Working towards a new regional data exchange service...

I've alluded to this before on this blog, our local Association is partnering up with the other local Associations (Bullhead City and Lake Havasu City) and producing a new regional MLS (we are calling it a data exchange though).

I'm writing this post for the record, as there is still some confusion going around the ranks of Members in our Association. I'll try my best to make this as interesting for anyone else who is not a local Realtor or Member of the Association.

In the summer of 2005 at a local Broker Council meeting that I attended (as MLS President/Vice President of KGVAR) some brokers were making comments along the lines that with broker and agents from outside our own Association becoming more active in our area it might be time to consider moving toward a regional MLS. You see, us local Kingman agents were seeing fellow Realtor yard signs from the other nearby Associations pop up. This led to some discussion about the fact that the sales data of those listings would not populate into our MLS and as a result we could be looking at problems.

Such as two building sites across the street from each other in a subdivision near a golf course community of Valle Vista were sold around the same time. The story goes that the Kingman agent had listed and sold the property based on our own MLS data for $40k, while the Havasu agent listed and sold the property across the street for $60k. I'm talking about two lots the same size with the same utility attributes on the same street across from each other. If the seller who was represented by the Kingman agent was to find out, I imagine they'd be ticked off at their agent for not setting the price around $60k. At the same time if the buyer of the lot represented by the Havasu agent was to find out they could of had the lot across the street (that backed up to the fairway on the golf course) for $20k less, I imagine they'd be ticked off as well.

This matter was discussed at that broker council meeting, and to a broker or representative there you could see trouble a brewin'.

At this point our Assocaition was just over a year away from having our MLS provider contract expire so we were in the starting stages of seeing new vendor products. My Havasu Association counterpart (Cheryl Westwood) got wind of our situation and notified me that they were also seeing demonstrations from MLS vendors because they were heading towards the end of their agreement sometime early in 2007 (yeah it's about an 18 month process to get a new MLS provider). So Cheryl invited us to attend the demo's they had set up.

Well as you might imagine this was a good time to share with the Havasu folks what was talked about at the brokers council meeting. Luckily Cheryl and the gang were hip to the idea of a possible MLS merger. Talks ensued for the rest of 2005 between the two Associations. We had decided to invite the Bullhead City folks to the table at this time and formally made a presentation to their Board of Directors the first week of January 2006.

Now there is a history of mistrust between the three Associations going back way before I ever thought of living in Mohave County. In fact when I started telling Members that I was having talks with the other Associations some said I was wasting my time. To this day I chose to be ignorant of the reasons as to why the three Associations didn't get along, frankly I don't care and never will.

It is now the start of 2006 and the clock is running on our current MLS contract due to expire in November. The three groups had our first meeting to begin the formal talks about whether or not this would be a good idea. The groups were made up of mostly leadership types from each Board of Directors. From that meeting, after plenty of discussion, we all decided it was worthwhile to get started. We agreed that it would be in our best interest to hire an outside consultant to guide us along.

In early February we had a meeting to meet with the consultant. He outlined the process and the model we should probably use. We had narrowed down our choice of MLS provider to two vendors and the consultant would do a comparison for us to help us decide our vendor of choice. The consultant would also help us in the negotiation of the vendor contract. The ball was clearly rolling.

I asked for a local Broker Council meeting again later that month of February to review the process we had set up to see this project through. Not one broker voted against the plan, but that group had asked that the leadership would set up a regional broker council type of meeting for brokers from all three Associations. We did so and scheduled it for the last week of February. The local brokers had requested that our hired consultant be in attendance to make a presentation. The meeting went smoothly, of course there were some crazy comments and questions for the panel that I was on. The panel was the group that met early in the month and called ourselves the Steering Committee. At the end of the long meeting with the brokers of the region, not one of them voiced a vote to stop the process. Each Association agreed to review the different components of the project with the Association Board of Directors at the open meetings to stay up to date on the progress.

At this point the Steering Committee really took flight. We divided ourselves among various sub committees. I was on the vendor contract committee. Other committees included the business planning, budget, bylaws and rules & regulations, and forms. My committee got right down to business with the vendor of choice. It took about a month but the contract was signed in late April, all three presidents (which I was by then) took pen to paper and away we went.

During this time a resolution was drawn up to begin the formality to merge the MLS regionally and was passed by the Board of Directors of Kingman and Havasu, while the Bullhead City Association had to have a Membership election. I believe that election was on April 12th and I remember being somewhat nervous about the results because if that Association voted 'no' then this effort would be for nil and we'd have to scramble to negotiate the vendor contract on our own. Timing was everything to this point, and everything ended up on the good side of things.

Since this time the business plan has been reviewed and accepted by each Board of Directors. What remains is finalizing the budget, the forms, and the rules & regs. The Steering Committee met once again in July to review where we are all at, and honestly this was the first time I noticed some dissagreement amongst the groups. The items in question are the start date of the new organization and the fee for the Members.

I am now getting nervous for the first time because I want a working MLS for my Association come November. All systems still appear to be a go to have what I want in place, but with as well as most things have gone so far, you never know what could still happen. We are very close on this. The legal team we hired is doing a final review of the bylaws and regs. The budget group is still working things out. The forms group is still chugging along, but this is the area I worry most about. The forms will no doubt change and my Members will have to adjust. I would feel better if I could start to leak out the information of the kinds of changes they should expect.

Each Association has named the interim Board of Director members for the new organization, which is now called WARDEX (Western Arizona Regional Data Exchange). I've requested another meeting with the Steering Committe to take place in the next few weeks to give that group the chance to finalize what they've been working so hard on. If agreements cannot be made I'm going to suggest handing over the remaining work to the interim Board of Directors to handle (unfortunately for me I am one of those interim Directors -- like I have the time). Bottom line, this baby bird needs to fly out of the nest and the momma birds should probably let it go at this time.

This is where we are right now. For more information please email me and we can discuss more on this subject.

In due time I am going to recognize all the names that have helped along in this process. They are all true leaders with their own Memberships at heart. Not only Members, but more importantly our clients as well. Someday soon we will be able to offer our Members a better data source and our clients a better choice for service. When I input a listing on WARDEX, instead of the 500 or so Members having access to that data over 1700 will. Those Members could very well be representing buyers who are looking for just the offering I am representing. I certainly think this process and finished product will be well worth the many hours of effort that the leadership group has worked on for nearly a year now.

This has been a powerful experience for me to this point, and to see this though will be very satisfactory. I will feel a sense of accomplishment like I never have in my professional experience. I believe in this project 100%. I am amazed at what has been accomplished so far in this short period of time, I originally thought this would be a 2 or 3 year ordeal. I'm simply blessed to have been working with the forward thinking folks that make up our current leadership.

Still plenty of work to be done, and I promise updates as we move along. Stay tuned!!

Home staging...

I've never been an agent that asked the seller to change or improve their own property to help sell it, but with the market the way it has been it's time to reconsider.

