January 27, 2011

Want to Live Near Snow Basin Ski Resort?

Posted to Buyers, Owners, Sellers, Steve Randall

Snow Basin was the host of the 2002 Winter Olympic downhill race course. I have traveled down its steep slopes many times but never at the speeds of the great skiers. A bedroom community near Snow Basin is Eden, Utah. We have several listings in the area as well as several lots to build a summer and winter retreat. It is a great summer and winter recreation area and priced much lower than Park City.

An offer came in on one of our lots yesterday. The current list price was about $70,000 down from $110,000 just a year ago. The reason for the reduction in price has to do with supply and demand. There are currently 38 competing lots for sale about the same size as our listing. There is one listing that is priced about $20,000 less but it has a slope which increases excavation costs and makes the lot less usable. With so many lots available, why did our lot get the offer?

Pricing! The seller priced the lot to attract any buyer who is ready to buy now!

Should sellers wait to put the Eden lots on the market until spring? It is predicted that more lots will sell this year. However, there are many sellers who are waiting to put their homes on the market in the spring hoping the lots will sell for more. Those who want to sell a home but have not actively listed their home at this time, contribute to what we call the “Shadow Market” inventory. When Shadow Market homes get added to the active market, supply will increase over demand keeping prices the same in Eden…or maybe even dropping a little more in 2011.

Point to Ponder:

If you are buying in Eden, buy now before interest rates eat up the savings you have with heavily discounted lots.

If your are thinking of selling, you will get more for your property in the first half of the year than selling in the second half of the year. For more details, never hesitate to .

Posted by:  Steven Randall





January 25, 2011

Is Fruit Heights a Buyer's Market?

Posted to Buyers, Sellers, Steve Randall

Yesterday I attended a closing with a client who had just purchased a bank foreclosure property in Fruit Heights. The house was a tri-multi level home with four bedrooms and in very good condition, surprisingly so for a bank owned property. The price for this 2,900 square-foot home was $246,000 with the seller paying closing costs. The backyard abuts to the golf course and the home has a beautiful view of the mountains and has close freeway access to Salt Lake.

The buyer was excited to have this home and felt good about the price per square foot he had paid. As we looked at the market conditions in Fruit Heights the absorption rate, which measures the rate of homes sold in a given period, ranged from 9.33 months to 11.20 month of inventory in the past twelve months. For sellers in Fruit Heights that is not good news because inventory over 7 shows that the market is still a buyer’s market and means downward pressure for home values in the area. The good news is that we seem to be making a turn and there is more good news that we are seeing now than we have in the past.

There remains some great inventory in Fruit Heights for buyers with values ranging from the low $100,000s to values that exceed a million dollars. For information on buying a home in Fruit Heights and negotiating the best value, please at anytime. If you are a seller, then we can help you price your home so that it will sell based on current market conditions. We are happy to share the latest market data for Fruit Heights.

Posted by:  Steven Randall





January 21, 2011

The Privilege of being a Realtor

Posted to Buyers, Colin Blackner, Owners, Sellers

It’s always a bonus to get a complementary email back from a client. A few weeks ago one of mine read “Thanks again for everything Colin! We’re so grateful & glad that you knew about this house.” Well let me just say that you are very welcome, and thank you for allowing me to come to know your family.

Just think back, it wasn’t that long ago that you could list your home with a Realtor on a Monday afternoon and like magic it would be sold by Saturday morning with 2 more offers sitting on the back burner. The Market was so hot that Realtors were collecting salesman of the week awards (because in just 3 days someone would take you out). Hummers and BMWs were flying off car lots as successful agents bought them up, as self evidence of all their hard work and hustle. Then the housing market changed on us overnight. Are you kidding me? Who was ready for this? Not Me!

Fast forward to today. It’s January of 2011; everyone is a little smarter now. Buyers and sellers have learned to be patient. Realtors have gone back to what matters most and that’s managing their clients’ Real Estate needs and making sure that the very best service we can give brings home the desired results.

This is where I want to impress upon everyone’s mind that I fully appreciate the opportunity to be a Real Estate agent. Please allow me to share with you 3 simply reasons why I love this profession.

