As a real estate professional I work with many buyers and sellers every year and often hear stories about the seemingly small mistakes of past real estate transactions that ended up costing aggravation and more importantly money. In the spirit of prevention I offer this special report to those of you who are not my client yet and hope you will find it informative and help you to see that I am concerned that your transaction goes as smoothly as possible.

1. The Wrong Price

A surefire way to get less than the fair market value for your home is to overprice it in the beginning. It sounds contradictory, but it is true. There are several reasons for this. First, if you home is more expensive than the similar homes in the neighborhood, fewer buyers will choose to even look at it. Why would they waste their time? And the buyers that do decide to look at your home will likely use it for comparison to justify their decision to purchase a different home.  “See? A similar home but a lot more expensive. We should get the one we saw yesterday – it’ a bargain compared to this one.”  Additionally, the longer your homes remains unsold, the less interest it will generate among buyers. Eventually, when it’s been on the market longer than the other similar homes, buyers will start to think that there is something wrong with it.  You are then forced to face the real possibility of being forced to sell it for less than its real value. So the lesson is to be sure your home is priced correctly from the beginning saving time, aggravation and money.

Overpricing is not the only pitfall that sellers fall into, some even underprice their homes. How do you know your home’s real value…by getting a professional Comparative Market Analysis (CMA). A CMA will show you what similar homes in your area are selling for and how long it takes to sell them. You will be able to see the range of values that your home falls into and then determine an accurate asking price. I offer CMAs for homeowners free of charge. Just give me a call or send a request via email and I’ll prepare it for you at no cost or obligation.

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Fair Oaks is a quaint village located on the shores of the American River just east of Sacramento CA. The historic district has the usual antique shops, local diners and central park but it’s the free range chickens and roosters that steal the show…and I’m not talking about tonight’s dinner.

There is a law in Fair Oaks, CA that if a rooster cuts in front of you while driving that you must stop and give the bird the right of way.  It’s well known that those creatures get away with stopping traffic all the time but not so well known is the Fair Oaks Village Neighborhood Preservation Act requiring that you stop and cause no harm since  2006. It would be too easy to start with the cliche’s but the locals are serious about preserving this part of their history and have backed it up with an official ordinance.

One of the main attractions of Fair Oaks is that it is an established town with mature landscaping and classic architecture throughout. You almost feel as though you’ve stepped back in time. There are still large acreages available,  homes on the bluffs overlooking the American River, small cottages and newer in-fill projects. Hwy 50 is the main traffic artery with bridges connecting the various communities and Fair Oaks has managed to have three within her borders. This is no “master planned” community and  some neighborhoods still don’t have sidewalks and as a realtor I would say that this is the charm of Fair Oaks.

The bike trails along the river is what attracts tourists but it’s the local restaurants like the Slocum House and Mikuni’s that keep people around into the wee hours. There are some very exclusive neighborhoods with direct access to the American River Parkway and since it borders on the University of California commands a higher value in the real estate dept. Some of the older neighborhoods are starting to experience the same situation as many bay area neighborhoods in that they do not have any available land to build so are starting to demolish the existing homes and re-built newer estates. The zoning laws do not allow for subdividing so this will only continue to increase property values. If you would like to know more please email me with your questions and I’ll be happy to give you my opinion of this lovely town.