DeeDee's Real Estate Information Blog

FAQ 2. Why was my offer rejected though it was higher than list price?

Tue, 29 May 2012 23:50:42 -0700

This question comes up a lot these days with all the multiple offers happening. Pacita Dimacali from Alain Pinel in Oakland, lays it out perfectly. Thanks Pacita!

Comments have been disabled so you can head to Pacita's blog and give credit where credit is due!

Via Pacita Dimacali - ePRO, SRES, CDPE, MBA Alain Pinel in Alameda County CA (Alain Pinel):

Why was my offer not accepted by the seller even though we offered higher than the list price?

In my neck of the woods in Alameda , Oakland and Piedmont CA, we’ve had listings during which the winning buyers were not always those who wrote the highest offers.

This is not unusual. Buyers who track the progress of sold properties on which they submitted offers are very surprised when they found out they wrote higher offers but lost anyway.

NOTE: List price should NOT be the sole basis of your offer. List price is all part of the pricing strategy -- some agents list less than market value in order to stimulate a bidding situation.

So what are some of the reasons why the highest offer doesn’t always win?

Take a close look at the details of your offer. Highest price alone doesn’t guarantee the offer is the best one, especially in a competitive situation where there are several offers on the table.

First and foremost, ask

What does the seller want?

Initial deposit You submitted less than 1% of the offer price as your initial deposit.

The higher the better. The higher initial deposit shows seriousness on the part of the buyer to commit resources to complete the transaction. It also shows how much buyer is willing to risk.

Down payment
Are you getting an FHA loan? This may not be as attractive to sellers who are receiving offers for cash or conventional loan.

In short sales, negotiators typically want 30 days or less to close escrow from the time they grant approval. Some FHA lenders may need longer than 30 days which could put the short sale transaction in jeopardy

Escrow period
Sellers are in a hurry to close (heck, they’ve already moved) but you want an escrow period longer than 30 days.

Conversely, seller may have wanted to wait a little longer or even a rent back. But you wanted them out sooner than when they're ready. Did the seller have a contingency to find a replacement property?

Buyer investigation period It’s a competitive situation, but you still specified 17 days to do your inspections. Most realtors can find you inspectors who can get there sooner. And typically, buyers will know from the results of the inspections whether they want to move forward or not. And if you decide to back out, the sooner you back out, the sooner the seller can put the property back on the market.

Pest Inspection mentioned in the contract You asked the seller to pay for your inspections. And you specified wood-destroying organism/pest inspections. Didn’t you and your realtor know that this raises a huge RED flag among loan underwriters who may insist that Section 1 items of the pest report are cleared/repaired/replaced before they approve the loan?

Most seller will NOT agree to this up front.

Escrow fees and closing costs
You asked seller to pay for your escrow fees and closing costs. Do you know how much your escrow fees and closing costs are, and is it worth losing out on this sale for that amount?

City and county transfer taxes It’s best to go with what’s customary in your area. Most sellers will accept that condition. But if you ask the seller to pay for all of these, then you might as well just move on to your next offer.

Repairs and credits
If it's an AS IS sale (typical of short sale or bank-owned listings), it's NOT a good idea to ask for repairs/credits in the offer before it is accepted and before you even have inspections done. You can wait to ask for it later, depending on the degree and amount of repairs that must be done, and assuming you’re still willing to move forward.

HOA fees where applicable Sellers will normally pay for the cost of getting the HOA documents/ And they are also responsible for keeping up with the HOA payments.

But transferring the HOA membership from theirs to the new buyer is typically borne by the buyer. This is a minor issue, but could be an irritant if the buyer asks for seller to pay for all HOA-related items.

What stays with the house The MLS usually states what the seller is willing to leave behind.

But you asked for the sun and the moon, including some of the seller’s personal property.

Short sale specifics Most short sale listing agents want total commitment from the buyer to stick it out, and will ask buyer to

open escrow upon acceptance by the seller and before receipt of short sale approval

longer waiting period

But you don’t want to commit, and didn’t do either one. Whereas your competition did. So which buyer do you think the seller would believe more?

