Gillians’s Blog & REsources Portal: A Source for Buyers and Sellers of Montana Real Estate

It’s been a really busy week for me: lots of phone calls from people thinking of putting their homes on the market in the next couple of months, wanting to get an opinion as to price and what should be done to get the place ready. It’s a very fine line to walk right now, in terms of pricing a property. Too high, and it will sit around for ages; too low, and the worry is that the seller is leaving money on the table.

I tend to stick to the comparable sales of the last six months when determining a list price range, and sometimes, sellers wince a little when they hear the number I give. But most people really have got that prices are not shooting up the way they were a few years ago — it’s sunk into all of our conciousnesses that the market has adjusted.

Nonetheless, I am tremendously optimistic about our market and the coming selling season. We have what people want, here in Park County — comparatively affordable housing, a safe and beautiful place to live and great communities. When I read the weekly reports from the virtual tours on each of my listings, I see that people are looking at Park County from every corner of the country — Texas, Colorado and California seem to like us the most!

With careful pricing and seriously focused marketing, any property can be sold. If you’re thinking of selling, it’s often a good idea to get a couple of agents from different companies in to look at your property — the more informatuion you can gather the better. Remember that nine times out of then, the most important decision you’ll make when selling is who you will use as a Realtor. There are really marked differences between the local companies agents in this area — more than you might imagine!

Here’s a house at 806 Nebula, in the Northern Lights area, that’s a little ahead of the Spring rush — just came on the market this week. It’s a really spacious house with loads of bedrooms, great indoor/outdoor flow with a good sized yard and deck. I would have taken a photo, but there was a brief snow storm when I was up there today! If you’d like to take a look at this new listing, call me at 556 6829 for an appointment.

New Listing
806 Nebula
$244,000

If Location, Location, Location is real estate’s mantra, then the current location to be in is 12th Street in Livingston - in the last month, three homes have been listed & sold in the first few weeks on the market.

711 North 12th — a newer home built by Tom & Niam Moody, with spacious rooms and a warm, peaceful palette — was listed in my office in February. A couple of weeks ago, I sold it to a young couple from Colorado, who plan to move here at the end of March. I know that Dave & Carla Pettit, owners of Pickle Barrel, Livingston’s favorite sandwich shop, who live next door will miss the Moody family, but I’m sure they’ll love their new neighbors, Ellie & Doug Fales and their magical daughter, Miss Tova.

A recently remodeled home I listed at 405 South 12th also went under contract quickly, after only a week on the market.

Next, a really sweet starter home at 526 South 12th Street, which I listed at $179,000, sold & closed in the same month that it was listed for $173,000.

Even with all of this selling going on, there is still ample opportunity to purchase your own piece of 12th Street because I just I listed 715 N. 12th for an asking price of $242,500 — a great buy in absolutely move in condition, with three bedrooms, two baths and a spacious, waiting-to-be-finished-to-your-floor-plan basement. Here’s a link to the property’s virtual tour.

Feel like building your own place? There’s a great building lot available for $60,000 on North 12th Street, as well as a larger (1/2 of a city block) parcel with a variety of possibilities listed at $400,000. If you’d like to look at any ofthese properties online, be sure to go to my Search Property feature, and from there, navigate through all of the listings in our MLS system. Have a great weekend — I’ll be working, so never hesitate to call me in the ogffice at 556 6829, or on my cell at 220 4340.

We’re hearing a lot about what Washington plans to do to stimulate the housing market. Here’s an overview of what the Economic Stimulus Package actually means.

On February 13, 2008, the economic stimulus package was signed into law by President Bush. This package includes many provisions which are important to the housing market — even a stable one like ours here in Livingston & Park County — most notably increasing the loan limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (GSE) and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). The National Association of Realtors ® (NAR) has shown great support for this package and predicts a jumpstart in the housing market which will help countless families and the U.S. economy as a whole.

