You’re Invited to Our Annual Sub for Santa Event

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Today, we’re proud to extend an invitation to you! We’re hosting our annual Sub for Santa event on Saturday, December 5th. Every year, we hold a fundraiser for families in need in the Valley area. During the holiday season, it’s important we give back to the community. This year, we’re specifically asking for gift cards to popular stores like Target.

This tradition began with our movie events, where we’d ask attendees to bring a gift. These smaller events were so successful that we turned into a yearly celebration.

Last year, Mr. and Mrs. Claus attended with reindeer! This year, they’re returning! Refreshments will be served along with other surprises. We appreciate all of your help so far.

To RSVP to this fantastic event, follow the link: http://utahcribs.com/sub-for-santa-2015/#rsvp-form.

Additionally, if you’re interested in anything real estate related, give us a call or send us an email! Thank you. We look forward to seeing you at our Sub for Santa event!

Awaken the Force with Us this December

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Buying a Wasatch Front home? Click here for full MLS access. 

The Winter is one of the best times of the year, and I say this because we get to hold lots of client appreciation events and I get to see you guys! Not to mention ski season...

So, what we're doing this month is hosting a free movie night for our clients. We sold nearly 150 homes this year, and we could never have done it without your referrals. Putting your trust in us with those referrals means a lot to us, and this is a small way of showing our gratitude.

So, on Saturday, December 19th we'll be seeing Star Wars at 5:30 p.m. at the Gateway Megaplex Theatres. Tickets are limited, so please act fast and reserve your tickets now!

Click here to reserve your tickets! 

This is going to be an awesome event with an ever better movie. We look forward to seeing you, and may the force be with you!

How we made the home search process easy for Heather by remaining flexible

  

"Spencer was was a good Realtor to work with. He was easy to get a hold of, flexible, and willing to go out and search for houses whenever was convenient for us. In one case we got a baby sitter last minute and I sent him a text  asking if he was available to go out and search for houses and he said he was available and quickly set up all the appointments."  

How we helped Sue find the right buyer for her home

  
"We wanted the right Realtor to work with. Our home had some interesting circumstances surrounding it so we needed to find the perfect buyer. I was impressed with Spencer right off the bat, he was very professional and positive assuring us that we had a good property and even though it had some issues we would find the right buyer. He was always quick to respond, polite, and courteous. I thought he did a great job and I would highly recommend him to anyone. He gave us excellent information that allowed us to make informed decisions." 

The How-To's of Selling For Sale By Owner in Utah!

Selling your Wasatch Front home? Get a free home value report 

Buying a Wasatch Front home? Click here for full MLS access. 

Are you considering selling your home without the help of an agent? This can be tough, but we want to help. We've put together a complete "How To" list for For Sale By Owner sellers, which you can find by following this link. 

You might be wondering why your trusted real estate professionals are posting a link to do a For Sale By Owner, or a FSBO as we call them.

There are a couple reasons we want to help:
1. We educate you so that you can make an educated decision: This is our motto here at Utah Cribs. We have no problem helping you with your house, however you should choose to do it!

2. Once educated on the process, you may need assistance: You may realize that you don't have the skills or time necessary to sell by yourself. That's completely fine! We just want you to know we're always available to help should you change your mind.

In the state of Utah last year, 97.3% of all residential transactions involved an agent on at least one side. So, chances are, even when someone first attempts to sell without the help of an agent, most people are going to end up working with a professional. Again, if you want to take a look at everything you need to do in order to do a For Sale By Owner, follow this link. 

A problem we see with FSBOs is a general inability of sellers to negotiate effectively. This is especially true for appraisals: when a market appreciates like it has in Salt Lake County over the last two and a half years, we often find that getting the property appraised for the right value or having the ammunition to combat the appraiser is something FSBO sellers are incapable of. That's where real estate professionals come in to help. For instance, Utah Cribs has closed 107 transactions so far this year, and of the 63 buyer-controlled sales, a third of them had appraisal issues that we had to negotiate to save the deal.

