A recent forecast for 10 housing markets that are poised for the biggest price recovery was given by HousingZone.com, where St George Utah Real Estate ranked #6.  This is pretty significant given the current depressed nature of our economy to predicting any cities for significant price recovery, let alone go on the record for something like this.

However, the thing that makes me, Brian Habel, a St George Realtor, really want to rave how this very likely is true of St George Utah, is the fact that there are many factors, many dealing with location, location, location that ressonate.  These factors are:

1. The caliber of people that are led to migrate to Saint George Utah.
2. The unique location being centralized in the wesstern united states, between the north and south and western areas.
3. The weather.
4. The unique land features and geology situated in the high desert.
5. Annual events bringing an influx of good people combined with good cultural experiences when they are here.

OK, this is the first time I've really thought about this, and I believe the first time you'll get this kind of synopsis anywhere in print, so to read up on how these ingredients combine in a synergistic fashion you can read the rest at my website under St George Utah Area Attractiveness.

I decided to update people on what is making me more successful in my real estate career.  Why do I say update?  Well, because first it sounds exciting and because let's face it, both our world and our real estate is fast paced and MOVING.  So update is correct, because if you quit moving, which would be my first response to too much to do, which is what I now generalize to you, you can become paralyzed.  If you let this happen, your cooked, your fried and it taint medium rare done folks- your well done!   Well, health, that is another subject, but not all together far removed, as I will show you in number 3.  OK, what is in the line up of how to stay on top of it all?

#1- Read or glean the summary from a book titled "The Paradox of Choice, Why More is Less", by Barry Schwartz.  Assess your own decision making based on the first five conclusions given in this book and at this link.  Basically, you need to really evaluate how your "more" will equate to less if you do not get a handle on what you allow or filter in and out of your systems and business.  He discuses becoming more of a "satisfycer", without needing to always reign in ALL the options before making decisions- called "maximizing".  This learning principle, "satisfycer" also generalizes to how you get others to sign up with you and to have anything to do with you, as a skill set to build, one can look for the right others (talked about in #2 resources) to help leverage your business.  Your approach becomes more streamlined and engaged toward commitments you make to yourself and others.

#2- Figure out your ideal day and how to get there A to Z.  I realize that from A to Z, I just jumped to Z, so I'll share more on how you get there.  First, it is to go and implement your ideal day by cutting out all the other menial tasks that you seemingly do now have to perform.  You do this through leveraging and the best consulting resource on this is the book "Shift" by Gary Keller with Dave Jenks and Jay Papasan.  I just attended a seminar with Dave Jenks called "The Path to Leverage" and it was the awesomest A to Z overview I have ever attended about how to get serious.  As part of this another book was talked about.  But first, when people look at "time blocking", if I can use that for the pat answer about how to prioritize in action, they often do not evaluate where they are now properly, in reference to where they will want to go.  A system is something you set up, it takes time.  But lets face it we do not have that much time- more to follow.  So, too the best thing you can single your eye in on, is what does your ideal day look like, what activities are you doing.  Man, that is way different than my reality. 

So, the challenge is how to get there from here, NOT so much that I'm not doing it currently.  Yes, part of this will be in becoming more focused on the vision and path in terms of the time blocks for an ideal day.  However, getting there requires an Elephant, not just a rider of that Elephant.  That's right folks, going from A to Z requires something monumental, and that is moving YOU [as the Elephant that is] besides a well planned out day/system.  It requires change and the best book on it right now, and if you don't believe me, go check: "Switch, How to Change Things When Change is Hard", by Chip Heath & Dan Heath.  Amazon 2007's #2 Business Book, 25 months on the BusinessWeek Bestsellers List.  Also, you will note, as I did with Dave Jenks, as he only told me a few words after I went up at the end of the meeting and it entails as what I'm still working on, that if you leverage, not only will you be working with new and better people to help you get what you want, but it also requires refining your own skill set as well as the appropriate discipline to do that skill set, to put in that time block of where you need "the Less to do More".  Combining these concepts thus far, and if you want to go "catch it", it is as it says in the book Shift named above, on the chapter "Tactic #3 Do More with Less - Leverage", page 37, they say: 

 "Change and the speed of change always put pressure on you to do things better and yet more cost-effectively.  Even worse, a swift shift can unexpectedly find you doing less and doing it less efficiently.  It's in that moment you suddenly grasp the true challenge of a shift--to do more with less."

