"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."
"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."
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!
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!
"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."
"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."
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!
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!
"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."
"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."
