Reporting Home Sales and Buying Booze on Election Day

The Idaho Statesman has a roundup of major legislation passed by the Idaho State Legislature this spring, including new regulations (supported by the Real Estate Commission) on reporting real estate sales.

What do you think of this juicy peice of legislation?

Idahoans can now run to the bottle shop on election days, after the Legislature narrowly passed House Bill 348, which did away with a nearly 70-year-old ban on Election Day liquor sales. The ban was originally aimed at keeping shady operators from plying people with liquor in exchange for giving their vote to a particular candidate.

Narrowly passed? Hmmm...

In Case You Missed It...

The Idaho Statesman reported on the most recent MLS data--home sales up, inventory high, etc. But there are a couple of really interesting paragraphs tucked into the article.

Boise economist John Church, who predicted two years ago that the exodus to Canyon County would reverse itself as gas prices continued upward, said the influx of new Ada County residents will mean renewed interest in Downtown living.

In 2006, over 36,000 residents worked in the greater downtown Boise area (see this). Imagine the positive impact on the environment, traffic flow and the housing market if even a tenth of those workers opted to live downtown somewhere...like in the newly completed Grand Avenue development adjacent to the Linen District (pictured above).

There is a brief mention of the impact of short sales on housing inventory. Our team alone currently has three short sales listed and we just closed on another. Yes, they're a lot of work but if they go through, they're worth avoiding forclosure for. (Visit http://www.boise-short-sales.com/ for answers about short sales.)

The bottom line is, there are a lot of external factors affecting the market. PLaying the guessing game before waiting to buy probably isn't wise. Interest rates are low now, but in an effort to help reduce the price of gas and prop up the dollard, the FED could raise rates any day.

Kiplinger Smooches Boise: No. 4, Baby

Kiplinger.com named Boise #4 out of Ten Best Cities to Live, Work and Play.

Almost more interesting than their assesment of the city, is how they determined which ones made the list:

We relied on key numbers such as population growth, percentage of workforce in the creative class, income growth, median growth and cost of living to choose our Best Cities for 2008. But these are only a fraction of the factors we considered. We know that you're a well-educated bunch who appreciate economic opportunities and a high quality of life and put a premium on managing money responsibly -- so cost of living is a priority.

Here are some things they said about Boise that jumped out at us:

How do folks get any work done around here? The skiing, snowboarding, fishing, biking and kayaking in and around Boise are an almost irresistible temptation to desert your desk. Glance northward from the city's orderly downtown business and shopping district, and the majestic slopes of the Boise foothills beckon.

"The city has evolved into a magnet for the arts..." [s]ays Susan Thayer, who relocated four years ago from Albany, Ore., to run sales for Episciences, which makes Epionce skin products.

...the area also cradles smaller technology and e-commerce firms, which come to make the most of low business costs -- about a third less than in California or Washington.

Employers know they'll find a high proportion of college graduates here (37%, compared with the national average of 27%) and that new hires will find plenty of affordable housing.

The average work commute is 18 minutes.

You can watch their walking tour of Boise, but it is a huge disappointment. Their reporter apparently never left the downtown/North End Boise area. She even points to a couple of homes in that area to give you an idea of "Boise home prices!" A word to our out-of-town buyers: if you are looking at homes in the North End to help you determine home prices as a gauge to making a decision about relocating, you should know those are generally the most expensive houses per square foot in the whole city.

For more Boise kudos, read this post.

As part of the information we send to out-of-town buyers, we created a document called "Why You Should Move to Boise." Email us if you want a copy.

What is a Remodeling Project Worth in Boise? (Cost vs. Value)

The 2007 Cost versus Value report has been out, and we haven't linked to it! (If you were on our snail-mail list, you woulc have gotten it in March.) We've been remiss.

Here's the link for the full report.

What you can recoup for a remodeling project depends heavily upon the real estate market and prevailing property values. In a slower market expect to see less payback than you would in a “fast” market.

