Local home prices fall back to 2002 levels?

Posted on February 28, 2012 by Skip@RHB

That’s the premise of Marc Beauchamp’s blogpost today. Or maybe 1987 prices. We don’t know about 1987, but here is the latest chart we have for statewide home prices from the California Association of Realtors.

Looking at the chart, the state seemed to have hit 2002 levels back in 2008.

~~Reporting history instead of news.~~ No no, bad blogger.

Sorry, just teasing, Marc. Prices seem to have been bouncing around ’01 or ’02 ever since the rather precipitous decline hit bottom in ’09. Here’s the Shasta County Median Price chart we like to show.

So apparently Marc’s premise about 2002 is right after all. At least for Shasta County.

As long as you’ve read this far, I’m going to take the opportunity to point out that although prices are low, demand is high. And housing inventory for sale is very low. If you need to sell, there is a buyer out there waiting. You just have to keep the pricing realistic, and present the home very nicely, especially online.

1026 Spring Ridge Redding 96003 Northridge Gardens View home $226,000

Posted on February 18, 2012 by Skip@RHB

1026 Spring Ridge Redding 96003 featured home with a view, only $226,000

Check out the view in this short tour video.

Call or Text us at (530) 255 4070 to learn more, or to tell us when you’d like to see it.

Anxious homeowners should be wary of short sale “experts”

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Skip@RHB

This comes from the California Department of Real Estate (DRE) via the Shasta Association of Realtors:

Consumer and Industry Warning, False and Misleading Designations and Claims of Special Expertise, Certificaton and/or Credentials, Wayne Ball, Chief Counsel, DRE.

“The DRE is issuing Cease and Desist on questionable and possibly misleading terms such as “expert” “Certified” and “Speciality” in marketing and advertising of assistance to anxious homeowners. A growing number of individuals and companies in the area of short sales, are advertising as “experts” and the like. Moreover, there are an increasing number of companies offering expensive course materials and leads that have no meaningful or substantive content, which are designed to allow those who pay for the same to claim they have “certifications” which are, in effect, worthless. DRE does not issue any special designations. Some questions asked What qualified you as an “expert” how did you get that “expertise” When you state that you are a “specialist”, what special qualification do you have and what does that mean?”

Just last weekend I saw an advertisement in our local newspaper from an agent claiming to be an “advocate” for homeowners in a distress sale. The newspaper wouldn’t print it if it wasn’t true, right?

Here are my thoughts:

1. There is a large conflict of interest possible for any agent helping a homeowner conduct a short sale. No short sale = No commission. Whose interests are foremost?
2. Sometimes a short sale makes sense, but not always. What’s really the advantage for the homeowner?
3. There are a (very) few agents in our market who are demonstrably able to get short sales done regularly and cleanly. Typically, the most successful don’t run ads claiming to be experts or having certification.

I’ve been told that every homeowner around here that gets late on house payments, and then has a Notice of Default recorded, will immediately be contacted by about 5 agents claiming that they can help them do a short sale, and promising many benefits. These are the agents you should investigate most thoroughly.

I do believe that short sales are better for our community than foreclosures. And certainly better for the short sale agents. But I still haven’t heard a compelling argument that they are always better for the homeowner. Informed consumers need to be aware of the facts, and greet claims of short sale benefits from agents with full awareness of the inherent conflict of interest. Contact the Shasta Association of Realtors if you have any questions.

PS. Lately we’ve heard that some banks are offering cash incentives to homeowners to do a short sale. I’d call that a clear benefit for the homeowner. All others please be wary.

The rise of the short sale

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Skip@RHB

In simple terms, a successful home short sale is when a lender agrees to take less for the sale than what is owed. The number of homes listed as a short sales in our community has been pretty steady at around 250-300 for the last couple years. They are most often unsuccessful, leading to foreclosure. But lately, it seems the number of successes have been increasing. Mostly, due to bank/lender changes in staffing and attitude. But also because agents representing sellers have become better at accomplishing these often complex transactions. We attended a standing-room-only short sale seminar for agents yesterday put on by the Shasta Association of Realtors. It seems we all think there will be more short sales coming, and so are actively sharing information about how to get them done.

I’m uneasy with many aspects short sales. But I don’t think that anyone can argue that a neighborhood is better off with vacant foreclosures than occupied short sale homes. Foreclosures create problems for the community.

This short sale video from the California Association of Realtors is perhaps overly upbeat. While I don’t necessarily agree with all this broker’s conclusions, I think he illustrates the growing realization that there are more short sales on the way. All are served best by getting better at the process.

