January tied for the single lowest monthly home sales in the last decade. There were just 39 residential homes that sold in Cache County during January, the same as January of 2010.

The good news is that despite the low home sales numbers, real estate inventory is lower than it was last month. Right now Cache County has 570 homes for sale. This is six less than at this time a month ago. However, this is the time of year where we usually see an increase in new listings as people begin preparing their homes for spring selling.

February appears as if it will be better for home sales. Right now there are 112 under contract homes. If half of these properties close during February, we will see nearly 65 home sales for the month.

Home prices continue to drop. During January the homes that sold had an average sales price of just $69.64 per square foot. This is the lowest per foot price since 2005.

While 2012 started out slow for Logan Utah Real Estate sales, I fully expect 2012 to be a better year for the Cache Valley Real Estate market.

via Logan Utah Real Estate Market Conditions: Rough Start for 2012 Logan Real Estate.

• “How Does Your Home Compare to Others on the Market?“;
• “Housing at Forefront of Concerns With Presidential Election“;
• “Why Buy a Home Now?“;
• “Relying On Your Agent“;
• Homes and New Babies:
• “Top 10 Tips for Sellers“;

There is some good information. I particularly like the first article about comparing your home with other properties on the market. When it comes to selling real estate, this is one of the most important things to consider. To a potential buyer, it doesn’t matter what similar homes have sold for in the past. What matters is how your home compares in price and quality to the other houses that they could potentially buy.

Cornerstone Real Estate ‘s Real Estate Update.

via Logan Utah Real Estate Market Conditions.

While real estate inventory is down, so are home prices. During November the average sales price was just $157,299 with a median at $149,650. The list price of the Cache County homes for sale has also declined substantially. The current median price of homes for sale in Cache Valley is $172,900.

The Average price per square foot of Cache County Homes has dropped to $72.4 per square foot.

Home sales during November were better than November of last year. In total, 66 residential homes sold, up 18.18 percent from last year. There are 110 homes currently under contract. A good December could make 2011 home sales stronger than 2010, despite the slow start.

via Logan Utah Real Estate Market Conditions: Logan Inventory, and Home Prices are Down.

at the height of the real estate boom for Cache Valley when homes prices were rapidly appreciating. It is typical for real estate inventory to decline during the fall and winter months, but inventory hasn’t been this low in years. This is great news for people who currently own Logan Real Estateand is a sign that home values should start stabilizing.

As you can see in the chart below, while inventory at the front of the year was at its highest January level ever, it is now well below November levels at any time during the last four years.

While the reduced real estate inventory in Cache County is good news for homeowners, overall home sales also continue improving.

During October, 78 residential homes sold. This is a 42% increase from October of a year ago. This is the fifth straight month where we have seen a year over year increase in home sales. It actually appears that annual home sales will actually be better this year than they were last year.

If these signs towards recovery continue, the current low home prices combined with the all time low mortgage interest rates might make right now the best time to buy ever. Chances are that home prices will continue to drop throughout the winter, home price trends always lag behind sales. But if inventory remains low and demand continues to increase, we will see stable if not rising prices by the latter half of 2012.

via Logan Utah Real Estate Market Conditions: Logan Real Estate Inventory at Lowest Level Since April of 2008.

If you are thinking about buying real estate in Logan Utah or the surrounding areas, now is the time to get started. Start by simply visiting our website and viewing all the available homes for sale in Cache Valley.

Growth is going to happen and it’s something we’re going to have to deal with. One recent building in the works is a big project that is in the process of being approved for construction on 10th North near the University. This potential condominium complex would be about 10 stories high, and would be the largest structure in Logan. There has been some opposition to it, but there are also many valid reasons why structures like this is what the valley will need to sustain the future growth. Here are some thoughts that Mark Lunt of Catalyst Property Management has to say about the 10th North project, and the potential Tenth North Condo Tower:

Cache Valley is an awesome place to live. It is beautiful and the weather is really nice during our month of spring, summer, and our one month of fall. However, our winters aren’t exactly the most enjoyable, unless you’ve recently moved from Nunavut. With cold comes potential danger to homes, especially if they are vacant.

