We are back on the market with Laura Halverson Dufour of Dynamic Properties in Anchorage, Alaska. We continue to have confidence in Laura and with the showing we have had in the last month hope we are closer to an offer. To look at the listing, see Lamplighter at Jalone.com or check out Laura website, Homes for Sale in Anchorage and specifically, her listing page for our house.

We have had the Lamplighter house on the market for a number of months (very long time!) and although we are getting showings have had no offers. Feedback from potential buyers remains very positive about the house but the neighbor and neighborhood remain the problem. It really is too bad, as we are convinced the street is starting to improve with a number of houses doing some extensive remodeling but on first look it is still very rough.

What we have done is let the listing expire and will relist and hit the market fresh with a new “lower” price and see if we can’t find someone who will love the place enough to overlook the current situation in the neighborhood.

A good start to a Happy New Year for us would be to sell this house!

Well, we have been considering another drop in price but when we talked to our Realtor, Laura Halverson, she advised against doing anything now as we are continuing to get showings. We reluctantly agreed to wait and take another look at the pricing until after the holidays but we are getting very tired of not having this home sold. Having to carry the mortgage, insurance, taxes and utilities without any income can get old very quickly.

The home itself continues to get very positive feedback while the neighbor and neighborhood is what is chasing the buyers away. With the strange, “no snow” winter in Anchorage the neighborhood this home is located in looks pretty bad. A nice fresh coat of snow always makes things look better and who knows, maybe even our neighbor might clean up his yard.

We did have a professional cleaner go in and give the house a good cleaning as the number of showings was beginning to show.

Keep your fingers crossed for a buyer who loves the house or at least some snow!

Today, I am in route from Alaska where I surprised my sister on her birthday. Anchorage is a long way from Sacramento but I see some of the same things happening in their real estate market. The inventory of available home is high and sellers have to reduce their asking prices to get showings. The value of homes have not declined as drastically in Anchorage compared to Sacramento but they didn’t have t he appreciation levels we had from 2000 to 2005.

The difference in our real estate market may be unique to smaller states, well smaller in terms of their economy! On Friday, the State of Alaska received five proposals to develop a pipeline which will allow their huge resource of natural gas to finally get to market. This is something that has been in the works for many years and may now become a reality. The news alone will have positive impact on the economy here and if and when construction begins, it will be very big. A single event like this would hardly cause a ripple in California but in Alaska it has the potential to change a great deal.

Maybe this is the time to buy in Alaska, anyone interested in a great rental?  Happy Birthday Lynn!

Last week Randi & Tony moved into their brand new dream home and it is wonderful.  They started this process way back in February by putting their townhome on the market.  There were times when it looked like the dream of moving into a larger home would have to wait but their hard work and patience finally paid off.  See my latest article, Living the Dream, at the MyForSaleSign site.

If you or anyone you know is considering buying or selling and would like to be considered for the next MyForSaleSign reality series which we hope will include a podcast and video, please let me know.

I apologize, the past month or so has been hectic and keeping up with my “Keep it Real in Sacramento” blog updates and a few articles I committed to write has taken a toll on MyForSaleSign. I am headed out of town for a week but when I get back I will post an update on Randi and Tony and the house they are buying in Yuba City. I have some good photos of the construction in process and they are scheduled for a mid November close. I know they will be happy to get into the new home and find all their things again and just spread out.

Our other series “For Sale in Anchorage” has some updates that need to be done as well. The house remains on the market, the weather is getting colder and there has not been much activity. A few decisions have to be made and I will let you know how that goes.

Thanks for the emails wondering if I was going to continue. I appreciate there are a few loyal readers out there and will get it back soon!

That was how long we have been following the sale of Randi and Tony’s condo in Yuba City. I did close last week after all these weeks of marketing and maintaining it is “show condition.” When we first went on the market in February at $260,000 we knew the market was slow and we also understood that because of the size, condition and location of this townhouse the price we were asking would place us in competition with other premium condos and a fair number of single family residences. For this reason it was going to take a buyer who was seeking a larger home with little to no maintenance. We originally felt this would most likely be an older couple who still needed space but wanted to be relieved of maintaining a single family home. Who we eventually sold to was an Air Force officer stationed at Beale AFB.