Other REALTORs will surely weigh in on more reasons why some offers are rejected by the seller, even when such offers at first glance appear to be decent (but not the best) offers.

What does the seller want?

For Those Who Made the Ultimate Sacrifice -The Riley FamilyThanks You

Sun, 27 May 2012 19:07:59 -0700

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I am a REALTOR® in El Dorado Hills with Lyon Real Estate. I love living in El Dorado Hills, where homes with views have become my passion. Working with both buyers and sellers, my concentration on homes for sale includes not only El Dorado Hills, but also Folsom and the Cameron Park vicinity. For more information on me or our wonderful area visit my website at www.DeeDeeRiley.com or email me at driley@golyon.com. When you're ready to sell or buy a home – I would love to help! To read what my clients have to say about me and my service, visit my Client Testimonial page.

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Don't Take Away My Dropbox

Thu, 24 May 2012 19:05:57 -0700

Don't Take Away My Dropbox

Take away my iPad as I have my trusty laptop, take away my camera as I have my phenomenal Android, but Don't Take Away My Dropbox. This month Active Rain friends, Adobe Echo Sign have asked us to blog about what tool is indispensable in our business. For me that indispensable tool would be Dropbox.

There are amazing apps, software, and hardware coming out every day but Dropbox has been a time saver and anything that saves me time is a plus. For the most part I only take my laptop on vacation otherwise if I go to my office, I just use one of the computers there. Before I discovered Dropbox, if I saved documents, pictures, etc. to my laptop I wouldn't be able to work on them from my office. That didn't always work so I came up with a tedious system of emailing myself documents that I might need to access from other places, like work. It involved saving the them to my desktop to work on, then reattaching them to another email and resending them to myself.

With Dropbox though, I am able to save docs and pictures to folders I've created and access them from either my laptop, any of our office computers, my iPad, or even my cell phone. I can make changes to any of the documents I've uploaded right there in Dropbox. As an example of this, I have an Excel template that I made to keep track of weekly internet activity and hits for my listings. I not only store the template there where it is easy to pull up when I have a new listing but also the individual listings logs. I can work on them whenever I have time from what ever internet access I have.

Other reasons I'd be begging - Don't take away my Dropbox:

* I can share files with people. For instance, I co-listed a short sale with Realtor in my office. I was able to share the file with her verses emailing things back and forth to each other.

* I store PDFs of our company Monthly Real Estate Report in a public file as an archive that I can link back to from my website.

* I save notes from webinars that I can pull up from my other devises and refer back.

* I can store pictures and videos of my listings there as well.

* If something happened to my laptop, I'd still have my important items that I could access from anywhere.

Did I mention it's free? They give you 2GB storage to start out with and you can earn more my referring friends or you can upgrade to 50GB for $99/year. It's a must have tool for everyone so check it out for yourself.

There are other applications out there like Sugar Sync that that would let me get to my laptop files or Evernote which I really do like for notes, but if I had to choose, please don't take away my Dropbox!

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View from Promontory - El Dorado Hills CA

Wed, 23 May 2012 18:10:35 -0700

Taken on our El Dorado Hills Garden Tour on Sunday. That is Folsom Lake you see through the arch of the trees.

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El Dorado Hills Real Estate - Heating Up

Wed, 23 May 2012 11:57:59 -0700

El Dorado Hills Real Estate - Heating Up

El Dorado Hills Real Estate is definitely heating up over the last couple months as inventory has dropped. For this month's market report, I decided to take a look at price ranges to see if it makes a difference. The following graphs all from Trendgraphix, Inc. are broken down into three price ranges - Under $500K, $500-750K, and $750K - $1Million. I also took out REO (bank owned) and Short Sales to eliminate the wide range of variability that comes with those two market types based on price range so these are just Traditional properties.

First we'll look at For Sale vs Sold. The $500-750K range have had more listings over the last couple months but sales have also inceased.

Under $500K

$500 - 750K

$750- $1 Million

Now we'll look at Months of Inventory based on the above For Sale vs Sold graphs. Notice all ranges have under 6 months of inventory which indicates a seller's market.

