Utah County Homes for Sale - Offer pricing factors There are many factors to consider when you are trying to determine what price to offer for a new Utah County Home.  Gathering and analyzing information form comparable sales helps to establish the range of prices you should consider.  More weight should be given to the most recent sales of like properties in the local area.  Other factors to consider include condition of the property, improvements, the current market, and the circumstances behind the seller's decision to sell. Search Utah MLS Listings Utah County Real Estate  Utah County Homes  Utah Homes For Sale  Provo Real Estate WS  Orem Real Estate WS  Utah Homes 4 Sale  Alpine Real Estate  Alpine Real Estate  Cedar Hills Real Estate   Highland Real Estate  Eagle Mountain Real Est... 02/17/2010

Looking to increase the energy efficiency of your new townhome in Draper, Utah. Are your Questar gas bills through the roof? Let Alamo Infrared Energy Audits and Home Inspections inspect and evaluate your Utah area home or business. Our modern equipment can evaluate and determine the air tightness of your new home. Leaky windows and doors as well as missing or insufficient insulation can only be detected using high performance blower doors and infrared cameras. For more information visit our website:  www.utahenergyaudit.com  www.umrt.com Alamo Infrared is the oldest and largest energy auditor for homes, businesses and government buildings in the Rocky Mountain West. 02/13/2010

Sell Your Utah County Home Before You Buy a New One When it comes time to purchase a new Utah County Home, the question always comes up, should I sell my old home before I buy the new one?  Depending on your credit situation and your ability to qualify for two loans, this question could be easily resolved.  We will assume you have excellent credit and can do whatever you please.  It is always better to have your present home sold before you make an offer on the new home.  If you have an offer with a contingency of selling the old home, the seller will be less likely to accept the offer or allow better terms.  You will always be in a better bargaining position if you were able to move in without delay.  Credit terms on you new loan will also be better based on you living in the new home ... 02/09/2010

Over the past ten years, Draper Real Estate went from selling under 500 homes to selling close to 1,000 homes to selling just under 700.  Draper homes sold prices increased steadily for several years then took a drop.  Currently, the median price of homes is in the low 300s.  The decrease in price over the past few years may have something to do with the fact that the number of sold homes in Draper increased last year. 02/09/2010

Looking to increase the energy efficiency of your existing home in the Centennial Heights area of Draper, Utah? Are your Questar gas bills through the roof? Let Alamo Infrared Energy Audits and Home Inspections inspect and evaluate your Draper area home or business. Our modern equipment can evaluate and determine the air tightness of your new home. Leaky windows and doors as well as missing or insufficient insulation can only be detected using high performance blower doors and infrared cameras. For more information visit our website:  www.utahenergyaudit.com  www.umrt.com Alamo Infrared is the oldest and largest energy auditor for homes, businesses and government buildings in the Rocky Mountain West. 02/02/2010

While doing an infrared thermal imaging scan of a homes plumbing system, this one photo really surprised me at what I discovered. It took me a second to realize the stainless steel back splash was reflecting my image back along with the heated plumbing. Pretty Cool - eh? 01/30/2010

Apa Sherpa is the only man in history to reach the top of the world 19times. As the world record holder of the most summits of Everest, Apa iswidely recognized to be one of the greatest living mountaineers. Apa and his family have moved to Utah for business opportunities and toprovide a better education for his children. I had the opportunity toperform the inspection on their new home this week. What an incredibleexperience it was listening to him describe his summits to the top of theworld 19 times. What a motivated human being! Apa is leaving Utah in March to prepare for another world record - his 20thsummit to the top of the 29,035 foot mountain. Read more about Apa: http://climbing.about.com/b/2009/06/17/apa-sherpa-reaches-mt-everest-summit-for-record-19th-time.htm http://en.wikiped... 01/30/2010

