Sacramento A Seller's Market Again – Nathan Sherman on Fox 40 News

A little over a week ago Fox Dennis Shanahan of Fox 40 News interviewed me to talk about how Sacramento has become a seller's market again. This is something that us in the industry have known for most of the year, but now all the market data is out to support that.

The market analyst's over at Zillow had identified Sacramento as the third hottest seller's market in the country!

You can see the two minute news spot here.

I had the good fortune to have the whole video shot in my upcoming listing at 1210 40^th Street. This is an amazing 5 bedroom 4.5 bathroom home in the Fab 40's of East Sac.

Here is the text summary from the Fox 40 site, but much more was covered in the video.

Real estate website Zillow recently listed Sacramento as the third hottest sellers’ market in the country, right behind San Francisco. San Jose was listed number one.

FOX40 visited with Nathan Sherman of Dunnigan Realtors in Sacramento, who confirmed what the Zillow ranking suggests.

“There is not nearly enough inventory, and buyers are struggling to get a home under contract,” Sherman said of the Sacramento market.

Year-over-year detached resale home prices in Sacramento County have been consistently positive over the past six months, according to DataQuick. The median price in November was $185,000. That is 17-percent higher than the price in November of last year. Potential buyers are finding themselves in bidding wars.

Sherman also said it is not uncommon these days to call a listing agent when a house comes on the market, and learn that the agent already has ten offers in.

People waiting for the right time to buy a home might be well advised to start looking soon, before things heat up even more.

As Sherman put it, “People were waiting for the bottom of the market. That has come and gone.”

http://fox40.com/2012/12/13/sacramento-a-sellers-market-again/

1344 39th Street Just Sold

To complete my Just Sold catch up series, we just closed on 1334 39^th Street in the Fab 40's of East Sac!

This is an amazing 3100 square foot 5 bed, 3 bath home on a large lot. I got my client in contract on this property back in mid-September while the property was still under construction. We just closed on Monday and I was able to hand off the keys to this amazing new home.

Some times in this competitive market we have to get it under contract long before it hits the market...

You can see more details about the home here. 

7001 Pocket Road Just Sold

To continue the catching up on my Just Sold series, 7001 Pocket Road closed last week! This is a great half plex that my wonderful clients wanted in order to be in the right neighborhood to get their adorable daughter into a great school in a couple years. Genevieve Didion Elementary is known as a great school in the Pocket/Greenhaven neighborhood.

There were many offers before we were able to get them under contract. I think the cute family photo in our cover letter help cinch us this deal.

You can see more about the property here.

584 34th Street Starting Construction

The builders have started work on 584 34th Street. This will be an amazing home with 5 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms and 3146 square feet that is just steps from McKinley Park.

They expect to be finished with the addition and complete remodel some time in the Spring.

I'll post the floor plans and other details here as the project moves on.

Here is the digital rendering of what the property will look like when they are done with all the work.

905 46th Street Just Sold

OK, it has been over a month since my last post almost a month since 905 46^th Street has closed. I have been very busy and the idea that the holidays is a slow season is again proving to not be the case for me. I'm not complaining, I'm just justifying my neglect of my blog :)

905 46^th Street is a great property that my favorite builders have done a complete remodel and addition to. It fits well into East Sac and it's location just outside of the Fab 40's is perfect.

I have some other projects coming up with these builders and know of many other that will be coming on the market, so give me a call if you would like a home that is pretty much new construction nestled into the old world charm of East Sac.

Click here to see more details about this house.  

Less Foreclosures, Less Discounts

I read an interesting article in the Washington Post today. 

It was about the reduced number of foreclosures and the greatly reduced discount of buying a foreclosure. These have both been obvious to any agent that is active in the Sacramento market, but it is always interesting to see the national market and media realize it too. 

The quote that I like the most out of the article is “Zillow found that in Las Vegas and Phoenix, there is “no discernible difference” between foreclosure and non-foreclosure sales. Discounts have shrank to less than 1 percent in Sacramento, 3 percent in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area and barely 4 percent in Los Angeles.”

While I never refer to Zillow for specific property prices, they are a huge number crunching organization and have a vast amount of data at their command. For them to state that the discount for a foreclosed property in Sacramento is only 1% is a pretty significant statement. 

The market has shifted greatly and inventory is down to less than one months supply, the lowest it has been in over a decade. Prices have been climbing since December and multiple offers are common. 

To top it all off, the national news is now reporting all about the tight market. 

The housing market has definitely shifted! 

