More and more real estate professionals are encouraging home buyers to invest in a home inspection before they purchase a property. The reason for this is simple, home inspections protect the seller, agents and buyer when it comes to purchasing a home.

As the California real estate market changes, so does the vocabulary of real estate. Once common phrases from the real estate recession such as distressed property, short sale, and shadow inventory are fast being replaced as the real estate market improves by new phrases, such as equity sale, multiple offers, and “off-MLS” or “pocket” listings.

Thinking of putting your home or property up for sale? Your buyer might come from much farther afield than you imagined. Chinese investors are buying up more homes, buildings and even farmland in California than ever before.

In 2011 one in every four homebuyers was an investor. What kind of person has cash sitting around to pour into a real estate deal? Investors.

What’s happening with the housing market statewide? Glad you asked, as it’s a good indicator of how our local market will fair over time. Here’s the most recent data regarding the state of California’s housing market. Distressed home sales continued to decline in April, as previously underwater homes rose in value, and the share of REO sales registered in the single-digits for the first time in more than five years, the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) reported as of Wednesday.

As the spring selling season gets under way we find the market blooming with fragrant appreciation, fewer foreclosures, and fantastically low interest rates.

Updating the outside of a home pays off, according to this year’s Cost vs. Value Report according to Remodeling magazine and the National Association of Realtors.

I hope you understand my humor in the headline today. Can you image what our parents would say if we told them just 20 short years ago that we’d have a shortage of homes, historically low interest rates, and lender rebates for buyers? It would have been unheard of.

The Lodi housing market is going gang busters, but don’t just take my word for it. Take a look at the facts. As you can see, the average price per square foot in zip codes 95242 and 95240 have increased 21.8 percent over the last 12 months. This took us from $111 in March 2012 to $135 in March 2013. Never before has affordability been so well married to low prices to create such a romantic market.

Are offers confidential? When you are in the market to buy a home your agent is required to advise you of several things. It’s likely most buyers never really think about many of them, after all why would you, you just want to buy a house.

Home sales are projected to post some big gains in the next two years, according to Fannie Mae’s latest monthly economic outlook.

Paying off the mortgage early is in. Refinancing to take money out of our homes is out. Living through the foreclosure crisis, more people want the security and the emotional benefit of owning their home free and clear. Many financial experts claim the benefits but few explain the details. Here’s a few to consider.

Knowledge is power! The news is full of information regarding the real estate market. It seems to be the biggest area of growth and restoration for our economy. So it’s pertinent that the information you receive is specific to the local market and not the industry as a whole.

Here are 10 remodeling projects that have the highest rate of return. The cost of remodeling is dropping, to the delight of homeowners who can afford to make improvements to their homes. The California Association of Realtors says these 10 projects have the highest return on investment, and they all focus on maintenance, replacements and enhancing curb appeal. Remodeling costs have dropped 10% to 15% in the past five years. With these costs plummeting so has the return on every dollar spent.

Freddie Mac released its U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook for February last week showing that while the housing sector is recovering, the level of housing activity is still near historic lows. And in many markets, especially those hardest hit such as the San Joaquin Valley, there is room for sustainable growth because of record high home-buyer affordability, a factor of relatively low house prices, mortgage rates and modestly rising income.

Friday is the best day of the week to sell a home. Homes listed on Friday sell for 99.1 percent of their original asking price, a higher percentage than homes listed on any other day of the week, according to a study by real estate broker Redfin, which analyzed more than 500,000 home listings and sales records.

In our area we have a handful of very recognizable homes: Locke House, Hill House, and even Mark Twain’s Cabin. But what about you and your hunt for your own personal Dream House? What features make a property a good candidate? Most dream home features are intangible and will differ from house hunter to house hunter. But the list below is a useful guide to think through as you peruse listings online or preview in real life:

What's the big secret to find current market value? Digging deep.

ADULT DAY CARE AND HEALTH CENTERS

Everywhere you look low housing inventory is being reported. It’s not just local to our area. Home prices are picking up because the number of homes for sale continues to drop despite sales volume gains. The number of homes for sale fell to 1.82 million at the end of 2012, an 8.5 percent drop from November and a 21.6 percent decline from one year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The CoreLogic Home Price Index, which is based on repeat sales, increased 7.5 percent in 2012, the largest increase since 2006! They also project 2013 home prices to rise 6 percent due to greater affordability fueling steady demand, a lower level of real estate-owned (REO) sales and a low inventory of unsold homes.

In 1923, Lodi was a progressive city of 8,000 with a bustling business core, modern schools, dynamic fruit shipping industry and miles of valuable vineyards encircling it. Yet, Lodi was so overlooked that it was mismarked on maps.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System announced earlier this month that 10 mortgage servicing companies subject to enforcement actions for deficient practices in mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure processing have reached an agreement to pay more than $8.5 billion to help borrowers. Some of the information we’ve received is conflicting, so bear with me as I try to deliver it as it becomes available.

The Lodi Chamber of Commerce will host an Outstanding Citizens Award Celebration later this month to celebrate their 90th year in operation this month.

So you want to sell your house? After obtaining a real estate agent, what is the first thing you should do to prepare the house? And, where do you go from there?