Posted by Chase Craig on May 27, 2011 at 3:33 pm
Boise Idaho: Buyer or Seller’s Market?
- “The world is supposed to end today, so it must be a buyers market. After all, who would want to own property on a planet that won’t exist tomorrow?”
- “My brother’s girlfriends mom’s baby daddy knows a guy who sold a home one time and lost a bunch of money. I never want to buy a home cuz’ that will happen to me to.”
- “I’m waiting for rates to go down a little more before I buy…I read an article on msn.com”
- “The banks are holding on to another 900,000 homes that have been foreclosed and not on the market yet…We still have lots of room to drop so I’m going to wait for the bottom.”
The above? – Everyone has an opinion when it comes to real estate…the real question is, who are you listening to?
Buying Boise real estate
I think we can all agree that for the past 2-3 years, Boise Idaho has been a strong buyers market. With prices as aggressive as they have been and interest rates as low as they have been, buying Boise real estate has been a no brainer. Especially if you are renting a home or apartment in Boise as rental rates are often exceeding the price of buying your own home. Renting and want to know if you can qualify? Contact me today and I’ll help you find out.
But what about selling Boise real estate?
Real estate investors and guru’s alike look for specific signs and market trends that might lead to a shift, which could prove profitable in one way or another. Recent signs of change or a shift in the market from a buyers market to a seller’s market include multiple offers on many listings, above full price offers, less than 6 months worth of inventory (currently 4.7 months) and investors are buying again. It’s obviously still a great market to be a buyer in as the prices are at all time lows, but the indicators above and below could lead to the shift that many have waited for, the true pricing bottom for Boise.
Recent examples:
Last week, there was a property listed in Meridian, ID near Locust Grove and Fairview for $91,900. This property had been on the market for less than 3 days when I wrote an offer for my clients on the property. We wrote the offer at $95,000 asking for $3,800 in closing costs, so $700 under the full price. We were notified shortly afterwards that this property had multiple offers on it so we were asked to submit our highest and best offer. After discussing options with my clients, we decided to come in at $105,000 asking for $3,800 in closing costs or a net for the seller of $101,200 which is $9,300 above full price. I know what you are thinking, “$9,300 above full price in this buyers market? These poor buyers need to find a new real estate agent that knows what he’s doing!”…I might have believed that statement myself if it were 6 months ago. The scariest part about it is that even offering $9,300 net above full price on the property in Meridian, ID we did NOT get the house. Someone else offered higher on the property.
Two weeks ago, I wrote 2 other properties and got in a similar “highest and best” scenario. Both buyers came in about $5,000 above full price on homes in the $100,000 price range and neither buyer got the property.
The two examples above are very strong indicators of a shift that could be occurring in our Boise real estate market. The prices are so low that people are fighting over them to get them. That fighting is leading to the homes being sold above asking price. If this trend continues long enough, banks should start pricing their homes accordingly (higher).
Boise Idaho: Factors contributing to a buyer’s market?
- Sales prices on homes are extremely aggressive.
- Interest rates for mortgages are also extremely aggressive.
- Boise rental prices and payments are higher than Boise mortgage payments in many scenarios.
- Note that these same three factors have been the case for the last 2 years.
Boise Idaho: Factors contributing to a seller’s market?
- Investors are aggressively purchasing homes.
- Inventory has consistently gone down over the last 3 months.
- Average days on market is 87 for 2011.
- Note that these three factors have been prevalent for only the last 3-6 months.
The Bottom Line?
I am not saying that we are going to see real estate pricing increase dramatically like it was in 2004 through 2006. What I am saying is that the best evidence of a bottom is buyers fighting over the opportunity to buy a home in Boise. That home that we lost bidding $9,300 over full price (10% over full price!) had 12 offers on it in 6 days!!! Don’t get me wrong, if you are a seller thinking of selling your home in Boise in today’s market, you are going to sell it for significantly less than you would have if it were 2006. But if you are a seller looking to sell a home in today’s market that is priced right, you wont have to wait 6 months to a year to do so like you might have in 2009.
I will continue to keep a close eye on the Boise real estate market and I suggest you do the same, or just check out www.chasecraig.com every now and again. This may not be the bottom in Boise, but there is strong evidence supporting the case that we are living in the real estate bottom in Boise Idaho today.
If you are thinking of selling your home in this market or even if you just want to know what your home might be worth, contact me today for a free market analysis. It’s no trouble on my end, I actually enjoy doing them! If you would prefer to see what is on the market, you can search Boise area properties here.
Best of luck to you!
Chase Craig
Boise Real Estate Agent
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Posted by Chase Craig on April 2, 2011 at 9:01 pm
Selling real estate in Idaho, I often have the opportunity to meet people from all over the country that are looking to relocate here. They have typically already formed their own opinions about Idaho yet they still ask the question, “Why should we move here?”.
