Jeremy’s 4-Minute Tour of St. George, Utah!

I want to take you on a brief tour today to show you all that St. George has to offer.

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.

Here’s a transcript of the video:

As a lifetime resident of St. George, one of my favorite places is the remarkable Town Square, the epicenter of downtown’s energy and the location of the Ironman 70.3 finish line. 

Today, I want to give you a brief tour of all this wonderful city has to offer and show you why people continue to flock here from all over the world. 

St. George is the county seat and the largest city in Washington County. The area is also known as Utah’s Dixie. Why? Many of the first pioneers in the area were cotton farmers from the South who settled here.

St. George has a long, rich history even before the 1860s. It used to be a major stop on the Old Spanish Trail, and a home to Native Americans dating back 2,000 years. 

Right now, there are 90,000 residents in St. George. We stopped by to ask Mayor Jon Pike why he thinks so many people love living in St. George. 

“We really do care,” says Mayor Pike. “We have an attitude of service. That’s why we’re here. This city is owned by the people who work here; it’s theirs. They are the stockholders, in my view. I’m here to do the very best job I can to serve them.” 

The city is nestled in a picturesque valley surrounded by lava rock, sandstone, and other formations. St. George boasts over 300 days of sunshine a year, which is perfect for recreational activities.

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St. George is perfect for outdoor recreational activities.

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There are four championship golf courses within city limits, as well as miles of hiking and biking trails, parks, and festivals. Some popular events at St. George include the Ironman, World Senior Games, and the St. George Marathon. 

We took a moment in our tour to talk with Stacey McAfee, who was showing her niece around town and hanging out at the Town Square—which, again, is one of my favorite places. Stacey says, “St. George does a great job with parks, splash pads, and things to do with young children. My four-year-old requested that we come to this splash pad today because he loves the river and the water. It’s hot here, so we like to get in the water and cool off.”  

Education has always been a priority for the St. George community. There are 12 elementary schools, three intermediate schools, four middle schools, and five high schools—with more on the way.  

St. George is also home to the 111-acre Dixie State University campus, which has an enrollment of 8,500 undergraduates.  

The accredited and expanding Dixie Regional Medical Center is another great benefit to the area. This state-of-the-art facility offers rehabilitation services, sports medicine and training, outpatient surgery, and the neuroscience institute. It is the top major medical referral center for northwest Arizona, southeast Nevada, and southern Utah. 

In the first quarter of 2017, the unemployment rate in St. George dipped down to 3.4%, which is the lowest we’ve seen since the beginning of the recession. In 2016, the average monthly wage was $2,813. 

This July, there are 1,097 homes for sale and 70 for rent, which puts us firmly in a seller’s market. The median listing price is currently at $289,000. 

So, with mild weather, beautiful scenery, a progressive business atmosphere, educated workforce, low crime, and close proximity to Las Vegas—not to mention the gateway to National Parks—it’s no wonder why St. George is one of the fastest-growing areas in Utah. 

If you have any questions about St. George or if you know someone who’s thinking of moving to the area, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

END TRANSCRIPT. 

Thanks for going on the 4-minute tour with us! We love, love, LOVE this town and hope you do too. Don’t hesitate to shoot us an email at sales@gostgeorge.com or a quick jingle to 435-216-3888 with questions about real estate, schools, bike trails, or even our favorite St. George eateries!

Do Backup Offers Really Work in Our St. George Market?

Backup offers used to be a fool’s errand in our market, but two recent developments have changed that way of thinking.

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.

Is it wise to write backup offers if you’re a homebuyer?

For years, we told people not to write backup offers because it was considered a fool’s errand. If they did write a backup offer, they often failed to close on the house they wanted because someone else closed ahead of them. These buyers were always seeing other homes. Every time they saw one dream home, another dream home popped up somewhere else. 

Two situations in our St. George market, however, have changed this real estate rule of thumb.

First, we have insanely low inventory—less than three months' worth. That means it would take less than three months to sell every single home currently for sale. Buyers in this case are having a hard time finding what they want to purchase. When they DO find what they want to purchase they’re often getting beat out by 1,2, even 5 other Buyers ahead of them!

UGH. How is this helpful to you as a St. George home buyer? 

Because so many folks are writing so many offers on so many homes…(that’s a lot of “so many”), many buyers are “flaking out” on the first offer they wrote. They’re writing offers on properties they’re not sure they even want just to tie the property up, then later cancelling their offer after finding a home they like better.

Enter: your backup offer, stage right!

Knowing that many of the Buyers that beat you out may in fact end up pulling their offer, you write a backup!

This means if you see a home you like and someone else has already written an offer on it: pick up the phone, call your real estate agent, and tell them you’d like to write a backup offer on that home.

 If they’re not willing to do that for you, they clearly don’t understand the current real estate market. 

Bottom line? There’s a better chance now than ever in our market to score a home with a backup offer.

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Don’t be discouraged to write a backup offer—it just might work.

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If you have any questions about the buying or selling process or you’re thinking about buying or selling a home yourself, give us a call. We know this town, and we’d love to help you. Our phone # is 435-216-3888 or email us at sales@gostgeorge.com.