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!

Do You Know How to Account for Your Personal Property When Selling?

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.​

Hello, and welcome back! 

This video features us helping our client Leslie deal with some personal property items after she had moved away prior to closing. And we are very thankful to her for letting us help with the sale. We did it in just 60 days, start to finish!

The Seller moved fairly far away prior to the close of the transaction which brought up a challenge: "What do I do with my personal property when I sell my home? Both the pieces I want to give away to charity, as well as those items the Buyer wants to purchase?”

This is a great question, and an important one to know the answer to since transferring furnishings to your home Buyer actually has a proper legal “method” to it.

Often, sellers think they can include personal property as part of the contract. However, per Utah real estate law, you have to convey personal property, outside of fixtures, via what is called a “bill of sale.”

This confusing language is why it's so important to work with a good Realtor and title company; they can help you understand the jargon and avoid making any moves that may have legal ramifications.

Fixtures, as mentioned above, include your sink, oven, dishwasher, and other affixed items in a home. 

Personal property, on the other hand, includes things like TVs, couches, beds, and other movable things. You need to work with a good real estate professional and title agency to work on conveying that stuff via a bill of sale, or you will run into an issue with the title company.  

We hope this tip helps you avoid unnecessary stresses when making your move. If you have any questions about this topic, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, give us a call or shoot us a quick email. We would love to hear from you! 

How Does Your Home’s Value Compare To the “Peak?”

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.​

Welcome back to another edition of GoStGeorgeTV, we have a really exciting episode today. We are going to talk about, and actually show you, where home values are in Utah and across the Country compared to 10 years ago at the “peak” of the real estate bubble.

A lot of crazy things have happened with the economy in the last 10 years - Ponzi shemes, government bailouts, and even a major recovery of home values across the Country.

Before we can even talk about where values are TODAY, understand the following:

•  St. George area home values fell an average of 35% from 2006 to 2011. “Average” meaning that in some St. George neighborhoods values fell as much as 50% or more!
•  As implied above, 2011 was the absolute “rock bottom” of the market in terms of home values. Yes, you can now consider 2011 the “good old days” of buying.. :)

In the video above, you will see that home values in the states colored dark blue have actually climbed back to peak levels seen 10 years ago. States like Colorado, Wyoming, Texas, and Nebraska all fall into this category.

On the other side, in the States marked by the color orange home values are still 15-20% below their peak. Nevada is 35% below their peak and Arizona is at 27.4% below peak home value ranges.

As for Utah, we are still 9% below our peak values, which is actually a very healthy number. If you want more info on “why” it’s a healthy figure, give us a ring!

An example: If you have owned a home in St. George that was valued at the peak for. Say, $400,000…the home is probably worth more like $360,000 now. If your home was valued at $200,000 in the “peak”, it’s probably closer to $180,000 today. Now these are not EXACT figures, but it’s a good rule of thumb.

However, we are starting to notice a much larger increase in home appreciation as of late. In the last year, homes have appreciated by 5.5%, and they have appreciated by 1.5% in the last month alone.

The most important thing to remember when interpreting this data is this….

 All real estate is local!

So local, in fact, that each neighborhood right inside of a single City could be experiencing different home value “symptoms.” Many factors can affect home values on your street so don’t be shy about reaching out for assistance! Trusting Zillow or Google to give you a clear view of your home’s true market value is, well, not reliable. We produced a previous episode about it HERE.

If you've got questions about your home’s value or anything else real-estate related, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to offer you a free, no-obligation home value assessment!

What’s Going on in 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 consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.​

Hello, and welcome back to another edition of GoStGeorgeTV – the place where all of the “Smart Kids” are going to get their St. George Real Estate information! It’s April already and folks are asking, “what’s going on with the St. George Real Estate market this year? We’ll answer just that. Today's video comes to you from the beautiful Ballantyne resort in Charlotte! A few times a year, I travel across the country to receive intensive training, so I can continue to improve my service. I learn how to better market our clients' properties and how to better grow our business! One key element of being out here is having conversations about helping you, your family, or your friends find a great Real Estate Agent anywhere – and I mean ANYWHERE in the United States, even overseas! More on that later.

What's going on in the St. George Real Estate market?

The current market conditions would described, (in super boring terms), as “balanced.” 

There are currently 6.5 months of inventory (total real estate for sale) which indicates a neutral or balanced market. What does this mean? That OVERALL- when you average out every single St. George home sale, the market doesn’t necessarily favor Buyers OR Sellers. But remember that’s an average. The $200k market, for instance, is more of a Seller’s market. Whereas over $500k it’s definitely a Buyer’s market. 

But the current market is very active as we've seen 1,500 home sales in the last six months. At a $250,000 average sales price, that’s a LOT of St. George real estate changing hands. In fact, we were recently ranked the fifth fastest growing marketplace in the entire country! 

So how can we make you look really good with your friends and family across the globe?  

If you’ve got friends or family buying or selling anywhere on the planet where Real Estate Agents are actively available, we can connect them with the very best. Just let them know that your friends at The Larkin Group have a referral partner in that locale and we can save them the pain and drama of interviewing 10 agents!

If you have any specific questions about the St. George Real Estate Market, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, give me a call! I would love to sit down and discuss your particular situation! We hope to hear from you soon!