Bob in Modesto sent us these photos. He has prepared a list of bank owned properties in his area. He hung up banners and puts a sign on the street in front of his office. He has had some good response. Thanks for sharing BOB!

As outlined in a earlier email from Lyle, below is a link the workd version of the seller update letter we use for Reno. You can modify the letter for your needs.

The PDF version is attached as well.

seller_update_2008.doc

Seller_Update_2008_PDF.pdf

Found this interesting report on new housing trends and stats and thought I would pass it along.  

In 2007:

• The average single-family house completed had 2,521 square feet, 801 more square feet than in 1977.
• The average single-family home sold was built on a lot of 16,864 square feet. On average, lot sizes in the Northeast were the largest, about 33,000 square feet, and the West averaged the smallest with around 10,000 square feet.
• 74% of all new single-family homes completed were speculatively built (house and land are sold together as part of the same transaction), up from 63% in 1987.
• 38% of new single-family homes completed had four or more bedrooms, almost double the rate of 20 years ago.
• In single-family homes with 4 or more bedrooms, over half (57%) had 3 bathrooms or more.
• 27% of new single-family homes sold had 3 or more bathrooms, nearly triple the rate from 1987.
• 52% of all single-family homes were completed in the South region, up more than 10% from 1977.
• Over 20% of new single-family homes sold fell within the price range of $150,000 to $199,999. Most of these homes were sold in the Midwest and the South.
• 90% of all single-family homes completed had air conditioning.
• Nearly 20% of new single-family homes sold had at least a 3 or more car garage.
• In 3 out of 4 regions, over half of the new single-family homes completed had 2 or more stories: 78% in the Northeast, nearly 50% in the Midwest, 54% in the South and 60% in the West.
• About ¾ of homes completed in the in the Northeast and Midwest had a basement, but in the West only 19% had a basement and in the South, only 10% of the homes had basements.
• Across the country, half of all single-family homes sold had at least one fireplace.
• 26% of new single-family homes completed had a deck, down from 32% in 1997.
• 67% of all new single-family homes sold used gas as the primary source of heating fuel and approximately 32% use electricity as the primary source.
• Nearly 35% of all new single-family homes completed were installed with heat pumps as the primary type of heating system; this is the highest percentage on record for this method of heating.
• Attached single-family homes accounted for 15% of all new single-family homes sold, up from 12% in 1997.
• Vinyl siding is the most common principal exterior material at 32% of new single-family homes sold. In 1997, wood was 18% of the share, but has reduced to 5% in 2007. Regionally, the exterior wall material of preference is: Vinyl - Northeast (81%), and Midwest (64%); Brick - South (42%) and Stucco - West (63%).
• Nearly 90% of all new single-family homes sold were financed by a conventional loan, up from 61% in 1987.
• The average sales price of new single-family homes sold (including land) was $313,600. In 1997, the average sales price was $176,200. This is an increase of 78%.
• The average price per square foot for new single-family homes sold was $92.51, up from $66.81 in 1997. Regionally, it is most expensive to build in the West at $121.78 and least expensive to build in the South at $82.48.
• Over a tenth (13%) of all new single-family homes sold were built on lots of at least 22,000 square feet (approximately a half an acre); this is virtually unchanged from 1987 and 1997.
• 31,000 new single-family homes were modular homes, down 9,000 units from 1997. This represents about 3% of all homes completed; however, this method of construction was most prevalent in the Northeast, with nearly 8% of units built this way.
• Approximately ¾ of all new single-family homes sold, did not include closing costs in the sales price. This estimate has remained relatively stable over the past 20 years.
• Multi-family construction has fluctuated considerably from 636,000 units in 1986 to 153,000 units in 1993. It rebounded to 325,000 units in 2006, but decreased to 284,000 units in 2007.
• The average square feet in multi-family units completed and built for sale was 1,577. This was 217 more square feet than in 1999.
• 41% of multi-family units completed were built for sale, up from 16% in 1999; this is an increase of nearly 25%.

Interesting question, I guess it depends on your perspective and market. Was it fair to buyers in 2002-2005 when prices took off and became out of reach for many? Is it fair to sellers the last few years when prices have dropped and put them in a negative equity position?  We could debate it all day.

One company, National City Bank, has come out with a Housing Valuation Analysis. They break down different markets and rate them as Under Valued, Fairly Valued, Moderately Overvalued, and Overvalued. What's interesting this there are only a few overvalued and moderately over valued markets. The majority of the markets are fairly valued or undervalued. If you "hover" of your market on the map, the stats they use will be displayed.

Supply and demand effect prices more than anything else. Regardless of the price if there is no demand and an over supply prices will continue to fall. With prices in a more affordable range demand should increase and inventories should start to fall. This is still encouraging news.

In my opinion there are 2 factors holding down the market. The availability of money, and the current economic conditions.  Once banks start lending again and we get inflation under control we will start to see this market turn around.

https://www.nationalcity.com/main/micro-site/economics/commentary-analysis/pages/housing-valuation-analysis.asp?WT.vanity=HouseValuation

Social networking platforms can be a powerful business building tool if implemented properly. One thing I have found is you need to learn about the platform and its purpose before jumping in.

One platform I like is called LinkedIn.com. LinkedIn.com is built around business connections. Dave Crumby a franchisee from the Phoenix area interviewed a LinkedIn.com expert Raymond Chip Lambert, and was kind enough to share it with us.

You can right click here and click save target as, and save the file to your computer. The interview is in MP3 format. This interview is great and jam packed with info on business, marketing, connections, and more.

Creating connections is a cornerstone to building a business. Think about all the people you can put in your network. Past clients, current clients, lenders, inspectors, contractors, friends, and family.

If you doubt the power of LinkedIn, do a Google search on Raymond Chip Lambert and see what comes up.

Enjoy and a big thanks to Dave. I have listened to this 3 times and it still gets my mind going.

 If the link above doesn't work try this one.

http://209.242.151.8/a2s/GeniusPostMP3Version.mp3