#3- Changing the "Junky" Brain of Today.  Have you ever just swallowed medicine or something you knew that was good for you and by doing it repetitively you build up a tolerance to that thing and indeed end up really tolerating and sometimes liking that substance.  Well, once we get it into our stomach, we don't taste it, and is what we normally adapt ourselves to with our health, do we not?  There are too many things we "ingest" that we just do not understand, that just because it tastes good, does not mean it is good for us.  This is a NEW CONCEPT of how a Fast Paced food society can "put one over on us"- perhaps those driven by profit, not your real welfare.  In fact, most health nuts speak of foods that are very delicious to them that are NOT bad for them.  In like manner, has one been put over on you, that is, do you crave these bad foods ONLY because you are "hooked", that the actual food has something in it that is brain and chemically addictive and not as "like-able" as you might say, if you were "off of it". 

Both the accumulation of unhealthy foods and screwed up thinking processes facilitated today by our "fast food" and "quick fix" society, lead us to have unhealthy brains- FACT.  This, believe it or not, sets us up to be compulsive, addictive and stuck in repetitive negative patterns of behavior, that if an actual brain scan was performed of your brain, it might reveal deficits in certain sections of the brain.  Hold out for a second the hypothesis that, a full on nutritional approach to healing different sections of our affected brains, are actually widely available through simple quizzes that are able to pinpoint areas of weakness that need strengthened.  Don't worry, no brain scan needed here.  Dr. Daniel G. Amen, M.D. has been on the New York Best Seller list as well as many public television stations queuing people into the fact of "Change Your Brain, Change Your Life".  This is the actual name of a CD series I checked out of the library that is near phenomenal.  Many of the tools available online free, as deduced from those CD series, simple quizzes and steps to utilize helping you to ascertain with some reliable reality, the basis of your brain breakdown, where you need to address healing with specific herbs and drugs if it is of a more damaged nature, whereby you can regain your joy in life. 

I have a Masters of Arts in Counseling Psychology and let me make a plug for it right now and use an example to get you thinking toward your own possibility of application in this area.  During one of my final classes during graduate school oriented around how to apply theory in the field, the teacher said something very wise.  She mentioned how it was the case, in treating adolescents for problems, that they became completely baffled by the nature of drugs to present such a different set of problems with them on drugs vs. with them not on drugs.  It was learend through sad experience, that in order to not waste precious time treating the WRONG conditions, it became their aim first and foremost to get them OFF the drugs first.  Then they would begin treating the right symptoms and right problems. 

I submit, that for many of us Realtors, nutrition... AND YES exercise MUST FIRST be addressed OR the brain health.  Resistance training beats running for me because it is a whole body workout designed to target lean muscle development that becomes the more massive generators brought online that burn way more fat while not working out, then when they do.  Plus, I do not get burnt out or bored the first few times.  Regarding then addressing you getting your heart rate up or muscles into action- are you listening you old couch potato?... that knows deep down inside this very second, upon reading this, that you are going to have to get up off of it.  And eat more healthy.  Yes, it requires a huge effort and you may have to resort first to doing a clearin house of all bad foods to eliminate those unwarranted "junky foods" from your pantries.  Only then will you start to see some REAL changes, precisely because it will start to change your brain as well.  For instance, a startling analogy Dr. Amen uses is that of a chicken.  Did you know that the bigger the body by way of fat, the smaller the brain?  The smaller the body, as in fitness or lean wise, the BIGGER the BRAIN.  A healthy brain is to have a healthy body or it has a VERY high correlation in actual brain scans and the Doctor Amen would know- he's done thousands of them.  Thus my bold statement toward actually exercising, finally. 

