Boise Real Estate Blog

Why Pre-Approved Financing Matters

When I work with buyers, I always recommend that they get their financing pre-approved before seriously looking at homes.

There are several reasons, including:

Understanding Financing Costs

Lenders must provide a borrower with a GFE (Good Faith Estimate) when they approve a buyer’s loan.

The GFE includes full details and disclosures for the buyer’s loan.

It’s critically important that a home buyer know the details of their financing before looking at homes.

Being Prepared To Buy

If you’re going to finance your home purchase, you may as well arrange it upfront vs. putting it off until you find the home you want.

You’ll need to arrange financing sooner or later, and sooner is better than dealing with the challenges of loan approval after you’ve found your dream home.

Negotiating Strength

Few sellers will take their home off the market for a buyer who hasn’t been pre-approved for financing.

Lack of pre-approved financing is often viewed by sellers and listing agents as an indicator of a weak or casual buyer.

And, buyers without pre-approved financing in a multiple offer situation are almost guaranteed to lose out.

May 15th, 2013 Posted in Inside Real Estate |  Print This Post | No Comments »

Why I Don’t Allow Guest Posts

The e-mail below was in my inbox this morning.

I’m guessing that I’m one of an exclusive group of several hundred bloggers who received the same e-mail.

It’s an invitation to include a guest post chock full of “unique good quality content” on BoiseBlog.

The request came from Guarav, who found BoiseBlog while “surfing net”.

I’m guessing that Guarav might be a friend of Kumar, at Dell Tech Support in Bangladesh.

I get these frequently because BoiseBlog is a respected, established blog with more than 1,600 posts of deep content.

Guarav is in search of “Google Juice” to be gained by having BoiseBlog provide an inbound link to his/her website.

There are a lot of tricky methods for achieving higher search engine rankings, but I have chosen to avoid them.

Instead, you can count on daily posts full of relevant, useful information about the Boise area real estate market.

No paid ads, no irrelevant links, no personal promotion, and no bragging ~ just plainspoken  straight talk and insider insights about the real estate profession!

———————————————————————————————————————————–

May 14th, 2013 Posted in A Day In My Life |  Print This Post | No Comments »

Coming Soon: Stunning Country Estate On One Acre!

This incredible country estate property will go on the market later this week.

• Spectacular manicured one-acre lot with white vinyl fencing.
• Custom-built with many upgrades.
• Maintained to perfection by the meticulous original owners.
• 3,087 sq. ft. of finished living area.
• Open Great Room floor plan.
• Three spacious bedrooms; three and one-half baths.
• HUGE bonus room above the 3-car garage.
• Separate 24′ X 36′ RV garage.
• Matching storage shed.
• 6-person spa included.

Offered Below Replacement Cost

$400,000

You must see this home to appreciate the quality!

Call me now at 938-5533 Direct for your private advance showing!

May 13th, 2013 Posted in Inside Real Estate |  Print This Post | No Comments »

Boise Real Estate’s Vacant Homes

I’m often asked why so many of our available listings are vacant.

Given that more than 50% of all available homes are vacant, you’d think that half the county up and left.

But, when I drill into MLS data, the true reasons emerge.

Some sellers have simply moved on due to relocation, short sales, foreclosures, etc.

Another reason is “under construction” and “new-never occupied” spec home listing inventory.

Then, we come to phantom listing inventory ~ “to-be-built” homes that don’t exist.

Pre-selling a home before beginning construction often allows a builder to get another construction loan, which is why it’s standard practice for builders to list homes they have not yet started to build.

Builders list those homes in hopes of snagging an eager buyer who will buy a home (any home) before they break ground.

Here’s a breakdown of available listings that will help explain our vacant listing inventory.

• Total Available Listings: 1,867
• Total Vacant Listings: 951 (50.9%)
• To-Be-Built: 260
• Under Construction: 152
• New-Never Occupied: 142
• REO Listings: 52

Data pertains to Ada County single-family homes on lot or acreage.  Data does not include condo or townhome properties.

May 12th, 2013 Posted in Boise Market Stats |  Print This Post | 1 Comment »

Boise Home Sales: Strong Pending Sales

As of this morning, we have 1,447 pending sales in MLS.

That’s the highest number I’ve recorded since early 2007 and it may be the highest number of pending sales ever!

Since most pending sales become closed sales, their numbers are elusive unless you keep a record of them each month (as I have been doing since 2007).

Pending sales are a very good indicator of closings that will occur in the coming 30-60 days.

Here’s a breakdown of pending sales by price range:

• Under $100,000: 44 (3.0%)
• $100,000 to $149,999: 287 (19.8%)
• $150,000 to $199,999: 353 (24.4%)
• $200,000 to $249,999: 200 (13.8%)
• $250,000 to $299,999: 174 (12.0%)
• $300,000 to $399,999: 249 (17.2%)
• $400,000 to $499,999: 71 (4.9%)
• $500,000 and above: 69 (4.8%)

Takeaways

• 47.3% of all pending sales are in the Under-$200,000 price range.
• 25.9% of all pending sales are in the $200,000 to $299,999 price range.
• 73.1% of all pending sales are under $300,000.
• 9.7% of all pending sales are above $400,000.
• Sales activity is finally increasing in the mid and upper price ranges.

Data pertains to Ada County single-family homes on lot or acreage.  Data does not include condo or townhome properties.

May 11th, 2013 Posted in Boise Market Stats |  Print This Post | No Comments »