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JaCi Wallace
Trendgraphix Report for November 2019
The Sacramento Trendgraphix Report for November 2019 includes Sacramento County single-family homes. No other criteria are included so that we can get a broad understanding of what is happening. If you want to get updates for a specific area, even down to a ZIP code or multiple ZIP codes, or multi-family properties or land, sign up for Sacramento Home Sale Reports by ZIP Code.
The following blog was written entirely by our team member, Josh Amolsch. It is an excellent overview of the November market. This data is published a month behind to ensure all the information is available. We are so proud to have Josh as a member of our team. He works very hard to provide information to his buyers so they are educated about the hyper-local target market when they make offers. — JaCi Wallace
The number of single-family homes for sale (inventory) in Sacramento County fell 15.4% in November 2019, compared to the month prior and is down 37.5% from November 2018 according to the latest Sacramento Trendgraphix Report for November 2019. While it is a seasonal norm to have inventory and buying activity slow in the winter, pending transactions in November 2019 are up 17.9% from November 2018. That means that buyers are buying more than they were last year at this time. That doesn’t sound like a recession to me.
We have also seen Average Cumulative Days on the report drop to 33 days from 34 days in October 2019. This is telling as this number usually goes up during the winter months. Pendings are up, inventory is down and the average days on market is dropping. The new listings are way down, per the Sacramento Trendgraphix Report for November 2019.
This means higher prices for the foreseeable future, but not necessarily the top of the market you may hope for. People have been singing that tune for probably two years now. It’s not the top of the market just because one might feel like it is. There are many other factors that affect the housing market. Supply and demand are just about the biggest drivers in the market.
Sellers are also getting on average 98% of their asking price in November 2019, up 1% from October 2019. This doesn’t feel like a seasonal slow down to me! The buyers we represent end up owning a home because they understand the reality of the market. Buyers believe in a particular neighborhood, so this data proves useful to buyers when making a buying decision.
The median home price is holding steady at $385,000 for October and November. It is up 5.5% over November 2018. Interest rates are phenomenal and buyers are out in full force. We can just call it spring this December, as we are barely getting rain anyway.
If you want an edge in this extremely competitive market, call Wallace & Weintraub Realtors with RE/MAX Gold at 916-233-6759.
Holiday Cookies On Christmas Eve 2019
Making holiday cookies on Christmas Eve 2019. My task for tonight is to get the ever so special Dot’s Fruit-Cookie dough ready. No, these are not just any ordinary cookies. The recipe is 3 generations old. I managed to get it from my mother in law, over 20 years ago. Her name was Dot, short for Dorothy. She giggled as she told me the story of when her friends asked her to share her mother’s recipe. She said she always left a little something out of her recipe. Her friends said Dot’s cookies were the best, that they just never tasted as good as hers. They never knew she had given them an incomplete recipe.
I made these cookies with Dot on a visit at my home in Wilton, just outside Elk Grove, California on a Christmas visit over 20 years ago. Bless her soul. So, the good news I have the real deal recipe. I carry on her tradition every year since as I always make Granny Dot’s world-famous fruit cookies at X-Mas. It’s a crazy amount of chopping. Three pounds of nuts. two pounds of candied cherries, two pounds of candied pineapple. Then add an additional two pounds of white rains and chop two pounds of dates. This is all mixed up with the homemade batter along with several secret ingredients.
These cookies I like to serve warm with tea or coffee. They are the real taste of Christmas. Now, I know some naysayers think, but I don’t like fruitcake? These cookies taste nothing like fruit cake. They are so very special. I thought about starting a holiday cookie business once upon a time but these cookies cost about $100 to make 10 dozen, so not inexpensive. They would have to be sold at high-end specialty such as Harrods, in London. Instead, they are made out of my little country kitchen and all ingredients are chopped by hand.
My cat Kit-Kits decided he wanted to sit on my extra-large cookie sheet. Of course, I had to wash the pan again to cook these beautiful mouth-watering Christmas cookies. Making holiday cookies on Christmas Eve in 2019 will bring a smile to the faces of friends and family.
Weintraub & Wallace Realtors with RE/MAX Gold wishes each of you happy holidays. We can be reached at 916-233-6759.
— JaCi Wallace
Only One Day left before Christmas 2019
With only one day left before Christmas 2019, are you ready? Today was a crazy day. One client signing at the title company and we put a probate listing into escrow with 8 offers. Then in between our real estate duties, we needed to pick up deliveries at the office. Next, a trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond for a few last-minute gifts on Santa’s list. Now the baking marathon begins at 0800 so a trip to the grocery store. Yes, I had my list and I was checking it twice, lol. I also grabbed a few gift cards for those hard to shop for folks.