It's simple: agents can make the home selling process go as smoothly as possible. So, if you end up deciding you don't want to take on the challenges of doing an FSBO, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We're here to help you get the best results in real estate!

Wasatch Front Real Estate Market Update

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Buying a Wasatch Front home? Click here for full MLS access. 

In the last few years we've seen some massive appreciation in Salt Lake County. In fact, over the summer, our median price reached an all-time high, as well as a record in volume of sales.

In June and July of this year, we actually sold over $500 million in real estate volume! This is everyone combined in Salt Lake City. Even before the bustling times in 2006 and 2007 we couldn't accomplish this.

Even right now our market continues to appreciate, which is great news if you're a homeowner or if you're looking to sell and capitalize on some equity. The median price for a single family residence is $285K right now, which is excellent.

We're seeing prices increase slightly, and interest rates are also creeping back up right now. This is causing a lot of buyers to have sticker shock and they're slowing down their purchasing. This will cause the market to slow and inventory will fill in a bit.

As far as the luxury market goes, we're seeing massive amounts of inventory. For homes above the $1M range, we're seeing five years of inventory being accumulated. This means if you're looking to buy in that range, now is a great time to get a good deal on a luxury home.

If you have any more questions for us, please don't hesitate to reach out. We want to help you make more educated decisions about the real estate market!

How we helped Heather find a home by being knowledgeable about the market

 

"Spencer was recommended to us by a Mortgage Broker. He was very knowledgeable about the market as well as the area. You can tell he has been in a lot of houses so he was able to make comparisons between properties. He was always very easy to schedule home tours with and was flexible with my schedule."  

How we helped Carla find the house she was looking for

 

"Mike was super great at fining us places. He was always in contact with us and had positive attitude throughout the whole process. He was honest about showing us houses and the possibilities that would come along with purchasing each house, he has great integrity. He was incredibly patient and flexible with us in showing us different types of houses to let us explore what we really wanted to buy. He is a great Realtor and I always recommend him to other people." 

Batten Down the Hatches - El Nino Is on the Way

 Selling your Wasatch Front home? Get a free home value report 

Buying a Wasatch Front home? Click here for full MLS access. 

Winter is coming. Today, I want to talk about El Nino, and how to prepare your home for a large winter. This winter is predicted to be a big one, with heavy snowfall and rough weather on the way. There are a few simple things you can do now in order to avoid major damage to your home.

Since it's already September, it's important to take care of leaves. Clean out your gutters and window wells. You don't want your gutters to become overloaded with ice, and you certainly don't want your window wells to flood.

As temperatures start to drop, make sure to shut down your sprinkler systems. You can winterize that system as well. You may even need to dismantle your system if it's above ground.

Also, be sure tune up your furnace. Change the filters and make sure everything is in working order before winter blows in.

Last winter, I saw several homes with broken pipes usually caused by an exposed water main coming in from the outside. Grab some kind of insulation to cover that pipe and prevent it from bursting.

If you have any questions or need any assistance, give us a call or send us an email. We'd be happy to help you!

Are Rising Interest Rates on the Horizon?

 Selling your Wasatch Front home? Get a free home value report 

Buying a Wasatch Front home? Click here for full MLS access. 

Today we are going to talk a little bit about interest rates here in Utah. There has been a lot of hysteria lately about what’s going on with them, and a lot of people are concerned about what’s going to happen with them and how it will affect the market as a whole.

Inevitably, interest rates are going to go up, and the increase should start within the next 30 days. What effect will this have on the market? When interest rates go up, your purchasing power will likely go down as well. We are probably not going to see interest rates hold down prices at all in Salt Lake City, as is expected to happen nationwide. Our market is just too strong for this to happen.

