Here are the numbers for houses sold this week.  This chart shows residential homes only.  It does not include vacant land, commercial, or multi-family homes.

We had 28 pendings.  That is still a respectable number for the week.  A little down from last week but not bad.  Notice that the average price for new pendings this week is below $200,000. 

Many of those pending homes are brand new pre-sold homes.  These are homes for which a builder has contracted with a buyer to build a home on a particular lot.  Builders aren’t blind, they can see where the demand currently is and they are creating plans to meet it.

Notice the two charts below:  The one on the left is for the Matanuska Susitna Borough as a whole and the one on the right is for the expanded core area only.  The expanded core includes Palmer, Wasilla, Big Lake, and the Knik-Goose Bay road out to about mile 9.

I include both charts to show that although the Mat-Su Borough is about the size of the State of Iowa, almost all the real estate activity takes place in the expanded core area. 

Looking at these charts raises an interesting contrarian strategy for home sellers.  Notice how the new listings are at their lowest ebb in November and December.  New listings are the ones that receive the most attention.  The two weeks after your house hits the market are the times you generally receive the most attention.

If you were to put your house on the market in November or December, you would be competing with about 1/2 as many new sellers than you would at other times of the year. While there aren’t as many buyers then either, notice that the amount of closed sales does not drop as dramatically as do new listings. 

Your house would still need to be in good shape, and in the part of the market where there is a demand.  For example, although there are 35 houses on the market currently over $750,000, guess how many show up as sold on the MLS in the past year…ZERO.  So, it won’t help you if you are overpriced for the market, but it certainly could if your home is in a lower price bracket.

If you would like consultation about strategies to buy or sell real estate, call 907 373–0999.  That number rings my cell phone and Jay’s at the same time.

Click here for more info on consultation, as opposed to sales.

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In a previous post a guest author discussed why artificial scents don’t make cents when selling your home. While cigarette smoke or pet smells are also marketing killers as I mentioned in August, covering these odors up is the wrong solution.

Today I showed a beautiful home in Wasilla.  This home was in the $400,000 price range and was beautiful inside and out.  My clients were a little interested in it but we had to open the front door and the back door just to breath. 

There were plug in scent dispensers in almost every room.  Some rooms had more than one.  There were aerosols cans in the bathrooms, counter top deoderizers, and scented candles in the living room.  There were signs that a pet had been in the home, but no pet smell was detected, no odor but the overpowering sweet/chemical perfume of the artificial scents was in the air.

The buyers and I discussed the possibility that all of the carpet may have to be ripped up in order to clean whatever smell was being masked.  It must be an awful smell to require 17, yes that’s SEVENTEEN, plug in scent dispensers in the house.

Much better than hiding an odor with another chemical is to clean whatever is causing it in the first place.  Clean, has no smell.  If there is a bad odor, it needs to be removed before placing the house on the market.  It is usually not that difficult to find the odor.  Even if the clean up job is a big one, it will pay off with a higher sales price. 

Almost always, buyers are suspicious of a house with lots of candles and scent dispensers.  

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Just off mile 4 of the Palmer-Wasilla Highway is one of my favorite valley neighborhoods.  This is Midtown Estates.  The paved roads wind around and over birch covered ridges and with houses nestled back behind their well tended yards.

People tend to live in this area for extended periods.  It seems that this location is ideal for families with children in the schools and also for workers in Palmer, Wasilla, or Anchorage.  It is a quiet neighborhood with easy access to the highways. 

Also, you can walk through a gate in the back of the subdivision right onto the track behind Colony High school and Colony Middle School.  It’s only a mile or so to Pioneer Peak Elementary. 

Click here for a google map to the subdivision

Click here for a borough tax map showing the lots.  The highlighted lots are the homes for sale.

Right now, there are five homes for sale in Midtown Estates. 

• 8910 E Lexington, 1,833 square feet for $237,500, $129 per sq ft.
• Listed with Sally Carman, Century 21 North Homes Real Estate

• 
• 2190 Broadway, 2,728 square feet for $259,900, $95 per sq ft
• Listed with Marty Van Diest, RE/MAX of Wasilla

• 8860 Kiva Way, 2,187 square feet for $260,000, $118 per sq ft
• Listed with Paddy Coan, Prudential Jack White Vista Real Estate
•  

• 9031 Westside, 1,920 square feet for $245,000, $127 per sq ft.
• Listed with Naomi Hodgson, Coldwell Banker Best Properties

 

 

•  9081 Brooklyn , 3,409 square feet for $434,000, $127 per sq ft
• Listed with Mike McLane, Prudential Jack White Vista Real Estate

If you would like to view any of these homes.  Or any other home for sale in the Palmer and Wasilla areas…give me a call 907 232–7900 or email me by clicking on “contact” to the right.

Make sure to subscribe to my blog if you would like to see the news as soon as it appears.

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The stats for this week, (9/24/07–10/1/07), show that the market is still marching on.  Houses are still selling at a fairly steady rate. 

Forty Pending sales this week is pretty good for this time of year.  Divide 40 into the total amount of listings of 926 and you have 23 weeks of inventory.  That is less than 6 months. 

Some define a buyers market as one in which there is more than 6 months of inventory.  That doesn’t mean we are out of the recent slowdown in real estate because we aren’t averaging 40 closed sales a week yet. 

We will see our  market slow down over the winter and then pick back up next spring.  By next May, we will have a good idea whether we are coming out of this slower market or not.

But even if it is a little slower, it’s certainly not dead.  Houses that are priced to sell…are selling.  Houses that are priced to sit…are sitting.

There is more than price involved however.  Not only does the price have to be good, the presentation has to be excellent, as does the marketing. 

Give me a call if you are in the market to buy or sell,  We, (Jay and I), received offers on two listings in the last week and wrote offers on two other houses.  We are still in the negotiating stages on a couple of those.

We would love to help you buy or sell your house as well.  Call (907) 373–0999.  That number simultaneously rings on both my and Jay’s cell phone.

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I get quite a few calls asking about houses and apartments for rent in Palmer and Wasilla.  I don’t handle rental personally but usually give the callers the same list of people to call.

I thought I would post that list here.  This can be adjusted over time, so if you know anyone who wants their name and number to be included in the list drop me an email. 

Property Managers

• Charlene Moss, Prudential Real Estate, 373–8161
• Tracy Brewington, Prudential Real Estate, 376–2414
• Dawn Houston, Double Eagle Real Estate, 373–1770
• more later but make sure to call those three

Private Parties with rentals

• Sally Pollen, in Palmer, 745–8920

This is just a start, I will add to this list over time.

Also, Craigslist is good as is the Frontiersman.

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