Boise Real Estate - Here is a letter I wrote to my friends, family, and clients about the local real estate outlook:
Some encouraging words & humor to lighten the day . . .
My mother kindly came to visit last weekend, and she brought me a copy of a Realtor’s newsletter from her area in the Portland suburbs. I genuinely appreciate reading different perspectives and information on Real Estate conditions. The newsletter was four pages long and it listed many depressing and looming economic circumstances. From the sub-prime crisis to high commodity prices (building materials, oil, etc.) to housing market supply conditions to the instability in the stock market and more.
Anyone reading it would rightfully feel pretty depressed. The information was accurate. But the Realtor closed the newsletter by concluding that now was the time to buy or sell a home and that if you waited until Summer, you would be at a disadvantage. I thought I would share my interpretation of the same data with you.
Here are my recommendations for the coming months:1) If a salesperson says to you, “Now is the time to act!” I recommend you be skeptical of any financial advisor who is suggesting they have a clear picture of what the next year is going to bring. I think prudence advises caution in most directions.
I think now is the time to keep focused on long term interests. I don’t think time is clearly of the essence in any direction, up or down. I think now is a time to focus on working hard and continuing to look for the best home and homes for the long term interests of you and your immediate families.
2) If you want to know where home prices are going, I have no strong indications where they are headed. It would be easy to err on the side of saying, “They’ll continue to go down,” but with so many building, energy, and wage costs rising, it’s difficult to predict. Yes, currently we have a dramatic over supply of homes for sale, but that may be an ideal time to be very selective and to get more home or just the right home you’re needing.
3) RE/MAX International asked me to prepare a one page summary report interpreting and comparing the Treasure Valley Intermountain Multiple Listing Services sales statistics. If you want to see the numbers, read my inferences, and make your own best educated inferences, I’ve attached the report to this email. The report was sent to all our local newspapers and television stations.
4) If you know someone looking to buy or sell a home, please refer them to me. In this market, the focus is still on this key element: Negotiating the best price. In good or bad market conditions, you want the better negotiator on your side. In a good market, a good negotiator is going to advise the best price to get the home you want, and that is essential. But a good negotiator is as valuable or more valuable in a bad market. The worse the market conditions, the more you will likely profit from using an experienced negotiator.
If you’re a buyer, there is no such thing as a full price offer currently. And you will benefit from using an agent willing to make a low ball offer and willing to encourage you to walk away and to look at several other equally good options. In my most recent closing, we closed the sale at $20,000 lower than their most recent asking price.
So, unlike other Realtors who feel they can predict the future, I don’t have access to that crystal ball. In the past, I’ve seen better market indicators and I’ve been able to make reasonable market predictions. But honestly, right now I don’t have the ability to make a reasonable prediction, and I’d be skeptical of anyone who suggested they confidently could.
If you’re going to be staying in our area, “timing the market” is not the top objective. If you sell in a hot market, you also have to pay more to buy in that hot market. And, if you sell in a slower market, you also get to buy in those lower priced conditions. So, as the saying goes, “You’re swimming in the same stream.” The more important objective than “market timing” is finding the best home to meet your long term needs.
I continue to write regularly on my blog at http://realestateboise.wordpress.com. There I post most of the local news stories from the local newspapers and media, and I comment regularly on developing trends.
Thank yousThank you to Kathleen Hill and John & Tommie Zamora for your business. Thank you to Eric Machacek, Sharon Wilson, The Blakeslees, and Lorilee for your valuable, regular, and needed support. We know you have many other representation options for your home purchases, and we kindly thank you for using our services.
Mark Ballard
RE/MAX West
(20 
941-2293
Email: mark@boisesearch.com
Web: www.boisesearch.com
Please let me know if you would like to be removed from this newsletter, & it will be done immediately. Thank you
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If you know someone looking for assistance with buying or selling their home, I’m never too busy to speak with them. And if you have just a general real estate question, please give me a call. Thank you.
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