April! That means it is another month closer to fishing season! I usually only fish for Salmon, so round about the middle of June I start hitting it hard for King Salmon! That means in 10 weeks I will be Salmon fishing! It is good that I can fish early in the morning before anyone needs a Realtor.

Yesterday we saw that listings here in the Valley jumped up quite a bit. That is good news. The bad news is that buyers and sellers are not coming to terms as easily as they should and we still have houses priced too high and buyers wanting to give too little. In case you are believing all the media says, here in the Valley, home prices are actually up 2%. That isn't much, but it is enough to prevent this from being a buyer's market.

Another note: I have had 2 multiple offer situations in the last few weeks. If you are looking at houses in the $200,000 range and you see something that is priced well and you like it...BUY IT! It won't be there the next day. I showed 6 houses on Wednesday and by Saturday 3 of them had pended.

Another hint for first time home buyers: It is difficult to buy a house when you are looking at the top of your price range and you have no money for closing. It leaves us with no room to negotiate. Save some negotiation room. You are probably going to need it right now.

Thought of the day:

"We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."

Albert Einstein

Okay, take a peek at this link to see what we in Alaska do for fun in the dead of winter! This is a YouTube video of the 'Running of the Reindeer' in downtown Anchorage yesterday during the Fur Rondy event.

Looks like fun to me. I may have to be one of the runners next year!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MBj_L67__Y&feature=related

I try not to do a lot of work on Sundays, but I am home with a shoulder injury today so I thought I would take a little bit of time to catch up on my blog.

It has been an interesting week for me. As I continue to ponder the thoughts of the MatSu Valley being a buyer's market, I continue to find reasons I believe it wouldn't qualify as a 'true' buyer's market. At this time, our inventory is lower than this time last year. The average price of homes sold is up a bit, interests rates have come up 1 full percentage point since three weeks ago. My idea of a true buyer's market would be lower interest rates (although I feel anything under 7 is great), LOTS of inventory and prices lower than previously priced.

I think what we have here in the Valley is a 'perceived' buyer's market as the offers I am seeing are asking for many concessions from seller's and some are willing to do so. I see much lower priced offers as buyers think they can offer what they want, but I also see sellers not willing to accept these low offers. They seem to be willing to make concessions as to closing costs and things though.

It is all very interesting to me and I will continue to ponder as the market changes.

In case you are visiting the Valley, the next couple of weeks hold many wonderful events! Fur Rondy is happening RIGHT NOW. We enjoyed a beautiful, sunny, semi-warm day yesterday and were able to watch the dog pull events. It is so amazing to see these 40 pound dogs pull 920 pounds and then watch the 200 pound dogs pull nearly 2000 pounds! We saw the snow sculptures being completed and watch people from everyone enjoying the carnival and helicopter rides. What a wonderful thing in the midst of winter in Alaska.

From the Rondy comes the Iditarod. Next Saturday, the ceremonial start begins in downtown Anchorage and on Sunday the actual start of the race begins in Willow. If you get a chance to attend either starts, I highly recommend doing so. I will be in Dallas for a conference this year so will be unable to attend, but my family will be in attendance for me as we don't like to miss this event. Last year we cheered for Matt Hayashida and will do the same this year. Of course we all love Lance Mackey and will cheer him on also. If you get a change to view the DVD made from last year's race you will be in for a treat. It is so professionally done and just an amazing addition to anyone's Alaska collection. It can be purchase through the Iditarod homepage, linked above.

It is a great week to be Alaskan! Get out an enjoy some superb events, and take a peek at some great real estate. If you need some assistance, I will be glad to help.

About three weeks ago we saw interest rates hit as low as 5.3. As of Friday morning they were at 6.125. That is quite a change in just a few weeks. When the rates hit 5.3 I asked some lenders what they felt the rates would do and although they wished they could really figure it out, they thought they would not drop much more and would start increasing. Here we are today with rates almost 1 percentage higher, so their 'gut' feelings were correct. I am interested to find out what this week holds as far as interest rates.

Any predictions on the short-term and long-term interest rates? If so, leave your comments here! I would love to see what others are thinking.

Staging your home:

The first things potential buyers see is the entrance and front door of your home. The first thing you should do to attract buyers is to make the front entrance and front door appealing. Some basic landscaping (which is a little difficult to do in Alaska in the winter), some paint (most say a red door attracts customers), some new hardware, a little elbow grease, a nice mat and a plant can make all the difference as potential buyers look at your house. In today's market, buyers are looking at MANY houses before they decide on the house of their choice. Your house needs to stand out to them. So, take a little time to get that 'first impression' of your house a positive one. It will pay in the end.