There was a recent report about home staging in 20/20 that I found at the plugintoprescott site that you can see here.

I only know of one home staging outfit here in Kingman, if you are interested in using their service please contact me for the information.

I certainly do not think I have an eye for interior design so if you are thinking about selling you home and would be open to using a home staging service, I'd be inclined to knock off the amount of that service on our listing agreement at the close of escrow. Contact me and let's talk about it.

Okay, how'd you do on your reading assingments??

Got back in late last night (this morning actually) and took my sweet time getting to the office and the computer. Lot's of emails and client calls to return. Once that's done I'll be getting back into the swing of things around here.

I've just quickly viewed the blogs I linked to before leaving on my previous post. Wow, so much good stuff for me to catch up on. Please, if you saw something that I really need to see please leave a comment and point me in the right direction.

BTW.. while I was gone I basically ate, slept, and bass fished on a private lake in central Michigan. Still pretty new at the bass fishing thingy but I did manage to land a handful of 16 to 18 inch fish. Our host brought in a 27 inch walleye. I'll have a wrap up of this with some photo's in the next couple of days.

Glad to be back though, time to move some property!!

It's vacation time for me...

I will be away from this blog until late next week. But here's some links to great information and reading while I'm away. Just don't forget about me and please return next week for more fun from Mohave County.

Bloodhoundblog
BlueHouse blog
Real Estate Tomato
plugintoprescott
Affordable Housing Institute
Rain City Guide
sellsius
Real Central VA
Northern Virginia Real Estate Guide

And Porkbusters. Why?? Because the government spends too much of our money.

While I'm gone I'll be reading a how to book on the finer points on blogging as my quest continues to provide a half way decent blog to one day compare to these that I've listed above.

Draft resolution to defeat the 'Matrix'

Locally, the Realtor Association has been involved in a debate over the county using a set of guidelines (that was never authorized by the County Supervisors) for splitting parcels. It's generically called the 'Matrix' around these parts (not to be confused with the excellent blog called Matrix -- check that out -- you will like).

Our Associaiton is doing the best we can to defeat the matrix as it is written. Read more about the recent history here.

Here is the new draft resolution that will be presented to the county supervisors for consideration.

RESOLUTION NO. 2006-XXX

A RESOLUTION SETTING FORTH AN AMENDMENT TO PORTIONS OF THE MOHAVE COUNTY LAND DIVISION REGULATIONS. AS AMENDED. FOR THE UNINCORPORATED PARTS OF MOHAVE COUNTY. ARIZONA.

WHEREAS, at a meeting of the Mohave County Board of Supervisors held on XXXXXX, a public hearing was conducted to consider whether proposed amendments to the Mohave County Land Division Regulations should be approved, and,

WHEREAS, this amendment adds numerous provisions of the Land Division Regulations to meet A.R.S 11-809 of the Growing Smarter ACT, and

WHEREAS, this amendment compliments the public disclosure land affidavit for minor land divisions as required by A.R.S 33-422;and

WHEREAS, the notice of hearing was published in The Kingman Daily Miner, a newspaper of general circulation in Kingman, Mohave County, Arizona, XXXXXX, and posted on XXXXXXX, as required by Arizona Revised Statutes and the Mohave County Zoning Regulations. .

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Supervisors, at their special meeting on XXXX, Month DAY YEAR, APPROVED the attached Mohave County Ordinance No. 2006-xxx, an amendment to the Mohave County Land Division Regulations as outlined herein.

MOHAVE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

Pete Byers, Chairman

Barbara Bracken, Clerk

Chapter 7 MINOR LAND DIVISIONS

Ministerial Review – Parcel Plats

7.00 Minor Land Divisions

A. Purpose

To ensure that minor division of lands comply with applicable zoning regulations, have legal and physical access, necessary and appropriate utility easements and does not constitute a subdivision, it is necessary to establish an administrative review of all minor land divisions. This Section is intended to comply with the Growing Smarter and Growing Smarter Plus legislation adopted in 1998 and 2000, respectively.

B. Applicability

The provisions of this Section shall apply to land divisions of property located within the unincorporated territory of Mohave County.

C. Permit Required

No parcel of land may be divided into five or fewer separate parcels of land, any of which is ten acres or less, either by recordation of a contract of sale or deed of conveyance or by requesting a split of a tax assessor parcel unless a Land Division Permit, approved by the Director or designee, has first been issued.

D. Filing of Application

Any applicant proposing a land division as described in Section shall file a Land Division Permit application with the Director. Said application shall include a legal description of the existing parcel and legal descriptions of proposed parcels including access and utility easements.

The application shall include a survey map with dimensions showing existing and future parcel lines and all easements. The map shall be of a size and format acceptable to the County Recorder; i.e., 8-1/2 x 11, 8-1/2 x 14, or 18 x 24. The legal descriptions and the map shall be prepared by a registered professional land surveyor. This requirement may be waived by the Director in areas where aliquot parts are used and are deemed adequate.

E. Action of the Director

Upon receipt of a complete application, the Director shall approve or deny the Land Division Permit within 30 days. Approval shall be based on meeting all of the following findings:

1. The lots, parcels or fractional interests each meet the minimum applicable county zoning requirements of the applicable zoning designation.

2. The applicant provides a standard preliminary title report or other acceptable document that demonstrates legal access to the lots, parcels or fractional interests.

3. The applicant provides a statement from a licensed surveyor or engineer, or other evidence acceptable to the county, stating whether each lot, parcel or fractional interest has physical access that is traversable by a two-wheel drive passenger motor vehicle.

4. The applicant reserves the necessary and appropriate utility easements to serve each lot, parcel or fractional interest created by the land division.

5. Identify topographic, hydrologic or other site constraints, requirements or limitations that must be addressed as conditions to the eventual issuance of a building or use permit. These constraints, requirements or limitations may be as noted by the applicant or through county staff review, but there shall be no requirement for independent studies.

The County may not require a public hearing on a Land Division Permit application. The County may not deny a Land Division Permit application that meets the requirements of this Section or where the deficiencies are noticed in the deed(s). If review of the request is not completed within 30 days of receipt of a complete application, the land division shall be deemed approved.

F. Denial of Building Permit

An application to split a parcel of land that does not comply with one or more these items shall still be approved if the applicant provides an acknowledgment that is signed by the applicant and that confirms that no building or use permit will be issued by the County until the lot, parcel or fractional interest has met these requirements.

G. Waivers; Deficiencies Noted in Deed

Land divisions may be accomplished where the resulting parcels do not meet minimum county zoning requirements, where there is no legal access, or where the legal access does not allow access by emergency vehicles; however, such deficiencies are required to be noted in the deed(s).

F. Recordation of Land Division Permit

After approval of a Land Division Permit, it shall be recorded at the County Recorder’s Office along with any attached supplementary information. Recordation must occur within six months of approval by the Community Development Department, or approval shall lapse and become void. Digital submission of land division survey maps is required, if the maps are prepared by a surveyor.

