Archive for the ‘Utah Homes’ Category

Using Zillow to determine real estate values in Salt Lake City and Utah

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

Over the last few weeks, I’ve had a couple clients ask me what their home was worth.  In both cases I came up with a value for their home based on the most recent sales of homes nearest and most similar to their home.

One home is in West Jordan and I determined that it was worth about $195,000.  They checked on Zillow.com and Zillow said it was worth about $220,000.  The home is worth $195,000.

The second home is in Holladay and the owner was concerned because Zillow said their home was worth $275,000.  I did an analysis of their home and it is worth about $360,000.

Utah is a non-disclosure state meaning that the sale price of homes are not public record.  As a result Zillow isn’t very accurate in determining your home’s value in Utah.  Zillow is a great resource, just not for determining the value of Salt Lake City and Utah homes.

An experienced Salt Lake City Realtor can determine your home’s value, the level of inventory in your area and advise you on what to do to help get your home sold.

Kevin Coyle
MBA, Associate Broker
Kevin@SLCHomeBuyer.com
801-243-0699 (Cel)
Stonebrook Real Estate

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Posted in Salt Lake City home values, Salt Lake City homes, Salt Lake City real estate, Salt Lake County homes and condos, Utah Homes | 1 Comment »

Only 1 week left for the First time and Repeat Home Buyer Tax Credit

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

The Federal Tax Credit, up to $8,000 for First Time Home Buyers and $6,500 for Repeat Home Buyers, requires that you have a home under contract by April 30, 2010 and close on that home by June 30, 2010.  So far I haven’t heard or read anything about an extension.

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Salt Lake City real estate: Utah has one of the lowest levels of Unepmloyment in the United States!

Monday, March 15th, 2010

The long term recovery of the Salt Lake City real estate market will be somewhat effected by the availability of jobs.

There are two links below.  The first is a map which shows the changes in unemployment for every County in every State in our nation.  The time frame starts at January 2007 and goes until December 2009.  It really puts the economic downturn into perspective and you can see why some areas of our country have been hit so hard. 

The second is a table which ranks unemployment by state.  The lower the number, the lower the unemployment rate.  As of January 2010, Utah had an unemployment rate of 6.8% and was tied for 8th place with Montana.  This is actually pretty good considering 4th place went to Kansas with an unemployment rate of 6.4%.  We’re not far behind.

http://cohort11.americanobserver.net/latoyaegwuekwe/multimediafinal.php

http://www.bls.gov/web/laumstrk.htm

The Salt Lake City real estate market is constantly changing and having an experienced Realtor to be your guide can make your home search a lot more enjoyable.  If you need help with the purchase of a Salt Lake City home, condo or duplex, contact me.  I’ve been a Salt Lake City Realtor since 1999 and over the last year, 80% of my clients were buyers.
Helping home buyers is my thing, so send me an email or give me a ring!


Kevin
Kevin Coyle
Associate Broker, GRI, MBA
Kevin@SLCHomeBuyer.com
801-243-0699 (Mobile)
Stonebrook Real Estate

 

 

 

 

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Salt Lake City Homes: When looking at Salt Lake City Homes, search within your pre-approved price range.

Friday, October 16th, 2009

This may sound obvious, but here it is anyway.  Salt Lake City home buyers should look within their pre-approved price range. 

 

Here are some of the reasons I can think of:

  1. Why waste your time looking at Utah homes you can’t afford?
  2. Sometimes Salt Lake City home buyers qualify for more than they really want to spend.  What will you cut back in your budget for that more expensive home?
  3. You might miss out on a home within your price range that you didn’t see because you were wasting your time looking at ones you can’t afford.
  4. Why set yourself up for disappointment looking at homes you can’t afford?
  5. Sellers go out of their way to allow you to see their home, why inconvenience them?  If it’s an open house and you’re actively looking, take a look.
  6. Looking at homes is not a sport or a hobby. Go ride a bike, read a book, go to a movie and have fun!
  7. OK honestly, I can see if you can afford $200,000 that you might look at Utah homes up to $210,000 for purposes of negotiation, but beyond that probably not.

If you need help with the purchase of a Salt Lake City home, condo or duplex, please contact me.  I’ve been a Salt Lake City realtor for over 10 years and this year so far, 80% of my clients have been Buyers of homes and condos in the Salt Lake City metro area.

