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Megan’s Law and looking for a home What is Megan’s law? Megan’s Law is named after seven-year-old Megan Kanka, a New Jersey girl who was raped and killed by a known registered sex offender who had moved across the street from the family without their knowledge. In the wake of the tragedy, the Kankas sought to have local communities warned about sex offenders in the area. All states now have a form of Megan’s Law. California has required sex offenders to register with their local law enforcement agencies since 1947. California’s Megan’s Law provides the public with certain information on [&hellip

Do you get it? How old are you?   The info graphic used to explain this frequently convoluted process is a “meme.” If you’re wondering what exactly memes are, they have been described as “virally-transmitted cultural symbols or social ideas” or cultural elements like jokes and turns of phrase that are created and disseminated by individuals. Communication is a big part of real estate. I don’t communicate like this, but I have people on my team that get it. I am a firm believer in a team of different experiences and abilities. If you get this, then I have people [&hellip

Sacramento Housing Numbers January 2014 Charts are good for viewing what the data of the Sacramento housing marketing is doing. This chart of the number of Homes for Sale and Homes that Sold shows that there are many more homes for sale than are being sold.  The charts are showing a strong change from last year. In January of 2013 there were 1,249 properties for sale; and, in January of 2014 there were 2,356. That is almost double the number of properties for sale. Despite the large numbers of properties for sale, fewer properties actually sold during January of this [&hellip

How Real Estate Commissions Work     Real Estate Commissions Basics   The standard and customary real estate commission to sell a property is 6%. Some properties can be handled for more based on the situation. And other properties can be listed for less.  All real estate commissions are negotiable, but not every agent will negotiate.   The first point to understand about real estate commission is the listing real estate agent (the agent who is going to put property for sale) receives only part of the commission. Depending on the property situation, it is generally 50/50 split. That means [&hellip

Qualified Mortgages The win for Lenders What is the big win for lenders making a Qualified Mortgage (QM)? A lender that fellows the rules of a QM loan have greater protection from law suits. This provision of QM is called “safe harbor”. In theory, under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s final mortgage rules, low-priced loans that meet all the criteria of QM are supposed to be largely immune from consumer lawsuits. Lenders that make Qualified Mortgages get certain legal protections even if the loans default. For QMs that are not “higher-priced,” lenders get a “safe harbor.” This means that the [&hellip

What is the median home price?   One of the best ways to evaluate a local real estate market is to use the median home price. The median price can be compared to various periods to find a trend. It can be compared against the prior month, quarter, year, and other periods.   How is the median home price determined? Median is defined as the middle number in a sorted list of numbers. Another way of defining median is a mathematical result that indicates that one half of the group is higher and one half lower. The median price of [&hellip

Sacramento Housing Numbers November  2013 Charts are good for viewing what the data of the Sacramento housing marketing is doing. This chart of the number of Homes for Sale and Homes that Sold shows that there are many more homes for sale than are being sold.  This is a change from what we saw for the first half of the year.  The chart shows that homes were being bought as fast as they could be put on the market, but that has changed now.  The past several months have had many more homes for sale, but the number of buyers [&hellip

  Preparing your lawn for winter   Now that the warm months are past, many folks don’t realize that there are a few things they should do to keep their lawn healthy for the coming year.  These are some of the more-important projects for saving your lawn from the cold.   Keep leaves from accumulating.  When leaves pile up they trap moisture and can act as a catalyst for diseases that will destroy your lawn.  In addition, these piles deprive grass of sunlight and can kill it in patches.  What is the simple solution?  Rake up leaves and dispose of [&hellip

Grass Valley Community Check out our up dated Grass Valley Community page. It has community information and current properties for sale. Grass Valley is in the hills and trees to the north of Sacramento. It is historically rich and makes for some of the best country living that the Sacramento Valley has to offer. Grass Valley can make an idyllic community to make a home. The appeal of Grass Valley attracts first-time home buyers, move-up buyers, and investors. The property styles varied from ranch style to two story houses, there are condos, bungalows, large estate lots and custom houses. Grass [&hellip

Who Holds the Lien on Your California Property? A lien is a right to a property granted by the owner to secure a debt. Essentially, the property acts as collateral for the loan. This means the lienholder has a right to take possession of the property if the debt is not repaid or the terms of the debt are violated, just like when collateral is forfeited if a loan is not repaid. Sometimes, property owners will attempt to sell a property without knowing or disclosing that there is a lien on the property. Liens can make themselves known at inopportune [&hellip