Good day readers,

While it is easy to defend that overall our local real estate market is still a "sellers" market, the recent spike in the number of available properties on the market has made things considerably more competitive. Homes priced under $650,000 in our area are sitting on the market for a long time. DOM or days on market is typically longer for second-home vacation community markets like ours but during 2006 we are seeing homes sit on the market for well over 275 days. This is due in part to inflated pricing as well as stiff competition from other sellers at this price range. Plus, homes in the Crested Butte area that are in this price range or lower are typically older properties.

Personally, seeing the DOM figures come in so high means that sellers are either not motivated to sell anytime soon or they don’t understand what a buyer faces when purchasing a home in our market.

One thing is for sure: Of all the $500K or less homes that I’ve shown to my buyer clients none of them had much curb appeal. Many of the homes needed new roofs, better landscaping, new appliances, better flooring and finishes. Outdated, poorly maintained homes shock and demoralize buyers – many of them come from places where $500 K buys you a nice, well maintained home.

The irony? Every buyer I represent knows that sellers are expecting a hefty net return on the sale of their home. Lets face it, the equity is there. Property values have skyrocketed since 2004 and if you compare notes on prices from 10 or 15 years ago the potential gain from the sale of real estate in Crested Butte is absolutely incredible.

So why not make the house look like a $ 500K home? Fix it up, repair the fence, pull the weeds, paint the place, rip the stinky carpet up and update the flooring, get new appliances and maybe replace those old windows or the front door! Take out a home equity line of credit, do the home update and get your half million bucks at closing. Avoid the "price reduction till it sells" scenario.

If you are a buyer, in this market or any real estate market for that matter, read this article below.

Thanks for visiting today,

Channing Boucher

Article borrowed from the National Association of Realtors

As markets that were overheated as recently as early 2005 have cooled considerably, this subject has become a hot one. With a temporary overabundance of housing on the market in many parts of the country, low bidders are truly in their element for the first time in about a decade. Offers that were laughed off just 18 months ago by confident sellers are suddenly being considered. Owners who once advised their agents to ignore offers by lowballers no longer have that luxury in most markets.

But don’t expect sellers to flat-out panic. Most who bought their homes recently will not let their homes go for much less than they paid for them. On the other hand, owners who have been in their homes awhile and enjoyed a big run-up in value in recent years might be more willing to listen to lower offers because they’ll still profit handily on the sale.

As always, homes most likely to sell at a big discount are those in dire need of wholesale repairs, preforeclosure homes and those owned by other highly motivated people (transferring out of town, buying another home and not able to afford two mortgages, had recent death in family, investor who bought at the wrong time, etc.). To them, offers of up to 15 percent or more under market are a little more palatable.

Knowing the seller’s motives always gives you much more traction with any negotiable purchase — especially a house.

However, stingy offers on quality properties might come off as predatory and not even elicit a counteroffer. Many sellers will dig in their heels and stay put before they’ll sell at giveaway prices. With a few exceptions, the underlying fundamentals of most U.S. housing markets remain strong and are still showing annual value growth, albeit a bit slower.

On average, homes sell for a little under 5 percent of asking price, and in this generally softening market, you should set your sights below this figure. As a very loose rule of thumb, based on my research and writings of the last 20 years, closing prices in a vibrant sellers’ market average about 2 percent below list and average around 8 percent or 9 percent at or around the bottom (or top, depending on your perspective) of a buyers’ market. Of course, much of this depends on market, location, the local economy and a home’s condition. Higher-priced homes and condos are slower to move at present, so adjust accordingly. The more you research the nuances of your market, the better you’ll fare.

But you have little to lose, currently, by going low. The worse that can happen is that your offer will be flatly rejected. For that reason, your best strategy might be to pinpoint several potential homes, make your low offers and see what sticks — or at least who is willing to negotiate. In lieu of price concessions, many homeowners are offering to throw in appliances, furnishings and even such items as high-definition TVs. If you do the math, you might come out farther ahead than if you held out for an additional 1 percent or 2 percent.