Under $500K

$500 - 750K

$750- $1 Million

Lastly.... here are the Average Price Per Square Foot graphs based on the homes that sold. The $500-750K range appears to be the sweet spot as the price for April 2012 is 5.1% over April 2011, 6% over March of 2012, and is the highest it has been in the last 15 months shown here, where the other price ranges are still showing a lot of up and down.

Under $500K

$500 - 750K

$750- $1 Million

El Dorado Hills Real Estate is heating up and we are seeing multiple offers in all ranges if a home is priced well. Sellers, it's a great time to sell here in El Dorado Hills but the key is still pricing! Be ready to look at the statistics and comparables your agent shows you and trust their input. Overpriced homes don't sell.

If you're thinking about selling, let's talk!

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FHA Loan Requirements

Tue, 22 May 2012 08:33:18 -0700

FHA Loan Requirements

With multiple offers prevelent in the lower price ranges, FHA Loan Requirements are eliminating the possibility of offers with FHA loans being accepted.

Here is a list of common FHA loan requirements and conditons that appraisers are looking for. It appears the banks are no longer looking to the appraisers for home values alone but inspections as well. With all these requirements, I have to wonder if the FHA really wants to make loans at all.

Common FHA Required Repairs or Conditions Appraisers Look For

Utilities (All Systems must be tested and functioning)

· Electricity, water, and gas are on (propane included)

Water Heater

· Turned on and functioning

· Adequate gas exhaust ventilation

· Earthquake straps properly installed

· Pressure relief valve installed

· ¾” Pressure relief valve overflow pipe properly installed

Heating and Cooling Units

· Must be in place and in working order

Kitchen Appliances (Functional)

· Range/oven is required (only if a built-in)

· Free standing and slide-in units NOT required

· Dishwasher is required only if a built-in unit

Paint

· Correct chipping or peeling paint (pre-1978 built homes) this includes interior and exterior

· No bare wood (must be sealed paint or sealant)

Electrical Wiring (Adequate and not exposed)

· Adequate GFI plugs (1 per circuit near water)

· Main electrical panel (exterior and interior covers)

· Plug and switch covers must be installed

· Fixture sockets must be covered

· No exposed wiring (or romex) below 8 feet in garage

· Electric service must be 60 amp or greater. Electric certification may be required if 60 amp appears to be overloaded (ie., larger 1000 sq. ft. with many major electrical appliances)

Plumbing

· Adequate hot water

· Adequate water flow in all faucets and toilets

Firewall

· Fire door with an automatic closing mechanism (must close and latch automatically)

· No holes in wall, fire door, or finished garage ceiling (including animal doors or missing handles)

Windows

· Replace broken window panes (cracked ok)

· Windows must open adequately

· Security Bars must have one quick release per room

Pool and Spa

· Must be filled with clean water

· Filter must be functional

Miscellaneous Items (requiring repair or action)

· Floor coverings (no bare concrete)

· Roof covering (Roof certification needed if excessively worn or missing shingles. Roof should have 2-3 years of useful life remaining and no more than 2 layers of shingles.)

· Signs of water leaks on ceiling must be repaired

· Trash and debris must be removed

· Exposed metal support brackets in patio

· Standing water is no ok

· Very green (lush) area in yard = possible septic leak?

· Inadequate smoke alarms (must be at least one adjacent to all sleeping areas)

· Garage door opener (If there is one it must be working and properly adjusted)

· Safety handrails should be installed in open stairwells of three or more stairs

· Infestation of any kind should be exterminated (ie. Mice, bats, termites, etc.)

· Structural or foundation problems must be repaired

· If there is a crawl space, it will be homeowner’s responsibility to make this area accessible so that it can be thoroughly inspected.

· Floor coverings must be intact and not excessively soiled or stained

· Carbon monoxide detector (one at each level near bedrooms)

Other Conditions

· Any issues that are a risk to the Health and Safety of the occupants

With all these FHA Loan Requirements I say, good luck to buyers trying to buy a short sale or REO! Oh by the way, these are the same for VA and USDA loans as well.