Take a look back at last Tuesday Tips for my local listings. Later today I will have two separate lots of land available and will post them here. If you are looking for land in Eagle River or near Big Lake, give me a call! I may have what you are looking for! 232-7331

A beautiful Monday morning where the extreme cold temperatures have given way to warmer temps (5 above this morning) and lots of snow falling! I love it. What a nice way to start another week in Alaska. Not only are the temperatures rising, but the sun is hitting our house again! We live on the south side of a mountain and for a few weeks in the winter the sun doesn't hit our house...but NO LONGER! We have SUN!

This week I have been researching the 'days on market' information and statistics from the AK MLS. I have found it very interesting as I have taken the time to look at these numbers.

I decided to check 2007 for average DOM for Palmer and Wasilla only, for closed, pending and expired, for residential and for existing and new construction already built. Those are the parameters I seem to work with the most often, so the things I was most interested in. Hopefully you find these numbers interesting:

These are from January 1, 2007 through December 31, 2007:

These are from January 1, 2008 through today, February 11, 2008

AlaskaMLS disclaimer..."This representation is based in whole or in part on data supplied by, and to, the subscribers of Alaska Multiple Listing Service, Inc. (AK MLS, Inc.). AK MLS, Inc. does not guarantee nor is it in any way responsible for its accuracy. Data maintained by AK MLS, Inc. is for its own use and may not reflect all real estate activity in the market. "

At the Valley Board of Realtor's monthly meeting yesterday, we had the opportunity to listen to Neil Fried, Alaska's state economist. He was full of wonderful information and really fun to listen to. I found some of the information from Neil to be very helpful in learning more about real estate in the MatSu Valley. Here are a few highlights from Neil's presentation:

1. The MatSu Valley experienced its 11th year of uninterrupted economic growth.
2. Job growth slowed however in 2007, but still increased.
3. The MatSu lost 170 jobs in the construction field in 2007.
4. 56% of the folks that live in the Valley, work in the Valley...this does not include self-employed or the Federal Government.
5. Mining statewide is up.
6. Oil production is down, but those employed in Prudhoe Bay increased to 9000.
7. There are more registered vehicles in the MatSu Valley than there are PEOPLE!
8. The average home in the MatSu Valley sold for just about $228,000 last year.
9. Those who work with demographic predict the population in the MatSu will rise by 44% by the year 2020.

The overall impression I got from Neil's presentation was that our MatSu Valley economy is strong, though slower than the last 4 years. This is good news to me as I try and make heads or tails out of our nation's economy and our local real estate market.

If any of you get a chance to hear Neil, I highly recommend you doing so. He is very entertaining and so very informative. A big kudos to the Valley Board of Realtors for hosting Neil!

If there is one question I am asked regularly, if not daily, it is "Is this a buyer's or seller's market?"

If you, as a consumer or Realtor, have a definite answer one way or the other, I would be interested to hear your thoughts and why you feel this way. Alaska, and more so the MatSu Valley, seem to have their own micro-economy making it hard to determine this question for me.

What makes it a buyer or seller's market? What is your definition of these titles?

Next Wednesday I will give you my 'definition' and give you my thoughts on the market here in the Valley. Until then, I would love to get comments as to what you believe this market is today. If you live in another area, I would greatly enjoy hearing what you feel your market is and why. Just tell me where you are from, what 'title' you would give your market and the whys behind that title.

Until then...stay warm! Here in Alaska it is 20 below this morning!

Pre-Qualify!

In today's market, sellers are looking for solid, pre-qualified buyers for their homes. It only takes a short amount of time to get pre-qualified. Items you will need in order to do so are as follows:

Pay-stubs for last 30 days

W-2's & 1099's for last 2 years

Federal tax returns complete with all schedules and attachments

Bank statements for last 2 months including checking, savings, stocks, mutual funds, retirement accounts

VA Certificate of Eligibility & DD214 from eligible veterans

Address and Landlord history

There may be additional items you will need depending on the individual circumstances or the loan program being applied for.

If you have not pre-qualified here in Alaska but would like to, contact Annie Davenport at Homestate Mortgage. She is wonderful to work with! 352-4248

Because tomorrow is 'Super Tuesday' I thought I would pass on this link. My friend and fellow Realtor, Marty Van Diest has a great post about the primary and caucus and some helpful links if you are unsure who to vote for. Please check out Marty's wonderful blog at www.valleymarket.com