Pinetop White Mountain Blog

Good Afternoon Everyone,

Winter is knocking at the door in the White Mountains.  We have already have a couple of snow storms, one dropping about 3 inches of the white stuff here in Lakeside.  I'm sure in places up in the higher elevations there is already quite an accumulation.  It won't be long before the ski season at Sunrise begins. 

As to my topic today, I was reviewing values on some of the online sites today and felt I needed to caution buyers not to put too much storm in those values.  In some cases they may be quite accurate, in others they are far off the mark.

I don't know the formulas these sites use to determine value, but since no one at either of these organizations has ever seen any of these properties I can only assume they use recent sold properties and public records to determine values.  If you follow them at all you will see they fluctuate greatly from week to week.  That tells me that they are not using true comparative data to determine those values.  

That may be a pretty accurate guage in Planned Unit Developments (PUDS) where the developer did the project, built models, and then sold homes and lots of equal sizes in a single location.  However in the White Mountains were no such subdivisions exist and almost every home is a custom home, they have only recent sales based on square footage, age, and lot size to go on.  They have no idea what each of those homes actually looks like or what features it may have inside. 

For example, you might have two homes in the same general area of the same square footage and age, but one may have had a complete remodel and have features like wood floors, granite counters, new windows, wood ceilings, all new cabinets and upgraded electrical. The one down the street might be an original home with no changes or upgrades since it was first constructed.  On paper those homes may look identical based on the typical factors used for these online valuations, but inside they may differ greatly.

The other factor is that these onlines sites don't really consider whether the sale was a foreclosure, a short sale, or a conventional sale.  All they have to use are their number calculators and that can skew values terribly.

These sites do serve a purpose.  They allow the consumer to have easy access to properties for sale all over the world.  What they don't have is the capability to give true comparisons about individual homes in a neighborhood.  Particularly in areas like the White Mountains.  

They are a good starting point, but when you are ready to buy a home, you need a local professional to help you.  You need an agent in the area with the experience and knowledge to help you determine if that online valuation is true or skewed.   A local professional can help you with narrowing down you choices helping you select an area that is close to amenities that are important to you. 

If you are in the market to buy, use these sites as a starting point, but don't take everything they say at face value.  Contact a local professional to help you determine if what you are seeing is true or false.  Local pros are your best resource for finding a property at the right price, terms, and conditions to meet your needs.

If you are looking for a local professional in the White Mountains, I'm your gal.  I know neighborhoods and I know values and I can help you find "Your Perfect Place" in the White Mountain area.

Thanks for reading, until next time.....

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