That is my story, here at St George Utah Real Estate.  That is my peace to you.  3 steps to success involving some things that I'm only beginning on, but will form my blue print on many levels and in different ways, things that will work with the wind to make me successful- with Gods speed and blessing if I might get it.  Now, it is up to you folks too, to go and do with me.  Read, study and ponder, but keep your wood chopped while you do it and the best of luck to you to whom I hope it helps.  It truly inspires me to this day and I pass it on, hoping it will help someone else.  It ended up being a little longer here than I wanted, but if somebody incorporates just part, it will have been worth it. 

In this information age, it will become more and more imperative how... JUST IT IS, that we ALL will need to learn how to do more with less and do less of the more or if I can coin the phrase here- Make the Least of More Choices (cut back on the things and choices/options in areas that are not as important).

Recently I teamed up with a professional short sale intermediary company that does have the newly required in-house licensed Realtor (non-competing), to discuss my own personal ethics regarding how much I as a Realtor like to encourage people towards a short sale or not.  I know there are several view points on how difficult short sales are or can be.  But most of these view points are rightly focused on the need or genuine hardship situation the distressed property owner presents to us. 

My aim is to discuss here, not the assumption of a short sale as imminent, but the personal ethical and moral battle each distressed home owner may or may not go through leading up to a possible short sale, as part of an informed ethical dilemma that gets solved.  I think we do this as Realtors by helping to address the personal ethical implications one might face, in moving forward to pass a loss off onto somebody else.  While the hit on their own credit can be consequence enough, I think we have a special view point to provide more ethical dilemma information, on our side of things than we commonly do currently.  I think we can use our knowledge about the number of short sales that are done, to also heighten the feeling of doing the right thing, when and if they do decide to do a short sale and begin that process, with us as their licensed Realtor.  We can be as it were, a glass insulator on the power pole of electrical conduit involved with a charged Short Sale.

My personal ethical bias to tell fellow Realtors, is not believing some hardship situations, that seemingly, just at the blink of an eye, fabricate a false hardship situation, just to unload the home and the loss onto somebody else.  Mostly it would appear or seem to me this kind of situation happens some with investors who seem to want to streamline their investment portfolio.  It seems on the surface to me as NOT a genuine hardship situation and that they are just doing it, to do it, just because they somehow know they can, having studied this thing out long before they get to me to list the home. 

However, I also do NOT think it is my job to 'get into' my clients financial situation to any satisfactory notion for myself.  I still believe in fiduciary duties and to be judging naturally the best, and trusting that line of reporting and subsequent service we are called upon to represent as licensed Realtors do.  My first fiduciary duty to people who are already in the mind to do a short sale and coming to me, I'm obedient. 

Still, I think this underscores the importance to try and inform others who do present as a little more open, to telling us a bit about the struggle they've been through in now possibly considering it more, to also discuss and normalize the desire to not have to do one.  Part of this can be done gingerly.  For example, one could say, "It is a difficult process for many to decide when is the best time to do a short sale, besides, on the face of it, sometimes they struggle with just passing the loss off onto the bank".  Then let them talk if they can.  That can be a discussion item just like that, that can facilitate past and present history of where they are at in that consideration process now.  OK, one might have to set it up a little by asking if they've struggled at all with the timing of when to do a short sale. 

Think of it this way, we can now get more information on what prevents or has prevented them before in considering it as serioulsy.  The whole idea is not to ASSUME they want to JUMP into a short sale up front.  It also gives appropriate attention and serious consideration and discussion into what will, does, or does not qualify as a true hardship situation.  This in turn saves us time and them time on what they will have to do from here, if anything.

