Pinetop White Mountain Blog

Good Afternoon Everyone,

As a courtesy to our clients who have their properties listed with us I try to keep them abreast of what is happening in the market place.  As Spring begins to show itself and things begin to warm up in Real Estate we are seeing more activity on properties For Sale.  But, in the present market, patience and price are the two most prevalent factors in Real Estate Sales.

Patience, first and foremost, because in our market right now, the average time of the market for a residential listing is 245 days!  Yes, that is right, almost a year!  Land sales are taking even longer, the average is about 288 days. 

What is driving the market, PRICE, in capital letters.  With the media constantly reminding people that the market is bad and that the only way to sell is to be the least expensive home on the block, that is what potential buyers are looking for. BARGAINS!  If the home they want is priced higher than anything else in the neighborhood one of two things is going to happen.  Either they aren't going to bother looking at it at all, or if they do and decide to make an offer on it, it is going to be way below the least expensive property on the block.  They figure if the seller is not willing to play the game than neither are they.  In addition, that buyer may ask for major financial concessions from the seller.  They will want all their closing costs paid, they will want all repairs completed, etc. etc. etc.

I had an agent call me from one of our metro areas in Arizona a couple of weeks ago.  He had a referral client who was interested in buying property here in the White Mountains.  But, his client was only willing to pay about $100 a square foot for a property.  I told the agent I could probably find something in that range but it would need tons of work and by the time the buyer got done he would be better off buying a higher priced property.  The agent got very defensive and told me that homes in that price range were a dime a dozen in his community.  I simply suggested that perhaps his buyer needed to stay in that community to buy a property because in our market that was totally unrealistic.

It is hard for people to sort out fact from fiction in today's market, even we as agents are having a hard time figuring out how to best help.  Not because we are inexperienced or don't know how to do things, it is more a matter that things change daily in this market and it is hard to advise when we don't know what is going to happen tomorrow.   All we know for sure is in our market, we are not in the same situation they are in the larger metro areas.  Our REO and Short Sale Inventory is rather small.  Oh, they are out there, but most have been really beat up and trashed out and it is going to take someone a lot of time, money and elbow grease to fix them up and truly make them livable.  There are exceptions of course, but they sell pretty fast and at a little higher price per square than most.

So, as a seller, the only advice we have is to be patient, price your home the very best you can, and pray that someone down the street isn't in a little better position than you are and can afford to take a little less.  Because if they can, your home is going to be on the market longer.  The Bargain Hunters are out there, and it if isn't a bargain, it probably isn't going to sell.

For Assistance with your property or if you would like help with selling, please feel free to give us a call.  We are always, at your service.

SANDRA PAULOW, ASSOCIATE BROKER, GRI 

BRUCE PAULOW, SALES ASSOCIATE, GRI

Your High Country REALTORS®

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"WE WORK FOR YOU!"