 

Kevin

 

Kevin Coyle

Realtor, Associate Broker, MBA

Stonebrook Real Estate

Mobile: 801-243-0699

Office: 801-466-8977

Kevin@SLCHomeBuyer.com

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Salt Lake City condos: New FHA Financing requirements for condos go into affect November 2, 2009.

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

FHA has delayed the changes to the requirements for financing condos out to November 2, 2009.  The date was October 1, 2009.

This will still likely have a negative effect on the value of Salt Lake City Condos, but some condo projects will be effected more than others.

I recently put a value on a condomimium in an upscale condo project where units are selling for $250,000 to $325,000 and noticed that all of the units that sold in that complex this year were purchased with conventional financing.  It seems like a unit in that complex would be effected less by these changes.

Time will tell how the value of Salt Lake City condos are effected by these changes.  Some projects will be effected more than others.

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Salt Lake City condos: New FHA Financing requirements for condos go into affect October 1, 2009. What are they and how will they affect the value of Salt Lake City condos?

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

Starting October 1, 2009, HUD has new rules for FHA loans that will change the playing field for condo buyers, sellers and builders.  I just read the letter from HUD to FHA lenders and appraisers (MORTGAGEE LETTER 2009-19) along with some blogs on how this will affect the condo market.

 

The reason this is such a big deal is that right now an FHA loan is the only way to buy a Salt Lake City condo or home with a low down payment of 3.5%.

 

Here’s an overview of some of the requirements that a condo project will require to be eligible for FHA financing starting October 1, 2009.  I’ve made a few comments:

 

1.     At least 50% of the total units must be sold prior to endorsement of any FHA mortgage on a unit.  This will affect new construction!

2.     At least 50% of the units must be owner-occupied or sold to owners who intend to occupy the units.  There have always been owner-occupied rules for FHA.

3.     Projects of four or more units will have no more than 30% of total units insured by FHA.  Projects with three or less units will have no more than one FHA insured unit.  This is a big change!

4.     No more than 15% of total units can be in arrears (more than 30 days past due) of their condominium association fee payment.  Seems to make sense to me.

5.     No more than 25% of property’s total floor area can be used for commercial purposes.

6.     One investor may own no more than 10% of units.  This applies to developers/builders that rent vacant and unsold units.  This makes sense.

7.     For two and three unit projects, no single entity may own more than one unit; all units and common areas must be 100% complete; and only one unit can be conveyed to non-owner occupants.

8.     A current reserve study must be performed to assure that adequate funds are available for the funding of capital expenditures and maintenance.  A current study must be no more than 12 months old—if recent events or market conditions have affected the finished condition of the property that information must be included.  When reviewing the study, consideration must be given to items that have been replaced after the time that the reserve study was completed.  This makes sense to me.  Why should we lend money to buy condos in a condo project that isn’t properly managed?

9.     No more FHA Spot approval on individual condo units in non-FHA approved projects.  The project is either FHA approved or it’s not.  Seems like this is a safe approach for a big organization like HUD.

 

These new rules will most likely have a short term negative effect on the value of Salt Lake City condos and condos across our nation. 

 

 

New construction condos will be affected the most because 50% of the units will need to be sold before the condo project could become eligible for FHA financing.

 

Builders will need to make sure they have a way to finance the first 50% of the condo units they sell.  The builders will need to go out and find financing for their units and then once the units are half sold, FHA financing becomes available if they are approved.  This puts a lot more risk on the builders and their lenders and less on FHA/HUD.

 

These new rules will likely reduce the number of risky condo projects and the overall number of new condo projects being built.  Long term, condo inventories will decrease which should push values up.

 

Also, if you can’t buy a condo, you can still buy a single family home with an FHA loan.  Short term this could have a positive effect on the value of single family homes in Salt Lake City because more people will buy homes instead of condos.

 

During the last housing boom in Salt Lake City, 2005-2007, the value of homes out paced condos until the gap was big enough to pull condos up.  The same thing could happen again.

 

So short term the FHA loan changes for condos will probably have a negative effect on values, but long term this will probably lead to decreasing condo inventory which could have a positive affect on the value of existing condos.

 

This also could result in new loan products for condos with low down payments.  Also, FHA may modify these new rules as they see how it affects the condo market.  Rules can be changed.

 

If you need help with the purchase of a Salt Lake City home, condo or duplex, please contact me.  I’ve been a Salt Lake City realtor for over 10 years and this year 85% of my clients have been Buyers of homes and condos in Salt Lake.

