Tamara Dorris

My husband asked me if I saw the sign. I hadn't. Now it doesn't surprise me that houses go into foreclosure...I have shown five dozen of them in Carmichael over the past several months, but it did surprise me when the only one on my street just posted a sign today announcing a public auction. Really?

I guess my surprise is mostly because in this little, warm Carmichael community, all the houses are owner-occupied and some of the folks on my street have been here many years. Scratch that. ALL of the folks on my street, with rare exception, have been here many years. I've only owned this house 15 years, but most everyone else, double that. Wow. Anyway, it was a big deal that we had a foreclosure. And, I even have shown it twice to people who found it on a website (a bank owned sign never went up, yet it was in the MLS).

Anyway, the sign is up now and there will be a public auction. Not sure how they work, these public auctions, and I guess I should, being that I'm a real estate professor, author, agent and diva, but alas, I do not. As far as I know, I'll wake up tomorrow and Jim DeNio from Denios Roseville Auction (remember him?) will be standing on the porch of this once well-cared for house with his wooden javel in hand, talking really fast, saying, "going, going, gone!!"

I will keep you posted on how this transpires, but to me, it's a sign that the banks are getting tired of being glorified property managers and are ready for some kick-butt solutions. Only time will tell. So for now, this is your Carmichael Real Estate Diva wishing you a thoughtful Thursday!

Tamara Dorris

www.Tamarad.com

I had a listing that was referred to me last year. The agent before hadn't sold it either, but it seemed to be priced right at $720,000. So I took the listing, lowered the price and did what I normally do to get a house sold.

This one wasn't budging, however. I had just started getting really serious about Feng Shui, although I'd been using if for my personal success for several years. Anyway, I realized that this listing, which had, by this point, sat on the market, empty, for a year, had it's "Wealth" section in the bathroom....now in Feng Shui, that ain't so good.

You see, the Ancient Chinese art/science tells us that bathrooms are where all our money chi drains away, so you can see that having one in the Abundance section would not be such a great thing. So I went to work. First thing to do in this situation is to ensure the toilet seat cover is always down and keep the door closed to the bathroom.

Bagua Map

I also put a lovely Jade plant in the bathroom and hung a small mirror on the outside of the bathroom door, which reflects the positive chi and keeps the not so positive chi at bay. Okay, so one other thing I did was put an affirmation in MY OWN Wealth corner at home. I knew that the house selling would bring me great rewards and thereby affect my own chi.

The results: The house that did not sell for 15 months had two offers in within 2 weeks of my "cures." I am happy to report that the deal closed less than two weeks ago and I couldn't be happier.

So whether you believe in Feng Shui or not isn't the issue...but whether it works, should be. If it helps me sell homes in Carmichael and helps me help others by providing good service, then I'm going to keep on using it and keep on teaching it!

Tamara

With the New Year upon us I notice lots of people eager for a fresh start. Organized offices, new attitudes, a brand new beginning to counter that not-so-great year many of us experienced. If that's you, or even if it's not, here's the most powerful secret I can share with anyone--- in other words, it's universally true and oh so important to achieving any goals you might hold in your heart for the New Year.

But first, a bit of background. In my 20 years of training in therapy and success coaching and my 20 years in real estate (and no, that doesn't equal 40 years; I pursued both at the same time), I think I've finally figured out what holds most people back. It's the I'll-be-happy-when syndrome. I'll be happy when I have more money, when I have more clients, when the kids behave, when I....

"WHEN" NEVER COMES

You see, most of us think deep down inside if we had a few more deals under our belt, a better car, kids who behaved/moved out/studied harder, etc, then life would be as peachy keen as it gets. Wrong. Now I'm not just blowing snow up your skirt...didn't just wake up and make up some splendid story to write about today...ah contraire. It's kind of like that chicken and the egg story....which came first? But in this case, we're talking about your life.