Thank goodness for our team member, Josh Amolsch as there was not enough time in the day. He is one of our fabulous exclusive buyer’s agents. He went to remove a lockbox that was stuck on the door of a listing we closed in the Land Park area, of Sacramento. We have amazing team members and we all look out for one another.
On the way home I suddenly remembered I had one more stop to make at the Boot Barn in Elk Grove. Of course, I was coughing throughout all the running around today. I had to go to urgent care a few nights ago for Asthma. I’m on the mend, thanks to a great doctor. This Realtor never stops, much like the postal service at a holiday time. We work in the rain, in the snow or with illness, we work.
Well, not one thing I have is wrapped yet and the groceries are in the garage where it is as cold as the refrigerator. There are also 20 pounds of fresh USDA prime rib in the ice chests in the garage. I have the fixings to make the horseradish cream sauce, it is my niece, Adina’s, favorite. I’m not cooking Xmas dinner as that is my sister, Cathie’s, specialty. My contribution is just making the cream sauce.
Well, for all of you who are still up wrapping, shopping and baking, enjoy, as in a blink it will be over. This Sacramento Realtor is looking forward to a quiet country Christmas eve with cookies baking in the oven.
For all your real estate needs, please contact Weintraub & Wallace Realtors, with RE/MAX Gold. We can be reached at 916-233-6759.
— JaCi Wallace
Elk Grove Real Estate and the Flu
Elk Grove real estate and the flu go forward, no matter how sick a Realtor gets, the show must go on. When your immune system is on the blink, creativity for writing has not been accessible. I apologize for missing our daily posts and will be adding some blasts from the past postings that are still relevant today.
I may have missed writing the blogs, but we have not let our clients down. We sold several listings in the greater Sacramento area this week. When you have a team, there is an arsenal of resources available. There have been many challenges with home inspections and appraisals but we kept the wheels moving forward.
When you are sick and can’t leave the house for ten days, you really start to see how we take good health for granted. Elk Grove real estate and the flu have a few things in common, they are both relentless. Real estate has a life of its own. The buyer’s agent on the other side of our escrows is working with their buyer to advance the escrow. The appraisers and title officers are each working on our files, calling and emailing. Our full-time assistant Adina, and our transaction coordinator, Roxanne, are always both working to help our clients.
Another talented part of our team is our buyer’s agents, Josh and Barbara. These two are assisting with our listings and taking phone calls for whatever is needed. So many things all going on at the same time and our email inbox are on 24 / 7. When running a successful real estate business, having a team of highly qualified professionals is why we deliver white-glove service, no matter what the challenges.
I have never been bored all these many years of my career. There is always more to do. So many exciting business plans to implement. I keep hoping this flu will get the message and go home to whereever it came from.
The show must go on no matter what the circumstances. People hire us as they know they can count on us to show up to do the work every day, even when it is challenging. There is no sick leave when you own your own business. Even if there was paid time off, we would never let our clients down.
If you want to sell or buy your home and want to have the peace of mind to know we never stop working, call Weintraub & Wallace Realtors, with RE/MAX Gold. We can be reached at 916-233-6759.
–JaCi Wallace
Real Estate Agents Remain Independent Contractors
Yes, real estate agents remain independent contractors in the 2019 legislation report from the Sacramento Association of Realtors. This is important to the many who want to remain as a business owner and not an employee of a brokerage. Below is a partial excerpt from SAR, Sacramento Association Of Realtors, report.
This new law follows the Dynamex ruling and puts the ABC test that came out of that case into state law by classifying several types of independent contractors as employees. AB 5 allows real estate agents to be treated as independent contractors under the Business & Professions Code section § 10032 as long as they meet three conditions, 1) hold a real estate license; 2) substantially all of their remunerations is directly related to sales or other output rather than to the number of hours worked, and 3) the parties have a written contract stating that the individual will not be treated as an employee with respect to those services.
What AB 5 means for REALTORS®: This new law contains an explicit and comprehensive reconfirmation of the right for real estate agents to be treated as independent contractors and are governed by Business & Professions Code § 10032.
If you want to buy or sell a home call Weintraub & Wallace Realtors with RE/MAX Gold. We can be reached at 916-233-6759.
— JaCi Wallace
