Fox Cities Real Estate Hotline--- Bob Edwards- Appleton, WI

Through the years I've always enjoyed working with first time home buyers and in particular commendable first time buyers who take the proper steps to make the home buying process enjoyable for themselves and in turn their agent.

Not too long ago I was covering the phones when a call came in from a young man inquiring about a home which happened to ba a duplex. I gave him the pertinent information and we set up a showing to take a look on the upcoming Saturday morning. As it turned out the home required more work than he was willing to put into it and quickly ruled it out. We talked a little about his home buying goals and he did have an underlying goal, buy his first home and start investing in real estate.

I offered to do a further search for him and set him up with a Listing Cart which automatically updates daily with new listings matching his search criteria. He accepted my offer and we soon found a couple more possibilities for him; at this point I thought it would be a good time for an office consultation and go over the home buying process with him. This often seems to be where a lot of potential home buyers dig their heels in and bog down but not this one, he was anxious to do things right and jumped at the chance to learn more. I love it when when a buyer wants to learn and even more when they're willing to listen and take advice.

To make a long story short; after the consultation we were able to identify our goals, narrow the search and quickly found a home that was a solid investment for him which we closed in about three weeks. Not only was this a smooth and memorable home buying experience for both of us but two weeks later he attended a real estate investment seminar as my guest and is planning for the long term. I truely commend this first time home buyer, he has a good head on his shoulders and should be very proud of himself, I know I am.

In the Fox Cities area it's a Buyer's Market, unless you're selling and then it's a Seller's Market. What if you're doing both you ask, well....perhaps it's a wash. There's no question that of late the Real Estate Market has been volatile in many ways, a virtual roller-coaster if you will. So how do we define our present market conditions.

Lets take a look at the terms we so commonly hear and break them down. First up is BUYER'S MARKET, this simply defined means that the market has more inventory (people selling their home) than buyers, the end result of which is lower prices or also known as a soft market. Second is the SELLER'S MARKET which again simply define means there are more buyers than sellers, the end result of which is higher prices. It all boils down to supply and demand either way you look at it. So what's the answer, is this a Buyer's Market or is it a Seller's Market? We're getting closer.

As I watch the national news and listen to the reports from across the country I would have to say we're in a Buyer's Market and with that being said, I'm not from across the country I'm from Appleton, WI. so what does that mean to us? It means we need to break things down to the local market conditions. It's amazing how much the market differs from one area to another let alone one part of the country to the other and Green Bay has a much different market than the Appleton/Fox Cities area, and from there we could break it down even further to adjoining communities but for the sake of keeping this blog from turning into a book we won't.

I was just reviewing our company, Coldwell Banker- The Real Estate Group, statistics for April 2008 and our website had 278,755 visitors in that month. A year ago, April 2007, there was 231,912 visitors or an increase this year of 20.20%, an average of 8,992 visits per day. Total page views for the month was 2,051,087 or an average of 7.4 pages per visitor. With statistics like this it proves it- IT'S A SELLER'S MARKET just look at all the people wanting to buy a home! Well, wait a minute, this shows that a lot of people are looking and there's a lot of activity but does it mean there are more buyers than there are homes on the market? AHA- I knew it IT'S A BUYER'S MARKET! Well, wait a minute, remember it's all about supply and demand, a true Buyer's Market would have lower prices as a result of an excess of homes on the market. According to our local Realtors Association, Realtors Association of Northeast Wisconsin, inventory (homes on the market) is down 7% from last year. But I thought prices were lower now you might ask, my short answer is that some are and some aren't. My observation has been that home prices have reached a plateau if you will. I'm not going to sugar coat it, if someone bought a home within the last few years and are putting it on the market now the odds are very good that they won't see as much in their bottomline as sellers have been seeing. Here we go again, IT'S A BUYER'S MARKET! No, I'm still not convinced and here's why, remember early on I said perhaps it's a wash? Granted sellers in the market right now may not see the bottomline they used when they sell but they too are buyers affording stabilized home prices and low interest rates.

My conclusion is that here in the Fox Cities area it's a great time to Buy and Sell a home. As far as defining the market, call it what you will and enjoy your buying and/or selling experience.

For more information on Buying and Selling your home in the Appleton/Fox Cities area call me today: Bob Edwards (920)993-8291 Direct Hotline or email bedwards@coldwellhomes.com

Appleton, Fox Cities and surrounding areas are alive with home buyers and home sellers but there's something different about them. I don't mean different in a bad way either, far from it. I've found that both home buyers and sellers are very educated on the national real estate market conditions which in turn makes them proceed cautiously. Even though buyers an sellers may be cautious they're eager to learn more about our market to help themselves get past their fears and I'm eager to tell them.

As a Realtor working in the current real estate market conditions I really need to stay on top of things both locally and nationally. Why stay on top of national trends? Nine times out of ten when someone talks about real estate market conditions they're referring to what they've seen on TV or read in the newspapers in regards to national statistics so I need to be able to differentiate local and national to better answer questions and lend assistance.

