Happy New Year everyone! I hope every one has taken off the feed bag and is ready to go to work. I know when my wife is ready for the holidays to be over, because she collects all of the fun foods in the house and throws them all away, whether I am finished or not.

I would like to Thanks the following for helping me with my family and Merry Christmas and getting me started on a new year...

1. Bill Rawson and Jon Crockett (purchase and sale)

2. Eric and Heather Jensen (purchase)

3. Len and Erin Pickens (purchase)

4. Terry Ryerson from Prudential Realty (sale transformed to purchase)

Bill and Jon are both past clients and Bill bought a building lot from Jon. Eric and Heather Jensen are first time buyers and we were able to find them a great home to get started in. Len and Erin Pickens were referred to me by Terry Kelvington, a Sphere of Influence member and they bought one of the premiere golf course view lots on Sky Mountain Golf course. It is absolutely gorgeous. Terry Ryerson is a competing agent who had a buyer for one of my listings, when it foreclosed. The bank no longer needed my services, but he kept me in the deal and shared his commission with me. Never have I seen such a great sacrifice and sense of fair play from a competing agent. My hat is off to him.

To all of you that think there is not money out there, I still have a couple of lenders that I work with very closely that can do FHA and 5% down conventional home loans if you can show income and credit. I know, it doesn't seem fair to require history of actually paying bills and the income to do so, but those are the new rules and we will all have to get used to them. The point is, qualified folks that have income and credit can and are buying homes so don't let the haze of the doom and gloom media scare you too bad.

This is what happened in December, you an compare it with November in the (...).

Total Market Activity on Homes in December

Active Listings: 2,011 (Nov 1,775)

New Listings: 305 (Nov 306)

Sold Listings: 115 (Nov 127)

Months of Inventory: 17.49 (Nov 13.98)

Homes priced up to $150,000

Active Listings: 196 (Nov 162)

New Listings: 42 (Nov 45)

Sold Listings: 19 (Nov 27)

Months of Inventory: 10.32 (Nov 6.00)

Homes priced from $150,001 to $200,000

Active Listings: 343 (Nov 301)

New Listings: 65 (Nov 56)

Sold Listings: 32 (Nov 28)

Months of Inventory: 10.72 (Nov 10.75)

Homes priced from $200,001 to $250,000

Active Listings: 331 (Nov 281)

New Listings: 57 (Nov 55)

Sold Listings: 20 (Nov 27)

Months of Inventory: 16.55 (10.41)

Homes priced from $250,001 to $300,000

Active Listings: 287 (Nov 259)

New Listings: 34 (Nov 47)

Sold Listings: 16 (Nov 16)

Months of Inventory: 17.94 (Nov 16.19)

Homes priced from $300,001 to $350,000

Active Listings: 180 (Nov 159)

New Listings: 29 (Nov 25)

Sold Listings: 9 (Nov 6)

Months of Inventory: 20.00 (Nov 26.50)

Homes priced from $350,001 to $400,000

Active Listings: 138 (Nov 131)

New Listings: 14 (Nov 20)

Sold Listings: 11 (Nov 8)

Months of Inventory: 12.55 (Nov 16.38)

Homes priced from $400,001 to $450,000

Active Listings: 85 (Nov 77)

New Listings: 8 (Nov 11)

Sold Listings: 3 (Nov 4)

Months of Inventory: 28.33 (Nov 19.25)

Homes priced from $450,001 to $500,000

Active Listings: 79 (Nov 72)

New Listings: 12 (Nov 7)

Sold Listings: 0 (Nov 3)

Months of Inventory: No Sales in Dec (Nov 24.00)

Homes priced from $500,001 to $550,000

Active Listings: 53 (Nov 50)

New Listings: 4 (Nov 7)

Sold Listings: 2 (Nov 0)

Months of Inventory: 26.50 (No sales in Nov)

Homes priced from $550,001 to $600,000

Active Listings: 46 (Nov 43)

New Listings: 6 (Nov 0)

Sold Listings: 1 (Nov 3)

Months of Inventory: 46.00 (Nov 14.33)

Homes priced from $600,001 to $650,000

Active Listings: 28 (Nov 24)

New Listings: 4 (Nov 1)

Sold Listings: 0(Nov 2)

Months of Inventory: No sales in Dec (Nov 12.00)

Homes priced from $650,001 to $700,000

Active Listings: 35 (Nov 29)

New Listings: 0 (Nov 1)

Sold Listings: 0 (Nov 1)

Months of Inventory: No Sales in Dec (Nov 29.00)

Homes priced from $700,001 to $750,000

Active Listings: 22 (Nov 19)

New Listings: 1 (Nov 3)

Sold Listings: 1 (Nov 0)

Months of Inventory: 22.00 (No Sales in Nov)

Homes priced from $750,001 to $1,000,000

Active Listings: 94 (Nov 84)

New Listings: 9 (Nov 14)

Sold Listings: 0 (Nov 1)

Months of Inventory: No Sales in Dec (Nov 84.00)

Homes priced from $1,000,001 and Up

Active Listings: 94 (Nov 84)

New Listings: 15(Nov 12)

Sold Listings: 1(Nov 1)

Months of Inventory: 94.00 (Nov 84.00)

The following information is for building lots in the same general area as the housing data listed above.

