San Juan High School... Improvements coming!

I just read that San Juan High School in Citrus Heights is breaking ground on some spiffing up projects. Good for them. Not only is it the oldest San Juan District school (built in 1913), but it's my husband, Dave's, alma mater. That was back in the 60's, but it's influence still reaches into our lives.

Dave was a top notch athlete, and one of 3 Dunbar boys to grace the halls (yeah... they were all pretty cute!). Today, everywhere we go we run into San Juan alums... and I mean EVERYWHERE. I list a house... "Oh, you're Dave's wife?". I go to a store... "Dunbar... hmm, did you go to San Juan". We're at a funeral... Dave went to school with 3 of the people there. We rent our newlywed apartment... "my sister went to high school with Dave". We watch the Kings play basketball... Dave knows the "sign lady"... "yeah, I went to San Juan with her".

We've been camping and dune buggying with a group for over 25 years. 6 of them went to San Juan with the Dunbar Boys, (that makes 9 in all) and they're all still friends!

The moral here, is don't be a dufus to your classmates! You never know the connections that will stick with you for your life, and keep coming back. San Juan has been that rebounding experience for Dave. Me?.. I went to 3 different high schools, so never made the same connections.

And for the record, San Juan is transforming itself into a campus of small learning communities with 5 career pathways: construction, culinary, media, hospitality management and career technology. The new classrooms will be environmentally friendly with all natural light. Sounds pretty forward thinking!

Folsom's New Bridge Opens Today...

As a result of 9/11, one of the main arteries connecting the two sides of Folsom, The Folsom Dam Road, has been closed since 2003. It's been a real drag for those needing to cross the river, as there were only two other bridges to accomodate the 18,000 cars that crossed the dam daily.

The dam road closing also clogged the streets of Historic Old Town Folsom with commuter traffic enroute to picturesque two-lane Rainbow Bridge. The poor old town shop keepers have been struggling, as shoppers and restaurant patrons have been reluctant to tackle the traffic and parking snafu.

Now after 6 years of traffic nightmares, the new Folsom Lake Crossing bridge opens today! The planned capacity is 40,000 cars per day, with 4 lanes, plus bike and pedestrian lanes. Whoo... what a load off for the people of Folsom!

So get shopping in Old Town Folsom and help support the businesses that have struggled for so long. Antiques, candles, collectibles, crystals, candy, clothing, great restaurants... it's all there. And the drive is so much easier now that the new bridge is open. Hooray!!!

Flickr photos by pulpolux, Adam79, and ETGeek

Interest rates and your home... THESE are the "good old days".

You've probably heard that interest rates are pretty good now... around 5% for a "30 year fixed". But check out what that means to you as a buyer. It's pretty shocking!

A $200K loan at 5% costs you $1,073 per month P&I (principle and interest)

If you want to keep that payment at $1073, here's the price loan you can afford if interest goes up.

6.25% = $174,000 - (2002 interest rate)
8.5% - $139,000 - (2000 interest rate)
9.25% - $130,000 - (1994 interest rate)

15% - $84,000 - (1984 interest rate)

Still wishing for the good old days? As a buyer, it's better today than it's ever been. You get WAY more for your money than ever. We will look back on these times as the best home buying days in our lives!

Flickr photo by Steve Wampler

What's Happening with Fair Oaks Home Prices?

If you missed buying a Fair Oaks home back in '02, those prices are back! After a high of $250/sf (per square foot) in August of '06, Fair Oaks prices have dropped approximately 38% to a stunning $155/sf. That is lower than the cost to build a home, yet it includes the land! We have not seen such a buying opportunity for a long time.

How does that compare to the hit the entire county has taken? Has Fair Oaks done better or worse? Much better, thank you. During the same time period, Sacramento County price per foot dropped a whopping 54%! EEKKK! They went from a peak of $250/sf in August of '05 to the current level of $117/sf.

