Changes to Listing Information in Sacramento

Due to recent changes in the rules set out by the Sacramento Metrolist MLS, we’re required to make some changes to the information we display in our listings. We’ve got good news, and we’ve got bad news.

Bad news first: We can no longer show information for the number of days a listing has been on Redfin. We’re also no longer permitted to show the price per square foot for Sacramento listings.

The good news is that we can now show you sold homes with photos.

If you have any questions about these changes, please feel free to leave a comment below.

Redfin Releases Clustering in Sacramento!

We just made a big upgrade to the Redfin search experience by clustering your map search results based on the number of homes for sale.

Get all the details on our main blog and let us know what you think!

Come out on August 26th to our Folsom Home Buying Class

Redfin’s Sacramento team is hosting a free home buying class at the Courtyard Marriott in Folsom on August 26th from 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. Our local agent Jennifer Sumner will be on hand to give you the latest stats on what’s going on in the market, guidance for picking the right mortgage loan, navigating the offer and closing process, and what it’s like to work with Redfin.

Dinner, drinks, and the class are all free. You can sign up here:

RSVP for our free Folsom home buying class

If you’d like to meet with one of our agents before the class, just get in touch.

Hope to see you there!

Come Out to Redfin’s Free Home Buying Class in Folsom on June 23rd

Redfin’s Sacramento team is hosting a free home buying class at the Courtyard Marriott in Folsom on June 23 from 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. Our local agent Jennifer Sumner will be on hand to give you the latest stats on what’s going on in the market, guidance for picking the right mortgage loan, navigating the offer and closing process, and what it’s like to work with Redfin.

The class is free and we’ll also have dinner and drinks. You can sign up here:

RSVP for our free Folsom home buying class

If you’d like to meet with one of our agents before the class, just get in touch.

Hope to see you there!

Close by June 30th to Claim the Federal Tax Credit

If you’re closing on your home this June, you may be eligible for the federal home buyer tax credit.

June 30^th is the closing deadline for this tax credit, so there will be a lot of people trying to close on their homes. That means some serious volume at your local lender, with underwriters who are struggling to keep up with all the loan approvals.

Long story short: there might be some unlucky home buyers who try to close in time for the tax credit, but end up slipping into July. You don’t want to be one of those people.

We put together a list of tips for our clients who are trying to close in time to qualify for the tax credit. Here’s what we came up with:

1. Have all of your mortgage approval documentation ready. Put them in an easy-to-transfer electronic format, such as PDF. Keep these files ready on your desktop, a zip drive, or uploaded to an email account.  This documentation includes: pay stubs, W9s, tax returns, bank statements, employment letters, stock positions, ID, and any other information required by your lender.
2. Make sure your bank has ordered and processed your appraisal. Also, be sure that your loan file is in process with underwriting.  An appraisal can take anywhere from a few days to over a week and no loan is ready to close until it has been approved by your lender.
3. Contact your loan officer daily. Be a “squeaky wheel” to get your loan closed. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, and in this case the grease happens to be worth several thousand dollars.
4. Keep your agent in the loop. It’s your agent’s job to keep the process moving and to look out for your best interests. If your agent is napping on the job, nag them. Nicely. But nag them.
5. Move your money around now, and do not take out any new lines of credit.  No new loans, no new cars, no new credit cards, and no new major purchases. New credit = changes to your credit score. Changes to your credit score = your lender’s underwriter starting all over again. The underwriter starting all over again = bad.
6. Schedule your closing as soon as possible. You won’t be able to schedule closing until you get the final underwriter approval from your lender. Your lender should tell your agent as soon as this happens, but don’t take any chances — call your agent to make sure the info went through. Once you have underwriting approval on your loan, work to get your closing date set as early as possible. You want to have at least a two-day buffer before June 30^th, but a week is even better.
7. Perform your final walk through at least 2-3 days before closing. Make sure everything that was supposed to be fixed post-inspection was actually fixed. Also, make sure no new damage popped up in the meantime. This is especially critical with FHA loans, which can be rejected unless the FHA’s standards of livability are met. For example, we’ve had clients who needed to paint a set of stairs or replace rotted wood before their FHA loans were approved. Not the sort of thing you want to be doing on June 29^th.
8. Stay calm and collected. With a little planning, attention to detail, and teamwork with your agent, you should have no problem closing in time to claim the tax credit.

The New California Home Buyer Tax Credit

We’ve received a lot of comments and questions about our post on the new California Home Buyer Tax Credit. We’ve updated the post to clarify a few points and answer our readers’ questions.

By now, I’m sure most of you have heard about the extension of California’s $10K home buyer tax credit, which Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law on March 25. I’ve had a couple clients ask me about this, so I thought I would pass some info on to our Sweet Digsters.

Here are the highlights:

The program:

• California plans to spend around $200 million dollars to fund this tax credit.
• This is twice as much funding as the state’s previous home buyer tax credit, which was rolled out in March 2009 and exhausted by July 2009.

Who is eligible?

