According to Kalebs graphs, the average sales time for Logan Homes is steadily going up. Even though inventory is down, and home sales up, there are still a lot of homes that have been on the market for a long time that are just now selling.

October was a good month for real estate in Logan Utah, the third best month of the year to be exact. For Cache County as a whole, we broke triple digits for the number of homes sold. Home sales were up by 10% compared with last month, and up by more than 6% compared with October of last year.

From an analysis of the home sales statistics, it is obvious that a good number of the home buyers during October were first time home buyers who wanted to take advantage of the $8,000 first time buyer tax credit that was scheduled to expire at the end of the month. First time buyers generally by the smaller, less expensive Logan Homes. During the month we saw, the lowest average sold price in years, as well as the smallest average square footage per homes in over six years. 

It's still a great time to buy Logan Utah Real Estate, so contact a Cornerstone Real Estate Professional today.

Yesterday at our weekly office meeting we had representatives of Prestige Home Tending come tell us about their services. This caught me as a great idea, something that can be very valuable for people who have already relocated and are still trying to sell, as well as for people who want really cheap rent for really nice homes.

Right now there are thousands of vacant homes in Utah, especially of the more expensive variety. Vacant Homes sell slower, get more low ball offers, are more suseptible to vandalism, and can be substantially more expensive to insure. 

One solution to overcoming vacant home syndrome is to get people to live in them. With Prestige Home Tending this costs the sellers nothing, but gives them a lived in, professionally staged home, and someone to take care of it.

Here are some of the things having home tenders does:

 

• It makes the home alive.
• Saves them money on:
• Utilities
• Lawn care
• Snow shoveling
• Lower home owners insurance. A non occupied home insurance averages 6 times more than an occupied home.
• Less chance of vandalism
• Catch problems before they become a crisis, such as water line breaks or damages.
  
• Enhances curb appeal

Prestige home tending makes sure they get qualified, responsible tenders. To qualify as home tender, applicants must pass furniture checks, ensuring that their furniture is professional enough to accomplish staging purposes, as well as background checks. The home tending companies also perform random weekly checks to make sure the home is always in tip top condition and ready for home showings at a moments notice. Home tenders are employees and will move the people out if there are any problems.

The owners of Prestige Home Tending also own a moving company, Smooth Movers, and will provide moving services for the home tenders. Prestige home tending is currently available for Cache Valley Homes, Brigham City Homes, Weber County Homes, and Davis County Utah Homes.

On ActiveRain, we always here success stories about agents who see their business skyrocket because of their blogging efforts. However, the results of blogging aren't always good.

A few months back I wrote a blog post about how Cache Valley Real Estate is changing. About how it's not nearly as rural a place as it was when I visited it as a child. The Cache Valley area recently reached the 100,000 population mark, officially making it a "metro area." In this article I also talked about how there are still very rural areas in Cache Valley. I thought my article was very positive, but apparently I am the bad guy. Here is a comment I got from that post the other day:

"Mr. Alen Barker Why are you trying to destroy the farm land in Cache Valley? We already have more people hear then I or anyone else that lives out in the country wants. So I would rely appreciate it if you did not try and give me neighbors that i do not want, and push me out of business as a farmer by buying the the land that I have to have at development prices that i can not afford. You don't care about this because you have only lived here for three years and you live in Logan where you are already surrounded by houses. You don't know what it usede to be like, or the beauty that you are destroying by promoting this. It is not somthing that can be shared. My great grandpa came here in his early twenties to farm and that is what my family have been doing ever since. It breaks my heart to see the land get covered up by houses."

I guess we can't always be winners by blogging.

For the first half of the year, Cache Valley Real Estate sales were down compared with 2008. During the third quarter, they were also down, but less down. Sounds a bit like the national unemployment statistics. The third quarter is traditionally has the highest volume of real estate sales in Cache Valley.

Well during the third quarter of this year, Cache Valley Ut Home Sales were down 5.65%. 317 Cache County Homes sold compared with 336 during the same period last year. Home sales during the second quarter were down by 12.5% and during the first quarter were down 14.09%, so we are seeing improvement.

