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Craig Diez - Diez & Sigg Properties

Great American River Cleanup ~ September 21st

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THANK YOU to everyone who volunteered this weekend to help clean up the parkway at the Sunrise Recreation Area!! It was the perfect opportunity to spend the day outside in the sunshine for a great cause and connect with other members of the community.

Wondering how you can help keep our parkways clean? The American Parkway Foundation will have more volunteer opportunities throughout the remainder of the year. Stay tuned for our next cleanup opportunity!

#GiveWhereYouLive #DiezandSiggProperties #RealEstate

Are you a Renter? It May be Time to Own Your Home.

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In the Sacramento Bee, Vincent Moleski covers in detail rental costs across Sacramento and surrounding areas. I know for myself when I rented, I would check to see what my rent could buy me as far as getting a home and having a mortgage. If you have not checked lately, it may be that time. Read on as rent prices escalate depending on area.

Rents in Sacramento grew moderately in the past year, outpacing national trends with a year-over-year growth rate of 4.1 percent and a month-over-month growth rate of two-tenths of a percent, bringing the city’s average rent to $1,401, according to RentCafe’s most recent monthly report.

RentCafe, an online real estate service and apartment listing marketplace, analyzed nationwide housing data from the month of July using the Yardi Matrix and found that average rents in Sacramento grew faster in the last year than the U.S. average, although rent in the California capital is still cheaper.

Nationwide, the average monthly cost of rent was $1,469 as of July, an increase of 3.4 percent in the last year — a bit under Sacramento’s growth rate — and 0.2 percent in the last month, which matched Sacramento’s month-over-month growth rate, according to the report.

Some pricey Sacramento suburbs saw sharp rent increases in the last month, such as Folsom — which saw the sharpest monthly price spike in the area — where the average monthly rent of $1,873 increased by 1.5 percent, Rocklin, where the average monthly rent of $1,718 increased by 1.2 percent and Roseville, where the average monthly rent of $1,790 increased by 0.9 percent, according to RentCafe.

Elk Grove’s rent costs averaged $1,753 and grew a full percentage point in the past month, while Rancho Cordova’s rent costs averaged $1,396 and grew 0.6 percent in the past month, according to the report.

Other suburbs remained relatively affordable. Rents in Carmichael average $1,205 and grew by 0.5 percent in the last month, while rents in Citrus Heights average $1,342 and grew by 0.2 percent in the last month and rents in Fair Oaks average $1,440 and grew 0.3 percent in the last month, according to RentCafe.

Davis is the most expensive place in the state to rent in, according to RentCafe, and although housing costs increased by just $2 in the past month, the average monthly rent in the Yolo County city is $2,169 — though that still beats out Bay Area prices.

San Francisco, one of the most expensive cities in the country, has an average monthly rent of $3,706, an increase of fourth-tenths of a percent from last month, while in San Jose renters can expect to pay $2,792 per month, according to the report. The only place more expensive than San Francisco is Manhattan, where renters pay $4,222 monthly on average.

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8 New Tricks for Keeping Mosquitos Away

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There is something about mosquitoes. When you see just one, you feel that you just have to start scratching an imaginary itch. If a mosquito gets in your car, you spend more time trying to kill it than driving.

Jaymi Naciri has eight good summer tips to help keep the mosquitoes away.

Mosquitos. They’re universally despised, and there’s not much we wouldn’t do to keep them away, right? Personally, we’re always on the hunt for a new serum or device or prayer that will help keep them away of the yard so we can actually enjoy our time out there without coming back inside covered in itchy welts.

So, behold the latest list tricks and tools to keep them at bay.

Repel them

This Thermacell Patio Shield Mosquito Repeller is said to provide 12 Hours of DEET-free repellent and is also scent-free and cordless. Reviews are mixed on Amazon, but, at under $25, we’re willing to give it a shot!

Wipe them away

Actually, these Repel Insect Repellent Mosquito Wipes with 30% DEET keeps them away, and, they’re much easier to use (and less messy) than bug spray. If you’d prefer DEET-free wipes, you can find them, too.

Dab on the essential oils

This was the winning strategy during a recent trip to a very humid, very mosquito-prone land. Liberal amounts of peppermint and rosemary with reapplication about every 30 minutes did the trick.

Burn your coffee grounds

“Reusing coffee grounds offers benefits from fertilizing plants to repelling mosquitoes,” said Hunker. “Coffee grounds have a smoldering effect after you light them that keeps insects at bay. Mosquitoes, like other insects, are repelled by the odor created from the coffee grounds burning.”

