Susan Neal, Fair Oaks CA Real Estate Broker

Don't forget to turn your clocks forward Saturday night March 13 before you go to bed or you'll be late for any meetings or church services on Sunday! And when you have done that, take another moment to check the batteries in your smoke detectors and any flashlights that you may have.

If you tie the battery check to turning the clock back and forth, you will never go more than 6 months without checking, and your smoke detectors will stay ready. Also, nothing is more frustrating than to have your power go out and you discover that your flashlight batteries are dead. Both are safety issues, but just a few minutes and a small cost can perhaps save lives.

So spring forward to save your Sunday and check batteries to save lives!

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Full time real estate services in Fair Oaks CA,
with friendly professionalism,20+ years experience.

I work hard to give my buyer or seller a low-stress transaction.
"Happy clients make me happy."

Fair Oaks California is a wonderful place to buy property -- whether for your home or an investment.

We have all been immersed in news and experiences that have told us that when the housing bubble burst, prices came crashing down, with many homes suddenly having to sell for as little as 45 percent what they sold for a couple of years ago. Happily for Fair Oaks, California, the experience has not been as bad.

Fair Oaks has always been an address that carries value with it. It is a special place, and property values have not been as severely impacted as in many areas. Here are some charts showing trends in Fair Oaks CA, zip 95628, over the last 15 months, and they illustrate my point.

By the chart above, you will see that the average Fair Oaks house sold for $167 per square foot in November 2008 and $140 per square foot in January 2010. This means that a 1500 square foot house would have sold for around $250,500 in November 2008 and around $210,000 in January 2010. This is only about a 16% reduction.

Another way to look at the Fair Oaks market trends is to see that even though there were some apparent issues in November 2008 with a lot of homes that weren't selling, that has been resolved. There were 163 homes listed for sale in November 2008, and that same month, 23 were pended (placed into escrow) and 19 were sold (escrows closed).

In Other words, the total number of homes pended and sold was just 26 percent of the number of homes that were on the market. By this January, there were just 113 for sale, with 26 sold and 37 pended. That means that the total sold and pended were 56 percent of the number of homes for sale!

From the previous charts it is clear that homes are selling faster now in Fair Oaks California now than they were in November 2008, so that homes are not languishing on the market for many months as they may be in some areas, assuming they are properly priced.

The chart immediately above demonstrates the effect this has had on inventory. In November 2008 we had 8.6 months of inventory, and with the exception of a spike in February last year (which could be attributed to a few properties that were either in terrible shape or were overpriced), the trend has been to less and less inventory remaining on the market, so that by January 2010, there were just 4.3 months of inventory -- one-half of the November 2008 figure.

This is one reason I tell my buyer clients that Fair Oaks California is a great value, and since Fair Oaks is a community made up of primarily custom homes, with some very nice subdivisions as well, it is a great place to buy -- either for your home or for investment.

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Full time real estate services in Fair Oaks CA, with friendly professionalism, 20+ years experience. I work hard to give my buyer or seller a low-stress transaction. "Happy clients make me happy."

For all your real estate needs or questions, call me at (916) 705-8951 or visit my website at www.SusanNealFineProperties.com.

Okay, just a few words!

This January's record storms have wreaked a great deal of havoc throughout our state, including here in beautiful Fair Oaks California.  I wasn't as brave as Russel Ray, who went out and photographed damage in San Diego, but I peeked out my front door during some of the lighter moments with my Flip video camera to give you a small taste - it got worse after this!  Brrrrr!

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Full time real estate services in Fair Oaks CA, with friendly professionalism, 20+ years experience. I work hard to give my buyer or seller a low-stress transaction. "Happy clients make me happy."

For all your real estate needs or questions, call me at (916) 705-8951 or visit my website at www.SusanNealFineProperties.com.

The Sacramento County Animal Care Department is doing what they can to help financially troubled pet owners to feed their animals. They are soliciting donations of unopened cans of cat and dog food and bags of dry pet food, which will be distributed to families who may need some assistance in caring for their animals. The program is available to any family in need in the Sacramento area, and is called The Pet Pantry Program.

The brand new state of the art Animal Care Facility, located at 3839 Bradshaw Road, Sacramento, is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Donations may be dropped off any time the shelter is open, and the pet food is distributed to those in need on Thursdays and Sundays from 2-4 p.m. There is no cost to recipients, and they will simply be asked to complete a short questionnaire to help track program results.

Plan to drop by this great new facility, look around and visit their store with pet foods, supplies and gifts. Proceeds help to support the facility and the store is manned by volunteers. Our pets are helpless without us, and for those in financial need, caring for their pets is sometimes impossible. Your donation of some pet food to the Pet Pantry Program may keep a family from having to make a heartbreaking decision.

Also you may find out more about how the shelter was built as a Green Certified facility. Sacramento County incorporated numerous Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) elements into the new shelter building, which will improve the operation and maintenance of the building, and provide a more comfortable and pleasing atmosphere for visitors, animals, volunteers and staff. The LEED rating system is the recognized standard for certifying and measuring building sustainability and is a way to demonstrate how "green" a building is.

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Full time real estate services in Fair Oaks CA, with friendly professionalism, 20+ years experience. I work hard to give my buyer or seller a low-stress transaction. "Happy clients make me happy."

For all your real estate needs or questions, call me at (916) 705-8951 or visit my website at www.SusanNealFineProperties.com.

I saw something when I was out today that I thought was pretty nice. Conroy's Flowers has been out of business and closed in Sacramento for some time, but as we were driving past the closed shop at Madison Avenue and College Oak in the Foothill Farms area of Sacramento, I noticed that thre was a new message on the marquee and a sign on the window. Madison Avenue Florist wil be opening there soon, and the marquee read "I bought her a flower shop for Christmas." Pretty cute, and I hope they will do well.

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Full time real estate services in Fair Oaks CA, with friendly professionalism, 20+ years experience. I work hard to give my buyer or seller a low-stress transaction. "Happy clients make me happy."

For all your real estate needs or questions, call me at (916) 705-8951 or visit my website at www.SusanNealFineProperties.com.