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A major revamp is coming in a few weeks. 

Dowtown Salt Lake City June Condo Sales

Thirteen, happy I am sure, buyers and sellers closed transactions through homes listed in the MLS in June. I know of more that were outside of the MLS, but I don't  have the exact purchase price and am not including them.

The average seller took a 5% discount. The average days on market numbers (159) were killed by the home in The Meridian. Three were new construction and the days on market as shown in the MLS is hard to actually measure, some numbers quoted are not realistic so I leave them out of the grid.

Notice what I point out in other articles, the longer a home is on the market the more likely the seller accepts a lower price. The home that took the biggest hit was the one on the market for 630 days.

In this same downtown market 33 new homes came on line. Good for buyers, not so good for sellers.

Recommended Mortgage Lender

Aaron works they way I want a loan officer to handle my clients loans.

He has direct access to his underwriter. He uses automated underwriting. He never has a loan fail once in process.

To me these are two steps to success. First to quickly find out through the automated underwriting what conditions will be needed to have the loan approved. However, the final decision is based on the underwriters decision. Sometimes circumstances, such as job history or a super high credit score allow the underwriter to make a decision to accept a loan, even with high ratios for example. I had one loan approved with a 60% debt ration. In asking why the underwriter accepted the file the answer was simple, "They have enough cash in the bank to pay off the mortgage".

A good loan officer like Aaron will seek a one on one interview with the underwriter to review any item of the loan that seems possibly an issue. That is how I worked. One of my favorite banks actually, in fun, created my own in and out box, as I was there almost daily watching over my files.

Aaron's company is a direct lender, funding their own loans. So in his case his underwriters office is across from his office. Pretty convenient.

Aaron offers these tips for your review:

Academy Mortgage is respected nationwide for their commitment to responsible lending practices. They are focused 100% on retail mortgage banking, which provides greater stability and predictability.

Two Years and Two Days Ago 66 Homes Were Lost

Kathleen and I spent the last three days in Pocatello, Idaho. The event was my class reunion. We stayed with friends we met while serving full time in the Church Headquarters Family and Church History mission. This couple, we served with, lost their home in the Pocatello Mink Creek Fire while they were here. It was tense, they got hourly reports from their adult sons, and photographs by email.

In their case, and the case of 65 neighbors homes, hopes were dashed and all was lost. We saw our friends trying to keep an upper lip, it seemed more like shock as they were extremely quiet. The fire had swept fast at an estimated 4000 degree temperature. All in its path were destroyed. Our friends lost everything. A safe with a silver money collection was melted. Electricity went out and their son couldn't open the garage door fast enough to get his car out. Emergency people were demanding that he and his children hop in their vehicle before it was too late. They barely escaped as the fire came roaring up the gully into their home.

As in the title of this post it was two years and two days ago. Most of the homes have been rebuilt.The many juniper trees surrounding the homes were burnt, and most of them removed by chain saws of volunteers. Grass is coming back and lives are being rebuilt. The fire came from the view you see below.

 

It found its way at the bottom of this gully (Photo below)

In minutes it was all over.

We attended church with our friends yesterday. All of the talks and lessons were about the fire. I was really emotionally touched. The messages were of both sadness and gratitude. That which was mentioned by all was their gratitude that no lives were lost. One of the speakers, a mother, felt prompted to leave a ladies meeting to head home, her children were home and unaware of the coming fire. As she headed back she saw the smoke and knew she had truly been prompted to return to her children by a saving power.

All spoke of gratitude for the many small and large acts of kindness, from food and clothing, to places to stay, and even insisting to do their laundry. Thousands of helping hands showed up, organized to help in the clean up process. 

One spoke of feeling an understanding now of what some of her ancestors suffered as their homes were destroyed and their lives shaken by mob actions in the early history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

People spoke of humility they gained, for appreciation of the important things. Sadness over losses weren't ignored but my take, what touched me most, was the goodness of the message I heard yesterday. I was truly humbled, felt gratitude for that which I have. I was grateful for the experience with our friends, they still have those mixed emotions, I am sure they will never lose them. 

By the way, one of the homes that burned had just let their insurance expire. How is that for a loss? 

Do You Ever Get Curious?

I learned from Richard, who I previously wrote about, that the reason for his success wasn't that he knew the answers. It was because he had a knack for asking enough right questions.

Speaking of curious, is that a cat? Kathleen took this photo and you can see, we weren't the only interested spectators. One girl asked, "is that really a cat"?

What is your answer to that one?

Oh, and in case you were confused - this is a cat. His name is Diego.



What are you curious about? Is there something I should be posting?  Just leave a comment anytime. Larry

Buyers Benefits To Really Appreciate

For both buyers and sellers communication is a big deal. I provide buyers several advantages in the communication effort.

1- My mortgage experience is a big deal. I know the issues you might face and more importantly if a problem arises am able to discuss in detail how to solve those problems. I speak the lender language. This can also help in negotiations, sometimes being able to overcome seller resistance to paying for closing costs.

2- Another is to be able to communicate on this website in a general way. If I see a problem that makes an interesting article, up the article will go to be read at your convenience. I won't say it in a way to be personal, but it's there for you to digest.

