Certified Distressed Property Expert- Linda Hess

LINDA HESS of GREATWEST GMAC REAL ESTATE, 2235 Douglas Blvd.#520, Roseville, Ca. has earned the prestigious Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) designation, having completed extensive training in foreclosure avoidance and short sales. This is invaluable expertise to offer at a time when the area is ravaged by “distressed” homes in the foreclosure process.

Short sales allow the cash-strapped seller to repay the mortgage at the price that the home sells for, even though it is lower than what is owed on the property. With plummeting property values, this can save many people from foreclosure and even bankruptcy. More and more lenders are willing to consider short sales because they are much less costly than foreclosures.

In the Sacramento, Placer and El Dorado Counties, more homes are in danger of foreclosing. It is happening in all price ranges. Local experts say that even high-priced homes are not immune.

“This CDPE designation has been invaluable as I work with sellers and lenders on complicated short sales,” said REALTOR HESS. “It is so rewarding to be able to help sellers save their homes from foreclosure.”

Alex Charfen, founder of the Distressed Property Institute in Boca Raton, Fla., said that Realtors® such as LINDA HESS with the CDPE designation have valuable training in short sales that can offer the homeowner much better alternatives to foreclosure, which virtually destroys the credit rating. These experts also may better understand market conditions and can help sellers through the emotional experience, he said.

The Distressed Property Institute opened in January 2008 and provides training on-site and online. The CDPE is the premier designation for Realtors helping homeowners in distress and handling short sales.

“Our goal is to educate as many people as possible so we can help as many homeowners as possible,” Charfen said.

Linda can be reached at (916)709-1419 or visit www. ShortSellersHelpers.net

For more information about CDPE designation or to find a certified distressed Realtor in your area, please call 1-800-482-0335.Articles above have been provided by the listed author immediately following the article. For additional resources and information to the authors, please visit the following sites.

Resource Links:
Bill Fields All Star Coaching Program: http://www.AllStarCoaching.net
GreatWest GMAC Search all MLS Listings: http://www.LocalHomeLink.com
GreatWest GMAC Consumer Buyer/Seller Blog: http://www.GreatWestBlog.com
T. Sami Siddiqui (Broker/ Owner) Buzz About Sacramento Blog: http://www.samisiddiquiblog.com
Brodie Stephens (Executive Vice President) One Stop Blog: http://www.brodiestephensblog.com
GreatWest Podcasts- Weekly Updates on new REO, Short Sale, Bank Owned Foreclosure Listings: http://www.HouseTalkOnline.com
GreatWest Videos: http://www.youtube.com/brodiestephens
Facebook Brodie Stephens Profile Page: http://www.facebook.com/brodiestephens
Facebook GreatWest Profile Page: http://www.facebook.com/searchmlshomesforsale
MySpace Brodie Stephens Blog: http://www.myspace.com/brodiestephens
MySpace GreatWest Blog: http://www.myspace.com/greatwest
Picasa Web Album: http://picasaweb.google.com/brodiestephens
GreatWest Real Estate Careers- GMAC is looking for Professional Realtors to Join Us: http://www.CareersWithUs.com
Global Employee Relocation: http://www.employeerelocation.blogspot.com
Apply for a Loan: http://www.choice1funding.com

Congratulations to Linda Hess- New Realtor Designation

LINDA HESS of GREATWEST GMAC REAL ESTATE, 2235 Douglas Blvd.#520, Roseville, Ca. has earned the prestigious Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) designation, having completed extensive training in foreclosure avoidance and short sales. This is invaluable expertise to offer at a time when the area is ravaged by “distressed” homes in the foreclosure process.

Short sales allow the cash-strapped seller to repay the mortgage at the price that the home sells for, even though it is lower than what is owed on the property. With plummeting property values, this can save many people from foreclosure and even bankruptcy. More and more lenders are willing to consider short sales because they are much less costly than foreclosures.

In the Sacramento, Placer and El Dorado Counties, more homes are in danger of foreclosing. It is happening in all price ranges. Local experts say that even high-priced homes are not immune.

“This CDPE designation has been invaluable as I work with sellers and lenders on complicated short sales,” said REALTOR HESS. “It is so rewarding to be able to help sellers save their homes from foreclosure.”

Alex Charfen, founder of the Distressed Property Institute in Boca Raton, Fla., said that Realtors® such as LINDA HESS with the CDPE designation have valuable training in short sales that can offer the homeowner much better alternatives to foreclosure, which virtually destroys the credit rating. These experts also may better understand market conditions and can help sellers through the emotional experience, he said.

The Distressed Property Institute opened in January 2008 and provides training on-site and online. The CDPE is the premier designation for Realtors helping homeowners in distress and handling short sales.

“Our goal is to educate as many people as possible so we can help as many homeowners as possible,” Charfen said.

Linda can be reached at (916)709-1419 or visit www. ShortSellersHelpers.net

For more information about CDPE designation or to find a certified distressed Realtor in your area, please call 1-800-482-0335.Articles above have been provided by the listed author immediately following the article. For additional resources and information to the authors, please visit the following sites.

Resource Links:
Bill Fields All Star Coaching Program: http://www.AllStarCoaching.net
GreatWest GMAC Search all MLS Listings: http://www.LocalHomeLink.com
GreatWest GMAC Consumer Buyer/Seller Blog: http://www.GreatWestBlog.com
T. Sami Siddiqui (Broker/ Owner) Buzz About Sacramento Blog: http://www.samisiddiquiblog.com
Brodie Stephens (Executive Vice President) One Stop Blog: http://www.brodiestephensblog.com
GreatWest Podcasts- Weekly Updates on new REO, Short Sale, Bank Owned Foreclosure Listings: http://www.HouseTalkOnline.com
GreatWest Videos: http://www.youtube.com/brodiestephens
Facebook Brodie Stephens Profile Page: http://www.facebook.com/brodiestephens
Facebook GreatWest Profile Page: http://www.facebook.com/searchmlshomesforsale
MySpace Brodie Stephens Blog: http://www.myspace.com/brodiestephens
MySpace GreatWest Blog: http://www.myspace.com/greatwest
Picasa Web Album: http://picasaweb.google.com/brodiestephens
GreatWest Real Estate Careers- GMAC is looking for Professional Realtors to Join Us: http://www.CareersWithUs.com
Global Employee Relocation: http://www.employeerelocation.blogspot.com
Apply for a Loan: http://www.choice1funding.com

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® Declines in October

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®, which had declined in September, deteriorated further in October. The Index now stands at 47.7 (1985=100), down from 53.4 in September. The Present Situation Index decreased to 20.7 from 23.0 last month. The Expectations Index declined to 65.7 from 73.7 in September.

The Consumer Confidence Survey® is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households. The monthly survey is conducted for The Conference Board by TNS. TNS is the world's largest custom research company. The cutoff date for October's preliminary results was October 21st.

