The Spouses Real Estate Blog Reporting and comenting on all things real estate September 2007
This weekend (Sat 29th 9-5 - Sun 30th 12-5) the Interior Alaska Builders Association is hosting their annual Parade of Homes. This is an excellent opportunity to not only tour the homes but to meet with and talk to local builders. It's an excellent way to explore the new construction side of real estate.
Ok, so I couldn't resist. Realtors are forever trying to help clients prepare their homes for the market... well, some of us anyway. I came across these pictures while browsing through the active listings today. The first two bedroom shots are the perfect examples of what NOT to do with a room when your home is on the market.
I'm not trying to pick on anyone but sometimes a visual aid helps. I think sometimes the "staging" concept can be taken a little too far. For example, no amount of staging is going to compensate for a home that's listed at 10% over market or for deferred maintenance. Staging is done to help put your homes best face forward.
I sat with a buyer recently who looked at the first picture and wasn't sure if the owner was sleeping in the living room or it was a one room house. Get rid of the junk. Clean it up. Arrange the furniture to show off the room. The second photo is another example of what not to do. Granted it's neat and clean, but it also looks a little sterile and impersonal.
Once you make the decision to list your home it's important to look at your house as a commodity to be marketed to potential buyers. You want them to fall in love with your house so they'll write you an offer, right? The quickest way to ensure that doesn't happen is to keep your house in such disarray buyers can't even see the house. The home shown above is listed for $179,900. I'm sure it's probably a solid house, but most buyers can't get past the 'stuff' to see the house. At 92 days on the market, it's definitely time for an overhaul.
Food for thought. Of the 650 homes currently for sale, nearly 25% have been on the market for more than four months... Unless you want that four months to turn into five or more, it's time to rethink strategy. Here's the current Days on the Market breakdown as of 9/26/2007.
0 - 30 DOM = 163 (25%) 30 - 60 DOM = 117 (18%) 60 - 90 DOM = 118 (19%) 90 - 120 DOM = 95 (15%) 120+ DOM = 157 (24%)
Sales of existing homes, depressed by turmoil in credit markets, fell for a sixth straight month in August, pushing activity to the lowest point in five years an industry trade group said Tuesday. A separate report showed that t he nationwide decline in home prices accelerated in July, posting the steepest drop in 16 years.
Home prices have fallen by more every month since the beginning of the year, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday.
Sales of existing single-family homes dropped by 4.3 percent in August from July, the National Association of Realtors said. Sales dropped to a seasonally adjusted rate 5.5 million units a year, the slowest pace since August 2002. (Read More)
Locally we're seeing home prices drop... in some cases dramatically. In the past week sixty-nine sellers have reduced their asking price on average almost $20,000. The two screen captures to the right were taken from our MLS system this afternoon. Looking at the number of homes sold from September 1st through the 25th doesn't improve the look of the market either. 131 homes were sold and closed between September 1, 2006 through September 25, 2006 whereas only 58 have sold in the same time period this year.
Bottom line... it's more important than ever to price your home correctly from the start.
Looking for a new home with a bit more space as well as a 1950s Cold War ambiance?
A US intercontinental ballistic missile base, equipped with a vast underground network of tunnels and rooms but no atomic warheads, is for sale in a remote corner of the United States.
The warheads and missiles went when the US government abandoned the Titan bases in the 1970s.
Located near remote Moses Lake in the northwest state of Washington, the former Larsen military base includes 4,000 square meters (43,000 square feet) of "usable" space on 23 hectares (56 acres) of land, and the owner is only asking for 1.5 million dollars -- which might buy a small home in Hollywood. (Read More)
Not quite your cup of tea? If you're looking for something different within a reasonable commute from Fairbanks.... call us. We sell everything from castles to cabins.
Government bond traders, who predicted six of the last seven recessions, say the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates again before the end of the year as the economy comes to a standstill.
Since the Fed last week lopped half a percentage point off the central bank's target for overnight lending between banks -- the first orchestrated decline in so-called federal funds since 2003 -- traders have pushed the yield on Treasury two-year notes to almost three quarters of a point below the designated 4.75 percent funds rate. In the three previous occasions during the past 20 years when that has happened, policy makers have cut borrowing costs.
"The U.S. economy needs to grow at 2.5 to 3 percent or else it stalls,'' said Bill Gross, manager of the $104.4 billion Total Return Fund, the world's biggest bond fund. ``Historically every time we get close to stall speed the Fed lowers short rates.''
The latest government data shows unexpected job losses in August, sagging core retail sales and no relief in sight for the moribund housing market. Now that U.S. gross domestic product probably is growing at an annualized rate of less than 2 percent, speculation is rampant that another Fed rate cut is assured before January. (Read More)
According to a press release, Badger Fuel is closing its doors, effective immediately. Alaska Aerofuel will assume both their residential and commercial fuel deliveries. Current customers are advised to call the Badger Fuel office @ 907.488.8500 with bililng and/or account questions and Dave Binkley at Alaska Aerofuel @ 907.474.0062 for information about delivery questions.
In the past several years the Fairbanks real estate market has been truly bullish. Home prices had been on a steady upward march with no apparent end in sight. August 2006 saw the beginning of a softening market; home prices in the $300K+ market slowed somewhat and in the year since the slowdown has affected nearly every segment of the market from new construction to existing homes both in Fairbanks and the surrounding areas.
