Selling your Albuquerque Home

Here is a sample copy of my co-authored book on selling your Albuquerque home - If you would like a free copy mailed to you, just let me know and I'll get it to you in the mail right away. Thanks for checking it out! "Get The Best Deal When Selling Your Home", Albuquerque New Mexico edition

What comes next in Albuquerque real estate?

Waiting to sell your nest? Remember my interview with KOB here where we talked about not waiting to put your Albuquerque home in the market if you need to sell...."we're going to wait until the market turns around", or "wait until the real estate values go up" Well, I can tell you that odds are if everyone is saying that, you are going to be jumping into the pool at the same time. This will create what I believe is going to be another ripple effect, a bad one, for that old economic issue of Supply and Demand. We are in an information age like no other. Everyone hears the same news at about the same time with the same amount of intensity. So, when we start hearing that 'the market is bottoming out' or 'the market is getting better' we might be kidding ourselves to think that we are going to be the only smart guy in the room who will put their house on the market at just the right time. I believe there is a large pool of individuals out there who are just waiting...waiting for something...before they add their home to the inventory. If this happens all at once, we are going to see a surge of new listings on the market just when we thought that the supply had leveled out to 'normal'. The larger the supply, the fewer the buyers, the lower the prices might go again. This seems almost too simple, but if you think about it from the perspective that the consuming public tends to do things all at the same time (and the economists in the audience count on this) you might want to re-think your idea of 'waiting' because you might not be as unique as you think. Here's the facts - if you have to sell your home, do it now. There were alot of people who waited too long and now I know they will take a bigger hit than if they had pulled the trigger, priced it perfectly, staged the home just right - and grabbed the right buyer. I also know there were sellers sold their home just in the knick of time. Looking back I know they got the highest dollar for their property than they would see in years. The thing I cannot promise, nor can anyone else - is what is going to happen in the future. While I love being optimistic, I also have to base practices in reality. Reality states that we have lived through an historic time and we simply don't know what values are going to do in the future. Of course prices will go up, someday....but it will take a long steady climb to recover the pricing that we have seen in the last couple of years. What kind of a delay are we putting on our future plans, the use of money, and our energies...to wait it out. Be smart now - check my Market Snapshot and see what home prices are doing in your neighborhood. Then, call in the professionals at The eTeam to get your home sold.

This Land located at 1 Arroyo Bonito, San Pedro Creek Estates, Sandia Park, New Mexico is presented by Linda DeVlieg ABR, ePro, Cyberstar, CRS, Ecobroker® of Coldwell Banker Legacy.

This Land located at 1 Arroyo Bonito, San Pedro Creek Estates, Sandia Park, New Mexico is presented by Linda DeVlieg ABR, ePro, Cyberstar, CRS, Ecobroker® of Coldwell Banker Legacy. Build your own HGTV Dream Home here at this wonderful location! This lot has been reduced 85K and is now BELOW 200k - most other lots in this area are priced higher. We have the engineering studies on this property and will share at your request. Contact us for more information Albuquerque Real Estate

This 2 bedroom 1.5 bathroom Condo located at 8431 Heights Rd NE #C, Albuquerque, New Mexico is presented by Linda DeVlieg ABR, ePro, Cyberstar, CRS, Ecobroker® of Coldwell Banker Legacy.

This 2 bedroom 1.5 bathroom Condo located at 8431 Heights Rd NE #C, Albuquerque, New Mexico is presented by Linda DeVlieg ABR, ePro, Cyberstar, CRS, Ecobroker® of Coldwell Banker Legacy. Great NE Heights opportunity - super location. Contact us today for your appointment to see this great property! Albuquerque Real Estate

Animoto.com

Albuquerque real estate stats that you can use!

