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While we use both the average and median sale price when reporting
the real estate news, the Star Valley market is better understood
and tracked when using the median sale and list price. In some larger
real estate markets, where the range of sale prices can be tightly
compressed, the average sale price (the total sales dollar volume
divided by the number of sales) is a fairly good indicator. But,
in a market like Star Valley where the least expensive home for
sale in July 2006 is $69,500 and the most expensive home for sale
is $2.35 million, the average sale price becomes skewed very fast.
With the average sale price as an indicator, if the market has a
few really high-end sales ($1 to $2 million) in a given six month
period it can appear that the market has heated up. On the flipside
if the market has more low-end sales ($80 to $150k), it can appear
the market is cooling down, which isn't always the case.
By looking at the median sale price (the cost of a property that
has an equal number of sales above and below it on the price scale),
the Star Valley market can be more accurately understood. It takes
many more sales in a given price range to make the median sale price
move and therefore isn't so sensitive to the time of year or the
amount of money being spent on a property in any given six month
period.
When considering a time to sell your home our market is unique in
that we get an influx of buyers in the summer and fall. We see a
huge jump in listings in the start of summer. This makes mid to
late summer a great time to list. You will generally find less competition
and an increase in serious buyers. If you are considering selling
during this time frame you may want to start preparing your home
to sell in the spring. First impressions are extremely important
and can be a “deal maker or breaker”. Simple things
you can do to help stage your home include a fresh coat of paint
or stain on your front door. A thorough cleaning with special attention
to detail on windows, the kitchen and bathrooms all helps out tremendously.
Candles can make a home feel more inviting and aromas such as cinnamon
have been said to appeal to more people. Make sure to get rid of
any unnecessary clutter, boxes, and free up as much counter space
as possible. All of these simple tips can get you moving in the
right direction and help get your home sold! For a more specific
analysis of your home set up a free consultation with one of our
Alpine agents.
Not all real estate agents are Realtors®. Realtors are part
of the self-regulated National Association of Realtors (NAR), who
are held to a higher standard of practice. Not all Realtors are
full-time. Some work part-time, some are semi-retired, to some it
is a hobby, and a select few make it their life’s work. Choose
a Realtor who really knows the market inside and out and has the
dedication and level of expertise required to help you with what
could be the biggest financial transaction of your life.
There are many tools to help you in the most effective and profitable
sale or purchase of your home. A Comparative Market Analysis (CMA)
will evaluate past sales and current listings to ensure you are
not over- or under-pricing your property when you list it for sale.
Once your property is listed, your agent should put up a real estate
sign and brochure box (for point-of-sale contact), make a full color
brochure, advertise it weekly in the local papers, post it on the
world-wide web, have it in a locally distributed real estate magazine,
and hold an open house for other Realtors. Most importantly, however,
your Realtor needs to be a member of the local Multiple Listing
Service (MLS). If your Realtor is part of the Teton County MLS,
your property is exposed to over 450 Realtors who will be working
to find a buyer for your property.
If you really want to get your commission dollars worth out of your
Realtor, interview them and find out if they plan to or are able
to do all the above. If they cannot or are not willing to, find
someone who can. You will not only get your monies worth but you
will find the experience much more pleasant and accomplish the goal
of selling your property quickly.
Jackson Hole Real Estate & Appraisal, LLC
David E. Viehman
Editor, The Hole Report
is proud to announce that
we have been selected as the "Who's Who in Luxury Real
Estate" for Star Valley Wyoming. This means that we
can now take your property around the globe to potential buyers
by promoting your property on the #1 Luxury Real Estate Website
In The World. With the power of the most viewed real estate web
site and a network of over 1,500 affiliate offices (more
affiliates than Sotheby's and Christie's Great Estates combined),
we can handle your high-end property better than anyone in Star
Valley.
