Making buying and selling at the same time seamless when moving.

Steve LaMothe • August 3, 2026

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Buy First. Move In. Then Sell for Top Dollar.



Why buying and selling at the same time is the hardest thing most Folsom homeowners will ever do — and how Elevate's Trade-In Program turns that nightmare into the smoothest move of your life.

By Steve LaMothe, Co-Founder · Elevate Realty Group · homesbyelevate.com  ·  Published August 2026

You've found it. The home you want to buy. Maybe it's in Willow Creek, maybe it's a bigger lot in El Dorado Hills, or a quieter street in Granite Bay. Whatever it is — you want it. There's just one problem.

You already own a home in Folsom. And you can't buy until you sell. Or can you?

This is the most stressful situation in all of residential real estate — and it's the one we hear about most from Folsom homeowners. The traditional approach to buying and selling at the same time is genuinely difficult, financially risky, and emotionally exhausting. Forums are full of horror stories. Families in temporary housing. Dream homes lost to non-contingent buyers. Double mortgages that lasted six months longer than planned.

This blog post breaks down exactly what the traditional approach looks like — why it fails so many Folsom move-up buyers — and then shows you how Elevate's Trade-In Program rewrites the entire experience from beginning to end.



PART 1: THE TRADITIONAL APPROACH WHAT MOST FOLSOM HOMEOWNERS FACE



THE REALITY


"How Hard Could It Be to Buy and Sell at the Same Time?"


The answer, if you ask almost anyone who has done it the traditional way: much, much harder than they expected. Here's what the conventional process actually looks like for a Folsom move-up buyer in 2026 — step by painful step.


The Three Paths — And Why Each One Is a Trap

When a Folsom homeowner decides to buy and sell simultaneously, they typically face three options. Every single one has a fundamental flaw.


PATH 1: Sell First, Buy Later

You list your Folsom home, accept an offer, close the sale — and then you're homeless. You either move into a short-term rental, move in with family, or negotiate a rent-back from your buyer while you scramble to find and win a home to purchase. In Folsom's market right now, where well-priced homes receive offers within 14 days, you're under enormous pressure to find and close on a new home before your rent-back window expires.


⚠  The Double-Move Problem

Moving twice is expensive and exhausting. You pack everything into storage or a rental. You live out of boxes for months. Then you move again. For a typical Folsom family with children in school, this means disrupting their schedule, paying two months of storage fees averaging $200–$400/month, and rushing a purchase decision you'll live with for the next decade — all under deadline pressure.


PATH 2: Buy First, Sell Later

You find your next home before listing your current one. To buy it, you either drain your savings for a second down payment, take out a bridge loan, or tap a HELOC. Then you carry two properties simultaneously until your Folsom home sells.


⚠  The Bridge Loan Reality Check

Bridge loans in 2026 carry interest rates of 9%–11% APR — on top of your existing mortgage. On a $760,000 Folsom home, a bridge loan can cost $13,000–$27,000 in total fees and interest over a 6-month period. And if your current home takes longer to sell than expected, that meter keeps running. This is the most expensive version of the move-up transaction — and the most common mistake we see.


PATH 3: Make a Contingent Offer

You find the home you want to buy and write an offer with a contingency: "This purchase is contingent on the sale of my current home at [address]." You hope the seller accepts.


⚠  Contingent Offers in Folsom Are Frequently Rejected

In a market where Folsom's well-priced homes receive multiple offers within two weeks, sellers have little incentive to accept a contingent offer — especially when non-contingent buyers are competing. Even when a seller does accept, they typically include a "kick-out clause" allowing them to continue showing the home and accept any better non-contingent offer with just 24–72 hours notice. You can lose the home at any point — after you've already started preparing yours to sell.


THE PROBLEMS


The 5 Worst Moments of the Traditional Buy-and-Sell Process


We've helped hundreds of Folsom families move up over the past 15 years. Here are the five moments that consistently cause the most stress — and the most financial damage — when buyers try to do this the traditional way.


