About Davis' East Davis

One of the main builders in Davis during the 60s and 70s was Stanley Davis Homes. In East Davis it sometimes seems as if *every* home is a Stanley Davis model. There are six models, all named after California counties. The Alpine is the only two story model, the El Dorado the only with a detached garage. One of the most common in Davis is the Sonoma, a 3 bedroom, two bath that features a sunken living room.

The company is no longer active - I recently tried contacting them to see if there were illustrations available of the different floor plans. The number was inactive and I was redirected to a number up in the Capay Valley. Although I thought I would probably be disturbing some private individual with no connection to Stanley Davis I tried the number and reached the long time bookkeeper for the company, who is performing this last duty for the company, answering silly questions from people like me. I was saddened but not surprised to learn that any illustrations or floor plans had long ago been discarded.

If you are looking at houses in East Davis you will soon start to see these recurring plans, and start to feel a sense of deja vu. I recently had that sensation when I had an open house in Woodland and the following day an open house in Davis. - both in Sonoma model homes. The East Davis home was in spotless condition, updated through the years and obviously loved. Sadly the Woodland home was a foreclosu re and had not been updated and not been maintained.

Several times in the past few months people coming through an open house have mentioned that their agents are not willing to make offers for less than about 2 percent below list price. Last week one of these people said her agent made her feel like an idiot for wanting to make an offer 7 percent below list price.

This isn't surprising - Davis is a desirable community and our agents generally do an excellent job of pricing their listings. But is it true that making an offer more than 2 percent below list is a waste of time?

The buyers I was talking to were looking in East Davis, which has most of the affordable (by Davis standards) homes and so is a place that first time home buyers consider. People use different definitions for East Davis, but mine is Davis east of L Street, west of Mace Ranch, north of 5th Street and south of Covell. In July, 7 houses sold in this area - how did the buyers do?

List Price Selling Price Percent below List

$300,000 $274,000 8.67

$299,900 $280,000 6.64

$347,000 $335,000 3.46

$384,900 $378,000 1.79

$427,900 $419,000 2.08

$439,900 $430,000 2.25

$518,000 $519,000 0

Judging from this very limited sample buyers might be able to get a good discount on low end houses that need substantial work and a limited discount off list for mid range homes in good condition. But since these numbers show that a 2 to 3 percent discount off list is possible buyers in this market shouldn't hesitate to offer 4-5 percent below list price for these homes but be prepared for a counteroffer.

Davis is a unique community in many ways but what really stands out are housing prices compared to the neighboring communities. Woodland, Dixon and West Sacramento are only 10 miles from Davis but home prices in Davis are just about double of those in the neighboring cities.

The demand for homes in Davis has three main factors driving it - the amenities of a university town, the quality of the local school system, and the resolute no growth attitude of the citizens which prevents the construction of many new homes.

Net result - much higher home prices. Add in an out of town appraiser and you've got a recipe for disaster. Friends of mine recently had their home in East Davis appraised. They thought it might be worth as much as $500,000. OK, so I think they are kind of optomistic, but if put on the market at $400,000 I'd have multiple offers on it within days.

The appraiser - from out of town and unwilling to either admit his ignorance or be educated - valued their home at $200,000. Unreal - in Woodland or Dixon their house would be worth more than that. In Davis that is less than half the true value.

So what do we do as agents when an appraiser displays such incompetence and arrogance and complete unfamiliarity with a local market? Why is such a person allowed to stay in the business?