Real Estate Business - Jason Tangen's Year End Review

Originally posted at http://stcloudedina.com/blog on 12/27/08:

I am a little anxious to get started on the final tally of numbers for the St Cloud MLS in 2008. In the meantime, I am finishing up some of my own personal numbers and one stuck out as a glaring "heads-up" to any potential seller in the St Cloud MLS.

There were 13 listings last year that I lost out on to other agents or chose to not list. Most of them were because of price. My starting price was too low for what each seller needed to get in order to sell. I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but the market is going down for those of you who hadn't heard. My early estimations are that we will be down nearly 8% from last year in both median and average sales prices on the St Cloud MLS. I cannot sell your house for the same price it was worth in 2005. I'm sorry, but it just won't happen.

Out of those 13 listings, NONE HAVE SOLD! Ouch. While this is a perfect "I told you so moment," I feel truly bad for every single one of those families. Some really needed to sell their homes. I also hate losing listings (for whatever the reason), so that frustrates me too. Even if homes don't sell, they are great generators of potential buyers.

While I would like this stat to change in the new year, I cannot control the market. What I can pledge is to continue being honest with potential home sellers so that they are aware of what they need to do in order to sell their homes. That with a little pinch of a market turn will make 2009 a banner year for my real estate business.

Jason Tangen - GRI, e-PRO - Real Estate Broker Associate with Edina Realty in St Cloud MN

http://StCloudEdina.com - Home of the e-Market Analysis (Free Home Value Estimator)

http://StCloudEdina.com/blog - REAL ANSWERS for REAL ESTATE in St Cloud MN