It's a Home Seller's Market in the Boise ID Area

Coming into these last days of April and looking forward to a strong Summer 2013 Real Estate Market, we can look at new statistics from March 2013 and see strong solid trends developing. These trends are favoring the home sellers in our Treasure Valley market as inventory is low but slowing inching up. Listed properties, if priced at fair market value, are moving briskly with days on market just under 70 days AND often with multiple offers coming in as soon as it goes LIVE on our Intermountain MLS! The median home selling price has gone up 3.75% in over just one month in comparison to February 2013. Canyon County was hit harder than Ada County in the housing debacle but promises to rebound slowly and significantly with new construction sales going fast! If you are even thinking of selling, now is a great time to go for it. Home buyers, look before you leap as the market revs up. Let a great real estate agent help you navigate this market so that you don't miss a great opportunity or let it slip through your grasp.

The Idaho Statesman gets credit for the above graphic. To see a larger version click HERE.

The market is a living, breathing thing and I have my finger on its pulse, daily, 24-7!
Rick Bennett
Your Best Boise Area Real Estate Agent
208-412-2507
rickbennett@id-buy.com
www.id-buyrealestate.com

Tricky Wording In Homes for Sale Remarks

I am a grandfather five times over and sport a very noble head of white hair, so it might be hard to believe I still have a junior in high school. We love our son but his first day of college may be more exciting for us than for him?! With much anticipation of empty-nest-hood, my wife and I are starting the process of downsizing our living footprint. We love Boise and will stay, of course. She is starting to search in our same community and general area for a smaller house... with a larger garage. As the wife of a real estate agent and as ID-BUY's professional listing photographer and as a past copywriter of listing remarks herself, she is wise to listing agents creative descriptions; she has heard a lot, seen a lot and is wary of a lot!

My last blog tackled euphemisms in real estate descriptions and what they often turn out to mean. The following are ones she has recently encountered personally while searching HOMES FOR SALE and here are her interpretations:


1. GREAT CURB APPEAL-  inferior interiors
2. PARK-LIKE BACKYARD-  and Park Ranger required for full-time maintenance job!

"Lodge-like"    "Custom Stonework"

3. TREE HOUSE-LIKE FEELING- that bats, owls and nesting squirrels can only appreciate
4. EASY HIGHWAY ACCESS or EASY COMMUTE- you can hear the freeway or see a traffic light over the back fence or from the second story bedroom
5. TASTEFUL- solely created by the seller's personal property that the buyer can't have
6. LOTS OF CHARACTER- with split personalities and some serious character flaws
7. TWO-CAR GARAGE- for two Mini Coopers and some very slim homeowners
8. FANTASTIC VIEWS- overlooking a sprawling middle school and its outdoor sports complex
9. YOUR OWN PRIVATE IDAHO- the part of Idaho no one else wants, circa 1970
10. COZY- that will cause cabin fever or claustrophobia


Our search continues. We have plenty of time to find the right place for our next chapter!
Let ID-BUY Real Estate help you find yours...

Rick Bennett
208-407-0532
rickbennett@id-buy.com

Home Buyer Beware.. of these Euphemisms!

I often get questions about what a remark might mean on a listing...
Listing agents can get pretty "creative" when it comes to describing a home's attributes and qualities or lack-there-of. A good Buyer's Agent, the pro representing your best interests as a buyer, can often read between the lines but might not want to disqualify a perspective home for you since your personal needs might match up.

Anyway, here are some of classics descriptions and what they often turn out to be:

" CHARMING NEIGHBORHOOD... BUNGALOW ..."

1. AS IS: See the bargain for what it is, put on your rubber gloves and mask and dare to enter
2. DESIRABLE NEIGHBORHOOD: but this house is the least desirable in it
3. CARPET ALLOWANCE: because it is so disgusting even the sellers don't want to deal with it or they never finished the flooring or the pet was never trained to "go" outside
4. ADD YOUR PERSONAL TOUCH:  it is so dated & odd you're going to need to
5. BRING AN OFFER: Take it off our hands, please!
6. UPDATED: lipstick on a pig
7. CHARMING: drafty, old, not up to code, unsafe even for the likes of a hobbit
8. VERSATILE FLOOR PLAN: and you will have no idea where furniture goes or the use of certain spaces
9. NEWLY INSTALLED APPLIANCES: the appliances are not new though, they are still old but not as old of the ones that were replaced
10. POSSIBLE 4TH BEDROOM: room with tiny or no closet, tiny or no window, in an odd space that a twin bed can kind of fit in

And here is the key acronym a home buyer needs to know:
B/BATVI- "Buyer/Buyer's Agent To Verify All Information" and aspects of the buyer's transaction.

As ID-BUY's listing agent, I have separate Buyer's Agents working for ID-BUY to represent our buyers so there is no conflict of interest should a buyer want to make an offer on one of our listings. They are handled independently to preserve the best interest of both parties.
We are ready to work for you!

Call me,
Rick Bennett
Your Best Boise Area Real Estate Agent
208-407-0532
rickbennett@id-buy.com
www.id-buyrealestate.com

FORBES Ranks Boise in Top 20%

FORBES Magazine has listed Boise, Idaho, # 40 among 200 U.S. cities for Best Places for Business and Careers 

Also among its rankings against the top 200:

• # 8 in Cost of Doing Business--- very impressive!!!
• # 143 in Job Growth
• # 101 in Education

***************************************

• Metro Population: 629,100
• Major Industries: Technology, Tourism, Mining, Farming
• Gross Metro Product: $24.1 B
• Median Household Income: $48,113
• Median Home Price: $119,700
• Unemployment: 7.7%
• Job Growth (2011): %
• Cost of Living: 5.6% below national average
• College Attainment: 28.3%
• Net Migration (2011): 6,210

Its brief overview of Boise :

"The high-tech industry has become increasingly important to Boise over the years, though the economy remains diversified with its government and business sectors continuing to be strong influences. The city is home to Boise State University as well as a wide range of technical schools. University of Idaho and Idaho State University each maintain a satellite campus in Boise. Boise is also a regional hub for jazz and theater, with the Gene Harris Jazz Festival hosted by the city annually. The city is also home to a number of museums, including the Boise Art Museum, Idaho Historical Museum, the Basque Museum and Cultural Center and Idaho Black History Museum. Downtown Boise features a vibrant section known as the ""Basque Block"" representative of the second largest ethnic Basque community in the U.S."

Rick Bennett

Your Best Boise Area Real Estate Agent

208-407-0532

rickbennett@id-buy.com

www.id-buyrealestate.com