But here's the best news for buyers. Interest rates make this the most amazing time we have ever had to buy. If you get a $200K loan today, you will pay around 5% interest, or $1073/month, (principle and interest on a 30 year fixed rate loan). Look what happens if the interest rate were higher on the same $200,000 loan.

5% = $1,073 today's rate

6.25% = $1,231 (2002 rates)

8.5% = $1,537 (2000 rates)

9.25% = $1,645 (1994 rates)

15% = $2,528 (1984 rates - yeouch!)

An interesting side note, is that in '02, when Fair Oaks prices were at today's level, the ensuing 3 years saw prices jump an incredible $100/foot. That means if you owned a 2,000 sf home in '02, by '05 it was worth $200,000 more. That's pretty amazing! Will that happen again? No one really knows. And in my experience, it's not predictable... but it IS possible.

So what does all this mean? It means homes are dirt cheap, and that Fair Oaks has been a much better value than the county in general. And compared to the stock market, it's not so bad. There are those that say today is the best buyer's opportunity we will see in our lifetime.

Flickr photo by fpsurgeon

Kids these days... They're AWESOME!

"What's this world coming to... kids today don't want to work, they want it handed to them."

Every generation says that... clear back to Plato's time. I bet the cave man said it too, as his cave boy "texted" his pals with smoke signals.

But the attitude is idiotic. And here's a case in point.

Every year Fair Oaks has a number of community service events, like an Easter Egg Roll, a Christmas Party, Senior Luau, Mother/Son Dance, Father/Daughter Dance, the famous Chicken Festival and others. And who puts the shindigs on?... a group of 24 teens from Del Campo and Bella Vista High Schools, called the Fair Oaks Youth Advisory Board (FOYAB). They work all year, for no pay, to benefit our community. How cool is that... these kids are my heros!

Zoom back to '04/'05 when my daughter, Christy, was the President of FOYAB. I attended their Share the Spirit Christmas party for about 50 disadvantaged families. They hosted a huge turkey dinner, crafts, games, a raffle with a gazillion prizes, and a visit with Santa with many presents hand-selected for each child. I helped one Mom load her raffle prize - a fully decorated Christmas tree - into her car... "I'm so grateful. I didn't think my kids would have a tree this year. It's been rough."

But thanks to those 24 Fair Oaks teens who worked their tails off, these 50 families had a Christmas. And they each went home with enough food to feed an army... turkey, dressing, canned goods, ham... wow! All donated and cooked by the kids. Don't tell me they're lazy...

"them's fightin' words!"

Trust me, we will be in good hands with these kids at the helm.

Locking your loan is like proposing... You don't know if it could get better.

I just read that the Fed's actions today may cause mortgage interest rates to drop up to 1/4 or 1/2 point. Interesting dilemna for those in escrow who have already locked their loan. Do you stand by what you said, or weazle out because rates have changed?

When you lock your loan, you are gambling that interest rates won't go down any lower.... to protect yourself in case they go higher. So to be safe, if the current rate is OK with you, you and the lender commit to it... regardless of future rates being higher or lower. If they go higher, you still have your low rate. If they go lower... it happens.

Can you get the cheaper rate if they drop below your locked amount? Not without someone suffering a loss... because the lender has committed.

It's like proposing. You ask the girl of your dreams to marry you. But criminy... what if someone better comes along? Well, what if someone better never comes along, and you missed your only true chance at love because you couldn't read the future? You make the best decision, then stick with it, through sickness and in health. Whether interest rates go up or down.

I have a young first-time buyer who is locked right now. I told him he needs to have confidence in his decision. if rates go up, he'll think he's an omnipotent genious. But if rates go down, that's just the way it goes... it's the cost of protecting yourself. He understood. This buyer has tremendous character... I really like him. And I'll bet he's fine with his decision, even if rates drop lower. To me, it's called being responsible for your decisions. I bet he'll stick with the gal he marries, too.