Nightmare #1: You Lose Your Dream Home to a Non-Contingent Buyer

This is the most heartbreaking scenario in Folsom real estate — and it happens constantly. You write a contingent offer on a home in Empire Ranch. The seller accepts, pending a kick-out clause. You rush to prepare and list your current home. Three weeks later, the seller gets a non-contingent offer and gives you 48 hours to remove your contingency. You can't. You lose the home. You're back to searching — and your current home is now listed, creating pressure to accept an offer before you've found a replacement.

"Buying a home is stressful. Selling a home is stressful. When you do both at the same time, the experience is super stressful — not to mention emotional and difficult on many levels. You're potentially carrying two mortgages or trying to time the purchase with the sale. There will be sleepless nights."

— Real estate expert quoted in national real estate forum


Nightmare #2: Occupied Home vs. Vacant Home — A $30,000+ Difference

Here's a financial reality that most Folsom sellers never account for: occupied homes consistently sell for less than vacant, professionally staged homes. When you're still living in your house — with your furniture, your personal items, your kids' artwork on the refrigerator — it's harder to stage, harder to photograph, and harder for buyers to envision themselves living there.

Professional staging studies consistently show that vacant, professionally staged homes sell faster and for 5%–10% more than occupied equivalents. On a $760,000 Folsom home, that's $38,000–$76,000 in real money left on the table simply because you're still living there when it's listed. When you're forced to sell while occupied — because you haven't yet found and closed on your next home — this is the hidden cost nobody talks about.


Nightmare #3: Rushed Decisions Under Financial Pressure

When you're carrying two mortgages — or when your rent-back is expiring — every day costs money. This creates the worst possible environment for making a major real estate decision. Buyers who are under financial pressure accept offers on their current home that are lower than they should. They rush into a purchase they might not have made with more time. They skip the contingencies that would have protected them. Every financial advisor will tell you: urgent decisions in real estate are expensive decisions.


Nightmare #4: The Timing Tightrope — Coordinating Two Closings

Even when everything goes right — your Folsom home is under contract, your purchase is in escrow — the attempt to coordinate two simultaneous closings is one of the most complex logistics exercises in residential real estate. Buyers' loan funding can be delayed. Appraisals can come in low. Inspections surface issues that require renegotiation. One hiccup in either transaction cascades into the other. Professionals who have done this for decades say: coordinating two closes on the same day is the real estate equivalent of threading a needle in the dark.


Nightmare #5: Moving Twice — The Hidden Cost Nobody Counts

If you sell first and move into temporary housing, you move twice. The average cost of a professional move for a Folsom family (3–4 bedroom home) is $3,000–$7,000 per move. That's $6,000–$14,000 in moving costs alone — before storage fees, utility deposits, school disruption, and the simple exhaustion of uprooting your family twice in the space of a few months.


The Traditional Cost Reality

These Are Real Costs — Not Hypotheticals

Bridge loan (6 months on $760K home)

$13,000–$27,000

Two professional moves

$6,000–$14,000

Temporary housing (2–3 months)

$4,000–$9,000

Storage unit fees

$1,200–$2,400

Lost sale price (occupied vs. vacant)

$38,000–$76,000

TOTAL hidden cost of the traditional approach

$62,200–$128,400


PART 2: THE ELEVATE TRADE-IN PROGRAM — THE MODERN WAY TO MOVE


THE SOLUTION


Buy First. Move In. Then Sell for Top Dollar.


Elevate Realty Group's Trade-In Program was built specifically to solve every single problem we just outlined. It's not a bridge loan. It's not a contingent offer. It's not temporary housing. It's a completely different approach to the move-up transaction — and it changes everything about the experience.

Here's the simple premise: you buy your next home first. You move in on your own timeline. Once you're gone, we prepare your Folsom home — vacant, staged to perfection, and market-ready — and sell it for maximum value. No overlap. No double mortgage risk. No compromises.