New Listing: 966 Q Street, Downtown Sacramento

I have a second wonderful listing in the Saratoga Townhomes in Downtown Sacramento. This is a great complex and I love having listings here. This is one of the few complexes in the downtown/midtown area that has garages with direct access to the units. Add that this is within walking distance to the Capital and lots of great restaurants and you can see why these sell so well. Low HOA dues, great updates, light and bright, what else could you ask for?

You can see all the pictures and the full listing at www.966Q.east-sac.com or at my site.

New Listing: 900 Q ST Downtown Sacramento

I am very pleased to present my newest listing. 900 Q Street in the Saratoga Townhomes is a great property with all the right updates.

This is my third listing in the Saratoga Townhomes in the last 20 months. I look forward to making another great sale for this complex!

You can see the full listing on my real estate site or the properties own site.

McKinley Park Fundraiser with SactoMoFo

The fundraising for rebuilding McKinley Park continues and the target numbers have gotten better. They are now projecting approximately $200,000 for a minimum rebuild and $600,000 for a major rebuild. It sounds like insurance and city funds will add up to $500,000 so the fundraising target for the community is $100,000 and they are already fast on their way to this. Several more great fundraisers and we should have a new playground next summer.

Want to get in on the fundraising and have a great meal too? Then go to the SactoMoFo (Sacramento Mobile Food) event on Sunday October 28^th from 12:00 to 4:00 at the Sutter Landing Regional Park (28^th Street over the tracks past C Street).

As per Steve’s Facebook:

“Come and enjoy lunch & a beer with your neighbors, Councilman Steve Cohn, and MC Mark S. Allen – and great live music from Hero's Last Mission and Rebel Punk - with some of the region's best mobile kitchens and some of Sacramento's best restaurant chefs, too! We'll have an extensive beer garden full of local microbrews and everything from paella to sandwiches to BBQ to authentic Hawaiian shave ice and Belgian waffles. We hope you can make it - and please consider riding your bike! We will have lots of bike parking, and maybe even a bike valet!”

River Park Fall Festival at Caleb Greenwood Elementary

The Caleb Greenwood Elementary School is having it’s fall festival on October 19^th from 5:00 to 8:00. If you have some time to spend in River Park Friday, swing by for all the great things that a elementary school fall carnival can provide. Costume contests, face painting, cakewalk, live music and more. It is scheduled to start at 5:00 at 5457 Carlson Drive.

Shadow Inventory

I don’t usually post about new articles that I see, but this one was very good and relevant to so many conversations that I’ve had recently.

The article is titled “Now You See It, Now You Don’t” and it is about the “shadow inventory” and the market condition.

Anyone that works in the real estate industry knows that right now we have very low inventory and lots of interested buyers. Sacramento currently has 0.8 months of inventory on the market.

The Months of Inventory is a reflection of how many houses are for sale and how many are being purchased each month and how long would it take for them all to sell at the current rate. The lowest Month of Inventory durring the boom was April 2003 and the highest inventory in the bust was September 2007. 4 months of inventory is a very balanced level with numbers lower than that being considered a sellers market and anything above that being a buyers market. Now we have seen several months in a row with inventory levels lower than 2.0 and even below 1.0!

What is the reason for this? Are the banks holding onto a lot of shadow inventory, covering the carrying costs, keeping the non-performing assets on their books (or just doctoring them so they don’t show up) and waiting for/manipulating the market to improve before selling them? Do they have hundreds of thousands of houses that they have foreclosed on and are going to dump them on the market when prices come up?

While I love a good conspiracy theory, I also believe that the simplest explanation with the least assumptions is often the best (a version of Occam’s Razor).

This article went into several detailed aspects and included that by all expert analysis there is only a minimal amount of bank owned properties that aren’t put on the market quickly. I have often seen bank owned listings that show only 1 day on market (DOM) but hundreds of combined days on market (CDOM). I look at the history and see that this was a short sale that sat on the market for months waiting for bank approval for the sale but finally ended in foreclosure. The bank then had their asset manager arrange for the clean out, new paint and carpet and listed the property for sale, all in less than 30 days (otherwise, the CDOM would be the same as the DOM).

The big issue that this article pointed to is that there is a different kind of shadow inventory and it’s not what I or most people consider or refer to as shadow inventory. It is all the properties that are delinquent on their payments and will most likely never become current. It is the houses in pre-foreclosure, foreclosure or short sale status where no payment is being made, the owners are getting further and further under water and the most likely outcome for them is foreclosure.

The article then goes further to point out that all the people that are living in a home in foreclosure, pre-foreclosure or a long, drawn out short sale process aren’t selling, they aren’t buying (and won’t be able to for a long time) and they aren’t even renting.

