St George Utah Real Estate

St George Utah Real Estate is Coming Back 2012

St George Real Estate, Brian Habel (Fidelity Real Estate, PC) — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 07:14:11 -0700

The St George Utah Real Estate market has been hit by some of the most daunting fluxuations in the market place in the United States. While California and the likes have been pacing a steady rise in real estate values, before they fell, St George shot up like a bullet as one of the last harbor's that provided "good deals" for investors. It went from being the fastest growing micro-macropolitan area in the nation from 2000 to 2005 according to the U.S. Census Bueaura, to being among the hardest hit areas in the nation. However, it is NOW projected to have one of the biggest recovery appreciation rates during this last one year, projected at about 7%, which is being felt right now. I do believe that projection which the 24/7 Wall St. came up with using data from Fiserv from 384 metroplitan areas, is coming true.

I'm here, in the St George area and can attest from looking at the inventory levels mainly drop, that what they said in the article about smaller areas and towns where the inventory levels have been higher, that they CAN diminish a whole lot significantly more and faster than large inventory levels, say like in a Las Vegas, just 2 hours north of us, is true. While it is not an astronomical drop, it none the less is felt when taking buyers out and there is just LESS to go through than just a short year ago, according to our stats also. And we know it can happen and I think it has here in the St George area. But to say in this down market, across the whole entire United States, that, for example, your $200,000 house has appreciated a full $16,000 in one year is a pretty bold claim. I personally think while the solds on the market still have some time to prove it out as part of a comp base, that it could be becoming true in our area. I say NOW, is the time to get in, before everyone realizes it on the selling side. If ever you need help, please call Brian Habel, your St George Realtor, with St George Utah Real Estate, as I am eager and able to help!

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**ALL INFORMATION AND CONTENT IN THIS BLOG IS ORIGINAL TO BRIAN HABEL

Brian Habel, Fidelity Real Estate, PC

St George Utah Real Estate Specialists since 2004

100% Club, Top Producer since 2004

St George Utah Real Estate - Poised for Recovery 2012

St George Real Estate, Brian Habel (Fidelity Real Estate, PC) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:27:35 -0800

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:

The caliber of people that are led to migrate to Saint George Utah.
The unique location being centralized in the wesstern united states, between the north and south and western areas.
The weather.
The unique land features and geology situated in the high desert.
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.

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**ALL INFORMATION AND CONTENT IN THIS BLOG IS ORIGINAL TO BRIAN HABEL

Brian Habel, Fidelity Real Estate, PC

St George Utah Real Estate Specialists since 2004

100% Club, Top Producer since 2004

Make the Least of Too Many Choices -- Blueprint For My Success

St George Real Estate, Brian Habel (Fidelity Real Estate, PC) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 19:24:20 -0700

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).

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**ALL INFORMATION AND CONTENT IN THIS BLOG IS ORIGINAL TO BRIAN HABEL

Brian Habel, Fidelity Real Estate, PC

St George Utah Real Estate Specialists since 2004

100% Club, Top Producer since 2004

Dealing with the Ethical Dilema People Face in Doing a Short Sale

St George Real Estate, Brian Habel (Fidelity Real Estate, PC) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 04:35:07 -0700

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:

Help them understand what is required from banks in looking for a true hardship situation and encouraging an honest assessment of such.
Point them to resources on the Internet that might provide a good and thorough read into the subject.
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.
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.
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!

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**ALL INFORMATION AND CONTENT IN THIS BLOG IS ORIGINAL TO BRIAN HABEL

Brian Habel, Fidelity Real Estate, PC

St George Utah Real Estate Specialists since 2004

100% Club, Top Producer since 2004

Do Most Good Agents Show Short Sales?

St George Real Estate, Brian Habel (Fidelity Real Estate, PC) — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 17:06:40 -0700

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.

