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We’ve created a page on the blog that allows you to search all of the Redding and Shasta County bank-owned (REO) properties and reposessions (REPO’s).  These properties have all already gone back to the banks at the courthouse steps and have actually been listed in the Shasta MLS with a brokerage. 

Click here to search all REPO’s in the Shasta MLS!

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The latest craze in real estate as most know is to complete DIY projects, saving time and money for the homeowner.  This is true in many instances but follow a couple rules: take your time and don’t cut corners and decorate for the masses if you are planning to sell anytime soon.  What I mean by “decorate for the masses” is to create an environment with paint colors and materials that almost anyone could bring their existing furniture into and live. 

What we are seeing now with many homes on the market in our area is a need for buyers to get the best “perceived value”.  They may look at 20 homes and find one home over the rest that has been staged to sell (doesn’t have to be by a professional “stager”) but appears as if the current owners have meticulously maintained the home.  Walking into a home with a clean front porch, clean eaves, mowed lawn and a couple live potted plants feels inviting to potential buyers whereas overgrown grass, broken-down cars and dead plants can be a warning sign of an improperly maintained home.  Here is a quick sample of what I mean…

Unstaged/cluttered homes might detract buyers

Clean and fresh homes attract buyers to see more!

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Courtesy of HGTV.com, we’ve got some great tips for you on how to improve your home with a minimal investment of only $100!

Tip 1: Spend an hour with a pro.
Invite a realtor or interior designer over to check out your home. Many realtors will do this as a courtesy, but you will probably have to pay a consultation fee to a designer. Check with several designers in your area; a standard hourly fee is normally less than $100, and in an hour they can give you lots of ideas for needed improvements. Even small suggested improvements, such as paint colors or furniture placement, can go a long way toward improving the look and feel of your home.

Tip 2: Inspect it!
Not every home improvement is cosmetic. Deteriorating roofs, termite infestation or outdated electrical systems — you can’t fix it if you don’t know it’s broken. Hire an inspector to check out the areas of your home that you don’t normally see. They may discover hidden problems that could negatively impact your home’s value. Small problems (such as a hidden water leak) can become big, expensive problems quickly; the longer you put off repairs, the more expensive those repairs will be.

Tip 3: Paint, paint, paint.
One of the simplest, most cost-effective improvements of all is paint! Freshly painted rooms look clean and updated — and that spells value. When selecting paint colors, keep in mind that neutrals appeal to the greatest number of people, therefore making your home more desirable. Be sure not to over-paint (covering hardware, etc.) and make sure you take your time and do a good job.  On average, a gallon of paint costs around $25, leaving you plenty of money to buy rollers, painter’s tape, drop cloths and brushes. So buy a few gallons and get busy!

Tip 4: Find inspiration.
An alternative to hiring a designer is to search for remodeling and decorating inspiration in design-oriented magazines, books, TV shows and websites. Simply tear out or print off the ideas you want to try and start your to-do list. Keep it simple — when remodeling on a tight budget, do-it-yourself projects are best.

Tip 5: Cut energy costs.
The amount of money you spend each month on energy costs may seem like a fixed amount, but many local utility companies provide free energy audits of their customers’ homes. They can show you how to maximize the energy efficiency of your home. An energy-efficient home will save you money now, which can be applied to other updates, and is a more valuable and marketable asset in the long run.

Watch videos courtesy of HGTV.com!

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With all of the talk about the doom and gloom of the local real estate market, we find that it is nice to share the information that we do know that is fact for our local area…this is the actual activity that is available straight from the Shasta MLS database as of today, March 22, 2008:

• Residential Listings:  There are 1,701 active listings and another 339 listings that are pending (in escrow).  Year-to-date during 2008 we have had 318 listings that have sold (closed escrow) and so far in March we have had 95 sold listings.  Overall statistic for the year 2007: there were 2, 140 listings that sold (closed escrow) and were recorded in the MLS database.  

