Wasilla Real Estate News, Valley Market Real Estate

Four Steps To Selling Quickly June 5th, 2011

Categories: For Buyers

Want to sell your house for the best possible price without waiting around for ages to find a buyer? Many homes sit on the market for years waiting for the right buyer. In fact just today I noticed a property that has been on the market for more than 1000 days. That property is just a sign post for some Realtor to advertise his company.

Take a clue from Uncle Bill. Click here for a three year old article I wrote about my Uncle Bill that is just as true today. If you do what Uncle Bill does, your house will sell and you will be on your way. If you do what most of the people in our market are doing, you will still be waiting and hoping for a buyer months from now…still making the payment…still cleaning feverishly every time someone decides to view your house.

Or you can take a lesson from the asset managers that handle all the foreclosures. These people sell thousands and thousands of homes in all kinds of markets across the country. They have a system down…and guess what? It works.

Here it is:

1. Clean the house out. These people call it a trash-out. They just take all the trash out of the house. Hopefully you clean it better than that. You can beat the foreclosures by not only cleaning, but fixing everything that is broken. A very good idea is to hire an inspector to inspect your house and then fix everything that needs fixing. Here is a partial list of inspectors. Most foreclosures are still in need of repairs so you can beat them by bringing your house up to good repair.

2. Determine the market price. This is NOT the highest price that it might sell in a perfect world to a perfect buyer at the perfect time. This is a realistic price that it will sell at when you compare your home to competing homes and recent sales. After all, that is what a buyer is going to do. A buyer will not buy your home if they can find a similar one for 10% less…in fact, they won’t even look at your home if it’s 10% over the market. Wonder why you aren’t getting any showings? It’s because you are at least 10% over the market.

If you really want to sell, you need to BEAT your competition. You need to have a bigger, better, cleaner house at a lower price. Then you will sell. Your real estate professional can help you find that price. Make sure you get them to tell you the real market price…not the price that they hope will make them like you so you can get the listing.

3. Market your house well. In Alaska this means you need to be on the internet. Not only is Alaska one of the most internet savvy states in the country, anyone moving here always checks out the property on the internet first. We try to not only have the photos and details on line for customers, but videos as well. If your house is on the MLS, has a good internet presence, with good photos and videos than you are doing what needs to be done.

4. Watch the market closely. This is where the professional asset managers beat out the private homeowners. This is why foreclosures have a DOM, (Days On Market), statistic of only 33 days while the rest of the Mat-Su market is 67 days. In other words, foreclosures sell twice as fast for this reason. They make price adjustments quickly. If you are on the market for 4 weeks with no offer you are at least 5% over the market, make that price change. If you have less than 2 showings a week you are at least 10% overpriced…drop it 10% and watch the market again. Foreclosures usually make 5-7% price drops every 3-4 weeks. They will keep doing this until they sell. And guess what…they WILL sell.

And so will you if you take the advice in this article.

OH…and PS. The house in the photo at the top was listed for the market price on May 17th and guess what! It sold on May 21!

Written by Marty Van Diest Please leave a comment.

455 Chugach, Palmer Alaska – PENDING May 20th, 2011

Categories: For Buyers

THIS HOME IS PENDING
http://www.vimeo.com/24666260

Don’t miss out on this great deal. For only $139,900 you can buy this nice 3 bedroom house with a view, fenced yard, greenhouse, and storage shed. New flooring downstairs and newer carpet upstairs.

Located in a nice Palmer nieghborhood within walking distance of everything Palmer has to offer, stores, eateries, churches, or parks. Join one of the nicest towns in Alaska by purchasing this home.

Call me at 232-7900 if you would like to see it.

Valley Market Real Estate

Written by Marty Van Diest Please leave a comment.

Update On Valley Real Estate May 17th, 2011

Categories: For Buyers

This year is almost a carbon-copy of last year so far. We have sold 384 properties from the first of the year until now. Last year we sold 386. We sold 86 new construction houses this year compared to 84 last year. So we are on almost exactly the same track.

However, one of the biggest changes was the percentage of foreclosures sold between this year and last. Last year we sold 49 foreclosures compared to 76 this year. That is a significant, and unhealthy, change. We are still well under the worst markets in the lower 48 where 60-70 percent of the sales are foreclosures, but we are now at 20% and trending higher. As foreclosures become a larger part of the market they increase downward pressure on prices.

We will keep a close watch on this ratio as the year goes on. Keep coming back for updates on the local market.

If you would like to be kept abreast of the current market just let me know and I will put your email on the list.

Written by Marty Van Diest 1 Comment »

Snow Geese at Palmer Alaska May 6th, 2011

Categories: For Buyers

Drove by the Palmer Airport early this morning.  I love spring and the snow gees make it official.

Written by Marty Van Diest Please leave a comment.

Our New Logo and Signs By Design Graphics! April 27th, 2011

Categories: For Buyers, Matanuska Valley Businesses

We have a new logo and great signs we had done with Design Graphics. We are very pleased with the work they have put in. Design graphics was very accommodating and worked with us to get what we wanted.

If you are looking for any graphic/logo work, here are a few of their services:

Big Design For Small Business!
Design Graphics does not stop with designing your identity; we produce all of the products you need to deliver that identity to your customers. With DG on your team, you no longer need to go from one company to the next to piece together your marketing tools!

PRINT That hand held connection between a potential customer and your services. Business Cards, Rack Cards, Brochures, publication Ads, Booklets, and more!

SIGNS A potential client must know where you are located and form an opinion about your company before they enter your facility. Banners, Alum Signs, indoor/exterior signs, electronic message centers, lighted signs, trade show exhibits, and channel letters.

Our New Signs!

WRAPS DG specializes in vehicle advertising! Turn your vehicle into a mobile marketing tool with Wraps, Spot Graphics, Door Logos, Windows, etc.

WEB DESIGN Today, most of your potential customers will do a drive-by on the web to check you out; half of them have a hand-held device to check out your business. A consistent presence of your company on the web is essential!

Check out DesignGraphicsAK.com for a full portfolio, or call (907) 746-5196!

Written by Marty Van Diest 1 Comment »