H. Noticing of Access or Zoning Deficiencies

Deficiencies defined in this Section must be noticed in the deed(s), said noticing shall consist of a detailed description of the deficiency. For zoning deficiencies, the applicable Zoning and Development Code section(s) and the nature of the deficiencies shall be included.

I. Removal of Deficiencies from the Deed

If zoning or access deficiencies are corrected it shall be the responsibility of the property owner to remove the deficiencies, subject to review and approval by the Director prior to recordation.

J. Acting in Concert

It shall be unlawful for a person or group of persons acting in concert to attempt to avoid the provisions of this ordinance or subdivision laws of the State of Arizona by acting in concert to divide a parcel of land into six or more lots or sell or lease six or more lots by using a series of owners or conveyances. This prohibition may be enforced by the County Attorney’s Office or the Arizona Department of Real Estate, or both, pursuant to A.R.S. Title 32, Chapter 20.

ADOPTED ___ DAY OF October, 2006.

The county gets the final say (like they are looking for) on handing out building permits and the ability to put disclosures directly written on the property deed to shelter themselves from certainl legal matters. Yet the landowners still get to split their property to perhaps increase value (or to give it away to the in-laws). This resolution is a total win-win for the landowners and the county. The Board of Directors of the KGVAR have this resolution and are deciding whether or not to support it. I hope to get that support so as an Association we can take it to the public for their support.

This should be a no brainer and I'm asking landowners for support on this resolution to adopt the Arizona Revised Statutes 11-809 (Growing Smarter) legislation for the better of Mohave County.

Charts for the July 2006 report

Click on any chart for a better view

Once again the numbers for last month do not show steady improvement for the SFR market here in Kingman. I was very surprised at the decreased number of sales again this month. This marks the lowest volume in SFR sales since January of 2005 (67) and the only number lower in any month was February of 2004 (49).


I'm still getting the hang of working with the charts I'm creating, if there is other information you'd like to see leave me a comment.

The information I consider reliable that I research off of my current MLS only goes back to 2004 (of course when we were ramping up on the hot market). I still believe that other than the oversupply of listings that are available on the market today, that sales volume is in line with what we saw before 2004.


On the chart to the left I highlight the highest average price of sale for each year, and as you can see the current average price is as high as it's ever been. It did dip a bit earlier in the year but now I'm seeing more of a plateau. It wouldn't surprise me if it came down a bit by the end of the year though. In any case the average seller is not losing their shirt if they are selling this year.




This chart is a sales volume chart and I highlight the high and low volume figure for each year I have researched. This should be the strongest time of the year for sales based on the past two years but so far it has not panned out that way.

Buyers certainly have the power as of this moment and must feel like the only kid at Toys r Us being allowed any one toy of their choice. You know that kid would be going up and down each and every aisle, carefully weighing his or her decision. Probably going back and forth and comparing THE toy that would make them happy. And perhaps taking much longer to decide without other kids in the store pulling toys off the shelf and heading for the cash register.

Sellers right now are the Toys r Us store manager and they want to close up and go home.

Hopefully next month will be better, and perhaps my charts will better as well. As always this whole thing is a work in progress.

The data I use to make these reports comes from the KGVAR MLS. There is a reason our Association is partnering up with our neighboring Associations to merge into one data exchange. The reason is our current MLS could be alot better than it is right now. I consider the current data a decent reflection of the market... but it could be better. This data does not consider listing or sales information from sellers who represent themselves or any other transaction that does not get published on the KGVAR MLS database. The data search area only includes SFR's in the boundaries of the city of Kingman with the exception of Valle Vista, the Hualapai Mountain area, and North Kingman where many SFR's are typically found.

Locally, are we overpriced??

This article on CNN says that we are located in between two overpriced large markets (Phoenix and Las Vegas). Where does that leave us here in Mohave County?? The article mentions that the National Association of REALTORS has reported that nationally we are in a buyers market.

Kingman and Mohave County actually has many things going for it. It is located nearby a couple of metro area's. The Hoover Dam bypass is nearing completion making it easier to travel by vehicle to the great city of Las Vegas. State Highway 93 south towards Phoenix has been improved and widened in many more stretches of road, you aren't stuck behind an RV or semi tractor trailer for 30 miles at a time on your way to see the Cardinals play football this season (or whatever you may want to do in Phoenix).

Add to those facts that you pay considerably less per square foot for a single family home in Kingman than in either metro area and I have a feeling that if we are overvalued, we aren't as much as the Phoenix or Vegas areas.

But still the market is slower and softer, there is no denying it, than it was in 04 and 05. So are we overvalued?? We could be, the answer is in the eyes of the buyer right now though... clearly. And this article says the buyers have the power they haven't had in a few years, so what is your next move if you are a seller??

Real estate carnival is here...

I'm not sure if there is some secret handshake that I'm meant to learn, but I've been reading the carnival of real estate over the last few weeks and want to share it with the readers. Plenty of great information for the consumer and the professional alike. Click on the link and check it out.

There is one article that really was of interest to me in this weeks carnival. The subject is about buying homes from new builders. Now in Kingman there has been plenty of new construction sales over the past few years. I'm thankful for these builders because they have done a great job. I'm not saying that because I work for builders (as I've never represented a builder in a transaction), I just like the nice housing that is available in abundance.

Check out this article and understand some of the things you should be aware of when negotiating for that great new home.

Nothing is great...

No, no, no... this is not a negative outlook on the market. Just a follow up on last Friday. Nothing, actually doing nothing, was great. It was needed. I'm refocused. Just in time for my trip to Michigan at the end of the week.

I will post the sales numbers and charts this week, so hold on to your butts.

Trying something different today...

I think that I'm taking most of the day off today. Not that it's really anything new, I'm at my office right now doing some comparisons for a couple of clients, but what I'm going to attempt is to head home in awhile and really do nothing.

I take afternoons off to play golf, I don't work all that much on weekends unless I'm working with a client (although I do hit the office in the early morning to catch up on a few things). I do get time off to get out of town (Vegas or Phoenix weekends are common), but rarely do I do nothing.

There are days when there are Association meetings that take me away from my service to my clients, or hearing panels to attend, or something else related to the real estate business. So again I get plenty of time away, but I don't get all that much time (during normally perceived working hours) to do nothing.

Nothing is the key word today when I leave the office. Nothing. Nothing for a change.

Well, I'll probably organize the garage a bit... but to me that is nothing.

(watch... my cell rings off the hook today I bet)

How the market reacts...

Whether you are a buyer or a seller, you are always faced with reacting to the current state of the market. With the excess inventory of listings here in Kingman momentum has swung in favor of the buyer. However this market is not alone.

Here is a link to another blog that gives some perspective to how the buyer and seller should react currently. This is an excellent blog that has plenty of great information of his local area. I continue to work hard at bringing this level of quality information to this blog.