PS... it's a little later in the day. My buyer just signed disclosures and I asked him how he feels now that interest rates DID in fact go down. "I'm OK... I made a deal to protect myself in case rates go up... but they went down...I'm still protected because they COULD have gone up. I'm OK." I just KNEW he would say that! He's such a good kid.



Flickr photos by Jacob and Kiki Hantla, Wooleywonderworks

Hell Yeah!... Sally's Foreclosure Song... YEOWWW!

Times are tough... people are losing their jobs, their credit scores and their homes to foreclosure. But this guy gets even. (This is not a typical Wednesday office meeting for Lyon Real Estate, Fair Oaks office, but we do have fun! YEOWWWWWWW!!!!) (And thanks Montgomery Gentry, for not suing me for butchering the great tune of your song, with my cheap rendition!)

So seriously... this was for a talent show, which was a fundraiser for the Salvation Army. Lyon Fair Oaks has been the top money contributer to the Sacramento Association of Realtor (SAR) CanTree, raising over $160K for the needy at Christmas time. This talent show, hosted by the Hostess Honeys (Marg Graf, Patti Nelson, Lyn Gras, Kathy Chigbrow and Mary London, all of Lyon Real Estate), raised over $2,000 in one night of fun, frolick.... and embarassment for some.

This is the song I wrote fpr the talent show, but this version turned out a little better than my live version... so here you have it. File this under: Work Hard, Play Hard.... or Life is Either a Daring Adventure or it's Nothing.... Hell Yeah!

Bummed Out... Focus on 2020 Vision

Brad Paisley has a killer song out called "Letter To Me" where he writes a letter to himself at 17. He tells his young self it's not the end, now that he's been dumped by his girlfriend. Oh, and be sure to fill up the tank for your date with Bridgett... "on second thought that one turns out all right". Be sure and thank Mrs. Bringham for seeing the rough diamond underneath and polishing you til you shined. It's a tear jerker, for sure.

But his capper is the best part.. wait til you see you wife and kids.. you wont believe how great they are. These are nowhere near the best years of your life!

Now zap the message into our lives today. The economic situation we're in is only for today. It's temporary. It's just the crap we're going thru for now. We have great years ahead. We will look back on what we are going thru today and realized how much we learned.

* Our kids were able to learn that easy money doesn't last
* Prices don't go up forever and maybe our home is not an investment... it's our HOME.
* That you should consider ALL variables when you make a big decision, (like that you may not be able to refi when the ARM adjusts)
* We've learned to love board games and Family Friday Nights
* We've learned to be OK without our nails done (have you looked at a group of business women lately... plain nails!)
* We've learned it's pretty fun to go to Lake Tahoe instead of Hawaii on vacation... or to stay home and chill.
*We've learned to be open about our finances... which is unbelievable... that's good!
*We've learned to live within a budget... maybe we CAN clean our own pool.
*We've looked at our "conspicuous consumption" and questioned the "stuff" we've bought... who can believe what we have accumulated... mostly that we didn't need. And look where it's gotten us.

Fast forward to the year 2020. Do you think you will be looking at the same crap as today? Heck, no! It will be different! Things will change. You will have new grandkids, new spouses (if you are married and said "yay"... slap yourself), different jobs, different joys, new challenges, new talents you discovered, and a whole new and exciting world to discover. What we're facing today, is just for today.

So buck up, deal with it, and don't take it all so seriously. And go download Brad Paisley's "Letter to Me" on iTunes... it's only 99 cents. Then write yourself a letter from yourself in 2020 about how this stuff won't last. It's nowhere near the best years of our lives.

Flickr Photos by a.drian, dotbenjamin, zpinkster

Get Out of the Rabbit Hole, Before it Becomes a Sinkhole!

It was Valentines morning. I had just read two articles in the Sacramento Bee. One about a woman, employed a few months ago, who was just "evicted" from her car for failure to pay registration fees - it had become her only home after she couldn't pay for her rental. She's now homeless.


