Archive for March, 2009
Monday, March 30th, 2009
With all the choices in today’s market, how do you go about finding the right home? It seems the more research you do, the more alternatives you discover.
It’s important to visualize your needs and plan ahead. Know what you want in a home, what’s important to you, and what you can live without. Many of us start out with a champagne taste and a beer pocketbook, so it’s important to be realistic.
Where and what you buy will affect you for as long as you live in the house. If you are having a tough time getting your priorities in order, talk to us to help you prioritize.
For first-time home buyers this is a new experience, so it’s especially important to do your homework. But if you currently own a home, you know exactly what’s lacking. You may need another bedroom or bathroom, or a good school nearby.
First, decide where you want to live. Routt County covers a lot of territory, but it’s not to say you can’t live in one corner of the County and work in the other. It’s more common than one may think. Initially, people think the roads are always bad in the winter, but realistically, there are only a handful of days when the roads are treacherous. And when they are, you just have to learn to take your time. Regardless to what location you decide, you should practice the commute before you make a commitment. Weather not only also plays an important role in commuting decisions, but also for the lifestyle. Northern Routt county and the areas surrounding Steamboat Lake receive the most snow, followed by Steamboat Springs and then South Routt. However, the further west you go, the more you reduce elevation, precipitation and increase temperature: providing less snow to shovel during the winter and more of a variety of vegetables to grow in your garden during the summer.
People with children have other major considerations: school and apre’s school. If you have active kids who like to be involved with after school activities, a location closer to their school should be a definite consideration.
As mentioned earlier, lifestyle is an important consideration. People who frequently dine out, socialize and like to attend all of the great events Steamboat Springs offers are probably better off in town. In other words, make sure you’re in close proximity to the things that matter most.
It used to be that homes came in a limited variety, but today, you have many choices. In addition to the traditional single-family home, you can buy a townhouse or condominium.
In Routt County, you can find almost any combination anywhere. But whatever you decide to purchase, make sure the rules and regulations, as well as the by-laws, match your lifestyle. This type of housing is great for people who want to own their own space without being responsible for mowing the lawn or repairing the roof; a management company most likely will handle that, giving you more freedom to enjoy the Steamboat lifestyle.
On the other hand, you’ll pay fees for these services. In addition to checking the documents and financial soundness of the homeowner’s association, you must determine if the monthly fees are worth the services and additional amenities such as a swimming pool or exercise room.
Affordability can be a factor not only in the type of housing, but whether it’s a new or an existing home. Old houses often have fine woodwork or interesting nooks and crannies not normally found in new homes. They generally sit on smaller landscaped lots with mature trees and grown bushes.
New homes may cost more, but you can make many more decisions on amenities, colors, carpeting and fixtures. Make sure you’re dealing with a reputable builder, and have an attorney review all documents.
Selecting a real estate professional is the important first step when beginning your search. As exclusive buyer brokers, the professionals at Buyer’s Resource sit by the side of our clients throughout the entire process. Our business model is that of counselors, not salespeople, for all that we do is help our clients determine the type of property they want to own, exhaust the market to locate that type of property, provide the due diligence to make sure it is the type of property they want to own, and help them negotiate the lowest price and best terms on the property of their desires. Give us a call today to begin your Steamboat Springs real estate purchase in the right direction!
Tags: steamboat property search, steamboat real estate, steamboat springs mls
Posted in Buying Tips, Exclusive Buyer Agency & Consumer Protection | No Comments »
Friday, March 27th, 2009
The old adage “There’s no time like the present” might not first come to mind when looking at today’s Steamboat Springs housing market. But these homespun words of wisdom are quite appropriate when a closer look is given. I would like to point out these favorable factors that can contribute to making this, for many consumers, a most opportune time to buy a home:
• Inventory is up. When the market is hot, new listings can’t replenish the supply of homes fast enough, and that works in the sellers’ favor. In today’s market, the opposite is true, providing more choices for buyers.
• Sellers are motivated. Homes that in a hot market would have been snapped up in days are now lingering unsold for weeks, even months. Factor in bank-owned properties due to the recent and unfortunate spike in foreclosures and buyers find themselves in an advantageous negotiating position they haven’t enjoyed for years.
