Is your Realtor doing a good job with your listing?

Touchy subject, I know.

How do you know if your Realtor is doing a good job with your property?

If it sells have they done a good job? If it doesn't sell are they doing a poor job?

Here are some guidelines to follow when evaluating whether your agent is worth holding on to, or when choosing an agent:


1. Do they answer their phone and email? Not just when you call, but for potential buyers and other agents. I cannot tell you how many times I call on a property to show it or ask questions for a potential buyer and never get any communication back. Test your agent. Have your friends and associates call just to see what happens. If your agent is not calling/emailing back within a reasonable time frame, this is a red flag. Many times buyers and agents will move on to the next property and not even bother to show it.



2. Is your property listed in the appropriate MLS? How unfortunate for the seller that wants to help out a friend with their real estate career and lists their property in the wrong area. In Park City, we have our own MLS that covers the Wasatch back - Park City, Midway, Heber ,Oakley and surrounding areas. Many times a home will be listed with a Salt Lake agent who is not a member of our MLS, so when the agents that work and sell up here pull properties to show, that one won't show up, and most likely won’t be shown.



3. Is your property being marketed in the most effective way for your area? Each area has a proven method for marketing that works. Some areas it is the newspaper, other areas it is a local magazine or radio program. For many resort areas the internet is the most effective tool available. Find out not just the circulation of the marketing tool, but the results of the marketing tool. When looking for a buyer in a resort market like Park City, they aren't usually reading our local paper or listening to KPCW, our local radio station. They begin their search on the internet, they ask their friends for a referral to a local Realtor. Then they start their search.



4. Has your agent helped you prepare your home for sale? Prior to listing, your agent should conduct a walkthrough with you and help with suggestions for decluttering, staging and a list of items to fix. Your agent should tell you how important these things are in the sales process. If a home appears dirty or unkempt, buyers will subconsciously look for deferred maintenance and wonder how the seller could possibly keep up with maintenance when they can’t even keep up with the daily clutter. I offer my sellers a no charge 1 hour consultation with a home staging expert to really give them the edge on the competition.



5. Pricing. Even if you and your agent do everything possible to stage and prepare your home for showing, price will determine whether you get activity and offers. In today’s market price is everything. Every agent should know the maximum activity will come in the first few weeks of listing the property. Having said that, is your agent sharing the feedback with you? Are you acting on it?





6. The key to helping the seller make the right choices is feedback. Feedback comes in two forms - agent feedback from showings, and market feedback in terms of how the homes with which you are competing are responding. Are other similar properties selling and yours is not? Examine why - most of the time it will come down to price.

We know that the majority of the time the buyer that purchases your home will be represented by a Realtor other than the listing agent. So if there are no showings by agents, then they are not all on vacation. They are showing other homes that their buyers think offer the most value. Overpriced properties will only be shown to demonstrate to buyers why another home is a good deal, and they will sit unsold.



So ask your Realtor for a market update. Use this information wisely. Your agent can send you a detailed report where you can look at each and every property that has sold. Were they really better than yours or just marketed better and priced right?



For all of your Park City, Utah Real Estate needs call me today.

Heather Feldman

435-731-0803

Park City/Solutude Tramway audio update from KPCW

Just a quick update audio clip from KPCW, our local radio station.
Tramway interview with Bill Malone

Rental demand on the rise

I love being right!
I have been preaching this for years. I  watched it happen in the last down cycle and here it comes again. In light of the recent recession and unprecedented number of foreclosures, rentals are in high demand. I think we all know what happens to prices once something is in demand...prices rise. It only makes sense...people have to live somewhere. If they can't buy, they rent.

Here in Park City, rentals are tough to find and not cheap. Especially if you are looking mid-ski season. Good Luck!
Check out this article from Inman News about just that - rental demand on the rise.

Inman News Rentals on the Rise

Are you ready to be a landord in Park City? Make some money on your investment and wait for the equity? Contact me at 435-731-0803 or heather@parkcityhousehunters.com

Octoberfest and beautiful fall color at Snowbird

Today was a fall color capturing day and some great fun at Snowbird's Octoberfest. Great fun - We toured the market place, ate some great bratwurst and enjoyed the gorgeous fall color.
See the short video below for the Alpenhorn concert at the top of the Tram. Very cool.

Octoberfest was busy today! The picture below was taken from the Chicadee lift.

Pic looking toward the Salt Lake valley from top of Snowbird.

The most exciting part of the day was not caught on film...when I went head over bull on the mechanical bull ride! I have heard a rumor that there is a video out there somewhere...

Beautiful valley on the way to Midway via Brighton.



The Canyons and Solitude to connect via Tram

Breaking news! The Canyons and Solitude will connect via tram in the future. The two resorts will be the first to cross the divide between the Wasatch front and the Wasatch back. More details to follow in the coming weeks.

The 2 resorts would have a reciprocal lift ticket agreement. One big benefit is the reduced traffic congestion for Big Cottonwood Canyon.

Related articles

• Canyons, Solitude plan to build tram linking resorts ()

Sundance Film Festival 2012 tickets

Sundance Film Festival is scheduled for January 19-29 2012 here in fabulous Park City, Utah.

Sundance Film Festival passes are a great way to go - you don't have to buy individual tickets for movies. You simply show up to your theatre of choice 30 minutes prior to a viewing and you are in!