Kevin Coyle

Associate Broker, MBA

Stonebrook Real Estate

Mobile: 801-243-0699

Office: 801-466-8977

Kevin@SLCHomeBuyer.com

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Posted in FHA Loans, Salt Lake City condos, Salt Lake City real estate, Salt Lake County homes and condos, Utah Homes | No Comments »

Salt Lake City homes and condos: Great Interest rates, Tax Credits for first time home buyers, Great Deals and Many Salt Lake City homes to choose from!

Friday, August 28th, 2009

So far this year, 85% of the clients I have worked with, have been Buyers.

 

All of them learned the market and then found the home or condo that they were looking for in the area that they wanted to live.  A couple of the Salt Lake homes and condos were unique properties that are hard to come by.

 

All of the clients got a fair deal on the home they chose.  A few of the clients got a great deal and went into their new Salt Lake home or condo with instant equity.  One client in particular went in with 20% equity if you compare the purchase price to appraisal.  Those deals aren’t easy to come by, especially on a dream home like this client bought.

 

All of the clients got an amazing interest rate.  Rates have been between 4.5% and 5.5% for most of the year.

 

All of the first time home buyers are getting a tax credit of $8,000.

 

History shows that the price of Salt Lake real estate goes up and down.  We’ve been going down for over 2 years now and eventually it will go back up.

 

History also shows that interest rates go up and down and right now they are very low.

 

One last thing I want to mention.  I was in a seminar last week and one of the big Utah home builders announced that they are going from 19 housing subdivisions in Utah to 40  by the first quarter of 2010.  They also said they are downsizing their homes, which makes sense.  I asked them who their economist is and they weren’t forthcoming with that information, but it made me think.

 

If you plan on spending the next 5 to 7 years in Salt Lake, you might want to start thinking about buying Salt Lake City real estate while it’s still a Buyer’s market and rates are low. 

 

If you already own a home, the gap in price between the home you own and the home you dream about is smaller than it was a couple years ago.

 

If you need help with the purchase of a Salt Lake City home, condo or duplex, please contact me.  I’ve been a Salt Lake City realtor for over 10 years and the majority of my clients are Buyers of homes and condos in Salt Lake.

 Kevin Coyle

Associate Broker, MBA

Stonebrook Real Estate

Mobile: 801-243-0699

Office: 801-466-8977

Kevin@SLCHomeBuyer.com

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Salt Lake City homes and condos: Find out what areas have the most short sales in Salt Lake County

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

I was searching for homes today on the Wasatch Front Regional MLS for one of the Buyers I’m working with and noticed a neighborhood that had an extremely high percentage of short sales.  41% of the homes in that neighborhood are short sales.

 

It made me stop and wonder about how many short sales are in other areas of Salt Lake County.  Here are the results of that search which includes Salt Lake County homes and condos in all price ranges.

                                               

City                                                       % short sales of Active listings

Salt Lake Aves/Cap Hill                                           3.9%

Salt Lake Central City/South Salt Lake                  10.6%

Salt Lake East City/Mill Creek                                  5.3%

Salt Lake Rose Park/Glendale                                  24.4%

Holladay/Cottonwood Heights                               10.6%

Murray                                                                         9.8%

Midvale/West Sandy                                                 15.6%

East Sandy                                                                  14.5%

Draper                                                                          23.5%             

West Valley City/Kearns/Magna                             27.4%

West Jordan/South Jordan/Copperton                   24.8%

Riverton/Herriman/Bluffdale                                     31.1%

 

Salt Lake County                                                       18.6%

 

*All data taken from Wasatch Front regional Multiple Listing Service on 8/26/09 on Salt Lake County homes & condos.

 

One thing that intrigued me was the closer you get to downtown Salt Lake City, the fewer short sales there are overall.  Yes, I live downtown, but that’s not why I was so intrigued. 

 

I have a theory.  During our last housing boom in Salt Lake County, 2005-2007, the areas that the majority of the residential new construction homes and condos were built were further away from downtown Salt Lake where the vacant land exists which is on the South and West side of Salt Lake County.

 

By early 2005, the cost of new construction in Salt Lake County was much greater than the cost to buy an existing home of comparable size and location.  This was due to the escalating cost of land, building supplies and a tight labor market.  Also during this time, money was easy to borrow regardless of your credit score so there were plenty of people who could buy.

 

The cost of existing homes in those areas quickly adjusted upward as a result of the increasing cost of new construction creating instant equity for those who bought before 2005.

