Pinetop White Mountain Blog

Good Afternoon Everyone,

I know I have been very negligent in posting lately but it's only because I'm busy! Yes, real estate in the White Mountains of Arizona is moving again.  The buyers are back and they are buying!

This is wonderful for our market place because it is bringing down the inventory.  What that means to buyers however is that pricing is leveling off and in some places it is even creeping back up again.

I get a lot of calls from prospective buyers wanting to buy a place here but they are finding that they cannot buy what they thought they could for the money they want to spend.

This post is a bit of a reality check for anyone who is thinking of buying a property in the White Mountains.  You are not going to find a three bedroom, 2 bath cabin in Pinetop for $50,000.  I think I already sold the only one that was habitable this Spring.  The terms "fixer upper" or "Needs a little TLC" translates to it is ready to fall down and it is in need of a lot more than a paint job.  It means that the home is probably not habitable, has major issues, and it is practically a knock down start over property. 

Now, if you are wanting something in the $150K range or up, there are lots of properties available and they are very nice.  I have a lovely little place listed in Lakeside for $149K and it is clean, cozy, and move in ready.  The seller is wanting to move and has done everything I have suggested to stage it and make it ready to sell.

In the higher end market the choices are endless but if the buyers are waiting for them to fall to that $50,000 place, they will wait forever because it simply isn't going to happen.  Most sellers in this market are not in a "have to sell" position and even if it takes a year or more to sell their properties they are okay with that.  They will not drop prices to the point where they are considered the bargains of the century.

There are still a few Short Sales and Foreclosures around but the nicer properties are pretty much sold out.  A few nice properties come on from time to time but the majority of the foreclosures in this market now are generally the lower priced properties that the banks just want to get off the books.  They are priced in that $50,000 range but it is going to take another $100,000 to make them livable.  If a nice property does come on the market, it is usually gone within a couple of days and with multiple offers at that.

I know in some of the larger metro areas of the State of Arizona there are some great deals on really nice homes, but this is the White Mountains.  The market is not the same as it is elsewhere and it never will be.  If you are a buyer coming to this market you need to prepare yourself for the reality of this market, we are still paying a good price for the benefit of living in the White Mountains.

I know this post is not what people want to hear but I have always been one to tell it like it is, even if it isn't what people want to hear.  There are some good buys here, many prices are far below the pricing of the high market in the mid-2000's, but they are still not bargain basement and I truly don't believe they ever will be.   

Thanks for reading, until next time....

Sandra Paulow, Associate Broker, GRI, SFR, REALTOR® (928) 242-0300