If you’re getting ready to sell your property you’ve undoubtedly heard the media tout the importance of “being priced right”. This is in fact absolutely critical. The question is… what’s “priced right?” The truth is that in a softening market you have to price your home ahead of the curve which can mean being anywhere from 2-5% (or more) less than the last sold comparable property.
The typical homeowner will contact several Realtors to interview and ask them to provide a brokers opinion of value. Some Realtors will oooh and aaah and tell you that you can really get $10,000 more than the same house down the street because you have a new dishwasher. If you’re lucky you’ll meet a Realtor that will say that while your home is lovely and has been well cared for, it might be necessary to price your home below the asking price of homes currently for sale and potentially below the last sold comparable property.
The Realtor will probably say “price the home below the sold comps.” Experience has taught me that most sellers will hear “your home is worth less than your neighbor’s.” When you hear that it will feel a little like the Realtor told you your home was a dump, your cooking is toxic and your children were ugly… all while kicking the family dog.
You’re going to instantly hate that Realtor. After the shock wears off your first instinct is going to be to toss the sorry no good so-and-so out on the street. I beg you to take a deep breath and fight the urge to go Chuck Norris on the Realtor who told you what you needed to hear rather than what you wanted to hear. The dynamics of a softening market are not affected by your decorating, your lifestyle, your personal self-worth, your personal finances or what you need or want to net on this particular sale.
In a softening market, home prices go down, not up. As a seller your biggest enemy isn’t the buyer who makes an offer under your asking price but rather time itself. Homes that languish on the market for six months or more will almost certainly sell for less than homes that sell in the first 30 days on the market.
All things being equal, in a softening market homes priced below the most recent sold comparable will sell quicker than those priced above the last sold comparable. Because the homes priced below the competition and the sold comparables, you will net more money at closing than sellers who overprice their homes and watch them sit on the market for months, making incremental price adjustments trying to attract buyers until desperation sets in. Factor in six months of mortgage payments, utilities and insurance and it’s easy to see why the ‘race to the bottom’ approach is a perfect way to give away equity.
Establishing a correct asking price is critical. With that in mind, do yourselves a favor and hire the Realtor that’s best qualified to sell your home and not the one that simply tells you what you want to hear.
We Must Never Forget
We Must Never Forget
On the 6th anniversary of one of our nations greatest tragedies I hope we can all take a moment today and remember the tragic events that unfolded that fateful morning. We are a country divided by political ideology... I hope for at least a few moments we can unite as a nation... as a country bound together by tragedy and remember those who are not longer with us as well as the men and women who toil daily to protect us from another such attack. God bless.
Oil Prices are Climbing Again...
Crude oil prices vaulted to a record high near $80 a barrel on Wednesday as dealers focused on tight inventories in top consumer the United States ahead of peak winter demand.
A rash of fires at BP's oil fields in Alaska's North Slope added to the record run, though BP said the accidents had minimal impact to production that was already being curtailed by routine maintenance. (Read More)
Alaska north slope crude closed at $78.73, up .74 cents from Monday. Here's an interesting article from the folks over at EIA. Nothing shocking of course but it certainly reinforces our need for energy independence. The weekly U.S. Gas Price Report can be found here.
Have You Got What It Takes?
So, you think you've got what it takes? All those hours spent watching Flip this House and The Real Estate Pros on TLC may have just paid off. I received this from a friend this morning... a friend who apparently has waaay too much time on his hands, but that aside I thought it was funny... how quickly can you make it in to the mansion? Enjoy :)
Sept. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke adopted the approach of his predecessor Alan Greenspan, reducing interest rates to pre-empt an economic slump rather than waiting for one to occur.
The Fed yesterday lowered its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point, surprising most economists and spurring the biggest rally in U.S. stocks since 2003. Policy makers said they based their decision on the ``potential'' for the sell-off in credit markets to hobble economic growth.
The cut may help alleviate the worst housing recession since 1991 and ease pressure on the Fed in Congress, where lawmakers had called for cheaper borrowing costs. The decrease may also quell criticism on Wall Street that Bernanke, 53, was slow to respond to stress in capital markets. Greenspan pared rates three times in 1998 as currency crises in emerging economies rippled across the globe.
The Federal Open Market Committee cut the federal funds rate, which banks charge each other for overnight loans, to 4.75 percent, against the expectations of 105 of the 134 forecasters in a Bloomberg News survey. The Fed said in its statement that it ``will act as needed to foster price stability and sustainable economic growth.'' The Fed also reduced the rate it charges banks for direct loans by half a point, to 5.25 percent. (Read More)
August 19, 2007
Nearly every Alaskan will soon be receiving a check for $1,654, their share of the state’s oil riches, Gov. Sarah Palin announced Wednesday. The dividend checks are derived from the state’s oil royalty investment program and distributed each year to eligible residents - just for living here one full calendar year.
Slightly more than 600,000 men, women and children in 248 communities will receive the dividend this year, according to the Revenue Department. The state’s estimated population is just over 670,000 people.
Anyone who has lived in Alaska for a full calendar year can apply for the money - including children. Of those receiving checks this year, about 41 percent - or 244,695 of the state’s residents - were born in Alaska. (Read More)
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Jesse & Kathy Clifton, Spouses Selling Houses Jesse Clifton Real Estate, LLC dba Carriage House Realty 410 Dunkel Street Fairbanks, Alaska 99701 Direct: 907.699.6024 Fax: 866.421.4339