Says Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center: "Consumers' assessment of present-day conditions has grown less favorable, with labor market conditions playing a major role in this grimmer assessment. In fact, the Present Situation Index is now at its lowest reading in 26 years (Index 17.5, Feb. 1983). The short-term outlook has also grown more negative, as a greater proportion of consumers anticipate business and labor market conditions will worsen in the months ahead. Consumers also remain quite pessimistic about their future earnings, a sentiment that will likely constrain spending during the holidays."

Consumers' assessment of current conditions worsened in October. Those claiming business conditions are "bad" increased to 47.1 percent from 46.3 percent, while those claiming conditions are "good" decreased to 7.7 percent from 8.6 percent. Consumers' appraisal of the labor market was also bleaker. Those claiming jobs are "hard to get" increased to 49.6 percent from 47.0 percent, while those claiming jobs are "plentiful" decreased to 3.4 percent from 3.6 percent.

Consumers' short-term outlook grew more pessimistic in October. Those anticipating an improvement in business conditions over the next six months decreased to 20.8 percent from 21.3 percent, while those expecting conditions to worsen increased to 18.3 percent from 14.6 percent.

The labor market outlook was also more negative. The percentage of consumers expecting more jobs in the months ahead declined to 16.3 percent from 18.0 percent, while those expecting fewer jobs increased to 26.6 percent from 22.9 percent. The proportion of consumers expecting an increase in their incomes decreased to 10.3 percent from 11.2 percent.

Source: http://www.conference-board.org/utilities/pressDetail.cfm?press_ID=3772
Articles above have been provided by the listed author immediately following the article. For additional resources and information to the authors, please visit the following sites.

Resource Links:
Bill Fields All Star Coaching Program: http://www.AllStarCoaching.net
GreatWest GMAC Search all MLS Listings: http://www.LocalHomeLink.com
GreatWest GMAC Consumer Buyer/Seller Blog: http://www.GreatWestBlog.com
T. Sami Siddiqui (Broker/ Owner) Buzz About Sacramento Blog: http://www.samisiddiquiblog.com
Brodie Stephens (Executive Vice President) One Stop Blog: http://www.brodiestephensblog.com
GreatWest Podcasts- Weekly Updates on new REO, Short Sale, Bank Owned Foreclosure Listings: http://www.HouseTalkOnline.com
GreatWest Videos: http://www.youtube.com/brodiestephens
Facebook Brodie Stephens Profile Page: http://www.facebook.com/brodiestephens
Facebook GreatWest Profile Page: http://www.facebook.com/searchmlshomesforsale
MySpace Brodie Stephens Blog: http://www.myspace.com/brodiestephens
MySpace GreatWest Blog: http://www.myspace.com/greatwest
Picasa Web Album: http://picasaweb.google.com/brodiestephens
GreatWest Real Estate Careers- GMAC is looking for Professional Realtors to Join Us: http://www.CareersWithUs.com
Global Employee Relocation: http://www.employeerelocation.blogspot.com
Apply for a Loan: http://www.choice1funding.com

Sacramento CEO Retires

Sacramento County CEO Terry Schutten announces his retirement at the end of the year.

"It's a good opportunity for someone else to step in and move ahead for the next several years, [...] It's sad leaving all the people I worked with for 10 years." Schutten reported to Sacramento Bee today.

Terry does state that the budget crisis was a factor in his decision, but also that he had committed to be there for 10 years, which ended on June 6th. As of December 31st, Terry Schutten will be officially retired.

Full Story Here: SacBee

Deposit Your Check...From Home?

First, we didn't need to visit the bank teller anymore. Then we were able to stick our checks right into the ATM without an envelope. Now we won't have to leave the house to make deposits.

Earlier this month, Sacramento-based Schools Financial Credit Union became the latest bank to allow customers to scan checks at home and deposit them over the Internet. Golden 1 Credit Union introduced scanner-based check deposits in July.

"Banking's not the way it was five or 10 years ago," said Nathan Schmidt, a vice president at Schools Financial. "With any type of technology, it becomes more convenient to self-service."

Another lender, USAA Federal Savings Bank, has gone even further down the convenience road. It allows customers to deposit checks with their iPhones by taking pictures of both sides of the check with the phone's camera.

According to an Oct. 6 article in American Banker, USAA customers have deposited more than 100,000 checks totaling $61 million with their iPhones since the service became available in August.

The article went on to say that giant Bank of America is expected to start testing mobile phone deposits soon.

Even with the widespread use of direct deposit and online banking, Americans still write and receive millions of paper checks each year.

A 2008 press release from the U.S. Treasury Department said that one in three Americans don't use direct deposit, including 10.5 million Social Security recipients.

And for the most part, when we have to deposit a paper check, we still need to go to an ATM to do it.

Businesses have been making deposits over the Internet for longer, ever since the passage in 2004 of the federal Check 21 Act.

Crafted in response to the banking system's paralysis in the wake of the terror attacks of September 2001, the act made a digital image of a check legally acceptable for payment.

Wednesday marks the act's fifth anniversary.

Businesses quickly saw the benefits of the new law. Sending checks as digital images eliminated courier costs and paperwork.

More than 60 percent of U.S. banks now offer merchant remote deposit – up from 50 percent in 2008, according to a June study by the Washington, D.C.-based Independent Community Bankers of America. Some 78 percent of banks plan to adopt the technology by 2011, the study found.

The extension of the service to consumers has come much more slowly. Cary Whaley, a director at the bankers group, said financial institutions have been wary about potential fraud.

"For many banks, it remains a business application," Whaley said. "The next step is the consumer side, but a lot of community banks are a little wary. When you're getting into thousands of consumers, the challenge for banks and credit unions is not only monitoring risk, but monitoring for changes in transactions and transaction amounts."

But some bankers said consumers are increasingly demanding the same convenience given to their business counterparts, and it's simply a matter of time before remote deposits become much more widespread.

Fewer than 1 million residential bank customers currently make deposits remotely over the Internet. But that number is expected to explode as more consumers catch on, and more banks make it available.

"It's clearly on the upswing," said John Leekley, founder and chief executive officer of the Georgia-based industry Web site RemoteDepositCapture.com. "The question is not whether we're going to reach 5 million, it's when. It's a matter of convenience and efficiency. I don't know anyone who enjoys going to a bank branch.

"If you can just scan a check on a phone or a home computer, it's really about getting that check sooner so you can get your money sooner."

When Schools Financial Credit Union decided to take the plunge, it included safeguards to prevent abuse. Customers must use their existing secure online banking log-in, and can't transmit items more than twice a day.

Users have a time limit to scan and deposit the check online and checks must meet specific requirements before they are deposited. Post-dated, damaged or lightly printed checks, for instance, will not scan properly and cannot be deposited.

Schools is rolling the program out over time. It will be available to all 40,000 members who bank online by mid-November.

All it requires to make a deposit is a digital scanner and a computer with an Internet connection.

In Sacramento, Golden 1 rolled out its Z@piT online deposit service in July to a customer base comfortable with doing business online. About 200 members are enrolled.

