The Real Folsom Blog

Gone Fishing...

Gone fishing for a couple of weeks.

I'll be back blogging June 2 with lots of news on Folsom real estate.

See you then...

Green Tuesday: Kill a Watt, Save a Buck

This week's green tip from the California Association of Realtors can save you some $$$. Your home probably has appliances and machines or plugs that "suck" electricity or use electricity on a constant basis with no benefit to you, machines such as old refrigerators, printers, chargers for portable devices, and so on. One way to identify these amperage-sucking "vampires" is to connect these devices to the Kill-a-WattTM Electricity Usage Monitor (it retails for approximately $24). The Kill-a-WattTM unit's large LCD display counts consumption by the kilowatt-hour, the same as your local utility. You can calculate your electrical expenses by the day, week, month, or year and evaluate your appliances' efficiency. You'll know if it's time for a new refrigerator or if that old air conditioner is cost-efficient. Live green, live long!

Folsom Real Estate Snapshot May 12 '08

What better way to start my real estate week then to take a quick snapshot of where we are real estate-wise in Folsom this beautiful May morning? Here is what the MLS numbers tells us:

• Number of homes for sale: 303
• Price range: $119,900-$1,399,00
• Median price: $449,000
• Average Days on the Market: 78
• Number of Bank-Owned homes (also known as REOs) for sale: 17
• Median price of REOs: $439,900
• Average Days on the Market for REOs: 59
• Price range of REOs: $119,900-$874,900
• Number of Short Sale Properties: 68
• Median price of Short Sales: $377,000
• Average Days on the Market of those Short Sales: 102
• Price range of Short Sales: $174,900-$795,000

Some interesting realities show up in these few numbers, especially when you look at the differences in median price and days on the market...

Have a great day!

Jumbo Interest Rates Improve

Guest blogger Barbara Van Duyn, a mortgage planning specialist with First Priority Financial, has some good news for us about Jumbo Interest Rates. If you have any mortgage questions, you can reach her directly at Barbara@VanDuynGroup.com. 

In March we told you that HUD announced increased loan limits for conforming and governments back loans across the country. In Sacramento County, conforming, FHA and VA limits increased to $580,000. Those of us in the industry were expecting interest rates for these higher loan balances to find their way to our borrowers sooner than later but it has been painfully slow in coming. This week Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced they were lifting a premium for these new conforming Jumbo loans resulting in rates improving up to .500%. Regarding FHA Jumbo loans, not all lenders are currently offering these new loan limits. So a word of caution, if you are in need of financing a mortgage above $417,000 make sure you are working with a mortgage professional who has lenders offering BOTH the new conforming Jumbo loans and FHA Jumbo loans with the improved pricing. Until we meet again, take care. Barbara 

Recent Folsom Home Sales May 8 '08

I'm a little behind on posting recent Folsom home sales and will try to catch up over several posts. If you don't see what you're looking for, drop me a line and I'll look it up for you. The following Folsom home sales were recorded by MetroList, our local multiple listing service. The properties were listed and sold by various multiple listing service brokers.

• 211 Persifer St (3 bedrooms/1 bath, 781 sq feet) sold for $226,500 at 96.42% of list price, $290 per sq foot.
• 348 Parker Dr (3 bedrooms/2 bath, 1488 sq feet) sold for $317,000 at 99.37% of list price, $213 per sq foot.
• 616 Willow Creek (3-4 bedrooms/2 bath, 1592 sq feet) sold for $395,000 at 101.31% of list price, $248 per sq foot.
• 1225 Darling Way (5 bedrooms/3.5 bath, 2774 sq feet) sold for $420,050 at 102.48% of list price, $151 per sq foot.
• 113 Darrington Dri (5 bedrooms/3 bath, 2585 sq feet) sold for $550,000 at 91.97% of list price, $213 per sq foot.
• 784 Travis St (4 bedrooms/3 bath, 3154 sq feet) sold for $555,000 at 97.54% of list price, $176 per sq foot.

That's it for today. Enjoy the afternoon.