Reading between the lines.

Being a part of such a powerful marketing machine as Sotheby's International Realty is remarkable. Because we are truly an international real estate company I am able to connect with real estate brokers across the country and around the globe. In fact I do. It is helpful to understand activity and trends in other similar markets.

What is important as a consumer is to keep the real local trend in perspective. Keeping it real is difficult for sure. After all, for most people their home is their single most important investment. It always represents a lot of money and it can be emotional to buy or to sell.

All real estate is local!

So a word about what is trending locally in Park City, Utah. From the last half of 2008 through the end of 2012 the economy was in a serious recession to say the least, perhaps the most serious since the Great Depression of the 1930's. I do not know a single person that has been completely unaffected. Some people were absolutely crushed economically and the real estate market was right in the middle of it all. Then in the first quarter of 2013 our local real estate market really started gaining some momentum as it did across the country. Properties were selling and of course inventories were abundant. The word locally and around the country was that we were finally seeing a recovery. Not only has there been pent up demand for real estate but there have been a lot of people waiting the recession out to put their home on the market. They have been waiting for prices to firm up and hopefully come back to "where they were" in 2008. This seems to be the phrase I hear the most. So we had a little run in 2013. This is good for sure. However, it has my observation recently that prices have escalated much faster than demand. The market is moving forward at a healthy rate but recently, I have seen a lot of properties come to market 15% to 30% overpriced and buyers are responding by paying little or no attention to these properties.

The soundest policy is to price your property to sell. A common mistake sellers make is pricing their home high in the beginning to "test the market". The thought is "we can always lower the price if we don't receive any offers" or "we need to build in a cushion for negotiation." Unfortunately most of the showing activity occurs when the home is first listed. Once the initial pool of buyers have seen the home and it doesn't sell, the sellers will then have to wait for new buyers to come into the market and they will have to reduce their price to be competitive.

Also, the longer your home remains on the market, the less interest it will generate among buyers. Buyers typically feel that they should pay less for a home the longer that it's been on the market. At that point you have to face the real possibility of being forced to sell it for less than if you had priced it at real market value. It is especially important to make sure that your home is priced correctly when the conditions are leaning towards a buyer's market. In that scenario buyers are very sensitive to price and will look harder to find homes that offer the most value. Simply put, buyers are not making "low-ball" offers on properties, they are waiting for properties priced correctly to come onto the market. . The properties that are currently selling in the Park City area are priced aggressively to sell, they are well cared for and they are presented well, sometimes even staged to sell.

The bottom line is that it is important to get the facts on your local market, understand the trends and keep it real. If you would like more information on your market area wherever it may be, please let me know. If it is not my area of expertise I can most certainly find a professional in your area who can assist you. It is great to be a part of such a powerful network.

Thank you for your continued support and thank you for taking the time to read my newsletter.

Best Regards,    

 

Brad Jensen
Jensen And Company

www.jensenandcompany.com
(435) 901-8333

 

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