"So many people prefer to do self-service. They choose to go online – maybe they're parents with small kids, or they might not want to go to an ATM at 3 a.m.," said Golden One's chief executive officer, Teresa Halleck.

"People are already online," she said. "They're comfortable with electronic delivery and they're looking for more."

Source: SacBee

Get Ready For Flu Season

If you're the type to get the flu-shot, you may want to seek out the seasonal flu shot. The problem is that supply is short. Due to unexpected turn out times, the vaccination has been slow for release. You can still get them however at select places, but it is probably best to contact your health service provider first.

For H1N1, it has been recommended to wait the first round out. Supplies for this is extremely short and only those who are most vulnerable should receive it until supply increases later on.

To find locations to obtain the seasonal flu shot, a list of clinics is below.

Sacramento County clinics

• A drive-through clinic today, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Sears at 5901 Florin Road, Sacramento. The cost is $10.

• Free shots will be offered at the Robertson Community Center next Thursday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at 3525 Norwood Ave., Sacramento.

• Free flu shots will be offered at the Pannell Center Thursday, Nov. 5, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at 2450 Meadowview Road, Sacramento.

Placer County clinics

There will be a $20 charge.

• Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Multipurpose Senior Center, 11577 E Ave., Auburn.

• Thursday, 9 a.m. to noon, at the Maidu Community Center, 1550 Maidu Drive, Roseville.

Other clinics

• Sutter VNA & Hospice is hosting a public clinic today, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Carmichael Honda dealership, 6151 Auburn Blvd., Citrus Heights.

• Sacramento International Airport's clinics still have supplies. The clinics are open Monday through Friday, 7 to 11 a.m. and 2 to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 7 to 11 a.m.; and Sunday, noon to 6 p.m. Weekend hours are subject to change. Call (916) 446-4449.

Retailers

Retail clinics charge around $30.

• Rite Aid still has shots; call ahead for appointments.

• Safeway had limited supplies Thursday. Call ahead because some pharmacies administer vaccines only at certain times.

• Most Walgreen's are out, and supplies will not be re-stocked.

• Raley's, Wal-Mart and Costco report being out of the seasonal vaccine.

Real Estate - A Great Long Term Investment

GreatWest GMAC Real Estate professionals know real estate is a good long-term investment. Although home values have stalled or experienced decline in recent years, longer snapshots in time have proved real estate to be a fantastic investment.

Let’s consider one scenario provided by a real estate professional. If someone were fortunate enough to buy a home even in 2002 and paid $500,000. If they put 20% down, there mortgage was $400,000. That home went all the way up to $800,000 in 2005 and is now only worth $560,000. They likely refinanced when it was worth $800,000 and their note went to $600,000. They received a 200% return on their original investment, tax-free. Their original investment was not the price of the house but the amount of money they brought to the table. $100,000. Many folks used their home as an ATM machine with a roof. And many more homeowners are in trouble today because of it. Sadly, too many got caught in the free money craze.

The good news is that fortunately many of these homeowners are holding onto their homes and some day when we see a return to annual appreciation, they will see their property values rise once again.

Understanding that housing markets are cyclic is key. For homebuyers, our current cycle offers excellent home buying opportunities.

Written for GreatWest GMAC
by: Myrl Jeffcoat

New Home Loan Plan

The federal government will attempt to assist local housing finance agencies provide inexpensive mortgages to low and moderate home buyers. There is no word yet as to exactly how much or how long this initiative will be available. Hopes are that the new initiative will help stabilize the current housing market and provide many affordable mortgages for the working family. There is no approval needed from congress as this money will be pulled from the 2008 Housing and Economic Recovery Act.


Have a great day!
GreatWest GMAC

Home Front: Quarterly home sales worst yet for Sacramento area

Sacramento-area home builders just keep singing the blues.

July, August and September brought their worst quarter yet in this long housing crash: just 616 sales in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties, the Folsom-based Gregory Group reports today.

Actually, nearly all the region's sales were in Placer and Sacramento counties alone. The suburban cities of Placer County accounted for 44 percent of third-quarter sales of new homes in the region. Sacramento County's outer suburban rings comprised 43 percent.

The tough numbers reflect California's expired $10,000 tax credit for buyers of new, unoccupied homes – and the imminent end of an $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers, said Gregory Group President Greg Paquin. "All the evidence was that people were coming in asking how to use the tax incentive," he said. "That was a big selling point."

Wednesday, however, the state Senate voted to extend the state's $10,000 tax credit to another 4,300 buyers. The Assembly is expected to vote on it next week.

The newest sales numbers bring the year's new-home tally to just 2,286 through Sept. 30. At that pace, sales may fall below 3,000 this year in the six-county capital region, a level not seen since the 1960s. Statistics this year from researcher MDA DataQuick show that closed escrows for new houses are about 9 percent of all home sales. In 2005, home builders claimed 25 percent.

Top five cities for sales in July, August and September:

• Roseville, 167 sales.

• Elk Grove west of Highway 99, 88 sales.

• Rancho Cordova, 79 sales.

• Lincoln, 57 sales.

• Rocklin, 52 sales.

No more up-front fees

Here's mortgage news worth repeating: As of last Sunday, it's illegal in California for loan modification companies or attorneys to charge up-front fees to help you get your loan modified.

Last Sunday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed SB94, by Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, to ban up-front fees. No exceptions. The game now requires a loan modification firm or attorney to clearly spell out what steps will be taken on your behalf with lenders. A struggling borrower does not pay until the firm or attorney has performed all those steps. If, however, the lender declines to modify a loan after those steps have been taken, you must still pay.

Before you sign anything, the loan modification firm must tell you, in your own language, that you can get these same services free from government-approved nonprofit loan counseling firms. More information: www.dre.ca.gov.

Free foreclosure workshops

The Sacramento Mutual Housing Association will hold a pair of free foreclosure prevention workshops next week for people struggling with mortgages.

The workshops will explain the federal Making Home Affordable loan modification program and other options to keep your house. It will also explain steps of the foreclosure process and how to avoid scams. During sessions, people can schedule a free individual session with a foreclosure prevention specialist.

First session: Monday at 6 p.m. at Mutual Housing at Lemon Hill, South Sacramento. Address: 6000 Lemon Hill Ave.

Second session: Thursday, Oct. 22 at 6 p.m. at the Sacramento Association of Realtors. Address: 2003 Howe Ave., Sacramento.

Preregistration is required. Call Tara at Sacramento Mutual Housing Association, (916) 453-8400, extension 43, or e-mail: tara@mutualhousing.com.


Source Sac Bee

Foreclosure flood fails to materialize in Sacramento area

People who watch housing prices have predicted for months that another deluge of foreclosed homes would soon hit the market – once again crushing Sacramento-area property values.

But the flood of bank repos hasn't materialized. And now, a leading California foreclosure analyst says it probably won't.

"From the things I'm seeing, there's not going to be a wave any time soon," said Sean O'Toole, president of ForeclosureRadar, a Contra Costa County firm that tracks mortgage defaults and foreclosures.