July's listing numbers report (2006)...

While I still have a beef over when to post sales for the previous month (due to tardy input into the MLS), I can post the listing and under contract information with more confidence.

Today total listings available for single family residence equals 768 (up from 701 at the start of July). 298 are new homes and 470 are existing homes on the market.

There were 173 new listings for the month of July (176 in June). 3 homes have already closed and 10 have contracts. The average asking price for these new listings is $248,605 (down from an unusually high number last month of $274,502) this figure is fairly consistent with the months prior to June (range $246K to $253k approx.). The median asking price is $219,900 (down from $235,450 -- again a skewed number in comparison to earlier months), this number matches the median asking price from February of this year.

83 new construction homes listed (average asking price of $243,557, median asking price $225000). 2 of these have closed already and 6 more are under contract.

90 existing homes listed (average asking price $253,149, median asking price $213,900). 1 of these has already closed and 4 more are under contract.

48 homes entered into contracts in the month of July (down from 54 in June). The average asking price for homes that received contracts was $212,516 (up from $206,872 in June) and the median asking price for July was $189,975 (down from $195,900 in June).

18 new construction homes entered into contract (average asking price $222,557, median asking price $192,975).

30 existing homes entered into contract (average asking price $206,492, median asking price $187,000).

The interesting number that jumped out at me this month was the decline of new listings of existing homes on the market (down from 115 to 90, the lowest total since February). Of course since the total numbers still looked the same, that was thanks to the increase in the number of new contruction listings (up from 61 to 83, the highest number this year). The average new construction listings for the year to date is 61 a month, the average existing listings to hit the market this year is 102 a month. You can see that these numbers were flipped in July.

I don't think this neccessarily points to a clear trend, but I hope the existing listings is the start of one. My feeling on the uptick in new construction listings is that there was a new impact fee for new contruction permits that took effect on July 1 of this year (I know because I paid it for my own new home project, I was about a week late getting everything together to avoid the fee). I'm guessing that many contractors pulled all the permits they could to avoid the new impact fee and perhaps the number will drop back to average over the next month or so.

I wish I knew how to post a spread sheet of this data in a clear an easy form for you all to read, but I'm stumped right now (I've produced on and it's real nice to look at, believe me). If anyone can help me figure this out I'd be greatful. I don't have a problem posting charts but I can't make a simple spread sheet appear.

Sales data for the month will be posted later this month (when I'm confident all the Members of the MLS have updated their listings LIKE THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO DO WHEN THE PROPERTY CLOSES).

The presentation I attended...

Was not a presentation. It was an open meeting at the Arizona Corporation Commission. I even was allowed to speak in front of the panel. Yeah, I was a bit intimidated and nervous, but it was important to let the panel know of the benefits to the local community and county a master planned community could bring.

More on this later, maybe there will be something in the media on this and I'll share it with you all then.

Lear Jets are fast...

Left early this morning for Phoenix and I'm already back (been back for a few hours catching up with clients and other business). Riding on this jet has spoiled me I must say. To drive to Phoenix from Kingman you are looking at nearly 3 hours. I've done this drive many times now and it gets better with road improvements all the time.

But 35 minutes trumps 3 hours.

I have been invited

I'm headed to Phoenix on Monday morning for a presentation. I don't really know much about what is being presented, I was invited to be at the small Kingman airport at 8:00am in the morning and that the developer Jim Rhodes is putting the whole thing together and has invited local business leaders to the function.

I'll be happy to report on what happens when I get back. Heck, I'm not even sure when I'm supposed to get back. See you on Tuesady... I hope.

An emotional market

I haven't heard of such things in this local market yet, but I do have a client that is very anxious to sell their home and I know their emotions are walking on egg shells right now. Here is a good article in the Arizona Republic that speaks to pressure and threats in their market.

Yeah, this isn't 2004 and 2005, this is a different market. Please feel free to talk to your representative openly about what is happening locally for sales. Keep in mind that homes and properties are selling but at a slower pace than I think we all got accustomed to. Clear communication is what you should expect from your agent.

Support for a new interchange on I-40

Click on image for larger view

Today I saw a report that was mailed out to various so-called Kingman Leaders (I failed to get on this mailing list, however). One of the very interested participants in the Kingman Crossing subdivision seems to be butting heads with the new city council and mayor over building a new interchange (that is desperately needed) along Interstate 40 here in Kingman.

There has long been talk locally about some new commercial projects that are meant to come to this community. In the report I saw those commercial projects would include retail stores, office space, and even a multiplex theater (I've yet to see a movie in the existing theater in Kingman since I moved here in 2000). It's not real difficult to believe that we are in need of such projects. Kingman only collects sales tax for tax revenue (actually, they recently started collecting impact fees for new construction projects to add to various funds). Kingman, as it stands right now, is sort of tapped out of good locations for such projects.

What needs to happen in order to create more needed commercial space is an interchange and this is an ideal place for one. Our main commercial street right now is Stockton Hill. You will find grocery stores, hardware stores, car lots, Super Wal-Mart, dining, Home Depot, other retail shops, and business offices all up and down from north to south along this street. As a result, traffic can be difficult because Stockton Hill basically takes you to and from home as well. I'd say a majority of residents use Stockton Hill everyday. (You would also catch the Interstate via Stockton Hill so even folks passing through would likely be on this main road)

Kingman has open spaces to the east. We can't develop west because of mountains, going north will likely be fine SOME DAY but the further north you go the further you are away from access to I-40. The south has issues with mountains as well. But to the east? Lots of open space and heck, I-40 all the way out to the horizon.

Fellow citizens of this area we need to let our city council, mayor, and city manager know how important this interchange will be for the smarter growth patterns this city is in dire need of. The city can sell their piece south of the Interstate and fetch a pretty penny (or lease it, or be a partner, just so many possibilities). The ease of traffic problems along Stockton Hill should be enough reason to support such an endeavor. This would help tie the four quadrants of the community together nicely, plus add jobs and sales tax. The private sector has pledged half the costs associated with making this possible. This should be this current administrations number one priority for city planning this term.

Please support this, let our city government leaders know how you feel on this issue. It's time to make some noise here locally.

I have to admit...

I've been reading some bad news about the real estate markets from incredibly negative resources, such as bubble blogs. The folks who are discussing matters on those such sites really have it out for the real estate biz (including mortgage lenders, appraisers, and builders... not to mention realtors). Lot's of doom and gloom. Couple this with the lousy numbers from charts I've been posting has led me to a less than stellar attitude on occasion.

Lately I've made it a point to seek out other avenues of information to bring some balance in my outlook. Here is an article from the Realty Times that I found while visiting another great and informative blog (BloodhoundBlog).

