Redding Ca Real Estate : May 2008

I usually don't put my own listings on here but this is really a good deal! It is across from the "Waterworks Park" h here in Redding Ca off of H 299 and Lake Blvd.This is a very high traffic site with the counts increasing in the summer for the water park.

The owner is willing to carry the paper on this offering and is easy to work with!

If you are looking for Commercial land on which to develop in Redding Ca you owe it to yourself to check this out. Other comparable properties are listed for much more in Redding!

Approx 2.68 acres for only $1.2M

Rick Goates

ECO Broker

Keller Williams Realty

Redding Ca 96001

530-248-5627

I just recently purchased a home.In fact it is due to close tomorrow. What I did not realize is how TOUGH some of these lenders are right now. I mean I can understand if your credit scores are not perfect or you are tying to do 95% financing but give me a break!

The lender that my Loan Broker went through had some great rates but we had to jump through what seemed like a hundered hoops...The Banks/Lenders are all tougher no doubt but give yourself at least 30 days to close a loan anymore.

It used to be that a good lender/Mortgage Broker could push a loan through in 21-23 days. In fact I know a couple local lenders that closed loans in less than 5 days about two years ago!

Boy have things changed. Don't be shocked if your lender orders a review appraiser or challenges the value that the banks appraisal comes in at. After all the Banks have lost Billions in the latest mortgage melt down so some caution is good considering what they did and who they gave loans to over the last 3 years.

The pendulum has swong to the side of ULTRA caution...let's home it swings back soon!!

If you need a good lender reference contact me today I am happy to share who did a great job on my own loan!!

Regards,

Rick Goates

Keller Williams Realty

Redding

530-248-5627

Are you looking to get your garden you just planted kicked into overdrive? Check out this local website with tips and information on composting tea.By adding this product to your garden you can garden naturally-organic,have a great garden AND help the environment by NOT using commercial fertilizer!

Ken Waranius is the local "Compost Tea" expert and he is happy to deliver to your home if you order enough. You can also purchase this garden friendly mixture at Bracken Gardens in Redding.

Here's to your garden growing and to those organic VEGE's!!

Regards,

Rick Goates

ECO Broker

Redding Ca

96001

530-248-5627

The active available homes is heading a bit higher this month signaling that it might be a while longer until we hit bottom.Zillow sent me an email that said things are on the upswing and appreciating but a Pair of housing reports from the Office of Federal Housing price index and the National Assoc of Homebuilders shows that things are not heading up but down a bit.

What does this all mean? Well we are not technically at the bottom yet. If the inventory of active available homes head up each month it will be awhile before we rebound. It is still an excellent time to purchase as interest is very low in the long term picture and there are plenty of homes to choose from!

Interest is well below 6% and that is an excellent rate in the long term picture.

If you find something you love...buy it.

Rick Goates

Are we at the bottom? Well it depends on who you talk to. There are some out there that say we have a year or two to go and those that think we have indeed hit the bottom. Zillow just reported that things have changed and are flatening out compared to last year. While this may not mean we are indeed appreciating again it may signal the start of the recovery...at least in our area.

Real Estate is very local and another 2-3 months of positive numbers will help me think we have indeed turned the corner...at least here locally.

If we have indeed hit bottom look for the deals to start becoming harder and harder to find as we are already seeing some REO's with multiple offers on them.The homes that are priced right will go quickly and the others will sit and sit...That hasn't really changed.

If you have been on the fence get PRE-APPROVED NOW. Even if you want to wait a couple months etc having your financing in order is key to making and striking a great deal BEFORE things start up again...One thing is for sure!! When most people think that the market is back then the "Deals" will evaporate in a VERY short amount of time!!

You can take that one to the bank...

To the last remaining "Deals" out there!

Rick Goates

ECO Broker

Redding Ca

96001

530-248-5627

Wow now this is one of the best deals I have seen to date in the Redding California real estate market. This impressive home is located in a gated Exclusive area outside or Redding only 12 minutes and was probably worth  $700k a couple years back.

Now the bank owns it and is taking a huge hit!! I mean huge...They have a fire sale underway and are selling this beautiful custom home that is 3300+ sq.ft for only $438k....It's not a misprint, it is about $250-300k off the list price of a couple years ago.

WOW

The price is SO low that the bank wants all buyers to qualify or show proof of cash as they expect a ton of activity on this one.

If you want more details call or email me ( reddingbroker@gmail.com ) and leave your number and I will forward you all the info

The home is a 4/4 with OVER 3300 sq.ft in an EXCELLENT area!! For $438,000......

Regards,

Rick Goates

ECO Broker

Redding CA

530-248-5627

Call and ask for more info on the RH Bank owned home Fire sale today!

