Redding Ca Real Estate : January 2007

Are you looking for a different town to live in far removed from traffic and crime? You might want to consider the town of Palo Cedro. Palo Cedro is located east of the city of Redding in Shasta County. If you like the country atmosphere and don't mind a 10 minute drive to Costco and major shopping it may be for you.

Price in Palo Cedro tend to be a little higher than other area's in Shasta County. This is due in part on the excellent schools that can be found here and the country charm that is hard to find in other places anymore in California. Palo Cedro is the way that most of California probably was 40 year ago...People know each other and help each other out and do things together as a community.

Palo Cedro has some of conveniences available if you don't want to drive into Redding such as gas stations/grocery store/quick lube for the car etc. There are not stop lights yet so that might give you an idea of the size and atmosphere.

Palo Cedro does have a golf course also for all you golf buffs..

See all the homes in Palo Cedro and the other towns around it at http://4palocedro.com

Regards,

Rick Goates

I am constantly asked by consumers and clients why did you name your company Atlantis Realty? Well the answer is pretty simple. I wanted something different that stood out and was easy to remember. I think that by being different (from all the other companies) that,is a good thing. I pride myself on LISTENING to my clients and showing them homes that WILL work for them- not for me. One thing I have learned is that if you always put your clients first in the transaction everything else just falls into place.

The second thing I am asked is why did I choose pyramids for my logo? Well have you ever looked at the back of an American dollar? What do you see on the back? That's right a Pyramid... and an eye.

I SEE that taking care of my clients is number ONE....just like the dollar bill and the pyramid on the back!

If it's good enough to put on money it is good enough for me.

Dare to be different!

Regards,

Rick Goates

Atlantis Realty

Redding Ca.

530-221-8850

I am amazed at the number of sellers in the market place that refuse to list their homes at the correct price to start with! It's not ALL the sellers fault I must admit. There are plenty of agents out there that will still take ANY listing to just HAVE a listing. The overly eager agent plus a greedy seller make for a recipe called disaster. The times have changed and the way that properties are Quickly sold boils down to price followed by location,condition and well you know the rest.

 It doesn't matter what the neighbor down the street got for their 40 year home last year! Last year might just as well have been last decade as prices have adjusted and what is needed is a dose of reality both on the sellers part and the agents part so that we can SELL some homes again.

What is a home truly worth? The answer is what a willing and able buyer is willing to pay...no more/no less.

Does that mean as a buyer right now you can get a home for 25-50% off....NO. It does mean though that there are some good bargains out there and believe it or not there are actually some sellers out there that will deal with you right now...Yes it is true.

The key phrases to remember right now as a Seller are, Price it correctly in the begining,price it correctly in the begining and yes price it correctly in the begining.

Make sure that your home is clean and smells good, no make that GREAT. Make sure that those honey do's that have been put off for the last 3 years get done and make sure you know what your Realtor is going to do to get your home sold. The days of throwing up a sign and getting a seller an offer or two in a week are long gone. If your Realtor or agent doesn't have a website or understand the interent you might want to consider one that does! Not only a website but a good website that can be Found.

Make sure your home is advertised well on the internet and can be found on the internet! 75% of the buyers out there START their home search on the Internet...Yes that is the majority and believe me when I say it will be higher each and every year from here on out.

I have seen some sellers trying to hold out for what they believe will be more money from another buyer in the future lose money! Sometimes the best offer IS the first offer. It takes the knowledge and experience of your agent/Broker to help you get the most and be reasonable when you set the initial price.

 There will always be someone else that will tell you that they think your home is worth more! The question is do you want to go though the motions to find out they were wrong and end up taking less in the end?

We ALL think that are homes are worth more than the buyers on the street do! That is human nature and I am subject to that rationale also.