Things we can do to pro-actively inform our clients about the right time for a short sale:

1. Help them understand what is required from banks in looking for a true hardship situation and encouraging an honest assessment of such.
2. Point them to resources on the Internet that might provide a good and thorough read into the subject. 
3. Provide Short Sale Information on your own website into all facets or as many as may be involved, to include Personal Ethics, Timing and Advantages to a Short Sale over Foreclosure. 
4. Help them temper personal and ethical honor that is staving off a short sale with when it makes sense to also respect a possible true and genuine hardship situation.  The following three criteria I came up with after writing too much on my website about"how far I'd take hardship" before caving into a short sale myself.  Note that I highlight these items as possible in being used in tandem with each other.  First, comes financial impossibility or actual strain. Second, a troubled family situation brought on through economic hardship. Third, that the personal fall-out involving the situation is becoming more and more unrecoverable.
5. Assuming again, a potential Seller is in an actual genuine hardship situation, however they are still resistant to 'get the ball rolling', based on not wanting to pass off the loss onto the bank, one can tell them that it is not their fault for the deception, that values got inflated to such a high extent.  Can we believe that?  I believe that most people really were not doing anything wrong.  Also, it can be helpful to know that in perhaps more situations than we care to think about, that when banks are pressed legally to provide a copy of the note on your home showing ownership, that many times they cannot do it.  Perhaps now, as 'servicer only' on the home, they cannot track down the note of the formal owner because it has been bought and sold too many times, too easily.  And this was all to pad the portfolio's of "higher minded" investors which made them look good for further investments when many of these loans would go into default.  When people begin to see some of the coruption feeding things higher up or lack of oversight in lending practices, to include people who should not have been able to get a loan, it makes it much easier for them to justify doing a short sale on moral grounds- to preserve their own hard work ethic situation, up against passing off the burden to society in higher taxes.  In other words, one can justify off the means of providing for ones own that the greater good is sustained to include ones own portion in supporting that tax base. 

Normally this discussion gets reduced to the simplicity of inconvenience they will face up front in the hit one takes on ones credit score.  However, I've met many would be sellers that will further worsen an already bad situation in riding things out, without some moral rationale to help them decide.  Similarly, there may be some would be 'lets wait this out because I can' if we were also able to acknowledge that possible looming ethical part that weighs in on them more than we sometimes acknowledge with them.  It is my hope with this blog to help both scenarios we face on either side of the continuum with this one acknowledging statement to get a discussion going on the ethical side- "It is a difficult process for many to decide when is the best time to do a short sale, besides, on the face of it sometimes, they struggle with just passing the loss off onto the bank."  If you would like more information on how to deliver topical information to the public involving the meriad nuances of Distressed Sales, please feel free to get ideas from St George Utah Real Estate.  But please do not duplicate any of my content.  Thanks for listening!

Do most good agents show short sales?  This is a good question that beckons more investigation.  You see, ever since buyers agents have started showing short sales, they are noticing that they have to work 10 times harder for a deal.  Then, even as I 'think of my buyer' and keep showing short sales myself, I heard the other day from a buyer, that they heard most good agents quit showing short sales because they are a waist of time.  I knew that used to be a pattern of the past, but it made me pause and really think- Do the ones that are making more money seem to have avoided and taught their buyers how to avoid them? 

It is a seriouss question.  Who would not just want to kick the old short sale routine to the curb when showing homes and just outright talk their buyer "out" of them?  I know I have a strong inclination to do just that.  Just today I told a buyer that 'most of the time they are a waist of time, particularly for people shopping from out of town, like you are, precisely because of the long wait, you end up finding something else anyway'.  'Then since you are from out of town, you won't be able to follow upon other things.  The other better opportunities you could have put an offer on, while you were in town are becoming fast non-existant for you.'  He responded, "Makes a lot of sense."

So, I ask you again, do most good agents show short sales?  I think you can now fill in the lines for your own situation and just see where it takes you too.