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**ALL INFORMATION AND CONTENT IN THIS BLOG IS ORIGINAL TO BRIAN HABEL

Brian Habel, Fidelity Real Estate, PC

St George Utah Real Estate Specialists since 2004

100% Club, Top Producer since 2004

The Secret to Life- Atoms & Particles

St George Real Estate, Brian Habel (Fidelity Real Estate, PC) — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 00:28:51 -0800

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

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**ALL INFORMATION AND CONTENT IN THIS BLOG IS ORIGINAL TO BRIAN HABEL

Brian Habel, Fidelity Real Estate, PC

St George Utah Real Estate Specialists since 2004

100% Club, Top Producer since 2004

St George Utah Videos

St George Real Estate, Brian Habel (Fidelity Real Estate, PC) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 13:43:23 -0700

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.

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**ALL INFORMATION AND CONTENT IN THIS BLOG IS ORIGINAL TO BRIAN HABEL

Brian Habel, Fidelity Real Estate, PC

St George Utah Real Estate Specialists since 2004

100% Club, Top Producer since 2004

Is This a Good or Bad Market?

St George Real Estate, Brian Habel (Fidelity Real Estate, PC) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 19:39:49 -0700

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.

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**ALL INFORMATION AND CONTENT IN THIS BLOG IS ORIGINAL TO BRIAN HABEL

Brian Habel, Fidelity Real Estate, PC

St George Utah Real Estate Specialists since 2004

100% Club, Top Producer since 2004

St George Utah Real Estate - Retirement Destination

St George Real Estate, Brian Habel (Fidelity Real Estate, PC) — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 18:49:30 -0700

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.

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**ALL INFORMATION AND CONTENT IN THIS BLOG IS ORIGINAL TO BRIAN HABEL

Brian Habel, Fidelity Real Estate, PC

St George Utah Real Estate Specialists since 2004

100% Club, Top Producer since 2004

St George Real Estate - Diminished Supply

St George Real Estate, Brian Habel (Fidelity Real Estate, PC) — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 23:54:51 -0700

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.

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**ALL INFORMATION AND CONTENT IN THIS BLOG IS ORIGINAL TO BRIAN HABEL

Brian Habel, Fidelity Real Estate, PC

St George Utah Real Estate Specialists since 2004

100% Club, Top Producer since 2004

St George Ut Real Estate is Going, Going... Gone!

St George Real Estate, Brian Habel (Fidelity Real Estate, PC) — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 23:06:23 -0700

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!

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**ALL INFORMATION AND CONTENT IN THIS BLOG IS ORIGINAL TO BRIAN HABEL

Brian Habel, Fidelity Real Estate, PC

St George Utah Real Estate Specialists since 2004

100% Club, Top Producer since 2004

Interest Rates are Going Up

St George Real Estate, Brian Habel (Fidelity Real Estate, PC) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 12:29:38 -0700

Interest Rates

Interest rates will be going up as a natural affect of the government Federal Reserve pulling out of the Bond business or rather shifting their business as announced several times by them on March 31, 2010. Rather than creating buying demand through buying, they will rather be a seller now of the Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS). This will in turn have an affect on the supply being greater, such that prices will go down. This in turn has a natural affect as everyone points to interest rates having an inverse relation to bond prices, such that we know that interest rates will go up. Nobody has written much on how this will affect real estate prices.

St George Utah Real Estate Market Predictions

Locally, the St George Utah real estate market will be impacted because many of the buyers are first time buyers and affordability is king. However, we also have many retiree's who come in here to buy or a lot of second home owners. This group will not be impacted as much as financial backing supports moves that are often timed with prices of homes being down. That is the case now.

However, I have noticed that a lot of people in this group have been speculating EARLY, prior to absolute need to buy now, because retirement is more like 3 to 5 years off in the distance. They seem to have a desire to possibly 'get in now' while prices are low.

As such, even though St George Foreclosures are trending less while Short Sales might be taking up some of the slack, still much of this retiree and baby boomer demand might be off in the distance, if I go off a lot of the phone calls I've been getting. Being placed high in the search engines, I don't know but what if the variable of the high amount of calls is naturally related to an accurate cross section or if my read on that is contaminated by the mere fact that "speculators" are the kind of buyer that tend to call more anyway. I will guess that, because it is more than usual, that it reveals a buyer stream that will hit in 2 to 5 years and that St George Utah real estate is going to be a "hot spot" in the near future.

