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North Idaho & Sandpoint Waterfront Real Estate - Current Market Conditions

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Services for Real Estate Pros

My name is Gary Lirette and my partner and I specialize in waterfront in and around Sandpoint, Idaho. This includes Lake Pend Oreille and the Pend Oreille River primarily, and Lake Cocolalla. To a lesser degree, we also have extensive knowledge of the Priest River, the Moyie and Kootenai Rivers, Pack River, Rapid Lightning Creek, the Clark Fork River, and the lesser lakes around Lake Pend Oreille.

What to do on the Water

N Idaho Lake Guide

Idaho River Guide

Boat Launches & Marinas

Lake Pend Oreille Depth Map

Jed Sigman

208-255-6739
e-mail

Click a drop-down menu above for more links & info

Gary Lirette

208-610-1384
e-mail

I live on the Pend Oreille River about a mile from Lake Pend Oreille. Many think this is the lake since the river is so wide here, but the lake really begins at the Long Bridge. Jed Sigman, my business partner, also lives on the Pend Oreille River at Gypsy Bay. Just living on the water does not make us experts. Instead of me bragging about the hows and whys, every week as I send info to my waterfront buyers, I will update this blog. At times the info will be very specifically dealing with what those buyers are looking for. Mostly we search for the best value at that moment. Certainly if what you are looking for is that special million dollar property right on the water with its own fabulous dock, we can help. Still, we are constantly searching for the property that is the proverbial 'screamin' deal.' That said, here is this week's info:

May 15, 2009 (I will post some more info today, Saturday May 23, 2009)

Waterfront Comparisons for Sandpoint, Idaho

We have had a lot of homes listed as waterfront, but comparatively fewer sales than in previous years.

Here is the pdf of a CMA for waterfront, secondary waterfront, and water view homes that have sold in the last year and are active listings:

Waterview CMA

Two of our premier waterfront areas in the past have been Sourdough with its own marina, island, tennis courts, etc., and Comeback Bay off Fry Creek and Sagle Slough. Comeback Bay has close proximity to town, Sourdough better views and amenities. Yet there were woefully few sales for over two years on Comeback Bay until this year. Now they have had six closed sales in the last ten months. Sourdough's problem was their overpriced nature. Now that their pricing has come down to earth, that trend will reverse.

This pdf is a list of all the homes that have been listed in and around Sourdough in the last year. Only one has sold:

Sourdough CMA

To give you an idea of what we do for our buyers, when I had a couple interested in buying 160 Sourdough, I went there and took pictures, and even did a video. Here is link to that page: http://www.sandpointid.net/Sourdough.html

April 17, 2009

I haven't updated my waterfront blog since the end of February, and we have had some big changes. First, we haven't had any real and actual waterfront under $500,000 for a couple of years, with the exception of the occasional property. Those were usually snatched up so fast, regular buyers were out of the loop. This year, while we don't have hundreds or even dozens, we have some good buys. While there are some nice homes on some smaller lakes and rivers, most people are looking for Lake Pend Oreille access. Currently, from $399,000 to $500,000, there are seven homes that are on, or have direct access to Lake Pend Oreille, all with water views. There is one that I through in on the Pend Oreille River because it is the least expensive with waterfront, plus it has acreage and is listed for $450,000. There are few properties yet this season with the kind of killer lake views everyone wants. Included in this group is one in Hope.

To view these properties side-by-side, click this CMA link.

Let's be honest, we all would rather pay under $500,000 than over $700,000 or even more. Right now, there are roughly 60-70 homes on Lake Pend Oreille for sale. There are another 20-30 that are on tributaries that have immediate access to the lake. With the exception of the few that I have listed, 90% of those are still over $700,000.

Will all of these better priced homes sell this season? We will likely sell eight out of ten of those, and about twenty of the others if this season is like last year. However, we are heating up right now, and my team represents four of these better priced listings.

For the last three years, many of my clients have indicated to me that the one thing they wanted was waterfront, depending on area, under that magic number. So, we went out of our way to find those properties and get them priced right.

The best two things about these under $500,000 is the current interest rate, and that jumbo loans begin above $417,000. So, even if this is a second home, the rate savings is about one percent or more. Just one extra point higher makes any property cost ten percent more. This can amount to hundreds more a month. Imagine you can put down $200,000 on a home that sells for $750,000. If you could save one percent, then the monthly savings with taxes could be $500 a month. Over the life of the loan, again factoring taxes and insurance, this amounts to a savings of over $125,000. Could you put your child through college for that?