Despite a growing number of loan defaults and delinquencies, O'Toole said banks are now selling more homes than they're repossessing – and political pressure on them to work with homeowners is slowing foreclosure rates. Other market watchers also see banks slowly dribbling out their supply of repossessed homes.

"From all appearances, it does look like they're managing it better," said Charlene Singley, president of the Sacramento Association of Realtors.

If the supply of homes for sale remains in balance with demand, the danger of another sharp downturn in prices is lessened, at least in the short run, O'Toole and others said Thursday.

The prospect of another wave of new foreclosures has long threatened to destabilize a capital-area market precariously balanced by massive repo sell-offs, curtailment of new-home production and buyers enticed by lower prices, low interest rates and tax credits.

Even as disaster scenarios remain easy to imagine, the number of area for-sale signs is now at an encouraging 52-month low.

Still, the downside to this relative steadiness in the near term, O'Toole acknowledged, may be that it will take longer to work through the mortgage crisis and recover.

On Thursday, La Jolla researcher MDA DataQuick offered fresh evidence of the market's tenuous balance.

Regional home sales in September ticked up slightly from August, with 3,454 new and existing homes changing hands in Amador, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties. Yet September marked a fourth straight month in which sales fell below the same time last year.

That's because recent sales have been unable to match last year's sharp rise as banks unloaded thousands of repos, a phenomenon that also put downward pressure on area home values. O'Toole said banks have cut their statewide repo inventory by 41 percent in the past year.

Now that the repo sales pace has slowed in Sacramento County – from 70 percent of sales in February to 53 percent in September – median sales prices have quickly stabilized.

DataQuick reported a September median price of $176,000 in Sacramento County. Median is that point where half the homes cost more and half less. That was down from a 2009 high of $180,000 in August, but still well above February's housing bust low of $160,000.

Fewer repo listings this year brought another phenomenon not seen since the boom: bidding wars. The phenomenon so frustrated state employee Lauri Lathrop that she finally bought a new house in Elk Grove in September.

"I was putting in offers $15,000 above the asking price, and I was getting outbid," she said Thursday. "I saw this new house and nobody could outbid me. It was like it was mine," she said.

Lathrop obtained a favorable interest rate and an $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time buyers – though she missed the window for a $10,000 state tax credit for buyers of new homes.

Such perks combined with affordability to prod more buyers off the fence this year. Sales of new and existing homes combined from January through September this year total 30,231, beating 29,751 during the same period in 2008 and 26,777 from January through September 2007.

As a result, the number of for-sale signs in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties has fallen to May 2005 lows, according to Sacramento researcher TrendGraphix.

The affiliate of Lyon Real Estate counted 6,129 listings in the four counties at the end of September. The numbers have fallen for 25 straight months since peaking at 16,262 in August 2007.

TrendGraphix said 13.4 percent of current listings are bank repos and 27 percent are short sales, in which owners hope lenders will accept a sales price below what they owe. That means 40 percent are so-called "distress sales."

That's scary, but real estate agents like Singley and Carey Covey of Cook Real Estate maintain there is an ample supply of buyers. And sales statistics from the Sacramento Association of Realtors show that banks are faster to approve short sales now than months ago.

As the repo share of the sales mix has continued to decline, short sales rose to almost 20 percent of sales in September in Sacramento County and the city of West Sacramento, SAR reported.

Covey, who specializes in selling bank-owned homes, said he believes the supply of repos will remain steady. But he expects no trouble selling them at such a pace.

"As of right now, we're still short on supply, and there's still a lot of demand," he said.

Source Sac Bee

California Senate approves $10,000 tax credit for new-home buyers

A shattered California home building industry received a boost Wednesday when the state Senate voted to extend a popular $10,000 tax credit that fueled thousands of new-home sales last spring and summer.

The Senate voted 35-1 to reauthorize the use of $30 million in credits not awarded during the first program. That should allow the state to give tax credits to about 4,300 more buyers of new unoccupied homes, many of which are in inland areas of California including the Central Valley. Eligible buyers would get a maximum of $3,333 in credits for each of the next three years.

Senate Bill X3 37 goes now to the Assembly, which is expected to consider it next week. It must pass that legislative body and be signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to become law. But the Assembly approved an earlier version of the bill by wide margins and the governor has said he favors the buyer tax credit as a stimulus to the economy.

"This tax credit worked so well that in just four months it was gone," said Sen. Ray Ashburn, R-Bakersfield, author of SB X3 37. "This is a good program that assisted people in buying homes and sharing in the American dream."

More than 10,600 buyers of new homes were approved for the tax credit before the state Franchise Tax Board stopped taking applications July 2. Many buyers combined it with a federal $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers to claim up to $18,000.

Since July, the FTB has determined that the average state credit will be $7,000, not the full $10,000. That freed up another potential $30 million in credits. According to the bill, buyers who close escrow after the credit is reauthorized will be eligible; but not those who closed escrow on new homes between July 2 and the date the bill goes into effect.

Reaction in the building industry Wednesday was swift.

"We're very pleased," said Allison Barnett, legislative advocate for the California Building Industry Association, a builder trade group that sponsored the bill. "The credit has been effective in creating jobs, getting people back to work and getting people back in the sales offices, which is essential for recovery in California."

Builders contend the tax credit has helped them trim excess inventory, selling thousands of finished, but unsold, homes. Critics, including some economists, have argued the tax credit does little to stimulate the larger economy. And others question subsidizing new-home sales when there is a massive glut of existing homes for sale in California.

Brad Diede, executive vice president of the California Association of Specialty Contractors, said his group lobbied lawmakers statewide to extend the credit. Said Diede, "What we saw was employers putting people back to work after they had to lay them off. It's stimulating the economy all the way around."

The FTB said Sacramento, Roseville and Fresno were among top cities where residents received tax credits.

An earlier version of the bill, carried most of this year by Assemblywoman Anna Caballero, D-Salinas, failed to pass before a September legislative deadline. Many thought the bill was dead. But it was folded Wednesday into Ashburn's SB X3 37 as part of a special session on water policies.

Ashburn carried the original bill last February to allocate $100 million for buyer tax credits. That was passed to win key Republican votes for plans to close a then-$42 billion state budget deficit.


Source Sac Bee

SMUD demo house in Fair Oaks shows how to save energy

The 26-year-old house in Fair Oaks was a product of its time, all-electric and power hungry, built in an era of Rancho Seco nuclear power.

Remodeled in 2009, the house is now the product of a new time, and it's all about energy conservation.

Tucked away on a quiet, pleasant street near Hazel Avenue, the house is the Sacramento Municipal Utility District's newest demonstration of how Californians will use energy more sparingly in the future.

It's also a showcase of products and techniques representing potential green growth for the capital region's battered construction sector, which is building barely any new houses these days.

The remodeled house on Quail Hill Way is designed to use 60 percent less power than it did before.

"It's not strange. It's not goofy. It's not an earthship made of car tires," said Jim Bayless, who has transitioned from struggling home builder to green retrofitter. "It's a normal house," he said.

