Summer sales reports for McCall Idaho

For the last two weeks, our thoughts and hearts have been drawn towards the Summer Olympic Games and watching our favorite athletes go for gold. It has been a nice break to turn on the TV and not hear about the economic woes of America.
In this beautiful resort town of McCall Idaho real estate is often the topic of conversation as much of our industry here is based on tourism and real estate development, and it too has its shares of woes.
However, when you pull up the real estate home sales from last year and compare them to this year, it really is not too far off.
In 2007, for McCall there were 17 closed home sales in June, 5 sales in July, and 7 sales for the first two weeks of August. For 2008, in McCall there have been 4 closed home sales in June, 14 sales in July and 4 sales for the first two weeks in August.
Many feel that it is a buyers market out there, with foreclosures and short sales really pushing prices down and inventory still high - there are great prices, many great properties to choose from and interest rates still attractive.
As a new home buyers, the Housing Economic Recovery Act of 2008, offers a first time home buyer tax credit up to $7500 for anyone purchasing a home after April 9, 2008.
There still seems to be a solid real estate market in McCall; although with our high inventory numbers it just feels that things are not moving very quickly, making it tough on Sellers.
But hang in there and keep your thoughts on the gold.

Understanding Foreclosures and Resort Towns

Over 2.3 million foreclosures were reported for 2007 according to Realty Trac which puts that on a national average of 1% of every household to go into foreclosure. National lending institutes are now waiting almost 180 days prior to filing for foreclosure when a homeowner stops making payments, which is up from the previous 60 day grace period of years past. It is staggering to see the amount of public notices for trustee sales in the local papers even in small resort towns like McCall, Idaho.

In McCall, we see many of our foreclosures from builders or developers that are hanging onto too much inventory. For those that have been looking to buy property in McCall wonder if these are the times to be searching for some good deals and in some cases they are, particularly if the home is currently on the market.

The process on non-judical foreclosures can take up to 120 days which can give the Seller time to sell the property or recind the process. If the Seller is motivated to get it sold and the note on the property exceeds current market values, there is a strong chance that the lending institute may be willing to short sale the property.

Short Sales have been the latest buzz words around the real estate community and it is not referring to the time frame but that someone is getting "shorted" and generally it is means the lender. It is often during the foreclosure process that sellers and lenders agree to a short sale so that many of these properties can be sold prior to going to auction.

To lose your home in a foreclosure is not a process I would wish upon anyone, and I full heartedly support the Government for their continuing efforts to keep as many people in their homes as possible, however it is an opportunity for those that can afford it to find a good deal on a property.

There are also many aspects of a short sale or foreclosure that buyers need to be aware of, such as the property may have been sitting vacant for a long time and other items may be lingering on the title. If you would like to discuss short sale or foreclosures in more details and what is currently being offered in the McCall area, please don't hesitate to call or email.