Yanni Ticket Giveaway for Friday night in Sacramento

Between listing properties and making offers in the greater Sacramento area, we are feeling generous too! We are giving away two sets to two tickets to Friday night's show at Arco Arena to see the incredible, Yanni! Friday, June 19th 2009 at Arco Arena.

All you have to to is leave us a comment on our blog! The contest is running now and we will pick a winner on Friday morning. Be sure to leave you email or a way for us to contact you! Winner must be able to pick up tickets at our office. (Located in the Greenhaven area of Sacramento)

Everyone is a winner with Yoli and Sharon!

Yanni (born Yanni Chryssomallis (Greek: Γιάννης Χρυσομάλλης, classical transcription Giannis Chrysomallis), on November 14, 1954 in Kalamata, Greece) is a self-taught pianist, keyboardist, and composer. After receiving a B.A. in psychology, he would instead seek a life in music though he had no formal training and could not read a note.

He earned Grammy nominations for his 1992 album, Dare to Dream, and the 1993 follow-up, In My Time. His breakthrough success came with the 1994 release of Yanni Live at the Acropolis, deemed to be the second best-selling music video of all time, ^[1] (behind Michael Jackson's video for Thriller with nine million units). Yanni has since performed live in concert before in excess of two million people in more than 20 countries around the world. He has accumulated more than 35 platinum and gold albums globally, with sales totaling over 20 million copies.^[1] Yanni is considered to be one of the top fundraisers of all time for public television. His compositions have been included in all Olympic Games television broadcasts since 1988, and his music has been used extensively in television and televised sporting events. His music is frequently described as "new age", though he prefers the term "contemporary instrumental".^[2] The regents of the University of Minnesota conferred upon Yanni the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.

Sacramento! It is competitive out there!

First off, we would like to congratulate Scott S. and Michelle S. for being the lucky winners to last week's drawing. Both of them won two tickets each, to the Sacramento Monarch's opening game. Stay tuned because we will be doing periodic raffles and prizes!

Also, be sure to add us to your favorites and or subscribe to our blog. To the right of our blog is a follow button and you can also hit the subscribe button and it will send you an e-mail whenever we update our blog. (see the "Subsribe to our blog" button under the "Follow" button)


So, anyone try to submit an offer on a property in the Sacramento area lately? Tell us about it! Currently, Sharon and I are working with about 7 "First Time" buyers. Literally, we are chasing homes! When ever we do get an accepted offer, it is like hitting the lottery. It is that crazy out there!

Currently, we are experiencing a very low housing inventory, and with the very favorable property prices and interest rates, everyone is bidding for the few houses that are out there on the market. While it can be a frustrating process, do not give up. Diligence and patience are the key to success in this market.

Here is an article on the latest Real Estate statistics throughout the country.

Pending Home Sales Increase Nearly 7 Percent The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in April, rose 6.7 percent to 90.3 from a reading of 84.6 in March, and is 3.2 percent above April 2008 when it was 87.5.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says buyers are responding to very favorable market conditions. “Housing affordability conditions have been at historic highs, but now the $8,000 first-time buyer tax credit is beginning to impact the market,” he says. “Since first-time buyers must finalize their purchase by November 30 to get the credit, we expect greater activity in the months ahead, and that should spark more sales by repeat buyers.”Geographical Breakdown

Northeast: The Pending Home Sales Index shot up 32.6 percent to 78.9 in April and is 0.8 percent above a year ago.
Midwest: The index rose 9.8 percent to 90.4 and is 11.1 percent above April 2008.
South: The index slipped 0.2 percent to 93 in April but is 3.5 percent higher than a year ago.
West: The index rose 1.8 percent to 94.8 but is 2.9 percent below April 2008.

NAR President Charles McMillan says there are numerous buyer assistance programs around the country.
“Some states are offering bridge loans that allow first-time buyers to use the tax credit for downpayment and closing costs, but there are many other local government and nonprofit programs available to buyers, depending on location,” McMillan says.

Last week, HUD announced that qualifying buyers can use the tax credit for closing costs on FHA loans, to buy down the interest rate or make a larger down payment.

Affordable Housing

NAR’s Housing Affordability Index is in record territory. The affordability index rose to 174.8 in April from an upwardly revised 171.9 in March, which makes it the second-highest monthly reading on record after peaking at 176.9 in January of this year.

The HAI is a broad measure of housing affordability using consistent values and assumptions over time, which examines the relationship between home prices, mortgage interest rates and family income.

A median-income family, earning $60,900, could afford a home costing $296,800 in April with a 20 percent down payment, assuming 25 percent of gross income is devoted to mortgage principal and interest.

Affordability conditions for first-time buyers with the same income and small down payments are roughly 80 percent of that amount. The affordable price was well above the median existing single-family home price in April, which was $169,800.

Pending vs. Existing Sales

Yun cautions that the reporting sample for pending home sales is smaller than that of existing-home sales, so it is subject to greater variability.

“In addition, the relationship between contracts on pending home sales and closings on existing-home sales is taking longer than in the past for several reasons,” he says. “Mortgage processing time has increased, it is taking many months to close on those homes requiring short sales with lender approval, and some sales are falling through at the last moment.”

The total number of existing-home sales is expected to improve but with dramatic local market variation in the timing of recovery. “The market has already bottomed in some areas, but this is an unusual housing cycle with some areas improving rapidly while others languish or decline,” Yun says.

Existing-home sales for May will be released June 23. The next Pending Home Sales Index will be on July 1.

Source: NAR (06/02/09)