After a number of price reductions we eventually sold the home for $233,000. It was a bit lower than we had hoped to sell it for but sufficient for Randi and Tony to complete the purchase of the new home they have been looking for.

Until the new home is finished in November, Randi and Tony have moved in with Randi’s Dad, Dick and will be diligently working to help him with some additional storage space by reducing the current size of his great wine cellar. We may just have to drop in to help!

Over the next week I will attempt to get a few photos of the new house as it is being finished by Centex Homes and follow Randi and Tony through the now turbulent world of the home mortgage industry. In addition I will be bringing you up-to-date on what is happening with our Anchorage home that is still on the market.

Randi and Tony’s condo was to have closed yesterday and as far as I know it happened but I am waiting for official word before finalizing the first transaction we have chronicled here at MyForSaleSign. I am a bit disappointed that I was not able to write more about the transaction as it progressed but with the marketing time being so long for homes these days, I may be guilty of not being able to maintain my flow of ideas or find the time to update as often as I had planned.

I have had a fair amount of positive feedback on the concept of reality real estate and MyForSaleSign so I will attempt to beef it up and update it more often.

We have all heard or read it before, “Buying a home is one of the single largest financial transactions any of us will ever do.” Because it is true it is a time we want to have experienced experts around to answer questions and in some cases just calm our nerves. For this reason it was particularly frustrating for Randi and Tony when they wanted to talk to their lender. Find out what was going on and what happened in “New Times, Loans and Lenders,” my latest MyForSaleSign article.

We are being very patient with our Lamplighter property in Anchorage. It has had some good showings recently and we know Alaskan’s are out and about trying to enjoy the final days of summer. It is a great time of year there but way too short and nobody wants to waste a nice day when they can be outside. For that reason we have decided to hang on with our current asking price for a few more weeks. It is really a cute place and we are confident the right buyers will come along and appreciate what we have done with it.

Our problems with the kids in the neighborhood appear to have gotten better. The last few reports from our agent, Laura and our niece Amanda have been good.

 

Something that seems perfect today and a dream come true can change. Selecting a home is one of the biggest financial decisions we make and it is natural to have second thoughts. That is exactly what happened with Randi and Tony this past week. They had waited so long to get their townhouse in contract and although they remained committed to selling it they were beginning to wonder if it would happen. When they did get it under contract they were naturally excited about seriously looking at new homes. In the past, when I took them out looking it was an exercise to see what they liked and which neighborhoods felt good but they couldn’t make an offer until they had their place sold. When it did finally get into contract they selected a home that I think surprised them both. It was new construction, a two story house, and in a part of town they weren’t as fond of. So it was everything they had said they didn’t want. Although a beautiful home, after a few days, they came to the realization it was not the dream home they had been waiting for all these months.

We went back out and concentrated on the areas of Yuba City they like, and looked at only single story homes. Since they had changed their mind about new construction we decided to look at some Centex homes that were in the area. This confirmed what we all knew; the first home was not the right one. Right now we are in the final negotiations with Centex and should have a final deal signed later this week.

Randi and Tony are doing great and both are very relieved and excited. The sale of the townhouse is moving forward smoothly. There are some items they have agreed to repair per the buyer’s home inspection and Randi is dealing with the homeowner association on some issues uncovered by the pest report. Nothing is very serious and we continue to expect a close sometime in August.

Today, I am headed back up to Yuba City to meet with Randi and Tony. The initial excitement about the new home they are in contract to buy has worn off. I think long wait to get their townhouse sold may have caused them to make a decision on which house to buy faster than maybe they should have. Today we will be looking at some other new construction homes as well as one or two existing homes. At this point the viewings are more to confirm they have made the best decision rather than to make a change, although that is possible. I am more than happy to do this for them as I want to make sure they are comfortable with their decision and are both excited about the home they end up moving into.