Utah County Mortgages and Getting the Best Rate As a Utah County Home Buyer, it only makes sense to try and get the lowest rate possible when obtaining a Home Loan.  After all, the rate is the primary factor in determining your house payment.  But how do you get a low rate when applying for a home loan?  This is the primary question that most home buyers want to know.  I would like to explain some important ideas that you need to keep in mind. Credit Score One of the primary factors in helping to determine your interest rate is your credit score and financial history.  In other words the best interest rates are usually reserved for those with the highest credit score.  So if you credit score is not very high the chance of getting a lower interest rate is not very good.  It is very impor... 01/27/2010

We need Positive Price Action to confirm market bottom.  One month of price improve isn't sufficient to confirm the market bottom.  We need to see appreciation month over month for three months. PRICE ACTION   Other good signs in addition to positive price action is lower DOM (days of the market), lower new listingsand higher percent of new listings being SOLD.    SUMMARY Currently we are not seeing the needed positive price action (along with other indicators) to confirm a market bottom.  This is NOT a good time for those with low and/or no risk tolerance to purchase.  High and medium risk tolerant investors are making buying decisions and are doing some bottom fishing.  Some are trying to time the market and market timing is risky.  Trying to time the bottom is not for the inexperienc... 01/26/2010

Looking for an energy efficient home in the Draper Heights neighborhood in Draper, Utah? Let Alamo Infrared Energy Audits and Home Inspections inspect and evaluate your new home. Our modern equipment can evaluate and determine the air tightness of your new home. Leaky windows and doors as well as missing or insufficient insulation can only be detected using high performance blower doors and infrared cameras. For more information visit our website:  www.utahenergyaudit.com Alamo Infrared is the oldest and largest energy auditor for homes, businesses and government buildings in the Rocky Mountain West. 01/24/2010

Utah Home Buyer Representation - Buyer Agent vs. Seller Agent During the past 25 or so years, Utah County Home Buyers have been able to choose between Buyer agents or the Sellers agent representing the Seller, to buy a home from. Many buyers didn't even know that they could use a buyer agent or even if they were available. Most home buyers assumed the agent showing the home represented them. Seller agents were obligated to represent the seller's interest unless they had a separate written agreement with the buyer to represent them. The FTC did a study of the Real Estate brokerage industry in 1983 and determined that most home buyers actually thought that the Real Estate agent showing them homes was working in their best interest, the vast majority were wrong. The FTC started putting pre... 01/20/2010

Looking for an energy efficient home in Draper, Utah? Let Alamo Infrared Energy Audits and Home Inspections inspect and evaluate your new home. Our modern equipment can evaluate and determine the air tightness of your new home. Leaky windows and doors as well as missing or insufficient insulation can only be detected using high performance blower doors and infrared cameras. For more information visit our website:  www.utahenergyaudit.com Alamo Infrared is the oldest and largest energy auditor for homes, businesses and government buildings in the Rocky Mountain West. 01/14/2010

Utah County Short Sale What is a Utah County Short Sale? With the present Utah County Real Estate market in turmoil and many home owners are having a hard time trying to sell their home, because they owe more than it is worth.  I keep getting the question from my buyers about what is a Short Sale and how does it work?  Well I will try and address that question here.  I hope I am accurate, I am sure I will hear about it if I am not. What is a Utah County Short Sale? A Utah County Short Sale occurs when a property sells for a price that is insufficient to pay back the loans secured by the property (or any other liens against the property, such as delinquent property taxes, Homeowners/Condominium Association fees, etc.), as well as standard sales closing costs.  In order to complete such a... 12/28/2009

Utah County Federal Housing Authority Home Loans - Lower Down Payments The FHA (Federal Housing Authority) doesn't actually fund your home loan in any way.  The FHA simply provides mortgage insurance to help consumers become Utah County Home Owners.  The FHA actually insures the lender from losses resulting from Utah County Home Owner default.  The FHA helps mortgage lenders prepare loans for people who might not otherwise qualify. One of the big advantages of an FHA Loan is that a smaller down payment is possible.  As of January 1, 2009, the down payment for a FHA Loan is 3 ½ percent of the principle loan amount.  In today's market the down payment on conventional loans can be as much as 20 percent.  FHA loans make it possible for many people to enter the Utah County Home Buyer market,... 12/15/2009

