Elite Properties Sacramento - Broker's Blog

Reflections on the (Probably Temporary) Defeat of the Paulson Bailout and What It Means for Real Estate

Elite Properties — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:15:36 -0500

I share some more thoughts about the Paulson bailout and the likely impact for real estate.

The usual warning applies about forward looking statements: objects in the crystal ball are fuzzier than they appear.

How Many Home Loans Could You Make With $700 Billion

Elite Properties — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:06:49 -0500

How can you tell Paulson's idea is completely dumb?

You can tell because a random real estate broker with no banking experience came up with an also-dumb idea that was, for all its stupidity, a better idea than Paulson's in a couple of days.

My idea finances 20% of the borrowing in the US for a year, and makes us $86.6 billion per year to pay back the taxpayers in 8 years. It rewards the top 58% of borrowers in the country.

Act now to stop Paulson Bailout

Elite Properties — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 17:26:03 -0500

I don't know how much you're following the news of the bailout of wall street banks who repackaged bad loans, but if you're not, now is a great time to get involved and please, please call your elected representative and tell everyone you can about this incredible fiasco.

Hank Paulson, Secretary of the Treasury, and George Bush are asking Congress for the authority to spend up to $700 billion at a time (that's a balance sheet maximum, not a maximum on the total the government can spend). That's more than the total cost of the War in Iraq so far. The Treasury will spend it buying bad loans, and get no equity stake in the firms they're buying them from -- leading some to call it "cash for trash".

Section eight of the proposed legislation gives Paulson an oversight-free blank check as to how to spend that much of your money.

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.

You can read the full text here.

Although as you might expect, public opposition to the plan is strongest among Democrats, several prominent conservatives have also gone on record as being opposed to the plan. This legislation is so bad that even CNN gets it.

Please look up and either write to or phone your Senator and House Representative right away. You can learn more about the proposal by clicking through on the articles current on Digg for Business and Finance.

Congress is in a HUGE RUSH to get this done, so those of us who think it's expensive, ill conceived and leaves us stuck holding the bill need to MOVE NOW to express our concerns to Congress.

Realtor(r) Trademark fixer Wordpress Plugin

Elite Properties — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:11:21 -0500

Tired of typing that registered trademark symbol on the r-word every few minutes? I know I was.

This plugin fixes it, for Wordpress Users. Just type the word, lower case or upper, and the trademark appears by plugin magic. You'll need basic knowledge of how to install a Wordpress Plugin, or someone who does, but other than that it should be fairly straightforward.

Cheers.

I Clicked the Unsubscribe Link on This

Elite Properties — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 01:01:33 -0500

It didn't work. Maybe ActiveRain wants me to have free content. 200 points please.

June 16th, 2008

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Houssee Award Winners #2 Announced

Elite Properties — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 18:41:10 -0500

And here they are. Two ActiveRain blogs took home the honors this week.

West Roseville Real Estate Market Snapshot 95747

Elite Properties — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 13:57:02 -0500

Finishing up our series of Roseville Market snapshots (for now -- anyway -- we may have an aggregate market update for Roseville available soon), here is a snapshot of market data for West Roseville (95747) for May, 2008. This snapshot reprinted by permission from the Roseville Real Estate Blog.

Unit Volume Data

Units Sold	May, 2007	May, 2008	Change
Foreclosures Sold	12	36	200.00%
(% of total units)	18.75%	42.35%
Short Sales Sold	4	11	175.00%
(% of total units)	6.25%	12.94%
Non-distressed Sold	48	38	-20.83%
(% of total units)	75.00%	44.71%
Total	64	85	32.81%

Price Data

Prices	May, 2007	May, 2008	Change
Sold Price / Square Foot	$230.26	$172.48	-25.09%
Average List Price	$472,039	$400,729	-15.11%
Average Sale Price	$461,728	$387,516	-16.07%

Inventory

Sold Last 12 Months	Active	Months of Inventory
723	344	5.7

Central Roseville Real Estate Market (95678)

Elite Properties — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 13:48:01 -0500

This Central Roseville real estate market snapshot is reprinted by permission of the Roseville Real Estate Blog. It covers the period of May, 2008 with inventory figures as of June. This report is based on MLS data and covers Roseville 95678.

