Alaska Dream Makers

Wasilla Market Update Category

What Not To Do When Buying a Home

Here are some common mistakes that can be avoided for a smoother home purchase.    

 

Do Not Take on Additional Debt After You Pre-qualified With Your Lender

A common mistake is changing your debt to income ratios by making additional purchases on credit.  Even if you have the ability to make the purchase it is advisable that you speak with your lender first.   Lender’s will often run credit checks again before closing.  Sometimes new information on the credit report is enough to delay the process of closing on the house.  This delay may affect the agreed  recording date both you and the seller have been planning on.  Delays in closing can be prevented if your lender approves and processes your new credit information upfront instead of finding out right before you are suppose to close.

 

Do Not Wait on Your Home Owner’s Insurance

Home Owner’s insurance should be researched early in the process.  It is common for many purchasers to wait just before closing to secure insurance.  These delays sometimes prevent a timely recording.  On rare occasions it is discovered that the home may have prior claims that prevents it from being insured.  It would be good to discover that upfront than 3 days before you are to close.

 

Do Not Prematurely Lock Your Interest Rate

We often see situations where the lender locks in the interest rate and then there is delay in the closing.  Interest rates are often locked for a specific period of time, usually 30 days.  If the closing does not happen in that time frame the lender often has healthy fees associated with extending your lock period.  A real estate purchase is full of unknowns that may prevent a closing from occurring on time.  Discuss with your lender what the consequences would be in the event you go beyond your rate lock date.

 

 

Do Not Set  Your Recording Date for the Last Day of the Month

The majority of real estate transactions are set for the last day or days of the month.  By recording on the last day of the month there are fewer upfront costs associated with prepaid interest.  This savings usually doesn’t amount to much and really isn’t a savings at all but just effects when you make your next payment.   For example, if you record on the 15th of the month you have to come up with about 15 days of interest. Your next payment would be 45 days away.  If you record on the 30th of the month, your next payment would be about 30 days away.

In my opinion, expecting to record on the last day of the month is a foolish thing to do.  Because so many contracts are set this way, it often causes a bottleneck at the end of the month.  It is common to talk to a lender or the title company at that time and hear the stress in their voices as they speak the words “end of the month”.

If a large number of transactions are trying to close at the same time, the “end of the month”, it is unlikely everyone will be successful.   By setting a recording date that doesn’t fall at the end of the month, you are more likely to close on time and not get caught in the typical rush that occurs at month end.

 

Larry and Jacque Ficek

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Construction Market is Stable

The demand for new homes year to date represents 21% of our market. Last year new home sales represented 20% of the reported homes sales in the MLS. Steady as she goes, there is still a demand for a new home.

There have been a few twists to our local market though. There seems to be quite a few new builders competing with each other. So even though the demand has remained steady the share of the pie appears to be split up a bit more. I counted through the existing inventory and came up with about 43 builders that had names displayed. There were about 10 more that didn’t mention the name of the construction company.

I was curious what the new construction market did back in the hay day of 2005. There were 1671 closed sales with 623 being new homes. At that time the new home market represented 37% of the total market. That was huge! Although things have declined to about 1/2 of what it was, the demand still seems steady.

The population of our area must be growing to maintain a stable market with inventory that isn’t climbing. The continued percentage of new homes sales is a healthy market indicator.

Follow this link “NEW HOMES” to see what new construction homes are available in Mat-Su Valley right now.

When is the Best Time to Sell My House?

We frequently get asked the question ” When is the best time to sell my house?”  There are several ways to answer this question so in this post we’ll take a look at some statistics over the last year and evaluate other considerations.  If we are to look at the market data correctly we need to see what is the supply and demand for the market segmeant.  The information used is limited to residental homes in the Mat-Su Borough.

To start off we need to look at what the active inventory was for each month and then see what the sales activity was.  To accurately look at sales activity it is important to look at pending sales and not closed sales.  Pending sales tell us what homes went under contract during that time frame.
Closed data, used in most reports generated by the MLS only shows us what sold/closed in that time frame.  So we have to dig a little deeper to get the real facts.

Here is a quick break down of the market over the past 12 months:

November 2010           69 Pending Sales            833  Active             8%
December 2010           61  Pending Sales            733  Acitve             8%
January 2011                80 Pending Sales            691 Active              12%
February 2011               95 Pending Sales            695 Active             14%
March 2011                  122 Pending Sales            750 Active             15%
April 2011                     126 Pending Sales            815 Active             15.5%
May 2011                      121  Pending Sales           882 Active             14%
June 2011                     120 Pending Sales           934 Active             13%
July 2011                      114 Pending Sales            961 Active              12%
August 2011                 139  Pending Sales           980 Active            13%
September 2011           125 Pending Sales           925 Active              11%
October 2011                105 Pending Sales           850 Active             12%

The column on the right showing the percentage represents  homes that were absorbed into the market.  The higher the perecentage the better the odds of selling based on the market supply and demand for that month.   In the past 12 months April was the best time to sell strictly based on the numbers.

The problem is basing things just by the numbers doesn’t always work.  Lets take an example of two similar homes.  One home has extensive landscaping with a beautiful back yard that includes perrinials, manacured lawn and fruit trees.  The other home has no landscaping, but recently updated the kitchen with solid surface counters.  Let’s also assume that the market value for both of these homes is the same.

If we were asked the question “What is the best time to sell” we may have two differant answers for each home owner.  The property with the landscaping is obviouisly going to be appreciated more during the summer months after the third week of May.  The house that has the remodeled kitchen will stand out more in the Winter months since there is no landscaping and a desired interiour feature.

