Erin Attardi's Sacramento Real Estate Blog: Erin Attardi, Realtor - Sacramento, CA 916-342-1372 (Lyon Real Estate )

Stunning newer 3 bed, 2 bath, 1,545sf Antelope Winncrest Home - Calypso model! You will love the open layout, gourmet kitchen with granite counters and GE Profile appliances, pre-wired for surround sound, plantation shutters and tile and upgraded carpet flooring! The backyard is truly a showpiece-professionally landscaped with flagstone patio, trex deck, pergola and more! Don't wait! Offered at $215,000, subject to lender approval of short sale. For more photos and additional detail, visit http://7656BoardwalkWay.com.

Stunning 3 bed, 2 bath, 1,904sf Arden ranch-style home has been lovingly and meticulously cared for by its owner. You will fall in love the stamped concrete driveway, the renovated kitchen with newer tile flooring, corian countertops, and crown moulding, the large inside utility/laundry room with incredible storage and custom cabinetry, the cozy living room with built-in shelving and gas log fireplace, the amazing light and bright family room with surround sound and a wall of ceiling-to-floor dual pane windows and sliding doors, the large covered patio perfect for outdoor entertaining, built-in fountain with sitting area, the manicured lawn with planter beds, and the outdoor Tuff Shed for extra storage. HVAC and roof replaced in 1999, water heater replaced in 2006, updated copper plumbing in 2008 - and much more (please ask listing agent for detailed list). Offered at $299,900, NOT a short sale / foreclosure. For more photos and detail, please visit http://2032richmondstreet.com/.

You may recall from a previous blog post, the Sacramento Association of Realtors "Young Professionals Council" raised about $4,400 for the SAR Scholarship Fund last year in June via a vendor fair event. Just as the "Young Professionals Council" did last year, this year we are also doing a vendor fair fundraiser for the SAR Scholarship Fund.

In 2009, SAR awarded approximately $44,000 in scholarships to deserving Sacramento area students. Well...the application period for SAR's 2010 scholarships is NOW!! Completed applications must be received by SAR by 5:00pm on March 31st, 2010.

The scholarships are available to qualifying high school seniors and college students who attend school in and are permanent residents of Sacramento County or the City of West Sacramento. SAR scholarships are awarded for academic achievement (minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5), community service, and extracurricular activities. You must also be related to a past or current Realtor or Affiliate member of the Sacramento Association of Realtors.

Awards in recent years have ranged from $750 to $3,000. Scholarship awards will be announced in May, and they will be presented in June at SAR's headquarters in Sacramento.

To download the SAR Scholarship Application, click here.

Updated 3 bed, 2 bath, 1,680sf Garden of the Gods gem! You will fall in love with the spacious floorplan with separate living and family rooms, formal dining, large master suite with walk-in closet, covered deck, .194ac large manicured front and back yards, and 2-car garage with extra-wide driveway/possible rv access. Freshly painted interior, new carpets, wood flooring, new window coverings, metal roof, central heat & air. NOT a short sale/Foreclosure!! Offered at $359,000. For more photos and additional detail, visit http://www.2009medusaway.com/.

So I have gotten to the point where I have closed so many Sacramento short sales, I figured I would share my experiences with different lenders. The last short sale lender profile I did was for Bank of America. I figured this time I would profile a lender at the opposite end of the spectrum: Wachovia.

Let me just tell you - if you are a Sacramento buyer or seller dealing with Wachovia Bank on a short sale, you have stumbled upon the golden goose!

Wachovia has one of the smoothest short sale approval processes I have witnessed. They actually have a local representative that personally meets with the short sale seller and the listing agent, who personally views the property, and issues short sale approval in a short time - usually within 3-5 days. Wachovia commonly offers the sellers incentives to move out and leave the property in good condition. Ocasionally a Wachovia short sale can be "conditionally" approved before it is listed in MLS. The seller generally does not have to supply much financial documentation - rather the seller must be prepared to discuss their financial / hardship situation with the local rep during their in-person meeting.
I would post the local Wachovia short sale rep's name, telephone number, and email address, however since I have her direct contact information, I am going to refrain from posting it so that she does not receive an onslaught of communication.
Click here if you are thinking about doing a short sale of your home. Click here if you are thinking about buying a short sale home.

Time for my fifth installment of Erin's Sacramento Short Sale Experiment! I am sure ya'll are just on the edge of your seats to find out just what has transpired in the world of short sales in our Sacramento metro area since the last time? I have deliberately allowed more time to pass between Part IV and Part V, so that we can see if a trend has truly emerged and also see what the YTD totals for 2009 are. For those of you not following along at home, or perhaps if you are reading this for the first time, my short sale experiment is tracking a few different Sacramento zip codes to see what how the short sale activity increases or decreases over time as compared with traditional resale listings (where there is a seller with equity in a "normal transaction") and to bank-owned resale transactions. My hypothesis at the start of this experiment: the number of short sales will grow over time, as will their dominance in our greater Sacramento marketplace (overall percentage of listings). I have continued to list more short sale properties. Let's see how this new data compares to the "control data" for the experiment and also to last month...

