St. George Utah Real Estate Video Blog with Jeremy Larkin

How Will Election Results Affect the St. George Real Estate Market?

How will the election results affect the St. George Valley market? Not as much as you might think. Allow me to explain.

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.

When the U.S. election comes down to people “writing in” their favorite cartoon character, there’s naturally going to cause for concern in the U.S. economy! We’ve of course been getting questions at The Larkin Group about the direction of the St. George real estate market after this absurd election cycle.

While most folks are primarily concerned with how the elected President will affect the real estate market, we’re most concerned with:

What direction will interest rates go? (Making it more or less difficult to buy and sell St. George real estate), and…
Will consumer confidence fall (also making it more or less difficult to buy and sell real St. George real estate)?

Regardless of election results, a lot of people are going to be unhappy. But even since November 9th the sun has risen every single day on the St. George valley and it continues to be one of the finest places in the country to live, work, retire, and raise a family.

Even as recent news articles ranked St. George as having the 2nd LOWEST wages in the nation, other news is emerging saying that per capita, St. George was ranked the 2nd HIGHEST American city for adding jobs. Kinda’ bizarre, no?

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The St. George valley is still one of the finest places in the country to live.

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People still want to live in “Utah’s Dixie” and they always will. Which means folks will continue relocating to St. George That will continue to drive this market long term. Don't pay attention to presidential cycles, pay attention to real estate cycles and you'll make better real estate decisions.

If you have any questions about our market, especially about your home’s value as we enter 2017, don't hesitate to give us a call!

Help us nominate and feed 200 St. George area families in need this Thanksgiving!

By some stroke of insanity it’s almost Thanksgiving again….how does the time go this fast?? Most of us will be enjoying a “FEAST” on that day, but largely invisible to the public, there are hundreds of families in the area who will NOT.

The Larkin Group is responsible for “The Basket Brigade”, a charity that assembles and delivers a full Thanksgiving basket & meal to nominated families the Saturday before Thanksgiving. The event originated with the famed Tony Robbins after his family received a similar gift on a childhood Thanksgiving.

The experience is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. It’s most powerful for your kids as they deliver a true gift to someone who’s struggling. Year after year the volunteers come back to us saying, “my kids were asking me when we can do this again!”

Will you take 77 seconds to check out the video below about the event? Then please take action in a way that you feel comfortable with.

$40 feeds a family and nets you a really cool gift but you DO NOT have to donate to participate! You can also VOLUNTEER and perhaps most needed, NOMINATE a family in need at the site: http://stgeorgebasketbrigade.org/

We wish you an incredible Holiday season, and remind you to give THANKS, by giving a MEAL this Thanksgiving.

-Jeremy Larkin & The Larkin Group

Are You Overpaying on Property Taxes?

If you're a Washington County, Utah property owner, you just received your Washington County property tax notice from the county assessor. A lot of you are asking, "What am I supposed to do with this thing?" You asked, we’ll answer! And you’re going to want to share this video with any of your friends and family who also own real estate here in Washington County. The reality is that they send you a notice to let you know how much they're assessing your home's value in order to calculate appropriate property taxes for your property. A lot of people ask, "Well, am I paying too much?" In my experience of over a decade of selling St. George area homes I’ve learned the following: 90 percent of these notices are deadly accurate, if not lower than your home's real value, and that's good for you. Meaning? Most folks are actually being UNDER-charged! Shhhh…we’ll make that our little secret.

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You might be paying property taxes at a value lower than your home's true value.

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If you just have to know, and you're concerned about your value, and think maybe you're overpaying, first visit a free home valuation website like Zillow or our local www.DixieHomeValue.com. Plug in your address and see what kind of value it spits out. It takes no more than 60 seconds. You can also hire a real estate professional to create a comparative market analysis. This is like a “mini-appraisal” of sorts. We do so for a nominal fee here at The Larkin Group. If you absolutely feel strong about appealing your property tax value, you need to visit the Washington County Assessor's office, or visit washco.utah.gov to obtain instructions on the tax appeals process. The deadline for appeals is September 15th. How much can you save on taxes if you’re able to prove that you were overtaxed? Typically $10.00 per $1000.00 in assessed value. My personal opinion is that fighting this battle for anything less than a $10,000.00 assessment modification, or $100.00 in savings, is just a waste of time. If you've got other questions about the St. George real estate market, your home's value, or whether or not now is the time to buy or sell, give us a call. We'd love to help you out!

St. George Real Estate AND Temperatures Smoking Hot!

The most common question I'm asked is about the state of the market.

That question has multiple answers, depending on whether you're buying, selling, or investing in St. George real estate. What you need to know right now is this - we are seeing the hottest home selling market that St. George has experienced in more than a decade.

What does that actually mean? Well, many homeowners are actually selling their homes for more money than asking price. Get this - over the course of 45 days we had 15 clients in multiple offer bidding wars for their homes. One of our clients recently received an offer that was $21,000 above her asking price!

What it means for you is that this summer may be the best time to get maximum value for your home before the market shifts. Secondly, this market and the record-low interest rates won't last. They never do.

If you're interested in finding out how much your home is worth in this hot market right now, visit www.dixiehomevalue.com for an estimate on your home's value in about 60 seconds. If you’ve had even an “inkling” of selling your home but aren’t sure just what to do, give us a call and let’s figure out whether right now is the time for you. Even if the market is hot it doesn’t mean it’s time for EVERYONE to sell.

Do People Buy and Sell St. George Real Estate During the Summer?

Did you see the 113 degree temperature on the sign just now and are you wondering, "What's Jeremy doing out in front of his alma mater, melting on a summer afternoon?"

We're here to answer the question, "Do people really buy or sell real estate in St. George during the summer?"

The short answer is a resounding yes. The longer answer is that you'd actually be surprised by how many do.

Looking at home sale data from 2015, we saw that nearly 1,100 homes sold from June 1st to September 1st. It was actually nearly 1/3 of homes sold for the entire year sold in that quarter of the year.

Now people do make buying and selling decisions based on the seasons such as snow birds who don't want to be here in the summer versus educators who only move during the summer based on their work schedule.

The reality is, yes folks, you can sell your home during the summer months. People do buy them. If you have questions about your personal home buying and selling situation on whether this summer is the right time for you to take action. Give us a call. We'd love to discuss your personal situation.

Other real estate related questions? just give us a call at (435) 215-4533. We'd be happy to visit.