According to the reports, if all the properties that are currently owned by banks but not on the market were listed tomorrow, we wouldn’t even notice it. On the other hand, if all the delinquent properties were foreclosed on in the next couple months and put on the market, that would make a huge impact and we would definitely feel it.

Of course, this hypothetical blood bath of massive foreclosures over a few months time isn’t going to happen for many reasons. The real reasons this wont happen and the conspiracy theory reasons include: foreclosure regulations, loan modification attempts, banks being too slow and bogged down, banks wanting to hold off on foreclosures until the properties are worth more, etc.

Many regular sellers don’t want to sell at the bottom of the market if they don’t have to, so they are sitting on their property waiting for the value to come back up. I’m pretty sure that the bottom of the market for Sacramento was in December 2011, but we still have a ways to go for many owners to have enough positive equity in their homes to do a regular sale.

Whatever the real story is, there isn’t enough inventory on the market and the banks are not sitting on vacant houses that they own but just don’t want to sell. My buyers are scrambling over the few properties that are on the market and competing with multiple offers. It is a brutal market and I look forward to getting back to something that could pass as “normal”. Fortunately, we live in a world of impermanence and this too shall pass.

You can read the full article here starting on page 14.

Oktoberfest at the Turn Verien

This is the 45^th annual Octoberfest to be hosted in East Sac’s Turn Verien. Come out on Friday October 12^th from 6:00 to 11:00 or Saturday October 13^th from 3:00 to 11:00 for traditional German food, beer and dancing.

They will also have the traditional German band, the Gruber Family Band in the Main Hall, with the rock-& roll band AKA LIVE upstairs. The Alpentänzer Schuhplattler will perform colorful traditional German dances during the evening. The Turn Verein’s Kaffeehaus and outdoor Biergarten will be open throughout the evening, offering German food specialties and beer from Munich.

How did this wonderful tradition start, you may be asking yourself. The Turn Verien has these details on their site:

“Prince Ludwig (later King Ludwig I) of Bavaria (the grandfather of “Mad” Ludwig II) started it when he threw a wedding party on the occasion of his marriage to Princess Theresia of Saxony-Hildburghausen on October 12, 1810.

Ludwig gave an open invitation to the people of Munich, and about 40,000 of them came. The Prince set up tents in a field on the outskirts of Munich, later called ‘Theresienwiese’ (Theresa’s meadow) in honor of his lady. To entertain the crowd he organized a horse race and supplied copious amounts of beer. Everyone had such a good time that they decided to hold the horse race (and beer drinking) again the next year, but this time in conjunction with the state agricultural show. The rest, as they say, is history. The local brewers realized that they could sell a lot of beer in a very short time, the reason why it has become a 16-day extravaganza ending the first Sunday in October.”

1457 47th Street Construction

This great project at 1457 47^th Street in the Fab 40's is about to enter my favorite phase. Where there is framing built out on the second story but no windows installed. I love going in as a break in a day of working on deals for clients and just hanging out a second story window and watching the neighborhood.

I can’t do it yet because the stairs aren’t installed and I’m not about to bother the work crew with a guy in slacks climbing around on their ladder…

1210 40th Street Construction

The new front door is on 1210 40^th Street and the insulation is going into the walls and ceiling. Stucco should be applied soon and drywall will go up and then it will really start to feel like the house that it is becoming.

I’ll get to hold this Fab 40's home open before I know it (assuming that someone doesn’t buy it before it’s finished…)

Sacred Heart Fall Festival

Saturday October 6^th from 11:00 am to dusk will be the 71^st annual Sacred Heart Fall Festival. They will have live music, bingo, a craft fair, farmers market booth, and so much more.

According to their website, here are some of the events that are scheduled:

Noon-2:00pm - Come visit with Dinger from the River Cats Baseball team
2:00pm - Lip Sync and Kick Off by "Your SHPS Cheerleaders"
4:00pm - Hula Hoop Contest - Open to all children Grades K-8
7:00pm - Dance the night away to the original and cover songs from "Zaragoza"

Shepard Garden and Art Center annual Fall Art, Craft and Plant Sale

Those of us who live within walking distance to McKinley Park in East Sac are sure to notice the extra traffic for the Shepard Garden and Arts Center annual Fall Art, Craft and Plant Sale. Not only will they have plants, art and hand made crafts for sale, they will also have “harvest food”, which to me means Pumpkin Bread!

The two day event will take place at the Shepard Garden and Arts Center at 3330 McKinley Blvd on Saturday October 6^th & 7^th from 10:00 to 4:00 each day.

