I™ve just sold a Resale – single family property at 3204 Doil Drive in Anchorage. Come and visit my site to see other properties in that area. If you are interested in looking for or selling your home, please Contact Me.

I™ve just sold a Resale – single family property at 3204 Doil Drive in Anchorage. Come and visit my site to see other properties in that area. If you are interested in looking for or selling your home, please Contact Me.

I™ve just sold a Resale – single family property at 6458 Barclay Court in Anchorage. Come and visit my site to see other properties in that area. If you are interested in looking for or selling your home, please Contact Me.

On September 19, 2010 at 13:00 PM, you are invited to an Open House at 19716 Big Diomede Circle in Eagle River. If you are looking for a Resale – single family property in this area, don™t miss this rare opportunity to visit this magnificent property. For a preview of this Resale – single family property, check out my site at http://www.KeyToAlaska.net. Please do not hesitate to Contact Me if you have any questions or wish to schedule a private showing.

On September 12, 2010 at 13:00 PM, you are invited to an Open House at 11014 Northfleet Drive in Anchorage. If you are looking for a Resale – condo-townhouse property in this area, don™t miss this rare opportunity to visit this magnificent property. For a preview of this Resale – condo-townhouse property, check out my site at http://www.KeyToAlaska.net. Please do not hesitate to Contact Me if you have any questions or wish to schedule a private showing.

On August 29, 2010 at 13:00 PM, you are invited to an Open House at A103 2440 Sentry Drive in Anchorage. If you are looking for a Resale – condo-townhouse property in this area, don™t miss this rare opportunity to visit this magnificent property. For a preview of this Resale – condo-townhouse property, check out my site at http://www.KeyToAlaska.net. Please do not hesitate to Contact Me if you have any questions or wish to schedule a private showing.

I™ve just sold a Duplex property at 2411 W 29th in Anchorage. Come and visit my site to see other properties in that area. If you are interested in looking for or selling your home, please Contact Me.

I™ve just sold a Town-Home property at 461 Atlantis Avenue in Anchorage. Come and visit my site to see other properties in that area. If you are interested in looking for or selling your home, please Contact Me.

Check out this new Town-Home property that I just posted on my Web site. It is at 461 Atlantis Avenue in Anchorage. This Town-Home property has 2 bedrooms and 1 baths.

Check out this new Duplex property that I just posted on my Web site. It is at 2411 W 29th in Anchorage. This Duplex property has 6 bedrooms and 4 baths.

I™ve just sold a Town-Home property at 450 Atlantis Ave in Anchorage. Come and visit my site to see other properties in that area. If you are interested in looking for or selling your home, please Contact Me.

The month of May saw an increase in the number of homes sold compared  to last month. This is typical as the real estate market tends to have  more sales in May and June, dipping slightly in July then going up in  August. However, for the past 15 years we have had an average of 258  homes sold in May, this year we only had 175 single family homes sold  in the Anchorage municipality over the multiple list system.

We have an $8000 tax credit for all homeowners who buy before 2010. This is not something that has  to be paid back unless you sell the home within 3 years.

If you are buying  a home around $200,000 using FHA financing which requires 3.5% down,  then you have to pay 7,000 in down payment plus about 7,000 in closing  costs. You can ask the seller to pay the closing costs- which is  typical in this market and price range. This means you get back ALL the money you put down on the home PLUS 1,000  dollars extra spending money! This is a steal of a deal! Now is the  time to buy and stop renting! Call me to see how easy it is to be a  home owner.

Check out this new Single-family property that I just posted on my Web site. It is at 2541 Rives Court in Anchorage. This Single-family property has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths.

Check out this new Town-Home property that I just posted on my Web site. It is at 450 Atlantis Ave in Anchorage.

I™ve just sold a Resale – single family property at 2366 St Elias Drive in Anchorage. Come and visit my site to see other properties in that area. If you are interested in looking for or selling your home, please Contact Me.

On May 03, 2009 at 13:00 PM, you are invited to an Open House at 22063 Deer Park Drive in Anchorage. If you are looking for a Single-family property in this area, don™t miss this rare opportunity to visit this magnificent property. For a preview of this Single-family property, check out my site at http://www.KeyToAlaska.net. Please do not hesitate to Contact Me if you have any questions or wish to schedule a private showing.

Check out this new Single-family property that I just posted on my Web site. It is at 22063 Deer Park Drive in Anchorage. This Single-family property has 5 bedrooms and 3 baths.

When a bank has to foreclose on a property, after they have paid the Realtor fees, attorney fees, title fees, escrow fees, any buyers closing costs, ect. they generally lose around $60,000. Plus if the owner still owed more than 20% of the value of the home they have Mortgage Insurance Premium (MIP), which covers the lender in case of default.

If an owner lists the property, can’t get enough out of the sale to pay off what is owed, they can go to their bank and ask them to accept less- this is a short-sale. The owner still has a bad credit record, and depending on what the owner works out with the bank they may have to repay the loss.

This leads to the question I would like to know: why would a bank foreclose if the owner brings an offer that allows the bank to get the property off the books several months faster and with less of a loss than a foreclosure?

