Wasilla Real Estate News, Valley Market Real Estate

29894 W Glacier Point Drive, Matanuska Glacier, Alaska June 23rd, 2011

Categories: For Buyers, My Listings

This charming home is located at mile 103 Glenn Hwy, about an hour north east of Palmer. It has 2 bedrooms, one full bath and one unfinished bath. The cabin has a total of 1390 sqft on almost 4 acres of good land. Lots of south facing windows with sweeping views of the Matanuska Glacier and Chugach range.

Great access to all sorts of outdoor recreation – perfect getaway or retreat cabin. Also great property for horses.

Check out the video from the deck.

Click on the photos below to expand.

Written by Marty Van Diest Please leave a comment.

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.

Mat Su Trails And Parks: Trail Mix May 24th, 2011

Categories: 365 Things To Do In The Mat-Su Valley

Trail Mix: Where Feet, Hooves, and Wheels come together for a cause!
Thursday May 26th 6:30pm
Rusty’s on Dahlia Street
320 E. Dahlia St
Palmer, Ak 99645

Mat-Su Trails and Parks Foundation is holding an event to support the development of trails in the Mat-Su Valley. Come learn about the Trail Foundation and how you can help. Enjoy some delicious food at Rusty’s and mingle with other outdoor lovers from around the Valley.

Mat-Su Trails and Parks Foundation mission is simple: The Mat-Su Trails and Parks Foundation strives to develop and maintain a quality trail and park system, which promotes healthy lifestyles, enriches our residents’ quality of life, and provides economic value by enhancing recreation, tourism, and business opportunities for all.

Written by Marty Van Diest Please leave a comment.