A few years ago I showed a vacant house in Providence; it was really cold, and we could actually see our breath inside the house. As we walked into the bathroom, we realized that the water in the toilet was FROZEN!  I called the listing agent, and notified them that their listing had a frozen toilet. I’m not sure if the heat was supposed to be on in the house, or if the place was improperly winterized or what went wrong. Because the toilet was frozen, I’m sure the pipes were as well. When water in pipes freeze they expand, and usually break. I am uncertain of what damage was actually done, but am sure glad I didn’t have to deal with it.

Winterization for Vacant Homes

If you own a house that is vacant you want to make sure that the utilities are still on, or that the house is properly and professionally winterized.

To help create a more inviting atmosphere for potential buyers, I recommend keeping your utilities on. A potential buyer wants to have that “warm feeling” about a home. It’s really hard to feel warm, when your teeth are chattering. In addition, if a potential buyer likes your house enough to make an offer on it, they will want to complete home inspections where they will need the water, gas, and electricity to be on so they can make sure the house works properly. You don’t have to have your heater on at comfortable temperatures, but you do need to make sure it is warm enough to prevent pipes from freezing.

If you want your house to sell during the winter you absolutely must keep the electricity on. Think about it, when our potential buyers going to look at homes? Usually after work, during the evenings. What time does it get dark during the winter months…..? It’s really hard to sufficiently look at homes for sale with a flashlight.

Winterization For All Homes

For those that are still living in their homes, here are a couple winterization tips I have learned the hard way. Trust me, it’s better to be cautious and pay up front, than be sorry and pay for the consequences later.

1. Have your sprinklers blown out. This may cost you $25-$50, but it is far less expensive, and less of a hastle than having to repair your sprinklers in the spring. Twice, when I haven’t had my sprinklers blown out I have had to pay repair costs more than $100.

2. Remove Your Hoses, and Drain Your House Faucets. In most newer houses you can actually shut off just the water that goes to the outside house faucets. Turn off the water there, then drain out all remaining water. This seems simple, and is free but just might save you  a lot of money. Last spring I had the unfortunate experience of having Alpine Cleaning and Restoration make a midnight visit to my house to clean up all the water that had drained from my cracked hose bib. The bill for this was nearly $1,000.

You may have been lucky in the past, you may have never had problems with pipes freezing from the cold Cache Valley winters, but after my experiences, I would highly recommend winterizing your home. Be glad that you did; don’t wish that you had.

October looks like it will also be a fairly strong month for home sales. There are 141 homes under contract right now, last year at this time there were just 99. At last months sales pace, we have just over 8 months of active inventory. This is slightly higher than a balanced market, but compared with what we have seen, this is something to be optimistic about.

The amount of real estate inventory is also down, and HOME PRICES ARE UP. That’s right the median and average list price of homes for sale in Cache County Utah is higher than it has been in months. The median list price rose $4,000 to $179,000, while the average list price increased from $218,135 to $223434. Sales prices last month were also up. The average sold price last month was $182,833 while the median sales price was $168,000. August of 2010 was the last time home prices were that high.

Things could change over the winter, but with the way things are looking, it appears as if the Logan Real Estate market has bottomed out and we are near recovery. Real estate inventory is declining, and with 30 year mortgage interest rates hovering around 4%, this could be the best time EVER for buying Cache Valley Real Estate.

via Logan Utah Real Estate Market Conditions: October 2011.

I purchased a $12, do it your self radon test kit from Lowes, followed the instructions, and set it up in a basement bedroom about 2 feet off the ground.

Two days later I went back to the house, put the little radon test kit in the postage bag provided, and mailed it off to the lab address in Carrolton Texas. Being that I needed the results quickly before my due diligence deadline, I paid an extra $10 for “expedited processing” and paid about $5.50 for priority mail so it would get their faster. It worked. On friday I got the results telling me that my potential house had some fairly high radon levels 6.5 pCi/L. The EPA recommends having a radon mitigation system installed anytime the level is above 4.0. The average US home has radon levels at 1.3 pCi/L.

When I told my wife about the high radon levels, she was really concerned. She didn’t know much about radon but had great fears that our children would be among the 21,000 Americans who die each year from lung cancer caused by radon, if we bought the house. In reality, the risk of getting lung cancer from radon gas is higher than normal, but it is still not a high probability. Nevertheless, we don’t even want to risk higher than average probability for our family.

The nice things about radon gas, is that it can be reduced through mitigation efforts.

