… Read Full Post

I have noticed a difference in the Sacramento real estate market. I understand it is late October and things normally slow down about now and homes for sale in Sacramento as well as homes for sale in Roseville and other communities start to stay on the market longer but since the economy crisis came to light the phone is not ringing as often, new leads are fewer and worst of all, the lenders have become much more difficult to deal with when negotiating short sales.

If you are a seller or in a position where you are going to have to sell your home during this uncertain Sacramento real estate market, take a look at my column, “Sacramento Homes: Eight Rules to Sell Fast in an Uncertain Market” over at Rocklin & Roseville Today. I have attempted to spell out… Read Full Post

I couldn’t resist sharing this long but illuminating story this morning. It was one of those things that had been forwarded about a 100 times so I had to clean it up a bit but I think it is intact and worth the time to read.   Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:   The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing. The fifth would pay $1. The sixth would pay $3. The seventh would pay $7. The eighth would pay $12. The ninth would pay $18.  The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day,… Read Full Post