Check them out at:

www.sgaac.org

McKinley Library Zombie Survival

OK, this is just too much fun so I have to share. The McKinley Library is hosting a Zombie Survival fitness class on Sat, October 6 from 11:00-12:00  

According to their website:

“We all know the zombie apocalypse is coming. The question is, are you fit enough to survive?

This workout will help you get in shape to duck, dodge, or kick some undead butt! Wear loose comfortable clothes (theme dressing strongly encouraged) and bring a bottle of water, you’ll need it! Taught by Lipstick Librarian of the Sac City Rollers.

Prize awarded for the best costume.”

 

1210 40th Street Under Construction

Work is moving along nicely at 1210 40^th Street in the Fab 40's of East Sac. All the windows are in place as well as all new plumbing and electrical.

They are getting ready to do the first rough coat of stucco on the exterior, the interior is ready for the drywall and the roof has been loaded with the tiles. It is starting to feel more and more like a house instead of a construction site. The finishes will come together quickly from here on out.

MENA Community Meeting including Sutter Park!

This Wednesday, October 3^rd will be a McKinley East Sacramento Neighborhood Association (MENA) Community Meeting. It will start at 6:30pm at the McKinley Park Library at 601 Alhambra Blvd.

On the agenda is:

Councilman Steve Cohn discussing the rebuilding efforts of the McKinley Park playground that was partially destroyed by fire.

Stonebridge Properties will be presenting their proposal for Sutter Park at the Sutter Memorial Hospital site. Come and get a good look at displays of the proposed development and hear about the results of previous community meetings.

Ed Cox and Deb Newton of SABA (Sacramento Area Bike Advocates) will talk about the speed on H Street, traffic counts and control efforts recently implemented.

The Greek Anunciation Church will be presenting their planned project and discussing their efforts to enhance present church facilities and provide a visual linkage with McKinley Park.

Friends of East Sacramento will be providing an update on the McKinley Park Rose Garden renovation and status of the Clunie Community Center management transition to their organization.

The Sacramento Police Department and EASTSACWATCH will provide an update on incident reports and community crime fighting efforts.

If you live in East Sac but aren't already a meeting of MENA, you should join because you will get all the details on the neighborhood emailed directly to you!

Just Sold - 915 47th Street in East Sac

My clients just closed on this wonderful property at 915 47^th Street. It was a very smooth transaction and the house was just what they were looking for. They wanted to downsize into a single story on a quiet street and when I saw this property come back on the market I knew we would have to move quickly to get it.

I love the look and feel of this house and the street is just perfect, especially compared to the busy street that they used to live on.

You can also see more information about this property on my official real estate site.

Squirrel!

This little guy was hanging out on my neighbors tree and posed for this picture.
Just too cute when they are all splayed out like this.

 

East Sac Inventory

Preparing for my Sunday open house at 905 46th Street I went through all the listings in my neighborhood.
We have 49 active listings on the market in East Sac today. Out of these listings there are only two short sales and two bank owned properties.
This is one of the many reasons that this neighborhood is so delightful, we have almost no distressed sales compared to many other neighborhoods.

Sutter Park Neighborhood

2014 can’t come soon enough for anyone watching and waiting for the amazing transformation that is going to take place in the Sutter Park Neighborhood. Living in East Sac I have been hearing about this change for a couple years now and as a very active Realtor in my neighborhood I’m following this development closely.

In a few years we will have 100 to 125 new homes, a nice little park and a little bit of neighborhood retail where the Sutter Memorial Hospital currently sits. Keep in mind that the demolition of the old hospital isn’t projected to happen until 2014 and then it will take 2-3 more years to completely build out the project. The soonest that you might see a new home in there would probably be 2015…

Here is the link to the official site of the development: http://sutterparkneighborhood.com/

It is full of great information and can keep you busy reading for quite some time.

I will continue to follow the project and post in my blog, and as soon as there is any information about new homes I’ll have it!

East Sacramento Home Remodeling Tour and Open House

It’s that time of year again. The East East Sacramento Home Remodeling Tour is right around the corner. This year it will feature five remodeled homes and one garden.

This years tour proceed will support the Clunie Community Center in McKinley Park.

It starts on Sunday September 23rd at 10:00 am and runs to 4:00 pm.

You can buy your tickets at:

East Sac Hardware, 48th and Folsom Blvd.
Haus, 5601 H Street
The Pink House, 1462 33rd Street
Jeannie’s Jewelry, 2600 Fair Oaks Blvd.
Parkside Pharmacy, 4404 Del Rio Road

Or you can go to the www.friendsofeastsacramento.org site to purchase them.