So what comes first, the "stuff" or the joy? Think hard on this one as it could be the single key that puts the rest of the puzzle in place for you to start this New Year just right.

Yes, it's sometimes difficult to find the "WOW" in the now, but find it we must. Because it's only once we feel happy with where we are right now---what we have right now--that we can start to attract more into our lives. This principle can be construed as spiritual, if that's what floats your boat, but I prefer to think of it as just good old common sense. Haven't we always told our kids to be grateful for what they had....kids starving in Ethiopia and all that stuff? Well isn't it time to practice what we preach?

This past Saturday I was frustrated with my 17-year old daughter for coming home an hour late and not cleaning her room when I'd asked her to. Just as I was allowing the situation to bother me, I heard the news about John Travolta's son. And boy, did that change my perspective. I could grumble and mumble about some insignificant Taco Bell bag on the floor, or I could hug my kid and tell her how much I loved her. Do you see where I'm going with this?

Life is too short and mysterious for us to hold out for the "someday I'll be happy" deal. Start now. Make a list...I bet you have quite a few things to be happy about right now...for instance, if you woke up this morning, you're already off to a good start. It is my bone-deep contention that we all take for granted what we have been blessed with, and in doing so, we compromise the possibility of creating more and better for the future.

Feel the joy, appreciate each breath you take, each smile you receive, each past success and accomplishment and just see if you don't find more come pouring in.

Wishing you all the best year ever,

Tamara

Having sold plenty of Carmichael and surrounding area foreclosures over recent months, I'm seeing some interesting progressions.

First of all, the banks seem to be getting a little bit easier to work with. Let's face it, banks don't want to be in the property management business. The longer they have to hold on to a property, the more money they lose. So this aspect is getting better. What's sill a bit on the bad side is that some banks (many) are not in California. I just closed a deal with a bank in Texas and another one in Arizona. Remote signings and different paperwork can make this time-consuming and frustrating at best. This is why it's so important you work with an agent who understands the details and knows how to get things done!

What I'm noticing this week is that virtually all foreclosures are fixers! While earlier in the year banks had gone in to some of these Carmichael foreclosed properties and fixed them up, now they are clearly stating "as is" in MLS. Now this isn't such a bad deal, as far as investments go. I just sold a house to a couple that wanted it for a rental. Let's do the math.

Price of home 2 years ago: 428,000

Price of home recently: 230,000

Repairs 15,000

Putting 30% down and renting it at $1,600 (remember, this is in an owner-occupied Carmichael neighborhood), my clients are able to pay the mortgage and pocket a small sum each month afterward. So essentially, this home will go back up in price (yes, I know it will take some time) and they will realize a hefty profit ($183,000 when the market fully recovers and more when it swings upward).

As you can see from this analysis, you can make a nice investment with Carmichael foreclosures, but you need to be sure it's the right kind of investment for you. Remember, this will be a long term investment and you may have to be a landlord for a few years (I recommend a property management company!).

Thanks for reading and comments welcome!

Tamara Dorris

Carmichael Expert

For my Carmichael friends, here are events worth noting for this week.

UPDATE: December 11th, 2008 - The Holiday House needs your help! We are looking for a new location and sponsors to bring the house back to our community. The Holiday House not only brought joy to many, but it also collected more than 7000 canned goods for food for families. With your help we can bring it back! Please contact us if you are interested in helping us give back to the community. Click Here to contact us.

Here's a great site for checking out lights in the Carmichael area:

http://www.tackylighttour.com/lights/The_Holiday_House_100K_Lights_timed_to_music

And here's a site to see lights while listening to music!

http://www.beachcalifornia.com/holiday-house-sacramento.html

Personal insight:

I will continue to scour the Carmichael streets at night this week in hopes of bringing you specific streest to view.

Today's pick is on Cypress, heading North from Walnut. There's one house there that has really done it up right.
Also, take a drive down Garfield.

More tomorrow after we see what else we can find.
Tamara