Unit Volume Data

Units Sold	May, 2007	May, 2008	Change
Foreclosures Sold	7	32	357.14%
(% of total units)	16.67%	56.14%
Short Sales Sold	2	6	200.00%
(% of total units)	4.76%	10.53%
Non-distressed Sold	33	19	-42.42%
(% of total units)	78.57%	33.33%
Total	42	57	35.71%

Price Data

Prices	May, 2007	May, 2008	Change
Sold Price / Square Foot	$223.99	$162.71	-27.36%
Average List Price	$368,172	$295,658	-19.70%
Average Sale Price	$359,077	$288,693	-19.60%

Inventory

Sold Last 12 Months	Active	Months of Inventory
456	230	6.1

East Roseville Real Estate Market Snapshot

Elite Properties — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 13:41:42 -0500

This market snapshot covers the period May, 2008 for East Roseville, California (95661). Reprinted by permission from http://www.rosevillehomesandland.com.

Price Data

Prices	May, 2007	May, 2008	Change
Sold Price / Square Foot	$229.39	$190.22	-17.08%
Average List Price	$421,297	$405,650	-3.71%
Average Sale Price	$407,416	$395,374	-2.96%

Inventory

Sold Last 12 Months	Active	Months of Inventory
247	152	7.4

Unit Volume Data

Units Sold	May, 2007	May, 2008	Change
Foreclosures Sold	2	11	450.00%
(% of total units)	9.09%	37.93%
Short Sales Sold	2	0	-100.00%
(% of total units)	9.09%	0.00%
Non-distressed Sold	18	18	0.00%
(% of total units)	81.82%	62.07%
Total	22	29	31.82%

Houssee.com Real Esate Blogging Award #1 -- Winners Announced

Elite Properties — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 21:53:11 -0500

ParticleWave.com is pleased to be the host of the first ever Houssee Award, so those of you who signed up and sumbitted blog posts or other news may find that you have won THE SHIRT.

For those of you who didn't, weather permitting we'll have more Houssee Awards from time to time, so there's still time to ammend your shirtless ways. Just go over and sign up and start submitting and voting for your favorites.

Remember, a lot of people come to the end of their lives and find they don't regret the time they didn't spend with their families and loved ones, but looking back they'd wish they'd spent more time submitting their blog entries to Houssee.com so they could win a picture of a tee shirt.

Congratulations again to all the winners.

P.S. The winning posts were much better than this one. I promise. I don't even think I'd submit this post on Houssee.

P.P.S. No, come to think of it, I think I will. I doubt it will win, though.

Phoning It In

Elite Properties — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 18:16:42 -0500

This blog here on ActiveRain has gotten kind of ignored lately.

I think the great ActiveRain public have caught onto the fact that I'm phoning in my blog, so they're phoning in their support, as it were.

Either that, or the folks I used to pal around with here are enjoying the busy season. The nice thing about being a Broker is that I too am enjoying the busy season, but I get to spend more time at my desk than most agents even in the busy season.

Maybe I should stop phoning it in and start writing great in-depth journalism and engaging in witty repartee. Or half-witty repartee, maybe. Half-witted Cool Whip, in any case.

In one respect, having a blog where not much is going on is somewhat liberating. I get to say what I want here, without fear of undue readership.

I had wished for a few more people to come by and check out Houssee.com from here. Response was underwhelming. I guess incoming links are less entertaining than points. Either that or no one's got anything to submit up there, because they're phoning it in, too.

I'm going to think about setting up call forwarding.

If you know what that means, let me know. I phoned it in.

A Perfect 10 Inside and Out in Cameron Park

Elite Properties — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 12:18:07 -0500

A Perfect 10 Inside and Out

Wanted: bright, open floor plan. Competitively priced, yet not a short sale or foreclosure. Immaculately remodeled within the last few years. A big, shady, corner lot with a big back yard. All this in a fantastic location with great schools. Stop looking, we found it for you, and it would be an honor to show it to you. Or call your agent and get her to show you this before it's gone.