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For those that want to know EXACTLY what our local real estate market in and around Redding, CA is up to…the chart below is your answer!  This table contains straight statistics from the Shasta Board of Realtors MLS database. 

What does this table really mean??? First, let’s learn the table.  To begin, this data represents every listing in the MLS…regardless of type (residential, vacant land, etc.) and could potentially include some duplicate listings. 

The “New Listings” category shows just that-all new listings taken during that month.  “Active Listings” are listings that were available for purchase or active at the end of the month.  “Sold Listings” are listings that actually closed escrow during the month or were technically sold. 

The most interesting category to look at, especially if you are a home seller is the “Months Inventory”.  Months inventory is, if NO NEW LISTINGS were added to the MLS after that month, how many months it would take for all listings available in the MLS to sell.  This category is so important because it can help you to see the detrimental effect of not pricing your home correctly and ahead of the market to begin with.  Historical data shows that if you are not listed within the top 10-20% of the listings comparable to yours you will quickly fall under the curve of the market and have to do more (and major) reductions to get back “into the market”. 

Real estate lecturers have said that they see 2 types of sellers, the 20% that are “in” the market with a fair or great price that is likely to see offers and the other 80% that have priced themselves “out” of the market and won’t likely see any offers during their listing period. Utilize this data to understand what type of listing YOU are.  Ensure that you are receiving accurate up-to-date market data and that you are within that 10-20% so that you may see an offer quickly!

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Today’s local real estate market update, straight from the Shasta MLS database:

• Residential Listings:  There are 1,650 active listings and another 350 listings that are pending (in escrow).  Year-to-date during 2008 we have had 245 listings that have sold (closed escrow) and so far in March we have had 24 sold listings.  Overall statistic for the year 2007: there were 2, 140 listings that sold (closed escrow) and were recorded in the MLS database.  

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Today’s local Redding and Shasta County real estate market update, straight from the Shasta MLS database:

• Residential Listings: (Down 27 listings from 2 weeks ago)  There are 1,654 active listings and another 332 listings (up 47 listings from 2 weeks ago) that are pending (in escrow).  Year-to-date during 2008 we have had 209 listings that have sold (closed escrow) and of those, 101 sold during February.  Overall statistic for the year 2007: there were 2, 140 listings that sold (closed escrow) and were recorded in the MLS database.   

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I found this article today…and found it enlightening about our area. 

1. Panic pricing. Foreclosures are adding houses to a market already hungry for buyers. Sellers who need to sell are increasingly willing to give up their hope for an inflated price.

Sellers fear that if they don’t sell now, they’ll get a lower price in the future. Fear is infectious. Bad news from banks and talk about recession will spook the herd-both sellers and buyers.

Buyers fear buying into a declining market. So they’ll sit on the bench hoping to get in at the precise minute when the absolute bottom is reached. Perfect timing is rarely achieved. A timing buyer usually waits too long, panics, then rushes into a rising market.

Buyers should remember that sellers who do not need to sell right now, either don’t have their properties for sale or won’t negotiate on their price.  Put another way: Most sellers today are motivated, but not all. Buyers who buy when most of their peers are sitting on the sidelines get the good deals.

Desperation is unpleasant to see and worse to endure. But scared sellers fear the fear of future unknowns more than they fear a little less sale profit in their pocket. Buyers get scared sellers out of where they no longer want to be. Cash works: Trade cash for a price discount.

2. Flexibility. Fear makes sellers flexible. Buyers should propose terms that ask sellers to help make the deal work beyond lowering their price.

Sellers may have the ability to finance part of the purchase price, which saves buyers money that would otherwise be given to lenders. They may be able to fix something, do something or pay for something. They can always pay more than the customary share of closing costs and taxes.

3. Loans are here. Mortgage money for second homes and rural land has not dried up. Most lenders have not significantly tightened their lending practices, according to recent surveys.

Locally owned banks, credit unions and federal Farm Credit cooperatives are rural lenders of first resort. Some sellers will be able and willing to finance a sale, in whole or in part.

