Real Estate Education

Housing Market Updates for Placer County Read More »

APN Placer County Assessor's Website Searching Tax Bills

View Past Property Tax Bills in Placer County

2 Comments / Appraisers or Inspectors, Buyer Information, First-Time Home Buyers, Real Estate Education, Seller Information, Videos / Heather Ostrom

View a Property’s Past Tax bill

We’re often asked about past property taxes for a home they’re interested in buying and seeing the breakdown of those taxes (including questions about Mello-Roos)

We can help you find the info and answers to your questions! As a reminder, you should ALWAYS contact the Placer County Tax Collector’s Office 530-889-4120 or the Placer County Assessor’s Office at 530-889-4300. Or call them for any detailed tax related questions about the property.

All parties on this post are to verify all information found here. Agents cannot verify tax amounts with any property due to liability reasons.

**For Placer County ONLY**

How to VIEW a Past Property’s Tax Bill

First, head to the Placer Assessor’s Office website – click here

The link above will take you to the Placer County Assessor’s Official Website Page for Property Details Research (you should see an image similar to below)

Once you agree to the “terms of the Placer County Assessor’s website” (check box) it will take you to the image below.

Warning: if you have pop-up menus disabled on your web browser, you may have to enable them temporarily

This pop-up window will include a drop-down menu option (see screengrab below) with options to either enter the property’s APN (assessor parcel number) OR the property’s address.

Enter your info and voila, you’re done! Now just hit “View Details” and it will take you to the property profile. FYI: the property info page will default to “property info,” but you will have the option to toggle to a second column called “Roll Values.”

Our Placer County Web Designer likes to change things constantly (including links), so I apologize if any of the links above are broken (it is frustrating for us too). I do try to check this post frequently for broken links.

Updated 1/13/26.

One Smart Solution to be a Non-Contingent Buyer

Buyer Information, First-Time Home Buyers, Lenders, Real Estate Education, Videos / Heather Ostrom

Scroll down to watch the video or click here

Have you outgrown your space? Do you need a multigenerational space? Or are you simply relocating?

Whatever the reason, many find themselves in a similar situation and in the past, the option was to be a contingent buyer (meaning, they, the buyer – their purchase is contingent on them selling their home current to be able to buy the next home).

REALTOR Steve Ostrom with Coldwell Banker Realty sits down with the amazing, Dara Delgado with Dara’s Loans to discuss a way to be a non-contingent buyer for this type of scenario.**

Why this could be a smart idea for you in this situation, it helps you to be more competitive in multiple offer scenarios OR more appealing (possibly safer) to sellers by not having that risk of lining up two sales to close on the purchase. Less dominoes in the process to line up for success, so to speak.

Not all sellers feel comfortable going with a contingent buyer, because there is more risk involved and it can affect timelines by pushing out the closing date and when folks are trying to schedule their lives, movers, or possibly the seller doing a purchase next on their own – it does affect desirability unless the seller has been on the market for awhile. Not an absolute comment, but definitely something to be mindful to be a savvy buyer.

Not all buyers will be able to go this suggested route, but if you can and it makes financial sense for your life and finances – it can be an improved route for increasing your likelihood for buyer offer acceptance by a seller.

As with all financial decisions, always consult your trusted financial, tax, or loan person before making any decisions.

To discuss your unique scenario as a buyer (or seller that will be in this scenario) – give Real Estate Agent, Steve Ostrom a call or text 916-308-2446 or click here.

*With all real estate decisions – always consult your trusted financial, tax, or loan person before making any financial decision. Any items mentioned here are not considered advice for your situation.

**With all communication, please identify if you’re represented by a real estate agent. We ethically must (and want to be) respectful of all current real estate relationships, including buyer broker agreements that may be in place.*

This video was filmed in January 2026

REALTORs® Steve & Heather Ostrom

Roseville & Rocklin Real Estate

One Smart Solution to be a Non-Contingent Buyer Read More »

Top Things to be Aware of as a Contingent Buyer

Agent-to-Agent Education and Helpful Tips, Buyer Information, First-Time Home Buyers, Loving Placer County, Real Estate Education, Seller Information, Videos / Heather Ostrom