Sometimes the “do it yourself” radon test kits aren’t completely accurate. After all, they are delivered by mail to some out of state location. So I decided that I would want an additional test done to verify that my radon levels really were high before asking the seller to pay around $1,500 for a radon mitigation system. So I called Ben from Radon Check and had him come out with his super high tech radon tester. This advanced tester provides detailed reports that show the different fluctuations in the radon levels based on the time of day.

After this test was completed it was confirmed that indeed our Radon levels were high.

The house in Smithfield we are buying is a new construction house that is owned by the builder. If we were to back out of the house based on the radon levels, there is a good chance that the next potential buyers would do the same. For this reason, it was the builders best interest to pay for the radon mitigation system — which they did.

If you’re buying a home in Utah that has a basement, check it for radon. It’ll cost a few bucks, but it’s well worth it for the peace of mind that comes from knowing that your house isn’t contributing to your families probability of cancer.

If you need a radon test, and or a Radon Mitigation system call Radon Check. They know what they are doing. (435) 764-8951

One problem that many potential home buyers have is that they can’t qualify for a home loan because their credit score isn’t high enough, or they don’t have credit established.

The good news is that mortgage interest rates will probably remain low for at least another year. The other good news is that credit scores can be improved, you just have to know what to do.

At our office meeting today we were visited by Credit Aid of Cache Valley. They specialize in helping people improve their credit scores so they can qualify for things like home loans, car loans, or even satellite TV. They have an online presence where they can utilize their services to help people improve their credit scores, as well as a physical storefront right here in Logan.

Some of the things they do include:

• Help them get their free credit reports. Also available at AnnualCreditReport.com
• Help people dispute credit issues
• Help people establish credit, they work with credit unions and such that have very affordable ways to get credit established

Understanding Your Credit Score

To improve your credit, the first thing you need to do is understand how your Credit Score is calculated.

35% of your credit score is Payment History. Companies offering financing want to make sure you have a history of making your payments. If companies don’t report payments you made, or don’t report them properly your credit score could be adversely affected.

Missed payments will stay on your credit score for 7 to 10 years.

30% – Debt to Limit Ratios – Financial companies don’t want you to have a high level of debt, or more debt than you can handle. Don’t have a credit card maxed out. Raise your limits, or even better pay down your debt so that no more than 30% of your cards limit is used. 10% or less is best. If you raise your limit, don’t use it. Have some discipline. This same principle applies with home equity lines of credit and other revolving credit lines.

With credit cards you can call and ask to have interest rates lowered and credit limits changed.

Empty credit cards that are never used also aren’t good. Try to use each credit card or line of credit once a quarter. This shows the credit bureaus that you know how manage your money.

15% Age of Credit lines. The older the better. This shows the credit bureaus that you have been responsible over the years. Don’t cancel an old credit card.

10% – Types of Credit. Credit bureaus like to see a little bit of everything. They want to see revolving debt, instalment debt, mortgage debt, unsecured loans, as well as secured loans for a really high credit score. Paying for everything with cash isn’t necessarily good when you’re trying to get I high credit rating.

Car loans and Home loans actually pull a different score. Car loans will pull and ‘Advantage Score’ whereas home loans will pull the ‘True Fico Score’

10% – Credit Inquiries – The credit bureaus don’t like to see that people are seeking credit regularly. These queries only count when you you personally apply for credit. If shopping, and comparing loans do them all at the same time, that way they will only act as one inquiry rather than multiple queries. Credit inquiries last for 2 years on your credit report.

Building Credit

If you don’t have any credit you need to borrow money in some way or form to establish credit. The tricky thing is that its hard to borrow when you don’t already have credit.

Local banks offer a ‘secured’ credit card limit that establishes credit. People pay for the security by depositing a certain amount of money, then the bank issues a credit card. These banks will immediately report the repayment to the credit bureaus so that the person can establish some credit services. America First Credit Union, Wells Fargo, and USU Charter Credit Union all offer these services. These are a great way to establish some credit at very limited cost. There is still interest charged, but it is usually lower than an unsecured credit card.

Credit Repair of Cache Valley offers solutions to help people improve their credit scores. They will write letters to the credit bureaus for you to dispute any falsely reported debts. Every envelope they send is hand written. They will also provide education for you that will help you to raise your credit scores.

Most people see improvements within 60 days. Substantial improvement can be seen at four months.

If you are someone who wants to buy, but doesn’t have a strong credit score, Credit Repair of Cache Valley may be able to help you fulfill your dreams.