 

But by 2007 there was 12 months of inventory in new construction, which is primarily located in the South and West part of Salt Lake County.  Then in August 2007 our banking crisis started which led to higher credit standards for home loans and fewer low down payment loan programs.

 

Two things I think happened here are there are many people who bought later in the boom and have now lost their job or had some other hardship.  If they bought with nothing down, and most did, they are upside down on their mortgage.  Short sale! 

 

The other thing I think happened is many people had their home value increase by $50,000 or more in less than a year and took some of their equity out to improve their home, buy toys or pay off other debts. Short sale! 

 

Eventually some of the short sales sell, some owner get loan modifications and some homes go into foreclosure. 

 

There are more theories that can be drawn from the varying percentage of short sales and if you look at smaller areas, some areas are higher and some are lower.

 

This something to consider when buying Salt Lake City homes and condos.

 

If you need help with the purchase of a Salt Lake City home, condo or duplex, please contact me.  I’ve been a Salt Lake City realtor for over 10 years and the majority of my clients are buyers of Salt Lake City homes and condos.

Thanks!

Kevin Coyle

Associate Broker, MBA

Stonebrook Real Estate

Mobile: 801-243-0699

Office: 801-466-8977

Kevin@SLCHomeBuyer.com

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Posted in Kevin Coyle, Salt Lake City condos, Salt Lake City homes, Salt Lake City real estate, Salt Lake County homes and condos, Short Sales, Utah Homes | No Comments »

Business Week article (6/18/09) on Salt Lake City Real Estate and Housing Market

Sunday, July 5th, 2009

This is a reprint of the Business Week article which I contributed too.  Young Buyers June 18, 2009, 5:00PM EST

Salt Lake City: A Still-Hot Housing Market

Millennials, their baby-boomer parents, and even retirees are keeping demand—and prices—high

Salt Lake City is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the country. But unlike other booming locales, Salt Lake has a largely homegrown citizenry—locals account for 88% of population growth. “Salt Lake City has a high rate of natural increases,” says Robert E. Lang, director of urban affairs and planning at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. “It’s a big family-friendly kind of place.”

The result is that Salt Lake City has a large and expanding pool of ready home buyers: Millennials, the generation born from the early 1980s to the ’90s. Utah, where the Salt Lake environs account for the bulk of the state’s residents, is the country’s youngest state, with a median age of 28.7 years, compared with 35.3 years for the country as a whole. Raleigh, San Antonio, and Colorado Springs also have youthful populations, whereas states such as Iowa, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania are aging fast.

The Millennials, aka Generation Y, will be one of the most powerful demographic forces to enter the housing market in the years to come. By some estimates, they’re expected to account for a third of all home buyers by 2015. They’re already out in droves, taking advantage of the $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time home buyers. “A huge cohort of first-time buyers will be in the market in the next five years,” says David W. Berson, chief economist at PMI Group (PMI), a company that covers banks against borrower default.

Gen Y buyers already have helped prop up the housing market in Salt Lake City. Home prices rose 51% from 2003 through 2008, compared with a roughly 2% drop for the U.S. as a whole. The young buyers’ impact is reflected, in part, in the type of sales: The low end of the market, say local real estate agents, accounts for much of the activity, while some multimillion-dollar homes have been sitting vacant for more than a year. Many properties “weren’t available to first-time home buyers a year ago,” says Kevin Coyle of Stonebrook Real Estate in Salt Lake. “With the downturn, they can now get something they can afford.”

When Gen Yers James and Carleigh Naylor got married last October, the couple moved into a dingy basement apartment they rented from an elderly man who lived upstairs. “It wasn’t glamorous,” says 24-year-old James, who works as a cabinet maker at his father’s shop. Earlier this year the young couple decided to buy their first home, a two-bedroom, one-bath on a cul-de-sac on the south side of town. They beat out six offers with a bid of $137,000—still well below the $230,000 median home price in Salt Lake.

Like many first-time buyers, the Naylors are tapping the new government programs designed to spur home sales. Along with the tax credit, they qualified for a federally backed mortgage, which requires less money up front. And a gift from relatives covered their closing costs and down payment. Says James: “We’re hoping to use this house as a stepping stone to get us into the next house three or five years from now.”

Salt Lake City, Utah

In a state where the median age is 28.7 years, Gen Y’s first-time buyers are propping up the home market

POPULATION

1,067,722

2007 MEDIAN HOME PRICE

$238,020

2008 MEDIAN HOME PRICE

$230,000

Numbers reflect metropolitan area; Data: Fiserv

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