Home selling tips that will give the an excellent chance to get your home sold in this buyers market that we are currently in.

#1. Get your home on the internet!! This is CRITICAL...not just a good idea, but one of the most important tips and hence #1 on the list.

#2. Make sure you have at least 8 photos of your home on the MLS. If your home is listed with a Realtor then make sure they do their job and take 8-15 photos of the inside and outside.This is the #1 complaint of buyers in the market place-not enough photos.

#3. Make sure your home is priced RIGHT. It doesn't matter that the guy down the got 2 years ago!! If you think your home is worth more than the buyers out there, guess what?? You get to keep it!!

#4.Make sure the condition is excellent and that the home smells great...some vanilla or the like is a good smell that most all the people like.

The old way to sell real estate was to put it on the MLS and run some ads in the local paper and homes magazine.The new way is still the MLS as the bread and butter and then the internet and EVERYWHERE. Putting your home on just one site on the internet won't do it...You need to be ALL over the internet.

84% of the people (buyers) now go to the Internet to start their research-to find homes....

Fish where the fish are folks!!

Regards,

Rick Goates

ECO Broker

e-PRO Realtor

Keller Williams Realty

Redding

530-248-5627

The general public is hearing the terms a lot in the media this year...short sale this and short pay that but what does it really mean? The long and short of it (no pun intended) is this, if you owe more on your home than it is currently worth and can not make the payments you only have a limited number of options.

#1 You can come up with the money that you owe.

#2. You can sell the home for what it is worth and ask the bank to take less( Short sale)

#3. You can walk away and let the bank foreclose on the home (ruins your credit for up to 10 years!).

#4. You can file for Bankruptcy...might not be the best option (talk to your attorney on this one).

The short sale is not to be done by an inexperienced agent. The odds of getting one through go up with having an expert on your team to help you thru the process. It is a time consuming and stressful process so having someone that knows EXACTLY what to do is KEY here...

Don't delay another day if you can not make anymore payments AND know that you owe more on the property than it is worth! Time is of the essence and not doing anything is sure to lead to one thing...A foreclosure on your credit and your credit Ruined for up to 10 YEARS!!

We have an in house short sale specialist that can help you and will evaluate your current situation with no cost or obligation!

Call today....Don't forget about it or put it off...Do something that will help yourself out of this difficult situation!

Regards,

Rick Goates

Eco Broker

Keller Williams Realty

Redding Ca

530-248-5627

Wow and to all those out there that think there are no deals, here is one that I missed today for a client that sold in 3 hours....How about this one- 1500+ sq.ft for only $115k!!!!!!! It's not a misprint...It needed some work, and was on a busy street, yes, but "Hello".My guess is that you could get $800 month in rent on this one when a little work was done.

The market is heating up in Redding and investors are starting to come around again...usually this is a good sign that the market is heading the right way and not down!

When the investors start purchasing these homes and knocking some of the REO inventory down then we are on our way to recovery.

The important thing to remember, if you are NOT paying cash, is to get PRE-APPROVED if you can. Why? Well when it starts heating up again...and it will, the owner or bank will take the offer on the table with an approval any day over the one that is just a pre qual.

The difference might not seem like a lot to buyers, but to the agents and sellers knowing that the buyer can pull the trigger subject to inspections and appraisal will go a LONG way....

Happy hunting...they are out there...you just have to be ready to JUMP on one when the opportunity comes up and be ready to PULL the trigger.

Regards,

Rick Goates

ECO Broker

Redding CA

530-248-5627

We hear about green in the news and on the internet.We read about green sometimes in the newspaper but what about cars? Is my car green you might be asking yourself? Well here is a list of green vechicles for people to see if their car they currenty own IS green.You might be surprised by the results of the evaluation...No the prius is not the number one car!!

This is a difficult market right now,not too many will argue this.One thing I have noticed is that there are many banks out there that are losing money when they really shouldn't have had to! How is this you might ask? Well for one, banks want to save money, like anyone, so what they do prior to taking a home back in foreclosure is order what is called a BPO (Broker price opinion).They then set there numbers to what the BPO comes in at and base all the latter info on that magic number.

The problem with this is that BPO's are done many times by agents that are either new or have very little knowledge of valuation or both.When an agent thinks they might get a listing they sometimes bring the BPO in at a fairly high price thinking that if the bank likes their number that they might have a chance of getting a listing when the bank takes the home back.

The problem lies in the "Correct" pricing to start with.

Case and point- There was a local bank that foreclosed on a property here locally.They set the starting price at what the BPO came in at....They are still trying to sell this property which is an absolute "MESS" and have reduced the price in the last 3 months about $70k.....I actually called the bank on this one many months ago and was told by the director of the REO dept that the price was $299k and that they wouldn't take much less as "That is what the BPO came in at"!! I mentioned that I thought the property was worth QUITE a bit less and she didn't want to hear about it.....