95624 is the section of Elk Grove closest to Hwy 99. As of right this second according to MLS, there are a total of 325 active listings there. 244/325 listings are short sales. The median price in that zip code in December 2009 was $245,000 according to Trendgraphix (an increase over last installment). The result vs. the control data? Control data was 68.6% of all active listings in 95624 were short sales, vs. 68.3% last installment, vs. 75.1% this month. BIG INCREASE over the control data, and a more significant increase over last installment. Number of 2009 closed short sales - 245.

95610 is a section of Citrus Heights. As of right this second according to MLS, there are a total of 170 active listings there. 116/170 listings are short sales. The median price in that zip code in December 2009 was $196,000 according to Trendgraphix (a significant decrease over last installment). The result vs. the control data? Control data was 60.3% of all active listings in 95610 were short sales, vs. 67.3% last installment, vs. 68.2% this month. BIG INCREASE over the control data, and a slight increase over last installment. Number of 2009 closed short sales - 85.

95826 is a section of Rosemont and College Greens. As of right this second according to MLS, there are a total of 121 active listings there. 72/121 listings are short sales. The median price in that zip code in October 2009 was also $181,000 according to Trendgraphix (a decrease from last installment). The result vs. the control data? Control data was 62.2% of all active listings in 95826 were short sales, vs. 74.1% last installment, vs. 59.5% this month = BIG DECREASE. Number of 2009 closed short sales - 65.

95864 is a section of Sierra Oaks, Arden Park, and Arden Manor. As of right this second according to MLS, there are a total of 140 active listings there. 41/140 listings are short sales. The median price in that zip code in December 2009 was $451,000 according to Trendgraphix (a big increase over last installment). The result vs. the control data? Control data was 17.0% of all active listings in 95864 were short sales, vs. 25.8% last installment, vs. 29.3% this month. BIG INCREASE. Number of 2009 closed short sales - 18.

95818 is a section of Midtown, Land Park, and Curtis Park. As of right this second according to MLS, there are a total of 54 active listings there. 14/54 listings are short sales. The median price in that zip code in December 2009 was $424,000 according to Trendgraphix (big increase over last installment). The result vs. the control data? Control data was 16.0% of all active listings in 95818 were short sales, vs. 25.0% last installment, vs. 25.9% this month. BIG INCREASE over the control data, and a slight increase over the last installment. Number of 2009 closed short sales - 15.

95819 is a section of East Sacramento. As of right this second according to MLS, there are a total of 57 active listings there. 12/57 listings are short sales. The median price in that zip code in December 2009 was $310,000 according to Trendgraphix (a decrease over last installment). The result vs. the control data? Control data was 19.7% of all active listings in 95819 were short sales, vs. 22.6% last month, vs. 21.1 this month. Still a BIG INCREASE over the control data, but a slight decrease over last installment. Number of 2009 closed short sales - 11.

So in summary - of the six Sacramento area zip codes I am tracking for my experiment, 4 of them experienced an increase in the number of active short sale listings from last installment, while 5 experienced an increase over the control data...the majority of the zip codes posted pretty large proportional increases, and the one decreasing zip code I am tracking posted a huge proportional decrease. My phone definitely keeps ringing and I continue to receive emails - I am fielding lots of inquiries from homeowners looking for more information and insight from my short sale experience...buyers too are really curious about the short sale process since they are encountering so many short sale listings in our marketplace. Also (you will be aware of this if you follow me on Twitter or Facebook), I closed many of my own short sale listings since the last installment of Erin's Sacramento Short Sale Experiment...in fact I closed an Arden short sale last week, and I have another Sacramento short sale closing next week. Until next time!

Erin's Sacramento Short Sale Experiment, Part I
Erin's Sacramento Short Sale Experiment, Part II
Erin's Sacramento Short Sale Experiment, Part III
Erin's Sacramento Short Sale Experiment, Part IV

Hmm. Is it just me, or do the median price statistics in Sacramento County sure seem to look pretty flat for the last year? If you look at the median price in December 2008 vs. that of December 2009, you will actually see an INCREASE of about 5.1%! Perhaps now we have enough data to think this little trough we saw from last January to April was not a fluke - and stability is here to stay? Time will tell. I can tell you that most of the transactions I have been representing for both buyers and sellers, (in all price ranges, short sales, foreclosures, and "regular transactions with a traditional sellers" - yes those DO exist!) are mostly met with multiple offers often resulting in pushing the price over the listing price. If you would like me to email you the Facts and Trends graphs for specific zip codes in Sacramento County, just shoot me an email and I am happy to provide them.

Adorable Sacramento 3 bed, 2 bath, 1,159sf home is ready for a new owner! You will love the updated kitchen, open floor plan, spacious master bedroom, and the convenient location within minutes of shopping, entertainment and freeway. LOW $60/month HOA dues cover the front yard and common area maintenance. Convenient location close to I-80, shopping, schools and more. Offered at $119,000 subject to lender approval of short sale. For more photos and information, visit http://www.7117heathertreedrive.com/.