When you interview agents for the job of selling your home ask yourself do we really want someone that just knows that he or she can get us 10-15% more than the last highest price quoted? It's shouldn't be a bidding war among agents to get your listing. Think long and hard about the agent that is in the middle of the value pile and that you have a good feeling about. You can usually through out the highest and the lowest estimates of value as they are often skewed. The agent that was 15% higher than everyone else is trying to buy the listing and the agent that is 10-15% lower than all the other estimates of value probably wants a quick sale and doesn't quite want to work to get you the most for your home.

Greed....the recipe for disaster.....

Price fairly, price accordingly and get ready for good things to happen!!

Builders across the nation are hopping on the bandwagon and building more environmentally friendly homes. It's a great thing and the consumers out there will be the real winners when the utility bills shows up! Locally here we are starting to see some solar subdivisions sprouting in the dirt and also more energy efficient homes being built with things like techsheild on the roof and ground source heat pumps etc. I applaude the builders that do this and that have the forsight to see that this is the next trend in America! It might never appeal to the masses but it will appeal to enough people to make it a viable alternative to the construction norm.

Here is a great link that you can look at that discusses exactly what I have mentioned and much more.

http://realestate.msn.com/Improve/Article_busweek.aspx?cp-documentid=2368006

Regards,

Rick

We hoped sooner or later that builders would start building some super effiecient homes in our area and that day has come. Redding now has a solar subdivision that has opened up. The city of Redding electrical rates are about 20-25% less than PG&E's but many buyers out there like the idea of little to no monthly electric bill!

It only makes sense to add solar to homes in this area. Redding is in the top 5 sunniest places to produce solar power in the United States. Many solar systems pay back in less than 10 years on new construction. With energy prices going up and not down in the future I believe that solar is a great way to go for many reasons.Not only do we help the environment we can save $$.

The pay back outside the city of Redding will be even quicker as the rates are much higher. You can figure that a system in the county depending on what you put in can pay back in about 7 years. With the state and Federal rebates available out there it brings the cost down by up to 40% of the initial installation cost on new construction.

One thing is for sure green building is here to stay and may even be the norm 10 years down the road...time will tell.

 Want to see all the active available homes on the market in the Realtor's own MLS? http://www.inforedding.com

Regards,

Rick

This ranch is located outside the city or Redding in the town of Whitmore California. I took the picture in the sping of 2006. I was looking for land for a client and had my camera with me that day.You can see Mt Lassen in the background with snow on it. Whitmore is about 40 minutes outside Redding to the east.

The world famous Sundial Bridge is located in Redding California. It is a real treasure to our community and it is fun to walk across and see all the wildlife on the Sacramento River below. The bridge has a clear decking that allows you to see people walk across when you at the bottom of the bridge looking up. This is a must see for anyone that comes to Redding.

The American Flag is located on North Bechelli lane in Redding California. God Bless america and our troops overseas! This was taken on a clear day and I caught jet plane at around 30,000 feet in the background. The plane was probably heading towards either Portland Oregon or to Seattle Wash. The flag can be seen from many area's of Redding.

We thought prices in California were high...check out this article on prices in London England....owch.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16757133/

It makes Los Angeles and San Diego look really cheap.

It also makes Shasta County seem too good to be true....

If you want to see all the active available homes and properties in Shasta County go here now-

http://inforedding.com

I recently worked with a very nice couple that were interested in purchasing in a very desireable area of my county that I cover. They put in an offer on a home that was in the short sale phase and the bank never responded to their offer at ALL-Thanks WAMU. Now the home is going to auction. I am really interested in seeing what happens at this sale as the bank would not communicate with anyone including myself! I even called to talk with the president of Home loans and was transferred quickly to an extention and put on hold for 20 minutes! Hopefully you all have a different experience with WAMU than I and the listing agent for the seller did! The listing agent did her job and was as frustrated as I was on this transaction.

Let's see if the lender gets more than my clients offered them prior to them foreclosing? If not then there may be some stockholders that may be interested in knowing what is happening with this corporation.

There are some deals out there right now but many of the homes going to foreclosure have balances owned on them that are not supported by the current market. So the lenders I have learned here recently are less than excited to take a short sale for much less.

