Real Estate Information Archive

Do you have a plan? 

I have been told over and over that I need to plan, unless I plan to fail.  This is important advice in all aspects of your life.  You have to plan your family time, business time, and personal time.  If you do not then usually you do not get to have any personal time.  Most of us realize that we need to plan, but who has time?

Not planning has its consequences.  Mostly these consequences just mean more stress in your life, but when it comes to selling your home, it can cost you thousands.  If you fail to plan the sale of your home many surprises can pop up.  Planning the sales process can also include planning for improvements or repairs. Planning the timeline is import, as well what will you do if the home sells early.

Let's start with a quick sale.  This seems like a great problem to have, however if you're not prepared it can be costly.  Let's use this example.

Home comes on the market and the seller expects it to take 4-6 months to sell.  The family is transferring to Dallas Texas in 6 months.  After two weeks on the market they receive an offer, but need to close in 30 days.  The sellers are not sure where they will  live so they ask for a closing date after 90 days.  The result:  The buyer's leave to find another house.  No other offers come in and after 6 months the sellers have lowervered the price of their home by $40,000.  The seller's husband transfers to Dallas for the job, and the family is now living in two locations.

This can happen and does happen every year.  Sellers need to prepare for every contingency.  Do you know what your local rental market is doing? 

Plan on a home inspection; most buyers will get one and a Home Inspector will always find something.  I suggest getting a pre-inspection.  Find the deficiencies and fix them before you offer your home for sale.  If you can make these repairs on your time, it will typically cost you less money.  The end result is a home in better repair that may sell for more.

Cosmetic repairs are a good idea.  Take a good look at you walls and trim work.  Do they need to washed, or touched up with paint?  These little marks have accumulated over the years and you may not even notice them.  I know it take several trips through a house before I notice ever little mark.  When a buyer walks through a house they may not mention everything they see.  They may not even take notice of many items.  However they will compare condition to other homes, and the home in the best condition will most often win out.

By planning and then taking care of these most often little fixes, you eliminate much of the stress associated with selling a home.  Be prepared, plan and your sale will most likely be successful. 

A good Realtor can assist you in this process and provide you with good adice along the way.

For much of the country it is still fall, and in some parts the eternal summer blazes on.  Here in Alaska fall has been gone for at least a month. Winter was not roaring in, but it did last night and appears that it may return again tomorrow with an additional 4 inches of snow.

Now winter is here it is time to stop selling real estate, close the office and hibernate until spring.  See ya next spring!

Wait! Now I'm sounding like the national talking heads when their talking about the economy.  No one should buy anything the economy is in the toilet.  Please hold my hand because I think life as we know it is over.

Come on give me a break.  The economy took a hit and it has come back steady. It's not roaring but its chugging right along.  So is the housing market; just because we have some snow and winter is settling in is no reason to hibernate until spring.  Interest rates are at an all time low.  You can get a great home in this market.  There are some great deals and there are some great home that you will have to pay the asking price.

Now is a great time to buy a home, just be careful as you walk up the steps.  And if you're thing about selling, inventory levels are low, put your home out there and get it sold. 

By the way, make sure you shovel the sidewalk and please turn on all the lights.

Wow, I was driving into the office this morning and a 25 minute drive was drawn out into an hour and 15 minutes.  The snow was falling and traffic was crawling.  This happens every once and a while here in Alaska.  So I stared at the break lights in front of me and made sure I did not end up on the trailor hitch of the truck in front of me.  I also listened to a great book along the way.

"Marketing to the Social Web" by Larry Weber.  Very good listening material for a drive like this morning.  It made me really think about my own business practices.  I also saw the relevance this book would have in many industries.  Larry Weber illustrates the use of blogs and website for business and client communication in a manner that is easy to understand.

So, now that I am here in the office I go online, take a quick look at some of the national blog sites and Wow.  I've only done limited blogging and it in no way resembles what I see out there in the mainstream of America.  These modern blog sites resemble the front page of Google and MSN.