I recently wrote a blog titled Fox Cities Resists Housing Slump in which I refer to our local market conditions here in Appleton and the Fox Cities area. Our real estate market is much stronger than most if compared nationally in respect to both the number of homes being sold and the list to sale price ratio but overall our home prices seem to have reached a plateau. To explain all of this it is very important to me to have an initial meeting with my potential buyer or seller. I want to discuss market conditions with them and find out what there expectations are and if any, what there fears are for buying or selling a home today.

I can't blame anyone who is thinking of buying a home or selling a home in Appleton or the Fox Cities area for being cautious and asking a lot of questions after all the negative news lately, but I do commend them for being eager to learn more about the true local conditions.

Knowledge is power and I love being able to help educate people about our local real estate market so when it comes time for them to buy or sell a home they're able to make informed decisions.

April Fool's day we heard the big announcement that Brett Favre was coming back for one more year, the story seemed to be picked up by newspapers and TV and spread nationwide in no time, well... it was April Fools. Then we read the official reports from Brett that he is retired and not coming back.

So today I'm driving to my office and what comes on the radio but yet another report from non-less then Brett Favre. According to the news report Brett is happy with his decision to retire BUT, if the Green Packers needed him to come back in an emergency he probably would. In the back of mind I'm wondering what does that exactly mean? You don't just retire and hang out at your house and if the phone rings jump right into an NFL game. Is Brett going to continue training? Also I'm thinking he never did officially give his resignation in writing, does this mean he will officially or unofficially stay on a reserve list?

Personally I'm adjusting to the fact that Aaron Rodgers is "our" new quarterback and I'm confident he'll do an excellent job. As for the Brett Favre reports; this has been a roller-coaster ride for all of us living here in the Fox Cities area, I guess Brett has become a part of all of our lives. Good luck to both of our quarterbacks.

With all of the negative hype in the news day after day about a nation wide housing slump, the conditions here in Appleton and the Fox Cities have actually been fairly resistant to it. There certainly has been a slow down in our area but our figures do not directly reflect the National Association of Realtors (NAR) national statistics of the existing-home sales drop of 12.8%.

According to the Realtors Association of Northeast Wisconsin Outagamie County; where my office is located, only saw a change of -1.3% last year. 2007 home sales were 1,898 while 2006 sales were 1,923. Now... I should expand on this by saying that Outagamie County is the exception to the Fox Cities market. We have three more counties in the Fox Valley who's numbers aren't quite as strong and again these statistics are from the Realtors Association of Northeast Wisconsin ; Calumet County showed a change of -9.2% (2007 sales 415, 2006 sales 457), Waupaca County with a change of -11.8% (2007 sales 491, 2006 sales 557) and Winnebago County at -11.5% (2007 sales 1,753, 2006 sales1,981). Averaged out we saw a change of -7.3% in the Fox Cities area.

Why are we so resistant to the national slow down? I don't have a quick answer for that other than the fact that people are still able to find work, they're keeping their jobs and it's great to live in The Valley.

I've heard many potential sellers say lately that this is a terrible time to put their home on the market, in my opinion, not really. What sellers need to realize is that they too are buyers and that they can take advantage of current conditions just like anyone else. From the buying point of view the inventory of existing homes is strong so there's lots to choose from and prices have plateaued or taken a bit of a dip, more buying power. That's all good for the buyer but what about the seller. It means your home might be on the market longer than it would have a couple of years ago and it might not sell for as much and remember, you're a buyer.

Assuming the potential seller didn't buy their home within the last couple of years there are certain steps they can take to better their position in the current market; First- find a real estate agent that you can connect with. Now more than ever you want an experienced professional at your side. 2- Remember, there's no "right" time to buy orsell. You don't want to try and second guess interest rates or the market, your hesitation could cost you a lot more than the potential savings of rates dropping and quite frankly the market is not going to turn around tomorrow. 3- Have a Pre-Sale Inspection, being proactive is always better than having to be reactive. If the inspector finds (and they will) trouble areas, address the issues right away. If there are things you can't take care of now at least you're aware of them and it won't be a surprise when the buyer has theirinspection done. Get replacement estimates on big ticket items that are worn out or will need to be replaced soon. 4- With warmer weather upon us, clean up the curb appeal. Many outside curb appeal projects are very simple and inexpensive; touch up the entry way paint, sweep up, pull the dead weeds, change the burned out porch light-bulb, etc. Stand out front and look at your home as if it's the first time you saw it, with the eyes of a potential buyer. 5- Pack up the clutter and move it out. Many sellers are hiring a professional stager and this is one area you want to "keep up with the Joneses". Ask your agent, she or he may be well versed in this subject and save you the expense of hiring a stager. Last- find a real estate agent that you can connect with! From here on out it's important to have professional assistance, make the most of the current local market conditions and devise a comprehensive Market Plan and set the price correctly, now's not the time to play games.

Selling your home in todays market is no slam dunk but by following a few simple steps it can be a whole lot easier, make sure you have the guidance of an experienced Real Estate Agent by your side.