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15 Offers... I Say So What

Mon, 21 May 2012 08:54:45 -0700

15 Offers... I Say So What

Though many buyers may back off properties with 15 offers, I say so what. When it comes to offers, it is not whichever offer comes first but which is the strongest and/or most desireable to the seller. The question is where do you stand with yours?

These are things that can make an offer strong or not:

*Cash - always good as there is not the new lender ultimately deciding whether they will approve the loan or not.

*Conventional loan - not as strong as cash but much stronger than FHA due to all the requirements for an FHA loan to be approved.

*Time to close - what is best for the seller

*FHA Loan - many issues can occur with the loan approval so these are not as desirable for a seller

*Low-ball offer - Never strong in a multiple offer situation or otherwise if there are reasonable other offers

*You need closing costs.

*VA loans are not always considered strong because they require section 1 pest items to be done by the seller and ultimately netting the seller less money.

*Offer contingent on the sale of the buyer's current home does not make for a strong offer unless you are making other concessions, ie. higher sales price.

There are a few things as Realtors, we can do to make these offers stronger sometimes so not to get discouraged. And at the same time don't get discouraged if you are a strong buyer or have a strong offer and there are many other offers. 15 Offers.... I say so what!

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Speechless Sunday - Recycling At Its Finest!

Sun, 20 May 2012 12:04:19 -0700

Or I guess I could say, that's one way to be green....... cardboard sunshades!

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El Dorado Hills - Wine at Town Center

Fri, 18 May 2012 17:55:24 -0700

El Dorado Hills - Wine at Town Center

Events in El Dorado Hills Town Center are always fun, but Wine at Town Center is one of the best springtime events. Get your tickets and help the El Dorado Hills and Cameron Park Rotaries help our youth!

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Wordless Wednesday - Tulip

Wed, 16 May 2012 21:02:50 -0700

Hope you all had a wonderful Wednesday!

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Traditional Highland Hills Custom

Tue, 15 May 2012 21:58:47 -0700

Traditional Home In Highland Hills

Overview
Maps
Photos
Features
Description
Neighborhood
Open House

$895,000

Single Family Home

Main Features

4 Bedrooms
3 Bathrooms
1 Partial Bathroom
Interior: 4,122 sqft
Lot: 0.75 acre(s)

Location

1097 Lomond Drive
El Dorado Hills, CA 95762
USA

To get updates on open home dates and other property events, please click the "Like" button below:

DeeDee Riley

Lyon Real Estate
(916) 225-2719
driley@golyon.com
http://deedeeriley.com

Listed by: Lyon Real Estate

My recent listings

Traditional Home In Highland Hills
Beautiful Corner Lot in Serrano

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Nearby properties for sale

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El Dorado Hills Garden Tour - 2012

Sat, 12 May 2012 20:28:09 -0700

El Dorado Hills Garden Tour -2012

The El Dorado Hills Garden tour is one of my favorite spring time events here and is just a week away. There are 6 gardens on the tour this year with homes in the custom area of Serrano, Promontory, Highland Hills, and Sterlingshire neighborhoods.

Purchase tickets at any of the following locations:

El Dorado Hills

Pottery World

California Welcome Center

Pak Mail

Green Valley Nursery

Cameron Park/Shingle Springs

Caffe Santoro

El Dorado Nursery

Placerville

Café Luna

Flowers on Main

Camino Flower Shop

Other Locations

Pottery World, Rocklin

California Back Yard, Rancho Cordova

Green Acres, Folsom

Bushnell’s Nursery, Granite Bay

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Wildflowers in Serrano El Dorado Hills

Sun, 06 May 2012 16:23:07 -0700

Wild Lupines dot our El Dordo Hills' landscapes with their beautiful blue color this time of year. I couldn't help myselft from stopping for a picture to share while on Realtor tour this week. This was taken inside the Serrano Country Club area off Cordero Drive.