I did come across an incredible buy recently that was 3800 sq.ft. of top quality home here in Redding for only $520k and my guess is that they took even a little less.That was a steal!!

Contact me should you want to get in on a deal here in Shasta County. There are a couple here and there...you just have to be in the position to pull the trigger with full lender approval or pay cash to score the best deals...that part has not changed only the market has changed the last year....

Happy hunting!

http://inforedding.com

With so many borrowers out there having taken adjustable mortgages and neg am loans etc the current numbers are heading up in the foreclosure departments at banks eveywhere. I am an old fashioned guy who believes that if you can't afford a 15 year or a 30 year fixed then maybe you should be looking at a different property. I have advised many people over the years and some have taken my advice on this matter and many did not.

The unfortunate part now is that there are a lot of people out there with very little or absolutely zero equity! I recieved a call from a nice lady 3 weeks ago that wanted to sell her home. Their adjustable mortgage just adjusted and their payment now was un manageable. This was on a rental home that they own. When they purchased at the top of the market about a year ago they paid top dollar for the property. The unfortunate thing was that they also purchased the nicest home in a not so nice area! With trailers all around and a rough area to start with I went out to evaluate the home. It was kept up nice and was very nice inside but the outside needed much work and with the area not that great I gave her a price that I would be willing to list and sell the property at. She was flabbergasted. She said that "We paid more than that for it!" I mentioned yes and that was a year ago... Needless to say I didn't get the listing and she listed with another Realtor...That is ok...In fact that is great! I wish them the best...If they can get more for the property than they paid for it and save a foreclosure on it that is the ultimate...If I were betting though I would be putting some chips on the reality of coming out of pocket to get that one sold!

If you are having problems with your payments on your home talk with the lender. Do it quickly and don't wait especially if you are behind on  your payement(s). Some lenders will work with you and others will just start the foreclosure process and not communicate with you at all like what happened to one client that I was involved in helping.

It is a two way street and double edged sword with the adjustables.Many people don't want to take the responsibility for choosing an adjustable rate mortgage. Others can own up to the fact that they did and now don't know what to do when the payment is too high to handle. There are some limited times that the consumer can benefit from an adjustable rate but my experience is that the majority usually benefit from a fixed rate!

Here is a link that you may find useful http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/banking/homefinancing/homefinancing.aspx

Remember the words "communicate" if you are behind or having trouble with the payments! Don't hope things will get better do something and do it quick if you are getting behind on the payments.

There is something here for everyone in Shasta County! Inventory levels are hovering around the 1550-1600 mark with plenty of homes to choose from in most all price ranges. The hardest hit homes are in the upper price ranges. Certain area's are taking much longer to sell a home in and the entry level homes are still in demand and selling decent.

To see all the active available homes right now with NO forms to fill out just go to

http://inforedding.com/

Here you can see the prices/pictures and virtual tours if there are any all from the comfort of your own home! Even in your pajamas!

Regards,

Rick Goates 

I recently talked with a seller while taking my son to a local park. She was very pleasant and was there with her  children.Somehow or another we got to talking about real estate...doesn't everyone!

She asked my why I thought her home wasn't selling? She said she got an agent from one of the largest franchises in town and thought she priced it well but it has just been sitting there.......Sound familiar to anyone out there?

I told her that in the current market that we have here (and probably others area's also) that price was now a CRITICAL part of the selling equation. It doesn't matter what the house sold for down the street 5 months ago or even next door for that matter! Today is what we have to be concerned with.If you are not the niced home in the area with the sharpest price then be prepared to be showing your home and cleaning for a while.

The days are over when you can put up a sign and run an ad in the paper and have 3 offers the next week.

I came across this article from MSN that I wanted to share with everyone.

http://realestate.msn.com/selling/Article_forbes.aspx?cp-documentid=1953386

Happy selling!!

Regards,

Rick