Archives for 2010

Shasta Hills Estates – Redding

Shasta Hills Estates is one of the best kept secrets in Redding for those 55 and up.

The gated entrance off of Churn Creek Rd is quite impressive. The build quality of the homes is top notch and the location is close to everything. Many of the homes have impressive views and there’s the clubhouse, swimming pool golf and walking trails to top off this gem of a subdivision. Last but not least, I have found the residents of Shasta Hills to be friendly and welcoming to newcomers.

All of the clients I have assisted in acquiring homes in Shasta Hills have been very happy with their decision.

More information and a current list of homes for sale in Shasta Hills.

Shasta County MLS Hotsheet 8/27/2010

New listings to see on the Shasta County MLS.

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Parsons Realty offers many tools including the Daily Hot Sheet to help you find the perfect house. Save time and let the best real estate deals find you, sign up for our Shasta County MLS Listing Alerts.

Parsons’ free Listing Alert service will automatically send residential property listings direct to your email. You’ll only receive properties in your price range and location(s) of interest. We also offer smart phone notification, voice message alerts, fax alerts, pager and Instant Messenger notifications.

Ducky Derby – Redding September 26, 2010

Its Ducky Derby time again, Sunday, September 26, 2010. Ducks will be launched into the Sacramento River, upstream, at approximately 3:30 p.m. Can you believe it, this is the 21^st Annual Ducky Derby! How do I know this? Easy, my kids have a bunch of Ducky Derby tickets to sell! If you need any tickets let me know, there’re only $5.00 each.

This year the Ducky Derby Grand Prize is a 7’ x 10’ Dandy Ducky Kids Playhouse from Meeks Lumber. But wait, there’s more. You could also win 4 box seats to a Giants game (an $850.00 value), a whitewater rafting trip for 4 courtesy of Terry Hanson, a fly-fishing trip for 2 and last but not least, a diamond topaz necklace from DeVons Jewelers.

All of the prizes mentioned above are great prizes but I think there should be a few more prizes. At least a couple hundred more prizes at least.

I’ve talked with a lot of Redding business owners and they would be willing to donate goods and services to such a great cause. Granted, the value of their offering might be a free dinner at (fill-in the blank) or a buy one widget get one widget free etc. My point is, there could be hundreds more Ducky Derby winners. Logistically, you couldn’t announce all of the smaller prize winners at the Ducky Derby. However, ticket holders could check a web site to see if they’ve won a prize. Almost everyone could be a winner with so many of the Redding merchants offering promotions these days.

Talk about win-win, the merchants would get name recognition on the Ducky Derby website and there could be 300 more reasons to purchase a Ducky Derby ticket. If this were the case, I might buy all of my kid’s tickets and they could have more time to do their homework, (yeah, right.)

These are just my thoughts, what do you think?

What Does REO Mean?

As a Real Estate Broker I often get asked “what does REO mean?” REO is an acronym for real estate owned and is used in the context of foreclosed properties owned by the lender or bank. Typically, after foreclosure, the bank will list the property for sale. It’s cost prohibitive for banks to hold a vacant house for very long. As of this writing, the total number of REOs for sale in Redding and all of Shasta County is 235 houses. So it’s fair to say, if you’re looking for REO houses, there a lot to choose from in Redding and the surrounding areas.

Just because a property is bank owned does not automatically mean the property is a bargain. It’s not uncommon for banks to charge a higher price for their REO inventory as they must recoup financial losses from unpaid mortgage payments and the cost of foreclosing and possibly paying back taxes etc. Further, people losing their home may not have kept up with routine maintenance, or in some cases, may have intentionally damaged the property and or removed appliances, plumbing and lighting fixtures. However, this does not mean you can’t find a great deal on a foreclosed house. There’s no such thing as the last good deal in real estate, great opportunities happen almost every day. The trick to finding great real estate deals is to know about them before anyone else. The analogy I like to uses is, how long does a $100.00 bill last on the floor at K-mart? Less than a minute. A great REO property is worth a lot more than finding a $100.00 bill. Therefore, get the REO list before others and you’ll undoubtedly find some real gems.

Finding new REO listings the same day they’re posted to the Shasta County MLS is easy. Our home page at www.ParsonsGroup.com has a link to our Real Estate Hot Sheet. The Real Estate Hot Sheet is updated daily and every new listing in Shasta County is on the list. Just watch the list and you’ll know about new listings before most other buyers. We also have our Listing Alert Service which sends you the new listings matching your search criteria such as price, location and square footage. You can choose to receive the notification real time by email, instant messenger, text message or telephone voice notification.

