Placer County Real Estate Recap: October-November 2013
Here is the latest edition of our Placer County Real Estate Recap, from Pizzimenti Homes and Associates. This issue includes a record-breaking luxury sale in Granite Bay, and details on how you can keep yourself safe from fraud, and even ghosts!
Granite Bay Luxury Home Breaks Record, Sacramento Business Journal
Found in an extremely desirable community, Granite Bay luxury real estate is in high demand. With plenty of interested buyers, and low inventory, prices have been creeping upwards for some time now. Selling for $4.725M, a Bella Terra Estates home in Granite Bay has set the record for most expensive home sold in Placer County in the last four years. This notable sale is just another indicator of the local real estate market’s recovery.
Beware of Illegal Contractors, Central Valley Business Times
The Contractors State Licensing Board (CSLB) has cited eight unlicensed contractors for contracting without a license; of those eight, seven were also cited for illegal advertising. Investigators with the CSLB posed as property owners interested in trade work. Unlicensed contractors can only accept projects valued at $500 or less in combined labor and material costs, and these contractors were bidding on jobs in excess of $10,000 for a bathroom tile job and even $15,000 for landscaping.
The CSLB had help from the Statewide Investigative Fraud Team, the Placer County and Amador County District Attorney’s Offices and the Department of Consumer Affair’s Division of Investigation in this bust.
The CSLB warns both residential and commercial property owners to beware of phony contractors. Before hiring a contractor, be sure to visit the CSLB’s website (see link below) for resources designed to protect consumers from fraud.
Is My House Haunted? Does The Seller Need To Disclose A Death in the Home? Roseville Patch
How would you feel if you found out that someone had died in your recently purchased home? What if it was the site of a violent crime or paranormal activity? Home sellers are not always required to disclose this information, and it pays to do your research.
Know your rights. In the State of California, if a death occurs on a property more than three years prior to the sale, the seller need not disclose the information unless the interested buyer specifically asks. Unfortunately, even with this requirement, some sellers and even their real estate agents try to hide information that may deter buyers, and because of this it may be worth doing some external research of your own to avoid any unpleasant surprises and lawsuits.
It was for this reason that DiedInHouse.com was born. For $11.99, you can search for the specific home you’re interested in purchasing and find out of there was a death in the home. It is well worth knowing this information for your emotional well-being and your wallet: houses where a murder or suicide have occurred can take 50% longer to sell, and close at an average price of 2-4% less than comparable homes. The stats for homes where a well-publicized murder took place are even bleaker; these homes sell for 35% less.