“The philosophy of the classroom in one generation will be the philosophy of the government in the next.”

- Abraham Lincoln

Authored by Kevin Hughes

It’s hard to pin down the five “safest” states, and “crime rate” is difficult to define – are you concerned about violent crime, or property crime? Below is a list of the five states that have the lowest crime rates in terms of violent crimes (rape, murder, robbery, and assault), and the five states that have the lowest property crime rates (burglary, larceny, and auto theft) per 100,000 people. These statistics are from the US Census tables for 2012, and are comprehensive of 2008 through 2009 – the most recent data available.

Violent Crime

A violent crime is defined as a forcible rape, assault on a person, murder, or robbery (or any combination of these crimes).

#1 – Maine, 119.4
Maine is a large, northern New England state known for its lobster and fisheries. It is the safest state for violent crime in the United States.

#2 – Vermont, 140.8
Vermont is well-known for its skiing and maple syrup, and comes in second as safest state for violent crime in the US.

#3 – New Hampshire, 166.0
Yet another New England state, New Hampshire is a political hot spot known for its conservative side in the area, taking third safest state status.

#4 – North Dakota, 200.5
Famous for Theodore Roosevelt National Park and all sorts of big outdoor activities, North Dakota snagged fourth on the lowest crime rate list here.

#5 – Utah, 225.6
The home of resorts, skiing, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Utah managed to snag the fifth spot for lowest violent crime rates.

Property Crime

Property crimes are defined as larceny (such as shoplifting), burglaries, and automobile theft.

#1 – South Dakota, 1,880.6
Well-known for the Mount Rushmore president’s monument and the Black Hills, South Dakota has the lowest property crime rates in the country.

#2 – New York, 2,004.8
While some people may express shock at New York making the list, it’s important to remember this is not just the city – Upstate New York is also factored in to these numbers, giving it the number two slot for lowest property crime rates.

#3 – Idaho, 2,089.0
Potatoes, big country, hiking, and outdoor activities make Idaho famous – and now, the fact that they have the third lowest property crime rate overall.

#4 – North Dakota, 2,142.7
Again, North Dakota took rank four on the lowest property crime rate – quite possibly making this the lowest overall crime rate state.

#5 – New Hampshire, 2,217.5
Another repeat “offender” from the violent crime list, New Hampshire may compete with North Dakota for lowest overall crime rates.

Lowest crime rates aside, always remember to play it safe when visiting any location!

About The Author: Kevin Hughes is a Boise Idaho real estate agent servicing buyers and sellers in Idaho. If you’re looking for a great home in Idaho, you can visit Kevin’s website where you can search great cities like Boise, Meridian, Nampa, and Eagle. Photo Source

Bloomberg reported yesterday about a growing trend where banks are paying sellers up to amounts of $20,000 to $30,000 to complete short sales vs. letting the home go into foreclosure. In some cases banks are finding they are saving money to work with homeowners who haven’t been able to afford to make payments and are underwater in the homes. Typically it will cost the bank more money to go through the foreclosure process than to work directly with the seller to remain in the house, take care of the house and to find a suitable buyer for the home. In addition to payment amounts some banks are giving sellers of successful short sales there is also federal money available (typically up to $3,000) to help short sale sellers relocate out of their homes.

If you find yourself in the unfortunate position of no longer able to make your mortgage payments, there are options, banks in some cases are granting loan modifications and that should always be the first step. If that does not work, it could be beneficial to consider selling the house for less than what you owe before just walking away. Many homes that go into foreclosure never were on the market as a short sale. Often the life events that cause the hardship in making payments, prevents people from looking for solutions. Putting your home on the market as a short sale may not be for everyone, but the additional money that some lenders are currently offering might be a reason to explore this option.

Source photo source

The Market in Davis was moderately busy for the month of January. There were 36 homes, townhomes and condominiums added to the market via MetroList MLS in January. Some of these were re-listings of homes that expired and were returned to the market. Listing price ranges from $152,500 for a 1 bedroom condo to $1,345,000 for a 4,000 sf property that is zoned Residential but is currently being used as a professional office on Oak Street near UC Davis and close to downtown. 25 properties went under contract in January and there were 17 sold homes. While 17 closed sales may not sound like a lot, Trendgraphix indicates that there were 12 sales in January 2011 and 15 sales in January 2010.

With low interest rates and low inventory it will be interesting to see if sales increase in February as well. There are some signs that the real estate market is improving in parts of the country, however the greater Sacramento region still has a large number of distressed properties and until that part of the market changes – it will continue to add uncertainty to the Davis real estate market.