Blog's have become a business and are gaining traction in business.  Well that is an understatement.  Blog's have a very prominent place in business today.  Whether its real estate, automotive, big oil, or the retail market place, there is a blog about the industry.  Not just one blog, probably 100's.

Blog's are a great way to get a message out, it's a great way to vent, and it's a great way to have fun.  Blog's are serious, funny, and very, very cool.  There are even video blogs. 

How do you jump in?

Quickly and with a passion.  I say this because if you are not passionate about something, you will not follow through.  What you blog about will not be very interesting.  So get some passion and have some fun. If you do not want to blog, then post comments on blogs.  There are some very interesting pieces out there.

Is now the time to buy a home? 

Can you afford it? 

What are interest rates going to do? 

Should I? 

What if it's not my perfect home?

These are questions we all ask ourselves, and I am here to say that there is no easy answer.  But there can be peace of mind in making a decision and moving in one direction or another. 

Uncertainty causes stress.  Stress causes health problems.  Stay away from the stress.

My father gave me very good advice when I was younger.  I was looking at two career paths and did not know which one would be the better one.  He told me to pick one, and don't look back, go for it.  I did and for the next ten years I excelled at my career.  That move eventually launched me into my present career.

This is a simple lessen, and we've all heard a version of it from someone.  It doesn't make it any easier to make a decision, but here is something that might. 

Change in Interest vs. Reduced Sales Price

Purchase Price  $200,000

Interest  Rate  5%                          Term  30 years                              Payment  $1,073.64

  ½% Increase in Rate  $1,135.58

  5% Increase in Price  $1,127.33

A ½% change in interest rates is approximately equal to 5% change in price  

  1% Increase in Rate  $1,199.10

  10% Increase in Price  $1,181.01

A 1% change in interest rates is approximately equal to 10% change in price 

The National Association of Realtors anticipates that Interest rates will be gin to rise in 2010 and that by the end of the year they will be approximately 5.8%. Compared to day's rate that is an increase of 1% or you will end up paying 10% more for your home. 

I think that says it all.

As we get closer to December there seems to be less and less inventory (homes for sale).  Usually this time of year the number of homes on the market is climbing.  There should be more homes on the market, but there isn't.  If you're a buyer looking for a home, I know you must be frustrated.

In Eagle River there was just 141 homes at the beginning of the week.  I just ran a search and there is just 121 homes plus another 15 homes marketed as to be built.  Here is a link to the search Eagle_River_Home_Search.

The number of condominiums available is 31.  This offers some alternatives to those of you desperately looking for a new home.  Don't be discourage, be ready.  Keep an eye on the market, get pre-qualified with a lender you trust.  I suggest visiting www.LendAlaska.com. This is Aaron Gray's website, Aaron is a great loan originator with Homestate Mortgage. 

If you have the right information than buying a house can be very easy, not stress free, but easy.

Hang in there.

This will be a short note to bring you up to speed on the market here in Eagle River Alaska.  Nothing spectacular is happening, at least not if your an Eagle River resident, because you already know this.  Eagle River is the "Most livable Community in Alaska".  The homes sales are steady and consistent, kind of boring, right?

Well to those of you that may be moving here or are just curious and stumbled upon this post, may seem incredible.  Our market is very good!  we are not selling hundreds of homes, we're just selling the ones that come on the market.  Less people are moving away from Eagle River and more are moving here.  Good steady, sustainable growth.  If the builders built 20% more homes than is currently underway we could easily fill the residences.  Eagle River residents are proud of their community and remain committed to it.  The first time home buyers tax credit expires in on December 1, 2009.  If you want take advantage of this, you need to move quickly. 

We lets dispense with the rhetoric.  Sales in the last week continue to be steady and stable.  There were 14 new homes listed for sale, and 7 homes went under contract (pended), while 6 homes closed.  The current inventory of homes is 150, just 1 more than last week.  Interest rates continue to be low, last week in the 4% to 5% range depending on the terms chosen.  fourteen (14) of the 150 are not built, and ten (10) are currently under construction.