(see below) we have over 350 local businesses posted for the Alpine
area with free links. This site provides free advertising to local
vendors, and allows locals as well as non-residents alike to surf
the web for all local needs. This site is live and ready go to work
for you. For a free posting or to preview go to: www.starvalleysearchengine.com
is one of the major high-tech additions
to our Alpine office. As in Jackson, we now have every single property
owner in the Star Valley area in a central database. This includes
all owner’s names and addresses, property legal descriptions
and their physical addresses, state and county ID numbers, zoning
and tax codes and much more.
- Following the success of
our Jackson Hole daily search engine, this winter we started offering
our on-line clients a way to watch the Star Valley real estate market
on a daily basis. The search engine lets us help you keep an eye
on the real estate market so you don't have to work so hard searching
through all the different newspapers and web sites out there. With
our daily real estate search, we offer a no-pressure way for you
to find the piece of property you've been looking for. Just fill
out the on-line form at www.jhre.net/marketwatch.html once, and
you can choose to receive emails for the entire market or we'll
send you emails whenever a property that fits your criteria comes
on the market. You can select all the features that are critical
to you, such as price, size of home, acreage, beds and baths etc.,
or. The search results will give you lots of pertinent information,
such as maps showing you how to get to the property, photos, and
plenty of information about each listing.
- Any real estate
investor wishing to sell their property and reinvest the money in
other property or to "trade up" to a better property,
should consider a 1031 (like-kind, Starker, etc.) tax-deferred exchange.
Otherwise they might find themselves faced with a whopping tax bill
the next year, and the needed money to pay taxes locked up in the
investment in the new property. This can happen despite your best
intentions and split second timing of the closing, unless you strictly
follow the requirements of the IRS rules and use a "qualified"
exchange intermediary to take advantage of this tax shelter technique.
The idea is to keep all your money working for you in ever bigger,
or at least better, investments in real estate. The ultimate goal
is to keep trading up until congress reduces the capital gains tax
or, better yet, until you die owning the property and avoid the
capital gains taxes altogether.
Paul Vaughn, P.C.
Attorney at Law
The Real Estate Exchange
- In any residential
real estate transaction buyers frequently request an inspection.
For the unsuspecting seller an inspection can sometimes jeopardize
a potential sale. Every home, condo or commercial building has a
few quirks, but knowing of problems in advance that might cause
a buyer alarm can be to a sellerõs advantage, especially
if they take the time to address the repairs. Before listing your
property, have your home, condo or commercial building inspected
to avoid unwanted surprises later on. Of course as a buyer, you
should always take advantage of inspecting a property you intend
to purchase. A qualified inspector will examine a property thoroughly,
looking carefully at the workings of a structure most people take
for granted, or just overlook.
- Whenever real
property goes under contract a Commitment for Title Insurance is
ordered. This commitment gives the legal description, title vesting
of the record title holders, any liens, easements or encumbrances
affecting title to the property. Occasionally, this commitment discloses
unknown encumbrances or defects that could delay or even prevent
the closing. Such defects or problems could include:
Breaks in the ©¯chain©˜
of title which show ownership passing from one person or entity
to the next
Incorrect or incomplete legal
descriptions in deeds *Deeds, wills or trusts that contain improper
vesting or incorrect names
Defective notary acknowledgements
Easement rights held by third
parties
Lack of easements for ingress
and egress. In order to avoid a last minute scramble to cure such
defects, ask your realtor to order a Property Profile or Listing
Report which will reveal any problems well in advance of closing
and help educate potential purchasers.
Joaquin K. Hanson President,
Jackson Hole Title and Escrow Company
307-733-3153
by Jackson
Hole Real Estate & Appraisal LLC. All rights reserved. No part
of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means without explicit written permission from David E.
Viehman.
All statistics are supplied by
sources that have been deemed reliable but are not guaranteed.
All statistics quoted in this
newsletter are based on sales in 2005 compared to 2006.
This report is published and updated
twice a year. Because of our fast moving market most of the statistics
in this report are obsolete within two weeks. Therefore, you should
not rely on this report to determine the value of a property, instead
call us for a free market analysis.
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