Photo Credit IMLS

The 2010 Boise real estate market is almost half over.  So how’s it been?  We’ve just come off the Home Buyer Tax Credit buzz and are walking into the seasonally ‘good’ months of Boise real estate, but how is it going to shake out?  Lets take a look!

Boise Real Estate Stats for 2010 (so far)

Since January, sold units have increased each month with each month beating it’s previous year number:

YTD SOLD

• January 09–235 Sold vs. January `10–282 Sold (20% Increase over last year)
• February09–274 Sold vs. February `10–348 Sold (27% Increase over last year)
• March 09–385 Sold vs. March `10–564 Sold (46% Increase over last year)
• April 09–422 Sold vs. April `10–676 Sold (60% Increase over last year)

Overall that’s a pretty good comparison and something our market should be proud of.  But, I’m not so sure that we can use these numbers to identify any long term trends.

After all, we can’t forget that the Tax Credit deadline of April 30th, 2010 has had something to do with these numbers.  To see what I mean, check out the Pending Sales Activity:

As we’ve approached the Tax Credit deadline, buyers were scrambling to get something under contract or Pending.  So, I’d expect there to be a fairly sharp decline in the May & June Pending sales…we’ll have to wait and see.

YTD PENDING

• January 2009–319 Pending vs. January 2010–766 Pending (140% Increase)
• February 2009–326 Pending vs. February 2010–928 Pending (184% Increase)
• March 2009–468 Pending vs. March 2010–1072 Pending (129% Increase)

As you can see, the number of listings that went pending in 2010 through March is incredible…but, those numbers owe their existence to the tax credit bribe.

Of course National Association of Realtors recently reported an increase in pending home sales, most agents are going to try and ride it out as a smoke screen to get folks excited about a turd of an economy.  Do yourself a favor, don’t buy into it.

Unemployment is Key

If we want to see a sustainable housing market, Boise needs jobs.  Lots of them.  That however, is where there is good news to report.  Business Week reported today that Idaho saw it’s largest 1-month jobless drop in 3 decades.  Hopefully, those jobs aren’t just more folks (framers, plumbers and electricians) filling the orders for pending new construction….

What does it all mean to you?

Regardless of the housing market and economy, you probably live in a house right.  The key difference is whether or not you rent or own (rent from the bank) or are looking to buy (or rent from the bank).

If I was looking to buy, I’d stick to good sense real estate rules: Location.  But be prepared to compete.  Even though there are many people who can’t sell or are upside-down, it isn’t the buyers market you might think it is or that your buddy told you it was.

Stick to good areas of town like Southeast Boise, Northeast Boise and the North End (common) where median prices are affordable, but holding on.  Demand is usually high in those areas and should continue to see strength in the coming months, especially as inventory drops.

More Stats Available

If you want specific stats, just let me know.  I specialize in strategic market research for builders and developers and can easily get you the data you want and need. Just email me!

Interest Rates

Interest rates are tough.  I’ve said it before, loan originators have it easy:  They can tell you that rates are going up and if they are right, they’re the heroes and if they don’t you win.

From what I’ve been hearing around the campfire, rates should hold fairly steady, but with recent economic and market news, I’d suggest talking to a local pro!

Search For Boise Homes For Sale

You’ve come to the right place if you want cutting edge tools to start your home search without the hassle.  Feel free to use my home searching tools and if you’re interested, just register and you can get some pretty specialized attention!

When you’re looking at homes for sale in Boise, Meridian, Eagle etc., you often times can get a flyer off of the sign in the flyer box.

BUT

Today you can text a code number thats listed on the sign and get a text message sent to your phone with pictures, details and even a virtual tour!

POLL QUESTION: Which would you prefer: A color flyer or an INSTANT interactive Text Message?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

What is Appreciation?

Appreciation is an increase in the value of an asset, in this case real estate,  over time.  Driving factors that may cause the increase are:  increased demand or weakening supply, or as a result of changes in inflation or interest rates.  This is the opposite of depreciation, which is a decrease over time.  Obviously the Boise Real Estate market has seen some pretty serious decline in appreciation due to a multitude of factors.

Here is Idaho’s Chart on Appreciation from 1991 to 2009 Quarter 3

Click for larger view

Buying and selling real estate can be easy, it can also be very complicated.  Making the right choice as a home buyer and getting all your ducks in a row as a home seller is also very difficult.  For these and many other reasons, people hire Realtors.  But, how can you know for sure that your Realtor isn’t drinking the same Kool-Aid that lots of other agents drink.

I’ve put together the some common deceptions used by Realtors.   I must warn you, this may invoke a bit of discomfort if you’re already working with a guy or gal who’s uttered one of these fibs, if they were in the right context, then chances are they’re trustworthy…out of context could cost you years of your financial future!

Lie #1- “The Seller Pays the Commission”

Probably the most common Realtor lie.  While technically true, the seller does pay the commission, but they just raised the price of the home to cover the cost in most if not all circumstances.  Don’t be fooled, you, as the buyer are financing the entire commission!

If you’re buying a house, the good news is that you don’t have to cough up a payment for an agent, unless it’s a situation where the seller has not agreed to pay for a buyers agent — a situation sometimes found with For Sale By Owners (FSBO’s).