Third Quarter Cache Valley Utah Real Estate prices were also down compared with July-August of last year. The median sold price of Homes in Cache County was $166,727, down 3.63% from last years Q3 median sales price of $173,000. The average sold price of $187,075 was down 3.5% compared with last year. While the year over year Q3 comparison was down, both the median and average home prices were actually up compared with the second quarter of this year. Prices for Logan Utah Real Estate may have already bottomed out.

At approximately 5:45 this evening I started listening to an audio book 1984. From the first 5 chapters I've listened to, 1984 is about a controlling government that tries to eliminte anything that stands in the way of their power. "Big Brother" maintains this control with a constant watch on everyone. They teach youth to turn in anyone who might have opinions different from "the party" and then vaporize the offender. They even go so far as to elimate words from the dictionary and destroy true history so that they are the only source of information.

Although this book is a work of fiction, the parallels of power corruption are real, and alive in our real estate world!

At about 10:00, I checked my email and saw that my broker had forwarded this email to me from "Big Brother."

It has come to the attention of WFR that you are operating a website located at http://www.utahrealestate4sale.com that is not in compliance with the Policies and Procedures of Wasatch Front Regional Multiple Listing Service, Inc. Section 31 (e):

31. Prohibitions.

e. Use of MLS. No subscriber may use the terms “MLS”, “Multiple Listing Service”, or any similar terms,

i.               in any way that is misleading, 

ii.              in any trade name, trademark, domain name, uniform resource locator, email addresses or telephone number, unless the context clearly indicates that the use is not in connection with a multiple listing service or the advertising, marketing, and sale of real estate, and except to identify a multiple listing service as the source of listings being displayed, or the Subscriber as a subscriber to or participant in a multiple listing service,

iii.            to state, suggest, or imply that the Subscriber is or operates a multiple listing service, unless Subscriber in fact operates a multiple listing service,

iv.             to state, suggest, or imply that a multiple listing service provides services to the public, including advertising listings to the public, or that the Subscriber grants access to the public to a multiple listing service, except that Subscriber may (a) refer to the display of IDX Listings www.UtahRealEstate.com, or any replacement website, or similar websites operated by other multiple listing services, (b) state that Subscriber may include listings in a multiple listing service, (c) state that the listing will be available for advertising as an IDX Listing, and (d) otherwise identify the services Subscriber may provide as a result of Subscriber’s participation in a multiple listing service.

Okay, it might just be me, I might just be an idiot, but my understanding of the term MLS is obviously different than WFR's version of MLS. My definition of MLS is something like this:

"The database of information cooperating real estate agents use to pool their listings together for the benefit of buyers, sellers, and real estate professionals"

Now my definition of MLS Listings would be something like this:

"Real Estate listings by all cooperating local brokerages, all properties listed for sale, not just a brokerage, but excluding for sale by owner listings."

Now on my website, the reason big brother is threatening to vaporize me is because it says,

View Utah Real Estate MLS Listings

My reason for having this as the text link to my IDX search page wasn't because I was trying to mislead people into believing that I am the UTAH MLS. I was just trying to say in six words or less, "View Home, Land, and Multi Family, listings of all properties in Utah that are listed by cooperating real estate agents who post their listings on the Wasatch Front Regional Multiple Listing Service, not just the listings of Cornerstone Real Estate Professionals, but all the different brokerages, and these listings don't include For Sale by Owner property listings either."

Now Monday when I get to my office, I will change the term because as much as I hate to admit it, I rely on the MLS. If they vaporized me, my family might starve.

So why does "big brother" care so much? Why does it matter to them that I use the term "MLS Listings" on my website? Does the general public even know or use the word MLS? Do the seceretly covet MLS's and do all they can to get their mouse on one? WFR suggestests I use the term "IDX listings" instead. Regardless of what they call them, aren't they the same properties? It seems to me thats what the what the consumer wants. They just want to see online homes for sale with as much information as possible.

The answer is that MLS's feel that if we use their precious term, we are diminishing the power of it. By eliminating words from our dictionary, err marketing vocabulary, they have the power.... If they can get us to turn each other in for failing to adhere to the "MLS Policies and Procedures", then they are gaining allies that will help them maintain their iron fisted monopolistic rule.