• Interest rates are down. Recent cuts in the prime rate by the Federal Reserve have sparked drops in interest rates, which nearing the end of March are below 5 percent for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. While banks have tightened lending requirements in the wake of increased loan defaults, homebuyers with few credit problems qualifying to purchase a home they can afford should still have little trouble securing favorable financing terms.
What’s more, a market climate like this especially favors buyers who don’t need to sell an existing property before their purchase, buyers like first-timers and those looking for a second home. This tilts the scale even more towards many buyers.
I would also like to add more specific reasons why I feel the next few months will be the best time to buy Steamboat Springs real estate:
• Sellers typically stick closer to their price right before ski season because they know they will be able to receive the lion’s share of rental income within the next several months, and they will also be able to use it during ski season.
• Along with that, after just receiving the rental income, spring is the time of the year they are most motivated to sell because they have just captured the ski season revenue and are now looking at several months of carrying costs with no income.
• With ski season coming to an end, so will showings until July, which is when most brokers will begin to see activity pick back up. With a cover letter that I would include with the offer(s), I would certainly point this out (along with some of the other items I’ve outlined here).
• In several condominium complexes there could be two or more similar units for sale and within the same price range. They will be fighting over the same buyer. Should one of those go under contract, then the remaining one would be the only other choice for the second buyer coming in. If that is the case, the buyer of the second would not have as much leverage as if there were two to choose. Furthermore, I would imagine the first property to go under contract would be the most desirable from a buyer’s perspective due to the fact that a deal was made.
• Our office web site had a record number of hits in February and March, and showings are beginning to pick up for us. In fact, this was the busiest Jan / Feb / March I have had (I think I made it to four drop-in hockey sessions all winter.). I’m hoping this continues and we would have a pretty active summer.
But regardless of the situation, for every buyer, the key is to work with a real estate professional that knows the Steamboat Springs real estate market and specializes in representing buyers.
Give us a call / email today!
Tags: bottom of the market, buying steamboat springs real estate, steamboat springs real estate
Posted in Buying Tips, Exclusive Buyer Agency & Consumer Protection | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009
It is difficult to believe that all of the mortgages that started this economic mess were, in actuality, such a small portion of the overall real estate market. The Wall Street Journal, Moody’s Economy.com, Reatly Trac, the National Association of REALTORS and Forbes site some interesting facts…
There are 76 million households in the US that own their home and 24 million of these are free and clear of any mortgage (31%).
There are 52 million homes with mortgages and 97.2% of these are not in foreclosure, 93.8% of these homes are current on their payments!
More than 1,000 banks closed in 1930. Only 14 US banks were taken over in 2008.
Interest rates are at historic lows. Lower rates mean greater buying power!
The new $8,000 tax credit is now available for first time homebuyers (defined as someone who has not owned a home in the past three years), making homeownership even more attractive.
Specific to Steamboat Springs real estate, there has never been a better selection of properties to choose from.
On a percentage basis, sellers of Steamboat Springs real estate are taking less on a percentage basis off of their list price than ever before!
The downtown and ski base area revitalization will improve the “Steamboat Lifestyle” even more.
Have we reached the bottom of the market? Some indications are that we have. The trouble is, we won’t know exactly when it hits until after the fact.
It is never too late to begin your search. Give us a no-obligation call today to discuss the many opportunities that exist when purchasing a Steamboat condo, home, town home, ranch or land parcel.
