Wasilla Real Estate News, Valley Market Real Estate

Fuel Oil Is A Contaminant May 15th, 2008

Categories: Healthy Homes, Wasilla Real Estate News

I heard a very sad story yesterday that should be a warning to anyone who heats with oil.

A burglar broke into a home and stole the toyo stove early this winter.  Toyo and Monitor heaters are about the most efficient way to heat with oil so they are very popular here.  They are also very popular with burglars. 

The loss of the stove and the freezing of the house was only a small problem compared to the disaster caused by the leaking of the fuel oil.  With the stove gone and the pipe broken the oil tank drained into the house and leaked through the floor into the crawlspace and into the ground.

The ground under the house was contaminated to a depth of 20 feet in places.  This will be very time consuming and expensive to clean up.  The costs could easily exceed the value of the house.

The value of this property has been reduced to almost nothing because of the unknown clean-up costs.  It is not the only property in the Mat-Su Borough that has been de-valued by leaking fuel storage tanks.  Many of the gas stations had leaking underground storage tanks…but the government  helped them get cleaned up.

As far as I know, there are no programs to help a homeowner clean up a contaminated property caused by leaking fuel oil.  All who heat with fuel would be wise to consider ways to prevent a similar disaster. Here is the State Of Alaska Guide For Heating Oil Tanks.

Written by Marty Van Diest 2 Comments »

Wasilla Real Estate…Then And Now May 14th, 2008

Categories: Market Trends

These statistics are for the Palmer and Wasilla core areas.  This includes all the area between Palmer and Wasilla and also Meadow Lakes and  the Knik-Fairview neighborhoods.

I thought it would be educational to see the last 6 years worth of statistics so that we have a more broad view of where we have come from.  The sales are for single family residential houses, they do not include vacant land, multi-family units or commercial sales.

Notice the change in median price over the years.  The median price has increased 46% in the last 6 years.  That doesn’t mean that each house has increased that much but values have certainly gone up.  Note that the 2008 median price is down slightly from last year but is still significantly higher than it was in 2005. 

The DOM, (days on market) is up significantly.  In fact the DOM for all the houses on the market, including the many that are not sold is over 130.  Since this chart only counts sold properties, the days on market is lower than it is overall…but still at the highest level in 6 years.

Another very important fact is that rents are only about 10% higher now than they were in 2002.  Many properties are still renting for the same amount over the past six years.  People are willing to pay more to purchase a home than they will to rent a home but the gap is usually not as large as it is currently.

Give me a call at 907–232–7900, ( my cell phone), if you would like to discuss the ramifications of the above facts.

Written by Marty Van Diest 1 Comment »

Wasilla Real Estate, Statistics for May 5-12,2008 May 12th, 2008

Categories: Monday Market Memo

Wasilla Real Estate News presents the real estate numbers for the week.  These statistics include all single family residences in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.  This includes Palmer, Wasilla, Big Lake, Houston, Willow, Talkeetna, Trapper Creek, Sutton and all points North East as far as Lake Louise.

However, over 80% of the real estate activity takes place in what we call the core area.  This includes Palmer, Wasilla, Big Lake and South Houston.  There are a lot of homes in the Knik-Goose Bay Road area and the Meadow Lakes area that aren’t in any city.

Below are the stats for the week.

Pending sales were up a little this week which is good.  Pretty much all the other categories were up as well.  The inventory is growing faster than we are selling the homes off…but that is to be expected in the spring.

I heard about one Realtor showing 77 homes to a buyer this past week.  They almost have it narrowed down now.  I think that is some kind of a record.  I usually lose track after about 25–30 houses to one buyer.  That is a reflection of the times.  There are a lot of houses to look at.

Three houses over $400,000 pended this past week, and several more in the $300,000 range.  One of our listings over $500,000 pended as well so it was a good week for the higher end houses.

I finished my new motivated sellers list for the week.   If you are interested just click on the contact link to send an email.

Also, if you would like to get a better search for houses just drop a line with the criteria you need and I will set up a search for you that is much better than the kind you can do online. 

Written by Marty Van Diest Please leave a comment.

Forms We Use May 11th, 2008

Categories: Wasilla Real Estate News

This post is just a link to some important forms that we need in Alaska.

This post will be edited with additional forms as they become available.

Alaska Residential Disclosure Form

Alaska Real Estate Consumer Disclosure

Written by Marty Van Diest Please leave a comment.

Dead Moose…Free May 9th, 2008

Categories: Alaskana

Only in Alaska would you see an ad like this one… http://anchorage.craigslist.org/zip/673017049.html.  I’m not sure that the ad is legit, or if it is legal to haul off a moose from someone’s yard.  But, it’s funny just the same.

And it’s not the only free moose on Craigslist.  April had another dead moose ad, in the sporting goods section for some reason.

This is the time of year to watch for newborn baby moose.  It’s also the time to stay away from the cow moose.  They will very aggressively defend their newborn calves.  After the calf is still hanging around a year later the cow has enough of them and tends to ignore them.  But if you mess with a newborn…watch out.

If you are planting trees in your yard this spring, you might take some thought to moose.  They love Mountain Ash, and Crab Apple trees.  I’m not sure what they won’t munch on, except evergreens.  But these big tree chompers can sure make landscaping in Alaska a challenge.  This moose in the photo was chewing on an Alder bush in my front yard just 2 weeks ago.  I haven’t seen them eat Cottonwood Trees, but who wants to plant Cottonwoods?

Written by Marty Van Diest Please leave a comment.