So next time you are tempted to use the term "MLS Listings" remember, BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU. There might be hope, their might be a solution to overcome the will of Big Brother, but that answer will have to come from someone else because I'm only on chapter 5.

Summer is the busiest time for real estate sales in Cache Valley. From June 1st through the end of August 2009 home sales were almost identical to home sales numbers in 2008. The difference, is in the type of homes that sold. The average sold price for Cache Valley Homes in 2009 was down 6.28%. The median home sold price was down 4.52%. This doesn't necessarily mean that home values are down this much, what this shows us is that the lower priced homes are the ones selling. I broke home sales down into four categories typical for Cache County Homes. These are generalizations, and just categories put together by price. Homes less than $120,000, I considered Low End Homes. Homes for Sale between $120,001-and $180,000 are Starter Homes, $180,001-$250,000 are Moderate Homes, $250,000-$400,000 are classified as High End Homes, and Homes above $250,000 I classified as Luxury Homes. This year home sales of the "Low End" and "Starter Homes" were up by about 10%. Many of these home sales can be attributed to the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit. Home Sales for All other price ranges was down. Only 3% of the homes that sold during the summer were "Luxury Homes," however, nearly 12% of the active Logan Home Listings are in the Luxury Home price range. This represents a huge surplus in the Luxury inventory. Click Here if you want to see the pie charts showing the differences.

During July, Weber County Real Estate sales were down by more than 19% compared with last year, and were even down 9.47% from last month. Sales prices in Weber County was also down by 5.36% compared with July of last year. There are currently 2261 Homes for sale in Weber County Utah. Including Ogden Real Estate, North Ogden Real Estate, Roy Ut Real Estate, Pleasant View Real Estate, Farr West Real Estate, Harrisville Real Estate, Riverdale Real Estate, West Haven Real Estate, and the other communities in Weber County.

At the pace homes sold during July, Weber County has more than eight months of of active inventory.

One of the most frustrating things for potential buyers entering the home buying experience is that they can't get hold of a Realtor to show them the homes they want to see. Let's be honest, today's home shopping experience involves getting a very good idea of what you are interested in looking at by viewing online real estate listings. 

At this point in the home buying process, buyers don't usually realize the convenience and importance of using a buyers agent. One agent who will represent the buyer through the entire home buying process.

I get calls all the time from people who say they've tried talking to several different Realtors, none of who answered their phones. I'm usually pretty good about answering my phone, but occasionally I am sleeping, out of service area, or left my cell phone ringer on.

Well, at Cornerstone we have created a way to ensure that you can always get a competent, available, Logan real estate agent to show you the homes you want to see.

You simply have to call our home showing hotline number: (435) 227-5595

This number will then forward your call to the cell phones of six top quality Cornerstone Real Estate Agents. Which ever one answers fastest, and is available gets the call. I have only allowed the very best buyers agents to be in this program. These are agents that I would use myself.

This ensures that you can talk to a quality real estate agent whenever you want to for home showings in Cache Valley anywhere from Paradise to Lewiston Utah.

So, if you are a potential home buyer looking for Homes in Cache Valley, and are ready to start looking, remember you only have to make one phone call, and we will hook you up.

Real Estate sales along the Wasatch Front from Davis County to Provo appear to be on the rise. Real Estate in Ogden, Box Elder County, and Cache Valley on the other hand look like they still have some work to do. It's still a buyers market here, and looks like it will continue to be for the rest of this year.

The deceiving thing is that Real Estate in Northern Utah never really boomed, and it also never really crashed. Real Estate for the Cache Valley, Brigham City and most of the Ogden Valley markets had above average increases, and now above average decreases. The real estate market this decade has been like a giant ocean with a rippling wave effect. Here in Northern Utah, we have only had little ripples.

For July, home sales in Cache County have were at their lowest level for July since 2003. The good news is that the number of homes on the market has decreased. There are currently 833 residential homes for sale in Cache Valley. At July's home sales pace, Cache Valley has nearly nine months of real estate inventory.

For more details visit the Logan Real Estate Market Conditions Blog