What is A Real Estate Recession ?
Kalispell is a Buyers Market, the Realtors know it, the Newspapers talk about it. There are reports of sales drops for 2007 yet some say that we are somehow escaping the Real Estate Recession. There seems to be alot of debate on this subject of whether Northwest Montana Really is in a Real Estate Recession or Not.
Here is What I think. There are to many subdivisions in the Kalispell Area, there are too many new homes, the folks who buy these homes need and want jobs in the local community, they are affecting by the mortgage crisis and with so MANY homes being built, the people are not really here and financial stable enough to fill ALL this housing communities. I still have buyers ask if there is money in building homes for re-sale. I think that there is if you build one at a time and live in it 2 years for your tax deduction, get your engineered plans build the home right and live it, than sell it. Some of these developers build so many houses that the first few years are just paying off the subdivision and the housing cost and the profit comes later, to me this causes SOME corner cutting in the quality of construction.
Why are so many Subdivisions still popping up. Is it a Good Tax Base
for Flathead County. If peoples incomes are going down, and homes are sitting empty than how is that good for the local economy. My first year in real estate in Kalispell Montana, I was shown a subdivision somewhere south of Kalispell, I was told that it was a flood plain and the county let the homes go in and a couple of years into it people had to fill their basements with gravel to save the homes due to water. This is a perfect example of letting subdivisions go through that maybe should not have because of tax dollars and pressure from the Realtors.
It is a planning issue really, where does Kalispell draw the line on how many housing communities they let in over a short period of time. Obviously if you flood the market with new homes and lots for sale the price goes down, this is Economics 101. To keep a stable Flathead Valley, I feel that some of these housing communities should have been held off. Now the builders are losing money, the homes quality MAY suffer, and we are seeing a housing lull.
Had these communities not been let in so big and so fast than the overall real estate market would not be suffering as bad as it is, my opinion of course. But it is my blog and that is where you would find my opinion.
The Second Home Market, Recreational Real Estate is still strong for the most part. People still have money and Buyers still want a piece of the big sky. But these type of buyers are not looking for Suburbia Type homes, they want a "Montana Home" with trees, mountain views, water close and neighbors far.
If you have a home like this for Sale, don't sell it with a Local Realtor
they cannot Market Your Kalispell Real Estate on the Internet where the buyers are As Good as you Can. They won't take as good as pictures as you can, they won't do videos or write ups as good and they are still spending thousands upon thousands of dollars a month advertising on Billboards, in local Shiny - Glossy Magazine, in Local Newspapers, WHY ? Statistics shows that over 80% of buyers are looking for Real Estate on the Internet. If your Realtor is not marketing you effectively on the Internet, Where the Buyers Can Actually Find you,
than YOU NEED to sell your home yourself, You May just save WAY more than the commission.
Local Related Articles
Listing your Real Estate for Sale on JoeSchmo.com is not Targeted Internet Marketing and is NOT really effective in our Digital Age.
The Good News, If you Embrace Internet Marketing than you are Well ahead of your Local Realtor, most Flathead Valley Realtors to not market effectively online, one managing broker told us last week that good internet presence did not matter, and that the local MLS had so many IDX rules that you should not really have more than one website, this from one of the biggest names in the valley. If you have water property for sale in Montana, than your property needs to be on MontanaWaterProperty.com same with "Flathead Lake Frontage" on FlatheadLakeFrontage.com , and so on. These MEGA sites that market everyone is NOT doing you any good. if you embrace internet market - than your Kalispell Real Estate for Sale WILL stand out among all the other MLS listings that are getting lost in the shuffle and being, thereby forced to lower their prices.
Ten Lakes Realty - Broker Owner
Crystal L. Cox
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