Registration for Sundance Film Festival passes is from Sept 20, 2011 until October 12, 2011. You must register for a time slot to purchase tickets. Re-visit the ticket purchasing site in your time slot and buy your passes. It's that easy!


The good lodging spots sell out early. Don't be forced to book a room out of town. Get your lodging now! Check our sister website vacation rentals page for availability. Rooms starting as low as $450 per night, sleeps 7!

www.pcpremierproperty.com/vacation-rentals

The Canyons Golf Course progress

The Canyons... Park City's sleeper in my opinion. This resort is poised to take the others down!
And, they have deep pockets to make it happen.

Take a look at the pictures of the Canyons golf course underway:

I know, you can't see much. The guards were shooing me away as I tried to capture a few pics. The good news is things are starting to move forward.

Ok, let's go over it again: Fabulous skiing in Park City, Utah, 30 minutes from SLC airport, golf course, new restaurants, new lifts what else could you want?

Click on any of the links to search Park City's MLS and look for Canyons area. Or, call me and I will search for you! Heather Feldman 435-731-0803

Stock Market Alternatives for your IRA's and 401K's

Stock Market give you a beating in the last few days or over the last few years? There is an alternative for your IRA or 401k money. Buy some income producing property and take control of your future!

By moving your IRA or 401k money to a self-directed IRA, you can hold real estate, tax deeds and many other items. I am only concerned with holding of Real Estate. There are many guidelines to go along with the many benefits.

Here is how it works;
First you choose a self directed IRA administrator like Mountain West IRA to move your money to. No penalties  - you are not withdrawing, just rolling over. Next, you identify an income producing or investment property to purchase here in Park City, with me as your Buyer's agent. Vacant land can also be held by a self-directed IRA with the intent that this property will increase in value and someday make you some money. This property can be purchased in full by your self-directed IRA, or there are loans available for certain properties. The loans are non-recourse and are loaned to your IRA based on the income producing history of the property, not your personal credit or income.

Now, you can't buy that ski home for your personal use, the IRS does not allow that type of usage. However, you can buy that ski home or condo for your future financial security. In theory, this income producing property will hold its own and cover most expenses, and hopefully gain in equity as our market recovers. Of course, there is risk involved. If you had your IRA in the stock market and it falters, you are affected. If you have your IRA money in Real Estate and the market falters, you are affected. In both scenarios you are only affected if you need to sell while the market is experiencing a downturn.

There are so many scenarios to explore along with the rules and guidelines, I recommend calling a professional. This is a very simplified summary.

Are you in Park City on August 11th? John Galane of Mountain West IRA will be giving an 8 hour in-depth class about how to hold real estate in a self-directed IRA. See flyer below. I have represented a buyer using Mountain West IRA as their administrator of their sself-directed IRA, and the process was easy. Quite painless. I am happy to answer questions about how that transaction went and how we could find a property for you. Call me at 435-731-0803

HGTV's Dream Home near Park City, Utah

I guess I am a bit late on this news, but I have been busy...
So, I was driving by the Rossignol building on the left and Skullcandy headquarters on the right, as I do every day when I saw this big red truck with HGTV on the side. It kept coming back each night for more than a week.

At first I thought it might be one of the shows visiting like Yard Crashers  - I was ready to head over to Home Depot and hang out waiting for Ahmed Hassan to find me and Crash my yard! I figured it was not to be. I remembered all the shows are produced independently. I went to my office and scanned the internet and found the press release announcing the DREAM HOME location at River's Meadows Ranch - only 15 minutes from my home in Park City. How totally cool is that?

This community is right at the entrance to Midway, Utah which is a very European looking town nestled on the back side of Park City. These homes sit near the banks of the world famous Provo River. The Provo is a popular location for fly fishing. I hear it is already framed. I will go check it out and take some pics - see if I can get some scoop. Check back with me for more info.

Park City's many free concerts

Ok, so you spent your day mountain biking, or maybe riding the zip line at Park City Mountain - lots of fun, right? What about at night? How about one of Park City's many outdoor free concerts? Here is the scoop on the concerts and some links to check out:

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WEDNESDAY - Start your evening concert tour with Deer Valley's free concert on Wendesday night on the ski slope behind the Snowpark Lodge. Bring your low chairs, a picnic basket filled with wine, cheeses and snacks for the kids and sit back and relax. Concert starts at 6:00, but get there a bit early to get a great spot. Click the link below to check out Deer Valley's calendar to see who is playing.


http://www.deervalley.com/events-calendar.html

THURSDAY - Not enough music on Wednesday night for you? How about another fun concert on Thursday night? Head over to Newpark Ampitheatre at Kimball Junction. Bring those same low chairs, but you better restock that picnic basket! Even better - get there early and grab a table at Maxwell's outdoor patio. Maxwells also serves pizza by the slice if you don't feel like packing a basket. Check out the Newpark link below for concert details -Starts at 6pm.

http://www.newparktowncenter.com/events.html

THURSDAY - Silver Star Cafe presents Plazapalooza every Thursday night starting at 6pm. No need to pack a picnic basket. The cafe has indoor and outdoor tables. No need to bring chairs, the plaza has plenty of comfortable seating. Just bring yourself.


SATURDAY - The Canyons Concert series is happening and free every Saturday night. You know the routine by now - chairs or blanket, picnic basket with your faves and bring your friends! Park in the lower parking lot and take the Cabriolet up for a night of good music and fun. They have a few food vendors if you don't want to pack your food.
http://thecanyons.com/events.html