Well, I am making my first offer on a home. Go figure there are 5 other offers besides mine! I just want to know if I won this bidding war or not! If its midnight and the sellers make a decision- call me! I now know why my clients deserve that late night phone call. My job will always be 24 hours. LOL

In 2008 compared to 2007 Wasilla saw 15% less active properties being marketed, 20% less properties sold, a 1% price drop in average home sale price, and for those properties that did sale, they stayed on the market for an extra 15 days- on average.

Not bad Wasilla! Now, comparing you to Anchorage we have almost the same thing:

In 2008 compared to 2007 Anchorage saw 13% less active properties being marketed, 9% less properties sold, a 2% price gain in average home sale price, and for those properties that did sale, they stayed on the market for an extra 12 days- on average.
I would say Wasilla and Anchorage are neck in neck in property value retention.

In 2007 the vacancy rate in Anchorage was 8%, in 2008 we only had 4.7%. AHFC says retal demand increases when demand for owner-occupied housing falls. Makes sense to me. So if your a seller thinking, why is my home not selling, consider asking the guy renting next door why she is not buying. This is not good for sellers, but owners renting- you got an increase in median adjusted rent by 6%. If you have a single-family home you want to rent, the apartment down the road might not- thier vacancy rate went down faster than single-family. Maybe this has to do with single-family homeowners charging renters for the utilities on top of the rent? Guess the future home owners waiting for a better economic forecast are waiting for better gas prices too- that might explain the 3.8% drop in single-family rentals in Anchorage.

The average rent in the Municipality of Anchorage was 1,022 per month. Owners paid for heat in 81% of those surveyed, 27% paid for electricity, 55% for water, 96% for sewer, 96% for garbage, and 82% for snow.

Wondering what the rentals rent for? For apartment rentals, according to AHFC, which adjust these prices for cost of utilities (so if your an owner and want to charge the renter for gas, subtract the average cost to the following numbers):
0 Bedrooms average $759
1 Bedroom averages $912
2 Bedroom averages $1104
3 Bedroom averages $1130

The following statistics are for single family homes:
0 Bedroom averages $ 813
1 Bedroom averages $ 1,119
2 Bedroom averages $ 1,558
3 Bedroom averages $ 1,910

Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. “Alaska Housing Market Indicators”. AHFC
<http://www.ahfc.state.ak.us/iceimages/grants/2008_rental_market.pdf>

Within the last year (3/10/08 to 3/10/09), there have been 5,483 sold condo’s and residential homes inside the Anchorage Municipality (According to the MLS). 24% or 1299 were sold using FHA financing, 41% or 2226 were sold using Conventional financing, 17% or 919 were sold using VA financing, 7% or 373 homes were sold using cash, 1% or 77 were sold using owner financing. The rest were either not identified or to small to mention.

So what does this mean to a seller? Considering the current economic situation it means a lot: If FHA and conventional financing institutions do not reduce their interest rates to fall in line with what they are borrowing from the federal government, it could be the difference between your home selling or not and even holding its value. Also, if you have a condo that is not FHA approved you have reduced your buyer pool (those that can afford and are looking for a home like yours) by at least 24%. Call us, there may be a way to get your condo approved for FHA financing- especially if you do not plan to sell within the next few months.

What does it mean for a buyer? Your most likely to use conventional or FHA financing, and for FHA you’re home choices are limited (some do not qualify for that financing type). If you plan to buy a home that requires lots of repairs and the seller cannot afford to make them, FHA offers a ‘streamline’ or ’203k’ loan that allows you to use financed cash after you buy to make those repairs.

Depending on your homes price range, you could be in a buyers market or a sellers market.
To determine what your market condition is, I take the current amount of homes on the market and divide that by the number sold within one month. If a particular price range has less than 3 months worth of homes on the market then you are in a sellers market. If your home has above 6 months you are in a buyers market. In between and you are in neither buyers or sellers market- a flat market so to speak.
So, what does your price range qualify as?
If your home is going to be priced within the following range you are in a sellers market: Above $200,000 and below 299,999. Your home should sell within 3 months of being on the market. If it has not, then consider lowering the price, fixing it up, or taking it off the market.
If your home is going to be priced within the following range you are in a buyers market: above $500,000. The anchorage area currently has more homes in this price range than it can handle- more than 6 month supply. That doesnt mean if your home is not priced right and with all the ‘fix-it’ items done it wont sell fast. We do free market analysis and listing presentation.
For those priced in a range not mentioned, you are in neither a sellers or buyers market. Enjoy the ride. Hopefully it wont last long.

In February we saw an average of 775 active homes on the market. Thats down from the last two years (08′ we had 955 & 07′ we had 881). The average number of homes actively marketed by real estate practionar’s in February for the past 10 years have been 672.

In February 2008 we saw 167 homes sold. This year in 2009 we saw 128 homes sold. We have not seen so few homes sold in February since 1997. In fact, for the past 10 years we have had an average of 174 homes sold. That is a 23% drop in home sales.

Welcome to Patti Higgins’s Blog! This blog will provide you with valuable information, tips, and general insight into the real estate market in Anchorage.