August 24, 2009 at 8:58 pm
· Filed under buyers, sellers ·Tagged real estate, real estate market, southern utah, st. george utah, utah, utah real estate
Southern Utah Real Estate Facts
1. Foreclosure rate in Washington County is 4%, double that of other areas in Utah
2. 75% of our sales right now are either bank owned properties of properties offered as short sales
3. Home prices are being driven downward by the fact that banks are taking such low prices for foreclosed properties and agreeing to take so little on short sales
4. The biggest discounts are found in the higher price ranges
5. Many new developments in the St. George area are on hold for an indefinite period
6. It is a great time to purchase real estate in Washington County
7. We are at, or near, the bottom of this cycle indicated by the drop in our inventory
8. Interest rates are still fantastically low hovering between 5.125 – 5.375 %
9. You do not want to miss this opportunity if you desire to live in Southern Utah!
Should you have a desire for more information on real estate in St. George, UT or the surrounding area please give us a call.
Vista Real Estate
866-632-5491
Check out our new real estate blog for St. George Utah Real Estate!
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June 19, 2009 at 4:43 am
· Filed under buyers, sellers ·Tagged bank repo, foreclosure, short sale, southern utah, st. george, utah, utah foreclosure
St. George, Utah short sale opportunities are everywhere. We have listings for those trying to get out from under their payments and we have buyers looking to get a good deal. It occurs quite often that a short sale will have multiple offers at a time after the home is priced below market for quick sale. This is a great opportunity for buyers to get instant equity. There is only one requirement for this…patience. We have buyers who have been waiting for 3 months on a short sale in St. George – just to get an answer from the bank! Sometimes the bank is working with a group of an investors and that can complicate things even more and delay further.
Having a good agent when working on a short sale is a must! There is a process to working a short sale – including dealing with the bank’s loss mitigator and other key people who make decisions about the mortgage. We can assist sellers in pricing their property at a reasonable level so the bank will find offers attractive. If you don’t price the property well to begin with and the bank refuses to even entertain the offers – it’s a waste of everyone’s time.
There are multiple benefits to doing a short sale instead of foreclosure. The first is that it’s not as bad on your credit. The second is that there is no tax penalty for selling for the loss (it used to be that if you sold a paid a loan off for less than the amount owed – you had to claim the difference as income). The third is that the bank may not try to recoup the funds depending on the bank and the situation.
If you’re looking for southern Utah real estate – now is a great time to buy – the prices are low and there are great deals. The best real estate deals can be found over 400k-500k and up.
If you’re looking to buy a short sale property or sell using the short sale methods – call me ASAP. I’d be happy to help!
Good luck,
Anita Kay – 435-632-5491
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February 12, 2009 at 12:08 am
· Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged bank repo, foreclosure, real estate market, saint george, utah real estate
Washington County, Utah now has 1.8% of all mortgages in foreclosure as of Dec. 2008. This is an increase from Dec 2007 where the rate was 0.7%.
If you’re looking for a St. George, Utah foreclosure – please contact me. There are tons of opportunities on the market right now including St. George short sales.
The total number of mortgages that are 90 days past due has jumped to 4.5% which is an increase from the December 2007 statistics. This has caused a huge number of short sale properties to come on the market in southern Utah. Combine this with interest rates at 5% or so – and you have a great environment to invest and ride the market until it comes back in a few years. St. George real estate has always gone in about 8 year cycles and then it cools down for a bit. Our market peaked in about the summer of 2006.
If you’d like to discuss the option in the real estate market here in St. George – give me a call at 435-632-5491. It’s also a great time to buy a cheap condo or townhome to rent out.
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December 3, 2008 at 3:39 pm
· Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged mortgage loans, mortgage rates, utah, utah finance, utah mortgage
Fluctuation in interest rates is interesting to watch. On November 28, we were quoted 5.25% for a 30 year fixed mortgage. How good does it get? Then on Monday the rates remained at that level. Yesterday they were up 1/8 of a percent. Still great.