Well, 2009 is over. What does that mean? For the Albuquerque residential real estate market, there are some very positive signs that we have hit bottom. There are some who are suggesting that there may be a “double bottom” but that remains to be seen. The last five years. Here are some numbers that might be encouraging. Let’s go back to the peak, which was 2005. There were a total of 13, 448 closed single family detached resale homes that year. In 2008 there were 8,144 closings. That is a 39.44% decrease over 3 years. There were 7,905 closings this year! While still a decrease, that is only -3.08% from last year. August 2005 had 1,267 closings, which was the highest number of resale closings in one month ever in Albuquerque! From that month on there was a steady but gradual decrease, month by month, until November of 2007 when the bottom fell out. Every month of the following year starting August 2005 had fewer closings than the past year for 46 straight months! In January of 2009, we had 324 closings in the entire Board. To put that in perspective, it was the lowest number of closings in a single month since 1995. February of 2009 was no better. The severity of that number is compounded when we remember that the population of Albuquerque is around 835,000 now as compared to 1995 when there were about 550,000 people here in town. It turned in 2009…just a little! So then what happened? Slowly things started to pick up. Some people say that the first-time home buyer credit artificially moved the market. That may be part of it, but in any event, finally after 46 straight months of decline, in July of 2009, there were more closings than the same month in the past year. Since then, 5 of the last 6 months have been up over 2008! Total single family closings in the metro area in 2007 were 10,961; as I mentioned above, in 2008 there were 8,144 and in 2009 there were 7,905. While slightly below 2008, the monthly trend is on an upswing. While I do not believe we can identify the bottom in terms of months, as I said above, January and February of 2009 were record setting low. The increase in closings over the last 6 months is the first good sign! The second good sign, is a significant decrease in supply. The listing inventory has decreased from over 5,821 single family homes on the market in December of 2008 to 5,176 single family homes on the market in December 2009. That is an 11.08% decrease in the inventory. Are we really at the bottom? One way cycles can be identified is to look at annual rates of appreciation or depreciation. The Board of Realtors has been keeping track of those annual numbers since 1983. In 1988 there was a -2.06% depreciation in average price from the year before. In 2000 there was a -0.16% depreciation which was the first negative year since 1988. In 1993, five years after the negative number in 1988, there was a 9.38% appreciation compared to the prior year. That was the highest rate of annual appreciation between 1988 and 2000, which would indicate the top of the cycle. Bottom to bottom of that cycle was 12 years. From 2000, the bottom, we had 5 years to the top of the next cycle which was 2005 with a 12.06% appreciation Unlike the prior cycle, we had a sharp drop in 2008 with a -4.08% depreciation, from $243,089 to $232,626 - the highest average price decrease since the Board of Realtors has been keeping track! In 2009, for the first time ever we had a second year with a precipitous decrease in average price. We ended the year with an average price of $216,687 which is a-6.85% decrease from $232,626! First time ever that there have been two years in a row of price decreases. This is the third good sign because lower prices mean increased affordability. Now, as to demand. Population growth is everything where demand is concerned. Whether by job expansion, immigration or the creation of “organic buying entities” (young adults get a job, move away from home and buy their first house), these factors drive new construction. In 2006 there were 6,611 new home building permits in greater Albuquerque. In 2007 there were 4,037. Only 1,874 permits were issued in 2008 and in 2009 only 1,669 were issued. While that is a devastating statistic for the builders, many of whom either left Albuquerque entirely or were forced to shut down their operations, it means that very few new homes were put into supply. Providing there is any growth in the number of buyers for homes, that will help continue to absorb the supply, which is what we are seeing. What’s all this talk about a “double bottom”? The final talk of worry on the street is the predicted wave of foreclosures as a result of the Adjustable Rate Mortgages adjusting to higher payments causing additional defaults. Here is one possible scenario, if the prediction even comes to pass. Anybody who loses a home in foreclosure will have to move somewhere after they lose their house. Their options are a few; leave town, move in with friends or parents, or rent until their credit and cash is restored. The most likely scenario as I see it is the rent option, either into a house or an apartment. As the demand increases for rentals, investors will likely respond to that demand, purchasing the foreclosures and providing homes to rent. In this scenario, the homes that come on the market will be absorbed and prices will not fall because the purchase demand from investors will sustain. Here is the prediction…with a grain of salt or two. To recap, decreasing supply, an increase in pendings and closings, a decrease in prices which improves affordability, very low interest rates and the lowest new home construction rate in years all point to the beginning of a recovery for the Albuquerque residential resale market. How fast and how soon? The first year after the bottom in the last two cycles has seen about a 1.6% appreciation. Don’t expect a rebound to old prices for a few years, but, hopefully, a steady climb out of the bottom! Happy 2010!