HOW IT WORKS


The Elevate Trade-In — Step by Step


STEP

1

Get Qualified to Buy Your Next Home Before You List

Our team connects you with Elevate's preferred lender network to get you fully underwritten and qualified to purchase your next home — before your current Folsom home is ever listed. This qualification is based on your existing equity and financial profile. You enter the buyer's market as a non-contingent, serious buyer from day one.


STEP

2

Find Your Next Home — With No Pressure or Deadline

Because you haven't listed your current home yet, there's no clock running. You search for your next home with patience and confidence. You're not racing against a rent-back deadline. You're not watching a bridge loan meter. You find the right home — in El Dorado Hills, Roseville, Granite Bay, or wherever your next chapter is — and you make a clean, non-contingent offer.


STEP

3

Win the Home — You're a Non-Contingent Buyer

Here's where the Trade-In Program changes everything for your offer. Because you're pre-qualified and not relying on your current home's sale, your offer has no sale contingency. In a Folsom-area market where sellers frequently reject contingent offers, you now compete at the same level as buyers with no existing property. Your offer wins on merit — not on luck.


STEP

4

Move Into Your New Home — On Your Own Timeline

You close on your new home and move in. No storage unit. No temporary housing. No double move. Your family gets settled in your new home while your current Folsom home sits empty and available to prepare for sale.


STEP

5

Elevate Prepares Your Folsom Home — Vacant, Staged, and Flawless

Now the magic happens. With your current home vacant, our team executes the full Elevate listing preparation: professional staging, 4K photography, drone video, digital marketing campaign launch, open house coordination, and Zillow Premier placement. A vacant, professionally staged home in Folsom shows dramatically better than an occupied one — and sells for measurably more.


STEP

6

Sell for Maximum Equity — Pay Nothing Until Closing

Your Folsom home hits the market in its best-ever condition. Our 50,000-person database, $400,000 annual marketing investment, and KFBK/KSTE radio reach go to work. Multiple offers. Maximum price. When it closes, your Concierge renovation costs (if applicable) are simply deducted from proceeds. You net more — often significantly more — than the traditional occupied-sale approach.


THE POWER COMBINATION


Trade-In + Concierge = Maximum Equity on Both Transactions


The Trade-In Program is even more powerful when combined with Elevate's Concierge Program — and this is the combination we recommend most often for Folsom move-up sellers.

Here's why it works so well together: once you've moved into your new home, your Folsom property sits vacant. That's the ideal moment to execute targeted pre-sale renovations — without working around your schedule, your furniture, or your family. Our team comes in, manages every contractor, and makes strategic updates to your empty home. You pay nothing upfront. Everything is covered by Elevate and reimbursed at closing.


Elevate Concierge Program — The Numbers

What This Means for Your Folsom Home

$15,000

Average Concierge investment

$75,000

Average added value at closing

▸  Elevate covers all costs upfront — zero out of pocket before closing

▸  Zero interest — repaid at closing from proceeds

▸  Our program has generated $4.5M+ in additional profit for clients

▸  Vacant home = easier to stage, photograph, and show perfectly


SIDE BY SIDE


Traditional Approach vs. Elevate Trade-In — The Full Comparison


Let's put both approaches side by side so you can see exactly what changes when you use the Elevate Trade-In Program.



Traditional Approach

Elevate Trade-In Program

Contingency

✗  Offer weakened or rejected by sellers

✓  No contingency — you compete as a non-contingent buyer

Timing stress

✗  Racing against rent-backs, bridge loans, and deadlines

✓  Buy first, move in — sell on your schedule

Moving

✗  Move twice — temporary housing required

✓  Move once, directly into your new home

Home prep

✗  Sell occupied — rushed, cluttered, harder to stage

✓  Sell vacant — perfectly staged, photographed, and presented

Bridge loan

✗  9–11% APR, up to $27,000 in costs

✓  No bridge loan needed

Sale price

✗  Lower — occupied homes net 5–10% less on average

✓  Higher — vacant, staged homes consistently outperform

Renovation

✗  Difficult with family living in home

✓  Concierge available — done while home is vacant and empty

Decision quality

✗  Rushed under financial pressure

✓  Patient — no deadline forcing poor decisions

Stress level

✗  "Bone-chilling terror" (actual quote from buyers)