Information

Contact Information

Vicki Agregado-Babcock

(530) 409-1100

Contact Reply Form

Forward to a Friend

View Other Flyers

Pricing

Asking Price: $399,900

Features

Bedrooms: 3

Bathrooms: 2

Parking: Ample

Year Built: 1987

Subdivision: Deertrail Estates

Lot Size: .253

Garage Size: 2 car

School District: Rescue Union / El Dorado Union

Square Footage: 1640

Agent Name: Vicki Agregado-Babcock

Broker: Elite Properties

MLS #: 80055485

Attributes

Appliances

Range/Oven

Dishwasher

Sink Disposal

Microwave

Interior Amenities

Security System

Exterior Amenities

Fenced Yard

Trek deck

Photo Gallery

View as Slideshow View Photo Gallery (20 Photos)

EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

VFLYER ID: 1693151

Houssee.com adds Top User Feature

Elite Properties — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 20:25:33 -0500

Read about it here.

Submit early. Vote often!

Publish and Vote for Your Favorite Real Estate Stories on Houssee.com

Elite Properties — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:30:10 -0500

For the past few weeks I've been an active user of RealEstateVoices.com, which I review here. This is a neat, established site, but one of the things I really didn't like about it was the huge amount of Spam, including ads for little blue pills, laptop batteries, cheap hotels, and any other sort of Spam you can think of.

With this in mind, I have just launched Houssee.com, which is running on the same open source software (Pligg), but which I've vowed to make as spam free as possible. I would like to invite you all to come and check it out and publish your stories there.

Naturally I have a lot more to do. The Spam fighting tools in Pligg beta are pretty primitive, so I have to look into upgrading or coding my own fixes to help with this. Also, as time goes on, in addition to the links you get from submitting your stories, I'll also be rewarding top contributors with home page links. (Based on who voted for your stories like RealEstateVoices, or possibly top # of stories submitted, or how many people YOU voted for -- or some combination of that to be determined later).

None of this is especially difficult, and I'm willing to take on all of that and really dig in and make this a valuable resource, if there's enough interest. But I need your help. So come sign up, spread the word, etc.

Another possible aspect of Houssee is this: I would also like to do a weekly link love post featuring the best of Houssee.com. I had originally envisioned Houssee site as not just another Digg clone, but as a cross between Digg and the Carnival of Real Estate. So "Houssee" was the name of the award you win. Unlike the Carnival, however, the selection would be entirely or mostly user-vote driven, but like the Carnival the content would be highlighted each week in a blog post somewhere.

I may have more news about this depending on how it all works out.

Meantime please come by, sign up, and start submitting and voting on stories!

Greater Sacramento Real Estate Market Update Roundup

Elite Properties — Tue, 27 May 2008 13:59:06 -0500

Here's a roundup of some of the real estate market updates that Elite Properties bloggers published in May in Sacramento County. Generally these articles deal with sales for the previous month (April):

Folsom

Franklin / Freeport

East Florin / Churchhill Downs

Rosemont

Elk Grove

Antelope

Sacramento County Condo Market

Sacramento County Real Estate Market Part I and Part II.

Overall the story for our entire area is one where prices have fallen heavily, and demand has turned a corner and is picking up. Even the Sac Bee is picking up the story of a real estate recovery.

Maybe you can use some of the clout you claim to have...

Elite Properties — Mon, 19 May 2008 20:50:36 -0500

...in the email you sent a dozen times to see about getting the bug fixed.

Click on the picture to see the whole thing.

Short Sales Are Fake Listings

Elite Properties — Sat, 17 May 2008 00:09:01 -0500

I've been writing a lot about short sales in the past week or so, because I really do feel that we do a buyer a disservice if we don't point out that short sales are neither short nor sales.

Lately I've gotten even more curmudgeonly about it and have taken to calling them fake listings, following Frank LLosa's lead. For more on that point of view, see my three part article series, Are Short Sales Fake Listings?

I'm also going to have another article coming out on the overall Sacramento numbers and how they continue to make the point. These listings are discounted some 24% from non-distressed listings, yet the non-distressed homes out-close them by more than two to one!

Gimme them old time REOs, they're good enough for me.