4. Interest rates. Recent Federal Reserve decisions have lowered interest rates. The Federal-funds rate is 4.25%, down from 5.25 in September. Prime is 7.25. A Bankrate.com survey of 4,800 online banks quoted in the Wall Street Journal on January 8 showed that the average 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was being offered at 5.68, with a 15-year fixed at 5.22. These are buyer-friendly rates.

5. Labor and materials. Whenever new construction slows, all trades that depend on it are eager for employment. Buyers are likely to get better work, done faster and maybe a little cheaper in 2008 than at anytime in the future.

Get several building-supply dealers to give you their cost estimates on your project’s needs. Let each supplier know that you are willing to buy all your material from the one who promises to be the best package of quality, reliability, compatibility and price.

6. Build a nest egg. Rural property, bought right, is one path to building wealth for middle-income Americans.

A second home can be rented, which brings the owner both income and tax benefits. As an investment property, it can be eligible for a 1031 tax-deferred exchange.

Land may produce income from farming, timber sales and leases as well as business-related deductions, tax benefits, crop subsidies and cost-sharing for work that promotes conservation. It may be eligible for a conservation easement, which helps on federal, state and local taxes as well as with estates.

A second home can be turned into a full-time principal residence, then sold, leaving much of the taxpayer’s long-term capital gains tax-free. Or, it can be folded into the tax-free portion of your estate and passed on to heirs.

In most cases, rural real estate should appreciate as fast, if not faster than, inflation-at the very least.

The easiest way for young people to save for retirement is to buy a piece of rural land and hold it for 30 years. Leveraged money allows the borrower to capture the long-term appreciation on the full value of the property, not just the cash the owner has in it.

7. Cooperative helpers. When the real-estate market is slow, brokers, agents, lawyers, surveyors, lenders and everyone else involved in a purchase should be willing to work hard and be competitively priced. Your sale, no matter how small, is important when sales are moving like slugs in molasses.

The trick is to shop vendors and pick those who promise to be both compatible and competent. A buyer’s market makes everyone nicer, not just the seller.

Lenders may be willing to discount their up-front fees to get your business; but you have to ask. Don’t accept a loan with a pre-payment penalty. Look favorably on long-term, fixed-rate mortgages rather than ARMs with low teaser rates that blow up like improvised explosive devices.

Buyer-friendly circumstances do not exempt buyers from the obligation to protect themselves by thoroughly researching property before making an offer. Emotion-based, impulse buying is the enemy of profit and happiness. The buyer who buys will-nilly needs money to burn, because burn it he will.

While 2008 is a buyer-friendly moment, buyers will serve their own interests by not hammering the last nickel out of their sellers. The way someone enters a rural community is closely observed. When fear saturates real estate, the market eventually resets a sustainable rate of buying and selling at lower prices. This hurts sellers, but it’s business–not personal.

Buyers should not gloat when the market tilts the playing field in their favor. And one other thing: when you have the ball, don’t fumble.

Curtis Seltzer, land consultant, is author of How To Be a DIRT-SMART Buyer of Country Property at www.curtis-seltzer.com.

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Today’s local Redding and Shasta County real estate market update, straight from the Shasta MLS database:

• Residential Listings: (Down 23 listings from 2/3)  There are 1,681 active listings and another 285 listings (up 31 listings from 2/3) that are pending (in escrow).  Year-to-date during 2008 we have had 154 listings that have sold (closed escrow) and of those, 46 have sold so far during February.  Overall statistic for the year 2007: there were 2, 140 listings that sold (closed escrow) and were recorded in the MLS database.  

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Today’s local Redding and Shasta County real estate market update, straight from the Shasta MLS database:

• Residential Listings: (Down 20 listings from 1/31)  There are 1,704 active listings and another 254 listings (up 8 listings from 1/31) that are pending (in escrow).  Year-to-date during 2008 we have had 110 listings that have sold (closed escrow) and of those, 4 have sold so far during February.  Overall statistic for the year 2007: there were 2, 140 listings that sold (closed escrow) and were recorded in the MLS database.