Plant some lavender

It smells lovely to humans (and is beautiful to look at, too), but mosquitos hate it. Lemongrass, lemon balm, and marigolds are a few more plants you can add to your garden to keep the mosquitos out.

Grow some herbs

Add basil, garlic, and rosemary to your garden for another potent anti-mosquito punch. One of the best is something you might want to grow for other, tastier, reasons as well.

“Basil is so effective at repelling mosquitos (and adding a delicious flavor to Italian fare!) that you’ll want to grow it all around your house,” said POPSUGAR. “Windowsills, porches, the garden…the possibilities are endless!”

Plug in the fan

In a Consumer Reports test, a standing fan proved more successful at keeping away mosquitos than several other “tried-and-true” methods. “CR has tested three methods for controlling mosquito activity in a large area: citronella candles, an oscillati

ng pedestal fan, and a battery-powered area diffuser that emitted geraniol, a natural repellent derived from plants,” they said. “We found that the fan was far more effective than citronella candles or the geraniol diffuser. In fact, our tests showed that the fan reduced mosquito landings by 45 to 65 percent for folks sitting nearby.”

Grab a dryer sheet

These little wonders have more uses than eliminating static cling. “Turns out, there’s actually science behind this age-old myth,” said Buzzfeed. “Dryer sheets contain two chemicals that keep gnats and mosquitoes away: linalool, which is toxic to some types of insects, and beta-citronellol, which is found in citronella, the ultimate mosquito repellent. So, yeah, keep one in your pocket, or if you’re really committed, rub one on your arms and any other exposed skin.”

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Mistakes Buyers Make When Searching for Their First Home, and How to Avoid Them

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Buying your first home can be a very exciting time. There is something about not having to pay rent anymore. Sometimes, with all of the different things going through a home buyers mind, we can make a mistake. Jaymi Naciri covers some of the mistakes that can be made and offers tips to avoid them.

Many starter-home purchases are driven primarily by price, which is understandable. But, there are so many other considerations involved in finding the right place, like square footage and location, to name just a few of the most consequential.

When looking for your first home, it’s critical to keep the most important considerations in mind so you don’t find yourself going down a real estate rabbit hole. Remember these common buyer mistakes to keep you on track.

Buyer mistake No. 1: Being seduced by the pretty stuff

Fresh paint, pretty throw pillows, nice bedding. They’re all decoration, and decoration can be dangerous for homebuyers. Don’t let it distract you from the house itself. How’s the floorplan? Does it work for your family? Is there enough square footage? Does the location make sense? These are among the factors that should be driving your purchase.

Buyer mistake No. 2: Searching for a home that fits your furniture

How many times have you heard a buyer on House Hunters say, “Our furniture won’t fit in here.” When you’re buying a property that costs a couple hundred thousand dollars, it’s silly to hold back over a five-year-old, $1,000 couch.

Buyer mistake No. 3: Getting too hung up on price

It’s easy to get a number stuck in your head and refuse to give up, but that figure might not be doable depending on your local real estate market. Raising your price range by $10,000 may vastly increase the available homes and may only mean another $50 per month. That’s one lunch out you can forgo to get what you really want.

Buyer mistake No. 4: Not trusting your gut

The price is right, the location is right, and the home has the right number of bedrooms and baths. But it just doesn’t feel right. You may not be able to put your finger on what it is that’s bothering you about a house, but if something’s nagging at you now, imagine what it will be like to live there. It could be your gut is trying to tell you something.

Buyer mistake No. 5: Ignoring the neighborhood

The hope is that any major problems with the home you’re looking at will show up on an inspection report, but other issues could pop up to derail your purchase or kill your enjoyment of the home once it belongs to you. A lot of the time, that has to do with the neighborhood.

That could mean a commercial area too close to home, a rundown house across the street, or some zoning changes that are bringing a ton of new multi-family units to the area and increasing traffic. Whatever it is that’s bothering you, think it through. You can always fix your home, but you can’t change the neighborhood.

Buyer mistake No. 6: Not thinking long term

Maybe you think you’ll only be in this “starter home” for two years, and, therefore, the neighborhood isn’t all that important. As long as the house meets your approval, you’re good, right? According to a study by ValuePenguin, “the median duration of homeownership in the U.S. is 13.3 years.” That varies depending on the location, however, of the 20 largest U.S. cities studied, the lowest median was 9.7 years in Denver.

Does that mean you’ll stay in this home for 10 years or more? Who knows. But if you’re a young couple planning to have kids in the next three-to-five years, let’s say, it wouldn’t hurt to make sure the home you buy now can accommodate that lifestyle change.

