2007 June | Wasilla Real Estate News, Valley Market Real Estate

Archive for June, 2007

Rehab Loans in Wasilla and Palmer June 28th, 2007

Ugly house Sometimes you really like the house but it just needs a little TLC. It might be right where you want to live but the house just isn’t up to snuff.

Maybe the house needs a new roof, or some foundation work, or just new paint and carpet.

Over the years I have done several of these transactions. They entail more work and more time but sometimes it’s really the only way to go.

This little yellow ranch style home is ideal for this loan. It needs some work on the logs above the foundation but I don’t know where you can find a house like this for $115,000. Especially in the great location it has.

As far as I know there is only one loan officer in the Wasilla/Palmer area that specializes in these types of loans. That would be:

Jo Oxentenko
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage
907 227–2362 (cell phone)
or send her an email

If there are others that specialize in these loans use the comment section and I will add you to the list.

By The Way…the house in the top photo is NOT a candidate for this loan. It has a date with a bulldozer.

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Housing Valuations and Predicting the Future June 26th, 2007

Categories: Wasilla Real Estate News

I recently discovered a report on House Valuations released by Global Insight. They use a somewhat complicated formula to determine over-valuation or under-valuation of house prices in 317 metro areas in the United States.

One of the several factors used is the average price of a home in an area compared to the average income. They also take into account the mortgage interest rates, population density, and something they call a constant.

The constant factors in the ratio a person would be willing to pay for housing in one area compared to another. For example, they determined that a person would be willing to pay a greater percentage of their monthly income to live in Hawaii rather than in Massachusetts.

This study has been published for about 6 years now and is a pretty solid predictor of areas where prices should drop. For example, most of the areas of the country where the over valuation of housing was seen as extreme last year, are experiencing price reductions this year. The extremely over-valued areas for the 1st quarter of 2007 are in red in the map. (click to expand).

Anchorage is seen as moderately over-valued at about 20% over-valuation. Compare that to Bend, Oregon, (78%). Or Prescott, AZ (64%).

Both the chart and the map are from House Prices In America by Global Insight. If you want a copy you will have to give them your name, address and phone number. But they don’t ask for your credit card!

I’m always a little hesitant about the results of a nationwide study when it is applied to Alaska. Alaska is so different that little glitches can throw the results way off. The only thing that might make a difference here is their use of density as one of their factors. Depending on where they drew the lines around Anchorage, the density factor could be unrealistic.

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Wasilla Real Estate News, Monday Morning Market Memo June 25, 2007 June 24th, 2007

Categories: Monday Market Memo

Here are the real estate statistics for the week. These cover the entire Mat-Su Borough. There are some localised markets in this Borough. I would say that Talkeetna is pretty much it’s own market, as is Big Lake. But I am taking a look at the whole thing. Most of the action goes on in the core area of Wasilla, Palmer, Knik-Goose Bay Road and Meadow Lakes.

For the first time in ages, we had more pending sales than new listings. One week doesn’t mean much, but we’ll keep an eye on it.

		Average Price	DOM
New	43	$242,406
Total Active	842	$307,092	101
Pending	45	$233,052	78
Closed	32	$234,964	83

If you look at the chart to the right, (click to expand), you will notice that we are still selling just about as many houses as we did last year, and not a lot less than the really hot year of 2005. This chart is provided by AlaskaMLS, note their disclaimer below.

One big difference doesn’t show on this chart. That is the fact that there are significantly fewer new construction houses on the market. The majority of the homes are existing homes owned by private sellers, not builders. Builders are motivated sellers. Once they are finished with a house, they want it sold. They are usually not willing to sit around for months on end waiting for just the right buyer that will pay their price. If it doesn’t sell, they will lower the price until it does.

Home owners that are living in their house tend to be more patient. Some really only will sell if they get top dollar. Others really do want to sell but are willing to forestall a planned move if they do not get their price. There are a lot of those homes on the market right now. These homes will leave the market between August and October and the ones left will be the real motivated sellers. These are the people who really need to sell for one reason or another.

The market drivers are the builders and seriously motivated sellers. Their homes are selling too, as you can see from the chart above. Because of the size of the inventory, buyers have to sort through a lot of homes to pick out the motivated sellers from the rest of the homes.

“This representation is based in whole or in part on data supplied by, and to, the subscribers of Alaska Multiple Listing Service, Inc. (AK MLS, Inc.). AK MLS, Inc. does not guarantee nor is it in any way responsible for its accuracy. Data maintained by AK MLS, Inc. is for its own use and may not reflect all real estate activity in the market. “

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Ripening On The Real Estate Tomato Vine. June 22nd, 2007

Categories: Blog Roll, Wasilla Real Estate News

Back in December of 2006 I decided I wanted to begin an online newsletter. I really wasn?t sure how to do one so I started my research on the internet. Eventually I came across Jim Cronin and his website, The Real Estate Tomato.

The more I read on his website I learned that Jim was the kind of guy that would be able to help me do what I wanted to do. I had already learned a lot just from reading his blog. Blog, short for web log, was a word that I didn?t take to immediately, and still don?t really like. I guess it because I?m in my mid 50s. I still like to think of it as an online newsletter, only more personal.

Anyway, after reading Jim?s blog, I decided to ask him to help me get set up. He was encouraging, helpful, and fast. In no time I had my website up and running under a completely new format. It has become a useful way to help others in my local area get up-to-date real estate information.

Since then I?ve learned a lot and read a lot of other people?s blogs. I?ve also met others who Jim Cronin has helped set up with real estate related blogs: These people all have different perspectives on real estate, and even on the world. Check some of them out.

That?s most of them as of June 24, 2007. I?ll add more later as they sprout on the vine. It?s amazing what you can learn just by reading other peoples views of real estate.

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Alaskans Are Summer Crazy June 22nd, 2007

Categories: Wasilla Real Estate News

Alaskans do so many crazy things in the summer it’s hard to count them all. This is a photo my son took of me on Montana Creek last week at midnight.

Today is the longest day of the year. Alaskans all over the state are soaking up the sun. And there sure is a lot of sun right now. Depending on where you are in the state you have between 20–24 hours of sunlight today. I think it was over 80 in Palmer today, a little too much for me, I was looking for a place to escape.

In Fairbanks they are running the Yukon 800 down the Yukon river to Galena and back. It’s a crazy race. The winner is often one of the few that can keep their boat in one piece on this race.

There are midnight baseball games with no artificial lighting. Midnight footraces, soccer games, fishing derbys and more.

Enjoy it…soak up the sun.

Guess what, tomorrow the days are getting shorter.

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