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El Dorado Hills' Friday Night Summer Concerts - 2012

Sun, 06 May 2012 15:29:59 -0700

El Dorado Hills' Friday Night Summer Concerts - 2012

Each year the El Dorado Hills Community Services District hosts a series of Friday Night Summer Concerts every two weeks mid-May through July. This year also marks the 50th Anniversary of the Community Services District. The 2012 concert series starts off May 18th at 7pm with a 50th Anniversary Celebration as well and fun for the entire family- food, live music, giveaways, face painters.... A celebration not be be missed!

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Folsom Lake Spillway - May 2012

Wed, 02 May 2012 23:03:14 -0700

Their starting to let water out of the dam. Last year we go so much snow in the mountains that all of the spillways were flowing like the one here. Before the road in front was built we drove on a little two lane road that is up at the top of the spillway.

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What's Selling in El Dorado Hills - March 2012

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:21:03 -0700

What's Selling in El Dorado Hills - March 2012

In keeping up with our our real estate market, I always like to see what's selling in El Dorado Hills each month. Here's what March 2012 looked like for us.

On the low end was this single story, in the Governor Village neighborhood. It was a 3 bedroom/ 2 bath short sale with approximately 1640 square feet built in 1973 on just over a quarter acre, cul-de-sac lot. It sold for $185,000 which was $112.80 per square foot. It's list to sell price was 94.53%.

3034 Youngs Court

On the high end, was this custom two-story built in 2006 on just over one half acre within the gated Serrano Country Club. It has 5 bedrooms/4.5 bathrooms and approximately 6187 square feet which includes an office and media room. Among it's many amenities are Travertine floors, stone fireplaces, a built-in pool, outdoor fireplace and kitchen. It sold for $1,050,000 which is just under $170 per square foot.

5047 DaVinci Drive

There were 71 total homes sold in El Dorado Hills for March 2012. Here are some statistics on them:

Average list price - $507,528 ($154/square foot)

Average selling price - $493,862 ($150/square foot)

Average size - 3286 square feet

Average selling price to list price ratio - 97.34% (meaning they are selling very close to their list price)

Average days on market/cumulative days on market - 84/106

25 sold over $500,000

3 sold over $1Million.

I'm excited to see what April brings as homes priced well have been getting multiple offers. For more information on our El Dorado Hills real estate market feel free to call or email me. Visit my website to search properties, see El Dorado Hills Market Trends, or find out more about me.

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El Dorado Hills Sunset - April 29th 2012

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 20:53:59 -0700

Love my life!

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Folsom Lake - Springtime Full

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 22:51:55 -0700

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Etiquette for Pinterest

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:29:47 -0700

Etiquette for Pinterest

The moment I was invited by my daughter to Pinterest, I was hooked on the concept. Imagine a place to gather all the little things I see on the internet and don't want to forget. I can't tell you how many little scraps of paper I use to cut out of magazines and file away! I learned the other day though, that there is Etiquette for Pinterest.

The developers have gathered input from Pinterest users as guidelines and have them as suggestions to keep the community positive and ensure all pins are useful to others.

Here are those guidelines from the Pinterest Etiquette page:

Be Respectful

Pinterest is a community of people. We know that individual tastes are personal, but please be respectful in your comments and conversations.

Be Authentic

Pinterest is an expression of who you are. We think being authentic to who you are is more important than getting lots of followers. Being authentic will make Pinterest a better place long-term.

Credit Your Sources

Pins are the most useful when they have links back to the original source. If you notice that a pin is not sourced correctly, leave a comment so the original pinner can update the source. Finding the original source is always preferable to a secondary source such as Image Search or a blog entry.

Report Objectionable Content

We do not allow nudity, hateful content, or content that encourages people to hurt themselves. If you find content that violates our Terms of Service or Acceptable Use Policy you can submit the content for review by pushing the ”Report Content“ link.

Tell Us How to Make Pinterest Better

We're just getting started, so there are going to be bumps here and there. Let us know what's working, what's not. Even though we don't always have time to respond to each and every email, we take your input seriously. You can get in touch with us anytime at http://support.pinterest.com.

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We can all celebrate the 42nd Anniversary of Earth Day!

