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The Oracle of Boise

October 22nd, 2008

Houses

I’ve been looking for a way to explain to my buyers that now is a great time to buy (I know – does a real estate agent ever stop saying this?), but I’ve held back for a few reasons.  First, I don’t actually know what is going to happen to the economy in the next month, year or decade.  And second, I didn’t live through the Great Depression and I wasn’t really paying much attention during the past few recessions.  Basically, my prediction skills are lacking.  So, as with anything else that I don’t know much about, I’ve done some research.

As I was reading through the real estate blogs that I read everyday (see column on the right), I came across Greg from BlueRoof.com’s blog entry about Warren Buffett’s opinion article in The New York Times.  Basically, Buffett tells us what we all know – buy low, sell high.  But he puts it in a way that makes it easier to understand during these times of confusion. He also talks about the stock market specifically, but his advice can be useful in real estate as well. From the article:

“What is likely, however, is that the market will move higher, perhaps substantially so, well before either sentiment or the economy turns up. So if you wait for the robins, spring will be over.”

What is the lesson here? Right now, prices are low (hint: that is when you buy).

Photo Credit:  woodleywonderworks via Flickr

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Posted in Boise Homes, Boise Real Estate, Foreclosure, Industry, Meridian Real estate, Real Estate, Treasure Valley

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This American Bailout

October 15th, 2008

This American Life Logo

For weeks we have all sat around listening to talk of a 700 billion dollar “Wall Street Bailout.”  Why Wall Street and why $700 billion, we all asked.  Nobody seemed to know.  The plan wasn’t passed…then it was…but it was different…the Dow is down 777 points…up almost 1000 points within a few days.  What is going on?

I didn’t know either.  In fact, I was very much against the bailout plan when I first heard about it and somewhat relieved when it didn’t pass the first time.  Then the second version passed and I didn’t know what to think.  None of the news sites or other trusted resources had any answers.  Then Ira Glass came in and explained everything.

Remember my blog post about the mortgage crisis?  Well, the “This American Life” radio show has done another episode in which they explain the bailout plan – what it is, why we need it, and how we got in to this mess in the first place.  You can  listen to the show here.

It is about an hour long show and it is definitely worth listening to.

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Posted in Boise Homes, Boise Real Estate, Foreclosure, Industry, Meridian Real estate, Real Estate, Treasure Valley

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The Bottom – Guaranteed

September 4th, 2008

Brighton Home in Meridian’s Paramount Subdivision

Are you waiting until we hit the bottom of the market before you buy a home?  Well, a local builder, Brighton Homes, is guaranteeing you purchased at the bottom if you buy one of their homes or lots.  Brighton Homes is offering a rebate on your purchase if they lower the price of the same model home in the next two years according to a Statesman article.  The article did not contain any other details of the program and the Brighton Homes website doesn’t even mention the program, but I’m sure there are some pretty strict qualifications in order to get a rebate check.

I’m usually pretty skeptical when builders use unique marketing ideas to sell their homes, but I like this one.  Although still a marketing ploy, the rebate program is based on the builder guaranteeing the value of their product, which, in the end, is beneficial to the homeowner.  Of course, if this isn’t the bottom, Brighton will have a much harder time selling their homes in the future because any price reductions will cost them that much more because of the rebates.

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Posted in Boise Homes, Boise Real Estate, Industry, Meridian Real estate, Real Estate, Treasure Valley

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Boise, Are You Working With an EcoBroker Yet?

August 13th, 2008

EcoBroker Logo

Green, environmentally friendly, eco-conscious , biodegradable, natural, carbon offsetting, organic, hybrid, sustainable and recycled. We’ve been hearing a lot of these terms lately, but how do you distinguish the good green from the bad?

Well, in real estate it’s easy. Just look for a Certified EcoBroker. Actually, it’s even easier than that…just call me.

LOCAL REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONAL CERTIFIED TO ADDRESS AND ENCOURAGE THE BENEFITS OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND GREEN FEATURES IN HOMES

Boise, Idaho – August 7, 2008 — Alfie La Peter, of CityBurb.com Real Estate in Boise has earned the EcoBroker Certified® designation, having successfully completed a unique and informative training program on the energy and environmental issues that affect real estate transactions. Alfie joins the movement of professionals pushing the real estate market toward energy-efficient, sustainable, and healthier design/features in homes and buildings. The “performance home” movement is getting a boost thanks to this type of high quality real estate professional earning the EcoBroker designation. EcoBrokers®, like Alfie, throughout the country are forging this market and creating competitive advantages for their customers. With national surveys indicating that 80% of consumers consider themselves “green-minded,” real estate professionals with the EcoBroker designation are in a better position to serve the real estate consumer. “I’m always looking for the best ways to offer my clients the best value. My EcoBroker training helps me ensure customer satisfaction, my number one priority,” Alfie explains. “From windows to moisture control to energy savings, I now have more resources at my disposal to help my buyers and sellers make better real estate decisions. The EcoBroker designation doesn’t make me an energy and environmental expert, but it allows me to better understand the issues and to convey this understanding to my buyers and sellers.”