Part of my poor attitude probably comes from the fact that I've only been in the business since 2001 and I've never been through any other kind of market than what appeard to be a strong one that led us into a rip roaring one over the 2004 to 2005 time frame. Also, my local Association's MLS service only has reliable information on sales going back to 2004. I remember 2001 through 2003 just fine but I can't put my memories into charts and present the information. This is one real slight I have against our Association is the poor managment of records. Even still to this day we do not report on sale information for historica perspective. I've only become interested in it recently myself (which led me to produce this blog to share the information I am mining). Oh I'm sure there are other ways to obtain this information but honestly I don't have the time with all of my other duties to clients and family.

I guess my point is that the current market feels like it did before 2004. I remember clearly going to listing clients and asking for extensions on their listing agreements because their property hadn't sold to that point. Still, as a newbie, I was still making sales and obtaining clients... just like today.

I'm not thinking this market is crashing at all (not that I thought it ever really would), but instead it's turning into a more normal market. Kingman still has plenty of maturing to do while on it's growth spurt, and I still believe that this city will be the third largest city in the state of Arizona down the road (I consider all of the Phoenix area together including budding cities like Glendale and Chandler, no we may not have a larger population than those suburbian cities).

I'm chalking up the first half of this year as a valuable learning experience in my young career. It's going to help me be a better professional. The same is going to be said for other quality realtors who've come into this market since I have.

I'm meeting-ed out

Many of you may not know that besides my profession as a realtor, I'm also serving this year as Association president for the local Kingman/Golden Valley Association of REALTORS. This means that I am volunteering quite a bit of my time to the operation of the local Association.

Monday morning I attended a bylaws meeting to ask the committee to come up with some changes for a special election to alter our Association elections, and to do this change for this year. See locally we have agreed with the other regional Associations (of Lake Havasu City and Bullhead City) to merge our MLS's. Currently the Associaiton has an executive position called the MLS president, but when all goes well with the merger there won't be a need for the MLS president (the MLS president is also the Association vice president). So I've asked the committee to adapt a position of President Elect, like most other Associaitons have. I'm happy to say that committee Chairperson Yvonne Reil (a frequent reader of this site) worked hard and put this together in time for the monthly Board of Directors meeting today (more on that later). The committee also added some requirements to serve on the Board, and changed the petition rule to hopefully create more interest from the Members to perhaps run in the elections for the positions available. Okay, that was Monday.

Tuesday morning I held the introductory component of the Association orientation for new Members. Had roughly 40 newbies in the audience (and probably put 25 of them to sleep at times). I believe this is the eighth time I've conducted this portion of the orientation and as always I'm looking to improve the presentation each time. However, at some point another Member is going to have to take over this duty. The application process is easy, please contact me if interested.

Wednesday morning we hold the MLS meeting at our board office and usually the MLS president presides over the meeting. However she (Rita Zumwalt -- oh and Rita get a website that I can link to) is on vacation and I was asked to run the meeting. I wore a hawaiian shirt (I need to pick up dry cleaning like real soon) as it was going to be rather hot that day. Of course I'm the only one in attendance wearing such a shirt and opened my comments after the pledge of allegiance by saying, "Alright, who is the wise guy that emailed me to say that today was hawaiian day?" I love starting that meeting off with something silly to say just to break up the morning a bit. There are so many new faces at the MLS meetings now (our Association has 512 agent Members now, up from 112 when I started in 2001), so when I call on someone to speak of their new listings I don't always know their names and honestly haven't mastered the art of remembering their names. I'm losing touch with my constituency.

Finally this morning, the Board of Directors meeting. The MLS committee Chair, Wayne Wissenger, started it off (before I called the meeting to order) by showing us some great innovations with Mohave County's GIS mapping program. It's the simple things that I can't believe I miss out on, he did a couple of clicks and I realized that I've been making that mapping program alot harder to use than it actually is. I started the meeting after his presentation, it's nice to see faces in the audience, even it's mostly committee members who are there to give their reports. Serving on the Board since 2002, I've been begging other Members to attend these meetings and only a few times did we ever get people there. There have been a few exceptions (like when we are proposing what some think are drastic changes), but for the most part... no one but us volunteer Directors.

I'm happy to say that the Association has seen an obvious interest coming from the Members now and I hope it continues well into the future. The time is now to make our Association better than it ever has been and I believe there is enough talented Members to see to this goal.

While I'm indeed meeting-ed out this week, I'm incredibly proud of the Members that serve on the Board with me this year. It has been a total pleasure (and heck I still have 5 plus months to go as president. I'm also proud to see the committees stay as active as they have been. It was my number one goal this year to make committee involvement happen. There is still plenty of room for improvement but this current Board owes alot of gratitude to the committees.

Thanks for letting me ramble on. Looking at my calendar.. no meeting's for me on the schedule. Now maybe I can get some more clients to serve. Yeah, that'd be nice.

Just saying...

For those of you who have stopped by this place for a look around, please be patient as I'm still trying to get a handle on how the whole 'blog' thing works. For the many years I've been reading blogs I've noticed many high quality sites and I'm sure it took time to get there. I'm really enjoying my blog so far for personal satisfaction and hope that I too will have a high quality site.

I'm a younger person (35) and can't believe how much stuff passes me by in regards to technology. Like this html stuff, I'm sure it's easy to figure out (and I will have to) but until recently I didn't need it. Now I'm sorta lost. Not just computer stuff either, I had to have one of my wifes son's come to the house and hook up the new stereo receiver to the TV and other components. I think there should be a class at the community college for this kind of stuff.

I did figure out my wifes new Ipod and made it work... but honestly that wasn't that tough.

What's the value of professional experience?

I've been busy checking out other real estate blogs for content idea's and ran across this article. The few articles that I have read have blown me away so far. I'll be adding this blog to my links. I hope you enjoy.

Update: Link to article should be fixed now. Thanks Troy.

Interesting article

I just recently found this blog and wanted to share this article from it. Maybe you find yourself in one of these situations and this article expresses some options you have.

Monthly Numbers Report

Eh... Not so good this month.

At the beginning of the month there were 701 single family homes listed on the MLS in the data search area I report on. That is an amazing number for this growing community. 255 of those listings were of the new/never lived in variety, i.e. new home construction. The remaining 446 were existing homes for resale.

Inventory continues to go up and sales have slowed. The news isn't all that great for next month either I'm affraid as there were only 54 homes under contract in the month of June. I still say that the price point is too high on the asking side. I believe there are buyers in the area, but these buyers are not the investors... they left the party late last year. Buyers are being careful as to not buy today at higher prices only to watch the value of their new home go down in the coming months.

If you are thinking of selling the price point is the biggest factor you have to consider. Apparently the many people who continue to list at even higher prices haven't caught on as of yet.

This chart looks at the monthly numbers of new listings and sold homes for the months during 2006. Click on the chart for a larger view.


The chart below looks at the average asking price vs. the average sales price per unit. Once again click for a larger view.