We’ve kept abreast of the latest short sale information and techniques. If you think you need to explore this option, or especially if your lender has encouraged you to do a short sale, we can provide you with consultation about the current market value of your real estate.

Tomorrow: Consumers need to watch out for…

17590 Grey Fawn Lakehead (OBrien) 96051 $1.6M invested Now $700,000

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Skip@RHB

“Architect’s own magnificent retreat influenced by ‘Frank Lloyd Wright Prairie House Design’. Rustic elegance combined best-of-the-best amenities thru-out, dramatic open floor plan overlooking spectacular views of Lake Shasta & beyond, incredible detail & craftsmanship within Main House & Guest House/Studio, large gourmet island kitchen, wine cellar, no expense spared!”

So writes listing agent Alysia Jantzer of Coldwell Banker. This OBrien Mountain home looks pretty fabulous. It had been listed a for $1.2M for about a year. Yesterday we were informed that the seller had invested $1.6m into it, and that it is now listed as a short sale at less than half that.

Enough exterior heating shown to make Doug Craig relinquish all his remaining hope. It’s listed as a 2008 built 3/4 of about 3140 sqft on 5.8 acres. There are a great many more photos of this OBrien Mountain Estates architect’s home at the link. Well worth a look. Call upon us if you have an interest. We can arrange a showing. Call (530) 244 7603

This has to be one of the most expensive short sales we’ve seen. Where else can you buy an item at a $900,000.00 discount off cost?

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Where are the REALLY really big local homes?

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Skip@RHB

Blogger Marc Beaucahmp sent me a note:
“Reading this fascinating WSJ feature…
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203889904577201043455977600.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read
…made me wonder: What’s the biggest residence in Shasta County? The biggest one now on the market?”

Fascinating question. Be sure to check out the article at the link. REALLY really big homes that are being built to house princely hedgefund managers and software moguls with mega-egos tend to be in the 50,000 sqft range. I don’t know of anything that large or luxurious that around here. Anyone else know of anything?

16,050 sqft 24/25 on OBrien Mountain offered by Aaron Nelson of Venture Properties

A few posts ago, we looked at the Top 10 most expensive homes around Redding, with only somewhat tongue-in-cheek hopes of enticing a new Facebook owner to look, or even their spinoffs, like newly enriched massage therapists or whatever. We did find this “pretty darn big house” on OBrien Mountain which qualifies for Marc’s “biggest one now on the market,” at 16,050 sqft. with 24 bedrooms and 25 bathrooms. Priced at $3.8M it hardly seems in the same league as the homes mentioned in the article.

As for the biggest one not for sale, a quick search of our MLS reveals an alarming number of real estate agents can’t count their zeros when entering square footage data. Not encouraging. Dozens of errors, but the only legitimate thing I found in there rivaling the Obrien home size was a Ranch Home in Hyampom of about 16,714 sqft, a 16/16 on 169 acres. Last offered for $1.995M in 2009.

We know of a few nice local homes that look rather palatial from Google Earth. Here are a few:

Provided I’m looking at the right house in tax records, this lovely home on the Sacramento River is about 10,712 sqft.

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This home with a helipad in the Happy Valley area looks mighty nice. Not sure how big it is.

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This home in Tierra Heights always seemed pretty big to me from the ground. If I have it right, records say it’s a 6,292 sqft 3/4 on 3.8 acres.

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This one is for sale for $5.49M. The 5,600 sqft 5/5 house looks nice from the air, but also it sits on 717 acres, which affords one some privacy, shall we say.

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This home in Redding sits at the end of a private street. If I have it right, tax records say it’s a 6,979 sqft 4/4. Nice setting.

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This one in West Redding is for sale for $1.4M. We love this house. It’s a 6000 sqft 5/6.

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This big home overlooking the river in Redding is pretty visible from much of the river trail. It’s a 6378 sqft 4/3, if I have it right.

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Here’s another one quite visible from the river trail in Redding. Not sure how big.

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Again, anyone else know of some truly large homes, worthy of a modern Prince?

Live in a custom Railcar $89,000

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Skip@RHB

Ran across this interesting video of a custom home built from rolling stock. Might be a good housing choice for Redding. We are after all, a rail town. (video preceded by a commercial)

Kind of like a houseboat on rails. You can tow it to a different town and make yourself at home on some private rail siding. Urban and gritty settings usually, but the rent seems cheap.