EcoBroker International’s education and designation program is designed exclusively for real estate professionals who care about the environment and want to help their clients benefit from the energy-efficiency, “green,” and healthier features of homes and buildings. EcoBroker provides a complete curriculum of energy and environmental training to licensed real estate agents. Real estate professionals must complete the extensive EcoBroker curriculum and training and fulfill additional program requirements to become Certified EcoBrokers®. “Alfie La Peter is an example of the quality real estate professional the EcoBroker designation continues to attract,” explains EcoBroker International’s CEO, Dr. John Beldock. “These real estate professionals are not only distinguishing themselves in a competitive market place, but they are really giving back to the community in very constructive and meaningful ways. Boise needs more contributors like Alfie. The planet and our grandchildren need them too,” Dr. Beldock said.

From his Boise office, Alfie explains, “With EcoBroker® training, I have broadened the range of real estate opportunities I offer my clients. Whether the transaction involves environmental assessment and mitigation (mold, radon, etc.) or the opportunity to reduce utility bills, I’m in a position to help. The real estate industry is changing, and to best serve my clients I need to understand the newest designs, technologies, and environmental issues. My EcoBroker designation helps me stay ahead of the game.”

Alfie earned his EcoBroker Certified® designation in August and is wasting no time in putting the tools and additional expertise to work. Alfie has already found that being a Certified EcoBroker® creates added value and customer satisfaction that sets him apart from other agents. For example, at a recent listing presentation, Alfie was able to show the prospective sellers how he can highlight the benefits of their 2×6 framing construction, energy efficient glazing as well as the tankless hot water heater. His innovative energy and environmental perspective gave him an edge in winning the listing. Alfie says he’s looking forward to continuing to positively impacting the quality, durability, comfort, safety, and cost-effectiveness of homes and commercial buildings.

For additional information please contact: Alfie La Peter
Phone: 208-424-0313
Cell: 208-631-3545
<Real Estate Professional/Certified EcoBroker® Bio>

EcoBroker International provides a unique energy and environmental curriculum to licensed real estate professionals, leading to the EcoBroker Designation. EcoBroker’s mission is to broaden and improve the base of training and continuing education for real estate professionals and in doing so, encourage improvements to the quality of buildings, while reducing their impact on natural resources and the environment. EcoBroker is a Building® America and Built Green® Colorado Education Partner; the most successful green-building program in the United States. EcoBroker provides state-approved continuing education courses to licensed real estate professionals in states throughout the U.S. EcoBroker can be reached by phone at 1-800-706-4321, online at www.ecobroker.com, and by email at customerservice@ecobroker.com.

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Posted in Boise Homes, Boise Real Estate, Industry, Real Estate, Treasure Valley

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Bigger is Not Better

July 16th, 2008

$4.14 a gallon huh?

The general public (not you, the educated readers of this blog) have always struggled to understand how the real estate industry works. I still get calls from buyers that want to know how much we charge (buyer’s agents are paid by the seller) and sellers that wonder if they have to pay up front for marketing services (they don’t). With the way the media tells stories about the industry, it is no wonder that this confusion exists.

A recent story about the merger between two large real estate companies here is Boise continues to spread misleading information:

“[Home sellers] know right then that we’re not just going to expose them to the Treasure Valley. We’re going to expose them to a thousand agents in the whole state of Idaho. We’re going to expose them into Washington and we’re going to expose them to 100,000 agents across the U.S. We’re going to expose them to 47 countries so the exposure for the customer selling their house is tremendous”

Sounds magical right? The above quote is from the owner of one of the merging companies explaining the so-called advantages of a larger real estate company. What I believe to be misleading is as follows: The advantages of a larger real estate company are that they have more resources for advertising and marketing in order to gain new clients, not to sell their listings. All of their agents are still independent contractors that work for themselves under the umbrella of a responsible broker. This means that the agent you hire to sell your home is the only person who will be trying to sell your home. That agent’s 1000 co-workers don’t necessarily care about your home. They may listen to your agent’s spiel during an office meeting and they may even tour your home with the entire office, but they aren’t working to sell your home. That is, unless they have a buyer that is interested in your home. But guess what? If any licensed real estate agent has a buyer interested in your home, they are going to find it in the same place: the MLS, even if they missed the “office tour.”

Real estate is a co-operative industry. I can sell your home to any buyer, no matter what company they are working with. Those 1000 agents in a big office are just as likely to sell one of my listings as their own office’s listings. A bigger office is not better; a better agent is better.

The moral of the story, in the word’s of Public Enemy: Don’t believe the hype (warning: links to a video that starts automatically).

Photo Credit: Franco Folini via Flickr

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Posted in Boise Homes, Boise Real Estate, Industry, Real Estate, Treasure Valley

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Foreclosure Rate Dropping?