3- I keep a log of all I do on software that I make available specifically to you and to my broker. Only the three of us have access to it. It's very secure. You can review all we have seen and done. It's pretty darn convenient. Any documents signed, homes seen, suggestions offered, etc. will be logged in on this site.

4- The photo below is a snip of the customized buyers plan website I provide.

5- My goal is to answer the phone when you call, if busy make it a high priority to get right back to you.

You have a ton of things to accomplish to assure a smooth closing. Forgetting or delaying one can be a crucial issue. I not only provide a pre-purchase plan but detail every step you go through, with dates when they must be accomplished. As an example, your purchase contract will very specifically date when your loan ap must be submitted, your approval of an inspection contingency, loan approval, and most important of all meeting at the escrow office for settlement. I don't want anything to fall through the cracks for you. I don't want it to be overwhelming. I want to be there with you all day every day = ha ha - and in fact can be there through this website. If you need a person to person contact, no problem, both call me and hit the Ask your agent button in the website.

Remember, if this home is for mama, if mama ain't happy, no one is happy: not the agent, the hubby, the lender, or the seller. "I want everyone happy" So with these benefits, "Don't Worry Be Happy". Larry

PS: It also helps keep me on track. My job is to make sure all involved do their job. It gives me tasks to do too. It keeps critical dates in front of me.

It makes us all more efficient.

Temple Square

Do you have some awesome photos of Temple Square to add? Kathleen took these.  I am anxious to post photos of Temple Square, the temple, the Joseph Smith, Memorial Building, even the Conference Center. Kathleen and I have some, but it would be fun to publish yours. You can email them to me at larry@cragun.net and I will make you famous.

Buyer Tip - Ask Your Loan Officer Your Max Payment

My first loan officer job was working for a major bank. I was thoroughly trained, on salary thank goodness, and then placed inside a large real estate office. I quickly learned that agents want no failures because of the loan. They were often uncomfortable with pushing a purchase into a gray area.

I have written that I consider that searching for a home us comparable to a treasure hunt. In this light I want you to find that treasure. I found that all too often buyers started with a fixed in their minds payment number.

So here lies the paradox. When heading out for a home hunt, just how high can you go?  Will you settle for something less than you can have?

Click here for the entire article on the MediaOne blog:

Garden Towers Condos: Updated

Garden Towers

141 2nd Ave

Close to Temple Square

These photos are taken from the Garden Rooftop

Update: June 21, 2014:

A sold unit is now past the inspection contingency, leaving two nice units on the market.

One of the units just dropped their asking price by $10,000 to $385,000.00. This gives me an opportunity to emphasize a couple of points I try and make that makes my practice different.

1- This is a really nice home. It is kept in showing condition. You can immediately tell a young family lives here as the children's toys and things are many. Note, I said it is kept in showing condition. However most of us wouldn't know, including me, what my designer - staging expert wife points out. This is that with so many children's items in the home it is difficult for a potential buyer to relate to it. When people look at your home they go through a mental process of deciding if it will work for their things.

I refer back to this article Kathleen wrote in the staging category where she said Clean Up….Clear Out…..Fix In…..Fix Out; click here for that category link 

Were we to counsel this family we would go through the home with them and look to see what could be taken to the storage unit. I do understand, as we have sold a few homes of our own, that having your home on the market is a major pain. The condition of this home says that this family gets it as to the importance of how the home is presented. This takes a big effort on each family members part. Yet, in this case, there are important steps yet to be taken.

2- No matter how agents present their marketing plan they all boil down to two approaches. In 99.9% of the time what I call plan A is used. Plan A is to do what happened here, if it doesn't sell in a reasonable time it must be the price that is the problem. In this case the price dropped $10,000.00, almost half the amount of the commission. Dropping the price $10,000.00 only costs an agent $300.00 to $600.00 depending on whether or not the agent becomes a dual agent by selling and listing the home.

I despise this approach. I believe it places the entire burden of the sale on the home and the decisions of the sellers on what price to ask. So what happens in another 73 days? Do you drop the price again? I saw a home go up over a year ago in our building. It started at $290,000.00. Everything that you can image was wrong with the whole for sale situation. Eventually the home sold for $240,000.00, a pretty serious 17+ % price drop. The seller wore out.

There is always a range agents can select for coming up with a price they believe in. They usually select a few comparable sales to justify what they recommend. I know agents that push for the lower price so it is more likely to sell. Whatever price is selected most you will find start pushing for a price reduction. It didn't sell, what is the other option?

I have what I call plan B. I don't broadcast it as it is different. It's a conglomeration of things I have learned over my many years in real estate. It is different. It's goal is to earn my commission by selling in the higher range. It's goal is to never ask or hint that you should drop your price.

By the way, I wont be presenting you a fancy pre-packed book. I will have facts and a plan. You will get your monies worth.

From June 4, posting:

Currently there are 3 units on the market at this time, actually two as one just went into contract subject to inspection..

The other two are listed at $645,000 and $395,000. I would classify both of these units as best buys on the current market. I would be glad to show them to you.

More detail:
$395,000: 2028 square feet, 2 bedroom. Corner unit.

$645,000: 2326 square feet, 2 bedroom.

National June Real Estate Survey Results

The National Association of Realtors (R) is performing a survey of agents. The current results are below: