How Boomerang Buyers are boosting the St. George Real Estate Market

Want to see which St. George area homes are currently for sale? Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You can always call us at (435) 215-4533 for a FREE home buying or selling con

Today, we're going to talk about “Boomerang Buyers” and how they affect the real estate market both locally and nationally. A “Boomerang Buyer?..What is THAT?” Great question.

A boomerang buyer is someone who lost their home in a foreclosure or short sale in the housing crash, and who needed time to improve their credit in order to purchase another home. Now that their credit is back in shape, it's really affecting the market. 

Starting in 2006, over 7 million homeowners went through short sales or foreclosures. In 2015, 350,000 homes were sold to return buyers. A.K.A. “Boomerang Buyers.”

According to the National Association of Realtors, up to 1 million consumers have restored their credit, and 2.2 million consumers are expected to restore their credit in the next five years. That means that there will be up to 2.2 million buyers coming back into the market over the next five years. 

In spite of going through a foreclosure, nearly all of these consumers say they want to buy a home again. They see the value of owning a home vs. renting. After all, if you're going to pay a mortgage, it might as well be your own!

The “boomerang effect” has sustained the St. George real estate market through the heat of summer – a time when we almost always see a fairly strong dip in St. George real estate sales.

During summer (June-August) 2014, 919 residential sales too place in Washington County versus 1136 during the same time period in 2015…an extra 217 home sales! That’s $54 million in total value, a serious figure. And we believe that boomerang home buyers had a strong part in that increase

If you have questions about this video, or about your home value, please give me a call or send me an email. I'd be happy to help you!

I have my Washington County Property Tax Notice…Now what?

Want to see which St. George area homes are currently for sale? Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You can always call us at (435) 215-4533 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.​

You've probably received your Washington County Property Tax notice in the mail by now. It’s one of those things that gets tossed aside into the “I’ll deal with that later” pile, right? I get it.

But since you’re inevitably going to wonder if they’ve overcharged you for property taxes at some point, I’m going to address it with you now! Here are the 3 key points you’ll want to consider:

1. Is the assessment accurate? You have to keep in mind that the value you see on your assessment is not the value of your home. This number is not what someone would pay you for your home if it were on the market. I would actually go so far as to say that 90% of assessments are probably a bit low. Meaning that your home is actually worth MORE than they’ve assessed you for....SHHH…I won’t tell the County if you don’t!

2. What should you do if it's inaccurate? If you think your assessed value is too high, get on a home evaluation site (Dixiehomevalue.com) and compare their value to what you received. If the difference is too great, you can contest it. Reach out to us and we can produce a price analysis that you can take to the assessor's office when you appeal. If you need to appeal, go to the Washington County website:(http://www.washco.utah.gov/assessor/boe.php).

3. What is the benefit to you financially? If you appeal and the county assessor accepts your appeal, for every $1,000 that they have over-assessed you, you will get $12 back in the form of a credit. So, a $10,000 over-assessment will get you $120 in credit.

Most of you don't need to worry about these things, but if you have any questions about your property tax notice, please don't hesitate to contact us. We would love to resolve any issues you may be having.

Until that time, or our NEXT video – onward and upward!