Homes for Sale in Utah

Accidently hit your thumb with a hammer recently? Have you ever done it twice within a few minutes. Amateur home repairs are the best chance for this to happen. But the “pounded thumb theory” is manifested when you hit the same digit repeatedly, indeed, after a while it just doesn’t hurt anymore. Hurts the first time, a lot, the fifth time - not so much. We get accustomed to the pain. For example the pain may be real, like filling the car with fuel weekly, pump shock, or more especially what the MSM reports day in and day out. There is so much negativity in the MSM that I am considering becoming a hermit. The negatives are pounded out about the war, housing, subprime mortgages, politics, President Bush, oil prices, our political leadership and general disrespect for anything good. Becoming a hermit is not the solution, but maybe I’ll stop listening to the radio and reading the news online, just long enough to stop the throbbing. And when it does stop, I’ll do what is best for me, my family, my community and my country , not influenced by what or how things are reported by the MSM.

The polling firm Zogby reports that 70% of Americans believe the MSM (main stream media) is out of touch. Duh! I attribute that to the Bill Clinton principle. That is, he has never gone away, he’s like a stalker. He is everywhere all the time, from 1990 to 2008 and beyond. After that many years we are exhausted of him. Is Bill Clinton in love with being loved by his adoring fans, or not? Hillary had to rein him in recently when she began to realize his liability to her campaign. Well the MSM is doing the same kind of thing in principle. Failure to report or comment on successes (the war), positives (the economy), truth (Bush’s policies), or any number of other complicated stories (sub prime, real estate, etc.) has made the MSM not credible to a lot of people. The media has pounded every aspect of the Bush administration for so long, like Clinton over time, we just don’t believe them or him anymore. We certainly don’t see him as popular or endearing. The MSM continues to lose subscriptions, viewers and credibility for the same reasons. Maybe they should be worrying about their own economy, what with the industries own financial crisis of lay offs,cut backs, declining advertiser revenew. Things aren’t as bad as they report it, good is reported as bad and bad is reported as any way they want, even sometimes as good. The MSM fails to do its job daily and often reports the news through the biases they hold, while failing to disclose to us what they are. How else can one explain the failure of the Seattle Times in reporting the fires set by the Enviromental Liberation Front on the street of dreams as anything but evil and an act of terrorism. Washington State and especially Seattle is as liberal as you will find anywhere in the country. So, you do the math, how will this story on a very liberal organization, E.L.F. be reported by a very liberal rag, the Seattle Times and others. Things can’t possibly be as bad as reported by the MSM. Did we not all learn very young, in the fabled story about “the boy who cried wolf” and the chicken that kept claiming “the sky is falling” that that doesn’t work in persuading others over a long time. The liberals with their biases and agenda with their willing accomplises in the MSM are today’s new fairy tale “chicken boy”. And 70% of us don’t believe in fairy tales, i.e., global warming, the economy is failing, evil is good, good is evil, etc.

The other day the Salt Lake Board of Realtors held a blood drive for the American Red Cross. As the phlebotomist began her process to draw my donation she asked, “Is now a good time to buy a home?” The answer was and is a resounding YES, without any doubt in my mind. In good, up markets or bad, down markets, a home is yours and is more than a dwelling place, especially if you plan to live there for more than a short while. You’re not renting, you’re not living in your In-Laws basement, and you own it. There are numerous tax benefits of home ownership. She and her husband are presently renters. She wanted to know how to go about looking for a home and asked what she should do next. I explained that most people in her situation do one of two things first. One, they may drive around looking for a new home in builder communities or search for an existing home in a selected neighborhood. Two, new home buyers may want to visit with a favored mortgage company to help determine what price point the home buyer may wish to shop. Either start works especially when the home buyer has a good handle on their finances and know what they are looking for.
Go shopping - Have Fun

For years, a friend of mine and I would rant about how George W. Bush was responsible for everything that went wrong, everything. The press was literally trying to create a self-fulfilling prophecy by misrepresenting economic data in as negative a way as possible. So we would blame Bush for everything, the weather, traffic congestion, airline delays, long lines at the grocery store, faulty windshield wipers. It was a running joke on which of us would come up with the most ridiculous problem we could connect to Bush.

The media pounding Bush has taken is likely the cause of the public’s continued pessimism about economic conditions even as the economy has expanded for 25 consecutive quarters.

On Tuesday, in an interview on CNBC, Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune owner Sam Zell suggested to “Squawk Box” anchor Becky Quick that many of the economic problems facing the country today are caused by fear-mongering and politicking by Democratic Presidential Candidates in a very long election cycle.

Zell attributed much of the current economic troubles to fear-mongering and politicking by the Democratic presidential contenders who get a lot of ink and airtime in the MSM.

“Obviously what we have going on is an attempt to create a self-fulfilling prophecy,” said Zell, chairman of Equity Investments Group and owner of the Chicago Cubs, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and other companies. “We have Democratic candidates who are vying with each other to describe the economic situation worse.

“The reality is that if you live on Wall Street and you’re in the credit markets the world couldn’t be worse. If you’re a farmer and you’re getting $25 for your wheat, you’re having a great time. If you’re a CEO and you’ve got a balance sheet that’s bullet-proof, you’re in a great position.” And if you are a homeowner with 53% appreciation over the last five years you are sitting pretty on a wealth builder, your house. Zell continued, “This whole thing is way out of control, way out of hand.”

Now that’s something Bush should get credit for!