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Investors Are Buying More of the U.S. Housing Market Than Ever Before

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Laura Kusisto writing for the Wall Street Journal gives us a housing investor update. It seems that there is always a way to capitalize on real estate.

The share of investor purchases of U.S. homes have climbed to an all-time high, a sign that rising home prices have done little to dampen demand for flipping homes or turning them into single-family rentals.

Big private-equity firms, real-estate speculators and others that buy properties comprised more than 11% of U.S. home purchasers in 2018, according to data released on Thursday by CoreLogic Inc.

The investor purchases are the highest on record and nearly twice the levels before the 2008 housing crash. The investor interest poses a challenge for millennials and other first-time buyers who are increasingly looking to buy starter homes and are forced to compete with deep-pocketed cash buyers.

Big commercial property owners like Blackstone Group LP and Starwood Capital Group began buying thousands of homes out of foreclosure during the housing bust. Many economists credit investors with helping to stabilize the housing market in 2011 and 2012 by buying with cash when prices were low and mortgage credit froze.

But analysts expected those purchases to slow, as the market rebounded and properties could no longer be had for fire-sale prices.

Instead, demand for properties has intensified. While these purchases dipped slightly when the market started to recover in 2015 and 2016, they have rebounded to surpass the previous peak of six years ago.

Strong rental demand, technology that facilitates buying homes online and low interest rates that make other investments less appealing have fueled investor appetite.

Investors are an especially powerful force at the bottom of the market, where they often pay all cash. Investors purchased one in five homes in the bottom third price range in 2018, according to the CoreLogic analysis, up 5 percentage points from the 20-year average of less than 15%.

“These are the homes that first-time home buyers would logically be buying,” said Ralph McLaughlin, deputy chief economist at CoreLogic.

Shane Parker, a real-estate agent in metropolitan Detroit, said first-time buyers he works with are struggling to win bidding wars against out-of-state buyers. The locals he works with are becoming more aggressive, putting in escalation clauses and agreeing to pay the difference if properties don’t appraise.

One of his clients, Michael Burnett, a tech writer in Detroit, and his wife are looking for their first home so they can have a treehouse for their young girls. They have visited 25 properties and bid on half a dozen but keep losing out to cash buyers.

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Purify the Air, Drown out Traffic, and Reduce Stress, All by Adding a Fountain

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Let’s face it. The steady sound of running water can be quite relaxing. Jaymi Naciri gives us the 411 on the advantages of adding a fountain to our yard.

We just got back from a lovely vacation to Costa Rica, and, truth be told, we’re already looking to go back. Being on vacation in such a tranquil environment is a pleasure, and coming back to “real life” is…well…all too real.

Until the day comes when we can surround ourselves with hammocks and tropical flora and wild monkeys and Pina Coladas on a permanent basis, we’re on a quest to make our home environment as peaceful as possible. And today we’ve got fountains on the brain.

While fountains are super pretty to look at, there are a number of additional advantages to adding one to your home. Here are a few reasons why you need one immediately.

They can help reduce stress.

Sitting outside watching the fountain bubble and flow is naturally calming. Bring it inside and you’ll get an extra dose of relaxation-inducing properties.

“How exactly do fountains decrease stress? Because not only are you providing soothing sounds of water flow, but you are also filling the air with negative ions, which can help to improve a person’s mood and energy,” said Kinetic Fountains. “Many fountain users report that simply installing a fountain nearby helps them to attain peace of mind, calmness and a certain ‘serene’ feeling.”

They can help drown out the sound of traffic.

If you live on a busy street or have other environmental noises that detract from your happiness or peacefulness, a fountain is a great solution. “You will be amazed at how even a soft flowing water sound can drown out other sounds around you such as traffic, voices in the next room, that dog that always barks at the same time every night and the neighbor in the upstairs apartment who walks loud,” said Serenity Health.

They improve the ambiance.

“An outdoor water fountain can turn any backyard into an oasis,” said Good Changes Now.

They can purify the air.

Add a fountain to your indoor space and it can work to improve the air quality. “In today’s electronic world there are many gadgets that emit negative ions in our homes and offices,” said Serenity Health. “Indoor water fountains can improve the air in your home with negative ions, reducing air pollution. Dust is attracted by the negative ions so your water fountain is actively working to purify the air. The continuous moving water in a fountain will not only relax you with its water sounds but will also rejuvenate you with negative ions.”

They are natural humidifiers.

Let’s face it. Humidifiers are ugly and loud, and can stand out in a room for all the wrong reasons. But, “Dry environments are a catalyst for poor health and irritating for those suffering from dry skin conditions,” said Water Gallery. A fountain makes a great—and much better looking—substitute.

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Craig Diez

916-425-5884|Contact Craig