Steven Keefe

The following chart shows single family homes reported as under contract to Rim Association of Realtors as of February 5, 2009. Each company is listed with the number of listings they have "in escrow"

The following chart shows single family homes reported as under contract to Rim Association of Realtors as of February 5, 2009. The percentages define what portion of each market sector are foreclosure properties.

For all of your real estate needs or questions regarding our real estate market, please don't hesitate to contact my office at 909.336.2131 or email me at steve@cbskyridge.com

The following chart shows single family home sales reported to Rim Association of Realtors for January 2009 for Lake Arrowhead.

The following chart shows the residential sales reported to the Rim Association for January 2009 by area. For all areas combined on the mountain, 41% were bank owned or REO properties. Of note is Lake Arrowhead with only 26% of the sales were properties that had been foreclosed on.

From my experience, there are many myths on both sides of the home buying and selling fence. Here are 4 untruths held by Sellers and 4 by Buyers.

Seller Myth #1: I can always reduce my price later.

Sellers frequently price their home high initially for a time period just to "test the market." What sellers need to know is that buyers shop in price brackets... if your home is in the wrong one, you will just help sell everyone elses home while yours sits there overpriced. Agents will use your home to show how much of a better value other properties are. As time goes on, you can always reduce the price later and you will have to reduce it below where you could have sold it if you would have priced it in the market.

Seller Myth #2: The first offer is never the best offer.

Some sellers believe that it is better to hold out for something better. From my experience 4 times out of 5 the first offer you get is the best you are going to see.

Seller Myth #3: Don't Respond to the Low Baller.

Some buyers in this market feel compelled to throw out a low-ball offer to see if the seller bites. The best strategy is to remove the emotion... respond to all offers in a professional and realistic manner. Many times the buyer will come up and make the deal.

Seller Myth #4: There are'nt any buyers in the marketplace.

There are absolutely buyers out there. Properties that are percieved value, or have some unique quality or amentity are the ones in our market that are moving. Transaction sides are down... particularly in the $500,000 to $1,000,000 range, but those under $500,000 and those over $1,000,000 are currently seeing a lot of activity. Sellers need to be mindful that there are fewer buyers in the market, but to say there aren't any is an overstatement.

Buyer Myth #1: You shouldn't buy before the bottom.

There is no bottom. There are many deals out there at the moment that are priced below the bottom. Your agent knows of deals that are out there that are priced in this way. If the most important part of the experience for you is buying at the bottom, those deals are out there.

Buyer Myth #2: You can't buy a home with less than 20% down and perfect credit.

The mortgage market has tightned down... rightfully so, but there are still scenarios out there where minimum down payments... in the 3.5% range are allowed that do not require perfect credit. As time goes on, the lending guidelines will loosen further. If you need information on what is available in the way of mortgage products, contact our local mortgage brokerage... Arrowhead Home Loans, Inc.

Buyer Myth #3: Sellers today are desperate:

Some are, but most aren't. Especially in our market, there are a lot of folks who have a lot of equity in their property or resources that would allow them to not be desperate. As I said before there are some opportunities to buy below the bottom of the market. This accomplished when a seller is desperate, or the property is bank owned. Your agent is the best source of this information. In our market l would suggest that a small percentage of the sellers have to sell.

Buyer Myth #4: The longer the house is on the market, the more they will negotiate.

My experience is that length on the market is not a good indicator on willingness to negotiate. In fact in some instances, it says to me exactly the opposite. There are factors that would indicate willingness to negotiate. In my opinion length of time on the market is not one of them.