The subprime market failed because many people took advantage of a good thing to create a money stream that was more on paper than real and they chose to put in their pocket instead of letting it build. With the use of the equity and appreciation of the home they soon learned the follies of second and third mortgages. I can blame much of this on greed and a misunderstanding of the purpose of home ownership. Here is what I recommend. Get a 30 year fixed mortgage and plan to make one additional payment on the mortgage annually. For example; you currently are paying $1348.94 for principle, interest, taxes and insurance, 12 times a year. Well, just make a 13th payment within those twelve months. This will convert your 30 year mortgage into a 22 year mortgage, saving you thousands of dollars over the life of the loan. Be certain to direct your bank or loan servicer what to do with the extra payment, “put it all on the principle”.This is the kind of creativity one needs to consider when buying a home not the earlier described use of creativity. This is how you build wealth overtime but it remains on paper. The joy of turning 30 years into 22 years is indescribable and is like freedom one has never experienced. Remember to avoid the second and third mortgage trap unless you have the knowledge and ability to harness the burden. Oh! one final thing, this works well in all kinds of markets up or down and allows you the freedom years ahead of time to negotiate if you must sell. You will not find yourself upside down (owing more than the home is worth). EVER!

If you have plans to sell or buy real estate in Utah, then you should read local articles from our Real Estate News section. The information is up to date and reveals what you need to know to make an informed real estate buying or selling decision. No client that ever bought a home from me has come back years later and said “I shouldn’t have done that”. Read the Blog and share your thoughts, but study the Real Estate News and do your best to understand the selling and buying processes. You and the industry will be glad you did.

There are all kinds of “snake oil” salesmen out there who offer get rich schemes for you to buy, so buyer beware. And one might have a pre-conceived notion that realtors and builders may fit into the same category, they are not. It has been my experience that when home buyers are informed, knowledgeable, and prepared they do not buy above their ability to afford the home. When they do this they will be well on their way to building stable wealth. Do you ever wonder how people can afford some of the magnificent homes you see all over the valley? It is not exclusively through sound financial decision making, or a terrific high paying salary. For our valley, it has often been move-up wealth. Not so long ago, areas like West Valley City, Sugarhouse, Holladay, Sandy and West Jordan, virtually all of Salt Lake County offered very affordable housing. One example, a home in Holladay sold for $83,000, 5 years later it sold for $156,000. Or a home in Sandy sold for $43,000 and 2 years later sold for $67,000. Final example, to make my point, a town home in West Jordan sold for $105,900 and 7 years later sold $172,900. All of these examples are authentic. Of the all the past home buyers I have helped, not one person has ever come back to me and said, “you sold me snake oil “. If you are ready to buy, simply buy. Salt Lake, Davis and Utah Counties are not anywhere near the end of “wealth building.” If you’re renting, living in your in-laws basement, or new to the area ask questions of professionals, explore your options, talk to friends, and use your imagination to consider the possibilities. And then go for it because rates are low and banks or brokers want to lend money to people with good credit .

No matter what you are hearing from the MSM about a housing crisis, there is one thing you will not hear from the doomsayers. There will always be a housing market for everyone and especially for first time homebuyers. The majority of Americans live in modest homes and these homes are generally very affordable in all kinds of housing market trends, up or down. I don’t lament a correction or adjustment, because a correction was overdue. For example, if you purchased a home in 1999 for $295,000 and it appreciated over the last seven years to $745,000 in 2006, and you can only sell it today for $698,000 - what is the downside? The appreciation was formidable. The correction was modest. The money did not come out of your pocket, it was an “on paper” correction. Back to my original thought, the market corrections typically adjust from the top end prices downward, those affected by the greatest $dollar depreciation own the most expensive homes. However, that is only to make the top end homes more affordable to a larger pool of buyers, top end homes have been and always will be small no matter what housing market trend we’re in, up or down. The largest pool of buyers goes to the people selling their modest affordable homes, and that’s a sure thing, up or down.

Weather plays a huge part in the construction of new homes. The fact is builders have to think about the weather months ahead of time. Will we have a lot of snow this winter? Impacts labor -Will we have a wet spring? - Impacts excavation - Will we have a hot summer? - Impacts how fast concrete will dry - Will we have a hard freeze winter? - Impacts foundations with deep frost lines, stucco installation, and labor - If builders only built homes in the mild months of the fall, you would have to pay maybe three times more for the home for that luxury. However, builders have developed processes to build year round. You should have confidence in the builder’s ability. The groundhog did see his shadow, spring is going to come late. But in terms of the economy there is no groundhog. No fuzzy little critter to predict a recession or where housing will be a few months from now because of the “mortgage crisis”. One must ignore the doom and gloom diatribe of the MSM and so called economist. Wrap the economy around your own situation. For example, your finances, your debt, your health, your relationships, etc. Keep your house in order and the sun will come out tomorrow.

Last year I signed a contract to advertise on KJZZ television. I did not expect to sell one house because of that television commercial. However, I expected many people to visit our website and give us their permission to contact them because of that ad (and many did). I’m sorry for interrupting your television shows, commercials dominate our viewing, thank goodness for DVR’s. I really only want market to those who want to hear our message, maybe you don’t have a housing problem. Relevant, expected, and personal messages about our communities and homes are much more interesting if you do have a housing problem. Television, radio, billboards, newspapers will never be able to serve our individual needs that way. So, if you want to be a part of an exclusive group of informed home buying and selling consumers, register with Precision Built Homes and read our Blog, be one of the first to know. If you do, I’ll do everything possible to not interrupt you on television again, especially during your favorite shows like The Office or American Idol.