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 12:05:04 -0700

I knew it was Earth Day but seeing these little facts buts a whole different perspective on its relevance - awareness for us all! Thanks Lee and Carol Barbour!

Via Lee & Carol Barbour, Realtors® Murphy, NC Homes For Sale (Mountain Living Team - Coldwell Banker High Country):

This Sunday on April 22, 2012 we celebrate the 42nd Anniversary of Earth Day! The following statistics are eye-opening, to say the least how just little changes can impact our world.
If everyone went vegetarian just for one day, the U.S. would save:
● 100 billion gallons of water, enough to supply all the homes in New England for almost 4 months
● 1.5 billion pounds of crops otherwise fed to livestock, enough to feed the state of New Mexico for more than a year
● 70 million gallons of gas--enough to fuel all the cars of Canada and Mexico combined with plenty to spare
● 3 million acres of land, an area more than twice the size of Delaware
● 33 tons of antibiotics
If everyone went vegetarian just for one day, the U.S. would prevent:
● Greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 1.2 million tons of CO2, as much as produced by all of France
● 3 million tons of soil erosion and $70 million in resulting economic damages
● 4.5 million tons of animal excrement
● Almost 7 tons of ammonia emissions, a major air pollutant
My favorite statistic is this: According to Environmental Defense, if every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off of U.S. roads. See how easy it is to make an impact?

Lee & Carol Barbour ~ The Mountain Living Team
www.MountainLivingTeam.com

Lee & Carol Barbour
"The Mountain Living Team"
info@mountainlivingteam.com

The Man Can Grow Blueberries!

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 10:56:02 -0700

Blueberries grow great in El Dorado Hills. Here's a few tips from my husband. They want an acidic soil, general fertilizer in early spring, 3" of peat moss to cover the planting bed each year, and he takes off the bottom 10" of branches to keep them off the ground. The birds love them so he puts bird mesh over the plants to protect our treasure!

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I am a REALTOR® in El Dorado Hills with Lyon Real Estate. I love living in El Dorado Hills, where homes with views have become my passion. Working with both buyers and sellers, my concentration on homes for sale includes not only El Dorado Hills, but also Folsom and the Cameron Park vicinity. For more information on me or our wonderful area visit my website at www.DeeDeeRiley.comor email me at driley@golyon.com. When you're ready to sell or buy a home – I would love to help! To read what my clients have to say about me and my service, visit my Client Testimonial page.

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El Dorado Hills Market Report - March 2012

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 20:32:43 -0700

El Dorado Hills Market Report - March 2012

There is finally positive news regarding the real estate markets across the country. For this month's El Dorado Hills Market Report, we'll take a look at some Trendgraphics for the last 6 years so you can get some perspective not just of the last month but since the height of the market as well. I believe the change has been showing itself here for a while now.

The following charts are based on single family homes for all property types combined in El Dorado Hills and the statistics are based on the closed sales.

El Dorado Hills Homes For Sale and Sold

The biggest change from the height of the market are the number of homes for sale (our inventory). As you can see the number of sales hasn't changed much but the inventory has dropped dramatically. In September 2007 there were 490 homes for sale and last month there were 150.

This next graph shows the months of inventory. Months of inventory is derived from dividing the number of sales into the total for sale. Under six months of inventory is considered a seller's market and over months is considered a buyer's market. As you can see, here in El Dorado Hills we have been in a seller's market for quite some time now.

Months of Inventory

Average Price Per Square Foot

The price per square foot for El Dorado Hills homes sold has been pretty steady over the last 15 months. With multiple offers on properties, we may finally start to see that inch up.

Average Active Price and Average Sold Price

With this Active Price vs Sold Price graph you can see that the active prices are starting to creep and the sold price is as well. When I'm doing a comparative market analysis to help my sellers come up with a listing price or my buyers come up with an offer price, we look mostly at the sold prices because they will be at or very close to market value where the active price is what a seller is hoping to get. The sold prices are reality. Looking at the different property types for these graphs the lines are much closer together for the REO and Short Sale homes. For the month of March the average active price for REOs was $459K and selling price was $448K, while Short Sales actually showed a higher selling price, $457K than average active price, $442K.