Tags: Financing, mortgages, steamboat real estate
Posted in Steamboat Springs Real Estate - General Information | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009
When is the bottom of the market? Yes, these are interesting times we live in and we all wish we had the crystal ball to peer into to answer this question. Does the recent two week Stock Market surge indicate that we have hit bottom or is this just a teaser? As consumers we are feeling particularly sensitive to our losses that all of us have incurred over the past year and we feel taken advantage of. Going forward we also know that we will again invest in a variety of commodities including stocks and Real Estate. What we don’t want to have happen is invest too early. Or do we? What is the worst case scenario, investing too early or too late? Most experts (is there such a person anymore?) tell us that once the market begins to rebound it will do so very quickly and without notice. Real Estate values in Steamboat Springs have fallen somewhere between 5% and 15% depending on the market segment. When compared to the 52% + drop in stocks this seems relatively little but it can still hurt. If we look at what we can predict it may help to make a decision. We do know that historically we have had the ability to rebound from various market tragedies and, in every case, come out stronger than before. We also know that Seller’s are motivated and will look at almost any offer as well as get creative in finding alternatives in selling their property. Yes, we may still see some additional devaluation but the one thing we certainly don’t want to do is miss the opportunity. This is a perfect time in Steamboat Springs Real Estate to locate a property (or properties) and negotiate a deal that will leave you with a property that you can enjoy as well as bring you a great return on your investment in the not too distant future.
Posted in Buying Tips | No Comments »
Sunday, March 22nd, 2009
By Susana
Yesterday I shared with you, here on our homepage, the Steamboat Springs real estate sales’ numbers from January 1st 2009 to March 21, 2009 (post can be found in our Blog). To compare it to this same period in 2008 and 2007, the Total Sales, Sales Pending and New Listings numbers look like this:
2009 2008 2007
Total Sales: 38 133 207
Sales Pending: 29 6 3
New Listings: 332 51 7
Is there any question that this is a buyer’s market? The numbers are all inverted, meaning there is a lot of available inventory to pick from, and for the most part you can take your time looking, analyzing and selecting the property which best suit your needs. The best terms can also be had now because of the historically, incredibly low mortgage rates, in addition to many sellers being willing to be flexible and creative with terms such as move-in dates, covering repair of inspection items, etc. And now, regarding getting the property at the best price? What if we look at what a home sold for, compared to what the asking, or list, price was?
_________________________________________________________________________________
2009 HIGH LOW AVERAGE MEDIAN TOTAL $ LISTING#
LIST $: $4,200,000, $42,500, $670,390, $399,250, $25,474,820 38
SOLD $: $4,100,000, $40,000, $624,318, $370,000, $23,724,120
DOM: 718 24 240 204
Sold/List $: 98% 94% 93% 93% 93%
________________________________________________________________________________________
2008
LIST $: $5,850,000, $10,000, $646,041, $385,000, $85,923,500 133
SOLD $: $5,400,000, $8,000, $616,983, $374,900, $82,058,833
DOM: 1756 0 265 127
Sold/List $: 92% 80% 96% 97% 96%_________________________________________________________________________________________
2007
LIST $: $5,000,000, $25,500, $579,572, $365,000, $119,971,423 207
SOLD $: $4,375,000, $21,000, $558,575, $357,500, $115,625,142
DOM: 1004 0 179 102
Sold/List $: 88% 82% 96% 98% 96%
____________________________________________________________________
If I ignore the fluctuations of the highest and lowest priced properties, I can see that the average home, which sold for 96% of the asking price in both 2007 and 2008, dropped only 3%, to 93%, this year. The median dropped 4 to 5%, and the total again only 3%. And when you look at the actual average and median prices, you see that they have increased each year! So yes, total transaction numbers have dropped tremendously (207 transactions down to 38), as well as total sales in dollars ($116K down to $24K), but average prices have gone up ($559K to $624K), as well as median price (358K to 370K). Bottom line: Lots of properties to choose from, great mortgage rates if you can qualify, or maybe you have cash, and although prices have been rising it does show that Steamboat real estate prices have been, so far, recession proof. Or, others could argue that the prices are unrealistically high, given the economic pulse, and that is why so few have sold. Will they stay that way, or start dropping? You’ll have to stay tuned! Our take: We’re expecting to see some price drops, at least until the market turns around, at which point prices will be heading back up. P.S. If you noticed and are wondering why the most expensive properties had so many days on the market (DOM), they were all new-construction spec homes, which were listed maybe even before they broke ground, and didn’t go under contract until they were closer to their completion date.