The second, about a family who moved to Boise after a job loss, hoping to scrape together the money to buy an old RV or trailer to live in, as they couldn't make ends meet. They were hoping to find an affordable trailor park.


I got depressed.... On Valentines morning, as my sweetie was frying up the spuds for a wonderful breakfast.

As my mind went down the rabbit hole of doom and gloom and "the end is near" thoughts, I fa
st forwarded to our losing our house when the entire economy collapses, that I never have another buyer again because they will all be living in Boise in a Happy Trails RV Camp. Life is over... the subprime snafu..... Blah, blah, blahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...... .Oh My God, STOP IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...........


I suddenly swerved to miss this mental pothole, which was beginning to look like a sinkhole.
Then I remembered.... I've got.....


Buyer "A" is biting at the bit to find a home for him and his sweetie - to get out of their cramped apartment. He has saved up over $30K to be ready for this... living at home with Mom and Dad.


Buyer "B" has a giant down payment ready, and is proposing to his sweetie today, then prepared to offer on one of 4 perfect homes we've found, once his soon-to-be-betrothed picks her favorite. His company has a huge pool of money available for employees to get home loans from.... They're pretty strong.


Buyer "C" can't wait to find his perfect home, with room for his 2 RV's, room for his live-in daughter and two kids, and a master downstairs - They are pre-approved and SOOO ready to go. We just need to find the home.


Seller "A" is relocating to So Cal in a few months, and counting on me to sell her home.
Seller "B" has moved to Arizona, and waiting for me to sell their home after the rehab is finished (It almost is)


GET TO WORK, YOU BOZO........


OK.... I'm back to happy land. I've quit licking my wounds about how miserable this economy is. It is what it is. Life goes on. This too shall pass. I can focus on the desperate situations out there (and there's a lot of them), or on the job to be done to help my clients. For the 10% (or whatever) of homes facing foreclosure, 90% are not. (I don't have the patience right now to look up the accurate stats, so just get the point!) For the huge number of homes upside down... the rest are not. Of the 70% of Americans thinking about the interest rate on their home loans, 30% don't even have loans! For every seller losing their home in foreclosure, there's a buyer getting a great deal on a first time purchase or an investment. It's all dependent on which side you focus on.

Every day we choose whether to be productive or whether to get sucked into negativity. Every minute we choose to go down the gloomy rabbit hole of "It's so awful", or HOP up into the sunshine of the positive.

I do peak into that gloomy rabbit hole periodically, but only enough to know I don't want to set up house there. I have buyers to help, sellers to help, homes to go find, statistics to analyse, classes to attend, systems to perfect. Hell, I've even got a song to finish writing for a talent show.

Life IS good... and sometime it's not..... but mostly it IS!

The Right Kitchen Remodel Pays For Itself!

A complete kitchen remodel isn't cheap...$20K - $40K on average. But if you have an ugly kitchen, you will drop the price of your home by more than that to sell.

Would you pay $25K more for this home with this kitchen?

Or think of it this way, if you were a buyer, how much would you take off the price of a home if it's kitchen looked like the "before" kitchen below?

This kitchen was MAJORLY UGLY... bad flow, funky cabinets, ugly counters, yucky lighting, dated tile floors, a dropped ceiling and right-in-your-face hanging cabinets.

Before putting it on the market, we redesigned it, (thanks Suzanne Kyle Space Planner & Interior Design) gutted the old one, and built a beautiful new kitchen with new hardwood flooring and contemporary lighting. (Thanks DR Dunbar Construction Services... my sweetie). What a difference!

(See how expanding the cabinet around the corner opened up the whole space? That was Suzanne's money making idea.)

Sellers, To get your home ready to sell.... call me.... I GOT PEOPLE!

Does Your Lender Make a Difference?