Breakdown of March 2012 Statistics by Property Types

This El Dorado Hills Market Report show things are looking up for sellers but is it still a good time to buy? You bet! Interest rates are historically low and the average home selling price was 45% higher 6 years ago!

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I am a REALTOR® in El Dorado Hills with Lyon Real Estate. I love living in El Dorado Hills, where homes with views have become my passion. Working with both buyers and sellers, my concentration on homes for sale includes not only El Dorado Hills, but also Folsom and the Cameron Park vicinity. For more information on me or our wonderful area visit my website at www.DeeDeeRiley.comor email me at driley@golyon.com. When you're ready to sell or buy a home – I would love to help! To read what my clients have to say about me and my service, visit my Client Testimonial page.

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ActiveRain Meet-up in Livermore CA

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 19:22:34 -0700

ActiveRain Meet-up in Livermore CA

The ActiveRain Meet-up in Livermore CA on Tuesday, RainCamp today, and a Roseville Meet-up for me tomorrow, how lucky can I be! Though Livermore is a couple hour drive from where I live here in El Dorado Hills, I was so excited about it when I got the invite from Karen Crowson. Driving is not my favorite thing, but it was so worth it on Tuesday when I went.

The event was held at the beautiful Concannon Winery. When I walked in, I recognized Karen right away from her picture and we introduced ourselves. Then I started introducing myself to the other women sitting at a table with her. "Kathleen Daniels." Her hair is shorter than per AR picture but I knew her at once from reading so many of her great posts.

We all moved to a sitting area outside and as people sat, I recognized more of them. There were lots of new faces but many I've seen from their posts.

I turned to introduce myself to the gentleman on my left who said his name was Brad. It took me a couple seconds but then realized it was Brad Andersohn. I was so excited, needless to say! I've learned so much from Brad, both through his ActiveRain blog and through classes at Zillow Academy and he is always such an

inspiration!

Great company, great wine (from what I could taste as I knew I had a long drive home), great entertainment (compliments of Brad & his darling wife DebraLee and Pacita), and a beautiful facility. All in all a perfect time at the ActiveRain Meet-up in Livermore CA.

It was a pleasure to meet everyone there- Karen, Kathleen, Brad, DebraLee, Cathy, Ann, Elisa, John, Antonio, Alexia, Pacita, Linda, Karen, Jacquie, Alla!!! Thanks to Karen and Kathleen for putting it all together!

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Spring Bloomers in El Dorado Hills CA

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 23:06:30 -0700

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I am a REALTOR® in El Dorado Hills with Lyon Real Estate. I love living in El Dorado Hills, where homes with views have become my passion. Working with both buyers and sellers, my concentration on homes for sale includes not only El Dorado Hills, but also Folsom and the Cameron Park vicinity. For more information on me or our wonderful area visit my website atwww.DeeDeeRiley.comor email me atdriley@golyon.com. When you're ready to sell or buy a home – I would love to help! To read what my clients have to say about me and my service, visit myClient Testimonial page.

Search MLS Listings in El Dorado Hills and the Sacramento Region

Subscribe to my monthly eNews

Click here to find out moreabout me!Or justGoogle Me

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El Dorado County - Loans to Correct Health & Safety Issues

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:20:40 -0700

El Dorado County - Loans to Correct Health & Safety Issues

El Dorado County has funds available as low interest rate loans for income qualified homeowners in the unincorporated areas to correct health & safety issues.

The Housing Rehabilitation loans must be used to correct health and safety issues and to meet code compliance standards, such as repairing or replacing roofs, foundations, plumbing, electrical, heating and air conditioning systems, termite damage and more.

The home must be located in an unincorporated area of El Dorado County and in order to qualify, the household income must fall at or below 80 percent of the area median, based on household size. Current annual maximum household income limits are: one person, $42,650; two persons, $48,750; three persons, $54,850; four persons, $60,900; five persons, $65,800; six persons, $70,650; seven persons, $75,550; eight persons,

$80,400. This program is designed to provide financing for homeowners who would not qualify for other types of financing due to limited income. Interest rates are as low as three percent for a 15-year loan of up to $40,000. In certain limited circumstances, interest-only or deferred payment terms may be available. Loans may also be available with interest rates as low as five percent to rental property owners who

rent to income-qualified households.