What to be aware of as a contingent buyer

Understanding the upfront fees – the appraisal fee will be an upfront fee. The inspections (depends on the area) are often steered by the buyer side with a few exceptions in Northern California for country properties where you sometimes see septic and water tests on the seller. A delay on coordinating any inspections once you’re in escrow (while being mindful of when your inspection period starts and your contingency of purchase form are critical here). If you do not need to start inspections because of the way the COP form (see above) is marked – be mindful of this …

Do not wait to order your appraisal or hold off inspections – your delay as a buyer can be self-sabotage and risk a seller issuing a “notice to perform” if you do not hold to your contractual obligation. There will only be so much your lender or agent can do to protect you, if an appraisal review runs late or an inspector can’t accommodate a last minute request, you might be fine and be granted an extension to your contingency period, or you might get a notice to perform and potentially be kicked out of contract.
Warning: Contractors and inspectors can be booked out for a week or two, particularly for specialty items, or any testing involved. Some may be free for a bid, but some may cost to you at a cost / fee. This is not the time to be cheap and pass over an inspection which can potentially save you from a costly mistake.
Fluid communication and updates between all parties (buyer + seller) we hear way too often, “Wow, you guys are so great at communication.” You MUST be a great communicator and play well with others to have a contingent sale go smoothly. If your agent is only nice to you and not others – some think this is a way to play “hard ball” for sales, but you just have someone has a horrible reputation in town.
If you have a seller credit coming to you as a buyer – be sure to loop in the lender and title company ASAP as this can add a day or two for review (not always, but something you have to be aware of).

ALWAYS have a housing solution, plan B. Your home you’re purchasing may not close on time, and/or life can happen and a deal falls out of place – be wise and try your best to secure your housing as a back-up plan (rental, staying with family/friends, etc).

Seller Occupancy After Closing – this has to be negotiated up front during the counter phase and we always suggest a few weeks at least to try and mitigate any delayed closing on any side of the deal(s). It can happen, even on the most perfect of files monitored. There are numerous bodies behind the scenes on loan and this can affect your closing. Along with TRID – be aware of this as a buyer. TRID can delay you alone (see #3 above, last bullet).

Most lenders will not allow over 59 days of occupancy by seller after closing, and most buyers aren’t the biggest fans of much of anything past 29 days (if any at all)
Education and information is King/Queen. Know your options – we are not asking you to think negatively that it will fail, it’s just planning for all outcomes to the best of our ability.

Sometimes it’s best to take the credit and sometimes it’s important to wait to see request for repairs executed before close of escrow (COE). It depends on the scenario what’s the right route.

If you’re concerned about findings when you open up the roof to do dry-rot or pest work (WDO) – sometimes it’s best to wait and get it done and delay closing and of COURSE this stinks to do, but it could save you thousands if more work that’s needed is uncovered when you open things up.
If you have work being done, as part of your request for repairs – ensure there’s mention of all work being done BEFORE close of escrow.
Sometimes it’s best for buyer to take the money credit – to take control of overseeing repairs by their own trusted contractor that way they know who the work is being done by, and may be able to save cost.
Ensure that a licensed contractor is doing all work and receipts are provided before COE (close of escrow). There are some of the shenanigans that can occur, so don’t let anyone bully you.

Give us a call for your scenario and we can find out if we’re the right solution for your needs. If we’re not – we’ll get you connected to someone who is the right person for the job! 916-308-2446

REALTORs® Steve & Heather Ostrom

Roseville & Rocklin Real Estate

Top Things to be Aware of as a Contingent Buyer Read More »

lockbox sacramento metrolist - don't steal my photo! ibox Ostroms

Seller Strategies: The Importance of Showing Instructions

2 Comments / Real Estate Education, Seller Information, Videos / Heather Ostrom

Seller Strategies:
the Importance of Showing Instructions

This post was original created back in 2017, but has been revised in 2026.

