Eileen Schreiber, ABR, EcoBroker, Flagstaff, AZ

This Really Happened - An Unexpected Buyer's Nightmare.

At at time when the ceaseless chatter of doom dominates our airwaves and senses, we Realtors have but one overriding wish - The cash buyer ready to close.

My website, www.TheFlagstaffWebsite.com, attacts buyers from all over the state and the nation. I am continually surprised at the range of visitors who send me messages and search my site.

A few weeks ago I received a phonecall from a gentleman in Tucson. He and his wife had just sold a second home. They had cash to spend - up to about One Million. Could I help them?

Are you KIDDING ME?

This wonderful couple had a strong idea of their needs and desires. They were a pleasure. So we three and the dog set about to view Flagstaff properties. Although they had provided me a list of top choices, there was a property not on their list that I knew I HAD to show them.

Their top choices were nice.. but... not "the one". As our final stop I took them to the property I had in mind. They loved it. They adored it. They furnished it on the spot, choosing which pieces they would bring and which would stay home.

With a huge smile on my face, I escorted them to my office where we wrote our cash offer. Yes, it was low - but today, a low offer for a home priced at $975,000 is welcomed with a song, dance and hallelujah, given the painfully few sales we have had in Flagstaff in that price range.

To make a long story short, the Sellers countered. Their pressing problem was that their accountant was out of town, and with the new idea of doing a 1031 exchange perking happily in their heads, the Sellers were not sure EXACTLY what they could agree upon as a bottom line.

My Buyers had three days to respond, the third day being the day the accountant returned. They wanted the house! They loved the house! And they had CASH! We all eagerly anticipated DAY THREE.

Then, the unthinkable occurred. The unimaginable. Can you guess?

Unable to find their 1031 exchange property, the Sellers took their home off the market. In a flash, the dream home of my buyers was gone.

My Buyers were literally devastated. They had not only furnished this home but they had planned the next five years of holidays with the kids and grandkids. They built the dog a new dog run and smelled the beautiful moist air around them at sunrise for years to come.

However, we have a happy ending for my Buyers. They called me to let me know that they found a great home in SANTA FE, a home that, as of our last phonecall, was still on the market during inspection period.

"The latest National Association of Realtors read on the housing sector shows an industry still in shambles, but a bright spot in Arizona.

According to the group's third-quarter report, the largest sales gain among states - 28.3 percent over the second quarter - was in Arizona. California and Nevada were close behind."

It's not easy making a decision to sell a home today. Images of the unstoppable price increases of 05 and 06 still float about in every Seller's mind, reminding them of plans once made for retirement, or in many cases, reminding them of the Home Equity Line of Credit they took out and spent, an amount that surely cannot be recouped today.

_______________________________________________________________________________

I deal with very smart and educated people. My clientele is diverse, from first time homeowners to families who now run or have built highly successful businesses. Quite a few of my clients own second homes that are more expensive than the primary home most of America can afford.

In short, my clients understand the dynamics of a deal.

My favorite conversation with these particular clients goes something like this:

"Eileen, we don't HAVE to sell our (second) home, but we would like to. We own it free and clear and understand, we are NOT desperate. So Eileen, we're not going to fire sale it. We're not going to give it away - do you understand?

(Long pause while I silently shake my head, understanding that this owner is LISTING, not SELLING his/her home, and unless I outright reject the listing, it will sit prettily and untouched for quite some time).

So Eileen, the Seller resumes, do you know of any screaming deals out there right now, maybe someone in trouble or a pre-foreclosure I can scoop up? Can you find that out for me?"

As I will keep repeating ad-naseum, the bottom line of today's sales is the bottom line. The price. Buyers want the deal and understand this is the time to get it. Sellers who want to sell need to create what LOOKS like a deal, even if it is a home priced in relation to today's comps.

The same Seller who, grunting and groaning, sells to the buyer they disdainfully call THE BOTTOMFEEDER, happily spins about and bottomfeeds to his or her content if they are buying a new one.

It's funny. It's frustrating. It's reality.

Eileen

Shooting from the Hip at 7000 feet.

Living at 7000 feet above sea level, the first question asked by all who live in lower elevations is, "So what's the market doing up there?"

The people who ask down there are, for the most part, residents of Phoenix or Tuscon, buyers or sellers who have experienced unprecedented downturns in their own real estate markets over the past two years.

Their motivation for asking comes from one of two diametricdally opposed interests. Either they own a home in Flagstaff and want to know if they can still claim the price they wanted when they thought about listing in 05 or 06, or they are interested in buying and, being smart, want to find the best, screaming deal, preferrably paying no more than one dollar more than if they could steal it.

Less often, but sometimes as an afterthought, they ask because they wonder if I am able to eek out a living in a market that has turned seasoned realtors into cashiers and bookeepers for companies that pay hourly and provide benefits.

My answer: Well, we certainly have not crashed nearly as hard as Phoenix or even Sedona! As a matter of fact, given the stats of our Russ Lyon Sotheby's Office, we haven't crashed at all. Price reductions? YES. But crash? ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Median Prices in Flagstaff for October 2008 were about 14% less than in October of 2007. However, median prices rose incrementally from September 2008.

My website - www.TheFlagstaffWebsite.com - receives visits from at least 2000 distinct individuals each month. Many of these visitors search for properties and some of them even email or call me. The most popular price range for searches and inquiries is $300,000 and below. However, scattered within this dominant price group are qualified buyers able to spend more than a million dollars on a home - in cash.

SELLERS AND BUYERS IN TODAY'S FLAGSTAFF MARKET

Today's smart seller knows what the smart buyers know: Price is everything. If you want to sell your home, it is priced for TODAY'S market, not for what you could get in 06. Homes priced well sell! How? If the home is one of the next best ones on the market, meaning the Seller has examined the comps carefully with a Realtor, knows where their house fits in terms of location, size, condition, lot size and amenities, and is priced accordingly - the phone rings! It gets shown!

Today's smart seller knows that there is no benefit to pricing high to see if someone out there will bite. Why? Homes priced high convey the message that the seller is not serious, or simply crazy. Buyers will look at every other home priced for today without considering the high priced home.

If a smart buyer is agressive enough and has a good Realtor unafraid to negotiate a screaming deal, the Buyer who views the high priced home will make an offer based on today's numbers anyway, meaning, in the Sellers mind, the Buyer will lowball. The truth is that the Buyer is simply smart.

So, what's the market like up here? While we are not experiencing the kind of sales frenzy of yesteryear, people still want to live here, and homes priced for today, sell.