folsom home buying (Sacramento, Rancho Cordova, Gold River: bank owned, for sale, foreclosures)

[gotpancit]

How long do you think it will take for the foreclosures in Folsom to start poping up, if they do? I'm told Folsom is one of the last areas in sacramento to start going down in price, and just looking at the MLS thats true. A $400k house in folsom gets you a fairly decent 4bd 2.5bth and in natomas or down the street in rancho gets you a 3000+sqft 5-6bd 3car garage.

I'm in the market for a 4bd 2.5-3bth, two story, 3-car garage hopefully under $400k.

what do you guys think? wait for a couple more foreclosures to pop up, or will there even be anymore?

[NorCalMan]

How long do you think it will take for the foreclosures in Folsom to start poping up, if they do? I'm told Folsom is one of the last areas in sacramento to start going down in price, and just looking at the MLS thats true.

Haven't seen a single home in foreclosure in my area yet nor have I seen any listings for home auctions. A few months ago there were at least 8 homes for sale just within a few streets of me but all but one are no longer for sale. I have a feeling that the majority of them were rented out and not sold.

A $400k house in folsom gets you a fairly decent 4bd 2.5bth and in natomas or down the street in rancho gets you a 3000+sqft 5-6bd 3car garage.

You know why this is, right? Natoma's location to North Sacramento makes it a hot bed for low life's and gang activity. When I first saw the ginormous homes that I could get in Natoma's for cheap I was salivating at the mouth. Then I talked to the people who live or lived there and they said it was bad. Lot's of property crime, speeding cars, low lifes and gang activity. Often times those big houses have 2 or 3 families living in it.

Local's call Rancho Cordova, Rancho Cambodia for a reason. Besides the elite enclave of Gold River I wouldn't live in Rancho if I was homeless.

I'm in the market for a 4bd 2.5-3bth, two story, 3-car garage hopefully under $400k.

You won't find a house with a 3 car garage for less than $400K right now. They're over $500K still.

what do you guys think? wait for a couple more foreclosures to pop up, or will there even be anymore?

I don't know if foreclosures are going to start happening more in Folsom or not. What I do know is prices are falling like a brick everywhere. In 2 or 3 years You'll probably be able to get your 3 car garage house for under $400K. But reality still hasn't fully hit Folsom.

[NewToCA]

Just did a search, and right now there are over 20 homes for sale in Folsom in the $375-$420K price range with at least 4 bedrooms, 2 baths and a 2 car garage. Prices are pretty soft, so you shouldn't have difficulty finding what you would like in Folsom right now.

[cw68]

Foreclosures and short sales are hitting Folsom. Some of the neighborhoods allow "BANK OWNED" to be on the sign, but most of them don't. Also, it wasn't one of the last areas to go down in price. I've lived here two years and it started going down the year before that. It's dropped significantly in the last two years.

[gotpancit]

Thanks for the input everyone. I'm probably going to hold off for another month or two and see what pops up. The reason for wanting to buy soon is because I have a baby on the way and would love to bring her to a new home. It's a first time home buy so we will be in it for at least five years or until the housing market goes back up a bit.

I'm keeping my eyes open haha

[cw68]

IMO, prices will continue to drop, so the market will generally be lower in a couple months than it is now. However, I'd get pre-approved and line everything up in the meantime and keep looking here and there. You might be able to get a steal on a house that's been on the market for a while. Having financing lined up and nothing to sell yourself makes you a very desirable customer and low-balling would be worth your while.

[moovin]

So what's the latest on Folsom home prices? Dropping? Stable? Does anyone have any predictions for springtime and later? My family I are in the situation of either renting or buying. My intuition tells me I should rent but potentially low-balling on a nice property is alluring. The problem is that when renting I'd have to go in for a 1 year lease after which I slightly fear things might have turned around. Prices already seem like they're around the late 2004 mark. Does it make sense that they'll go lower?

[gotpancit]

From what I see in the short term Folsom house prices look like they are still decreasing. March is supposed to be the month that most ARM loans will reset, but with the new gov aid package that will soon go into effect that might change. I think that will keep the short sales at bay for awhile. Probably most of the sales will be bank repos where people just couldn't hold on anymore, or typical home owner type sale. If you can get pre-approved for a loan and have all your ducks aligned like cw68 said then you could start low ball offers and possibley pick something up really cheap. Be ready to pay at least 10% down though. Most banks are tacking on an extra 5% for "declining market" conditions.

The folsom inventory at least for our price range seems to be slowly decreasing at least for right now. Like right now we are just waiting for a good priced 4bd 3bth house to pop up, but I think everyone else is waiting for that too.

Bottom line, I think you are safe renting for now, but be ready to buy once your lease is over because there will be a lot of us voltures looking for the samething!