This is something you really should take into consideration if you’re thinking about buying. There are plenty more details I can go over in person, but if you have any questions for me, feel free to shoot us a quick email or give us a call, and we can get you pointed in the right direction. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

How our excellent communication made the buying process smooth for Matt

  
"My experience working with Spencer was great. The other agent in our transaction was kind of tough to work with and Spencer did an excellent job of communicating with someone who was difficult to communicate with. I felt like he really fought for the things that we needed." 

How we helped Lauren find a home she loves by spending extra time and effort on the home search process

 Selling your Wasatch Front home? Get a free home value report 

Buying a Wasatch Front home? Click here for full MLS access. 

"We had a great time working with Spencer. He was incredibly knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful. I really appreciated that he spent hours with us each time we went out to look at houses. His effort helped us find a great house."

How we helped Jeremy sell his house quickly

  
"We got our house sold in a pretty timely fashion. Spencer put a lot of effort into defusing negotiations with the buyer on our behalf which made things easy on us. He also spent extra time into marketing the property which helped it sell faster. We were very satisfied with our results." 

How we helped Scott by offering assistance when in another state

 "He was terrific, he found us a home and made the process very smooth. We were in California and he was here in Utah. He came out and found everything and made sure everything was in order for us to move in. Between my trips back and forth he even sent someone over to mow the lawn so that everything would be looking its best." 

How we helped Pat buy and sell multiple homes by remaining flexible

"We have worked with Spencer many times as both a buyer and seller. He helped us sell our house once and has sold us multiple homes.  He was always great about scheduling showings for us whenever it was convenient. That flexibility made him easy to work with"

How we helped Nick with his real estate transaction by assisting the moving process.

 
"Our experience was great. Spencer was able to help us out in multiple transactions. He was even willing to help us move from the house that we sold and help us hire an architect for a remodel."

How we helped Nick find a home by going above and beyond expectations

"Our results were exceptional. We looked at a home over the weekend without Peter and found a home that we really liked. We contacted him to see if we could  put an offer on the house and he responded the same day. We were so appreciated that he was willing to take the time out of his weekend to help us!"

How Has the Market Changed in the Last 90 Days

Selling your Wasatch Front home? Get a free home value report 
Buying a Wasatch Front home? Click here for full MLS access. 

Recently, we shot a video that explained what the market can do in a 90-day time period in Salt Lake County. In that video, we speculated about what the market might do between April 1 to July 1 of 2015. To do that, we used real numbers from 2013 and 2014 to see what we could expect.

In 2013, median price in that 90-day time period between April 1 and July 1 went up 12%; in 2014, median price increased by 4% in that time frame. Using those numbers, we speculated about what this year might look like and where interest rates might head. Well, now that the numbers for that 90-day period are in for 2015, we can take a look at how close the numbers are to what we thought they would be.

You might find it shocking, but from April 1, 2015, to July 1, 2015, median price for Salt Lake County went up 12.97%! At the same time, local interest rates went up by about .5%. If you were to buy a $300,000 home back in April, while putting 20% down with a loan of $240,000 and an interest rate of 3.75%, your monthly payment would have been $1,111. That same home now, only 100 days later, would almost cost you $40,000 more in purchase price, you would need to put $8,000 more down, and you would be loaning an additional $31,000. When coupled with a .5% interest rate jump, your monthly payment would be $222 more right now than you would have back in April!

We talk about these numbers because here at Utah Cribs we're educated and we know what the market is doing. Of course, no one has a crystal ball, us included - but we pay attention to the market every day so you don't have to. So, what can we expect to see in the Utah market moving forward? Stay tuned for our future videos where we'll share sound advice about the direction our market is heading!

Why Is Our Team Different?

Selling your Wasatch Front home? Get a free home value report 
Buying a Wasatch Front home? Click here for full MLS access. 

Hey everyone, welcome back to the Utah Cribs blog. Today I want to talk to you a little bit about our team, our philosophy, and why we are different.

