Outside Magazine Names Park City, Utah "Best Town Ever 2013"

Best Town ever? Yeah, I'm in. 

Each Year Outside Magazine runs an online contest for the Best Town Ever, and finally they got it right! Like we locals didn't already know, right?
Click below to see the Park Record's article. 

Park City named BEST TOWN EVER

 For all your Real Estate Needs in "The Best Town Ever" contact me at 435-731-0803 or email me at 
heather@parkcityhousehunters.com

Park City Horse Property bargain

Horse lover? You can live in Silver Creek on almost an acre in this 4 bedroom 3 bath remodeled home. Offered at $519,000.

Click on the link below to see the virtual tour. Call me to view this home.

www.obeo.com/752202
Heather Feldman
Equity Real Estate Luxury Group
435-731-0803
Heather@ParkCityHouseHunters.com
SEARCH THE PARK CITY MLS 

Loan rates to remain low

Click the link below to see the Huffington Post's article on the Fed keeping rates low until unemployment reaches 6.5%.

Good news for home buyers. You still have time to take advantage of the low mortgage rates offered today.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/12/fed-rates-unemployment_n_2286328.html?icid=maing-grid10|htmlws-main-bb|dl2|sec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D244642

Thinking of Buying or Selling in Park City Utah? Call me today
Heather Feldman
435-731-0803

SEARCH THE PARK CITY MLS

Forbes Magazine says Utah best for business

Check out the article touting Utah as best for business
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2012/12/12/utah-tops-list-of-the-best-states-for-business/

The article sites such benefits as a young workforce, Utah is less likely to award for frivolous lawsuits and energy costs are low. Read more by clicking the link above.

Park City Real Estate 3rd Quarter

Statistics released by the Park City Board of Realtors is showing a steady improvement in the local
Real Estate Market.
Might just be the right time to get in to the 

Park City market before we see another boom!

A few highlights:
Active listings are at the lowest since 2007...
Distressed Sales continue to drop...
Sales are up 3% from 2011...
Median price is up 11%....


Click here for more detailed information about Park City's Real Estate Statistics 

Contact me for more information:

Heather Feldman

Equity Real Estate Luxury Group

435-731-0803

heather@parkcityhousehunters.com

  

Comps and Appraisals only measure the past

Real Estate comps and appraisals only measure what has happened in the past. 

Well, that's the point right? Yes, they are a great tool to help determine the value of a property, but they are not the only source to consider in today's changing market.

Important to know what homes have been selling for recently to measure what a home may be worth, but that does not tell us what is happening right now.

Example: Have a client with an inherited property to sell in an area they do not know well.  The agent pulled the comps to show them what has been happening in that market. Good Job. Because this agent really knows and lives this market, they know what has been hanging out not selling, what is in demand and how to price this property. It's possible  only 1 property has sold that would be comparable, but what if there is a pent up demand (not measurable by comps or appraisals) for this type of property and nothing similar has been for sale for a long while? Only your agent would know this and be able to price it right.

Consulting with your agent about more than just what the comps say is essential. 

Example 2: Buyer has been watching the market for a while and notices there are several bank owned or short sale properties in the area they wish to buy. They watch and watch and watch. When they finally decide to buy the market has changed, yet there are not comps as of yet. The Agent will know what is really happening in that market - how many homes are pending and how fast they are selling. This conversation with your agent can help with what the home(s) may really sell for and in turn, make the offer process more productive instead of offering low, below market prices.

So, use that appraisal and the comps as one of the tools available to help you as a Buyer or Seller make the right choice when pricing or buying your home.

Park City's Real Estate market today

A question we are all asking constantly - what is the market like in Park City today? 

Should I sell now? Should I buy now? 

Well, as I have said before, my crystal ball isn't working! However, we can look at some really interesting indicators to make some educated choices.

Today we have the lowest inventory since 2007, approx 820 single family and condo listings in Park City including Park City Proper and Park City Extended. These areas include Deer Valley, Park City, Snyderville Basin ( Silver Springs, Canyons etc) Trailside, Jeremy Ranch, Pinebrook, Summit Park, Glenwild and Promontory and everything in between.

In 2010 there were approx 2600 properties on the market in those same areas.  This change has created a shift from a Buyer's market to a Balanced market.  We are not in a Seller's market where homes are flying off the market at highly increased prices, but we definitely have seen a shift.

Stats courtesy of Rick Klein, Wells Fargo Mortgage. For full stats package, email me at heather@parkcityhousehunters.com

Foreclosures have slowed, short sales are much fewer which is causing the regular inventory to sell. We are just not seeing the screaming deals like we have in the past few years. What does this all mean to you?

In my opinion if you are looking to buy, it doesn't pay to gamble. Rates are lower than we will probably ever see again, home prices have not jumped - it is a win-win.
Call me for more information about any home or condo in Park City.
Heather Feldman
435-731-0803
heather@parkcityhousehunters.com
SEARCH THE PARK CITY MLS

When is a Short Sale a good deal ?

When is a short sale a good deal?

Short sales can snag a great property for a buyer at a screaming deal…sometimes.