Posted in Market Trends, Real Estate Opportunities, Stagecoach / Oak Creek / Yampa / Phippsburg / South Rou, Steamboat Condominiums, Steamboat Lake / Clark / Columbine / Han's Peak / North, Steamboat Single Family Homes, Steamboat Springs Real Estate - General Information, Steamboat Town Homes, Supply & Demand, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Sunday, March 22nd, 2009
By Susana
It seems like every day a friend is asking me: “Are any homes even selling in Steamboat?”
And what do I tell them? Yes, homes are selling, but not a lot.
We’ve seen a lot of activity as far as showing people properties, and have heard that other agencies are doing the same, so people are looking. And folks are looking for serious deals, of which we don’t have a lot; Steamboat’s home owners, knock on wood, have not been forced into foreclosures, for the most part.
So, what’s selling, exactly? I thought I’d take a close look at all of the “Solds” since January 1st of this year.
On January 1st there were 758 residential properties on the market in Routt County. Since then, 38 have sold. And while those 38 were selling, an additional 332 new listings came on the market! I don’t even think I want to do the math on that one! And 29 homes are currently under contract (pending).
Of the 38 that sold in the past 2.5 months, the breakdown looks like this:
·9 Timeshare/Fractional
(All at the Ski Area base)
·9 Townhomes in Steamboat
(2 in the Fish Creek Area and 7 in the Mountain Area)
·6 Condos in Steamboat
(3 Downtown and 3 in the Mountain Area)
·6 Single Family Homes in Steamboat
(3 Downtown, 2 in the Mountain Area, and 1 in the South Valley)
·4 Single Family Homes in Oak Creek/Stagecoach
·3 Single Family Homes in Hayden
·1 Single Family Home in North Routt
Tomorrow I’ll share with you, here, what the homes sold for and how the final sales prices compared to the asking prices. So stay tuned!
Posted in Market Trends, Real Estate Opportunities, Steamboat Springs Real Estate - General Information, Supply & Demand | No Comments »
Friday, March 20th, 2009
If you are looking for a great lot price and a great location, a new listing just came up today at The Range.
Located within Wildhorse Meadows, this property is ready to build at a very attractive price (actually below what the owner paid for it in March of 2007!). It is also located within easy walking distance to the new gondola, which is scheduled to be built this summer.
This lot offers panoramic views up to the Steamboat Springs Ski Area, Emerald Mountain and the South Valley including the Flat Top Mountains. It also borders open space and is steps to the tennis center, athletic fields, the Strings in the Mountains Event Center and more. Owners will also be able to enjoy all of the proposed amenities that Wildhorse Meadows will have to offer, including The Ranch House, Wildhorse Athletic Club, Steamboat Country Store, a walking and biking trail system, neighborhood parks and the higly anticipated Wildhorse Gondola.
Originally purchased for $540,000, it is now offered at $495,000. There is already a spec home being built in this neighborhood for $3,295,000!
This property will not last long. If you would like additional information, please give us a call today!
Tags: steamboat land, steamboat lot, steamboat springs real estate
Posted in Luxury Real Estate, Steamboat Land | No Comments »
Thursday, March 19th, 2009
When buying Steamboat Springs real estate, almost every property is subject to a rules and regulations involving a homeowners association (HOA). It is important for an owner to know what is involved with the association.
HOA’s dictate how the property can be used and enjoyed via a set of HOA documents. These need to be carefully reviewed, as they could be in direct conflict with the very reason a buyer may want to use the property. Furthermore, if the association has annual meetings, request and review the HOA meeting minutes from the last two years, as well as the HOA budget. This gives the buyer a good idea of the pulse of the association, points of contention, and what potential capital improvements (additional costs) there could be in the near future.
When assisting clients in a purchase, as your exclusive buyer’s broker, we always keep an ear on the tracks to know the latest news on all of the HOA’s in Steamboat Springs, as well as reviewing these documents with our client and provide an opinion as to the health and vitality of the association.
Tags: homeowner associations, real estate buying tips, steamboat springs real estate
Posted in Buying Tips, Exclusive Buyer Agency & Consumer Protection | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009
By Doug
It may have taken a nationwide economic earthquake to wake up and shake up the real estate industry, but the exclusive buyer broker concept is beginning to get noticed more and more as consumers, legislators and the media alike recognize how the economy has gotten where it has, and with the assistance of traditional brokers. After all, if the consumer had a real estate broker looking out for their best interests, a better purchase would have been made, and some of the bad purchases that have caused the economic downturn would not have occurred.