Open House Sunday in Cameron Park, 1-4 PM

Elite Properties — Thu, 15 May 2008 12:37:00 -0500

Vicki Agregado-Babcock is holding her beautiful listing at 3262 Sandhurst Court open on Sunday, May 18th, from 1PM to 4PM.

Come check out this lovely home -- I got a chance to preview it this past week and it's definitely a keeper!

For more information about this lovely home, check out the following links:

3262 Sandhurst Court Web Site (with photo gallery)
Map to Property
School Information
Schedule a Showing

Location Information
County:	El Dorado	MLS Area:	12601
Cross Street:	Sandhurst	Census Tract:	0
Location:	Cul-De-Sac, Snow Line Below	Subdivision:	Deer Trail Estates
Directions:	Hwy 50, North on Cambridge Rd. go aprox. 2 miles. Turn left left on Sandhurst Dr.(across from entrance to Cameron Park Lake. Left on Sanhurst Ct to end.	Map:	Thomas Bros. (PL, SA), 263 C-4

Interior Features
Master Bedroom Description:	Closet, Ground Floor	Master Bathroom Description:	Closet, Remodeled/Updated, Shower Stall(s)
Other Bathrooms Description:	Tub w/Shower Over	Dining Room Description:	Breakfast Nook, Dining/Living Combo
Kitchen Description:	Counter Granite, Kitchen/Family Combo, Pantry Closet, Remodeled/Updated	Has Fireplace:	No
Number of Fireplaces:	0	Heating:	Central, Propane, Other-Attch
Cooling:	Central	Floors:	Carpet, Tile, Wood
Laundry:	220 Volt Hook-Up, Cabinets, Inside Room	Additional Equipment:	Cable TV Installed, DSL Possible, Window Furnishings
Appliances:	Dishwasher, Disposal, Ice Maker Plumbed, Microwave B/I, Oven Elec F/S

Exterior Features
Style:	Ranch	Stories:	1 Story
Construction:	Frame, Wood	Builder:	Peterson
Exterior:	Wood	Foundation:	Raised
Roof:	Comp Shingle	Water / Sewer:	In & Connected
Water:	Public District	Utilities:	220 Volts, All Public, Propane, Underground
Security System:	Smoke Detector	Parking Description:	2 Car Attached
Has Garage:	Yes	Landscaping:	Sprinkler Auto F&R, Sprinkler Auto Rear
Has a Pool:	No	Is Short Sale:	No
Is a Horse Property:	No	Exposure Faces:	North
Topography:	Lot Grade Varies, Lot Sloped, View Local, View Special	Elevation:	1300
Lot Size in Acres:	0.23	Lot Size in Sq. Ft.:	10019
Dimensions:	0	Zoning:	res
Energy Features:	Ceiling Fan(s), Dual Pane Full, Skylight	Improvements:	None
Road Description:	Paved, Public Maintained	Space Rent:	0

School
Elementary School:	Rescue Union	Jr. High School:	Rescue Union
High School:	El Dorado Union High

Additional Information
Property Type:	SFR	Property SubType:	1 House on Lot
Property SubType 2:	Detached, Remodeled/Updated	Year Built:	1988
APN:	116-482-08-10	Status:	Active
Other Structures:	Tool Shed	HOA Dues:	0

The Craigslist Version

Elite Properties — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:58:09 -0500

I know, I know.

Some of you won't believe anything until you see it on Craigslist.

After all, what kind of broker would I be if I couldn't even afford twenty-five bucks to advertise for you on Craigslist?

So here you go, here's the ad on Craigslist.

You drive a hard bargain. That's precisely the kind of shrewd negotiator I'm looking for.

Is that fifty words yet?

Real Estate Agent Jobs In Sacramento

Elite Properties — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:54:08 -0500

Elite Properties is a small, independent brokerage servicing Sacramento County, Placer County, and El Dorado County, California. We currently have five agents, and are looking to hire up to five more in 2008. We especially need more agents in Placer County and Sacramento County.