Buying Your Own Utah County Home Buying a Utah County Home is a very good investment. As a general rule, homes appreciate about five percent a year.  Some years will be more, some less.  The figure will vary from neighborhood to neighborhood, and region to region.  Five percent may not seem like that much at first.  Stocks, at times, appreciate much more, and you could earn over six percent with the safest investment of all, treasury bonds. Presumably, if you bought a $200,000 house, you did not pay cash for the Utah County Home.  You got a mortgage, too.  Suppose you put as much as twenty percent down - that would be an investment of $40,000.  At an appreciation rate of 5% annually, a $200,000 home would increase in value $10,000 during the first year.  That means you earned $10,000 wi... 11/29/2009

We need Positive Price Action to confirm market bottom.  One month of price improve isn't sufficient to confirm the market bottom.  We need to see appreciation month over month for three months. PRICE ACTION   Other good signs in addition to positive price action is lower DOM (days of the market), lower new listings and higher percent of new listings being SOLD.    SUMMARY Currently we are not seeing the needed positive price action (along with other indicators) to confirm a market bottom.  This is NOT a good time for those with low and/or no risk tolerance to purchase.  High and medium risk tolerant investors are making buying decisions and are doing some bottom fishing.  Some are trying to time the market and market timing is risky.  Trying to time the bottom is not for the inexperien... 10/15/2009

Salt Lake Foreclosures In Draper UT-How To Price An Offer!  Today we will look at Salt Lake Foreclosures In Draper Utah, and use the "how much have the homes sold for" to determine how to price an offer on the foreclosed home we want to buy. Our blog on how much to offer on Salt Lake Foreclosures received a lot of comments last week. A lot of potential home buyers asked if we would comment on individual  areas or Zip codes in Salt Lake City. Yesterday we started our series by checking out Foreclosures in Sandy UT. Today it will be foreclosed homes in Draper Utah, and what Houses & Condominiums owned by Banks actually sold for in the last 30 days. There is a lot of confusion out there about how much to offer banks or corporations for their REOs and Bank Owned Homes listed on the MLS. Unl... 10/15/2009

Q&A On Salt Lake Foreclosures In Draper UT !    I get a lot of questions about how much to offer banks for their Salt Lake Foreclosures (REOs). That is a tough question to answer, and depends on a lot of different factors. IE: location.  Homes in South Jordan usually sell faster than say homes in Taylorsville.  Price range; generally speaking a more expensive home, with fewer potential buyers would demand a greater discount.  Lending institution; a lender with a lot of properties in foreclosure or pre-foreclosure in an area say like Herriman UT, might elect to discount further than normal, to avoid competing with themselves.   In other words each home requires individual research, and information to arrive at an adequate offer that can be packaged so that the bank will give it considera... 10/11/2009

Utah County Home Shopper Wish List - Utah Home Loans When you first start shopping for a new Utah County Home, usually you begin with a list of things that you must have.  Many times after you purchase your new Utah County Home you find that your wish list of features did not quite add up to what you originally wanted. Most usually want basically the same house.  It might include 1200 - 1500 sq. ft., built within the last 5 years, open floor plan and vaulted ceilings.  Laundry Room on the first floor, garage, basement, Master Bedroom with a garden tub, Walk -In closet and a decent sized yard with some degree of privacy.  When you find it, you purchase it and you love it. Here is what happens within a week of moving in.  Both cars don't fit in the garage.  Two cars cannot park comfortabl... 09/10/2009

Utah County Home Loans - Down Payment Source Source of funds for your down payment and closing costs is one of the major concerns when it comes time to close on your Utah County Home Loan.  Lenders will require statements for the last two or three months on any of your liquid assets.  This includes checking and savings accounts, money market funds, certificates of deposit, stock statements, mutual funds, and even your company 401K and retirement accounts.  It is very important that there not be a lot of movement between the accounts mentioned above just prior to or during the closing process.  Lenders will require a complete paper trail of all the withdrawals and deposits.  Moving your money around, even if you are consolidating your funds to make it easier could make it more difficult ... 08/30/2009