Bayless, owner of now-idled Treasure Homes, bought the three-bedroom, two-bath house in May as a $150,000 short sale. He and partners in Folsom-based GreenBuilt Construction spent $141,000 to reroof it, install leading-edge appliances, solar power, the newest windows and other emerging systems known to vigorously slash kilowatt-hours.

SMUD, which signed on as a partner, will rent the house for a year, at $1,700 a month, to show its features to the public and area building contractors. It's part of the utility's shifting focus to retrofitting existing homes. Deals with home builders to add solar power systems to thousands of newly built area homes have stalled with the housing crash.

"If we can duplicate this in some fashion by the tens of thousands, how much energy could we save?" asked Mike Keesee, a project manager at SMUD. Keesee said mass retrofits of existing homes could spare SMUD the costs of building power plants and take pressure off peak demand situations such as heat waves.

Homeowners, too, may find it easier soon to finance such improvements. As a result of Assembly Bill 811, a law adopted last year, local governments throughout the capital region are considering making loans to pay for the upfront costs of home energy improvements. The loans would be wrapped into property tax bills with repayments spread over years and multiple owners.

Financial incentives and rebates also can help with the upfront costs needed to save money later. SMUD estimates the costs of energy efficiency upgrades in the Fair Oaks home at about $32,000.

When tours start Oct. 24, visitors will see a house filled with simple fixes that range from a radiant barrier beneath the roof � somewhat like a car's reflective windshield sunshade � to a 40-gallon rooftop water tank where the sun warms water for the house. There is a water faucet above the kitchen sink that turns off with a tap of the hand, and new ways to seal the house tight to prevent leakage of heated and cooled air.

New dual-pane windows also keep out hot exterior air in summer and keep warm interior air in during winter.

"Windows," said Keesee, "have come so far."

An Internet-based monitoring system in the house is reminiscent of the futuristic 1960s cartoon, the "Jetsons," allowing the homeowner to adjust interior temperatures with a remote control at home or from a desktop computer at work. The computer even shuts the garage door if it perceives that the owner has left it open after leaving for work.

"There are lots of little details, and that's what it's all about, getting the little details right," said Bayless during a tour this week.

SMUD helped fund some of the work as a demonstration project aimed at spurring others to act. Manufacturers offered deals on energy efficient products in return for the expected exposure during tours. Colorado's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy affiliate, is also a partner, providing technical support and analyzing the energy savings.

NREL's manager for residential research, Ren Anderson, said Tuesday the laboratory's goal in Fair Oaks is to help "enable utilities in California to meet their long-term mandated goals for renewable energy and energy efficiency." By 2020, California aims to build homes that generate the power they consume. The state aims for all buildings to do the same by 2030.

The Fair Oaks remodel comes a year after Keesee and SMUD teamed with a Folsom firm to build a so-called "House of the Future" near downtown Folsom. That demonstration house, touted as a model for large-scale home builders to imitate, was declared one of the most energy efficient houses built in the United States. It sold in January for $625,000.

Keesee said his research shows the Fair Oaks retrofit and demonstration house is among 20 to 30 of the most efficient homes nationally.

"There are maybe five to six in California at this extreme that I could find," he said. "That doesn't include the people who have quietly done it on their own.


Source Sac Bee

Congratulations!!

GreatWest GMAC would like to congratulate Katie Duke for getting her broker license!!

CONGRATULATIONS KATIE!!!

The Great Recession: The numbers tell the story

NEW YORK -- A year ago this weekend, the Dow Jones industrial average had just finished a slow-motion crash. Over eight days, it fell 2,400 points, or 22 percent, and stood at 8,451.

One year later, the Dow is at 9,865. It's up 51 percent from a 12-year low of 6,547 on March 9 - when some investors feared the financial world was coming to an end.

But the complete story of the Dow's journey since the economy soured goes back a little further. Two years ago this week, on Oct. 7, 2007, the Dow set its record high of 14,164.

What followed was a three-act play. For five months, from October 2007 through the collapse of investment bank Bear Stearns in mid-March 2008, the Dow fell 2,000 points in an orderly fashion as investors anticipated a garden-variety recession. From mid-March until Labor Day, the Dow rose and fell but was little changed. Right after Labor Day, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers and AIG failed over 10 days. The credit markets froze, and investors panicked, fearing another Great Depression. There were rallies amid the downward spiral that ensued, but over six months - until the low on March 9 - the Dow fell 5,000 points.

So where do we stand today?

The seven-month rally since March has yet to wipe away all the losses, but few expected that the Dow would be edging back to 10,000 so soon. Unemployment is close to 10 percent, but other parts of the economy are stabilizing. Consumers are still hunkered down, but retail sales showed a slight gain in September. The panic of last fall has been replaced by the resignation that the worst is over but it might be years before the economy booms again.

"The problems that we're dealing with - there's a little bit less urgency," says Alan Levenson, chief economist at T. Rowe Price Associates. "We've stopped what could have been fatal bleeding."

Here's a by-the-numbers look at the stock market and the economy since the eight-day crash one year ago:

- $11.2 trillion: Total losses in the stock market from the Dow's peak in October 2007 to the March 2009 bottom.

- $4.6 trillion: Total gains in the stock market since March 9.

- 6: The number of the 10 worst point drops in the 113-year history of the Dow that occurred in 2008. The 777-point drop on Sept. 29, 2008, ranks No. 1.

- 3: The number of the 10 worst percentage drops that occurred in 2008. The Sept. 29 decline of 9 percent is the third-biggest behind 22.6 percent on Oct. 19, 1987, and 10 percent on April 14, 2000.

- 92 percent: Decrease in Citigroup Inc.'s share price from Oct. 10, 2008, ($13.90) to March 9 ($1.05).

- 341 percent: Increase in Citigroup's share price from March 9 to Friday's close of $4.63.

- 18-20: The historical average for the Volatility Index of the Chicago Board Options Exchange, also known as the VIX, or "Fear Index."

- 89: Where the VIX peaked last October.

- 23: Where the VIX was on Friday.

- 16 percent: The amount by which the Dow's closing level on Friday was higher than its average close the previous 200 days. Earlier this month the number hit 20 percent, the highest since the early 1980s.

- $6.5 trillion: Value of assets in stock mutual funds at end of 2007.

- $3.7 trillion: Value at the end of 2008.

- $4.5 trillion: Value at the end of August.

- -$72 billion: Net cash flow (money put in minus money taken out) for stock mutual funds in October 2008.

- -$25 billion: Net cash flow in March.

- $4 billion: Net cash flow in August.

- $9: The amount, out of every $10 investors put into mutual funds in August, that went into bond funds.

- $855.40: The price of an ounce of gold on Oct. 10, 2008.

- $1,048.60: The price of an ounce of gold on Friday.

- 6.2 percent: Unemployment rate a year ago.

- 9.8 percent: Unemployment rate today.

