The Glenda Feeken Team

IS IT REALLY SPRING ON THE KENAI

I believe we have had this discussion before. Is it spring on the Kenai? Every time we think it is here we have another snow. This time I think so, it feels like spring. My yard says it is spring. Most of the snow is gone and it is time for me to clean up the yard. Chester, the dog's greatest joy in life is to steal the dog food can off the counter or out of the trash and take it to the back yard. I can see five cans that need to be picked up, so it was a great winter for him.

I'm really looking forward to leaves, green grass and flowers. Breakup is a very ugly time of year. So sellers remember it is time to do a spring cleaning on the outside of your home. See my post of 3/28/2008 - the first time I thought spring had sprung, on the Kenai!

I will be posting April statistics on Thursday morning May 1st.

KENAI CENTRAL PENINSULA IS NOT THE LOWER 48 MARKET!

We are a lively active market. There are homes to sell and buyers preapproved to buy. So why are so many sellers and buyers bogged down with the gloom and doom of the media about the lower 48 market. It doesn't apply here!

Look at the interest rates for April 22,2008

Conventional, FHA, VA 6%

Alaska Housing Rural 5.65%

These are really great rates. I think most agents and lenders at the beginning of the year thought interest rates  would be at least 6.5% or 7% by now. As you can see, this is not the case.

Housing prices are not falling, they are gradually moving upward.  So let's refuse to participate in the media's gloom and doom and move forward.

FOUND THE PERFECT FIRST HOME

How do you make it yours!  Well your REALTOR  has made sure you are prequalified with a quality lender. That you understand the the buying process. Now you are ready to set down with your REALTOR and structure your offer. When looking at pricing be realistic. You have looked at homes you know what they are selling for depending upon size, location and condition. Don't be afraid to ask you REALTOR  to prepare a comparative market analyst showing how the home is priced compared to recent pending and closings. Also  discuss with your REALTOR  the length of time the home has been on the market and if there have been price corrections.  You want the best price possible, but if you make a lowball offer, it is possible the seller will refuse to play ball with you on this offer or any other offers on his property. 

By the time your REALTOR is ready to present your offer emotions are running high. This is time to say calm ask questions about anything you find confusing. If your offer is reasonable and less than full price you can expect one or two counter offers. Remember sellers can counter things other than price, may be closing date, split of closing cost, etc.

Once you have an accepted offer it is time to move on to the home inspection. This is the second negotiation, what items are you willing to live with or fix, what items you wish the seller to be responsible for. The second option is to ask the seller for a price reduction that covers negotiated repairs. Please keep in mind certain loan programs could require certain items to be repaired. Such as  a rail for steps a certain height off the  ground, etc. Remember if you can not come to an agreement on repairs  the transaction become a (dft), deal fell through.

Now it is time for your loan process to begin, this will trigger the appraisal, any other inspections such as well and septic, title search,etc. You Realtor will be there through out the transaction to walk you through the steps and keep you informed as to what is happening. Remember if you don't understand what is going on ask, your REALTOR, talk with your loan officer.

It is time to be realistic, have some patience's supply in a timely manner the items your lender request.  It takes everyone working together to make this transaction happen. It takes 30 to 45 days to close a contract.

PRICING YOUR HOME TO SELL

Remember there are three prices on a home. The one the seller wants to receive. The one the buyer wants to pay. The third is the price a reasonable buyer will pay for the home in the current market. The third is the true price.

With a resale home the best tool for selling a home is correct pricing. The first 5 weeks are your most important as this is the time when buyers currently looking to purchase rush in to see if this is the home for them, after that you are picking buyers one at a time as they enter the market.

Sellers need to remember it is not important what the competing homes are priced at, it is important what like home have sold for in the last 6 months. The key is sold price not asking price. Also what you need or want price wise out of the home has no bearing on what a property will sell for.

Sellers also need to remember condition will pay a pivotal roll in how much a seller can expect to receive for their home. The home that is visibly clean, smells clean, lacks clutter, windows shine, drive up is good well, sell quicker and for more money. In older home is important to keep them update  including appliance, baths in good repair, light fixtures current styles, floor covering in good condition, if not pricing concession will need to be made.

This is a great time to sell in the Central Kenai Peninsula. It is neither a buyers or sellers market. Interest rates are great, buyers are out looking, many have not found that perfect home. So it is a great time to list. Give me a call we can talk about what is the correct price for your property.

REAL ESTATE ON KENAI PENINSULA

BP,Conoco team up for a gas pipeline. What great headlines in the Alaska newspapers this morning. A gas pipeline would give that second chance at prosperity that many Alaskans let slip away while working on the oil pipeline in the 70's and also give that chance to a whole new generation of workers. The hard cold reality of  Alaska is resource extraction, not tourism, is the economic engine that provides high paying jobs with benefits for large numbers of workers. This trickles down to everyone else, realtors, grocers, auto dealers, doctors, dentists, teachers, restaurants, fishing guides,  engineers,Nordstroms, REI, jewelry stores, the list is endless.

We hope to see headlines soon that announce the Enstar Bullet Line which would bring much needed gas to Fairbanks all the way to the Kenai Peninsula.

The pipeline is good for the Kenai Peninsula as many people chose to live here while working in other parts of Alaska. We are Alaska's play ground . Make the choice to Come Live and Play on the Kenai.

HOME INSPECTIONS

The home inspection is a very important step in buying or selling a home. I encourage my sellers to have a pre sale home inspection. This allows them to identify and repairs problems in advance. The reality of our market most homes do not have pre sale inspections.  The inspection in most transaction comes after the purchase price has be negotiated. This leaves the seller negotiating repairs or a price reduction with the buyer, for items needing  repair identified by the inspector.Worse yet the buyer may cancel the contract  with out giving the seller a chance to repair.

As I stated in my October 19, 2007 post. Remember when you fill out your, State of Alaska Residential Real Property Transfer Disclosure Statement, be sure and disclose all home inspections and what was found by the inspector. This means one done by the seller, one done by the buyer that walked away, disclose item repaired and items not repaired.

Sellers get a pre inspection with a will respected inspector. This does not limit the buyers right to a home inspection with a inspector they chose, but most times they will be satisfied with the pre inspection.

Buyers always get a home inspection if a pre inspection has not been done. If a pre inspection has been provided you can always chose to have a new inspection if you want a second opinion or have specific concerns you want addressed.

Just remember the home inspection is a very important step in selling or buying a home. Don't leave it out.

RESIDENTAL SALES FOR MARCH

Area	Sold 2007	Sold 2008	Average Sales Price 2007	Average Sales Price 2008
N. Kenai	2	3	$190,000	$76,667
Kenai	4	8	$176,350	$225,438
K-Beach	8	7	$217,350	$156,086
S of Soldotna	2	2	$102,800	$229,375
Kasilof	1	3	$184,000	$178,367
Soldotna	10	0	$271,670
Ridgeway	3	1	$406,000	$230,000
Sterling	5	7	$171,380	$192,857
Funny River	0	0	0	0

Please remember a high or low sales price can effect the average sales price because of the low numbers of sales. In North Kenai 2008 a very low sale or two, in Ridgeway one or two high sales 2007.

With the snow melting and spring on our way we are seeing a pick up in activity.