✓  One step at a time — Elevate coordinates everything


REAL CLIENT STORY


"We Didn't Have to Move Twice — That Alone Made It Worth It"


"My husband and I used Elevate's Concierge and Trade-In programs to sell our home and buy our new one. Using the Concierge program for getting our home ready to sell worked extremely well for us. Elevate's team had contractors readily available and quality work was done quickly. The Trade-In program helped us make an offer on our new house as cash buyers. We were essentially pre-paid before actually selling our house. So we didn't need to move twice and pay for a storage unit just so that we wouldn't be living in the house while the renovations were being done. We can definitely recommend this program for anyone whose home needs some TLC before it can be listed."

— Rick  ·  Elevate Concierge + Trade-In Client


IS THIS RIGHT FOR YOU?


Who the Elevate Trade-In Program Is Perfect For


The Trade-In Program is not the right fit for every situation — but for Folsom homeowners in any of the following circumstances, it's often the best move on the board:


  • Move-Up Buyers:      You've found a home you want to buy but aren't ready to list your current home — and you don't want to lose it to another buyer.
  • Sellers with Renovation Plans:  Your current home needs updates before listing, and you want them done properly — without working around your family's daily life.
  • Families with School-Age Children:  You have children in Folsom schools and cannot afford the disruption of temporary housing or a mid-year school change.
  • Cost-Conscious Sellers:  You've run the numbers on a bridge loan and found the costs prohibitive — the Trade-In eliminates the need for one entirely.
  • Competitive Buyers:  You want to make the strongest possible offer on your next home, without a contingency that signals uncertainty to sellers.
  • Downsizers:  You're downsizing from a larger Folsom home and want maximum equity from your sale without the chaos of selling while occupied.


COMMON QUESTIONS


Folsom Homeowners Ask — Steve Answers


"What if my current home doesn't sell quickly after I move out?"

That's exactly why we combine the Trade-In with our full marketing system. Elevate invests $400,000 per year in marketing, maintains a 50,000-person buyer database, and carries 200,000 daily radio listeners across KFBK and KSTE. Your vacant, staged Folsom home will be launched with more marketing force than virtually any listing in the region. Our 99.7% list-to-sale ratio and 0.25% price reduction rate tell the story: Elevate listings sell — and they sell close to asking price.


"Does the Trade-In cost extra? What are the fees?"

The Trade-In Program does not carry a separate fee on top of our standard listing commission. The Concierge component — if you choose to add pre-sale renovations — is covered upfront by Elevate and reimbursed at closing with zero interest. There are no hidden fees, no bridge loan origination costs, and no markup on contractor work. Our vendor relationships actually save most clients 20–30% on renovation costs compared to sourcing contractors independently.


"What if I qualify for my next home but the timing doesn't work out perfectly?"

This is where having an experienced team managing both sides of the transaction matters enormously. Our agents have structured hundreds of concurrent buy-and-sell transactions across the Sacramento region. We know how to build contingency time into purchase timelines, negotiate leaseback arrangements when needed, and manage the sequencing to protect our clients at every step. There is no version of this transaction we haven't seen — and navigated successfully.


"My Folsom home needs significant work. Does that disqualify me from the Trade-In?"

No — and in fact, homes that need work are often the best candidates for the Trade-In plus Concierge combination. Because you'll be out of the home when renovations happen, our team can work faster, coordinate multiple trades simultaneously, and deliver a finished product that would be impossible to achieve in an occupied home. Some of our most dramatic before-and-after results have come from Folsom homes that sellers originally assumed they'd have to discount significantly.