When a new buyer chooses a lender, what is their choice based on? Interest rate?, the trust of a referral?, who has the prettiest sign? Often it's who seems to have the cheapest interest rate. What a mistake!

Consider Captain Sulley. He looked like everyone else who flew. He always landed those planes, so it's hard to say how good he was. But when disaster hit, he was able to pull off the miraculous, and land a giant engineless jet in the cold frigid waters of the Hudson River. He used his years and years of experience, training, drills, and lessons learned from the inevitable mishaps he must have faced before to pull it off.

Your lender is the same. They all seem comparable... until disaster strikes. And when it does, you want experience on your side. A few months ago I sold a home in a great neighborhood of Citrus Heights, located 1/4 mile from a very seedy street (one of our areas worst). Any local appraiser would have understood to not use comps from the seedy street, as it was insulated from my buyer's home by geographical factors. But as the crow flies, it's another story. Our appraisal came in fine... actually above our price. It was the desk review that shot us down. It came in $60K low! Why, because the out-of-area underwriter used a zillow-like process to estimate the value... which included sales within a bull-eye radius. And that meant our seedy street became our comparable.

But my lender has been doing this for over 30 years, and understands the ins and outs of lending like the back of her hand. She whipped into action, and got the loan through. Did she use magic?, coercion?, bribery?... no. She used her experience to know which of the many paths to take to make it work. She could have gone a number of different directions, but she knew exactly the turns to make at each fork in the road, as she led our transaction down the path to a closed escrow.

So don't just pick the lender with the cheapest quote. It could mean the difference between getting your home or not. Always go with experience. Don't know who to call?
CALL ME... I GOT PEOPLE!

flickr Photo by mpflies2 & theevilmightyf

How Do You Buy a Short Sale? First... What is it?

Buying a short sale is very different than buying a bank foreclosure or from a regular seller. So first... what is it?

A short sale is when the owner is "upside down" or owes more than the home is worth. In order to sell, he would need to bring cash to escrow to sell, or would need the banks approval that the bank will accept less than the amount they are owed. In order to accept less (accept a short sale) the bank must convince themselves that the home is actually worth less than they are owed, and that there is no other way they will get the lost money out of the owner (like from money they have in savings, or an IRA, or another home they own).

The process goes like this. First, the real estate agent puts the home on the market. The list price has no relation to what is owed, and is probably listed somewhat low for the market, in order to get an offer. The list price is their "bait". Once they receive an offer, they send it in to the bank, along with an application from the seller. The application contains the reason why the seller feels the bank should let them off the hook. Their tax returns, bank statements, and a letter explaining what their hardship is are all included. The hardship must be a medical problem, divorce, forced relocation, job loss, etc. It can't just be "I'm upside down and don't want to keep paying".

Now here's the kicker... the bank takes as long as they want to decide what they are going to do. It's usually a minumum of 60 days. But it can be 4 months, like my last one!

But let's say the bank comes back in a record 30 days and says they will agree to let the seller off the hook... they agree to a short sale. At this point they come back with the price they need to sell for in order for them to agree to the short sale. It's rarely the same as the list price. I'm in contract on one now that was listed for $161K, the bank came back at $182K. The other one I'm in escrow on was listed for $214,500, and the bank came back at $240K. The bank deteremines the price they will accept (if they accept the seller for a short sale) after they have done an appraisal, regardless of what the list price was.

OK, moving on... so let's say the bank has told the listing agent they will do the short sale, but for THEIR price, which they give the listing agent. (It's actually more complicated, because they actually give the agent a "net" number, which the agent has to compute into a sales price, considering all the liens and other charges.) The agent goes to the first person who submitted the offer to see if the bank's offer is acceptable. (That's because the first acceptable offer is in contract with the seller.) Many times, it has taken so long the first buyer has already found another home and moved on. Or, if the price comes back higher, the first buyer may not qualify at the new price. Or don't want to. So, if the first buyer passes on the bank's offer, the listing agent then calls the other agents who have made offers to see who else is interested. At that point they can choose the offer that will net the bank the amount they need, and the one that seems to offer the most likelihood of being able to close.

