My New Blog

  Wow am I excited about my new website! Mainly because of the things it can do for you who are thirsty for information about real estate, the St. George Area, and about the things that affect us all.  For example:  Would you like to know the cheapest place to fill your gas tank? If you go to my website,  www.stgeorgesold.com and click on Local Links, you will see a link at the bottom of the page For Local Gas Prices. This works for any zip code in the country.  Maybe you can save some money by using this helpful page.

    Are you interested in what interest rates are doing?  Should you lock in a rate now or wait?  Check this link out! DailyRateLockAdvisory   Or do you just want to find out what events and activities are going on in the area this week?  While you're on the LocalLinks page, scroll down to to "Events and Happenings".  You'll be pleasantly surprised to find the hundreds of things coming up, movies that are currently playing, and classes that are available.

And of course you can search the Local Multiple Listing Service for all kinds of properties, figure payments on the Calculators Page, and much much more! Spend a few minutes just navigating around the site.  I think you'll like it.
As always, my best to all!

Alan

Last week I saw an article in the local St. George daily newspaper stating that apartment rents throughout the west are on the upswing.  In the article were listed several cities here in the west and the percentage that each was increasing on their rents.  I was surprised to note that Salt Lake City has had a 9.9% increase in rents over the last year.  This was even higher than places like San Francisco/Oakland (9.4%), Boise (3.8%), and Tuscon at (2%).  Las Vegas was only up 1.9%.  The source of the figures was RealFacts, Inc.

They were at a loss to explain why rents were going up while property values continue to go lower.  Some theorize that apartment landords have been able to boost rents as more people lose their homes or are unable to qualify for a loan under today's revised guidelines.

I always like to ask the question: "How does this information benefit me or the people I know?"  Well, since I am a landlord with several units, I guess it means that I might be able to get away with raising rents if I wanted to.  But what about you and others that don't own rental income properties?

Would a down market be a good time to check out buying a rental property?  I have noticed in my observations over the years that the people who don't do what the crowd does, and do maybe the exact opposite, many times have come out winners where finances and wealth are concerned.  Right now most of us are just waiting on the sidelines to see what happens.  There are some very smart people out there that recognize that buying things on sale is a very wise thing to do.  Believe me, there are many properties "On Sale" right now.  Maybe now is the time to enhance your investment portfolio with real estate.

Another conversation last week drove another point home pertaining to real estate.  I met a HVAC contractor at one of the homes I have listed so he could give the owner a bid on some equipment.  As we chatted, I found out he had built and sold 5 homes; all owner/builder and owner occupied.  Just off the cuff, he said: "I have made more money off of real esate than I ever have working." 

I am totally convinced that owning real estate is the surest way to financial security that there is.  If a guy that installs air conditioners can do it, so can anyone.  Think about the most financially secure people you know.  I would be willing to bet that all of them own multiple pieces of real estate.

If you would like to have a conversation about this topic, just respond to this blog, or call me anytime.

All the best,
Alan

This week I want to pose the question: Are there a lot of people who want to buy their first home, but don't think it's possible?

In the St. George area prices were so high during the recent real estate boom, that truth was, most entry level home buyers could not afford to purchase their first home.  We all know about the 38% run-up in home prices in 2006; one of the highest appreciations in the nation during that time period.  Well times have changed! 

We are seeing a good number of properties in the sub $120K range for the first time in a long while.  I checked the WCBR MLS and discovered that 385 properties have sold in the last 12 months between $120,000 and $199,000.  Granted, some of those buyers were probably investors, but I am convinced that a goodly number of them were FTHB's.

Here in Utah we have the Utah Housing Corp. that funds loans up to 103% LTV.  That means that they will lend you the full purchase price amount plus 3% more to cover closing costs.  Basically it means no out-of-pocket money for qualified buyers.  Currently a family of 3 can earn up to $66,000 and qualify for this money.  You must have a FICO score of 660 or better to qualify. 

So my question is:  Are the first time buyers not buying because they don't know they can, or do they think they can outguess the market and wait for a bottom in home prices before they buy?  Home interest rates have crept up in the last 60 days.  Just a 1% increase in rates makes it much harder to qualify for the same priced home.  We are rarely successful in pinpointing a bottom in markets during the cycle.  Usually we don't even know a bottom occurred until six months after it happened. (See Real Estate Cycle on my website)

Another factor in being able to buy a home, are the new rules for qualifying.  Since the "Credit Crunch" began with all the sub-prime loan debacle, we have begun to see almost an "over reaction" amongst lenders in the rules they are putting in place.  The question then becomes, "If you can qualify for a loan today under today's guidelines, will you be able to qualify in 6 months or a year?

I believe that fence sitters need to jump off and jump in now!  Even if prices dropped a little more, you shouldn't chance that you can get into that first property later.  The best time to buy a home is when you are able to.  You can't begin to increase equity in a home unless you own one!

I welcome other points of view, and hope some of you will use this blog to post your thoughts on this or other related topics.

Best wishes,
Alan