Short sales can take months and months before the bank accepts an offer, it can be one of the most frustrating purchases you can make, and it isn’t always your best deal. If you would like more detailed information about Short Sales, read on…

Buyers make the mistake of assuming because it is a short sale it is automatically their best deal.  Sometimes they’re right.  Many times the seller owes such large amounts to the bank and the bank(s) price the home based on what they are willing to take, not what the current market dictates.   

So, in a nutshell here is how the typical short sale works:

• Seller decides/needs to sell, they owe more on the home than they can sell it for. Maybe they bought at the top, maybe they borrowed against the home – either way their loan is too high. 
•  The seller goes through an arduous process to get the bank to agree to allow a short sale
• Bank agrees to a short sale, home is placed on the market.
•   Some sellers continue to maintain the home, others do not
• Short sale homes are sometimes not available to show very easily, or are not listed with the local brokerage ( have to wonder about their motives – to sell it or squat until they are booted out?)

Pricing:

• Most banks won’t tell the Seller or the Agent what they feel an acceptable price is, and it is left up to the agent to list and price the property to sell.  
•  Some agents price the property to reflect market value, some go just below and some properties are priced like a K-Mart blue light special.
•  Banks will conduct a BPO – Broker Price Opinion of what the property pricing should be. This is based on closed sales within a given area. This number can depend on which properties the broker uses for comparison.  Did they use a good range of sold properties or just the distressed ones?

The process:

The short sale process can take months and months to complete. There is no standard processing time or procedure the banks follow.  Many times the bank will not even look at any offers for weeks and weeks. The Buyer’s agent has no ability to communicate with the bank – the listing agent often has spotty communications with the bank.  You place the offer and wait, and wait and wait. 

Many Buyers get anxious and become tired of waiting. They walk away and find another property. In Utah, earnest money is not required of the Buyer until acceptance by the bank, so it is easy to walk away.  The banks don’t always use logic when choosing the offer they like.  You could give them a full priced cash offer closing in 3 weeks and they might choose a lower financed offer closing in 5 weeks because it serves their purposes better – or maybe they are just too busy and approve the first one they grab off the pile on their desk! Plan on longer than you think it will take. Don’t give up your rental until you have bank acceptance and loan approval.  

Things to ask:

When you are working with an experienced buyer’s agent, they will do the research to find out if this property is viable. Here are some of the questions your agent should get answered for you prior to getting emotionally invested in a home:

•  Where is the bank in the short sale process
• Do they have any offers currently?
• Are they planning on submitting multiple offers
• Have they had past offers and how has the bank responded?
•  Is this home priced in a reasonable range to make it a good deal and worth the wait?

If the short sale process has just started, the bank is less likely to take a low ball offer and will be more likely to try and get the highest price possible.  If there are offers in currently that can make the possibility of your offer getting accepted lower. Sometimes the bank will work with the first offer until it dies or closes, then move on to the next.  If the seller is planning on submitting multiple offers you know you will have some competition to face and should offer accordingly. How the bank has responded to past offers can be an indicator of how long the process could take.  If the home is in a $700,000 neighborhood and is priced at $850,000, chances of getting a screaming deal price are slim and none – at least not right away.

Things to avoid:

·         Click the links below to see some of the Short Sale pitfalls to avoid:

Nolo Legal - short sale fraud scams 

 AOL - Short Sale flopping

5 common buyer short sale mistakes 

SEARCH THE PARK CITY MLS

Promontory Ranch Club Open House today!

Come by and see this beautiful Promontory home.  Open house today from 11-5
CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS HOME

CONTACT ME FOR DIRECTIONS 435-731-0803
HEATHER FELDMAN
EQUITY REAL ESTATE LUXURY GROUP

The Best Place to live in Park City Utah

Visitors come to Park City, fall in love and want to start a great life here.  Just like I and many others did!
The tough part is how to choose which area is best for you and your family.

What should you do? Drive around? Ask some locals? Sure, both of those are great starting points, but really your Park City Realtor should be a main source for information.

If your Realtor is good, they make it their business to know the ins and outs, the plusses and minuses of each area. Jeremy Ranch is not the same as Silver Springs or Prospector etc.  I don't just look at comps and stats, in most cases we have friends in each area, I have worked with the HOA's, I may even live in the area you are interested in.

My job is to figure out what is important to you. How important is  it to have easy access to the I-80 fwy? What do you and your family like to do in your free time? Are your kids young enough to play at a park, and if so, how close do you want to be to it? Do you want to walk to shops and restaurants? Do you like a neighborhood feel or solitude? View or mountain feel?

I don't sit you down with a questionairre, although that might be a good option! We sit down and talk, we spend time together to really figure out what works for you. The area that is best for one buyer may not work at all for another - even if the answers are the same.

In the next few blogs I will go over some of the local neighborhoods and why they may work for you.

For all Real Estate in Park City, call me at 435-731-0803
Heather Feldman
SEARCH THE PARK CITY MLS

It's Snowing in Park City!

Winter is here...Powder day tomorrow.
Wish you were here? Own a piece of Park City.
www.parkcityhousehunters.com
heather@parkcityhousehunters.com

Real Estate Predictions for 2012

Courtesy of Active Rain. Click the link below to view this as a web page. 

Salt Lake City is one of the top 10 real estate markets.

2012 predictions

Email me for information about Park City or Salt Lake City properties. heather@parkcityhousehunters.com

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

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 ()

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.