However, until that time, combine the projection of interest rates going up and I'd have to just throw it out there that I think there will be a sluggish return of buyers, that may be enough to still stabilize the market, but meager enough to keep prices down.

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**ALL INFORMATION AND CONTENT IN THIS BLOG IS ORIGINAL TO BRIAN HABEL

Brian Habel, Fidelity Real Estate, PC

St George Utah Real Estate Specialists since 2004

100% Club, Top Producer since 2004

Fastest Growing US City Reports: St George Utah Real Estate Come Back!

St George Real Estate, Brian Habel (Fidelity Real Estate, PC) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:41:36 -0800

How is the Fastest Growing City in the Nation from 2000 to 2006 (according to the US Census Bureau) doing?

Basically, the St George Utah real estate market was slow to come on at the beginning of the housing boom and then like a mad rush, investors drove up prices because it is quite attractive here. A lot of California people looking for a better life style to raise a family see St George Utah as very attractive. If there were more industry established it would grow like the next Scottsdale, Arizona. We have the high dessert appeal of the red dirt and local red rock features like Zion National Park.

Then what went up went back down as fast and hard. We were more like the aluminum frying pan, quick to heat up and quick to cool down. Only local perceptions have driven us back down so fast, not the more well intending migration that was halted in its tracks, as the housing bubble burst and their own values plummeted.

NOW, because of local foreclosure rates having been a little higher than the national average, St George Utah real estate is now poised well below what you can build for and it is a most excellent time to buy or invest for your future in one of the most beautiful high mountain desert towns in the Mid-Western United States. I'll bet you've traveled through St George Utah before. Were you impressed? It is along the main I-15 highway, 2 hours north of Las Vegas.

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**ALL INFORMATION AND CONTENT IN THIS BLOG IS ORIGINAL TO BRIAN HABEL

Brian Habel, Fidelity Real Estate, PC

St George Utah Real Estate Specialists since 2004

100% Club, Top Producer since 2004

St George Realtor

St George Real Estate, Brian Habel (Fidelity Real Estate, PC) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:06:13 -0800

Hello! I'm hoping to reach the potential buyers out there searching for a good St George Realtor. I have noticed that when it comes to actually seeing and viewing real estate, that buyers, for the most part will really let their guards down and be very no nonsense about disclosing and interacting and sharing information that can really help them get down the road in purchasing something.

But that first contact or moment of picking up the phone and calling 'that' Realtor seems to be hard and difficult. I wonder why? Well, I think it is because most buyers have had a bad experience OR they don't want to be SOLD or given or taken to areas of conversation they are not ready to go with at this time. They or YOU of course like the subject matter to APPLY to what it is you are trying to do.

Unfortunately, to me, it appears that much of a buyers valuable time gets waisted by not having established a rapport of some kind earlier in the game. Things I see buyers missing out on:

Earlier pre-qualification with a Lender. This of course helps the buyer establish some serious muscle, because there is something about speculating what one can do from a distance over the Internet AND finding out exactly what a person can spend. It is like going from dream state to reality of having that cash in ones pocket to be able to spend. When that happens people are now considering their OPTIONS and acting in their best interests.
Education on Short Sales. Need I say more! Gosh, how much time can becoming educated on what half of the listing in there are all about. No more 'mirages in the desert' please people. You DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING AT... until you call your Realtor of course and get ME to call and find out for you what that Short Sale is really about. Each one is different and a compilation of calls helps you to discover what your REAL WORLD LAND OF OPPORTUNITIES REALLY ARE.

In short, don't be duped by phony depictions and bad past experience with sales people- give me, your local serviceman and St George Realtor a call today!

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**ALL INFORMATION AND CONTENT IN THIS BLOG IS ORIGINAL TO BRIAN HABEL

Brian Habel, Fidelity Real Estate, PC

St George Utah Real Estate Specialists since 2004

100% Club, Top Producer since 2004

Mortgage Changes for Buying St George Real Estate

St George Real Estate, Brian Habel (Fidelity Real Estate, PC) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:51:34 -0800

So, what is changing in the mortgage lending arena for the St George Real Estate market, at least as far as FHA requirements will go.