Now is a great time to purchase real estate in Washington County. Prices are down, sellers are motivated, and interest rates just don’t get better. If one waits for consumer confidence to return to the overall economy, one would have waited too long. Once that happens we will see prices rising again. Due to government intervention many foreclosures are being postponed, many loans are being renegotiated to enable sellers to keep homes that might otherwise have come onto the market.
If you are contemplating making the purchase of a St. George, Utah home at this time, please call your favorite lender and request a “Good Faith Estimate” to see just how much it would cost to get into that home. Should you not have a favorite lender, contact me for names of reputable lenders.
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September 26, 2008 at 6:03 pm
· Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged bank repo, property, saint george utah, short sale, utah, utah foreclosure, utah short sale
If you are wondering what it takes to successfully obtain a home through a short sale, here are some tips. We’ve had quite a bit of short sales and foreclosures in the St. George, Utah real estate market – hope this helps!
1. Decide with your Realtor’s help what price to offer. Take into consideration the original amount of the loan, how old that loan is, what part of that unpaid balance may be covered by mortgage insurance. Have your Realtor obtain recent sold comparables in the area. Also, ask your Realtor to obtain the listing history of the subject property. After looking at all the details decide what price the bank may accept. According to the National Association of Realtors, 80% of the offers made on short sale properties are not accepted. This may be due to buyers and their agents not doing enough research to come up with a price close to what the lien holder will accept.
2. Include in your Real Estate Purchase Contract an “AS IS” Addendum. The thinking here is that the lien holder is not going to allow any funds to be paid out to accomplish any repairs on the property (the lien holder wants as much of the proceeds as he can possibly get). So you must be willing to accept the property in its current condition.
3. Do your “Due Diligence” on the subject property prior to making an offer. This means getting any inspections done prior to, rather than, after the lien holder approves the sale.
4. Be willing to obtain a Home Warranty on the property at your expense; it is unlikely that the lien holder will be willing to allow the seller to pay this expense, and it is well worth the cost.
5. Give your Realtor a letter from your lender if you are going to finance part of the purchase price of the property. This letter should state more than the fact that you are credit approved. The lien holder is going to want to make sure that you have already supplied your lender with all of the documentation necessary to make the loan; it should also state any unmet conditions for making you the loan, such as an appraisal of the property and a commitment for title insurance. This letter should be submitted with the contract.
6. Follow any other advice that your real estate agent offers. There are wonderful opportunities out there and a good Realtor can make all the difference in helping you through this type of transaction. Good Luck.
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September 4, 2008 at 4:57 pm
· Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged marathon, st. george, st. george marathon, utah
The St. George Marathon is scheduled for October 4, 2008. We’re now 1 month out!
It’s an exciting time of year for St. George, Utah. Lots of attention and visitors from all over the country and outside the U.S. Our city loves the visitors and it’s great for business. St. George City always organizes a world-class event that features great activities and many local businesses get involved.
The race will begin at 6:45AM MST. For more information you can visit www.stgeorgemarathon.com
The southern Utah real estate business usually gets a little boost at this time of year because so many people fall in the love with the area. We see a lot of people looking for investment property until they decide to convert it to personal use upon retirement. There are also a lot of buyers who will be looking for second homes. This is a great time to buy with so many short sales and foreclosures in the St. George, Utah area.
If you haven’t already made reservations – normally it would be too late, but I’ve heard that there are some rooms at a few hotels in town. We have your normal chains like Marriott, Hilton, and more. Check their websites for more details.
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August 15, 2008 at 11:37 pm
· Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged elected officials, government, politics, southern utah, st. george, state, state government, utah, utah government
Study completed by a think tank in DC on the management of state governments.
Utah, Washington, and Virginia all ranked A-
Utah had only 3 areas where they were considered mid-level while the rest were all high marks.
Washington had 7 mid-marks.
Virginia had 8 mid-marks.
http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/Grading-the-States-2008.pdf
So that makes our government #1 in the terms of efficiency, organization, budgeting, etc. They focused on 4 general areas of the government – money, information, people, and infrastructure. 2 of our bad marks came because of hiring/workforce issues because our economy grew so fast…
The key thing they mentioned is the high level of transparency that helps with checks and balances to insure against abuses of power. Such as the example where they noticed Dept of Corrections management payrolls so they could take corrective action quickly.