- 95.2: Consumer confidence two years ago. Reading above 90 means the economy is on solid footing; above 100 signals strong growth.

- 25.3: Consumer confidence in February - record low.

- 53.1: Consumer confidence today.

- 2.8 percent: Decline in retail sales in October and December 2008.

- 2.7 percent: Increase in retail sales in August.

- 4.75 percent: Federal funds rate two years ago.

- 1 percent: Fed funds rate last October.

- 0 - 0.25 percent: Fed funds rate today.

- 4.81 percent: London interbank offered rate (LIBOR), the amount banks charge each other to borrow money for three months, at its peak, on Oct. 10, 2008.

-0.28 percent: Three-month LIBOR rate Friday.

- -0.5 percent: Personal savings rate in 2005 as home prices were soaring.

- 6.9 percent: Personal savings rate in May.

- $975 billion: Credit card debt held by Americans last September.

- $899 billion: Credit card debt held at the end of August, down 8 percent.

- 7 million: Home resales in 2005, a record year.

- 4.5 million: Home resales in January at annual rate.

- 5.1 million: Home resales in August at annual rate.

- $245,000: Median price of homes sold in 2006 - record high.

- $213,000: Median price of homes sold last October.

- $195,000: Median price of homes sold in August.


Source Sac Bee

Live This City: You should be dancing

Sometimes, when the mood strikes, you just gotta dance. Yet I often hear people complain, however lazily, that there's nowhere good to exorcise dancing demons in Sacramento.

The Park is too processed, they say, Press Club loses its sheen at the exact moment your ex decides to start hanging out there, and the music at Badlands is so canned, you risk hearing "All the Single Ladies" playing on a continuous loop in your brain for a week to follow your excursion.

For those who desperately want to rock, may I offer a solution. The venue is romantic, the music has withstood the test of time, and the crowd oozes rhythm and style to the extent that � get this � it doesn't even need a bar to get down.

Midtown Stomp is the name of the organization that's keeping swing dancers swinging in Sacramento, and it offers beginner-level East Coast swing classes � often to the tunes of a live band � for singles, couples and anyone who's ever dreamed of teleporting to the Cotton Club circa 1930 for a Sazerac and some healthy, arm-flailing jive.

Every Friday night, while you're sitting at a nightclub and gazing longingly at an empty dance floor, the Stompers are stoking the embers of tradition as they steam up midtown's Eastern Star Ballroom with the Lindy Hop, Charleston, Balboa and a handful of other old-time dances that look even sweeter than they sound.

Showing up for my first swing-dance lesson was a little like visiting the high school prom experience of several decades past, minus a corsage. And a date. The lobby of the grandiose Eastern Star Temple, with its decadent spiraling staircases and ancient smells, instantly transported me to the 1920s, the era in which the K Street building was constructed. While waiting in line to register, a gaggle of teen girls, outfitted in T-strap shoes and loose skirts, chatted with another newcomer.

"We never miss a week," they beamed, their limbs already bouncing in swing time rhythm.

I ascended the spiral staircase leading to the temple's gorgeous and expansive ballroom. Teens, adults, couples and singles were scattered across the floor. They were practicing moves from last week's lesson and warming up for a night of hopping, twirling and rock-stepping � the latter a back-and-forth weight-shifting movement that is the keystone of the swing dancing experience.

Within minutes, the crowd blossomed from about a dozen people to more than 100, and the group's composition was so diverse in age, height, ethnicity and appearance, it rivaled the human smorgasbord found at any DMV.

And here's the very best part of the class: Because you constantly change partners, you get to meet almost every single person (at least those of the opposite sex) in attendance.

I saw meticulously slicked-back hairstyles, bald heads, plenty of fedoras, sneakers and high heels, the only common denominator being that crowd had an air of old-fashioned manners. The men were wearing cologne; the women were lipsticked and standing up straight. And the phenomenon of existing in a little-known midtown hideaway under the chandeliered ceiling of an all-original ballroom, listening to "Stormy Weather" echo out over the wood floor, was sublime � in the most dreamy, vintage sort of way.

Perhaps I channeled the spirits of bygone Sacramentans, who, in the midst of swing fever, attended dance parties in the very same location.

Like the most adept and sanguine Disneyland tour guides, our cheerful instructors quickly had us grouped in pairs, with our right hands clasped and our left arms gently placed on the appropriate body parts of our partners.

After a minute with one partner, the ladies rotate counter-clockwise, creating a social phenomenon that's kind of like speed-friendship-dating set to music. Some of my partners were beginners and struggled with the movements. Some of them had sweaty palms. And some of them had me twirling around in ways that were far beyond my skill set within 10 seconds of making their acquaintance.

Swing dancing saw its rise during Prohibition, and the dance's frisky style and unbridled energy explains why its enthusiasts don't need booze to boogie. In fact, for beginners, impairing coordination before the lesson would probably be a very bad idea.

In an era when bumping and grinding and solo dancing in noisy, shadowy nightclubs is considered apropos to many, the Midtown Stomp experience is refreshing and completely unfamiliar. The rules of the dance are older than you are, so you must face your partner directly, an arrangement that has a funny way of inducing smiles and laughter, even among strangers.

And the music, of course, is the most delightful reason to learn. Set at a comfortable volume, it allows something you can't find on any average dance floor these days: that good, old-fashioned intimacy called real conversation.


Source Sac Bee

Economist expects California existing-home sales to fall in 2010

Sales of existing homes will fall slightly next year in California as people lose more jobs and cheap foreclosed homes become a smaller part of the market, California Association of Realtors economists predicted Wednesday.

Fewer sales of foreclosed homes may also push median prices a little higher than this year, the group said.

Watch, too, for growing trouble in the higher-end home market, which so far has been spared the huge price drops seen at the less expensive end, said CAR chief economist Leslie Appleton-Young.

The California trade group for 172,000 real estate agents is predicting sales of 527,500 homes in 2010 - 2.3 percent less than in this year. It also foresees a 2010 median price of $280,000. That's 3.3 percent higher than this year's current estimate of $271,000.

But anything could happen in a still-volatile and sluggish economic and housing climate, CAR said. The group, releasing the estimates during a trade show in San Jose on Wednesday, cautioned that numerous wild cards could hurt the real estate market in 2010, including the state budget crisis, rising unemployment and possibly rising interest rates.

"As we get through this, there are a lot of unknowns," said Appleton-Young.

In California, the nation's largest struggling housing market, those wild cards include:

• The supply of foreclosed homes. Appleton-Young said prices could be pressed downward again if a heavier-than-expected wave of foreclosures floods the market next year. Foreclosures accounted for slightly more than half the state's sales this year; the estimate for next year is one-third.

"I don't see a tsunami of foreclosures," said the CAR economist. "I see an elevated level of foreclosures over the next couple of years, and an acceleration of foreclosures at the upper end of the market."

Analysts, including Irvine-based John Burns Real Estate Consulting, note that banks have been slow to foreclose and list existing repos, setting up the potential for a new wave of bank-owned properties going up for sale.