At very least, many Realtors, depending on your MLS are fast educating their buyers how to avoid ones that are already under contract for sure.  For video and audio examples on how to educate buyers on short sales and how to shop the market with short sales as part of that dead debris one can eliminate from batch, go to www.st-george-realestate.com.

I wanted to share my appreciation for Active Rain by sermonizing part of what I see inside Active Rain, to represent one of the grand purposes of life, let me cal it- The Secret to Life.  That purpose is to find in people from all different backgrounds a common thread of optimism, faith in the future, and a hope of expression in ones neighbor on here.  For the more profound insight into the secret of life, let me delve deeper with you and you will see it as simple, and then share it with the ones closest to you.

I was allowed to stay part of this community today by Steve over in member services and so I wanted to start giving back by sharing another common purpose of life. First a question: Is man or woman's basic nature to be good or evil?  I'll teach the answer through an analogy and call it "Atoms and Particles".  An atom that contains the same number of protons and electrons in its environment is said to be a balanced atom.  "Life" is a balanced atom.  Both good and evil are presented to all of us in varying degrees, but BOTH are come before us, so that we can choose- we choose.  The responsibility inherent that exists in being "our own island", entails the same scenario involving atoms, that is that life presents us with both positive and negative charges.  However, just as the atom is said to only lose or gain negative charges (not positive charges per say), making it a positive or negative ion or atom, so too, we must grapple with the tendency to be ingrates, less or more capable of being grateful.  An atoms electron(s) are its negative charged particles and the atom only loses or gains electrons, the negative parts, in such a fashion, so as to leave it a balanced atom or negative atom or positively charged ion/atom.  When we attribute things to our environment, naturally, we are in a sense one with neutrality or let's pretend like a balanced atom- in the sense that "we are life" or like to carry the reality in life, of the opposition of both good and evil being presented in the environment.  But when we become RESPONSIBLE, do something with it, we break away from "being the environment" to being our own island clothed with Spirit, that we REALLY are anyway, and thus take on responsibility for how and in what way we represent to others, either positive, neutral or negative energy.  Might I say that we become the light of life when we admit that positive energy gives, while negative energy subtracts and neutral energy detracts.

Thus my first paragraph about what I find at Active Rain, a spirit of "light of life" where a positive ignite of good will and expression abounds neighbor to neighbor.  I put forth, that mans or woman's basic nature is good and in wanting to do good and that we are bombarded by both other atoms and other people.  What we take away is not so much what we take away, but in what we give, originating from us, from the me that gives and without even knowing what the right hand knows about the left in doing so.

Interesting trivia, positive ions/atoms make up the metals in the periodic table, where as the negative ions/atoms make up the non-metals of the periodic table.  I challenge (command) everyone reading this blog to be not just a metal, but a certain type of metal.  Prove your metal and have fun doing it!

Brian with St George Real Estate

I believe that many people prefer looking at my St George Utah Videos rather than read too much.  But only time will tell.  I've gone through great pains to bring a few videos about the St George area and yet I don't know how everybody produces so much video on Youtube.  It baffles me, because this producing video as a St George Realtor has taken an exhausting amount of time.  I'm convinced however that it will pay huge dividends in the future.

Now, to find a Realtor that is on top of this is rare and I'm not there yet, but at least I'm a little along the way into our next century.  I have visited several top real estate websites on the internet and have found very few featuring or doing a good job with videos on their sites.  As such, I thought it would be good to portray my St George Real Estate Videos website as a good example of a start.  I'm also ranked well in the search engines, so check me out.

If anybody is interested in getting to know the St George Utah real estate market by way of videos, then please by all means visit my website.

Is this is a good or bad market?  I recently answered this question in an article on my website, good or bad market.  I explore such factors as how the current labor market affects the real estate market and vica versa, how the current labor market affects the real estate market.

