You’ve thought about selling your home—but it’s a big step. You’re not sure whether it’s the right time. These seven discussion questions can help you think through the decision.

1. Does the home still fit you and your family?
Life changes can change the way you think about your home. Adding household members, separating from a partner, watching adult children move away, and even new personal interests and needs can make a home suddenly feel too large or too small.

2. Have you made a career or lifestyle shift?
A new job further from home, a commute that was once toler... Read more

When it comes to building wealth, the choice between real estate and the stock market has been a long-standing debate. Popular media often highlights stock market booms, cryptocurrency surges, or tech IPOs, but they rarely dig into the long-term reliability and tangible advantages of real estate. In regions like Humboldt County, where the real estate market includes vibrant communities such as Eureka, Arcata, Fortuna, and Ferndale, the conversation becomes even more relevant. While both investment paths have their merits, there are critical differences, overlooked factors, and regional dynamic... Read more

2020 Homeowner Wish List [INFOGRAPHIC]
2020 Homeowner Wish List [INFOGRAPHIC] | MyKCM

Some Highlights
In a recent study by realtor.com, homeowners noted some of the main things they would change about their homes to make them more livable.
Not surprisingly, more space, an updated kitchen, and a home gym rose to the top of the list.
If you’re thinking of selling this year, having these items in your listing might make your house more desirable than ever to potential buyers.... Read more

A depression in the economy can cause many home owners to throw up their arms and sell their homes in order to get rid of financial difficulties. But does that mean they can give away their property to a lender only because they cannot afford it anymore! Also those in financial crisis cannot treat their homes as easy to dispose consumer goods. I agree that a real estate investment can also be termed as an illiquid investment. But real estate history has known that selling a home takes much planning and patience for months before a suitable buyer turns up.

The early 1990s saw homes se... Read more

It is everyone’s dream in Sacramento to own a home. As home loans are made easily affordable, almost every family has a home of their own. Home loans with low mortgage rates are provided by the government for low income and bad credit people. These loans have interest rates as less as three percent. Consolidation of loans by the government has made repayment much easier. In spite of all these, foreclosures are on the rise.

The major factors that contribute to foreclosures are fall in real estate prices, abundance of unsold homes, inert home sales and mortgage loans going into default... Read more

The recent economic conditions had unemployment rates higher than what they had been in more than a quarter of a century. Ironically the housing sector had created incredible opportunities as the interest rates in buying and selling were on the rise. During such times the country saw a gradual rise in the demand for real estate agents.

To become a real estate agent you can be educated in any of the business schools through diploma and course programs or you could have attained skills through online courses. What matters most to become a real estate agent is that you must posses a lice... Read more

Home Front: Quarterly home sales worst yet for Sacramento area

Sacramento-area home builders just keep singing the blues.

July, August and September brought their worst quarter yet in this long housing crash: just 616 sales in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties, the Folsom-based Gregory Group reports today.

Actually, nearly all the region’s sales were in Placer and Sacramento counties alone. The suburban cities of Placer County accounted for 44 percent of third-quarter sales of new homes in the region. Sacramento County’s outer... Read more

Hats are off today to Sacramento’s Michael Choe, 43, a supervising engineer with the state Department of Toxic Substances Control. This week he earned his second appearance in Time magazine since 2005 – for making good calls in this crazed real estate market.

Choe sold high in 2004.

He rented for four years.

He bought low in 2008.

As the housing crash continues, Choe’s is the ultimate wish-we-had-done-that tale.

In September 2004, as the market soared (the median price was 25.6 percent higher than the same time a year earlier in Sacrame... Read more

Home Front: How assessor slashes property values

By Jim Wasserman
jwasserman@sacbee.com

http://www.sacbee.com/business/story/2014910.html

This week the Sacramento County Assessor’s Office – and more like it across the great foreclosure belts of California – chopped property values again on nearly everything built in the housing boom.

The value slashing in Sacramento County that started in 2007 with 50,000 properties and 90,000 last year, reached 170,000 in 2009. That’s nearly every lot carved from a pasture and turned into a new house sinc... Read more

Sacramento area misses move-up homebuyers -- they’re staying put

By Jim Wasserman
jwasserman@sacbee.com


http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/1959684.html

Almost four years into the real estate crash, a once-thriving sector of the Sacramento-area housing market – the move-up buyer – has become a virtual dead zone that must revive itself for a true recovery to take hold, analysts say.

Even as real estate rocks with enthusiastic first-time buyers and investors – accounting for up to two-thirds of area sales – one expert warns against being f... Read more

The other morning a GreatWest GMAC Real Estate professional was brainstorming with another Realtor. Both agreed that in addition to helping buyers purchase property, and sellers to sell their homes, they had voluntarily taken up the shield, for helping past clients, friends and family, to stay in their economically challenged homes during these difficult times.

Currently, they were averaging one or two calls a day, running the gamut consisting of the following:

(1) A friend, who bought a house in the 1990s, built up equity, then put on a second mortgage to finance an improve... Read more