Those first two weeks your property is active on the real estate market / MLS – are important. It’s when the property is fresh to the market with more buzz and the largest pool of buyer eyes will be drawn to the property. You don’t always have the biggest window to capture the hearts of buyer’s to decide if this is the house to call “home.”In today’s “seller strategy” session, we’re discussing positive ways to improve your pool of potential buyers – by ways of how your “home showing instruction”s are set-up on the MLS (Metrolist / Prospector – main hub for all real estate input in our area – Placer and Sacramento County). There are other ways of course, but this is what we’re tackling in this post.If you don’t understand the pros and cons of home showing instructions when you’re active and on the market and getting ready to entertain buyer showings, be sure to ask your listing agent, or give us a call if you’re looking to interview a listing agent. Steve O and I, are both full time REALTORs®. There’s no other “side hustle” – we’re just REALTORs and primarily listing agents.

Some of the showing instructions in the video may have evolved, but many facts hold true, the easier the home is to see, the easier it is to sell.The more friction and challenges you create, to not allowing your home to be shown, can backfire on you and limit your “buyer-interested” audience.

Some of options (but limited to) showing instruction options:
Vacant with Lockbox
Call 1st Lockbox
Appointment with the Owner
Call Listing Agent
Call Listing Office
Appointment with Tenant
(there are many more, but these are some of the common ones).

There is also a program called “ShowingTime” to assist both buyers and sellers with managing appointments to see the home, blocking off certain times from showings, etc. We can discuss the strategy of using that – yes, it is indeed a really great tool to use, but we do have some downsides that we can discuss in person.

Stay educated and always make smart choices – both in marketing, accessibility (and of course, which listing agents you choose). Short-term discomfort, can possible expand your opportunities to a larger bottom line at the closing.

SAFETY REMINDER: Never allow someone who states they’re an agent, into your home – particularly if there’s no appointment set AND without using the Supra Blue iBox lockbox. That iBox (in the video above) – it tracks the date, time, agent’s name, phone number, company, and email. If you’re in our area and you’re not using the Supra Lockbox – iBox BT LE – you probably picked the wrong listing agent. From a safety standpoint for property access tracking and for showing follow-up, a contractor lockbox (as of 2026) does not do those items.

More about Metrolist MLS and Participants

REALTORs® Steve & Heather Ostrom

Roseville & Rocklin Real Estate

Seller Strategies: The Importance of Showing Instructions Read More »

Smart Home in an Ostrom Home

3 Comments / Agent-to-Agent Education and Helpful Tips, Real Estate Education, Seller Information, Videos / Heather Ostrom

This post needs to be updated * – thank you for your patience! 1/2026

Maybe you’re new to all the “smart-home” technology. Perhaps it scares or overwhelms you? Welcome to the club, the Ostroms are right there with you … We’re in California, and sometimes we see a few things sooner in seller homes than the rest of the country, but there’s a good chance your clients know more about smart-home technology, so let’s get you on a quick start on the Smart-Home highway.

Smart-home items are showing up in homes for sale. There’s a lot of information out there, so we’re going to do our best to lay down in a blog post (or two) … also if you’re about to sell your home, start thinking of your “smart-home” exit plan. Fixtures or items attached to the hhome are assumed to state and there’s been changes in recent years about smart-home devices being included in the sale.

Pro-tip: before beginning in the adventure of “smart-home” makeoversand putting a ton of time and money into a system, be sure your internet is fast enough to handle the load and talk to friends so you can learn from their experiences.

We started out small and I am not sure I would even qualify it as smart home devices, but we started small with light bulbs – and we thoroughly enjoy having it. Our kids loved their speaker lightbulb to play their music to – and it was very easy to get it up and running. Not all devices are easy to get set-up as advance warning and some might even have safety warnings for your network.

So after I got back from “CES” (Consumer Electronics Show) with the Coldwell Banker crew and my good buddy, Roy Powell – I came back to my home in Roseville, with a smart-home fire in my heart and was ready to make the plunge into learning more about Smart-Home tools and slowly start adding items to our home system.

We started out with Amazon’s Alexa (which we had bought for ourselves at Christmas – and we have her dialed in for connection to our twinkle lights in the backyard, to ensuring that the front door can be locked, but be aware, Alexa cannot unlock the door for safety reasons).

Pro-Tip with Alexa: “Go in the Amazon Alexa App” and play around. See what you can “sync” up with other devices so you can fully utilize all of the skills for maximum enjoyment. She can do SO much – I lurve her.
Pro-tip with Alexa: If you have Amazon Prime, have fun with the music,
Pro-tip with Alexa: With your iphone, if you want to just play your music on Alexa from your phone, go to “settings,” then to your “bluetooth,” and then select your Amazon component (in our case, it’s “Echo”)
Pro-tip with Alexa: Be sure to go into the app and play around the “Smart Home” option in the drop-down menu (see above) and “Skills” to really maximize the fun and usefulness of Alexa.