Of particular mention is how the local St. George Utah real estate market patterns itself directly in line with how hard the national market has been hit.  This is of particular interest into exploring the nature of our national market precisely because we are or were a very fast paced progressive market with virtual investor oriented buyers that brought a fast spike in our market making it both the fastest growing city in the nation taken in average of 2000 to 2005 (U.S. Census Bereau) and also the fourth fastest appreciating city in the nation during 2004 and 2005. We explain what kind of situation buyers can expect for our area and whether it is a good time to buy St George Utah real estate at our new blog post on http://www.condo.com/st-george-utah-real-estate.

Before real estate started to over inflate its prices prior to 2004, St George Utah real estate started to become more well known for its top Retirment communities and scenic park like atmosphere.  It is still just as great a retirment hot spot and place for retirees to be looking for their piece of St George real estate.  I've heard that areas like Mesa Arizona with their retirement communities has been hit harder than what I think ours has.  I'd like to allude to the hypothesis that it is because this area just started to get known, where as that area was already known about AND that this area has more to offer.

St George offers high desert mountain beauty.  St George offers Snow Canyon State Park just 5 miles near by.  Also close by is Zion National Park about 50 miles away.  All in all, it is much more scenic.  Then there is our property taxes, 1% for second home owners of assessed value and .55% if it is your Primary residence.  Sounding good?  Well, don't forget the rich cultural activities to include the Tuacahn Amphitheater set in the indigenous red rocks and desert flora.  During Huck Fin's Big River production, the river kicked up in the back rocky areas and water came a pouring out over the stage.  What a site and an impressive display to see the raft then moving across the real river.  If you were in the front seat you could touch where it goes in and recycles. 

St George also offers, I think, friedlier people.  People are attracted to the friendly atmosphere and old town customs and pioneer values the community was settled and founded upon.  The result?  Like attracts like. 

If you feel like it is high time to get out of the snow or find the best retirement community hot spot and little known area, that was just starting to get known before the deep freeze on real estate hit us, then St George retirement communities as the hot spot designation of a great place to retire, has just served up new sauce for you.  Come on over if your friendly and be sure to have your St George Realtor, Brian Habel show you homes once you've settled on here.

This is a St George Real Estate update to let buyers and investors know that I have seen local inventory levels of product on the market drop.  Now, this is on short sales with fewer being available that are not already tied up with at least one offer on it, if not many.  Also, that foreclosure listings have developed a two prong approach- either pricing is low enough to cause several offers or it does not "cut the mustard".  As such many of them are pricing them low enough that they are often seized within the first month.  Only savvy and serious buyers are getting in on some of these often allusive foreclosures that sometimes appear to have a louder bark than bite.  Let me explain.  Even though they seem intimidating with multiple offers, it is not uncommon that many of them are low offers and below market value can be still obtained.  Good deals are being had.  Sign up for Brian's Hottest Weekly Deals, coming soon on his site to take advantage of the best local St George Real Estate has to offer.  For an in depth view of the forgoing factors visit that sites local blog currently at St George Real Estate market.

St George is a buying frenzy or at least the "bee's are a sworming". 4 buyers were scheduled this weekend and one or two to pan out. Many are swarming around without getting prequalified- "Bzzzzzt, hey you there, bzzzzzzzt yourself right in for a landing here and talk to my Lender before you get all amped up with all the rest of the buzzing, simmer those jets and cool it down a bit before you get to excited". 'Ding, ding... yes folks the bell has run, the beginning of the 15 round and its tough to tell if it is just a mad house or if the house has been drawn to be mad. If it wasn't for mad-eye-moody out in our crowds, who knows what would happen. OH!!! Ouch, that couldn't have felt good! The very time he was setting up to come in for the punch on the favorite property- boom, it's gone folks and I think now, it is lights out folks. Down for the count... one, two... three, four, five, if we hadn't have gotten em pre-qualified, maybe he'd have something left in him... six, seven, eight... wait, wait... nine... OH MY GOSH!!!!... he is back up on his feat folks!!!  St George Ut Real Estate is in for it now!