Well, I'm getting a little long winded here so I'll wrap this up.  The market is good, now is the best time to sell your home, and it is definitely a good time to buy if you can find a good home.  If you can find one, call me we can always build it for you.

Have you been waiting to see what's new in home building?  What are the builders and designers using this year?  Will the homes be as nice as what you see on TV at HGTV?

The answer to these questions and many more will be answered this weekend September 26th, 27th, and 28th.  It's time for the annual AHBA Parade of Homes.  There will be several homes showcased this year in Eagle River.  We have two homes in Powder Ridge.  Nolan Homes, LLC. will be opening a wonderful home on Ezi View Circle.  This will be the last time to see this amazing property, unless you're invited by the new owners.  They move in next Wednesday.

I would invite you to come by and see the Nolan Home in Powder Ridge.  While there take time and look around the subdivision to see the available home sites.  Now is great time to build a new home.  Inflation may start taking hold as the country begins its slow recovery from recession.  Interest rates are holing low, and if you want to sell you existing home there is very little competition on the market.  See my previous posts on this subject.

Come by and visit, Saturday 12-6, Sunday 12-6, and Monday 5-8.  Please vote online at AHBA.net for the people's choice award.

What's happening in the Eagle river Market this week?  that is a question I keep getting asked and  I have a great answer, but before I going to the weekly numbers I would like to share with a conversation I had Saturday evening at the Annual Chugiak/Eagle River Chamber of Commerce fund raiser.

I know I'm name dropping, but so would you, and this is Alaska.  My wife and I were looking at all the very cool items in the silent auction and we had the opportunity to speak for several minutes with Senator Mark Begich.  We exchange pleasantries and I asked Senator Begich about is real estate license, he has been a Realtor for many years.  Our conversation revolved around what was going on around the country.  The Senator shared with me information that he had obtained that showed new housing starts around the country were increasing.  He also shared with me what he had seen as he drove across the country on the way back to Alaska. 

The Senator had seen many small towns languishing in this recession, a stark contrast with our local economy.  We are very lucky that our local economy has fared very well in the recent down turn.  I shared the status of our local market and it is good.  It was a great evening and I really enjoyed myself.

Here is what I shared with Senator Begich:

The Eagle River residential market showed healthy signs again last week.  Ten (10) homes went under contract (pended), eight (8) new homes came on the market, and five (5) homes closed.  The average sales price in Eagle River is $330,000 and the average market time of the sold homes is 73 days over the last quarter.  Active homes still on the market show an average of 113 days on the Market (DOM).  With only 157 homes available for sale and 20 of these homes not built, there is a limited supply in most price ranges. 

Chugiak has a little better supply of homes with 57 currently available.  Two (2) homes pended, one (1) new home was listed, and one (1) home closed.  The Chugiak/Peter's Creek area still provides some of the better values for this area with many of the homes situated on larger parcels of land.

Well that it for this week, if you have questions about what going on or would like help in any real estate matters give me a call or send an e-mail.  Remember this, Real Estate is Local, and Locally we have it pretty good.

What's happening in our market this week?

The weather in South Central Alaska has continued to be mild and with very little rain.  A nice fall, with lots of color in the hills.  As you all know I was not here last week, but I did review the number for the area and I think that many people were out enjoying the extended Labor Day weekend.  Here is a breakdown of what happened.

Eleven (11) new homes came onto the market, six (6) homes went under contract (pending), and eleven (11) homes transferred title (closed).

This weeks feels about the same, although I do not think there will be as many new listings.  The rental market also continues to be very tight, with a very limited supply of homes to choose from.  Current inventory in Eagle River of homes for sale is just 164.  At the end of August there was 184 homes available, and last year at the end of August there was 221 homes available.  This places limitations on perspective buyers.  When you extract the un-built new homes it leaves just 133 homes across all price ranges.

If you are thinking about selling a home, now would be a great time.  Make sure that your home is in excellent condition and it will most likely sell quickly when price accurately.

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