All Building Lots in the Greater St. George and Hurricane Valley

Active Listings: 1,257 (Nov 1,123)

New Listings: 137 (Nov 66)

Sold Listings: 14 (Nov 40)

Months of Inventory: 89.79 (Nov 28.07)

Building lots up to $100,000

Active Listings: 521 (Nov 449)

New Listings: 69 (Nov 37)

Sold Listings: 9 (Nov 14)

Months of Inventory: 57.89 (Nov 32.07)

Building lots from $100,001 to $150,000

Active Listings: 332 (Nov 300)

New Listings: 31 (Nov 7)

Sold Listings: 0 (Nov 1)

Months of Inventory: No Sales in Dec (Nov 300.00)

Building lots from $150,001 to $200,000

Active Listings: 158 (Nov 144)

New Listings: 18 (Nov 8)

Sold Listings: 1 (Nov 2)

Months of Inventory: 158.00 (Nov 72.00)

Building lots from $200,001 and up

Active Listings: 246 (Nov 230)

New Listings: 19 (Nov 14)

Sold Listings: 4(Nov 23)

Months of Inventory: 61.50 (Nov 10.00)

Short Sales

Still happening. Not the easiest way to make it go away, but if you have the following criteria, you have a fair shot at it.

1. Loss of job

2. Divorce

3. Major medical emergency

If you are solvent, have other assets, or if it is a spec or second home, you can expect a deficiency notice, and an unsecured promissory note to the lender. The good news is it is often for a diminished amount and the interest and payment are often negotiable. Needless to say all cases are different, and people could cite several examples to the contrary, but these generalities seem to prevail. Before making this kind of decision, it is very wise to speak to your accountant or attorney to decide what is best for you if you are considering selling your home short.

For a buyer, first and foremost if you make an offer on a short sell that does not have an approved price, plan on waiting a minimum of about a month and as long as six to get an answer from the bank (lien holder). Bottom line, if you are in a hurry, probably not for you. You must be very patient, and kind of go to sleep while you are waiting. If you find an "approved" short sell, that means some other poor unfortunate soul has done your dirty work of waiting and their loan fell through or they just got tired of waiting and opted out of the deal. This works great for you, because you can slide in there, and it works a lot more like a normal deal at this point, except for you have to meet all of their demands and timing to get it to work.

One more thing to remember, since you will be getting a house for a great deal, expect some risk. There may be times when you spend money on appraisals and inspections, then the seller's bank makes an unrealistic demand at the closing table that blows up the deal. Unfortunately, you are out your money; keep in mind the seller usually has no money, that is why they are selling short, and the entire deal is subject to third party approval.

Patience is the key with short sales. Sadly, depending on who the listing agent is, and how well they have done their home work and submitted their package to the bank will make a huge difference in the success of the transaction closing. Most often, that is something you can not control.

Foreclosures

I just did a quick search and found that almost 7.5% of the listed RESIDENCES, not building lots, mobile homes or park models, but actual single family homes, Condos and townhomes are currently bank owned. That does not include short sales! Short sales account for an additional 17.1%, and they are the ones that marked it correctly, I would venture to guess that shorts sales are at least 20% of the active listings.

The point is, there is better than, and I mean a lot better than a 25% chance you will be dealing with a short sale or a foreclosure if you are looking to buy a home in this market. Contrary to common belief, you can not steal these houses, and the late night shows that tell you can buy places for $1000 and a bag of chips, might work in Detroit or Flint, Michigan, but it sure does not work here. A foreclosure usually will take within 2% of the asking price in the first 30 days of the listing. After the first 30 days they become a lot more eager to deal with realistic, qualified buyers provided you can show good down payment and qualification. Even if you offer is verbally accepted within the first 24-72 hours of making it, plan on the banks addendum with in two weeks, which is usually a regurgitation of your offer on their forms so they don't have to mess with our contract. Again, patience is the key.

We live in different real estate world. Until the market corrects it self and this inventory is absorbed, we can count on dealing with these two types of listings very regularly. You probably will not hit a grand slam home run, and get a short sales or foreclosure for pennies on the dollar, but like some of my clients have, you can get a deal that puts you in an equity position, and allows you to do some fixing and updating without pricing yourself out of the market.

As always, if I can do anything for you or anyone you know, send me an email.

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