Also consider the neighborhood: if you remodel your house to twice the size of the other homes on the block, it’s unlikely you will be able to sell at double the price. To add to Leigh's post below, also consider home buyer trends (which are, in turn, influenced by externals like the economy).

Here's another 1-page article (PDF alert!) graphs what they call "the demand for smart growth." Consider: "The weight of evidence from survey research—combined with home-buying trends—suggests a fundamental shift in favor of compact living." Think twice before you build large.

Click here to get a quick view of the best and worst remodeling projects in Boise and their cost versus value compared to national averages.

Now You Can Subscribe to this Blog via Email!

We've been blogging longer than most Boise agents, but it took us while to get syndication tools put together for our readers.

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, and it just a super-duper, simple way to "subscribe" to your favorite websites that offer frequently updated content...like blogs do. To wrap your mind around it a little more, read this Wikipedia entry.)

It took some tweaking, since this is a custom design, but thanks to intrepid web designer Julie Neidlinger, we now have the RSS Feed available for Boise's Best Real Estate Blog.

Additionally, we've made it possible for you to subscribe by email. Yes--by email. Thank you, Feedblitz.

Notice that at the bottom of every post, you now have Email Subscription or RSS Subscription choices. So if you're tired of trying to remember to visit the blog, just subscribe via email, and we'll let you know whenever we post something new.

As always, thanks for reading!

Changing the Value of Your Home (for Better or Worse). Isn't this Common Sense?

Title One sent us some links last week (thank you). One of them is this article, 20 things that can alter the value of your home.

I know sellers are looking for ideas to add value to their homes, but some of these suggestions are just common sense. For example, this article lists things like an updated kitchen, curb appeal and good windows. That's if you want LOOKERS, friends. If your house is falling apart, dirty, or stuck in 1901 then don't expect to get showings.

But I question making improvements to your home that include "a well-appointed master suite," ("a luxurious bathroom, lounging areas and walk-in closets") or a "modern bath" with a spa. Yes, I suppose those are ideal and might play a factor in how much you actually GET for your house. BUT...

There is an important factor at work today that might have been overlooked in the heady days of the housing boom, and it's taking a while to trickle down to the real estate "how to" articles!

That is: buyers are tightening their belts. Ridiculously high gas prices, fears about the economy in general and the housing market in particular will translate into buyers choosing (potentially smaller) homes closer to work and school--and this means becoming less picky about what kind of tub the home offers! Consider this article at Kitchen and Bath Design News.

...homeowners are making certain concessions in design choices and product selection based on prevailing market conditions, a major new survey concludes.

Bathrooms also increased in number and size within homes, according to residential architects, but by a smaller share than a year ago...

“In general, we’ve seen less emphasis on upper-end features in homes as the housing market has cooled, and bathroom characteristics may be a reflection of this trend,” [chief economist for the Washington, DC-based AIA, Kermit] Baker says.

On the sustainable front, water-saving toilets were reported by a majority of respondents as growing in popularity, as was LED lighting.

Multi-head showers remain very popular, apparently at the expense of soaking tubs, steam showers and infrared saunas, each of which is reported to have limited popularity. Other traditional upper-end products, such as towel warming drawers and double-sink vanities, are reported to have limited popularity at present.

That article hints at another trend you should take into account: greener, energy efficient homes. Replacing light bulbs, faucets, toilets and shower heads with more energy efficient alternatives--what an easy, relatively inexpensive thing to do! And when it comes time to sell, you can highlight these "perks."

Is the Sky Falling?

We don't think so. But maybe you feel like it is.

Even for those of us who are not home shopping, there is still anxiety about falling home prices, foreclosures, and mortgage industry woes.

Those anxieties can become self-fulfilling prophecies and can actually affect the market!

Don't spend your time worrying about the worst case scenario or what might happten.

Instead, educate yourself.

If it’s a market update, advice on remodeling, investment property listings—whatever—just email us and we’ll send you the report you need.

