Trends in 2013

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As your real estate resource center, we’re committed to keeping you up to date on changes in the market—and what they mean to you.  There’s reason to believe the real estate market is poised for strong growth in 2013.  I recently attended a “State of Real Estate” conference that featured a lot of positive news.  Here I’ll give you a brief synopsis. 

The market hit bottom in the beginning or middle of 2012.  Currently, the local inventory is 3.5 months, meaning that if you put your home on the market it would take on average 3.5 months to sell if you position it properly and if it’s priced at less than $500,000.  Most homes are selling in a week and getting multiple offers.  As far as prices go, the median price is $260,000.  As median price points go up, inventory goes up as well. 

What does this mean for the buyer?  When a home that you’re interested in hits the market, plan to see it as soon as possible and make the best possible offer that’s at an appropriate price point for the seller.  Remember, homes are moving quickly.  If you hesitate, the property could be gone tomorrow because others will be making offers.    

Now let’s break down the market.  Most of the sales—63%—are equity sales, 24% are short sales, and 12% are REO's Bank-owned sales, but this number is dwindling, which is positive.  The reason?  Short sales are easier to do because the banks today are much more responsive to us and our clients, so these sales are getting done a lot quicker. 

If we look over the past seven years, buyer confidence is definitely at an all-time high and, thankfully, mortgage rates remain historically low.  The mood is great!  And for the most part, sellers have lowered their expectations to be more consistent with the market so we’re seeing a lot of movement. 

For those looking to sell a home for more than $500,000, it will take longer than 3.5 months.  Sales are slow in the high-end market.   Based on the current inventory, homes in the $600,000 to $800,000 range is six months; $800,000 to $1.2 million is 18 months; $1.2 million to $3 million is 24 months; and above $3 million is two to five years.  So if you’re considering selling a luxury home, be realistic with your expectations of the market and price your home to sell, not just to list.  If you are patient, you will sell your property and can reinvest in a great opportunity on the purchase side. 

To build a strategy to market your home or find the home of your dreams, please contact me at (760) 774-0105 or dave@teamkibbey.com.  We’d be happy to assist you.

How Market Stats Can Help You

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As we move into the busier time of year in terms of real estate, I see more and more people interested in buying and selling homes. Even still, there is much trepidation after the past several years and finally coming out of what had been a tough roller coast ride for the housing industry.

By arming yourself with the knowledge needed to make important decisions, you will position yourself to understanding the local marketplace which will ultimately help you to know things like home values, inventory levels and more.

Visit www.desertestatehomes.com, click on the link near the bottom of the screen that says “Market Snapshot” then simply enter in your specific information. You will instantly receive a market statistics report geared toward your own neighborhood. With data on things like the number of days on market before homes sell, value trends, the number of homes available for sale plus pricing – you can gain perspective when buying or selling. 

For a more customized evaluation of your home if you are considering putting your home on the market, we invite you to contact us and we’ll prepare a detailed report about homes just like yours as well as evaluate your property.

Buyers can of course benefit from our experience dealing with countless homes that have come and gone off the market.

Call us today at 760-340-9253 or email dave@teamkibbey.com.

We look forward to serving you and making your real estate goals become a reality!

Be Un-Emotional When Buying a Home In Order to Get the Best Value!

 

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Want to break your heart and your bank account at the same time? Then buy a new home based on the fact that you've fallen in love with it!

Needless to say, you should never do this!

In some cases, when you fall in love with the "pretty face" of a house, you fail to look underneath and find problems like bad wiring, leaky roofs, bad foundations, etc. This is an extremely expensive way to buy a home!

A funny and sad example of this is shown in the 1986 film, The Money Pit, starring Tom Hanks and Shelley Long. They make the mistake of falling in love with a home and think they're getting a $1,000,000 property for only $200,000.

Once they get into the home, they find out it'll cost a million to repair it! It has wood rot, a bad roof, bad plumbing, bad electricity, even bad raccoons!

Well, that's Hollywood exaggeration, of course. After all, The Money Pit was a comedy. But, when things like that happen to you, it's no joke. Repairs can cost you a lot of money and heartache, not to mention dangerously rising blood pressure!

So, again, never ever fall in love with a house at first sight! Easier said than done, you say? How do you avoid this tendency? Below, I offer some solutions to the problem!

Solutions 1: Get Cold Hard Facts about the Home!

When I talk about "cold, hard facts," I'm talking about getting the house evaluated by a certified home inspector.

It's well worth the money to have this job done because the inspector will cast the objective eye you lack on the property. He or she will evaluate every aspect of a house - roof, plumbing, wiring, foundation, etc.

And then, that inspector will provide you with a written report that may range anywhere from 20 to 50 pages. It will give you a point-by-point summary of what needs to be corrected.

The cost of a home inspection varies with the region of the country. Nationally, they range from $200 to $400. But, for the investment of, say, $200, you prevent yourself from losing thousands of dollars in repairs in two ways.One, you can simply walk away from the deal. Or, two, you can require that seller fix all items before you sign a contract!


Solution 2: Cool Off and Take Your Time!

Infatuation with a home is fun and exciting, and you can have the overwhelming temptation to buy an attractive home practically "on the spot."

My advice - walk away and come back several hours later, especially after you've viewed other properties! By then, it's likely you'll have a more objective eye.

Solution 3: Keep It Simple!

By this I mean that you should stick within your price range. You want the best hom e at the best price within your means! So, if you see an outwardly gorgeous home at, say, $10,000 above your price limit, say, "I love you, but you're way too pricey for me!" and walk away from the temptation!

Solution 4: Rely on Your Realtor!

At heart, I and other professional realtors like me, want you to have a home that meets your needs in the best way possible. That means preventing you from buying a home that's in substandard shape and/or beyond your means.

To be perfectly blunt about it, I rely on great word of mouth from satisfied customers to make the most of my real estate career. So, you have my promise that I'll do my absolute best to get you into the house of your affordable dreams!

Need that objective eye to help you make a smart home-buying decision? Contact us today.

Turning a New Leaf for the New Year Coming Ahead

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Wow! Did we ever have a fantastic year in 2012! And it was almost as if it were against all odds, with the way the national housing market and economy has been lately. But we have an interesting run with many buyers enjoying the marketplace and many sellers seeing viable returns on their home sale as well.

2012 Was a Great Year!

The Dave Kibbey Team this year will close on a total of more than 80 properties in 2012 with a sales total amount exceeding $30 million. We look forward to the coming year and anticipate much activity on both the buying and selling sides of the fence.

Lots of Real Estate Activity Expected in 2013

There has been much pent up demand given the election from just a couple months ago and also the state of our economy – so we feel there will be a significant increase in real estate activity come spring time and beyond. In fact, high-end properties will likely also pick up in our marketplace.

There are some changes that we are not entirely sure of yet, however, such as changes in tax cuts and also some government programs that do not appear to be extended past 2012 (for example the Debt Forgiveness Mortgage Relief Act). To learn more, contact one of our team members today.

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As always, we invite you to contact us with all your real estate needs – whether buying, selling or investing in a properties. We look forward to helping you achieve your real estate goals in the coming year!