Our next piece we added was the “Ring” doorbell. Coming back in to revise and freshen up this post, doorbell cameras can be a contentious issue – so do thorough research for any and all cameras and doorbell systems.

Some questions that are good to consider:

What are their monthly subscriptions costs
Do the mutual cameras have any known connectivity issues
Do you need to get any modifications to your internet coverage for all cameras to work? Extenders, connectivity limitations of cameras that make it not worth it, etc.
How is the resolution during the day and night?
Hard wire, battery pack, and solar -pros and cons of cameras
Who can access this camera? IF your cameras are only outside, be aware there is speculation (only) about Ring cameras having third-party access* so if you have cameras in your house, things to think about …
Do you need a bridge to get things to work together?
Get on reddit or reviews to see the feedback on products and brands. I find the “best of the year” posts to be not fully trustworthy on feedback.
Location of cameras should determine their power source, particularly on two-story or high access points for outdoor cameras (don’t ask me why I know now – ha!)
We loved ours when our kids were little (doorbell camera) and they had no phones – they would use it as a way to communicate with us since it’s a two-way microphone.

The next piece, is easily my favorite addition to the home, the Schlage Connect deadbolt (back to revise this post, not sure I would recommend it, but the battery life is solid, but their app is AWFUL), but the doorbell lock is my favorite still! We have three kids, our lives are busy, and we’re REALTORs, our lives are always at a fast pace. There are SO many options for keypad entry, but we went with the highest tier option with security in mind and it’s used in conjunction with a bridge (you gotta research this one, I don’t even know how to explain it). Be sure it’s fingerprint resistant if it’s a finger soft pad entry – that’s my only comment and I recommend having a back up key option (many don’t now and that stinks, IMO). It’s a good backup option in case the battery goes dead.

What’s really cool about the lock is that I have it paired with my Ring doorbell and it auto-locks if any movement is on the front porch and my kids forgot to lock a door (or husband). It’s so rad! It’s annoying though when you’re unloading groceries though I set it up through “routines” (which you can do on Alexa, most smart apps with these devices, or via IFFTT).

I do not recommend “oil rubbed bronze look” for a lockhandle as it didn’t age well.

Pro-tip: 1. Pay your trusted locksmith to help install or just kick down for the professional installation on this one. You want the auto-lock option moving smoothly and clean. Unless you’re a superhuman tech savvy person. If I wasn’t tech-savvy, I would have paid the Amazon technician to install. In our case, we had our locksmith install the key pad/deadbolt.
Pro-tip: 2. You’ll need to involve a locksmith if you buy online or if you know how to get the deadbolt keyed to your system.
Pro-tip: 3. Stay with the brand of keys you already have in the home (whether Kwikset or Schlage) – so to stay on the same system, work with what you have … or talk to a locksmith before kicking down the big bucks
Pro-tip: 4. The app is a bit rough … get a bridge piece that offers an app to house all your smart home pieces (see below)

Please always understand security or find a friend that gets it – it’s not worth it to have this in place as a security measure and it can be easily compromised whether from a network and bridge standpoint or using a third-party app that might not have the same security as door lock or camera system (products or apps).

Our other product we love, but another awful app – our Honeywell smart thermostat. It was recommended to us and it’s great, but another rough functioning app (but better than Schlage).

Do know ALL the devices mentioned here – they’re all still going strong and still being used!

1/2026

If you have any questions – hit us up, or if I typed something inaccurate here – correct me. We’re all here to learn and succeed and we hope you enjoy our research here. I had to delete a lot of the links on here as they weren’t functioning, so this page may not be as useful until I do a deeper dive on recommended products.