July 14th, 2008

Foreclosed Home

The Idaho Business Review reported that the national foreclosure rate was down 3% last month. Good news, right? Not really. The national foreclosure rate is still up 53% over last year. Of course, that is the national foreclosure rate, not the local rate.

The Idaho foreclosure rate is down almost 20% from this time last year. Still, like the national rate, that probably doesn’t mean much to you. Let’s get down to some numbers. In Boise (as of 7/14/08), there are 697 properties that are in some stage of foreclosure (pre-foreclosure, auction, bank owned). In Meridian, 466 properties and Eagle has 208.

I imagine you might have a couple of questions about this information: what does this information mean and where did I get these numbers?

The numbers don’t mean much. If you’re selling your home this information may help you understand the market a little better and allow you to see what you are up against. If you’re buying a home, make sure you look into any foreclosure or bank owned properties that match your criteria. They are a lot more work to purchase and require a lot of patience (think DMV on a Monday morning times ten), but they can yield a great result. Besides, the increased work load is my job, and I’m happy to do it. I subscribe to both local and national foreclosure property lists, so if you are interested in these types of properties, let me know.

Photo Credit: escapo via Flickr

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Posted in Boise Homes, Boise Real Estate, Foreclosure, Industry, Real Estate, Treasure Valley

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Big Pool of Money

May 13th, 2008

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I absolutely love the radio show “This American Life.” Normally, I wouldn’t be sharing this type of information, but last week’s show had some great information about the “credit crisis.” The show does a great job of explaining this country’s financial situation and how we got to where we are.

So, if you’ve wondered how this all happened and want a better understanding of the financial markets, listen to the show; it’s available as a free podcast.

Listen to the show here.

Photo Credit: noahwesley via Flickr

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Posted in Boise Real Estate, Foreclosure, Industry, Real Estate

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Open Houses Revisited

March 3rd, 2008

Open House Sign

The Idaho Statesman had an article about open houses today that I wanted to talk about. The article gives mixed reviews about the value of open houses in trying to sell your home. On one side, they talk to agents that say that open houses are all but worthless in trying to sell the home. On the other side, they have an agent that swears by them, saying that he sells a lot of homes that way. What the Statesman doesn’t point out is the difference between an open house in an existing home versus a brand new home in a new subdivision.

In an existing home, visitors to an open house tend to be either “nosy neighbors” or home buyers that are in the initial stages of looking for a home. Very few, if any, ready, willing and able buyers walk into an open house and purchase the home. The main reason for this is that when buyers are ready to buy, they have already done their research and found a real estate agent to help them with their search. If the home is on the MLS, the agent will have already seen it and it will either match the buyers’ criteria or not. If it matches, the buyers will see the home regardless of there being an open house or not. If it doesn’t, they won’t see it and if they happen to walk into the open house, they’ll recognize that it isn’t what they want (not enough bathrooms, not updated, whatever). (All of this assumes they are working with a competent agent.)

Now, in a new home subdivision, an open house can actually sell the home. Information about new homes and amenities are not always found on the MLS, and many new home buyers are looking for a community or neighborhood they like rather than a specific home. For these reasons, many new homes are sold through open houses.

So should you hold open houses? Unless you are a builder in a new community, you’re probably wasting your time. Instead, why not hold a house warming (cooling?) party and invite all of your friends over making sure to send them home with a flyer in case they know any buyers? Your odds of finding a ready, willing and able buyer are probably just as good.

Photo Credit: gisarah via Flickr

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Posted in Boise Real Estate, Industry

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Gen X/Y: Step Right In

June 20th, 2007

When we first started designing CityBurb.com we asked ourselves: “if we weren’t involved in the real estate industry, how would we want to go about buying and selling our home?” With that in mind we created a company that would specifically target the X and Y Generations (of which we are a part) and their specific needs.

Over at the Zillow Blog, Drew Meyers wrote a great article regarding the “Internet Empowered Consumer.” What Drew describes is almost exactly what we have tried to provide for our clients. We have built our site around the idea of giving consumers as much information as they want without requiring them to first be “sold” on our service. We also understand that these consumers don’t react well to the “hard sell” and would prefer to be given time and information in order to make their own decision.

We have also served many people outside of the X and Y Generations and they have received our company well. So, is this change in the consumer mindset generational or is it a sign of things to come across all generations?

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Posted in Boise Real Estate, Industry

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Ten Thousand Words

May 27th, 2007

Our MLS here in Boise and the Treasure Valley has finally allowed agents and brokerages to include 10 photos with every property listing (yes, we immediately updated our listings). Previously, we were only allowed to post 5 photos on our MLS listings (and even then, many agents didn’t take advantage). Everywhere else we advertise online (Craigslist, Edgeio, Google Base, Vast, Oodle, Trulia, Propsmart, Localism) we are able to provide buyers with almost unlimited photos. So why are we just now, in May of 2007, able to list 10, and only 10, photos on our local MLS?

I am concerned that this lack of speed in adapting to the internet buyer is going to be the end of local MLSs.

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Posted in Boise Real Estate, Industry

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