If considering an FHA loan here are changes that may affect you. Here's a pretty clear, shortened breakdown of the changes and what they mean (I have taken these from :

1. Mortgage insurance goes up from 1.75% to 2.25%. Since the mortgage insurance is paid over the life of the loan it is not an overburden, although it still adds some cost to purchasing a home. This goes into effect on April 5, 2010.

2. There will be new credit score requirements and down payment. Credit scores of 580 or better only have to come up with 3.5% down. Anything less requires 10% down minimum. The risk for the FHA is way better balanced this way while still providing affordable down payments for people who are still generally responsible with good credit.

3. Seller concessions are going to be reduced. 3% towards closing costs is all they can do now, rather than the previous policy of 6%.

On top of these changes, the new policies have a series of new measures targeted at increasing lender enforcement. These changes will impact some homebuyers differently than others. Still, the FHA is still going to provide affordable home loans.

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**ALL INFORMATION AND CONTENT IN THIS BLOG IS ORIGINAL TO BRIAN HABEL

Brian Habel, Fidelity Real Estate, PC

St George Utah Real Estate Specialists since 2004

100% Club, Top Producer since 2004

St George Utah Real Estate Update

St George Real Estate, Brian Habel (Fidelity Real Estate, PC) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:11:28 -0800

The Notice of Defaults have gone down, here in St George Utah, in the first two months of January and February of 2010, suggesting that a break from foreclosures setting pricing on the market and some return of normalcy could be possible. It is too early to tell as the first two months of the year tend to be a little odd anyway.

St George real estate number of sales were down here in the first two months as well. A pattern of more active homes going on the market in January, more than what sold, is quite evident for the past two years.

Lots of changes in the mortgage market have taken place with more and more first time buyers being turned away from the new home buyer tax credit because more time on the job or greater down payments are required even though peoples credit suggests they would be OK. With the economy not doing so hot and all told, it is speculative still as to what will happen in this upcoming year. This is our St George Utah Real Estate Update for begining of March 2010 accounting for the first two months of 2010.

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**ALL INFORMATION AND CONTENT IN THIS BLOG IS ORIGINAL TO BRIAN HABEL

Brian Habel, Fidelity Real Estate, PC

St George Utah Real Estate Specialists since 2004

100% Club, Top Producer since 2004

The Press Release: Home Buyers Tax Credit Helps Real Estate Sales Across the US

St George Real Estate, Brian Habel (Fidelity Real Estate, PC) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:51:34 -0800

It is not often you find such a good cross section in a blog about the home buyer tax credit as what I've found in this Home Buyers Tax Credit Helps Real Estate Across the US and how it is working or not working. Local experts from a cross section of market places all across the US tell us how it is effecting their local areas. The news all seems to be favorable with an increase of buying activity that is tangibly felt. It also talks generally about interest rates, their impact and the overall combining influences affecting Southern California Real Estate, Albuquerque Real Estate, St George Utah Real Estate and Greenville SC Real Estate.

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**ALL INFORMATION AND CONTENT IN THIS BLOG IS ORIGINAL TO BRIAN HABEL

Brian Habel, Fidelity Real Estate, PC

St George Utah Real Estate Specialists since 2004

100% Club, Top Producer since 2004

St George Real Estate

St George Real Estate, Brian Habel (Fidelity Real Estate, PC) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 21:25:28 -0800

St George real estate has the perception from local people to have undergone an extreme fluctuation from real high price appreciation to depreciating in about the same amount, back down close to what it once was. In fact, the only reason why there was such a drastic price appreciation in 2004 through into 2005 is because in comparison with major cities in the southern mid-west to southwestern region of California, we did not experience the slight appreciation for some time that the rest had felt. Not only did people from these areas recognize this, but being located still in the high, but desert regions of the south with the milder weather, not to mention our scenic byways into features like Zion National park, we became "appreciated" real quick like. Local residents thought we appreciated way artificially too high with respect to other areas. When in reality these other named areas actually might not have spiked as fast, but still they appreciated even more so over a longer haul. So, while local perceptions have kept real estate levels back down to our sub-levels we are used to, still the allure of the area is more known, such that I predict a stronger return of appreciation than other areas precisely because we have fallen so low in prices. I have used local statisticians that are plugged in on the local to national scene, to form my views. As such, I express my view that now is a really good time to buy St George real estate. If you have found this blog post to be informative, please don't hesitate to call me, Brian Habel, for all your real estate needs for the St George Utah area.