1. My number one is the opportunity I have to work with so many good people. The Real Estate Industry is loaded with trained professionals. I would say that it’s the most diverse profession in the world. You will find little league coaches, scout masters, doctors, attorneys, aerobics instructors, accountants, and even an elected Governor. I’m keeping good company.

2. Number two is the opportunity I have to assist my friends, family, neighbors, clients, or anyone who needs special help with their Real Estate questions. You can’t beat the amazing feeling one has when you’ve helped a family find their future dream home. Remember picking out your 1st bedroom?

3. This reason may seem a little selfish, but as a businessman and life-long sales professional, I can’t tell you how much we enjoy as Realtors to experience success at all levels in this industry.

  • We love to earn your business and confidence.
  • We thrive on selling your home FAST and want to exceed all your expectations of us and the Broker we represent. 
  • We’ve received special training on how to help our customers get through this market.
  • We won’t make promises we can’t keep.
  • But we’ll strap on our helmets and go to battle for you.

Thanks for reading.

 | 801-725-5463 | Layton, Utah

Posted by:  Colin Blackner





January 20, 2011

The Impact of Population Growth on Housing

Posted to Owners, Sellers, Steve Randall

It was interesting to me to find out that our national population growth each year normally adds about a million new homes on average. In the last 10 years, however, the growth rate has been 27 million new homes added which includes the bubble time up to 2010. When interest rates were very low, there was a marked increase in homes added as it fueled new construction and made homes more affordable for many more people.

I remember buying a home in the 80s when interest rates were at 18%! During 1982 housing didn’t see any increase in home units that year. High interest rates offered no incentives for buyers to make the move into a new home.

Even though the population may be increasing, the impact of the economy tends to determine the growth of additional homes in the marketplace. Jobs will be the key indicator of when home growth will start again. We are seeing signs of a recovery even in jobs with the Labor Department reporting 1.1 million more jobs now than at this time last year. We will let the politicians debate the argument over private and public sector jobs and the rate of job growth but we do seem to be in a positive turn to more normal housing growth.

POINTS TO PONDER:

In 2011 we will see about 5.2 million homes actually sell. That will be an increase of about 8% over 2010. That means that demand will increase this year. In 2012 demand will increase to about 5.5 million homes for sale according to the latest NAR numbers. I wish this was all good news for sellers but even though demand will increase, supply will increase more! That supply will be driven not only by the sellers wanting to sell in 2011, but also by short sale and foreclosure properties. This will keep prices stable at best and most prices will drop 2%-6% this year. That means that if you are going to sell, now is the best time to do so. You will get more for you home in the first half of the year than by selling later in the year! Economic factors this year will still trump population in 2011…and likely 2012 as well.

Posted by:  Steven Randall





January 18, 2011

How To Predict the Next Real Estate Bubble!

Posted to Buyers, Owners, Sellers, Steve Randall

An experienced real estate investor knows from following appreciation values in the past that real estate normally increases in value about 25% to 29% every five years. The normal appreciation since 1980 has been about 5% to 6% each year. However, from 2000 to 2006, real estate values increased a whopping 89% during those years. This was due to low interest rates, lenders willing to lend, and a desire by government to make sure everyone had a home… and nobody seemed to care if the buyer was qualified or not!

From history, we can predict future bubbles by watching past appreciation rates. There are times where real estate values will accelerate more than 6% per year but be wary of buying when values are increasing 14% - 15% each year because it will not be sustainable over the long run. If you roll the dice and hope to get in at the right time there is greater risk you assume… as so many buyers can now verify. It is hard to time the market and that is why so many are underwater at this time.

POINT TO PONDER:

There is an old saying that “pigs get eaten.” Meaning that when you try to capitalize on appreciation rates way above the norm there is a good chance it will come back to haunt you. Real estate is a great investment if bought responsibly. Now is a great time to buy real estate even though prices may drop another 2% to 6% in 2011. It is hard to time the market perfectly, but with prices down, inventories high, and interest rates low… the stars are now aligned. If you try to save a few thousand dollars more by waiting for a lower purchase price you will likely be caught on the other side of the equation with higher interest rates. Rates are now on the move up from their lows of several months ago. Overall cost would show now is the time to buy rather than waiting for a lower home price. Thanks to Steve Harney at Keeping Current Matters for pointing out that monthly costs now will be lower than if interest rates rise in the future.

