J.Scott Carpenter's (jscottcarpenter) Blog

$8,000 from Uncle Sam, just for buying a home! Back in the Dark Ages there may have been a better time to buy your first home. Maybe around 1950. There were many new homebuyer programs at the state and local level, but none compares to the new first-time homebuyer tax credit. If you have not own...

The real estate market is in one of its more complex modes as we deal with a tide of market changes, appraisal problems, and shifting supply and demand conditions.   The most fundamental element of the Sacramento, Roseville, and Rocklin markets is CHANGE. Each day brings incremental changes that ...

The distressed housing market, and the related financial industry meltdown, are real and affecting more and more homeowners every day. Its not unusual to see the names of realtors among the distressed sellers.   The U.S. Treasury has created a web site that provides some basic qualification quest...

Placer County and Sacramento Counties have seen very high rates of short-sales, foreclosure, and bank-owned properties since 2006, causing home prices to drop 20-40%. Roseville, Lincoln, and to a lesser extent Rocklin, have been effected because of competitive pressures from bank-owed foreclosure...

BAN BANK COMMISSION REDUCTIONS! The process of realizing a short-sale is arduous and risky. So many problems can arise during the process which will render days of an agent's work completely lost. The loss-mitigation departments are attempting to show their prowess by not honoring the listing agr...

Good Morning Breakfast Lovers! While they are about as much fun as dental surgery, at least Buyers are coming back. As properties in the area have become more affordable, buyers are lapping up homes at an astounding rate. The number of listings has dropped across the board; down about 40% from l...

If you were waiting for the "bottom", here we are. Bring you pink slip and your check book" the radio ad would blare. That was to signal that when you went shopping, you needed to be prepared to buy. So it is for Sacramento buyers this spring. Once the temperature hit 80 degrees in April, the gen...

See Who's Missed Their Payments The Federal Reserve Bank of New York offers an interesting way to see non-prime mortage statistical information at the state, county, and zip code level. Values are shown using a "relative strength" comparison by color code. There are 12 different statistical displ...