We are currently working on the disclosures for the townhouse and it is my understanding the home inspection and appraisal has been scheduled. It will be a couple of weeks before the contingencies are removed by the buyer so Randi and Tony have plenty of time to make the best decision for themselves.

All the work and patience is starting to pay off as Randi and Tony, with the townhouse in contract, have entered into a contract with Dunmore Homes in Yuba City to purchase a brand new home. Best of all it will be ready to move into when they need to move from the condo. I had to head back up there on Wednesday to deliver and sign some documents and based on my conversation with the sales agent all appears to be going well.

They are purchasing the Oxford model with is a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2 car garage and has approximately 2,119 square feet of living space. It has a great floor plan and as with most of the new home builders, they were able to get number of upgrades included. It looks like a perfect place for Randi and Tony to launch the next phase of their lives.

I have uploaded some photo I took of the home in the final stages of construction and they are available here on my Flickr site or as a slide show.

The escrow has been opened on the townhouse, a pest inspection is ordered and we are moving along with no anticipated problems (knock on wood!)

Having spent the past six months looking at potential homes it didn’t take Randi and Tony much more time to find their perfect home. I am on my way to Yuba City today to sign a contract with Dunmore home on an offer they have accepted from Randi and Tony on a brand new home. More details and photos soon!

It has happened, we are officially in contract and an escrow has been opened on Randi and Tony’s townhouse. All the hard work and patience has finally paid off with the first solid step towards a sale. At this point I can’t discuss the final price but will say that Randi and Tony countered the initial offer and their counter was accepted by the potential buyer. There are no unusual items in the contract and we are not anticipating any so everyone is feeling good today.

There is not much time to celebrate because we now need to find the next “dream home” for Randi and Tony. Fortunately we have been keeping an eye on the market and have spent some time out looking. We have three favorites to look at and will be doing that on Sunday.

There is a long road ahead in getting the sale closed and consummating a purchase but this will be the active and fun part. Stay tuned for more.

Yesterday, we received an offer on Randi and Tony’s townhouse in Yuba City. It is a bit surprising it has taken this long to get a legitimate offer since this home has had such positive feedback from those that have looked at it. We will be reviewing the offer today and will make a decision on how to proceed. The offer is not for the full asking price but deserves the time we plan to spend on it.

Well, we got a call from an agent in Yuba City letting me know we would be receiving an offer over the weekend. Well, here it is on Tuesday, and we are still waiting. I will be making a call to see what has happened, hopefully, just a delay.

The feedback we are receiving on the Lamplighter house in Anchorage has been positive about the house and the remodeling we have completed but not so good about the neighborhood. It is one of those streets that is starting to show signs of improvement with a few house remodeled, painted and cleaned up but not enough to make prospective buyers feel like it is a “cute or desirable” street to live on. In addition, because no one is living in the house the neighbor kids are using the lawn and driveway as a play area and not picking up after themselves.

When I was there last week I visited the neighbors and asked them to help us keep the place looking good and politely told them that I would be having my property manager check on the yard every couple of days and haul away any toys left there. Hopefully that will help.

 

We held our Yuba City townhouse open yesterday. Not the most active open house but it did give me a chance to visit with Randi and Tony who continue to be focused on finding a larger home and starting a family. Before the Open House we went and looked a house they found. It was very nice, now we need to get the condo sold! We did have a showing this past week and are looking for feedback.

Hi Mike and Julie,

 

We have had 3 showings in the last 4 days. The third is this afternoon between 4-5PM. I drove by last night to make sure things looked ok. I had to call Amanda to make another run over today since I wouldn’t be able to and she just called to say it looks fine.

The agent who is showing this afternoon is a friend from my office. She thought the pictures looked great on MLS and can’t wait to see the inside. She did a driveby as well yesterday and said the “only thing she doesn’t really like is the neighbors/neighborhood”. I told her that since it has been vacant the neighbor kids have just been using the driveway to play, but when it was occupied there was never a problem. She said she wouldn’t comment on her feelings of the neighborhood to her clients. We’ll see how it goes!

See you next week!

THX, Laura

www.PropertyByLaura.com