REALTORs® Steve & Heather Ostrom

Roseville & Rocklin Real Estate

Smart Home in an Ostrom Home Read More »

Best day of the week to list your home for sale

7 Comments / Agent-to-Agent Education and Helpful Tips, Real Estate Education, Seller Information, Videos / Heather Ostrom

Best Day of the Week to List Your Home for Sale

Steve + Heather Ostrom

on Realtor.com Seller Series

Life is all about timing, and it doesn’t change with real estate and listing your home. Each real estate market and area is different, but we have noticed there are definitely better days than others, to list your home. Granted sometimes life doesn’t always play by “ideal rules,” and ultimately, the seller is our boss, so we will always be awesome – no matter what day you’re able to list your home. But if we can have an ideal world, we have strong opinions for homes in Placer County, California to be listed …Our why? Well, check our featured video on REALTOR.com “seller advice video” series. And don’t worry, I’m not quitting my day job for any karaoke work. Along with the three “hot” reasons why in this video, we also have another set of reasons. By default, the offer won’t expire till Monday, unless specifically set to expire before Friday evening. So it gives us a full weekend to be on the market. It’s always nice to have it exposed to the broadest audience, for the largest pool of the best buyers out there – while your home is still “fresh to the market.” Plus, reality check, a lot of folks are on their email – even at work on Friday morning. We like that email showing up in folks’ email boxes Friday morning when they’re setting their schedules.Each home and neighborhood is unique – so let us know if you would like a detailed analysis on your home.

REALTORs® Steve & Heather Ostrom

Roseville & Rocklin Real Estate

Best day of the week to list your home for sale Read More »

Mocha Chip, also know as Mocha or Java (depending on the Ostrom child you spoke with - lots of controversy). He was the best piggie.

Love Where You Live Animal Style

4 Comments / Media Interviews, Videos / Heather Ostrom

So I found this old draft post and it was about comparing the concept of, “Love where you live,” but with animals in mind. At the time of writing the words below, we had a household full of young kids, dogs, guinea pigs, and fish. Life was so busy and a blur. I almost deleted this post, but I got emotional reading it and I found it has some great content that might warm your heart. Enjoy.

Love where you live … Animal Style

“Love where you live” can mean something different to any of us, depending where we are in our lives, our jobs, and those that might be depending on us. It is complex and never a straight answer of “what is love and what level of perfection do I expect to achieve said happiness?”

If one’s living environment isn’t ideal. Stress can set in … we can act out, or we can even shut down. If our home is not close to the grocery store, what are my systems in place for meal planning over a longer period of time, can I get items delivered in a pinch, etc. Some of the stuff we might take for granted in our life, can pose challenges with a change to our living situation (including location and proximity to items).

It can affect us both in success in business, and in life with our mental health and physical limitations to ensure we have time to manage it all.

Animals can also feel the stress of their living situation isn’t large enough, how social are they and do they need to be solo or with a partner, etc. Are they being held enough? What are the physical and social requirements? Are there limitations and what are safe “toys” for them physically? Food and diet quality matters as well. These fuzzy buddies are reliant on their owners to ensure a safe place to live and thrive.

If you don’t like animals (or maybe guinea pigs), this probably won’t be your type of post and wondering how is this on a real estate blog? And no, that “love where you live, animal style” is not a reference to In-N-Out, though we do love their burgers.

Our Guinea Pig Journey in making their house a home!

When we first got our single guinea pig, we were bad about it. We didn’t research the “psychological and physical needs” of a guinea pig.

We started out with the typical “starter” guinea pig cage. It was a good starting place for us – but we sooned learned thanks to Reddit and research that this cage was NOT adequate and that our guinea pig needed a buddy for social. (Did you know it’s illegal to have a single guinea pig in Switzerland?)

My kids … after a year of extensive research on guinea pigs … started wanting more for our sweet Dini (Houdini) and our newly added (at the time) Java Chip / Mocha to the mix (there was a slight controversy to Mocha’s name whether it was Java Chip or Mocha Chip or just simply Mocha).

The girls had big, big dreams for the ultimate bachelor pad. I so wish I had photos of it, but it wasn’t that fancy, but the girls did an incredible job with though towards all variables of entertainment, functionality, joy for the space, and ability to be cleaned easily and without the burden of one-use bedding.

The girls wanted the best for their piggies. Sure it might seem silly to some, but I am so proud of girls, for wanting to make a better space for them

My girls planned extensively how to craft a homemade cage (I initially thought it was nuts) … and finally, both Steve O and I gave in to the idea of a homemade guinea pig cage … Thanks to YouTube … their hints at a “better space for ‘Dini’ only grew. But you know what? That cage was so dang awesome, the girls made it happen.