Okay, you’ve found a few houses of interest, now what. As fast as you can, you should go and look at the houses in person. Most REO houses are vacant and I can open up the house with my lock box card. It’s very important to get inside to check the condition. As you may already know, banks offer foreclosed houses for sale in their “as-is” condition. Typically, the banks are not willing to make any repairs and they don’t offer any disclosures regarding property defects. This means, buyer beware! When I show REO properties, some major defects are often visible right away (I was a contractor for the last 25 years of my life.) Other defects are more subtle or may not be visible at all until you go in the attic or sub-area of the house.

When you think you have found an REO bargain the next step is to get control of the property so you can do your inspections. Buyers often make the mistake of attempting to inspect the property first and then write an offer. As this may seem logical at first, the plan can back fire when a shrewd investor finds the property the same time you do. The shrewd investor knows to get an offer accepted by the bank and then fully inspect the house. A good purchase contract has provisions for the buyer to inspect the property during escrow. If, after completing the inspections the buyer decides not to proceed with the purchase, she simply cancels the contract. What the investor has done in this scenario is contracted for the right but not the obligation to purchase the house. Imagine poor Joe, the newbie REO investor; he calls his brother-in-law and they spend all day checking out an REO house. After the property meets Joe’s approval he decides to write an offer. Sorry, it’s too late! Ms. shrewd investor has already taken the property off the market and will be doing her inspections next Thursday.

Like many things in life, timing is everything, you must know about all new listings as soon as possible. There are many more strategies and tips you can use to find houses and then negotiate the lowest possible price. Next you must know how to write offers banks and sellers absolutely hate but are afraid to reject. I will share my thoughts on those topics in future posts. Also watch for an upcoming post on Short Sales – The Greatest Opportunity of a Lifetime.

Until next time…

Now You Can Search The Shasta County Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for All Properties. Redding MLS Search

Redding Flood Hazard Area – Insurance

Flood insurance can be a hidden cost of home ownership. Before you buy a home in Redding we recommend you consult the Flood Insurance Rate Map. Many areas of Redding are within mapped Special Flood Hazard areas. As a public service, the City of Redding will provide you with the following information:

Whether a property is in or out of the Special Flood Hazard Area as shown on the current Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) of the City.

Additional flood insurance data for a site, such as the FIRM zone and the base flood elevation or depth if shown on the FIRM. If there is an Elevation Certificate or Letter of Map Amendment on file, copies can be made upon request.

The City of Redding also has a handout on the flood insurance purchase requirements that can help people who may need a mortgage loan for a home located in the Special Flood Hazard Area. Another important note, the City of Redding attained a “Class 6” rating in the Community Rating Service (CRS) program which ensures a 20 percent discount to policyholders within a Special Flood hazard Area.

To make an inquiry with the City of Redding, you will need the street address or the Assessor’s parcel number of the property. Here’s the best part, there’s no charge for these services.

You can reach the City of Redding Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (excluding holidays) by calling (530) 225-4020 or go to the City of Redding Development Services Department in City Hall at 777 Cypress Avenue.

The above information was provided as a courtesy from Douglas DeMallie, Planning Manager for the City of Redding.

Mortgage Rates Continue To Drop To Record Lows

Today Freddie Mac released the results of their Primary Mortgage Market Survey, and rates continue to reach record lows.

“Existing home sales plunged 27 percent in July, while new homes fell 12 percent to a newall-time record low, which led to some market concerns that the housing market may slow the economic recovery. As a result, long-term bond yields fell to the lowest levels since January 2009, allowing fixed mortgage rates to ease to new record lows this week,” said Amy Crew Cutts of Freddie Mac.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.36 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending August 26, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 4.42 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.14 percent.

Amy Crew Cutts also said “Much of the slowdown in sales, however, was expected due to the recently expired homebuyer tax programs, which pulled through future home purchases into the first half of the year. For instance, average existing home sales over the first seven months of 2010 were nearly 8 percent higher than over the same period a year ago.”

“Moreover, house prices still appear to be stabilizing. Nationally, house prices rose 0.9 percent on a seasonally-adjusted basis during the second quarter of this year this year after 11 consecutive quarterly declines, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s purchase only index. Eight of the nine census regions experienced positive gains, compared to none in the first quarter.”

Archives for 2010

Shasta Hills Estates – Redding

Shasta County MLS Hotsheet 8/27/2010

Ducky Derby – Redding September 26, 2010

What Does REO Mean?

Redding Flood Hazard Area – Insurance

Mortgage Rates Continue To Drop To Record Lows

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