The numbers lead us to think that this is not the very best time to be buying property. Buyers are faced with a double edged sword with interest rates moving upward. Yes be aggressive and try for a better deal in price when entering negotiations, but keep in mind that with rising rates that at whatever price you land on the mortgage payment factor is rising.

Buy a home today if you are in the market for a place to reside in. Don't buy today if you are investing unless you come across a great deal. I suspect the market will continue to be like this at least through the end of the year. Hopefully prices reduce a bit after investors who were 'flipping' properties are out of the market.

Buyers... be aggresive at the bargaining table. Sellers... be forward thinking, research your market and price accordingly.

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Spoke to Group In Golden Valley on Saturday

I was invited to speak to a group in Golden Valley, it was a meeting for the Western States Alliance. They wanted me to speak in regards to the proposed land split matrix that I have been posting about for a few weeks now.

I want to thank Val Starr and Lou Tranka for allowing me to participate, and to Donna Crouse for getting me involved.

There are plenty of issues that face the residents of Golden Valley and sometimes they questioned me on some things that did not pertain to the subject I was there for. All in all though it was a great experience for me and I hoped that I helped put things into better perspective. County Supervisor Tom Sockwell was also in attendance and was peppered with some things outside of the matrix.

Board of Supervisors Meeting Today...

Well, I was told that the 'marix' would be taken off the agenda -- but it wasn't. I had to scramble down to the meeting and there were plenty of people there for and against the 'matrix' to my surprise.

I think we are in for a fight on this one. I saw many of the same anti-growth people in attendance who spoke in favor of the 'matrix' that I've seen speak out against new developments all over Mohave County. I don't think these people get it, if they get the new matrix passed the threat of more people moving into the area will increase because the matrix, as written, favors large developers who will file public reports with the state of Arizona and go to the county supervisors and get their developments passed.

Allowing land splits the way they are handled today would mean that value of property would continue to rise and if a developer wanted to buy property to develop, they'd have to acquire those properties from many more private holders of property that is increasing in value.

I'll just use the simple example of an owner with 40 acres in an area that is zoned for 10 acre minimum lots. If the matrix is passed and the 40 acre owner cannot split his property into 10 acres because his/her property doesn't have electric service or an agreement with a utility company to provide service at their expense, then chances are that the only entity that would be able to would be large developers. Large developers would then rezone the land for a higher density of residences. Allowing the 40 acre owner to split the property into four parcels and sell them would create four land owners, and the probablility of increased value of property. Now if a developer wants the property in that location they'd have to negotiate with not one owner, but four and would have to shell out more investment.

The choice is clear for those anti growth folks, do you want to see 4 landowners or would you rather see the prospect of 60 to 100 homes being built in the area (or more)??

I've said in the media that this 'matrix' isn't about realtors, it's about private land owners and their rights. This isn't about making money for realtors, it's about the right for a land owner to buy and sell property. During the comments in front of the Supervisors one person said that those people who are against the proposed 'matrix' are only opposed to it because of money. Nope. Opposed to it for private property rights.

The anti-growth faction of this community is unstable and in error on this issue. Many seem as if they want no one else to move into this area. If that is so, they need to buy more property to buffer them from the growth that is coming to Mohave County.

Back From Lake Tahoe

A few photo's I took while away. Had fun, didn't get to play golf, but did plenty of walking around (plenty for me, my wife can walk and hike all day long -- I just can't keep up).

I promised numbers when I got back. Being that the first few days of this month was a holiday, I'm sure the sold data will continue to trickle in late, so I'll post charts and numbers early next week in hopes for more accurate data. So far though, the numbers do not look promising. I will report that there are 701 listings for single family residences on the market found in my data search area. That's up from 617 last month. You have plenty to choose from if you are looking to buy in this market. Now if only the sellers will make you a deal...

Posting will be light

I'm heading to Lake Tahoe for the long weekend. I'll be posting numbers from last month when I return.

Have a safe 4th of July weekend. Thanks for stopping by.

Update On Land Split Matrix

I've heard from multiple people now that the 'Matrix' is being taken off the agenda for the next meeting on the 10th.

I want to thank the hundreds of people that I have heard from on this issue. Many of them have contacted the Supervisors to voice their opinion and I think they've been heard. We have to keep our eye on the ball though to make sure this matrix isn't quietly brought before them and passed.

In The News Again

For the same thing basically as I linked to yesterday with the Supervisor answering back.

This time it's in the newspaper here.

Press Release From County Supervisor

I'm linking this here for all of you to take a look at.

Like I've said before, I don't want to be Mr. Popular or anything, but I think it was time to shed some light on what the county was considering for approval for minor land divisions.

Here is a link to the matrix.

A couple of things. First of all, this is not the realtors fight. This issue will affect property owners throughout the county. I've been taking phone calls from landowners that live in other states since the article in the local paper came out. Most folks want more information on the proposal that the Supervisors are considering... and they are calling ME for that information. To me that is the disconnect with this issue. Landowners from out of state and local landowners simply were not noticed and have very little knowledge of the plan.

Second, in the farther out area's in the county there is plenty of private land. The land is assesed and taxes are collected. This benefits the county, doesn't it? Yes there are people who live in remote area's, but those people chose to live out there and many were the first people who became residents. These people knew in advance that there may not have been electricity to their property line, their property may not have been in a fire district, and may not have had the most accessible roads. It wasn't like there were hundreds or thousands of people living around them who suddenly left the area leaving a ghost town.

Mr. Byers is hoping for an alternative plan that us realtors will come up with. The only real alternative is to adopt the Growing Smarter legislation that was passed at the state level like other counties in Arizona have. This is the legal way for the county to go about addressing the issues they face.

Otherwise, the county might expect landowners to challenge the county in court, which is no benefit to me a property tax paying resident of Mohave County.

There will be more on this issue I'm sure. If you are a local landowner please come to the next Supervisors meeting on July 10th at 9:30am to at least hear more about how this issue may affect you. Oh and feel free to support other landowners in their quest to defeat the proposed minor land division matrix.

Interesting Local Builder Quote

Linn said he is weathering a downturn by cutting overhead and not building inventory.

“This thing got so crazy this last year, that people were selling houses making a $100,000, on average trying to make $60,000, they’re going to have to come off that. And the builder that doesn’t discount, if it makes it look like I’m going bust because I would discount, that’s wrong too. It just needs to get back to a normal deal,” he said.

The article comes from the local paper and you can read the story here.

The blurb here is interesting because I think he is smart to avoid building more inventory at a time when there is so much to choose from currently on the market. My previous reports have shown that 40% of the homes on the current market are brand new never lived in homes, i.e. new construction.

Yep the building biz has been very good to many builders in recent years. Interesting to note that this builder is willing to discount the price to sell off his inventory, this is the same strategy that I've been offering prospective sellers in this market. If Ron Linn is still doing well by selling at a lower price, I bet owner occupied sellers can do well also.

