Shasta County Category
California Home Prices Inching Upward
May 5th, 2009
By Brad Garbutt
Home prices have declined steadily since August of 2007 in California. March marked the first month the median home price has increased in month-to-month comparisons. In fact, the median price in California rose 2.2% in March to $253,040.
Locally, prices still appear to be spiraling downward. Bank owned foreclosuresnow represent nearly half of all home sales [...]
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ACN:Pyramid Scheme or Exciting Biz Op?
May 4th, 2009
By Brad Garbutt
In the past few weeks, I have been approached by two respected colleagues inviting me to attend an informational meeting about a business opportunity. When I tried to coax details from the two, they were evasive. However, I did get the company name which allowed me to do some research on the Internet.
ACN, American Communications Network, appears [...]
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Drought May Spur Point-Of-Sale Retrofits
April 27th, 2009
By Brad Garbutt
One impact the extended drought in California could have are new regulations requiring home sellers change out older water-thirsty plumbing fixtures with ones that meet current building codes. “Renovation on resale or retrofit on resale” are stratagies recommended by the Urban Water Use Efficiency Subcommittee, Land Use Subcommittee and Advisory Committee working on an update for the [...]
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Redding Real Estate Market Stats For March 2009
April 21st, 2009
By Brad Garbutt
March sales numbers include good and bad news for the local real estate market. According to data gleaned from the Shasta Multiple Listing Service (MLS), 148 homes sold in March compared to 165 a year earlier, roughly a 10% decline in units sold. However, the number of active listings slid 22% from 1742 last year [...]
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Five Star Bank Offers Niche Loan Products
April 20th, 2009
By Brad Garbutt
Local banks tailor loans to fit unique properties found in Shasta County. Five Star Bank, the new kid on the block, has jumbo and construction loans not found at most banks that offer real estate loans. Jean Peterson, a long time loan officer in Northern California, reviewed these loan products with local Realtors recently.
They offer [...]
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Teachers and State Employees Have Specilaized Loan Programs
April 19th, 2009
By Brad Garbutt
CalSTRS and CalPERS loan programs offer competitively priced loans using funds from these retirement funds. Cal STRS  is for teachers that have invested in the State Teachers Retirement System and Cal PERS is available for state employees, legislators and city/county employees that participate in the Public Employees Retirement System.
CalPERS requires borrowers tender a 5% downpayment or 3.5% [...]
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CalVet Loan Losing Luster
April 18th, 2009
By Brad Garbutt
CalVet loans have fallen out of favor with borrowers due to plummeting interest rates on conventional loans. Interest rates for CalVet loans are determined by bond sales. Periodically, CalVet places a proposition on the California ballot authorizing the Department of Veteran Affairs to sell bonds to raise funds for this unique loan. Bond sales have been challenging due to [...]
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Earth Day Arrives April 22nd
April 15th, 2009
By Brad Garbutt
The first official Earth Day was celebrated on the March equinox by the United Nations in 1969. Another Earth Day was started the following year by US Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin.  April 22 is the date Earth Day is celebrated every year during spring in the northern hemisphere and autumn in the southern hemisphere. [...]
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