Ask us for an update of the area's inventory of active, pending and sold properties.

Or request a copy of our new, comprehensive Foreclosure & Short Sale Packet

Whatever you do, don't be motivated by fear.
Take control of your financial future.

PS: these reports are free and are ALWAYS no-obligation. We'd rather have you educated and using the Realtor of your choice than doing nothing because you were worried about "strings attached."

An Open Letter to Our Clients About Online Advertising

Like many real estate teams, we post our listings on a variety of third-party websites, some of which are free (CraigsList), others of which we have paid for (BoiseHomeSites.com or Homethinking, for example). As the number of third-party websites has grown at an unprecedented rate, we are now more informed and a lot less pleased with where and how your listing is being displayed.

Here are a few of the problems we've run into.

(a) Listings are sometimes duplicated,
(b) frequently display incorrect or insufficient information, or
(c) are being attributed to agents other than the listing agent.

Zillow is one of the worst offenders, albeit inadvertently. Though it may offer some buyers a real service, it also does them a disservice. (Read this Wall Street Journal article.) Zillow maintains a database of properties in most major real estate markets. They gather data on properties from county assesor records and make it available on their website, regardless of whether or not that property is for sale.

Unfortunately tax records are all over the map. This Sellsius thread would make anyone shy away from Zillow! We've had problems with incorrect information, and while we've corrected is, Zillow displays the assessor's information AND ours, which is terribly confusing and, in my judgement, might cause a potential buyer to skip the property or question the listing agent's credibility.

(On the plus side, any home that is already in Zillow, you can brand it as being for sale.)

Google Base is another headache. Long story short: Keller Williams syndicates our listings to Google Base...but so do other offices. While Google acknowledges that they receive listing submissions from multiple sites (and even provide an inconspicuous link to "All Sources"), the inherent concern remains: Listings may be branded to other agents, which is not unusual in the industry (elsewhere dependent upon a mutual agreement), but violations are harder to identify and report.

Homescape and IdahoHomeSpot are a couple of other third-party sites that we've wrangled with. Of the sites where our listings are syndicated, Trulia has been remarkably accurate and easy to use.

To avoid confusion, we've begun monitoring these third-party sites, reviewing our listings and trying to fix errors. We also provide a disclaimer in our listing packet.

It seems everyone is getting into the real estate marketing biz! While Google Base, Trulia and others want to "connect users as quickly as possible with the information they need," there are going to be problems. We'll do the best we can to troubleshoot. But bear with us.

Tips for Buying in a Down Market

A contributor at Bankaholic.com sent us a link to this article with some advice on buying in a down market.

Boise, Idaho hasn't been hit as hard as some markets, but the gist of this article (do your due dilligence and live within your means) is applicable anytime.

Remember--you have options!

Foreclosures on the Rise in Ada County

Loan default filings kept rising in March in Ada and Canyon counties, IdahoDataProviders.com reported. Ada County one-month totals increased almost every month during 2007, starting with 85 in January and ending with 190 defaults filed in December, IdahoDataProviders principal Charlie Nate said in a release. The growth trend continues, as the March total reached 245 in 2008, up 147 percent from March 2007, he said.

Courtesy of Idaho Business News.

We've talked at length with our clients about options to avoid going into foreclosure, which is so damaging to a homeowner's credit (not to mention the psychological toll it takes). Unfortunately many homeowners don't know there are options!

The bank REALLY does not want your home back and makes great efforts in working with homeowners, through real estate professionals, to find a win-win for both parties. In recent months, the banks have been taking substantially lower payoffs to avoid both parties going through the foreclosure process.

We know that “stuff” happens and because someone has housing struggles, it doesn’t mean they’re a bad person or did anythingwrong. Let us help you understand the process and your options.

We do more than help homeowners in distress. WE CARE. PLEASE speak to us or another real estate professional about your options before you allow your home to go into foreclosure.