Seems as we are heading for a normal market again.

In The News...

Now I've done it for sure. Last week was a busy week for me, the Association called out to the media and had a press conference on the subject of the proposed land split matrix that the county is considering approval.

You can read more about that here.

Also, in another story you'll see some more quotes from yours truly about the current market in Kingman. You can also read that here.

And if you are listening to local radio today you'll get to hear my voice, a couple of radio news outlets are also running this story about the land split matrix. I'm probably using up all of my fifteen minutes of fame, at least it is for something positive instead of negative.

Mohave County P&Z Land Split Matrix Proposal...

Do you own a 5 acre parcel of land in Mohave County? Maybe you are thinking about it? Well you should know that the Planning and Zoning Commission has put together a new matrix for land splits that they would like to see approved by the County Supervisors.

If you did have that 5 acre parcel and thought of splitting it into 2 or more, you should know that your property would have to have; not only a private maintained road but a public mantained roadway passable by 2 wheel drive vehicle, access to electric service or an agreement with a utility company to extend service at YOUR cost, and the property would have to be within a Fire District.

Basically you'd have to come up with plenty of costs to qualify your property to split the property and sell it. Any wonder what that might do to land prices? Well if the property isn't already close to such amenities it would render the property unmarketable. This matrix, if approved, would only benefit larger land developers. Land developers who would be able to aquire large amounts of land for little cost from the land owner, maybe that land owner is you.

Make your voice heard on this, tell your county supervisor that you would not support such a matrix. Let them know that the county has no legal authority under the Growing Smarter or any other state legislation to implement such restrictions.

Local advice for sellers

Just to give any potential seller an update on this local market, please consider what I have to say.

Sales in this market are still good, the pace picked up again last month but it still lags compared to last year at this time. Plus there are many more listings for single family homes on the current market than before.

Last year, and parts of the year before, this market was besieged with investor buyers who were putting alot of pressure on the market. Residential buyers were having a hard time finding a residence to purchase because there were hardly any listings to choose from. As a result, prices began to rise and have continued to do so. But now buying at current prices doesn't make sense for the investor, so the pressure that they put on the market is gone. It's good news for those residential buyers who plan to upgrade to a bigger home or for the buyer who is relocating to the Kingman area.

Residential buyers are still active in the market today, but have many choices now and are taking their time in making a final decision to purchase. One way to lure those buyers is to place your home on the market for less than the average listing price. Face it, folks still like to make a deal and now have negotiating power that they didn't have last year.

I know your home is better than the home your neighbor sold 6 months ago and feel that you should get more in price than they did, but if you choose this path you will see your home sit on the market for alot longer than you might imagine. Ask your REALTOR for the average price of sold homes that compare to yours from at least six months ago. You may be surprised to see that it's not much less than the average prices today, but it is low enough to make sure your home gets many more looks from buyers in the market right now.

Bottom line is that you probably will have to make some concessions in the current market, and price is the easiest and least painful one to make. If you bought your home in 2004 or before you likely have had the value of your home increase 50% at todays average selling price. Don't be affraid to cut into that percentage a little to sell your home.

I'm posting these GIS maps to help you better understand my local market and from where I do my data research that I share with you.

First, below is a Mohave County and as you can see the purple area is basically the reach of the Association I belong to. Apparently it also includes Colorado City with I think doesn't show on the map. It is even further to the north.

My fellow REALTORS in my local Association have quite a diverse landscape for doing business. Of course most of this area is undeveloped land. But there are many folks who will call a REALTOR to either help them find or sell a home or property in these far reaching places. Some REALTORS even specialize in the far off communities.



Now on this map below I've circled the area's from which my data searches come from. As you can see I pull the information from a much smaller land area than what my local Association covers. Are there SFR's outside of these circled area's? Yes for sure there are. However there are many different factors that make including these places difficult when it comes to comparisons. For example some that live in fine SFR's outside my search area are on multiple acres with or without fencing, with or without other improvements like barns and corrals for animals or multi car garage's or workshops. Still others live off the grid and generate their own power, while some drill for wells while others have water delivered to them. Just too many variables for me to include.



The map below show the city boundaries of Kingman in yellow. I include the area in purple because it is so close to Kingman and there are plenty of SFR's. An area that locals call Butler falls in this purple area. Butler is probably 80% mobile homes on about 5,000 square foot lots. In that area there are SFR's and this area probably has the least expensive homes found on my searches. Well this area and old downtown area that is the southwestern most area in the yellow area.

However, also in the purple area is a very successful subdivision known as Chaparal Mesa. The average price of homes in that area is around $220,000 and many listings and sales happen in that subdivision on a monthly basis.


Finally on the map below is a closer look at Valle Vista. Another subdivision I include on my data searches. It's all SFR out there. That subdivision has water, power, and phone service but not gas or cable. Still it is another popular area with many transactions each month that reflect what I consider good data to include.



I hope these maps have helped you get a bit more familiar with the area I live and work in.

More charts...

I have so much fun with these things now that I finally figured out how to use the chart feature on Excel. Just click on these to see a larger view.




You'll easily see that prices continue to go up, but after looking at the chart below I think you will understand which direction prices will go next.


I'll just say that if you are thinking of selling today you may want to consider placing your home on the market for less that what everyone else is. As noted before on this blog, property value has skyrocketed in this market the past couple of years at least. If you are thinking of adding to the blue line above and want to end up on the orange line, price point will have to be your biggest decision.

My hope is that any downturn we see in price in this market is a slight correction and not a crash. However it may end up being a crash if sellers continue to ask for more and more as each month passes.

Preliminary numbers for May 2004

Really more of the same continues from the past few months.

All numbers are for single family residences (SFR's) taken from new and existing home listings and sales within the city limits of Kingman and includes data from county area's such as north Kingman and the Valle Vista subdivision that sit outside the city limits.

There are now 617 listings for SFR's on the market.

153 new SFR listings hit the market in May 2004.
59 units are brand new homes.

Average price for new listings in May is $255,703.
Median price for new listings in May is $226,950.

68 SFR's were sold in the area studied in May 2004
30 of those were brand new homes.

Average price for sold homes in May 2004 was $215,201
Median price for sold homes in May 2004 was $189,900

There is a total of 175 SFR's under contract currently.
68 SFR's went under contract in May 2004.

I'll never be confused with a math guru but by my calculations there is at least a 9 month supply of inventory of the area's that I took the data from. Prices hold up to a 6 month inventory, or so I've read, but prices should fall when there is a larger than 6 month inventory. I haven't seen the average price or the median price fall accordingly as of yet. I'll post some updated charts on prices and unit sales in a bit.

Someone tell me what they think of this market and what we should expect in the coming months. It's perfectly fine to leave your comments.

Memorial Day..

In my recent trip to DC I was able to take some shots like these. At the time I wasn't even thinking of Memorial Day. Today I am though. This weekend is not just three days off from work. With many brave and honorable soldiers serving our country all over the world today we must not forget the sacrifice they make for us.