Unlike many real estate companies, at Elite Properties, marketing online is not an afterthought -- it is the foundation of our business. Our broker, John Lockwood (hey look, that's me!) is a former software engineer who has created the number one real estate web site in Sacramento -- as well as several other successful web sites and blogs targeting Placer County and El Dorado County. As a result, we need agents who like working with Internet savvy buyers and sellers, because we frequently have many more opportunities (leads) coming in than we can handle.

I was here before ActiveRain. That's not a big deal. I have the leads because of it. That is a big deal.

We talk to many agents who brag about their brokers' marketing because their broker will send out 50 just listed postcards or whatever, but when we ask these agents if they're closing any business from these programs, their eyes glaze over. People looking to buy homes are looking online -- not waiting for a postcard. We offer many good leads, as well as a very competitive split for business you generate from your own efforts. In addition, we can offer you training and mentoring if you wish to develop an Internet presence of your own.

We are very informal. We work at home, using online transaction management and a company transaction coordinator to assist us with the nuts and bolts. We value cooperative arrangements with our agents such as shared marketing efforts, and we welcome agents who are strong recruiters / listing agents and who wish to lead a profitable team. We have excellent one on one training and review, and infrequent meetings.

What we need you to bring to the table are your enthusiasm and your one or more years of real estate experience. We need agents who can help us build online and love to write, as well as those who don't want to spend their time in front of a keyboard and who live to be out showing and selling houses. Above all we need people who are ethical, fun to be around, and want to do a great job for their clients.

If you're interested, please contact John Lockwood at (530) 672-9160 and let's see if there's a good fit.

The Maureens Have Landed

Elite Properties — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 10:35:50 -0500

Here you go!

Coming To ParticleWave - Maureen Francis

Elite Properties — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 21:00:56 -0500

Tomorrow's guest contributor to the ParticleWave What's Your Internet Marketing Strategy series will be none other than the Oakland County real estate blogging phenomenon, Maureen Francis.

I'll have a link to the article itself when it appears, but meantime if you want to camp out waiting for Maureen's article (get in line early for the best paragraphs), you'll find the article on ParticleWave sometime bright and early tomorrow.

Darn it -- did I miss April Fools? Well, the Sacramento Market Recovered, if you want to read about that.

Real Estate Blog Lab Author Dave Smith Appears on ParticleWave

Elite Properties — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 19:38:47 -0500

ParticleWave.com -- home of the the Internet Real Estate Marketing Blog -- is very pleased to welcome top Tucson blogger Dave Smith as the first author to contribute to our guest author series, What's Your Internet Marketing Strategy?

Dave is the marketing powerhouse behind his wife's many successful Tucson based blogs, as well as the author of an excellent technology blog, the Real Estate Blog Lab.

Check out Dave's Article.

New Real Estate Paradigms Now Worth 20 Cents

Elite Properties — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 16:17:16 -0500

Well, I didn't get featured for Help ActiveRain win a six month ad.

I guess they don't care if Cronin wins it.

I thought if used the word paradigm it might help.

Damn you Thomas Kuhn! :)

Help ActiveRain Win a Six Month Ad

Elite Properties — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 20:53:56 -0500

I am promoting a brand new blog. It's only about real estate in a very general way, but you may nevertheless enjoy it. I'm loving the heck out of writing it!

Our point here as real estate bloggers is of course to write to make money, right? Well, the point of this new blog is to discuss / teach / learn about making money by writing online in a more general way, so it has aspects of pro blogging, blog promotion, freelance writing, making money on your blog with advertising... that kind of good stuff. All brought to you by an aspiring real estate broker / wannabe writer, your (not-)humble servant, me.

The Contest ActiveRain Can Win

You know you have an RSS reader with spot for one more good blog in it, right? Well, now's your chance to add that blog and help ActiveRain Win a Free 6-Month Ad. All you have to do is visit my new blog and subscribe to the RSS feed, then let me know somehow -- maybe comment here that you subscribed.

What Else Do You Get?

In addition to a cool 6 month ad for ActiveRain, ActiveRain will automatically be eligible for a two year free ad as well. Plus you'll get to read me talking about fun topics like How to Get 101 New Blog Subscribers in 30 Days -- which is the whole point of the contest!

Fun, huh? You bet it is.