Burns contends that continued government intervention - including tax credits for buyers - is necessary to stimulate housing demand in a slow economy. CAR is among the real estate groups lobbying Congress to extend a first-time homebuyer tax credit that expires Nov. 30.

Sacramento-area real estate agents are also getting "calls to action" to lobby congressional reps for an extended tax credit, said Charlene Singley, president of the Sacramento Association of Realtors.

• Sales of higher-end homes. Appleton-Young said many buyers are having trouble financing more expensive houses - and hesitating over fears they will lose value. Those factors, combined with rising joblessness among owners of higher-priced homes, have the potential to bring down prices in the upper segment.

• Loan resets: Projections suggest that thousands of new risky adjustable-rate loans - including especially dangerous pay-option mortgages - will reset in 2010 across California, possibly triggering a new stream of loan defaults. Many of those, too, involve owners of more expensive homes.


Source Sac Bee

Mortgage rates below 5 percent fuel re-fi boom

Every dollar counts in this economy.

Homeowners hustled last week to refinance their mortgages after interest rates fell below 5 percent for the first time since May.

Refinance applications climbed 18 percent from the previous week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday, as rates on 30-year home loans dropped to their lowest level in four months to 4.89 percent.

With extra cash lining their pockets each month, homeowners could help the economy recover. Since the recession began, American consumers have reined in spending, which accounts for up to 70 percent of the economy. A refinance savings of a couple hundred bucks could go a long way in boosting household finances.

"A lot of people are thinking: "If I can get something right now, let's get it and run,'" said Pava Leyrer, president of Heritage National Mortgage in Michigan.

But more than 16 million homeowners owe more on their mortgages than their properties are worth. To refinance they would have to cover the difference and then some. In some cases, that could mean forking over tens of thousands of dollars. Others simply don't qualify under stricter credit and income standards. And requirements for refinancing certain government loans will get tougher in November.

The Federal Reserve started buying mortgage-backed securities in January to drive down mortgage rates. But it plans to slow its purchases of mortgage-related debt and extend the program through the first three months of 2010, which will likely push rates higher.

Still, current low rates helped borrowers like Kimberly Austin in Kalamazoo, Mich., cut her monthly payment by more than $300 to $934. Austin, a 40-year-old accounts receivable clerk, ticked off a list of where that extra cash will go. A new roof, updating the electrical system and other improvements on the older house she bought in June of last year.

"That money would be a huge help," said Austin, who is set to complete the refinance on Thursday.

For Tanya Schlicht in Greenfield, Wisc., refinancing her mortgage will help cushion the blow from her husband's job loss earlier this year. He's working at a temp agency now, but makes less than before.

Schlicht, who works in a nursing home, is in the process of qualifying with just her income and wants to roll a costly second mortgage into just one loan. The move will save them a much-needed $200 a month.

"We're going to need it for the electric bill," she said.

She's a lucky one.

Many calls mortgage brokers received last week came from borrowers who couldn't qualify for a new loan because of lower incomes, higher credit standards or falling home prices.

New rules designed to limit conflicts of interest in the appraisal industry also are scuttling refinance applications because appraisals are coming in low, said Les Berman of EB Financial in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Lenders are stricter too. Before, Berman said they would accept a refinance application if the mortgage payment, taxes, insurance and all other debt added up to half a borrower's income. Now, the magic number is 41 percent.

The Obama Administration launched a plan in April to help borrowers refinance, even if their home has lost value. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are accepting borrowers who owe up to 25 percent more than their home are worth. But so far, only about 85,000 homeowners have had their loans refinanced under the plan, well below original expectations of 5 million.

"I personally haven't seen one yet," Berman said.

And on Nov. 18th, new requirements go into effect for borrowers who want to refinance a loan insured by the Federal Housing Administration. The so-called "FHA streamline" loan will require at least six months of payments before a borrower can take advantage of the program, and verification of assets, job and income. Also, more borrowers will need to come up with more cash to refinance because of new rules to calculate the maximum loan amount relative to the home's value.

"That'll stop up to 85 percent of my streamline borrowers," said Leyrer of Heritage National Mortgage.

Mortgage brokers say a refinancing is worthwhile if you can shave off at least $100 from your monthly payment or get a full percentage point rate reduction.

That's why rates below 5 percent are so appealing. It's only the second time this year they dipped that low. Rates hit a record low of 4.78 percent in the spring.

"The experts say rates are going back up," said John Stearns, vice president at Robbins and Lloyd Mortgage in Mequon, Wis. "We're making hay while we can now."

Source Sac Bee

Six Reasons Your Listing Won't Sell

GreatWest Real Estate professionals are experienced in advising home sellers on the importance of key issues, which will keep their homes from selling. They begin as follows:

1. You don’t have quality photos of your home. Most homebuyers begin their home search via the Internet. What they see visually in those first on-line encounters with your home can make the difference between whether they continue to explore your home further, or click away to the next available property with criteria they are searching. Quality photos make a significant difference in a homebuyer’s initial decision-making. It helps them decide whether their next action will be making an appointment to actually see your home in person.

2. Does your home show well? Sometimes this can mean the more subtle things – The smell of the house (especially if you have pets). It can be the annoyance of a dog that barks. Are the walls in need of fresh paint, and does the carpet really need replacing.

3. Have you overpriced the home? It is vitally important that you view your property with objectivity. Divorce yourself from your own feelings about your home, and view it through the eyes of a “buyer.” Pay attention to the Comparative Market Analysis prepared for you by a knowledgeable real estate agent. Make certain that it INCLUDES short sales and foreclosures. How does it compare in condition and updating to other properties being marketed or recently sold. These factors can make significant difference in valuation for market purposes.

4. Has your listing worn out it’s welcome on the market? It is a fact, that once homes have been on the market for awhile, they lose their initial fresh marketing impact. If you have overpriced your home, or allowed it to remain on the market without showing well, or the other important marketing energy discussed in the previous items, this can happen. There are several ways you can remedy this - (a) You can remove it from the market and give it a rest until spring. (b) You can initiate a price reduction. (c) You can make some needed improvements like paint, new carpet, or other cosmetic touches. (d) Home staging is another useful tool.

5. Transparency is more prevalent in today’s real estate world. In the past, Buyers traditionally contacted an agent for their “first” viewings of “for sale” homes. However, in today’s world, the Internet is primarily the “first” showing of properties, with the “actual” second showing occurring when the Buyer has previewed your home via websites like Craig’s List, Zillow, Trulia, and Google Base, etc.

6. It ain’t what you hoped for. You are fortunate enough to be in an area where homes often receive multiple offers. And you have accepted an offer on your home that is above list price. HOWEVER, the appraisal arrives $30,000 less that what has been agreed upon by you and the Buyer. You can sometimes successfully negotiate with them - but make it work, even if you need to drop the price. After all you will likely have the same problem with subsequent Buyers.

If you have questions, or wish to explore the quality marketing advantages of GreatWest Real Estate, please contact us. We look forward to hearing from you!