By trying to cut costs and save a couple hundred bucks the bank now stands to lose MUCH MORE because they started too high and WILL HAVE TO COME DOWN EVEN MORE TO STAND A CHANCE OF SELLING.

This sound advice is good for banks as well as regular sellers....PRICE IT RIGHT IN THE START...Don't cut corners in valuation and hire an appraiser if there is ANY question as to the Current Value, in a Declining Market....

Penny wise and Pound foolish....not a good bet!

Another good example is a listing that I am working on right now. I came up with a value of $169k based on the comp's on the local MLS.We had an actual appraiser do a full blown appraisal on it and I am very glad that we did as it came back $19k lower!! Now with this new, and VERY accurate number we can start out right, and get the home sold quickly and for top dollar...I am so glad that my clients listened to my advice of having an appraisal done!

Mmmm, I wonder how share holders, would view this, who own stock in these banks might feel? Any guesses?

Regards,

Rick Goates

ECO Broker

Redding CA

96001

530-248-5627

It's that time of year again when the heat will be setting in here in the greater Redding Ca area. Those who know how to take great care of a lawn have already hit their grass with sulfite of ammonia and some weed and feed by now but those who don't here are some tips.

1.Don't fertilize when it gets HOT....this is a sure way to kill your lawn! If you do make sure it is a liquid fertilizer and that you water really good after you do it.When the mercury climbs the grass will get burned if it has fertilizer on it and it is not watered in COMPLETLEY prior to the heat hitting.

2.Water in the morning, early only! Do not water in the evening or at night.This gives fungus a chance to thrive and believe me you don't want to help that one out at the sake of your grass!

3.It is OK to mulch just make sure there is not any grass clippings left on the lawn when you are done.Sometimes you have to go over the grass twice to make sure that the clippings are made small enough.Mulching gives the grass some organic fertilizer to work with and the grass likes that.

4.Try mowing from different directions so the grass doesn't have a lean to it...We have all seen grass that had a tilt to it at one time or another and this is a result of cutting it the same way exactly each and every time it is mowed...Change it up a bit.

I hope this tips help you to have a better looking lawn. Remember there are tons of organic fertilizers out there that you can use also to help the environment and your lawn!

Regards

Rick Goates

ECO Broker

Redding Ca

96001

530-248-5627

Are we at the bottom yet? This is a question that I am asked at least a couple times a month in the last year. Well I think we are very near and here is why.The lower priced homes are selling quicker and sometimes for full price on the ones that are priced right.

There are multiple offers almost every week on well priced REO's that the banks want to sell and are there again priced right.

Yes there are homes sitting month after month with little to no activity. What do all these homes have in common? They are ALL Over priced...that is what they have in common.Why do they sit month after month and have NO offers? They are overpriced that is the problem.

There are some subdivisions that have 4/5/6/10 homes for sale in the same subdivision.What do people do to get their home sold when they have SO much competition? Seller's who listen to their Realtor's advice stand the best chance to sell while the others sit month after month.

Picture a ball rolling down a hill with a slight slope to it...The ball rolls and rolls...you either chase the ball,always behind it, OR you get AHEAD of the ball and stop it....Get the idea?

Price it right and advertise it....They WILL come!! And if they don't? Then you know that you are off on the price and may need some help on the marketing...

If you want any info or help feel free to contact me...

 Are we at the bottom?? Well if we are not there entirely I think we are getting pretty close with the activity picking up.We do need to work through the REO's and get them down before we actually hit the bottom but if you find your DREAM home now and plan on staying for 5+ years it really doesn't matter if it is the bottom or not.For those that want to wait (sit on the fence) my advice is to keep a REAL close eye on the Interest rates...Because waiting for the bottom might cost you a percent on your home loan when you do finally purchase!!

Regards,

Rick Goates

ECO Broker

Redding CA

96001

530-221-8850

http://www.inforedding.com

There's new joint venture that is forming that will with out a doubt change the landscape in wireless communications...this venture pairs up Sprint Nextel/Clearwire/Google and Time Warner along with Comcast and Intel...wow!! Talk about who's who here....CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW! This should translate into the next generation of communications that will be hard for the the Verizons and ATT's to compete with.

Their goal? Build a national wireless broadband network based on a technology called WiMax that offers connection speeds on par with cable and DSL--much faster than even the most advanced wireless networks available today.

Will the be able to do it? My money is on a 100% YES.

What will this mean for the average Joe with a Blackberry or PDA?Well for one, we know with these players involved what they seek shall happen....Guaranteed!! 

Look for a BLAZING fast wireless product soon where you can watch movies on your phone!

Incredible.....

Regards,

Rick Goates