THE ELEVATE DIFFERENCE

What You Actually Get When You Work with Elevate


The Trade-In Program only works as advertised when it's backed by a team with the resources, relationships, and track record to execute on both sides of the transaction. Here's what Elevate brings to every move-up client in Folsom:


  • Reputation:      A team ranked #1 in the Sacramento region, #8 in California, Top 1,000 in the United States by RealTrends — with the credibility and agent relationships to get your offer noticed.
  • Reviews:  500+ verified five-star reviews — the most of any team in the region. Our reputation protects your transaction.
  • Marketing:  $400,000 annual marketing investment behind your Folsom listing — Google ads, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, direct mail, radio across three stations, and a 50,000-person database outreach.
  • Radio Reach:  200,000 daily Sacramento-area radio listeners on KFBK-AM (93.1) and KSTE-AM (650) — your Folsom home gets mass-media exposure most listings never see.
  • Media Production:  4K photography, drone video, 3D virtual tour, and a custom property website — every listing receives luxury-level media production.
  • Lender Network:  A preferred lender network that can pre-qualify you for your next purchase in 24 hours — so you're ready to move the moment you find the right home.
  • Contractor Network:  A vendor network that executes Concierge renovations on time, on budget, and at 20–30% below market rate — because we bring them consistent volume.


READY TO BUY FIRST AND SELL FOR TOP DOLLAR? LET'S BUILD YOUR PLAN.


If you own a home in Folsom and you've been waiting to move up because you couldn't figure out the timing — or because the traditional approach felt too risky and too stressful — the Trade-In Program may be exactly what changes everything for your family. The conversation starts with a single call.

We'll show you exactly what your Folsom home is worth, what your purchasing power looks like, and how the Trade-In timeline could work for your family — at no cost and with zero pressure.


Call or text: 916-436-SELL

homesbyelevate.com

Serving Folsom · Empire Ranch · Willow Creek · Broadstone · Glenn · Folsom Ranch · El Dorado Hills · Granite Bay · Roseville



ABOUT ELEVATE REALTY GROUP

Elevate Realty Group is the #1 small real estate team in the Sacramento region, ranked #8 in California and Top 1,000 in the United States by RealTrends. Founded by Steve LaMothe and affiliated with Keller Williams, Elevate has served 2,000+ families, closed $1.5 billion in sales, and earned 500+ five-star reviews. Elevate is a Dave Ramsey Endorsed Local Provider and proud partner of the Sweet Dreams Foundation — donating a portion of every commission to create dream bedrooms for children battling life-threatening illness.

© 2026 Elevate Realty Group · homesbyelevate.com · DRE #01272617 · All rights reserved.

This post is part of Elevate's weekly Folsom Real Estate Education Series. New posts publish every Monday at homesbyelevate.com.


Blog

Mortgage rates hit a 1 year high. How Folsom buyers/sellers can still win.

By Steve LaMothe • September 9, 2026
Higher mortgage rates in 2026: How Folsom buyers and sellers are still winning