We stand out for several reasons, but today we'd just like to focus on one. We take a very unique approach to real estate. In someone's life, buying a home is going to be one of their largest investments. Therefore, it has to be a priority, or else you'll make mistakes.

We study our market very exclusively and intensively. We pay attention to detail and notice trends in the market in order to serve you.

We do talk about new construction a lot, but at the same time we are very opinionated in regards to what kind you should buy, where you should buy it, and what its future value will be like. These are all things to take into consideration as far as large investments are concerned.

Bringing a unique skill to help you and your family become financially stable for the long term is our goal. We want to make sure you make the right purchase or the right sale, and make the transaction as easy as possible.

If you are looking to buy or sell in Utah, or know somebody who is, give us a call or send us an email. We would love to help make your next move your best move!

Property Taxes Are Approaching in Utah

Selling your Wasatch Front home? Get a free home value report 
Buying a Wasatch Front home? Click here for full MLS access. 

Between August and September you can expect to receive a property tax notice in the mail. When you do receive it, keep in mind that it's not a bill, it's just a notice. It will tell you what your property valuation is from the tax assessor.

This is important because sometimes the value given by the assessor can be off by quite a bit. The higher your home valuation is, the higher your taxes will be.

Luckily we have a system set up in order for you to protest these taxes. This way, it is much easier for you to petition for a new valuation.

If you think your home value is higher than it should be, feel free to give us a call and we will go to bat for you and contact the county assessor's office. 
 
We would be extremely happy to help you with all of your Utah real estate needs!

How to Make Smart Renovation Decisions

Selling your Wasatch Front home? Get a free home value report 
Buying a Wasatch Front home? Click here for full MLS access. 

Today's topic is one we're often asked about here at Utah Cribs: renovations.
 
Like most homeowners, you're probably wondering what you can do to increase the value of your home. Before you run out and make a huge renovation decision, we recommend you come and talk to us!

Why?

Too often, people call a contractor, pay the bid, and get started renovating, assuming they are going to increase the value of their home dollar for dollar. But that's not always the case.

It's important to put your money toward a renovation project that will get you the best bang for your buck. If you come talk to us, we'll show you the comparables, your active competition, and other stats that will help you determine what you can spend on your home, and how, in order to add value.

If you're thinking about renovating your home, give us a call or shoot us a quick email. We would love to chat or even walk through your home and share some ideas on how to save money when renovating. We're always here to help!

How we helped Kerry find a home by understanding what the customer wanted

 

"We were looking for a home, and Jake narrowed it down to what we wanted. We looked at a number of homes. He gave us good feedback, and we ended up purchasing a home. He was very good about following up with us. We were out of town, so he sent us listings that fit our criteria. When we were in town, he made himself available to show us homes. He was very good about understanding what we needed and what we wanted, and he lined up homes that fit that criteria!"

What Does Utah Cribs Do Differently?

Selling your Wasatch Front home? Get a free home value report 
Buying a Wasatch Front home? Click here for full MLS access. 

We think we're one of the best teams in the area, no question. But don't take our word for it - we think you should hear about our excellent service from someone else. Here's what some of our past clients had to say about working with us!

 "We worked with Spencer twice and found him to be an exceptional real estate agent. He's passionate about what he does and is extremely intuitive - he knows his game. He knows how to be aggressive without being offensive to people and is extremely responsive to his clients' needs!"

"Communication is really great. I recently worked with him for my in-laws and he always gets right back to me. I'll get a reply email that says he's busy and that he'll get back to me by a certain time, but I almost still hear back from him right away. At the time I was looking, there weren't a lot of homes on the market and he actually went through and talked to a bunch of people and found a home that hadn't even been put on the market yet. It didn't matter what time, whatever time worked for us worked for them!"

"Once, when I was closing on my primary home, he managed to pull off a miracle to get it sold! We had some bad luck, but he never gave up. He said, 'Let me try again, let me try again!' The guy wouldn't give up and he got the job done!"