THAT's the person who will end up buying the house.

At the point the new person says YES, the inspection time periods begin, and that's when you really have a good look at the home from an inspector's viewpoint... but we'll save that for another discussion!

Bottom line -
* It may take months to get an answer.
* There's no guarantee what the price will be , regardless what the list price is.
* It's somewhat of a crapshoot as to who the buyer will end up being.


What it takes to be a successful short sale buyer is patience, and to not have a pressing timetable. It also helps to not expect concrete answers from your agent, as they are hard to come by. But you can be successful.... just hang in there!

Flickr photos by doug8888, seekyu, flexyourhead, thinkpanama

Should you inspect new construction?... HECK YEAH!

It's tempting to save $400 - $1000 when you buy a brand new home by forgoing an independent inspection.  "Heck, it's brand new... what could be wrong?"... Right?... Wrong!!!

A few years ago I sold a 2 million home in Los Lagos, Granite Bay.  Simply beautiful... and built by a well known, outstanding builder.  He was somewhat offended when I had my buyer pay for an independent inspection, but I explained the inspector would be the eyes for all of us, to prevent problems for all of us in the future.

Was it worth it?.. spending $750 (in this case) to inspect something the building department had already approved?  Well.... the beautiful custom box beam ceiling had a fire sprinkler system installed overhead.  However no one had finished connecting the pipes!  A disastrous water leak all over the custom box beam ceiling was just waiting to happen.

The builder thanked me!  Imagine the hassle, inconvenience and potential litigation had the pipes leaked after the buyer moved in.

So, yes... an inspection of  new construction is a good idea before you purchase.  Just think of it as cheap insurance!

Flickr photo by Scott Hargis

Prep Your Home for Sale - Position Your Furniture

You probably have your couch and Lazy boy positioned perfectly to see your flat screen TV, don't you? Yep, we all do! But that may not be the most inviting position for them if you plan to sell your home. "Why not?" you might ask.

Because you want your home to LOOK GOOD when you sell it, which is not the same as WORKING WELL. Sound wierd? Watch the following video... you'll see what I mean.

If you are thinking of selling your home, consider your furniture placement to maximize your home's friendliness, openess and attractiveness.

Don't know how? Call me... I've Got People!

Does Your Lender make a Difference?

When a new buyer chooses a lender, what is their choice based on? Interest rate?, the trust of a referral?, who has the prettiest sign? Often it’s who seems to have the cheapest interest rate. What a mistake!

Consider Captain Sulley. He looked like everyone else who flew. He always landed those planes, so it’s hard to say how good he was. But when disaster hit, he was able to pull off the miraculous, and land a giant engineless jet in the cold frigid waters of the Hudson River. He used his years and years of experience, training, drills, and lessons learned from the inevitable mishaps he must have faced before to pull it off.

Your lender is the same. They all seem comparable… until disaster strikes. And when it does, you want experience on your side. A few months ago I sold a home in a great neighborhood of Citrus Heights, located 1/4 mile from a very seedy street (one of our areas worst). Any local appraiser would have understood to not use comps from the seedy street, as it was insulated from my buyer’s home by geographical factors. But as the crow flies, it’s another story. Our appraisal came in fine… actually above our price. It was the desk review that shot us down. It came in $60K low! Why, because the out-of-area underwriter used a zillow-like process to estimate the value… which included sales within a bull-eye radius. And that meant our seedy street became our comparable.

But my lender has been doing this for over 30 years, and understands the ins and outs of lending like the back of her hand. She whipped into action, and got the loan through. Did she use magic?, coercion?, bribery?... no. She used her experience to know which of the many paths to take to make it work. she could have gone a number of different directions, but she knew exactly the turns to make at each fork in the road, as she led our transaction down the path to a closed escrow.