• The home buyer must be a California taxpayer.
• There is no limit on the income of the home buyer.
• The program is available to both existing homeowners and first-time home buyers.
• Current homeowners are eligible only if they buy a newly-built home.
• First-time home buyers are eligible whether they buy a newly-built or existing home.
  • To be a first time home buyer, you cannot have owned a home anywhere in the world during the three years prior to buying your new home. If you’re married, that applies to your spouse as well.

How much is the credit worth?

• The tax credit is worth up to 5% of the purchase price of the home, or $10K, whichever is less.

How does the home buyer receive the tax credit?

• The payment is credited against the home buyer’s annual CA state income tax.
• The total payment will be spread evenly over three years.
• If you qualify for the full $10K, you’d get up to $3,333 per year – but only if you pay at least that much in annual CA state income tax.
  • If your CA state income tax is $4,000 a year, you get a $3,333 credit against that amount, effectively lowering your state income tax to $667.
  • If you owe less than $3,333 per year in CA state income tax, you’ll receive a tax credit only for that amount. The extra will not roll over into the following year’s payment.
  • The credit will begin to be applied to the tax year in which the home was purchased. If you buy your home in 2010, the tax credit will begin to be applied against your 2010 taxes.
  • You cannot apply the tax credit to your 2009 taxes, even if you file your 2009 taxes after you purchase your home.

What’s the deadline for claiming the credit?

• Buyers of existing homes must close escrow between May 1 and December 31, 2010.
  
• Buyers of new homes can either:
  • Close escrow between May 1 and December 31, 2010, or…
  • If they are unable to close escrows during that time, they can reserve a credit by entering into an enforceable contract between May 1 and December 31. They must then file the proper paperwork with the tax board and close escrow by August 1, 2011.

What types of homes are eligible?

• Eligible home types include:
  • Single family homes
  • Condominiums
  • Units in a cooperative project
  • House boats
  • Manufactured homes
  • Mobile homes
• There is no price limit on the home purchase.
• A home constructed by the taxpayer is not eligible, since the home has not been “purchased.”

Can the new CA tax credit be combined with Federal Home Buyer Tax Credit?

Yes, but the window is very small. You will need to have your contracts signed by April 30, and you must close escrow between May 1^st (when the California program begins) and June 30^th (when the Federal program ends). The two programs combined could be worth up to $18K in tax credits.

However, remember to think carefully before diving in on a home purchase, regardless of any available tax credits. Buying a home is a major financial commitment. Don’t be lured into making a rash decision because you’re worried about missing out on “free” money. Instead, make sure that buying a home – with or without tax credits – is in your best long-term interests.

You can read more about the new California home buyer tax credit here.

Here’s the full language of the bill, AB 183.

Here’s California’s official website on the new home buyer tax credit.

–Brad Le, Redfin agent serving Silicon Valley and San Jose

Come out to Redfin’s Home Buying Class in Sacramento on March 25

Update: Unfortunately, we had to cancel this class. If it’s more convenient, please sign up for our next class in Folsom, CA on April 28th.

We’ll be rescheduling the Roseville class for the first week of May. Check out our home-buying class schedule for more details.

Google Perspective Imagery Comes to Sacramento

Last month Google launched “perspective imagery” San Jose and San Diego. Last Friday they announced that they added Sacramento, Oakland and Portland. This means for those of you looking for homes for sale in Sacramento you can now see angled imagery shot from a low flying plane on Redfin:

November (belated) City/Neighborhood Price Reductions

Let’s have another look at which cities and towns have the most price reductions.

The following charts show the percent of MLS, FSBO or REO listings that were price-reduced at some point before leaving the market (either sold or removed unsold from the market) in the past 90 days (as of 11.16.2009). Cities/towns or neighborhoods in which the number of homes taken off the market was too small to provide believable estimates are excluded from ranking.

For those that are interested, I have uploaded the full data set in Excel format here. The downloadable Excel file also includes charts showing the top ten cities/towns/neighborhoods with the least reduced-price listings.

First up are the top ten cities with the most price-reduced listings:

Of the 61 cities/towns we ranked in the Sacramento area this month, just 4 had price-reduced ratios of fifty percent or more. The median price-reduced ratio was 24.5%.

Getting a little more granular, let’s look at the top ten neighborhoods for price reductions:

Of the 42 neighborhoods we ranked this month, only 2 had a price-reduced ratio of fifty percent or more. The median price-reduced ratio was 25.7%.

Download the full spreadsheet to check where your neighborhood came in (assuming your neighborhood had enough sales to be ranked).

The October Market Wrap Up

Let’s take at look at some October numbers for single-family houses and condos that sold in the Sacramento area and see how they compare to a year ago.

Sacramento County

• 2,111 homes sold
• The median sales price was $180,000, down 7.7% from October 2008

Placer County

• 630 homes sold
• The median sales price was $298,000, down 6.9% from October 2008

El Dorado County

• 212 homes sold
• The median sales price was $290,000, down 25.6% from October 2008

Yolo County

• 177 homes sold
• The median sales price was $245,000, down 12.2% from October 2008

We got these numbers from DQNews.

Dig Deeper Into the Trends

These numbers are for county-level trends in the Sacramento area. To see what’s happening in your neighborhood, check out our stats & trends pages.