"It was a complete success. I went through probably four other agents before I got to Spencer. He's just very professional. I was nervous at first about going out and looking at houses, but he made us feel comfortable just getting out there and doing it! He's a super good agent, especially when compared to the other ones I've dealt with. He really talked about making a financial decision instead of an emotional decision, which is where he went above and beyond to look out for our interests." 

Here at Utah Cribs, we average 27 under-contract files at a time and about 15-20 listings. That's about 15 times the average of any agent in our valley!
 
We spend most of our time with our clients, showing homes, going to listing appointments, and generally working as much as we can. In other words, we're here to work for you! We've been in business for over a decade, and in the last 5-6 years we've been nominated as one of the best teams in the entire Valley.

Our success and recognition is all because of your continuing support! We take pride in making sure every transaction we take part in is done at the highest possible level, so feel comfortable sending your friends, family, and acquaintances to work with us as well!

Conditions on the Wasatch Front are fantastic, so now is the time to reach out to an agent who will look out for your needs and interests. To contact Utah Cribs, call (801) 671-7877 or visit UtahCribs.com! We look forward to hearing from you soon!

How we helped Irene sell her house using our communication skills

 

" They sold our house! They communicated regularly, and helped with the negotiations. I think the communication was really good! "

How we helped Bryson with his real estate transactions by always being helpful

 

"They sold our condo for $5,000 more than we listed it! Then they helped us find a house, and they were very helpful throughout. Spencer Janke educated us on market trends. He was very knowledgeable. Peter was good at making sure that we were able to see a house whenever we wanted. If he couldn’t make it, he would send someone from the team to help us. It seemed like they made it a point to help us whenever we needed it! "

Why Now Is a Perfect Time to Buy a Home

Selling your Wasatch Front home? Get a free home value report 
Buying a Wasatch Front home? Click here for full MLS access. 

 
A lot of people have been asking me this question lately, and I'm going to provide you with some pretty convincing reasons why now is the time to buy a home.

Interest rates and appreciation are both reasons to buy a home now. We're seeing historically low interest rates right now, and if you invest in a decently priced home now, it could really pay off when that home appreciates and you go to sell it in 4-6 years. The thing about this investment is that you need to buy soon because interest rates will rise - and it's not a matter of when - it's a matter of how much. Where interest rates stand right now, it's very hard to think that they could possibly get any lower.

This is a golden opportunity to invest in real estate right now. I am investing in a small apartment complex right now, and I'll be clearing at least $1,000 a month, and that's a no-brainer. Also, rent prices keep rising, so this is a worthwhile investment. Rising rent prices should also be a concern for potential homeowners, because why pay someone else's mortgage every month?

My only advice is that you shouldn't wait to buy. If you need any help purchasing in Salt Lake this summer, please don't hesitate to contact me!

How Is Utah Cribs Saying Thanks to Our Great Clients?

Selling your Wasatch Front home? Get a free home value report 
Buying a Wasatch Front home? Click here for full MLS access. 

RSVP at 801-671-7877 or email at Spencer@UtahCribs.com with the number of family members you plan on taking.

Twice a year, Utah Cribs does a client appreciation event as a way to give back to our wonderful clients. Soon, we will be hosting a premier of Jurassic World at the Gateway Megaplex. The event will be on Saturday, June 13!

We do these fun events to say thanks to all of our wonderful clients, past and present, for the referrals you have sent our way. So far, 2015 has been an incredible year for Utah Cribs, and it's all thanks to you! We're only six months in so far and we're already on track to have over $40 million in production! Thank you all for the continued support!

Come enjoy a movie on us! Tickets are first come, first serve, so be sure to reach out to us if you're interested in going! As always, if you're interested in buying or selling, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, don't hesitate to give us a call. We look forward to hearing from you soon!