Don’t Miss Out on this Great Opportunity in Our Market

Certain conditions have created a great opportunity for home sellers in our market. Here’s how you can take advantage.

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Something amazing is happening in our Eastern Idaho market right now.

If you look across the board, we only have 1.5 months of inventory, which means there is a shortage of homes available. Some price ranges are even below a one-month supply. Any time a market has an inventory of less than five months, it’s considered a seller’s market.

This lack of inventory isn’t surprising for most people, but the cool thing is that in our area, it’s still a buyer’s market above $300,000. In that range, there’s still an excess of inventory, so buyers can still get a pretty decent deal there.

"The best way to take advantage of a market is to sell a house in a seller’s market and then buy a house in a buyer’s market."

What does this mean? If you’re transacting on both the buyer and seller side in the same market conditions, it doesn’t matter if it’s a buyer’s or seller’s market. Everything is a wash. If you take a hit on one side, you can make it back up on the other side, and vice versa.

The best way to take advantage of a market is to sell a house in a seller’s market and then buy a house in a buyer’s market, and that opportunity exists right now in Bonneville, Jefferson, and Bingham counties. If you list a home that’s under $300,000, you’re listing that home in a seller’s market, which means you’ll be able to sell it quickly and for top dollar. After that, you can look in the price range above $300,000 and take advantage of the conditions there.

If this opportunity sounds like something you’d be interested in or you have any other questions about our current market, don’t hesitate to reach out to my team. We’d love to help you.

How Home Inspections Benefit Buyers and Sellers

There are many great Idaho Falls area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home,click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (208) 227-5357 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Today, we'll discuss the home inspection process. The home inspection is a crucial part of the process for both the buyer and the seller, although it is designed primarily to protect the buyer.

When you're looking at a house, you want to be able to focus on whether or not it's the right house for you. You don't want to worry about the nuts and bolts of the home. Once you have your house under contract, there will be a contingency that allows you to have an inspector examine the nuts and bolts for you.

Inspectors keep an eye out for safety concerns and things that will affect the home value. The inspector will climb up into the attic and check insulation, and look out for wiring issues as well, among other things.

It's important to choose the right inspector. Don't choose a lax inspector. We know the best inspectors in the area. You want someone thorough, but also someone who won't cause unnecessary alarm. If there is a major issue with the home, and the seller won't fix it, you do have the option to back out of the house.

From a seller's standpoint, it's important to understand that you should designate some money for inspection repairs. No house passes an inspection 100%. An inspector will find something, and it's smart to have a budget set aside. Some sellers even have an inspection ahead of time so that they can make the repairs before an offer has even been made.

The most important thing is to choose the right inspector. Listen to your real estate agent, because they will have an inspector they know and trust to work with you. If you have any questions, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

What Should You Know about Home Warranties?

There are many great Idaho Falls area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home,click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (208) 227-5357 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Hey everyone, today I am excited to talk to you about home warranties. People are always asking us questions about this topic, so today we want to clear the air.

A home warranty is from a 3rd-party company that will cover different components of your house for the first few years you own it. It's very similar to the coverage on an insurance policy, but the deductible is a little lower and the claim response is a little faster.

We recommend home warranties for all of our buyers and sellers. For sellers, you can buy a home warranty and advertise it as an incentive to buyers. If you use one of our home warranty companies, your coverage starts on the day you list your home with us, and transfers over to the buyer, who will have it for a full year. We think this  is a great option for sellers, especially if something goes wrong. In that case, you don't have to deal with the hassle of renegotiating repairs, you can simply give the home warranty company a call, and they will have someone come out and fix it for a low cost. 

Generally, a home warranty is around $400, but you can add different components to give you more coverage. If you have any specific questions about this, or any real estate questions at all, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to speaking with you!

What's the Key to Getting Your Idaho Falls Offer Accepted?

There are many great Idaho Falls area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home,click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (208) 227-5357 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Hello, and welcome to Part II of our series on multiple offers. We're very excited to share some more information with you on this topic, as we haven't seen this many multiple offer situations in years! Last time, we offered some advice to sellers on how to deal with multiple offers; now, we want to help people on the buying side of things.

A lot of buyers we're working with right now are making offers on multiple properties because the marketplace is so competitive. In order to make an effective offer, the most important thing to keep in mind is the price. How much you offer is often going to play a huge role in whether your offer is ultimately accepted. You don't want to offer more than you can afford, but you have to remember that other buyers will be submitting their best offers. 

In short, the days of making anything other than a full-price offer are over. If a seller lists at a fair market value, don't be afraid to offer a little over that if you need closing costs covered. Because buying can be complicated, it's important to work with an agent who knows market value and can help you make smart decisions when crafting an offer. 

To make the most of a multiple offer situation, you need to work with a buyer's agent you can trust and who is not afraid to tell you when a home is priced too high. If you've maxed out on price, there are other strategies we can help you with. Think about the risk sellers have to take when accepting an offer; you need to mitigate those risks up front! You need to be pre-approved by a reputable lender if you want to be taken seriously. If you get the letter after you've written the offer, your offer won't even be considered!

There are other strategies you can use to make your offer stand out from the crowd. If you would like more expert advice on how you can make the most of the buying process, give us a call or shoot us a quick email. Something as simple as writing a personal letter to the seller can make all the difference! Don't hesitate to reach out to us for more tips - we would love to hear from you!