Local home sales slightly down in January

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Skip@RHB

Here’s our usual monthly chart of local home sales in and around Redding.
Sales are off by a little. The most notable trend is the overall low inventory evident over the last 12 months versus the prior 12. The bars indicate months of inventory available if we sold at our current rate and no new homes came on the market. 6 months inventory is widely considered a healthy condition. You can see, that’s about where we’ve been running. Here’s the numbers behind the chart:
While this seems healthier than than the 2010 numbers, what we’re feeling is a distinct lack of homes for sale in the greater Redding area. Buyers are being told “it’s a buyer’s market,” which is true enough. But when you actually get out and start looking at real homes, it’s pretty slim pickings at the popular price points.

What this means for you. If you’ve been thinking of selling, conditions are much better than they were a year ago. We need listings. Contact us to go over your home’s present value, and learn about our unmatched marketing program at no obligation. (530) 244 7603

Upcoming local foreclosure listings

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Skip@RHB

Here’s some upcoming foreclosure sales from your US Treasury owned Freddie Mac organization. These don’t have prices yet, but are usually priced aggressively for a rapid sale. We’ve added what information we could find about the property through public and MLS records. If you have an interest in any of these, let us know and we can make sure you are among the first to know when they are assigned a sale price. Call (530) 244 7603

Zip Code: 96002
1107 5TH REDDING SHASTA CA 3 1.00 $0
1952 built 927 sqft 3/1 1 car garage Last sold in 2008 for $159K

3090 FOREST HILLS DRIVE REDDING SHASTA CA 0 0.00 $0
1968 built 2240 sqft 4/2 Near Sun Oaks Tennis Club. Recently remodeled kitchen, Landscaped 1/2 acre with 20′x40′ inground pool/spa. Newer roof, windows. Separate Living Room and Formal Dining Room with Kitchen/Familyroom. Covered patio. 540 sqft garage. Last sold in 2003 for $291K

Zip Code: 96003
22134 LOOKOUT REDDING SHASTA CA 0 0.00 $0
1984 built 784 sqft 2/2 Jones Valley area. Was last listed as a failed short sale in 2010 for $105K

Zip Code: 96019
1240 NORTH BOULEVARD SHASTA LAKE SHASTA CA 1 1.00 $0
1959 built 690 sqft 1/1 1 car garage

Zip Code: 96051
20695 OAK ST LAKEHEAD SHASTA CA 3 1.00 $0
1966 built 1064 sqft 3/1 Large single car garage attatched, and a 24′ x 30′ detatched, insulated garage, with a 1/2 bath & wood stove. Near Lake Shasta. Last sold in 2005 for $221K

Zip Code: 96059
5152 WILSON HILL ROAD MANTON SHASTA CA 0 0.00 $0
1998 Manufactured home on 1 acre. 1296 3/2 Last sold in 2007 for $185K

Zip Code: 96073
21807 BELMONT DRIVE PALO CEDRO SHASTA CA 3 2.00 $0
1965 built 1398 sqft 3/2 Mel Mar neighborhood 110 X 200 lot, last sold in 2003 for $210K.

That’s all for now. Contact us you want more information about any of these, or to set up a showing or whatever you need. (530) 244 7603 Thanks for reading.

As always, you can find the latest complete list of Distress Sale homes in the Greater Redding area at http://ReddingForeclosures.info

How will recent Lead Based Paint rules affect values of older homes?

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Skip@RHB

Image from US EPA

Exposure to lead based paint is considered the “number one environmental threat to the health of children in the United States.” Recent changes in the law make it much more problematic to repair or renovate pre-1978 built homes. Any contractor doing more than a very minor repair can be fined $37,000, or even jailed for not testing for and/or mitigating lead paint exposure. Not only that, but your neighbors can sue as well, for your exposing them to lead paint particles in the air. It’s a serious matter only now starting to really sink in.

We’ve been wondering how radically this will affect the resale value of older homes. Anyone considering purchasing a pre-1978 built home with the idea of repairs or renovation will need to factor in the added cost of Lead Based Paint safety compliance and testing.

Source: US EPA

Lead is a bigger problem in older cities in the East. Much of our local Shasta County home construction took place later. Still, the rules apply here. Chances are, your contractor is now well aware of the rules, and the steep fines. You can learn more at the EPA informational website.

I would certainly be considering this factor in the purchase of an older home, or the impact on value if you are a seller. If the rules seem overly broad or harsh, you need to consider the victims of lead pollution inside the home are children, unable to manage their own risk of exposure. Failure to address the threat would be irresponsible by any measure.

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Monthly Archives: February 2012