You can find more information regarding this program by calling the El Dorado County Housing, Community and Economic Development Block Grant Programs at (530) 642-4863. These loans to correct health & safety issues are available toeligible homeowners on a first-come, first-served basis until funds are exhausted, so don't wait. Or visit the County web site at www.edcgov.us. Funding is provided through the State Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program and the County’s Housing Rehabilitation Revolving Loan Funds.

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I am a REALTOR® in El Dorado Hills with Lyon Real Estate. I love living in El Dorado Hills, where homes with views have become my passion. Working with both buyers and sellers, my concentration on homes for sale includes not only El Dorado Hills, but also Folsom and the Cameron Park vicinity. For more information on me or our wonderful area visit my website at www.DeeDeeRiley.comor email me at driley@golyon.com. When you're ready to sell or buy a home – I would love to help! To read what my clients have to say about me and my service, visit my Client Testimonial page.

Search MLS Listings in El Dorado Hills and the Sacramento Region

Subscribe to my monthly eNews

Click here to find out more about me!Or just Google Me

Keep in touch

Initial deposit	You submitted less than 1% of the offer price as your initial deposit. The higher the better. The higher initial deposit shows seriousness on the part of the buyer to commit resources to complete the transaction. It also shows how much buyer is willing to risk.
Down payment	Are you getting an FHA loan? This may not be as attractive to sellers who are receiving offers for cash or conventional loan. In short sales, negotiators typically want 30 days or less to close escrow from the time they grant approval. Some FHA lenders may need longer than 30 days which could put the short sale transaction in jeopardy
Escrow period	Sellers are in a hurry to close (heck, they’ve already moved) but you want an escrow period longer than 30 days. *Conversely,* seller may have wanted to wait a little longer or even a rent back. But you wanted them out sooner than when they're ready. Did the seller have a contingency to find a replacement property?
Buyer investigation period	It’s a competitive situation, but you still specified 17 days to do your inspections. Most realtors can find you inspectors who can get there sooner. And typically, buyers will know from the results of the inspections whether they want to move forward or not. And if you decide to back out, the sooner you back out, the sooner the seller can put the property back on the market.
Pest Inspection mentioned in the contract	You asked the seller to pay for your inspections. And you specified wood-destroying organism/pest inspections. Didn’t you and your realtor know that this raises a huge RED flag among loan underwriters who may insist that Section 1 items of the pest report are cleared/repaired/replaced before they approve the loan? Most seller will NOT agree to this up front.
Escrow fees and closing costs	You asked seller to pay for your escrow fees and closing costs. Do you know how much your escrow fees and closing costs are, and is it worth losing out on this sale for that amount?
City and county transfer taxes	It’s best to go with what’s customary in your area. Most sellers will accept that condition. But if you ask the seller to pay for all of these, then you might as well just move on to your next offer.
Repairs and credits	If it's an AS IS sale (typical of short sale or bank-owned listings), it's NOT a good idea to ask for repairs/credits in the offer before it is accepted and before you even have inspections done. You can wait to ask for it later, depending on the degree and amount of repairs that must be done, and assuming you’re still willing to move forward.
HOA fees where applicable	Sellers will normally pay for the cost of getting the HOA documents/ And they are also responsible for keeping up with the HOA payments. But transferring the HOA membership from theirs to the new buyer is typically borne by the buyer. This is a minor issue, but could be an irritant if the buyer asks for seller to pay for all HOA-related items.
What stays with the house	The MLS usually states what the seller is willing to leave behind. But you asked for the sun and the moon, including some of the seller’s personal property.
Short sale specifics	Most short sale listing agents want total commitment from the buyer to stick it out, and will ask buyer to open escrow upon acceptance by the seller and before receipt of short sale approval longer waiting period But you don’t want to commit, and didn’t do either one. Whereas your competition did. So which buyer do you think the seller would believe more?