At the same time I and Paula Lopez (another great Dunnigan Realtors agent) will be holding 905 46^th Street open. I’ve got the first shift from 10:00 to 1:00 and she is taking the second shift from 1:00 to 4:00.

 

After looking at the great remodeled homes in East Sac, come and buy this one for your self!

 

New Listing – 905 46th Street in East Sac

Want to live in the amazing old neighborhood of East Sac without any of the maintenance and concerns that comes with owning a 70 year old property? Looking to live on a charming street with a canopy of trees but still have a true master suite with two walk-in closets and a spacious master bath?

These opportunities don’t come along often, and when they do they don’t last very long…

“Enjoy the modern amenities of this completely rebuilt home and the old world charm of this fabulous East Sac street! Honed granite countertops and top end appliances in the spacious chefs kitchen and a light and bright breakfast nook and formal dining room.

The luxurious master suite has two walk-in closets, a huge shower and a pedestal soaking tub. Spacious living room with gas fireplace and beverage bar, downstairs mini-master with ensuite bathroom and so much more.

All brand new and waiting for you!”

Here are some links to the listing...

The general MLS page.

The properties own website.

Where the sign rider takes an interested buyer.

The listing on my own website, www.east-sac.com.

The listing on Realtor .com.

The listing on the local MLS client page.

The listing on Trulia .com.

The listing on Redfin .com.

There are more places going up soon, but these are the first to populate.
The “Just Listed” postcards are going out in the next day or two to over 100 neighbors.
I love this process, especially when I have such a great house to list!

East Sac Outdoor Movie Night

Our D Street Block Party had another outdoor movie night on Friday.

BBQ with my wonderful neighbors and then at sundown we watched The Wedding Singer! 

I love living here!

Potential Pest Problems

OK, not your traditional pest problem that an inspector might encounter, but you try getting this furry little guy out of the wood work!

Just Sold 3615 W River Sacramento

Last week I had the honor of handing off the keys to this home to a wonderful family. They were a pleasure to work with and had great patience as we dealt with one delay after another.

Seeing the husband carry his wife over the threshold of their new home was the highlight my week! I do love my job!

You can see more about this home on my real estate site.

1210 40th Street Construction Updates

The construction at 1210 40^th Street is coming along nicely. Almost all the framing is complete and I can really get a feel for the layout of the home.

This is going to be a grand home when it is finished. I'm pretty sure that the master bathroom is bigger than the bedrooms in my home!

Living Room

Kitchen

Master Bathroom

Inside the Master Bathroom

Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom Balcony

1457 47th Street Work Has Begun

The work has begun at 1457 47^th Street. The front of the house still looks much the same since the new design will preserve that classic look, but the back has been opened up in preparation for the addition. All the old wiring and plumbing has been exposed and is being removed so they can update the whole house to modern standards.

It is amazing what you find once you open up the walls in an old home. This one had an interested mix of knob and tube wiring and somewhat updated wiring.

There is a bit more demo to be done and then they can start on turning this into an amazing East Sac Fab 40's home.

1457 47th Street Front

1457 47th Street Back

1457 47th Street Open Walls

1457 47th Street Knob and Tube Mix

1457 47th Street Knob and Tube, Lath and Plaster

Sutter Memorial Hospital Plans

I went to the East Sac Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting last week. There was an update about the plans for the site of the old Sutter Memorial Hospital in the North East corner of East Sac.

The have just submitted to the city for review a plan for putting in 100-125 new homes on this site. It should take 12-18 months for environmental approval and they probably won’t be able to start any real work on the new homes until 2015.

The new site is tentatively being called Sutter Park Neighborhood. Here is the current proposed site plan. As soon as I can get my hands on a better picture of it, I will upload it.

1210 40th Street Framing

The addition on 1210 40^th Street is coming along nicely. Here are pictures of the master bedroom, the master bathroom and looking at the family room from the kitchen. The size of this home leaves plenty of space in all the rooms and walking through the framed rooms is giving me a great feel for how amazing this home will be. It will do the Fab 40's proud!

Looking into the family room from the kitchen

Master bedroom looking into the master bath on the left

The master bedroom balcony (trees will need a little trim)

905 46th Street Pictures

Most of the work is completed at 905 46^th Street in East Sac. There are many touch up items left and the final cleaning, but aside from that the home is almost finished and looking beautiful!
Below are the pictures of the project.

There are other amazing projects coming up in East Sac that I will be listing. Feel free to contact me about 1210 40^th Street, 1457 47^th Street or even the one on 34^th Street that is still in the planning phase…