So don't just pick the lender with the cheapest quote. It could mean the difference between getting your home or not. Always go with experience. Don't know who to call?
CALL ME... I GOT PEOPLE!

flickr Photo by mpflies2

Prep Your Home for Sale - Closets and Shelves

DON'T OPEN THAT DOOR... EVERYTHING MIGHT AVALANCHE OUT! If that's your home... listen up. When you sell your home, you're darn tootin the buyer is going to look in every closet. Afterall, that will be their future storage!

So take a look and see what you should do to make your closets presentable....

To get your closets and the rest of your home ready to sell, call me. I'm brutal when it comes to throwing out YOUR things! Seriously - you will thank me when the buyer makes their offer.

I've sold hundreds of homes where the seller took my advice and prepped it for sale. Let's make you the next one!

Prep Your Home for Sale - Your Bathrooms

Let's take a little stroll into your bathroom and check it out. Sound a little too personal? Well just imagine the buyers who are checking out your bathroom, to decide whether to buy it or not. They don't want to be in there with you OR your personal things... they don't even want to NOTICE you in there, or they get uncomfortable.

Check out the following video and think about how your bathroom looks from the buyers eyes.

Give me a call and let's whip the rest of your home into shape for your buyer. It's money in your pocket, so take the time now.

Prep Your Home for Sale - Personal Belongings

What does "Yo Mama" have to do with preparing your home for sale? Plenty. Take a look at the following video to find out what!




So check out your home from the eyes of a buyer. Do you have a montage of photos on your hallway that will trap the buyer's attention? Get rid of it. And your Mama's wedding picture.... out it goes. At least until you are in your new home and can safely put out all your relatives again... NO MATTER WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE!

Not sure what else to do... I'll help you. Give me a call. We'll get your home looking ship-shape!

A Duplex vs a Halfplex, what's the diff?

Halfplex... duplex... they both look the same. But there is a difference. It starts with the dirt. When you own a piece of land, it has a parcel number. Typically each home has it's own parcel number, which is it's lot.

A Duplex... has one parcel number.... it is one whole "home", and can only be sold as one unit. So if you bought a duplex, you would get the other half along for the ride! The same owner owns the whole thing... always. There might be only one water meter, or one electrical meter, depending on how it was built.

A halfplex... looks like a duplex, but it has 2 parcel numbers.... it's actually 2 separate lots. So there are two different owners, or one owner might own them both. But the key is, that one side can be sold to someone else. Each side has it's own utilities (water meter, electrical meter etc.).

A duplex costs more (like twice as much) because you are getting twice as much. You control the entire unit and control the maintenance as well. So if one side needs a new roof, you make the decision to roof the entire thing. And when you paint, it ALL gets painted.

With a halfplex, if you need to re-roof, you may or may not get the other side's owner to re-roof at the same time. Or what if you want to paint a certain color? The other half may not agree. I've seen halfplexes where each side has a different roof type, and different, and contrasting, paint color schemes. It can get clown-like.

Why do people buy halfplexes?... because they can get into them cheaper (close to half the cost of the entire duplex). They get the feeling of a home, usually with their own yard, but for less money than they would pay for a separate house.

Still confused - let's just go buy one and you'll find out in a hurry what the difference is!

flickr photo by battling apathy

A Walk on the American River, at Fair Oaks

Sacramento Bar is the area just West of the Sunrise Bridge in Fair Oaks, filled with acres and acres of rock cobble left over from gold mining that ended in the 60's. It's one of my favorite places to walk, right near my home in Fair Oaks. You're in the middle of town, yet within minutes, you are deep in nature. Join me as we stroll the American River at Sacramento Bar on a recent winter Saturday...



And just for the record, Lewis and Clark DID NOT raft this river... I just imagine that I'm back in time to when they COULD have.