Written for GreatWest GMAC
by: Myrl Jeffcoat

Sacramento is also state's crash capital

If you drive the streets of Sacramento, buckle up and look out.

Motorists here are more likely to get in serious crashes - and more prone to be involved in drunken-driving crashes - than those in the state's other major cities, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety.

State data from 2005 to 2007 show the city of Sacramento's injury and fatal crash rate topped even that of Los Angeles and San Francisco.

More than 4,000 people in the city were injured in crashes in 2007, and 49 were killed.

Sacramento County is not quite as bad, ranking 13th among 58 counties in 2007.

Some Sacramentans say the city's poor ranking makes perfect sense: Drivers here are plain bad.

Many don't signal when turning. They blow stop signs. They talk on cell phones. One reported seeing another brushing his teeth while driving.

"I have driven in most states in this country, and Sacramento is by far among the worst I have seen," said Sacramento film producer Todd Gearou.

He's especially troubled by what he sees as a clash of cultures on the road, where slower drivers impede traffic and don't pull into slower lanes, and speedier drivers swerve angrily around them.

But traffic safety and public health officials say Sacramento's crash rates are about more than just driver ability.

"I don't think drivers are wildly different here than anywhere else," said Peter Jacobsen, a public health consultant who has studied Sacramento's crash patterns. Pointing a finger at drivers, he said, may even be a case of blaming the victim.

Sacramento's street designs, traffic patterns and traffic enforcement probably play a bigger role in crash rates, safety officials said.

One academic suggests the rate of serious injury crashes would drop if Sacramento had more congestion, like San Francisco or San Jose.

"The more attentive you have to be to drive, the better driver you tend to be," said Simon Washington, head of the Traffic Safety Center at the University of California, Berkeley.

The state's crash-rate numbers are based on surface- street crashes, not freeway incidents.

A Bee review shows those collisions are not random. Most happen on the city's largest and busiest thoroughfares. Hot spots include Truxel Road in Natomas, Broadway, Franklin Boulevard and Mack Road in south Sacramento, and commute streets downtown.

Outside the city limits, high-speed and heavily traveled Watt Avenue remains a major crash corridor.

Jacobsen said those more crash-prone streets have a lot in common: They are oversized and invite higher speeds, he contends, often with four or six lanes and long stretches between signal lights which allow drivers to pick up speed.

Unlike tighter street grids in San Francisco, much of Sacramento's street system was built when traffic planners favored funneling drivers onto a handful of major streets.

High-volume corridors lead drivers directly into the most dangerous urban site for drivers: large intersections.

Among city intersections, Stockton Boulevard and Fruitridge Road, and Mack Road and Valley Hi Drive had the most crashes, 57 each in 2008, according to police data.

City traffic engineers say they are trying to cut crashes with a new philosophy of building streets with fewer lanes and more room for pedestrians and cyclists.

In downtown Sacramento, that thinking has converted some older one-way streets to two-way, and slowing commute traffic by reducing lanes from three to two.

City traffic engineer Hector Barron said crews also are making subtle changes at dangerous intersections by adding protected left-turn pockets and installing larger, easier-to-see traffic lights.

They also have begun altering some signal lights so vehicles in all four directions have a red at the same time for a few seconds before one direction gets the green.

Sacramento's drunken-driving crash rate is perplexing, safety officials said.

Dr. Leon Owens, a Sacramento trauma physician who founded the anti-drunken-driving organization Every37.com says he doesn't believe Sacramento has more people with drug and alcohol problems.

He suggested it may be because Sacramento's boulevards allow inebriated drivers to go faster and make more costly mistakes.

Silas Miers of Mothers Against Drunk Driving said Sacramentans tend to drive their cars when they go out at night, rather than take transit or taxis, or walk. With many nightclubs and restaurants clustered downtown, he said, more Sacramentans may end up driving longer distances after drinking.

"It means somebody is going to take that chance," he said.

Safety officials say law enforcement is a factor as well in city street crash rates. Sacramento city police admit they deploy only 22 traffic enforcement officers. Fresno, a city of similar population, has 71.

"We'd love to have more," Sacramento police spokesman Norm Leong said.

The budget is so tight, he said, that those 22 do double duty, assigned to patrol neighborhoods where crimes are high, rather than streets where crash rates are high.

Sacramento police say they have been using state safety grants for more enforcement focused on reducing the alcohol-related crash rate. Leong said the police expect the rate to drop a bit.

Source Sac Bee

FHA loans soar in Sacramento area

The number of government-backed FHA loans jumped sharply last year, propping up a local real estate market otherwise saturated by loan denials.

During 2008, lenders issued 8,998 FHA loans in the Sacramento region, up from 649 during 2007, according to statistics released this week by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council.

"There's been such a shift in available financing as the market bottoms out," said Larry Bush, a regional spokesman for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

FHA loans are primarily used by people who can't afford a big down payment, or who otherwise aren't able to obtain mortgage insurance. FHA buyers need put down only about 3 percent. With the credit market shot, most conventional loans require at least 10 percent down.

Other than FHA loans, there are "very few lenders out there that will even toy with 95 percent financing," said John Arvanitis, owner of Sunrise Vista Mortgage, a Citrus Heights-based company that specializes in FHA loans.

FHA loans fell out of favor during the housing boom, experts said, because it didn't matter much whether borrowers had enough for a substantial down payment. Banks were giving zero down, "no proof" mortgages left and right.

Also during the boom, FHA mortgages were capped locally around $360,000, which didn't buy much back then. Now, prices have plunged, and the cap has been raised to $580,000, covering the vast majority of the local market.

"Even during the subprime era, I was trying to get people to go with FHA loans," Arvanitis said, adding that it was a tougher sell back then.

FHA insures loans; it doesn't make them. Like any insurer, the government tries to be careful before it acts.

There's a pretty long list of standards that a home must meet before an FHA loan will be administered, said Scott Burton, who specializes in FHA homes and runs Burton & Co. Real Estate Appraisals, a local outfit.

For instance, homes often don't pass muster because of lead-based paint, or roof or termite damage, Burton said.

The number of FHA loans issued locally would be even higher if the banks that owned foreclosed properties were willing to fix them up to FHA standards. Instead, "they want to sell them as is," said Burton, adding that banks are slowly coming around.

The 8,998 loans for 2008 also includes a small number of VA loans, which have slightly different terms.

The FHA loans are one of the few bright spots in the new federal report. It showed lenders denying about one-third of home loan applications in the Sacramento region during 2008, roughly double the percentage of denials in 2005 and similar to 2007, another bad year.

Mark Van Winkle and his family recently bought a home in Carmichael using an FHA loan. He's been in the Sacramento area for decades and has owned a house before, but got into some financial trouble around the turn of the century, forcing him to rent.

"We had no choice but to go with an FHA loan because of financial reasons," said Van Winkle, who got his loan through Sunrise Vista.

Despite his hands being tied, "it went really smooth," Van Winkle added.

Source Sac Bee