Most recently, the New York Times ran an article on March 15 about the advantages of exclusive buyer brokerage. Below please find the article:
WHEN Henry Coupet started shopping for a home, agents at open houses tried to persuade him to snap up their listings.
“Their interest seemed to be more in the interest of the seller than my interest,” said Mr. Coupet, a quality assurance manager for an Internet advertising company.
Then, when he made an offer on a home and the agent rebuffed him, refusing to negotiate, Mr. Coupet became frustrated.
“Their interest was maximizing their profit,” he said.
So he redirected his search. He hired Ira Freireich, owner of Best Buyer’s Broker Realty in Malverne, to represent him for a $500 retainer plus a 2 percent commission. (For buyers’ brokers as for sellers’ brokers, the commission comes out of the proceeds of the sale at the closing.)
As the name of Mr. Freireich’s agency suggests, he works exclusively on the buyer’s behalf. Traditionally, a real estate agent’s fiduciary responsibility is to the seller.
“He knew what I was willing to pay and he knew what I could afford and he aggressively negotiated on my behalf,” Mr. Coupet said. In October he paid $472,000 for a three-bedroom two-and-a-half-bath Cape in New Hyde Park, which had been listed for $530,000. “He definitely got the ball rolling.”
Mr. Freireich said demand for his services started to swell about a year ago.
“It’s always advantageous for the buyers to have their own representation,” he said. “If you were getting a divorce, would you ever use your spouse’s attorney?”
He added that when buyers ask a seller’s agent questions, “they are getting the answer the sellers want them to hear.”
Although buyers’ agents are relatively rare on the Island, a growing number of house shoppers are seeking an equal level of representation.
What they need to know going in, said Frank Urso, president of the Multiple List Service of Long Island, is that unless the broker and the buyer sign an agency disclosure contract specifying their relationship, it cannot be binding.
“The broker that has the listing is always working for the seller and his agents are working for the seller,” Mr. Urso said.
Nick Gigante, broker-owner of Re/Max Shores in Massapequa and Oceanside, pointed out that once a buyer and a broker were formally in a relationship, the broker was at liberty to furnish privileged information, about things like the seller’s financial situation. “Of course, the buyer wants to know that stuff,” Mr. Gigante said.
At the same time, a buyer’s broker is prohibited from disclosing to a seller that the buyer can, or will, pay more than what has been offered.
Brokers who represent both sellers and buyers, known as dual-agency brokers, “maximize their income but shortchange both buyer and seller clients,” said John Sullivan, president of the National Association of Exclusive Buyers’ Agents, which includes about 200 realty brokerage firms and about 480 exclusive buyer agents.
To “eliminate conflict of interest,” exclusive buyers’ agents do not take listings — though increasingly agents in traditional real estate offices work both sides of the equation.
Frank DellAccio Jr., broker-owner of Century 21 AA Realty in Lindenhurst and Seaford, said that from 2007 to 2008 his firm had more than doubled the number of buyers being represented. Many are asking for agents to work as their advocates, providing data and comparable sales, negotiating the best price and terms, and helping evaluate financing options.
“Buyers feel more comfortable having someone represent them in the process,” Mr. DellAccio said. “It’s a natural.”
Another natural in a downtrodden inventory-laden market is that for brokers, snagging a buyer to represent has gained in allure. Bethany Marten, an exclusive buyer’s broker and founder of the Baldwin-based Home Buyers’ Resource Center, said that until the market turned south, most real estate agents “had zero interest in representing buyers.”
Before, she said, “listings were gold,” and agents “didn’t want to waste their time walking around with buyers.” But with inventories high and customers scarce, “buyers are the gold now.”
Listings cost time and money to market and often languish. “You don’t make money if you don’t have a buyer,” she pointed out.
Mr. Urso of the List Service of Long Island said he expected buyers’ brokers to be “more the norm in the next three to five years.”