We have improved our assets on our websites to better inform about the waterfront life. Listed below are the links that have something to do with lake life in North Idaho:

http://waterfronthomessandpoint.com/
http://www.sandpointid.net/What_to_do_on_Lake_Pend_Oreille.html
http://www.sandpointid.net/North_Idaho_Lake_Guide.html
http://sandpointid.net/North_Idaho_River_Guide.html
http://sandpointid.net/North_Idaho_Docks-Marinas.html
http://www.sandpointid.net/fish-health.htm
http://sandpointid.net/Lake%20Pend%20Oreille%20Depth%20Map.html
http://www.sandpointid.net/N.Idaho-Waterfalls.htm
http://sandpointid.net/Cool_Things_to_Do.htm

February 1, 2009

Like a lot of the country, we have had some decline in values over the last three years. Our declines were 4%, 6%, and 6% respectively. However, waterfront is still in demand, our market sales are decent. There have been a small number of homes that have sold for unbelievably low prices. For instance, one home listed at $699,000 on Bottle Bay sold for the mid 300s, but these are rare, and buyers either have to have their financing in place and be ready to pounce, or have cash on hand. While actual frontage is still in the stellar range, secondary waterfront is lower by the same rates as the declines in the rest of our market. We have a few repos, but the banks sell those to preferred customers. It is difficult for the average buyer to get a contract in fast enough when there are hundreds looking for waterfront, and only a handful of true bargains. Water view properties are much more reasonable than in years past, and the farther you get from Sandpoint, Coeur d'Alene, Hope, and Sunnyside, the better the bargains. Truth is, most sellers and developers are not selling far out of town, but are holding out with prices still high, knowing that the number of homes and land on the market is far smaller than demand. Plus, it seems they have the funds and financial wherewithal to wait out the bad market. Some waterfront communities are selling well, like Dover Bay. Our company, Tomlinson Sandpoint Sotheby's International Realty, had its best September ever, and December totaled over 23 million. Not bad. The echelon of those seeking waterfront are not hurt as much by this current downturn in the market. I am closing on a 1.4 million dollar water view development this month. Last month, I hosted the Midwinter Art Fest at Dover Bay with well over 1,000 attending as part of an event I was integral in organizing: The Sandpoint Winter Carnival. So, it is a mixed bag. It will be interesting to see where the market goes this spring. My suggestion to buyers is to make offers. Certainly the small number of homes on the water that sold for hundreds of thousands below the asking price were not advertising they would take such low offers. The few brave buyers that took the chance to put in the offers that were accepted won great prizes.

August 11, 2008

Currently, there are 192 homes listed in our market in the $500,000-750,000 price range.

Since January 1st, only nine homes have sold in that range in our entire MLS area according to data taken from the Selkirk Association of Realtors MLS.

Currently there are nine homes on the water in the Sandpoint/Sagle area under $600,000, ten if you count Comeback Bay. On Lake Pend Oreille, there are three homes similar in size and architecture under $600,000, and two much larger. These mainly are on slightly smaller lots, but the advantage is being right on the lake.

All of the following listings we have used for comparison have closed in the last six months. They range from waterfront to view properties.

100 Upper Syringa was originally listed for $612,000 and closed after 290 days on market for $470,000. A similar home in quality in an upscale neighborhood in Sandpoint, though not on the water, has clear water views.

137 Birch Haven was originally listed for $749,500 when it first went on the market in 2005. It has been listed three times, with various price drops. It also has its own private little inlet with a great dock, with 200 feet of frontage on the water. It finally closed at $482,000 after almost three years on the market.

373 Sunnyside was originally listed for $649,000 in July 2006. It has been listed four times with various agents and price drops. It sold for $495,000 in February.

126 Laclede Shores was originally listed in November of 2007 and was listed twice. It closed in June for $475,000. It started at $545,000.

3 Canoe Cove was listed twice. First price was $525,000, and it sold the second time round for $478,000. While technically not waterfront, it is on a slough that feeds into the Pend Oreille.

203 Comeback Bay Lane was listed once and started at $599,900. It sold after 260 days on market for $525,000. It is new construction, but is secondary waterfront.