I’ve always had a fondness for Abraham Lincoln – we share a birthday. Since this is his birthday month and since he was my first hero he will be the feature for inspiration for the next few Fridays.

“Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.”

― Abraham Lincoln

When the cost of buying a home is close to the cost of renting one then the decision to buy often is fairly easy. However Davis is one area where owning a home is much more expensive than paying rent. Here are a few intangibles of owning a home.

• As a property owner you are likely to be more invested in the community – caring more about issues like taxes and schools than if you were just renting.
• Even though it costs more money to make a mortgage payment, at the end of 30 years (if you do not refinance) you will have been forced to save the original cost of the home and it is likely that the house will be worth more at the end of the 30 years than when you purchased the house.
• You can decorate, paint, remodel without needing permission from a landlord. Although if you do make modifications, especially in the city of Davis, be sure to check with City Hall because when you go to sell your home, they will do an inspection and then make you pay extra for things that required permits.
• You won’t get evicted if the landlord decides to sell or for whatever reasons decides to stop renting the property to you – so as long as you make the mortgage and other payments on time you can stay in the house you buy for as long as you like.

Interest rates are really attractive right now and while prices have stayed fairly strong in Davis they are lower than they were at the height of the market. If you are looking to buy for the long term and not just to flip a property you may want to start getting a feel for the market. It is not very likely that there will be a complete meltdown of home prices in Davis – there is limited supply and because of the schools, the university and the community, there is a strong demand to live here. Let me know if you would like help to start your Davis home search.

Saturday, February 4th is the 14th annual Museum Day where museums throughout the Sacramento region will be offering 1/2 price to free admission for the day.

The following venues are participating in 2012:

Aerospace Museum of California
California Automobile Museum
California Foundry History Museum
The California Museum
California State Capitol Museum
California State Indian Museum
California State Military Museum
California State Railroad Museum
Center for Contemporary Art
Crocker Art Museum
Discovery Museum Science and Space Center
The Don and June Salvatori California Pharmacy Museum
Fairytale Town
Folsom History Museum
Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park
Heidrick Ag History Center (Woodland)
Leland Stanford Mansion State Historic Park
Museum of Medical History
Old Sacramento Schoolhouse Museum
Old Sacramento State Historic Park
Sacramento Children’s Museum
Sacramento Zoo
Sacramento Historic City Cemetery
Sacramento History Museum
Sojourner Truth Multicultural Arts Museum
Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park
Wells Fargo History Museum (Old Sacramento and Downtown locations).

All of the museums will be free this Saturday except the the Sacramento Zoo and Fairytale town which will be charging 1/2 price admission.

This is a great way to get some local culture without breaking the bank. Find out more about this event at http://www.sacmuseums.org/museumday.html

With some easy steps, make your living room look larger with some simple home staging tips.

Some interesting tips:

Use three similar items to create a pattern.

Use battery operated candles for safety instead of burning flames.

Aroma helps to sell a home, use a live bouquet of flowers.

This is a little late because January is almost over but here are my predictions about Davis Real Estate in the upcoming year.

• Inventory will remain relatively low. People who don’t have to sell their homes will likely keep them off the market.
• The rental market will see a slight increase in vacancy rates. The vacancy rates (meaning the number of rental properties that are not occupied) have been very low for years in Davis. However with UC Davis providing some additional housing through West Village and with housing prices falling dramatically in areas surrounding Davis this will create a slight increase in available rental housing.
• Interest rates will stay low throughout 2012.
• Although rates are low some buyers will stay on the fence because they think prices will fall more than rates will rise.
• There will be some distressed sales in Davis (short sales and foreclosures) but as in the past several years, they will not make up the majority of home sales.

Thinking about 2012 predictions – nearly the entire list would have been true for 2011. Sellers likely will feel prices are not strong enough and buyers sitting on the fence that prices are too high. Buyers can take comfort in that there have been some motivated sellers out there and when a property is priced correctly it will sell quickly although other buyers are out there and sometimes this creates multiple offer situations even in this market. With a relatively stable population and very little new construction things in Davis look to stay on a fairly even keel for the year.

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In order to achieve our goals – we will fail more times than we succeed. Personally I know I will sometimes not act at all instead of attempting something that I do not know will be a success. One thing that can bring success is confronting what your fears are answering three questions:

1. How does this fear hold me back in life?

2. How does it help me or how has it helped me in the past?

3. What would be the payoff for elimiating this fear all together?

Learn more about how to conquer your fears and move forward with your life. Are your fears holding you back from your dreams? Are your fears holding you back from buying a great house?