Posted by:  Steven Randall





January 18, 2011

Is Real Estate Still A Good Investment?

Posted to Buyers, Owners, Sellers, Steve Randall

Last week I was driving to a HOA meeting in Salt Lake and listening to a popular talk show host on Fox News, Sean Hannity. The topic of discussion dealt with the economy, jobs, and the current confusion of where people should put their investment money. Sean mentioned that he had money to invest but did not trust the stock market even though it was doing much better now. He didn’t know much about commodity investing… he knew gold was doing well but wasn’t sure about how much longer that would last. He mentioned real estate but with the recent downturn of home values, foreclosures, and short sales he wasn’t sure about that either.

If you return to the year 2000 and had $100,000 to invest in the Dow, S&P, NASDAC, or real estate… what would have happened to that investment in the year 2011? With Dow Jones you would have gained 5.8% and your investment would now be worth $105,800. With the S&P and NASDAC you would have lost money and the value of your investment would now be $82,000 and $66,000 respectively. Had you invested in real estate, your $100,000 would now be worth $145,300. At the top of the bubble you could have earned 89% on your money. However, if you bought at the top of the bubble you are now likely underwater. The great thing about real estate is that if you hold on long enough, it will come back and if you rented your property you would have had income even though values might have declined.

POINT TO PONDER:

Despite real estate’s current dilemmas, for the long term it has returned the highest ROI in the last 10 years. With all the talk about changing social security, now would be a great time to start buying real estate to insure that the golden years of retirement remain golden. While property values have fluctuated in recent years, rental values have remained stable and in some areas are on the increase. Now is a great time to buy real estate.

Posted by:  Steven Randall





January 04, 2011

What's in store for 2011?

Posted to Justin Stevenson, Owners, Residents (Renters), Sellers

Looking back on the 2010 year many of us may think that the real estate market was hard to manage and many people lost out on a lot of money. In some ways this was true but it made us stronger and it made us more educated to know what to expect for the future. Let’s stay positive and make the 2011 year great. Don’t give up! If you need to sell your home, do it, don’t be afraid. If you are thinking about buying a home, do it, now is a great time to be a homeowner.

For those of you who need to sell your home for some life-changing reason like change of career, new addition to your family, or any other reason and you’re having a really hard time selling your home and you are losing money each month I have the solution for you. The solution is rent the property out. At Welch Randall Realty not only do we help real estate clients buy and sell properties, but we also have a property management department. So many of our clients get in a tight spot with a property and feel like they are going to lose it because they are having a hard time covering the mortgage. By renting the property this can help cover the mortgage owed on the property. This may sound scary because there are so many horror stories about renters and them destroying properties or them not paying rent. With a property management company those scares go away. Here are a few of the things that our property management services cover for our clients:

1. Placement of Internet Marketing syndicated on over 50 websites with over 40,000 clicks per month

2. Showing your property to potential residents

3. The screening of all tenants for credit, criminal and past rental history

4. The signing of approved Rental Agreements in accordance with Fair Housing Laws

5. Resident advantage Protection Plan extending the security deposit to $3,000 in accidental damage coverage and up to one month in skipped rents

6. View your history of owner draws and contributions

7. Sign-up to receive owner draws electronically

8. Download your management agreement and other important documents

9. View income and expenses for each of your properties

10. Run key financial reports on demand

11. The collection of rents and distribution of those rents by check to owners

12. Sending collection letters, or “Pay or Quit” notices to past due residents

13. The receipt of resident calls for service and the dispatch of contractors for repairs

14. Ability to track income, expenses, and bank balances online 24/7 and print reports on demand

15. Payment of contractors, utilities and mortgages where appropriate

16. Sending owners estimates of work to be done for approval per the Agreement

17. 30-day skipped rent coverage for owners with Smart Deposit Protection

For more information please contact me at justin@welchrandall.com or cell number 801-710-8081. As well please feel free to check out our company website at www.welchrandall.com

Posted by:  Justin Stevenson