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**ALL INFORMATION AND CONTENT IN THIS BLOG IS ORIGINAL TO BRIAN HABEL

Brian Habel, Fidelity Real Estate, PC

St George Utah Real Estate Specialists since 2004

100% Club, Top Producer since 2004

2006 in Review: Market at Large vs. St George Utah Real Estate

St George Real Estate, Brian Habel (Fidelity Real Estate, PC) — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 12:31:35 -0800

The Real Estate Market at Large

2006 was the year of market correction. All the signs were there, we should have known even more that with double digit appreciation gains, what goes up, did go down. The first signs started at the end of 2005. But altogether, we have not experienced a bust, even though many, especially the media was apt to point towards a bubble bursting. Many real estate markets in the country still experienced above average sales. Yet this market has morphed into a buyers market. The decrease in sales has led to layoffs in mortgage companies and other industry participants. Investors had only encouraged other like kind thinking- people were moving with considering it as their investment. Nicolas Retsinas, director of Harvard University's Joint Center of Housing Studies makes a good case that while prices and the market are normalized, that it was the media and not higher interest rates that made is so, inciting an analogy of a match that is lit that becomes hard to extinguish in lieu of all the appreciation and possible mentality of a bursting bubble that was to come. Interest rates have not really gone up all that much as compared to past cycles. However, interest rates do cast a singular variable potentate upon how home prices can get affected from here. Unconventional mortgage products widened the funnel in recent past, that added to the price increases. With the increase of supply of homes on the market, some have given thought to the idea that some of these unconventional loans contributing to supply, with perhaps setting up more consumers for foreclosure possibilities in the face of fixed rates that change to variable rates in the beginning of this next year. However, the before mentioned Restinas, cites how many appear to be compensating already by just refinancing to more conventional loans. Also Edward learner, director for the University of California, Anderson Forecast says that a lot of home owners can even still rely on an "appreciation cushion", that a profit is still in store should they decide to sell. The overall economy is stronger than when we were in the fervor of price appreciation. Kenneth Jenny, CEO and managing partner for real estate consulting company tranCen said "The market itself has become right-sized. A right-sized market doesn't allow quick, inflationary numbers." Flippers have largely left the market taking away the frenzy that existed during the boom. Affordability is a problem in some markets, which oversupply and sagging sales will take care of that problem.

St George Real Estate Market- 2006

The St George Real Estate market has been affected pretty similarly. As a strong place to do business, rated one of the safest places to live, one of the best places to retire, etc., St George is not projected to suffer for too long amidst perhaps a little blip that may be an ongoing experienced into this next year. Our problem from reports through Title officials who have seemed to have their finger on things in the past report that just before the "word got out" about this high mountain desert, almost resort atmosphere of a town, the city had restricted or got back logged, anyway the housing supply or number of building permits allowed was restricted. Well, when the frenzy hit, we were not prepared with supply. As such the market had the fourth fastest appreciation rates in the country. Now, after the glamour of relocation and with "life-stylers", has been put up on its feet for a bit, making wise or "sage" pause toward inaction, which constituted a good influx of our buyers, then we have experienced, maybe more than average price reductions. While many have been skeptical, the stagnation hits into our "snowbird" season too; making for an element of temporary uncertainty. But amazingly people with money, your retirees and baby boomers, those who are "late bloomers" in hearing about he attraction of St George most likely will not be kept at bay forever. But the average "Joe" that sustains the working class, to include our teachers, policeman and city workers, have long awaited these price reductions and locals have shown a resilience in holding off the buying pattern. So houses under 250K to 300K are likely great realms for builders to downsize to, if we are talking about real supply. That is your eye on the St George Ut real estate market and the market at large for 2006!

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**ALL INFORMATION AND CONTENT IN THIS BLOG IS ORIGINAL TO BRIAN HABEL

Brian Habel, Fidelity Real Estate, PC

St George Utah Real Estate Specialists since 2004

100% Club, Top Producer since 2004