“I give up,” she said. “Why should I waste my time looking at homes and making offers only to lose out to cash buyers and higher prices?” It had been a disappointing couple of months for Shelly, who had been overbid by other buyers on all the homes on which she had made offers. Frustrated [...]

“There appears to be no stopping this runaway real estate market. Home prices are increasing monthly and there are multiple offers on nearly every listed property. With low interest rates and many creative financing programs, nearly everyone is focused on buying real estate.” That was taken from a column I wrote in June 2005 when [...]

When shopping for a home, most folks look for the nicest home they can afford. They like lush landscaping, attractive flooring, granite counters and new kitchen appliances. It’s natural that they want the finest home they can afford. Selecting a home is a reflection of their lifestyle and personality and where they are going to [...]

Once an offer is accepted and escrow is opened, everyone involved works really hard to ensure that the sale closes. Buyers are put through the financing wringer to qualify for a loan and sellers start physically packing their belongings, looking forward to their next journey. When a sale unravels, everyone involved walks away with nothing [...]

I’m writing this from ground zero: My childhood home in Orange, Calif. To get through my job here I need smelling salts and a bulldozer. Eight months ago my elderly parents moved out of the single-story ranch they tended for years into a home that tends to them, I hope as well. I have parachuted [...]

The No. 1 challenge for today’s would-be homebuyers isn’t their credit score, their income or how long they have been on their job. What’s holding back many young families from buying their first home is they just don’t have enough money for their down payment. It must be frustrating for young families who should be [...]

After previewing an exceptionally nice home in Cameron Park, I wasn’t surprised when my client said, “Let’s make an offer.”  It was a perfect match for John who was already pre-approved by a lender, comfortable with the price range and had long-term ownership plans. We would need to move quickly, however, before another buyer snatched [...]

OK, you want to buy a house. Your job and financial position are stable; you have sufficient savings for the down payment and you have been pre-approved for a loan. You’re the perfect candidate for home ownership. There is just one small problem. You can’t find anything that you really like and when you do [...]

There are currently more buyers looking for homes than homes for sale. El Dorado County only has about 425 current active residential listings. A few years ago, it was not unusual for that many homes to be listed in a single month. During the last two months only 200 new listing came on the market. [...]

Mr. Appleseed purchased a two-acre hillside lot in Camino in 2006 where he intended to build his retirement home. In 2009, after retirement, he hired an architect to design his custom home and spent other money in preparation for building. Prior to issuing a building permit, the county required a survey of the property. The [...]

Despite using my GPS, finding rural properties can be challenging. My appointment was tucked far back from the road, accessed only by a narrow dirt drive, blocked by a field livestock gate and obscured by trees and brush. I had to stop and exit my car in order to read the faded numbers on the [...]

Looking back, my New Year’s resolutions have been pretty much a failure. They were well-intended at self-improvement like losing some weight, exercising more, spending more quality time with my wife Vicki and being more organized. But life happens and those good intentions get displaced by the moment. We often fail early at our resolutions because [...]

The most unsettling aspects of living through a declining real estate market is the uncertainty as to when the bottom will be reached. If we all knew that property values would bottom out on a certain date, more folks would have held on to their homes and fewer would have walked away from their mortgages. [...]

A look back at the lessons the year served up reveals I once again had my share of jams, upheavals and awakenings. I faithfully reported these with what I hope some would call humor served with a dollop of advice on the side. For that advice, I credit and thank all the experts who graciously [...]

The news of the passing of jazz music legend Dave Brubeck earlier this month brought back memories of my most eventful journey home for Christmas. My high school years were spent attending a military academy not too far from Knoxville, Tenn. In the 1960s it was not unusual for parents to send their boys off [...]

This past election was a confirmation once again of the accuracy of political polling. As much as some of us resent the intrusion of strangers surveying our inner feelings, sampling public opinion has become a frequent occurrence on all manner of topics. In the case of the presidential race, the 35 major national pollsters averaged [...]

  I hesitate to make a list Of all the countless deals I’ve missed; Bonanzas that were in my grip – I watched them through my fingers slip; The windfalls which I should have bought were lost because I over-thought; I thought of this, I thought of that, I could have sworn I smelled a [...]

My first home was financed with a FHA mortgage. I had applied for a conventional loan but was turned down because I didn’t have the required 10 percent down payment.  That’s when my banker suggested we try FHA. Two months later, I was moving into my first home. I kept that house and FHA mortgage [...]

The most overlooked and an under-appreciated room under our roofs is the garage. Garages are either too cold in the winter or too hot in the summer. They are dark and cluttered with all manner of junk. Garages have cobwebs on the ceilings, oil and transmission fluid on the floor, sharp instruments and half-filled liquid [...]

The $324,000 average selling price for a county home closing escrow during October was 18 percent higher than a year ago. That was the highest average purchase price for October going back to 2008. The year-over-year increase was consistent with increasing property values that have been climbing since they hit bottom in October 2011. This [...]