Philanthropy at Work: Saving our Schools $1 at a Time
April 30th, 2008 Categories: Davis CA Real Estate, Davis Schools, Davis Schools Foundation, Real Estate News
Davis, known for its excellent, high ranking has been hit with financial cuts from several sides:
1. The Governor of California has cut support for schools
2. Due to fewer home sales, income from taxes has slowed
3. We don’t have as many children as we used to have - state income is on a per/child basis
Leave it to the citizens of our town to band together. There has been a tremendous outpouring of energy and money to support the focused and organized effort of the Davis Schools Foundation. The primary effort centers around the Dollar-A-Day campaign that asks every citizen to donate $1/day or $365 for the coming year. By raising $4million the foundation can spare libraries, counselors, school staff, elementary science and arts programs and more for the coming year. To date, over $806,000 has been raised.
Not only children and parents of Davis, but small business owners are giving generously and continue to sponsor in events. Events include a celebrity waiter dinner, all schools rally, a downtown festival called Schoolapalooza, BBQs, wine tastings, golf days and more. I have joined with a client, shop owner (Five Figs) and another agent to sponsor a central Davis walking home tour coming June 8.
Coldwell Banker Agents and Management have pledged $10,000 which will be delivered to the foundation shortly.
Our schools are an important part of the value of Davis. It is amazing to see the efforts and involvement of the entire community to protect this valuable asset, and makes me feel more proud than ever to be a part of our town.
-Jamie Madison
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Davis Market Rocks: 79 Pendings in April
April 29th, 2008 Categories: Davis CA Real Estate, Davis RE Trends, RE Week in Review, Real Estate News
Wow! Slow to start and then it came all at once…during April there have been 79 sales and pendings in Davis! There are 145 listed single family homes…meaning that we have just slightly less than a 2 month supply of homes in Davis.
77% of the listings sold were Coldwell Banker listings. What does this mean to you? If you are selling you will get greater exposure before your home even goes on the market. If you are buying, you will hear about your home before it hits the market if you are working with Coldwell Banker in Davis.
Overall in year to date sales, Davis is down 46% from this time 2007. Interestingly, the very down nearby markets are up from 2007 - Woodland +27%, Natomas +37%, Elk Grove +36% and West Sacramento is +18%. Investors are coming in hoards to the land of short sales and foreclosures.
Back to Davis, here is a snapshot of price per square foot for two ranges of homes:
1200 - 1600 sq ft homes 2000 - 2500 sq ft homes
2005 $372/sf $325/ sf
2006 $353/sf $313/sf
2007 $337 /sf $310/sf
2008 $323/sf $290/sf
Overall prices are down an average of 11% from the height of the market in 2005.
-Jamie Madison
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760 is the new 720: Angst in the 700 club…
April 24th, 2008 Categories: Real Estate News
That is Suze Orman’s claim and she is apparently right. If you are obsessing about your credit score, you may have reason. Lenders are demanding higher scores because they have been burned by increasing delinquincy rates. Simultaneously, new scoring systems may complicate your efforts to monitor and improve your score.
Fair Isaac is introducing FICO 08 to better predict the liklihood of defaults. One change in the new scoring method is that “authorized users” on your credit cards will now be disreagarded. More emphasis will be placed on having a variety of credit types (installment loans and revolving accounts).
What makes up your FICO number? Payment history accounts for about 35%, while what you owe accounts for another 30%. Other factors are length of credit history and the type of credit used.
What to do?
Get a copy of your credit report
Look for mistakes - according to US Public Interest Research Group, 25% of reports contain errors. Check to make sure that credit limits are noted - an ommission will skew your score.
Don’t increase your limits shortly before shopping for a loan - it can be a sign of increased risk for the lender.
Confine your loan shopping to a few weeks - multiple credit inquiries can damage your score.
Pay your bills on time
Have a good mix of credit products
Get your own credit cards if you are a joint holder.
Don’t max out your available credit
Don’t open up credit card accounts you don’t need.
Don’t close old credit card accounts.
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Davis Liked It : Roe Building Sold Out!
April 13th, 2008 Categories: Davis CA Real Estate, Davis RE Trends, RE Week in Review, Real Estate News, Roe Building
All of the citizens of Davis and interested parties from afar were intensely curious and interested in the Roe Building during its conception, construction and recent completion. We heard all kinds of comments - mostly favorable, in fact enthusiastic - and gave over 120 private tours of the building (thanks to you who braved the scaffolding in the rain). And now it is sold. Kim Merrell Lamb and I anticipate that it will be an interesting community - people of all ages, some dogs, a shared courtyard, an active homeowners association. Many asked if they could be on the list to rent if investors were buying, but in fact, every unit is going to be owner occuppied. We learned that my demographic (children raised, 1.7 people living in 4 bedroom 2800 sq ft homes and tired of caring for them) has a very real need for a new kind of housing, and little to satisfy it. More about that coming up when I write about Sage Creek…
Kim and I wish to thank all of you who showed interest, offered comments and supported our efforts (yes, that includes a boyfriend and a husband, respectively.) We want to express heartfelt thanks to the enduring efforts of Mark Rutheiser and Chuck Roe, to the puzzle-solving of mortgage broker Greg Fulkerson, to the staging talents of Mary Leachman and to all who played a role in this creative and successful project.
-Jamie Madison, 530.574.0596
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Bubbletown Not Immune:Davis Home Sales Q1 2007 vs 2008
April 9th, 2008 Categories: Davis CA Real Estate, Davis RE Trends, RE Week in Review, Real Estate News
It’s spring! Davis is gorgeous - trees have leafed, wisteria is blooming, birds are wildly busy feeding babies …and homes are selling - sort of. Inventory is up and open house signs once again grace the corners of Davis all weekend. But, a bubble we may be, we are not immune to the forces of the economy. Figures for single family home sales are out for the first quarter of 2008:
2007 2008
Number sold 101 48 -53%
Median price $520k $512k
Average price $558k $559k
Days/market 85 84
Total Revenue $112.8m $53.7m -53%
Takeaway? It is a good time to be a buyer! There are some great homes on the market and the prices are the best we have seen in years. - Jamie Madison
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Davis Home Sales Feb/Mar 2007 vs 2008
April 2nd, 2008 Categories: Davis RE Trends, RE Week in Review, Real Estate News
Buyers questions are dominated by the quest to understand where we are in the market….have Davis prices dropped? will they drop more? if I buy now am I going to regret what I spent in 6 months? should I rent? should I wait? we are pregant, can we upgrade to a larger home in this market? will it appraise?
The chart above compares February and March of 2007 and 2008. There are 36% fewer homes sold in 2008. For the higher end homes, we are seeing much shorter sales times on the market, and a whopping 100.35% sales price to list price ratio. But for lower priced homes we are seeing a $25/sq ft drop and a 37 day increase of cummulative days on the market.
My guess is that sellers who have traded up to larger, more expensive homes in the good years are content to stay put in this market. Where are they going to go?
Sellers, brace yourself for a longer wait to sell. Buyers, ask yourself, how long do you plan to live in this house? If this is going to be your peaceful respit for at least 5 years to come, settle in. You may very well be laughing at the price AND the interest rate you got a few years from now.
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