WRONG INFORMATION GIVEN TO US AND THE PUBLIC

I have to apologize on behalf of myself, my organization www.GAAR.com and anyone else who published the wrong information last weekend regarding the new ordinance requiring LOW FLOW TOILETS with regard to real estate sales. It was published by our association www.GAAR.com - to the media at KOAT - and then to the public at large that it would be a SELLER REQUIREMENT to replace toilets with low flow toilets before the completion of a sale of real estate. After reading the new ordinance (which was included with the report) it came to my attention that this information that was dispensed by both the news media and my trade association was incorrect. The ordinance clearly states that it will be the responsiblity of the BUYER of the property to comply with the ordinance within a particular time frame after the sale is complete. My error was trusting the information that comes out of my assocation, www.GAAR.com and then to the media and then dispensed to the public as if it were true. This is a great lesson in being sure to verify everything that comes across your desk, no matter who is saying it. Have a great New Year, and here's to good reporting!

2009 Holiday sales statistics for Albuquerque homes

I did an analysis of Albuquerque home sales from November 15, 2009 to present today. This will give you an idea of what the activity was for sales based on VACANT homes vs. OCCUPIED properties. Vacant homes are either new builder inventory (not frequently put into MLS), homes where the owner has moved to another area or another home, foreclosures, and vacant investment property no longer occupied by a tenant. Of course we have to look at these statistics based on broker data entry (whether the broker said it was occupied but was really vacant), etc. These statistics show that for OCCUPIED PROPERTIES, from November 15th to present (January 4, 2010) there were 151 properties put into PENDING status. For VACANT PROPERTIES, there were 181 properties put into PENDING status. What is interesting is that the 'price point' or average price for the sales were higher for OCCUPIED properties, less for VACANT homes listed for sale. The average DAYS ON MARKET was also found to be slightly higher for VACANT properties. This goes along with the idea that homes that are staged, lived in, and have a good 'feel' when shown are more likely to sell than vacant properties, even when considering buyers that need to have a home ready to move into. In our market area, escrow periods (the time it takes to close on a transaction) on anything but SHORT SALES averages approximately 30-40 days. Most sellers in our area are prepared to move out and have the house ready for closing within that time frame. If you are ready to buy your Albuquerque home, keep these time lines in mind. REPORT FOR VACANT PROPERTIES REPORT FOR OCCUPIED PROPERTIES

Mid Year Sales statistics for Albuquerque homes

Here are the mid-year sales stats - stay tuned as 2009 should be out momentarily - have a very Happy New Year For all of the real estate information all the time - Click to our website

Bank owned property statistics

How much do I offer on a foreclosed home? A great question, so I thought I would run some statistics about how much these homes really sell for, vs the listing price that is advertised. A study done of closed sales, on bank owned properties January 1st through today, 2009. 391 bank owned homes sold in 2009. The bank owned homes that sold the quickest? Price in the 130’s – the average days on the market for this category was approximately 30 days. The bank owned properties that took the longest to sell? Price in the 800’s and up – the average days on the market for this category was over 300 days, up to 800 days. When we look at how close the sold price came to the actual listing price, when a bank owned property sold in the first 30 days, the LISTING PRICE TO SALES PRICE RATIO was 99%. When the bank owned property stayed on the market over 120 days, the LISTING PRICE TO SALES PRICE RATIO went to 93%. It is notable that this statistic is the same for CDOM (cumulative days on the market) to DOM (days on the market). I have attached the study document for your review, and if you have questions about this, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us!

Home Buyer Tax Credit - made easy

Have you been wondering what the new Home Buyer Tax Credit is all about? I'm sharing a document with you that may just put it all into perspective and if you need any further assistance with buying your new Albuquerque home, please contact the eTeam right away! We are here to help.