The reality is that there is cost to doing business and a good real estate agent can save you far more money than they cost.  Ditching a good agent to save the small fee will cost you more in the long run.

So if you agent tells you that you don’t have to pay them, they’re not being truthful!

Lie #2- “You Can Write Off Your Interest From Your Home Loan”

…continued with:  “So, you’re loan payment is $1500, but after taxes and deductions etc. it really only feels like $1100″.  This generally always followed with, “But you’d better check with your tax adviser.”

Almost EVERY real estate agent and loan originator have been a part of the Mortgage Interest Deduction Hustle.   The Federal Government does allow you to write off any interest paid on your loan, if you itemize on your taxes.

NOTE* It may not necessarily be to your advantage to itemize on your taxes, and if you do, there is no guarantee that you will get any type of savings or that “paying more actually feels like paying less”.

Lie #3- If You Can’t Sell Your Home For What You Ow On It, Do a Short Sale

A lot of agent’s feel comfortable telling their clients to stop paying on their mortgage so they can do a short sale.  This has probably originated from the rash of $50  “Short Sale Expert Trainings” at the Holiday Inn.

The truth is, most banks will allow short sales as an option to getting rid of your toxic asset liability — but generally not until you have missed payments, which is why agents suggest missing a few payments.

What the agent isn’t telling you is that it can take up to a year or more in a bad scenario short sale to get the banks full cooperation and get the home sold.  This has left multiple 30 day lates (or even 120+ days late) on your credit rating which may not matter to you now, but in the future, lenders may not differentiate between a foreclosure and a short sale because of so many late payments.

There’s also the issue of a deficiency judgment, or getting stuck with having to pay off a portion if not all of the amount you were short.

Best case for you is to talk with an attorney BEFORE you talk about selling.  Find out your options and leave the Realtors out until you’ve gotten good council and know  your best option.

Lie #4- The Real Estate Market Has Hit Bottom

What agent hasn’t said that?  What’s more, if agents think that a couple of months of reduced inventory and a small rise in prices and increased home sales is the foundation to recovery, they’re crazy.  Economies are far more complicated than that and since when did Realtors have a crystal ball and where was it before the collapse?

As I’ve said before, some markets are doing well while others are crashing and some are crashing while others are doing well.  Markets are local and can be as isolated as a particular street.  Without thorough examination, there is no way to tell if your market is on the rebound (whatever the heck that might be)

Some people including many Realtors want to see a rebound in the real estate market so bad that they are willing to take fairly insignificant stats out of context or out of the bigger picture and make fairy tale realities for their clients.

Listen folks, until people get jobs, the market is still in the tank. A spike in pricing, increased sales, and lower inventory are good things, but they are shallow indicators of a healthy economic reality.

Buying and selling should be based on what suits your family needs and goals, not solely on what the market is or isn’t doing.

There are certain areas within Boise where real estate will always do well and pricing while compressed and sales down,  have more sustainable value and worth than their speculative counterparts.  If you’d like a list of those areas, just let me know .

Conclusion — Work with an honest educated agent!

Finding an honest educated agent isn’t easy.  When the Boise real estate market was hot, there were schools that were graduating over 100 agents per month into the Boise area!

The best way to find an honest agent who is look out for your needs it to call me!  Honestly !  If you don’t want to do that, then you need to interview agents to find out what they’re about.  They need to have a good grasp of the market data, know how to negotiate, and most important, they need to be able help you look out for your goals!

For a list of references and testimonials from past clients, shoot me an email or give me a call!

In the mean time, don’t forget to subscribe to my blog!

Swiss Army Knives can do almost anything, so can the new and improved Boise Real Estate Soup! It’s taken some time but I’m excited to get the new site up an running.  The changes were pretty straight forward; mostly design/graphic, but more important are the navigational changes, but, I’ve added some great features that are very useful for home buyers and home sellers alike!  Check out the updates and sign-up now for email updates or RSS updates.  Also, find me on Facebook, Twitter and Linked-In!  The site doesn’t have a corkscrew, but, if you bring your bottle of wine over, I’ll open it for you!

Searching For Boise Real Estate Just Got Easier!

I’ve added three options for getting to my Boise Real Estate home search.  You can now access the entire Boise MLS by clicking the icon in the header of the site, you can also search for Boise homes by clicking the link under the ‘Multi-Media Box, that says “Search Like An Agent” or, you can follow the tab in the navigation tab at the top of the page under the header image.  ***I am still waiting for my new search engine to be uploaded which should be done by the end of the week, so for now, enjoy what’s available!***

What’s That Home Worth?

Another feature of the site that I am really happy about is the Market Snapshot.  The Market Snapshot is a free tool that I am offering home buyers and home owners.  Basically, Market Snapshot will give you the ‘SOLD’ Market for any neighborhood.  So, if you are looking to buy and want to know what sales have been like in a particular area, submit your request and get a Market Snapshot of the area.  Likewise, if you are selling a home and want to know what homes like yours have sold for, feel free to use the tool by punching in the required info.

It’s pretty amazing information, you should try it out just for fun!

Linked-In, Facebook and Twitter, Oh My!

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Continued Updates and Content

As things develop, I will continue to make important changes and upgrades to the site.  Look for new content weekly by subscribing to the RSS feed and please please please leave your comments, ideas and support!!!