Normally, I notice reports by this. It was completed in March 2008, but I didn’t see any attention given to it by mass media outlets. A lot of good things about Utah get overlooked because it’s not sexy news and well…I guess people just don’t want to hear it. They would like to have ideas that we’re all crazy out here in the west! 
Our state officials have done a wonderful job!
If you’d like to learn more about moving to St. George, Utah – please contact me. It’s a great area to invest, live, work, and play!
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August 4, 2008 at 6:23 pm
· Filed under sellers ·Tagged bank repo, foreclosure, homes, housing, mortgage, real estate, repo, seller, short sale, st. george, st. george utah, utah
This term describes a sale where more is owed on the property than the property is worth. A seller will put his property up for sale at a price lower than what is owed in order to attract offers that can be submitted to his lender(s) for approval. Therefore, when the property is listed through a real estate agent, the sale is contingent upon the creditor(s) approval of the sale. Many lenders right now would rather sell “short” than have a foreclosure. In order for a seller to sell in this manor, he must prove true hardship circumstances.
The creditors may reject or propose changes to the original offers. They usually require that the property be sold in “as is” condition, and they do not want to see the seller paying for any of the buyer’s expenses in the transaction. The seller and the interested buyer do not have to accept the changes; however, this would eliminate any chance of a Short Sale.
Creditors often do not respond to offers in a timely manor, so all parties need to be very patient. The creditors (third parties) rarely meet the deadlines set out in the Utah real estate purchase contract. Be prepared for delays in receiving an initial response. A buyer may cancel his offer on a Short Sale at anytime prior to coming to terms with the seller and third parties.
This is an opportunity for buyers to obtain properties far below what they would ordinarily have to pay. It is an opportunity for a seller to avoid bankruptcy. A good Realtor is able to help a buyer and/or seller navigate their way through this process.
If you have real estate in southern Utah and you need advice about how to handle a short sale – please contact me. I’ve handled many of these for clients this year already.
Thanks and good luck!
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July 17, 2008 at 5:24 pm
· Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged bank, fannie mae, freddie mac, home loan, lender, loan, mortgage, real estate, utah
Been wondering who they are and what they do? We are hearing reference to them today so much in our news. They are two organizations of great importance in that they are a source of funds for primary lenders. When a primary lender makes a loan to the client, often the loan is sold to one of these organizations, which action replaces the primary lender’s capital. This replacement of capital enables the primary lender to continue to make loans. This is what is referred to as the “secondary” market.
Freddie Mac (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation) used to provide funds to the savings and loan industry. Later, after the savings and loan industry was no more, Freddie Mac expanded and became and source of funds for conventional home loans.
Fannie Mae (Federal National Mortgage Association) is now the largest purchaser of conventional home loans (not included are FHA and VA loans).
Both organizations sell stock, notes and bonds to the public to raise money. The money they raise is used to purchase home loans on the secondary market as described above.
Both organizations are privately owned, but both are regulated by the government.
This is a most simplified, but accurate, description of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. For information on St. George Utah Real Estate – please contact us.
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June 26, 2008 at 3:35 am
· Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged business, business expo, commercial real estate, expo, real estate, st. george, st. george utah, utah
The 15th Annual St. George Area Business Expo kicked off today.
It is located in The Dixie Center at 1835 S. Convention Center Drive. The Expo features business exhibits – approx. 150 businesses will be represented.
Last year the Expo had between 8000 and 9000 visitors. Refreshments will be served and it’s a great opportunity for local businesses owners to network. It’s also great for residents to find out which businesses are located in the area.
The theme is “Big League Business” – inline with the growth projections for the next decade in southern Utah.
More and more businesses are finding that St. George is an excellent place to relocate and expand their current operations. With lower cost of living, housing prices, and competitive wages than southern and northern California – it makes for a great alternative. These factors and those like the future airport and strong infrastructure are attracting businesses from all over the country.
If you are considering relocating your business we’d love to help you. We have agents that specialize in southern Utah commercial real estate purchases and leases. So visit our site!
See you at the Expo!
Anita
Your Realtor
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