Michael Frank, an assistant school principal in the market for a house, signed on last spring with Mr. Freireich’s agency. “I wanted to see the full slate of homes available,” Mr. Frank said. “If you are trying to buy a house through Century 21, they have a vested interest in selling you a Century 21 home.”
In August, after checking out only houses “with the right number of bedrooms and bathrooms” in the right school districts, Mr. Frank bought a three-bedroom Tudor in Valley Stream for $502,000. “They didn’t try and show us anything that was outside of what we asked for,” he said of Mr. Freireich’s agency.
It was also in August that Michael Daly gave up being a traditional broker, and working both sides of the fence, to run the North Haven-based True North Realty Associates, a brokerage exclusively for buyers. He said he found the switch had eliminated the “smoke and mirrors” and “dual-agency conflict that has caused so much mistrust among consumers and real estate agents.”
Whether you are seeking to buy a Steamboat Springs real estate property, or elsewhere, if you want the best representation available and an advocate looking out for your best interests all of the time, seek the assistance of an exclusive buyer’s broker. In Steamboat Springs, we are the only office that exclusively represents buyers!
Tags: consumer protection, exclusive buyer agency, steamboat real estate
Posted in Exclusive Buyer Agency & Consumer Protection | No Comments »
Monday, March 16th, 2009
This morning I was asked via email by a client who is looking for a single family home in Steamboat Sprigns. I thought his question was a good one and I could not only share it with you, but also my answer.
He writes: You focus a lot on $/sq ft but, thinking back, I remember our agent in COS (Colorado Springs) focusing on sales as a percent of asking price and most sales were going for 93-95% of asking price there. I was wondering if you had looked at sales as a percent of asking prices?
I give much more credibility to the ‘selling’ dollar per square foot than percent of asking price. The latter is based on a list price, which could be out of character for the market and only shows the relationship between what that particular property sold and its list price. What if the property is initially priced too high for the market (I’ve never seen that happen before) but then the seller ends up taking a price that was more reflective of the market. Looking at the sales to list percentage doesn’t necessarliy compare other like kind properties to help determine its market value. In other words…
A house could be listed for sale at $500,000 and say it sold at $450,000, which was fair market value. That means the property sold for 90% of list price. It could have been listed at $450,000 and sold for $450,000, equating to it selling at 100% of list. If the seller would have more appropriately priced his/her property to meet the current market in the first place, he/she should have listed it closer to market price, which would have equated to a higher sales to list percentage. It also may have reduced the time spent marketing the property and subsequent carrying costs. Consequently, this number is relatively arbitrary because the true value of a property is what it sells for, not the relationship between a list price and sales price. One thing that this number does show is market volatility.
In our quickly appreciating “seller’s market” in 2006 and 2007, sales prices were around 97% of list price, were sellers were sticking closer to the price they wanted to sell their properties for, and buyers were willing to pay those prices. However, in a “buyer’s market”, sellers are more flexible in their prices and a larger list price to sales price spread has been seen.
But to determine the value of an individual property, the best calculation is by taking like-kind properties that have sold to the subject property, and dividing the square footage into the price the property was purchased for. This number would give you a relative value of the property you’re looking to purchase, no matter what the size.
As an example, say a home in the same subdivision with similar quality sold only a month earlier for $500,000 and was 2,500 square feet. That property sold at $200 per square foot. The home you are looking at is 3,150 square feet, so its relative value is $630,000. Adjustments may be made for lot location, views, condition, quality, the length of time between the comparable property was sold, and so on. But this calculation is more useful in determining property value than going off of a sales to list percentage.
Once we locate the property of your dreams, we conduct our own comparative market analysis to determine the value of the property you want to own. One of the methods we use is a dollar per square foot calculation. As your exclusive buyer broker for Steamboat Springs real estate, we not only want to make sure you are buying the right property, but also the right property at the right price!
Tags: comparative market analysis, steamboat sprins real estate, valuing steabmboat springs property
Posted in Exclusive Buyer Agency & Consumer Protection, Steamboat Springs Real Estate - General Information | No Comments »
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Buyer's Resource of Steamboat
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