205 Cedar Ridge was listed with Charesse Moore prior to my team listing it. It started at $1,119,000 early in 2007. We convinced the owner to drop to eventually to $799,000, then advised him to take it off the market until the real estate conditions improved. They sold for recently $650,000.

There are several new, paved road, waterfront developments in the vicinity of Raptorview. This includes the Crossings at Willow Bay, River Fjord, River Bend, and Salish Point. These will bring even more competition.

July 31, 2008

29 Sourdough has great views of the water, its own dock in a great marina, three swimming areas, a tennis court, and the community area is its own island. This one is priced right at $449,000. If you would like to see pics I took of the Sourdough community, click www.sandpointid.net/Sourdough.html

There is also a five acre parcel available there for $310,000 that comes with community water. Serious views.

Another very good parcel is on Denton Slough by the Hope Peninsula. It is listed for $339,000, and has about two usable acres. While it is off the highway, the properties just down the road from it have all sold in the last year for upwards of $1,000,000. The great thing is the stand of trees there. Here are some pics of that lot: http://www.sandpointid.net/Hope.html

I also like Bel Tane on Bottle Bay. There is one .43 acre lot currently listed there for $130,000, but I know one that was listed last year that the owner would take $120,000 for.

Garfield Bay has an old mobile but sits on two lots. The cheapest other thing on Garfield Bay is $258,000 with a 400 sq. ft. tear down. This one is $135,000. It is a steal. I also have pics I have taken of that one. I take the pictures because of these properties because you never get a clear idea from the web searches. Here is what I have for this property: www.sandpointid.net/Garfield.html

We have some of our own listings on waterfront or secondary. Look these over and see if anything interests you.

July 18, 2008

So, we sold one secondary waterfront this month, and the market has sold a total of eight closed waterfront sales since June 1st.

Again, just to keep you updated, the listings below are the ones that we believe are the best values up to the $500,000 range. After that are the lots for sale. There are a couple newer listings. The last of the land lots is in Hope on Denton Slough. Sent you info about this one. Two usable acres, great trees, and actual lake frontage on Lake Pend Oreille. Listed for about $150,000 less than the cheapest comparable property. I went out there and took pics, and have included those pics with this e-mail. Might have sent them in to you already, but here they are again.

A couple of listings bear looking at. I have never sent anything from Dover Bay, because I believed they were simply overpriced. Some have come down, and I have included a couple of those.

A couple others are worth looking at:

230 Comeback Bay

1020 Wrencoe Hills

103 Deer Lane in Hope

119 Comeback Bay

And Sourdough

Remember I have a direct link to the Realtor MLS that you can use to search for properties. This is better than going through a real estate web site. The property MLS numbers are listed below. Copy and paste the MLS Numbers where you see that box at the top left side of the page. Use this link to search for properties: http://www.selkirkmls.com/cgi-bon/BR_login?lirgar Make sure you hit the ‘Land' tab at the top of the page when you want to search for the vacant lots.

Water front/view homes for sale: 2081027, 2083335, 2082530, 2081236, 2081338, 2081939, 2082142, 2075824, 2080603, 2082539, 2081726, 2080972, 2082710, 2083233, 2075099, 2081811, 2081841, 2081658, 2080621, 2080818, 2082025, 2081884

Water front/view lots for sale: 2081285, 2082796, 2081429, 2082144, 2082991, 2081474, 2081643, 2080620, 2083025

To learn more about Sandpoint, visit www.SandpointID.net

To learn more about Schweitzer Mountain Ski Resort, check out www.SkiSchweitzer.net

 

 

Tomlinson Sandpoint Sotheby's International Realty

200 Main Street
Sandpoint, Idaho


208-610-1384
800-282-6880

 

Gary Lirette, REALTOR® & host of the radio shows North Idaho Business as well as North Idaho Arts on KSPT & KBFI in Sandpoint & Bonners Ferry. When you need your real estate questions answered...

E-mail Gary or call 208-610-1384

 

 

Comments (1)

Rick Evans - Sandpoint Idaho Real Estate Waterfront, Ski, and Resort Property
Sandpoint Sothebys Intl Realty - Sandpoint, ID

Hey Gary- Really informative, useful information on this post.  Looks like you are doing your homework when it comes to waterfront property.  My client is in escrow to buy 37 Eagle Flight, which was one of the properties you referred to.  There are a few really nice buys right now!

May 23, 2009 04:05 AM