Steve O took the girls out, to get all the supplies, watched a million more guinea pig blog posts, and YouTube video “how-to” videos … and voila … here we are … they put their dreams into motion for our sweet ‘Dini and Mocha!

I really encourage before embarking on ANY DIY project, research, research, research before adopting or contstructing anything. So many gracious folks share all their ups and downs for you to learn and benefit from their prior journey.

So what did the cage look like, Ostrom?

Gosh, I wish I had some photos of the cage, but I do not … I found one that it KIND of looked like … this photo belongs to DIY Michelle. I’m linking to her post. So check out her page

There’s so many great DIY creators for guinea pig cages.

Our piggie palace palozza was huge – it looked like a model raptor cage from Jurassic Park, minus the electrified perimeter. It was much larger than I envisioned and liked, but you know what – it was the right thing to do and our guinea pigs lived for almost seven years each – which I think is pretty solid. Animals are a responsibility and privilege. It’s our job to be better.

All joking aside … our guinea pigs were out more, they were “pop-corning” (I didn’t know what the heck popcorn meant, until my kids educated me on guinea pig behavior). I wouldn’t have believed it all, till I witnessed it.

The girls are truly our kids – mini-salespeople, trying to make a deal come together and it wasn’t what was best for them, it was what was best for their animal family and others. So proud of them.

For all your guinea pig needs – we’ll direct you to the O-girls. Though, after updating this post in 2026, they’re now in college and now I will try and not cry thinking about how time flies.

We all should be so lucky to love where we live. Including our pets .. if you need help finding a place to love to live … we’re here for you.

ADOPT, Don't SHOP

One other word of advice, update again from 2026 Heather Ostrom, adopt don’t shop. The more I have learned, I had no idea how many guinea pigs are given up. They’re even possibly at your local SPCA – so do your research. If you’re in Roseville / Sacramento region, google “guinea pig rescues.” I found one called Gardener’s Pig Pen – linked here and on the piggie photo. Don’t go to PetSmart. We didn’t start things out the right way, so we hope you can learn from us how to be a better piggie owner and new piggie parent.

REALTORs® Steve & Heather Ostrom

Roseville & Rocklin Real Estate

Love Where You Live Animal Style Read More »

Podcast Ostrom Time with Marguerite Crespillo

7 Comments / Agent-to-Agent Education and Helpful Tips, Loving Placer County, Media Interviews, Podcast, Real Estate Education, Seller Information, Videos / Heather Ostrom

So we have been good friends with the awesome Marguerite Crespillo for years, and she has a fabulous real estate podcast “Real Estate Real World.” Marguerite is a top-producing REALTOR and broker in our area, for years.

Marguerite is a wealth of knowledge and experience, she’s a real estate trainer and coach, and she loves to help others.So, what did we cover in our real estate interview podcast? Well you’re going to need to listen in, and hear the scoop! We covered: marketing, in-town behavior philosophies, agent-to-agent interactions, our love of #OstromOrange, why you rarely see Steve O not in a suit, the issue of low inventory (Placer County), and finally … “best tips for any new real estate agents.”

I truly believe you’ll enjoy, you’ll be educated, and I’m certain you will be entertained, while learning. And we hope you take away a few Awesome Ostrom, RE Nerd Nuggets!

Quick background on Marguerite: She’s a real estate coach and trainer. On Marguerite’s real estate podcast, she has interviewed Hal Elrod, the awesome Sean Carpenter, Tamara Dorris, Bob Corcoran, and Ryan Lundquist (and many more). Since there’s no visual, you can still do work, walk, exercise, drive, and still listen in … I love podcasts!

I can’t thank Marguerite Crespillo of Realty First in Roseville, CA. Thank you for having us on your show.

So listen here – and give us your feedback! We would be honored to have you listen in. (you can listen on the link, and/or go through iTunes and subscribe to Marguerite’s channel). And as my awesome friend and CB trainer, Sean Carpenter always says to all – “Build Relationships, Solve Problems, and Have Fun!”

REALTORs® Steve & Heather Ostrom

Roseville & Rocklin Real Estate