Being an Idaho native and having lived here for the last 27 years, I already know what makes Idaho special and why I will likely be living here for the rest of my life. But the average person moving here wont be able to experience Idaho in it’s fullest during their quick visit so they typically want to see the numbers and find out what the future holds for Idaho. Please read this recent press release from Idaho’s Governor, C.L. “Butch” Otter.
FORECASTS ARE NICE, BUT ACTUAL SUCCESS AND MORE CAREER OPPORTUNITIES ARE WHAT REALLY MATTER
By Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter
Earlier this summer I traveled to Twin Falls to meet with executives of C3, a company expanding into Idaho and creating 800 to 1,200 new career-path jobs in a community that lost 500 jobs last fall when another national employer realigned its operations.
Florida-based C3 is a customer service provider that contracts with a number of large, nationally known health insurance companies. At our meeting, CEO David Epstein told me how C3 picked Idaho as a place to grow.
“The first thing we did was eliminate any state that didn’t have a balanced budget or a plan for achieving one. That only left a handful of states, and when we looked closer at Idaho, the quality of the work force, the attitude and responsiveness of local and State government, and the community reception we received all were second to none,” Mr. Epstein said.
Our focus on making the tough decisions now in order to live within our means, avoiding government growth at taxpayer expense, and maintaining a stable and predictable tax structure and a business-friendly regulatory climate is working. And people who track information like that are noticing:
o Time magazine recently placed Idaho among the top five most solvent states.
o Global Insight’s latest forecast ranks Idaho first in the nation in projected employment growth through 2012.
o The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank forecasts that Idaho will rank seventh in the nation over the next six months for growth in economic output.
o The American Legislative Exchange Council’s Economic Competitive Outlook also ranks Idaho seventh in the nation.
o And Moody’s Economy ranks Idaho very high in its latest forecast of economic performance.
All that’s fine, and I welcome the confidence in our people and communities and optimism about our emergence from this prolonged recession that it inspires. But far more important to me is the success of our homegrown Idaho businesses like Scentsy, LCF Enterprises, Blue Water Technologies, Biketronics and so many others in every corner of our state.
It also helps when we get testimonials from people like Mr. Epstein. What his research told him about Idaho and our approach to governing was that he could know what to expect in his tax bill and what his costs of doing business will be.
C3 found an extremely well-qualified workforce here in Idaho, and community leaders and service-oriented, committed public servants in local government and the State agencies who understand the needs of employers and the value of collaboration and personal attention. That’s why C3 and other companies are looking for additional opportunities to grow here in Idaho. And it’s why the Idaho Department of Commerce created an easy-to-use Web page for businesses looking to relocate or expand: http://www.justmaketheshift.com/#/home
What our successful businesses know, and what more people throughout the nation are finding out, is that locating in Idaho is about more than lifestyle. It’s about a commitment to doing the right thing in the right way – keeping taxes low and stable, regulations reasonable and State government responsive.
In a nutshell, that’s Project 60: An everyday emphasis on working together to raise the tide for all of us – from private businesses large and small to local chambers of commerce, from urban renewal authorities and city councils to county commissions, from economic development districts to State agencies, and then right up to the Governor’s Office.
Project 60 is a transformative, collaborative, forward-looking, partnership approach to economic development. It’s aimed at getting past the traditional turf battles, internal conflicts and lack of communication that too often have stifled or stunted our growth efforts in the past.
Balancing our State budget while protecting both taxpayers’ immediate interests and long-term investments in our State government isn’t easy in the best of times, and amid this recession it’s a painful process. But it’s not just a requirement of the Idaho Constitution; more importantly, it’s the right thing to do.
You start where any Idaho family would start: Whether it’s your family income or our State government revenue stream that’s getting squeezed, your first move is to find ways to cut costs. You set priorities. You distinguish between the necessary and the nice. You focus on your core competencies, and you pare away some of the expenses you took on when times were better. After all, it’s the people’s money, and State government shouldn’t resort to raising taxes any more than the head of a household’s first move should be simply demanding a raise at work.
But that’s only half the battle. The other half is ensuring that the private sector has the certainty and stability it needs to work its marketplace and create real career opportunities. As we keep growing Idaho’s economy without growing State government, the tax revenue that additional economic activity generates should even enable us to cut taxes while maintaining or responsibly enhancing services.
Then we’ll be able to invest more aggressively in ensuring that our future is as bright as our potential. But that’s only possible if we keep providing the kind of business climate that brought C3 here, and which is continuing to bring more career opportunities to Idaho every day.
I appreciate the Governor’s direction and outlook for Idaho and look forward to many prosperous years to come!
Sincerely,
Chase Craig
Boise MLS Search
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