According to research conducted by the NAR, increasing the FHA loan limits could help 138,000 Americans get into the housing market and will also give almost 200,000 homeowners the opportunity to refinance and ideally keep their current homes. Additionally, an economic impact study estimated that increasing the GSE’s loan limits could lead to as many as 500,000 refinanced loans and reduce foreclosures by 210,000. It is also anticipated that over 300,000 additional home sales could occur; there would be a reduction in housing inventory; and the prices for homes would increase and strengthen. The belief is that by increasing the loan limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, there will be improved liquidity in to the nation’s much stressed mortgage market.

To use some numbers to put this in perspective, the FHA limit will increase to as much as $729,750 in high cost areas (to 125% of local median home prices) for loans approved on or before December 31, 2008. The GSE limit will increase up to $729,750 for loans originated after July 1, 2007 to December 31, 2008. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are currently topped out at $417,000. Please keep in mind these figures are estimates and not yet official figures.

For those not familiar with FHA or GSE loans and their importance to the housing market, FHA loans– which are a part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) – are insured loans, so lenders can generally offer better deals. They are often popular to first time homebuyers with a down payment as low as 3% of the purchase price, and most of the closing costs and fees can be included in the loan.

Fannie Mae exists to expand affordable housing and operates in America’s secondary mortgage market to ensure that mortgage bankers and other lenders have enough funds to lend to home buyers at low rates. Freddie Mac purchases, securitizes and invests in home mortgages, and ultimately provides homeowners and renters with lower housing costs and better access to home financing.

Of course, the economic stimulus package is really somewhat of a short-term answer to a bigger issue. Additionally, the loan limit increases will only be in effect for the current year. The FHA and GSE Reform Bills are currently in the works, but not yet passed into law. However, this package should meet its goal of giving the housing market a boost as well as jump-starting overall consumer spending.

NAR’s President, Dick Gaylord, recently reiterated the fact that with more affordable financing options, lower housing prices, and historically low interest rates, buying a home now is more affordable than it has been in many years. Furthermore, homeownership is still the best way that most Americans can build their wealth, and is one of the best long-term investments a person can make.

If you’d like to speak to a lender about refinancing your home, do call me: we are lucky enough inLivingston to have several excellent choices. I’d be glad to pass along contact information

Foreclosures have been a topic of media attention for many, many months, but how widespread, how real, is this phenomenon? The media would have us believe that every residential neighborhood is full of distress sales with homeowners losing their most valuable asset. Of course, there has been a rise in foreclosure rates, and this trend may continue. However — and this is a big however — it is important to keep in mind that 99% of American homeowners are NOT in foreclosure situations. And even more essential is the fact that the crisis (if it is to be called that) is a regional problem, and not a systemic one at this point in time.

One good indicator of what is actually going on is to compare some year-over-year foreclosure statistics. Although the national foreclosure rate increased by an incredible 79% between December 2006 and December 2007, the overall context for that seemingly astronomical number is that the foreclosure rate was still only 1.033%. Additionally, since almost 30% of all homes are owned free and clear, this translates to 0.07% of all homes in the country being in foreclosure - not as newsworthy as many would think.

Fortunately here in Livingston and in Montana as a whole, we have not seen a large number of homes in foreclosure. Local lenders simply did not fall into the habit of “over-lending” and our fairly steady price appreciation has helped to keep homeowners out of “upside-down” equity situations. Our market here is stable, something I believe will continue for some time.

The market is getting busier. I have several new listings coming up this week, and I sold three properties just in the last week: 405 S. 12th Street listed last week for $229,00 and sold in forty eight hours, as did 526 S. 12th. With so many properties coming on the market, it’s good for you if I know of your needs ahead of time, so if you are shopping for a home, do let me know– that way I can give alert you when something new is coming up. As always, the best place to contact me is 556 6829.

Thanks, by the way, to everyong for your positive feedback & comments about my blog & website — do let me know if there are other features you’d like to see!