The 3 Reasons Prepping Your Home Pays for Itself

By Steve LaMothe • September 8, 2026
Homes in top condition sell faster, close more reliably, and net more. Here are the three reasons strategic repairs pay for themselves, plus how we make it effortless. Getting ready to sell is one of the most common times sellers ask me whether the repairs are really worth it. My answer is always the same: yes, and it's one of the highest-return decisions you'll make. Let me break down the three reasons why getting your home into the best possible condition pays off, and how we make that process effortless at Elevate Realty Group, putting more money in your pocket without costing you anything extra compared to the traditional way of selling. 1. It makes sure your home actually sells. In today's market, a significant number of homes coming up for sale, I'd estimate around a third of what I'm seeing, run into trouble. They sit, they cut their price, sometimes more than once, because they're not in good condition. Buyers scroll right past them, or worse, walk through and leave unimpressed. The first job of prepping your home is simply making sure it sells at all so you can actually hit your goals, instead of becoming one of the listings that lingers. 2. It increases the odds you actually close. Getting an offer isn't the finish line. A meaningful share of accepted offers still fall through before closing, and one of the most common reasons is repairs. Picture it: your home hits the market, three weeks later you get an offer, you're thrilled, you accept, and then the buyer's inspection turns up repair issues. Now you're in a fight over who fixes what, and the buyer walks. When you handle those repairs upfront, you eliminate the buyer's apprehension before it starts. There's nothing for them to ask for, no secondary negotiation, no inspection surprise to blow up the deal. It's simply a cleaner way to sell, and it dramatically raises the odds that the offer you accept is the offer that closes. " Skipping repairs feels like saving money, but you end up paying three, four, or five times as much in a lower sale price. " 3. It increases your return on the sale. Think about the math. If it costs you five or six percent to sell your home, and I can come in and help increase your home's market value by six, ten, even fifteen percent through strategic repairs, I've just given you the ability to offset your entire cost to sell and put more money in your pocket on top of it. That's the win I'm after, where the increased value covers your costs and then some, so it's almost like you're not paying to sell at all. I can comfortably say that in my experience, we've never had a seller make strategic repairs and not get that money back with a return. It just makes sense when you think about it. If you were selling a car, you wouldn't take it to the dealer filthy and undetailed and expect top dollar. A home is no different, only the stakes are much higher. Buyers have a feeling when they walk through a home. If that feeling is off, because it's not clean, it needs work, it isn't staged, that feeling never turns into the emotion that makes someone want to buy. But when a buyer walks in and thinks, "Wow, this home is in incredible condition, I wouldn't have to do a thing," that's the emotional response that leads to an offer. If the floor plan works and the home works, they're far more inclined to act. So don't talk yourself into being cheap here and assume that skipping the repairs saves you money, because in reality it does the opposite. You end up paying three, four, or five times as much in the form of a lower sale price, because buyers simply won't pay a strong price for a home that needs work. Getting your home ready is one of the smartest financial moves you can make as a seller. That's exactly why we offer free consultations through our concierge program. We'll come out, look at your home, and tell you the exact return on any repairs at no cost to you. We can cover the cost of the work so you're not paying anything out of pocket. Call or text me at (916) 862-5463 , email me at Steve@homesbyelevate.com , or visit homesbyelevate.com . Let's find out what your home could really be worth.

Should you renovate before selling?

By Steve LaMothe • August 29, 2026
Making the argument to renovate & fix your home before selling.

Why I Left My 2.7% Rate to Move My Family

By Steve LaMothe • August 25, 2026
Waiting for rates to drop sounds logical, until you think through what actually happens when they do. Here's the real trade-off, from someone who just lived it. It's the million-dollar question facing Sacramento homeowners right now: is it a good time to move, or should you wait? I've been hearing it constantly ever since interest rates started climbing, and I understand exactly why. If you're sitting on a 2% or 3% interest rate, it's genuinely hard to justify leaving it behind for a new home, especially when you look at what that move would cost you every month. So let me answer this the most honest way I know how, because I just went through it myself. 1. Start with one question: will you still be here in five years? It's what I ask everyone who's weighing this. Picture a family with two kids in a three-bedroom. You're making it work right now, but you already know that in five years, as the kids get older, you're going to need that fourth bedroom. I don't think it's worthwhile to stay in a home that isn't working for you, or in an area you don't really want to be in, just hoping interest rates might come down someday. And here's a piece people forget: if you buy today at a higher rate, you can always refinance later at a fairly low cost and lock in the savings then. The rate you buy at isn't necessarily the rate you keep. 2. The "just wait" logic has a catch. Imagine rates actually drop a couple of points. What happens next? I'd imagine you'd see a flood of new demand and activity hit the market all at once, and it would become far more competitive to buy. Suddenly you've got a lot more people competing over what's probably a smaller pool of homes. So even though lower rates feel like the obvious better time, that timing could actually make it harder to land the right house. It's a real trade-off, and you have to weigh the pluses and minuses honestly rather than assuming waiting wins. " I don't think it's worthwhile to stay in a home that isn't working for you just hoping interest rates might come down someday. " 3. Here's my own story. My wife and I and our kids had been thinking about moving for a while. We love our house and we love our neighborhood, but we knew this home wasn't going to be the right fit as our kids got older. Over the last two or three years, we found a couple of houses that would have worked, and we talked ourselves out of each one, because rates were higher and it was more expensive. That lingering feeling never went away though, the sense that a certain kind of home would just fit our family better. After two and a half years of going back and forth, we finally decided to rip the band-aid off, because we knew we'd move eventually, our kids were getting older, and we'd rather get them settled into a new school now than later. You reach a point where you simply can't wait anymore. 4. I'll be honest about how it went. I think that's more useful than pretending. Even for me, someone who has done this professionally for 16 years and is an investor at heart, it was a lot. I left my 2.7% interest rate for a 6% rate in today's environment. The process, even though it went smoothly and I used one of our own agents, was all-consuming and genuinely stressful. I took a week off work. For those days, every waking moment was the move. I'm telling you not to scare you off, but so you know I'm not handing you advice I haven't lived. I made this exact decision, eyes open, because I knew we'd have to move eventually, and I believe down the road it may well pay off for us. That's my real-world take on the question so many Sacramento homeowners are asking right now. It's more expensive to live where we are now because of the higher rate, that's just true. But the right home, in the right place, at the right stage of your family's life, is worth thinking about beyond the interest rate alone. If you're wrestling with this same decision and you want to talk it through with someone who has actually been in your shoes, I'm here to help. Call or text me at (916) 862-5463 , email me at Steve@homesbyelevate.com , or visit homesbyelevate.com . Let's figure out what actually makes sense for you