A big thank you to all that have served us and who are continuing to serve this great country.

I've been to DC a couple of times to see these monuments and the Korean War Monument is my favorite. Those soldiers in the field in all of their gear... something about it stir's me when I am there. However, each time I started the walk along the Wall at the Vietnam War Memorial I can't help to get choked up a bit as I walk along. The wall becomes larger vertically and when you start to see the names multiply in front of you... it's moving.

This is my simple tribute to all the brave men and women in the armed forces. It simply won't ever be enough.

Thank you.

Average Price Chart

Look at the chart above closley. Notice that the average price went up from 2004 to 2005 30%. Then you'll see a 15% rise from 2005 through the first four months of 2006. I'm guessing the 2006 average will come down more by the end of the year.

Why? Because there is plenty of homes on the market right now that aren't selling. I think the key for you if you are planning to sell is to place your property on the market for less than the current average price for a similar home to yours. No not down to the 2005 level, but you should expect less than maybe what your neighbors got last year at the peak. Still, if you bought your home in 2004 or before, you've done pretty well.

It is always my stance that your residence should not be considered an investment, I believe it acts more as a liability. Many so called experts are saying the end is near in the real estate market. I do think we are in for some tougher times, but if you had to sell your home today and you purchased it in before 2004 you will still come away with a nice proceed at closing.

While the pressure from investors is leaving the market, there will still be pressure from people who will be relocating to this area. I am not a market guru and don't pretend to be, but I still see a positive market for sellers just not at the same rate we've seen over the last couple of years.

please note that the figures for 2006 are based only on the first four months of this year, the average could be less by the end of the year with softening prices due to an abundance of SFR's on the market currently.

These numbers reflect sales of SFR's in the city limits of Kingman but include north Kingman and Valle Vista which are outside the city limits.

Pity

While I was away in DC the local elections in Kingman for mayor and council took place. During the primaries only 3800 or so folks bothered to show up to vote (there are about 13,000 registered voters). I thought for sure that we'd see a dramatic increase in turnout for the general election. Didn't happen. Only 4200 folks managed to take the 15 minutes out of their day. Sad really.

My candidates did not win, but this isn't the problem. The apathy shown by the voters who bothered to register in the first place is the problem. I'll use the rest of my time as president of my local realtor association to promote voting. We simply cannot leave the future of this city in the hands of a small minority of people any longer.

Fellow residents of Kingman should be embarrassed about the turnout to vote. We are still a very small community and actually can make a difference with our voting power.

Been in DC for the past week

Blogging was slow last week because I was in Washington DC for the REALTOR Midyear Legislative Mettings & Trade Expo. Had a nice walk from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial then back to catch a Metro train to my hotel. My feet hurt by the end and I got rained on. Living in Arizona I am not equipped with an umbrella and did not even wear my Phillies cap.

Saw the WWII Memorial for the first time and snapped the photo on top.

More blogging this week. I promise.

Perception, Sometimes

My sister in Hawaii sent me an email with the following photo's and I wanted to share them with you.

Your House

As seen through your eyes...






As seen through the buyers eyes...







As seen through your lenders eyes...







As seen through your appraisers eyes...






And finally as seen through your tax assessors eyes...





Yeah, it does feel like this doesn't it at times??

The State of the Bubble in Kingman

I've been reading a ton of sites with good and alarming information. There is plenty of stuff online that anyone can find about the real estate bubble and the panic that surrounds it.

I can't control the market, no one can. My hope is that all of you who have bought homes in the recent past (for living in) did so on locked rate mortgages. I've never sold a home to a family for a residence on anything other than a locked rate mortgage. I have had investors use creative financing on their property that they intended for rentals, but I also trust that those investors know what they are doing to a larger degree.

Interest rates are rising again and I read that folks who used a lending program such as an adjustable rate mortgage are now feeling the squeeze as their monthly payments are rising much faster and sooner than they thought they might. Key here is that this is what I'm reading, this is not something that any clients have told me about. Feel free to add your comments if you are experiencing this kind increase in your monthly payment.

On another note, I recently figured out how to do charts on Excel spreadsheets and have put together a chart to share with you. The chart below is a look at single family residence (SFR's) sales monthly going back to January of 2004.



For clarification, the data comes from SFR's that were sold only within the city limits of Kingman with the exeption of the north Kingman area (that includes a popular subdivision called Chaparel Mesa) and Valle Vista that are not within the city limits. These exceptions were included because these area's have many SFR sales each month. The data does not include mobil homes, multi-family homes, commercial property, or land purchases. I run this data set each month and have been doing so since the year 2004.

2004 and 2005 were considered barnburner years in this community. As you can see the number of units seller per month is declining so far this year and now we are below the level of sales compared to the previous two years. It will be interesting to see if in May the numbers start to go back up or not like the trend was in 04 and 05.

I'll update this chart again, and post other charts showing the trends of prices as well in upcoming posts.

What Did Les Have To Say?

I love politics and discussing them, however I'm not trying to make this blog poltical. However, last night there was a candidates forum at the Mohave County Community College and both council candidates and one mayoral candidate showed up. Where was the other candidate?

I've already made up my mind who I'm going to vote for in the mayor's election, but I think it would have been nice to hear from Les Byram (the candidate that no showed). I seriously don't know what platform he is running on. My perception is no growth for the city. It would have been nice to hear from him and his plans going forward for this growing city.

It's also my understanding that Les won't be showing up at another event where the candidates were invited to participate in. Makes me wonder if his heart is really in this race, or better yet, is his heart in the right place for the city of Kingman.

I wish all the candidates the best of luck for the May 16th elections.

April Numbers

Here is an update on the real estate market in the Kingman area for April of 2006. All numbers are for single family residences within the Kingman city limits and taken from the local MLS.

There are currently 604 listings on the market, average listing price is $253,039, median price is $227,950.

There are 187 homes that are currently under contract. The average price for a home that went under contract in April was $215,585, and the median price was $184,900.

62 homes were sold in April, average sales price was $192,107, median price was $182,450.

Of the number of active listings, 226 of them are brand new homes. This trend is steady. Of the new homes sold most are in the $165,000 to $190,000 range.

I'm telling my selling clients that they shouldn't expect to sell their home this year at 2005 price levels, or at least not to expect the continuation of the metoric rise in values to continue. This market is due to adjust similar to the way the Las Vegas and Phoenix markets started to towards the end of last year. There are still plenty of buyers coming into this market, but now there are many more options for those buyers. Options include getting a better price. Sellers will have to be more competitive than they had to be last year.

Looking ahead I still see this market gaining value in the coming years, however it will be a slower rise in values and it may dip somewhat this year. Kingman will continue to grow as there will be more job opportunites coming to the area and the climate is ideal for new retiree's. New home developments are still on schedule to begin with those ideas in mind.