A few tips: Keep silent on what your top price is and what mortgage amount you’ve been prequalified for. These can be used against you in the negotiation game. The amount you can borrow needn’t come out until the contract phase, after you’ve agreed on price. And enter negotiations armed. If you can produce "comps" of similar area homes that sold at similar discounts, you have leverage. Your buyer’s agent should be able to do this as part of his or her services.

Good morning readers,

Good news for the Western Slope and Gunnison County this week. The final decision was made on an earlier ruling regarding a HUGE Western Colorado water storage and distribution proposal by Natural Energy Resources.

Essentially, the judge upheld the determination that there isn’t enough Western Slope water to support such a project. Review the article below.

Thanks for visiting today.

Channing Boucher
Visit My Site

Big CO water-pumping project quashed
 
DENVER – Colorado’s highest court has upheld an earlier ruling to cancel the Natural Energy Resources Co.’s conditional permit to pipe water from the Gunnison River to Arapahoe County, according to an Associated Press report on CBS 4.

Natural Energy Resources proposed constructing a reservoir near Crested Butte to store up to 1.2 million acre-feet of Gunnison River water for use by the state’s populous Front Range communities, the story said.

In August 2005, state water court Judge Steven Patrick canceled Natural Energy Resources’ 20-year-old water right after determining there was not enough water available for the company to move ahead with the project, according to the article.

John McClow, general counsel for the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District, which called the proposal a threat to its water, said in the report that the Supreme Court ruling "was the final nail in the coffin" of the water project.

American Airlines and United Airlines return to the Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport this winter providing easy access to some of the world’s best alpine and Nordic skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, dog sledding, ice fishing and winter festivals. Crested Butte Mountain Resort ski area and Crested Butte Nordic Center will be open for snowy fun from Nov. 18 through April 8.

"We are very happy to continue a great partnership with American Airlines and United Airlines. To celebrate, we are offering a great Early Season Ski Deal that can include flights," says Jane Chaney, executive director of the Gunnison-Crested Butte Tourism Association. "Unplug and recharge in our historic mountain communities that are authentic, unpretentious and full of life."

American Airlines Flights
American Airlines will offer daily 757 jet service from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Gunnison-Crested Butte from Dec. 14 through April 9, 2007. A second Saturday jet will be added from Feb. 3 – 7.

United Airlines Flights
United Airlines serves Gunnison-Crested Butte year-round and will offer five winter flights from Denver, Dec. 14 through April 4, 2007, including four United Express flights and daily jet service on United Airlines. United Express serves Gunnison-Crested Butte year-round and will offer two flights daily from Nov. 1 – Dec. 13 for early ski season.

Good morning readers,

It’s Labor Day Weekend and time to look at the real estate market in Crested Butte and the rest of Gunnison County. The year to date numbers (January 1 to September 3) reveal a real estate market that has undergone some serious price corrections in the face of cooling sales. However, in my opinion the market is strong and represents solid investment opportunities from residential to vacant land to commercial properties. Not unlike the stock market, our recent correction will spur additional investment and value gains on real estate. Our volume is pushing $ 200 million which means folks are maintaining their interest in Crested Butte and Gunnison as a place to put real estate investment dollars. The main issue currently is the insane number of active listings – 979 active residential, land and commercial listings. This equates to just over $ 630 million in property for sale at an average price tag of $ 643,000! WOW!

It is true that so far in 2006 the market is slower than last year at this time. Lets face it, 2005 was absolutely red hot in terms of volume and sales price averages – a tough act to follow in any real estate market.

Here are the numbers for year to date sales activity in 2006.
(Figures are for the entire Gunnison County)

Residential Sales: 292 properties sold representing $125,390,000 in volume.
Vacant Land Sales: 180 properties representing $59,635,335 in volume
Commercial Sales: 19 properties representing $6,210,000 in volume.

A total of 491 transactions have closed since January 1 representing $191,229,371 in sales. The average property sales price across the board was $389,469.

By comparison, in 2005 the total sales volume by September 3 was $279,011,945 spread out over 803 transactions.

Thanks for visiting today!

Channing Boucher
Broker Associate
EagleBrooke Realty

Visit My Site