Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report

Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale

On March 3, our team of local real estate experts will reveal the essential home selling secrets you'll need to get a jumpstart on preparing your home for the 2018 market. 

Dar Walden only holds the SELLER SEMINAR ONCE A YEAR!!

Learn from the #1 Real Estate Team in the state of Alaska!

Seats are limited, so register now!

Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report

Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale

On March 3, our team of local real estate experts will reveal the essential home selling secrets you'll need to get a jumpstart on preparing your home for the 2018 market. 

Dar Walden only holds the SELLER SEMINAR ONCE A YEAR!!

Learn from the #1 Real Estate Team in the state of Alaska!

Seats are limited, so register now!

Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report

Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale

On March 3, our team of local real estate experts will reveal the essential home selling secrets you'll need to get a jumpstart on preparing your home for the 2018 market. 

Dar Walden only holds the SELLER SEMINAR ONCE A YEAR!!

Learn from the #1 Real Estate Team in the state of Alaska!

Seats are limited, so register now!

Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report

Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale

If you’re thinking about selling your home, you need to make sure that you avoid these three major mistakes before you officially list your home for sale:

1. Overpricing. Often, the agent will give the homeowner a range in value of where they think the home should be priced. Many homeowners want to go above that because they think the property is worth more. However, overpricing your home will gain nothing. It will end up costing you months on the market, lead to multiple price reductions, more negotiations, and less money overall.

2. Marketing. Not all agents are created equally when it comes to marketing. Homes don’t sell themselves, contrary to popular belief. The best way to ensure a quick and profitable sale is by getting the property out there and in front of potential buyers. Last year, we sold more homes than any other agent or team in the state of Alaska. Our 574 total sales in 2017 is a much higher figure than the nine homes per year the average agent sells.

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Your home needs to be show-ready at all times.

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3. Not making the home presentable. If your home is on the market for sale, it needs to be in show-ready condition at all times. It should smell good, but not too good. What I mean here is that you want to get rid of any unpleasant or odd odors, but you don’t want to overdo it on the air freshener or candles because then the buyers will think you’re trying to hide something. You want to find a nice, happy, and fresh medium.

If you have any questions about selling a home or anything else about real estate in general, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you.

Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report

Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale

Welcome to 2018! I hope you and your family had a great holiday season and were able to spend some time with your loved ones. I apologize for being gone from my video blog for longer than normal; I had surgery and I’m hobbling around on crutches, so I’ve been out of the office.

Today, we’re going to talk a little bit about what our local market is doing.

Right now, we have 637 active listings, which is about 3.3 months of inventory. We have 200 pending properties at the moment, and that’s about a third of what’s out there. Pending properties mean that they’re under contract and haven’t been sold yet but are on the way to being sold.

We’ve had 160 expired properties over the last six months. There are really only three reasons why a property doesn’t sell and the listing expires: the condition, the pricing, and the location. Typically, location is the smaller percentage, with 98% of the reason being price and condition.

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98% of the reason why a listing expires is price and condition.

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The average sales price is a little bit higher than it was in 2016, at just under $270,000. The sellers are still getting about 99% of their last list price, as long as they’re priced appropriately.

The average days on market to be sold is 54 days, but right now in the Anchorage/Eagle River/Girdwood area, the average days on market is 123 days. Why the difference? The properties that sold in 54 days were priced appropriately and were in good condition, so buyers swept them up quickly. It’s a red flag when properties have been on the market for 123 days, usually meaning that the price and/or condition aren’t attractive to buyers. As a seller, you really control how long it takes to sell your home through those factors. 

If you are thinking of selling your home this year, now is the time to get started on it. If you’re thinking about buying, we’re going to start seeing inventory increase in February and it will be rolling pretty well by April. 

For any questions or real estate needs, feel free to give us a call. We’d love to help you.

This week we’re going to talk about selling your home in the winter.

Many people think that homes don’t sell in the winter. Surprisingly enough, you’d be amazed at the number of sales that we have in the winter.

Let’s face it—when you have to sell your home, you have to sell your home, whether it’s winter or summer. However, if you have the convenience of waiting, many people prefer to do that.

Waiting can often be a mistake. Inventories in the fall tend to drop down, and buyers have fewer choices to pick from, which can often drive the pricing up on your home that is for sale.