This Might Be the Best Time To Buy a Home in the Last 3 Years

By Steve LaMothe • August 10, 2026
Inventory is climbing, sellers are cutting prices, and buyers are winning negotiations again. Here's why the data says now is the window. It's been a long time since I've been able to say this, but today we're going to talk about why this might be the best time to buy a home in the last three years. Let's break it down. We've talked about it before this year. We're seeing more inventory on the market. Homes are taking a little longer to sell. That trend is continuing, and the data we're starting to see is compounding. Here's what it means. Inventory is climbing We've seen about 30% to 35% more homes on the market this year versus last year. That is great news. That means we're almost back to pre-pandemic levels in terms of how many homes are available for sale. For buyers, more inventory means more choices, more time to make decisions, and less of that frantic pressure that's defined the market since 2020. For the first time in years, you're not walking into every showing wondering if five other buyers already made an offer. Pending sales are dropping At the same time, we've started to see pending sales, the number of homes actually going under contract, decreasing substantially month over month. Especially over the last 60 days, that drop has been significant. When you combine those two things, fewer homes selling as quickly and more homes coming available, the math starts working in the buyer's favor in a way we simply haven't seen in a long time. " We are definitely starting to see deals pop up. Buyers are getting offers accepted well below asking price. This is not something we've consistently seen in the last three years. " Deals are popping up again This is the part that gets me excited. We are definitely starting to see deals pop up. Sellers are reducing their prices to compete against other sellers. Our buyers are getting offers accepted well below the asking price. This is just not something we've consistently seen in the last three years. Most of the time over the past few years, we've had to submit offers against multiple other buyers or come in with really high offers just to get sellers to accept them. That dynamic is shifting. Buyers are getting breathing room, negotiating power, and results that were unthinkable 18 months ago. My bold claim So in my opinion, and I'll go out and make a bold claim, this really has been the best time to buy a home in the last three years, especially post-pandemic. If you've been on the fence, considering it, or been worried about whether you can afford to buy, it might be worth exploring the numbers and just looking at it. We can break it down for you. If you need to save for a year, we can build a purchase plan for how to save money to buy a house in a year. What about sellers? Our sellers may not be excited about this news, but owners and sellers have been in the driver's seat for six years total. They're still getting good prices. Prices are not coming down substantially. But I would not be surprised if this year you see home values go down maybe 1% to 5%. All the trends are pointing to buyers getting some power back in the market, and that is fabulous news for anyone who's been waiting. If you've been considering buying, reach out. Call me at (916) 862-5463 , email me at Steve@homesbyelevate.com , or visit homesbyelevate.com . We'd be happy to put a purchase plan together for you for free, whether you're ready to buy now or you want to build a plan to get there in the next year.