Today it is about 15 below zero.  I’m sure if we were showing both homes today the one with the solid surface counter tops would stand out between the two.  Obviously it is going to ultimately depend on what the buyer is looking for, but if you can’t see it to appreciate it the odds go down.  Our marketing efforts include placards which help to highlight positive features that may be difficult to see.

As shown with the details above, there are homes that sell every month of the year.  Usually the biggest factor is not going to be when is the best time to sell but is the home show ready, properly priced  and marketed correctly.

We would love the opportunity to help you.  Call us at 907-373-8000

[email protected]
[email protected]
Larry & Jacque

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mat-Su Valley Foreclosure Stats

Although we are still 45 days shy from a yearly report, I thought it would be good to look at how foreclosures are affecting our local market. Year to date there have been 146 closed foreclosure sales out of 1100 sold properties. This equates to approximately 13% of the market.

Last year during the same time frame there were 1026 closed sales with 128 being foreclosures. This amounts to 12.5% of the market. The positive I see here is market stability. Although foreclosures remain an active part of our market they still are not dominating our market.

Search Mat-Su Valley Wasilla and Pamer Alaska Foreclosures Here

 

 

 

Seller Concessions 2011 “The Facts”

As a general rule it considered normal in our market for seller’s to pay for buyer’s closing costs.   The question that has been difficult to answer is “what’s typical”.   With recent updates to the MLS system we are now able to extrapolate the answers.

Year to date- (It’s November 16th today), there have been 1096 residential sales in the Mat-Su Valley.  Of those sales 52% or 580 reported seller concessions*.  Of those that reported seller concessions the average amount was $4,431 or approximately 2% of the sales price.  What we don’t know is how many concessions were not reported.   If the information is reported correctly it shows that 48% of the sales do not have any seller concessions.

In addition to paying for closing costs the data shows that sellers took an additional 1% less than what the property was listed for.

“About 1/2  of the sales reported show sellers paid about 2% of the sales price towards buyer paid closing costs  in addition to a sales price of 1% less than the list price.  The true number showed approximately a 3% reduction in list to sales price”.

Of the sales that reported no buyer costs were paid, the percent of list price to sold price showed a 4.3% reduction in the list price.  In conclusion the market for the year shows that the average “true reduction in list price” to sales price when concessions are accounted is closer to 3.5%  less than list price.   

With this new data we are better able to explain what is going on in our market.  Knowing the numbers allows us to better advise our clients so they can make informed decisions.

*Seller concessions are buyers closing costs paid for by the seller

 

 

Information for Military Transfers to JBER (Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson)

Information for Military Transfers to JBER (Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson)

First of all, Larry and I want to say thank you for your service to us and our country.

As an Air Force brat myself and the youngest of five children to a career military dad and stay at home military mom, I appreciate everything you do.

I (Jacque, the one in yellow) was born on Elmendorf AFB when my parents were first stationed here. Shortly after, the family was moved to Rantoul Illinois (Chanute AFB) and then back to Elmendorf when I was five. We stayed in base housing until pop retired from 23.5 years of service in 1982 and we moved to Wasilla. The family has been in Wasilla ever since.

I remember going to the flight line to watch the planes, Green Lake to go fishing, Hillburg Ski Area and snow machining all over the back of the base. The shuttle bus to anywhere on base, the pool and gym, the bowling alley, meeting pop at the hospital for lunch (he is a PA-C) all have fond memories for me.

If you are new to our area, the main website for JBER info is here.

If you would like housing purchase information, it would be our pleasure to assist you in purchasing your new home. Our website has a direct link into the MLS and has the most current and up to date information available. Our website is here.

Some other sites to look at are as follows:

Elmendorf Officers’ Spouses’ Organization

Commissary hours and info

JBER Services and Recreation

Hillburg Ski Area

My pop, John B Henley II (AKA Skip) is an E-9 Commissioned, Purple Heart Decorated, stationed everywhere from AK, CA, OH, IL, TX and even Tripoli Libya, survivor of Vietnam and just an all around cool guy. He still works with veterans as a private contractor and he really enjoys being active within the military community.  Yeah, I am biased but what can I say?

Wasilla Real Estate

WASILLA REAL ESTATE

What is the real estate market doing in Wasilla Alaska?  Here are some interesting statistics of what we are seeing.  In 2009 we saw 1,145 residential properties sell with an average sales price of $212,436.  As of December 29th 2010 there there have been 1,151 residential sales with an average sales price of $216,777.  This shows the stability of the market over the last 24 months.  It appears that the averege sales price has risen along with the number of home sales.

The data represented is for the Wasilla Area including the Mat-Su Borough.

As you can see inventory falls in the winter months and starts to climb again in the spring.  Wasilla Real Estate sells all year long.

We have seen an increase in foreclosures from 2009 to 2010.  Forclosures contributed just over 12% to the home sales in 2010.  The foreclosure inventory has been climbing so the impact will be more significant for 2011.

If you are in the market for Wasilla Real Estate check out Wasilla Homes for Sale. Here you will find the most up to date information available and quick links to Wasilla foreclosures and corporate owned properties.

When buying a home in the Wasilla area it is best to do that with an expert that can guide you though the obstacles.  Larry and Jacque are familiar with things you should consider, such as resale considerations and financing obstacles that are property specific.

Larry and Jacque Ficek are Wasilla Real Estate Experts.  They have been helped hundreds of families buy and sell property in the Wasilla and Palmer area. If you are consdering selling or buying Wasilla Real Estate give them a call for free advice and your buying and selling options.

They can be reached at 907-373-8000 or toll free at 1-877-373-1020 ext 1.