The other thing is that in the summertime, you typically have more showings than in the winter, but often you get a lot of what we call “looky-loos” out there shopping and half-heartedly looking around. A lot of people like to go to open houses and look at homes for remodeling purposes.

In the wintertime, you have fewer showings. However, those buyers are typically more serious. They’re not out dragging themselves through the snow because it’s fun, but because they need a home.

Do not be afraid to put your property on the market in the winter. Yes, it is slower, but property still sells.

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Do not be afraid to put your property on the market in the winter.

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If I can be of any help, please feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I’m happy to do a cursory walk around your property and give you some marketing tips. After all, now is the time to amp up your curb appeal to avoid having to do so with snow on the ground.

Have a great week!

Winter is here, and we’ve had our first official snowfall. As a homeowner, there are a few things you need to do to protect your home from damage and avoid major expenses. 

First of all, you need to remove your hoses from the hose bib. If you have the older kind of hose bib, you’ll need to put a cover on it. Newer hose bibs do not require a cover. 

Secondly, although icicles may look really cool, they are not good for your roof at all. Find out why those icicles are forming and get someone out there to remove them. Do not try to remove them yourself. Hire a professional. Icicles can cause roof damage and cost you thousands and thousands of dollars.  

Finally, caulk your windows and make sure that your doors are sealed. Caulk the baseboards and walk around the outside of your house to check for any other gaps. Get everything caulked and sealed up. If you were to add all of the cracks and crevices together, the average house has a 3x3 foot window of air coming into the home.

If you have any questions or need referrals to any professionals to help you with these maintenance items, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

There are seven reasons what fall is a great time to purchase a home. 

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If you’re thinking of purchasing a home, now is the time to do it.

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If you’re thinking of purchasing a home, now is the time to do it. If you want to start the home buying process or you have any questions about what’s happening in our Anchorage market, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d love to help you.

How can you make your home more energy-efficient now that winter is here? There are several things you can do.

One of the things I often see with sellers is them not having serviced their heating systems for sometimes as long as two, three, or even five years. By servicing your heating system, you can almost double the life of your heater. If you haven’t done that, now is the time to call a heating company to service and clean your heating system and make any necessary repairs to it. 

Most people wait until the heater breaks, and that’s usually during the first winter freeze-up. Heating companies can sometimes be backed up three or four days during this time, though, so you want to stay ahead of that. 

Another thing you can do is make sure all of your windows are caulked on the outside and inside. If you’ve got older windows that naturally leak air, you can also insulate them by putting plastic shields over them. 

Next, consider installing a programmable thermostat. Turning your thermostat down 10 to 15 degrees at night or while you’re not at home can save you about 10% on your heating bill. 

Also, don’t heat unused spaces. If you have rooms you don’t use, shut the heater down in them. That will filter the heat to other places in the house. If the heater works less, it will cost you less money. 

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The less your heater works, the less it will cost you.

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Lastly, if you have large windows that let a lot of sun in during the day, make sure those windows are open so that sunlight can heat your home naturally. 

If you have any questions about energy efficiencies in your home or you have any other real estate questions, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send us an email. I’d be happy to help you.

It’s time for another market update for the Anchorage area.

Right now we have about 1,000 properties on the market, 35% of which are already under contract. About 360 properties have buyers who have written contracts on them.

We have close to 2.9 months of inventory on hand; if no other properties went on the market today, we'd have enough housing available for roughly three months. This is a very healthy level, and is considered more of a seller’s market, though that’s not what we’re seeing in the economy today. It’s been very give-and-take: the buyer gives a little, the seller gives a little, and everyone walks away happy.

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If no other properties went on the market today, we'd have enough housing available for roughly three months.

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The average days on market of what homes sold is about 43 days, and the average days on market of what’s currently active is about 84 days. 

The discrepancy between the two figures is due to the fact that the properties that are on the market right now usually have had longer marketing times because we have many homes out there that are overpriced, or the condition of the home doesn’t warrant the price. The active days will typically always be longer than the days sold. If the property is in good condition, it’s going to sell quickly.

If you have any other questions, or you’d like to talk with me, please feel free to give me a call or send me an email. Have a great week!