How to buy your first home even though its "expensive" in Folsom

By Steve LaMothe • July 16, 2026
Folsom homes feel out of reach, but they don't have to be. See how first-time buyer programs, low-down-payment loans, and house hacking make it affordable.

What's the TRUTH About the Feds Housing Bill?

By Steve LaMothe • July 15, 2026
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is now law. Here are the five points that actually matter, and the one change that could really move housing prices. The federal housing bill everyone has been talking about, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, has now become law . When I recorded this video, it had passed Congress and was awaiting the president's action, and it has since taken effect without his signature. And there's a lot of misinformation out there about what it actually does. I'm a data guy. I want to cut through the noise and give you the five key points that actually matter, because I think this bill does some meaningful things, and it's worth understanding what's real and what's just politics. 1. Corporate ownership limits are mostly political. This is the provision that gets all the headlines. The bill limits large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes once they own 350 or more. And look, it sounds good. But here's the reality. Corporate ownership of housing is less than 5% of the entire market. Over the last two years, institutional investors have largely stopped buying homes because interest rates are so high that rental income no longer justifies the investment. They bought a lot of homes during COVID, but right now it's no longer an issue. So in my opinion, the corporate ownership piece is purely a political move. It makes people feel better, but it doesn't address the problem driving up housing prices. 2. Modular and manufactured housing get a boost. This one is big and doesn't get enough attention. The bill loosens some of the restrictions on modular and manufactured housing. Previously, you needed a permanent foundation for a modular home to be considered a single-family residence. They're relaxing that requirement, which makes affordable, factory-built housing easier and cheaper to bring to market. That's a meaningful change. " The real fix for housing affordability has always been the same: make it easier and cheaper to build homes. " 3. States face pressure to build more. Here's the provision I think matters most. The bill puts pressure on states like California to loosen their building restrictions or risk losing federal funding. In my opinion, nationwide, this is the number one issue causing housing prices to go up. It's just too expensive, too hard, and takes too long to build homes. When builders have to spend so much money just to put a foundation in the ground, they can't build entry-level or mid-tier homes and make their money back. So they build higher-end homes instead. That's why we have an affordability crisis. It's not corporate investors. It's the cost and timeline of building. 4. Small-dollar mortgages get easier. Loans under $200,000 are going to become easier to obtain. Right now, many lenders don't want to make those loans because there's little profit in them. The federal government is easing some requirements and making it easier for buyers to access lower-cost financing. That's a real win for first-time buyers and buyers in more affordable markets who've been locked out of traditional lending. 5. New construction gets streamlined. If you want to build a development in California, the planning process can take 10 to 15 years. I've seen it firsthand. A big development in Folsom started planning 15 years ago. It took a decade just to get plans approved, do the environmental studies, and jump through all the hoops. If it takes you 10 to 15 years and you buy a piece of land to build on, the economy is completely different by the time you get a return. Very few people are willing to take that kind of risk. The bill aims to streamline and speed up that process, and if it actually reduces red tape, that's going to be fantastic over the next five years. That's where we'll start to see housing prices genuinely soften, especially in markets where inventory has been crunched for years. What it all means. In general, this law does a lot of good. The modular housing changes, the building pressure on states, the small-dollar mortgage access, and the construction streamlining are all meaningful. The corporate ownership provision is mostly window dressing. The real fix for housing affordability has always been the same: make it easier and cheaper to build homes. This bill takes some steps in that direction, and that's worth paying attention to. If you're thinking about buying or selling and you're wondering how any of this affects your situation, give me a call at (916) 862-5463 , email me at Steve@homesbyelevate.com , or visit homesbyelevate.com . I'd love to break down the numbers for you.

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