 The Flagstaff real estate market will present great opportunities for the swift and well-informed in 2009. Prices in most (but not all) Flagstaff neighborhoods will fall at least bit more – our massive inventory of houses on the market demands it. Many of these are no longer Flagstaff homes – they are vacant due to job transfers or foreclosure or they have become temporary rentals (and are thus someone else’s temporary home). This is a great opportunity to transform one of these Flagstaff houses into your Flagstaff home. Flagstaff Real Estate Market Forecast I’m not up to making a prediction about how much further home prices in Flagstaff will fall. But I do predict that there will be further drops on average overall and in most Flagstaff neighborhoods. So far, for those who haven’t be following the news until now, Flagstaff home prices are down about 9% from their peak in 2006. See my latest chart of annual Flagstaff home price changes by clicking here. Caution: City-wide aggregate numbers are worthless when you start looking for a particular home; you need to know numbers for comparable homes by price, location and condition. How far the home prices will go down in Flagstaff and when they will bottom out and start to turn around depends on many factors, among them: (1) When Phoenix has turned around – it fell further than any other city in the country in 2008 and is clearing out inventory apace, but has a long-way to go. (2) What additional housing stimulus will be created by the new Congress and the new President – stay tuned for the rest of this month to learn more about that. The July 2008 Housing and Economic Recovery Act got buried the September stock market crash, the October banking problems and the so-called Trouble Asset Rescue Plan (aka TARP). (3) What happens with the rest of the economy – without jobs, people can’t buy homes. On the other hand, they have to live somewhere. So watch for housing solutions as part of the upcoming stimulus plan that may either improve sales, or possibly slow them. Flagstaff Real Estate Broker Whatever happens, I’ll be here watching and passing along my analysis of the Flagstaff market to you. Frankly, I need to sell some Flagstaff real estate also, and I could use your help. You won’t regret using me to help you, and I love your referrals. In 2008, I sold 33 Flagstaff homes and one beautiful spot for a future Flagstaff home. This makes me of one of the top-producing real estate agents in Flagstaff -- number 7 in a market with 806 agents remaining at the end of the year, over 400 of whom didn’t make a single sale in 2008. I’m also proud to say that my brokerage, RE/MAX Peak Properties, sold more homes in 2008 than any other Flagstaff real estate company. Flagstaff Home Sellers In 2008, I advised Flagstaff homeowners who did not need to sell now to wait out the market – telling them honestly that the market won’t be better for them in 2009 -- and maybe not much better in 2010. I’m in this for the long-term and I hope to sell their homes for them in 2010, 2011, or even later. Meanwhile, if these homeowners need to move, I have helped with Flagstaff property management recommendations. Of course, for many the right personal decision is to sell, and we can, and did, accomplish that in 2008. For homesellers looking to "step-up" in the Flagstaff market, this is the perfect time to sell a lower-priced home and buy a larger, more expensive home. You will come out ahead! That is a post for another day. Flagstaff Homebuyer Opportunities The Flagstaff real estate market presents some great opportunities for buyers now and will for the foreseeable future. Here’s how you can take advantage of that: 1) Contact one of the lending advisors listed on my website and find out what is the best plan for you to buy a home or invest in Flagstaff real estate. They will talk with you about what you need to save, how you need to fix your credit, or how to move forward right now to take advantage of the incredibly low home loan interest rates available now. 2) Call or email me if you are a first-time home buyer so that we can arrange a consulting meeting. I’ll give you an overview of the process, give you lots of reading material, and start you down the right path. Do this now even if you don’t plan to buy until later. There are first-time home buyer tax credits expiring at the end of June that you may want to plan your schedule around. Planning early to get through the process saves a lot of frustration later! 3) If you want to start by simply browsing all listed homes, use the IDX feature on my website to search all Flagstaff real estate listings. You can browse without registering. If you want to save home listings for future reference, you need to set up a cart which does require your name and email address. 4) If you’d like a more customized home search with notification of new listings as they arrive, contact me and we’ll set it up. You’ll be able to see all the listings that match your criteria, save them for future reference, and make notes about the homes in your own Client Portal to the MLS. Register for Auto Home Search of all Flagstaff listings. 5) If you’re looking for a Flagstaff home bargain, send me your email address and I’ll send you my Best Buy List. Because these homes may be listed with other Flagstaff brokers, and they aren’t just the IDX, I cannot advertise my list of best Flagstaff bargains publicly, but I can provide it to my clients and customers. Register here to become a customer of Flagstaff’s premier real estate team, and get Ann’s Best Buy List. (Mention the Best Buy List on your registration form.) If you are already one of our clients, just let me know you’d like to have a copy of the list. I’ll send it out to everyone who asks early next week. Real Estate In Other Cities As beautiful as Flagstaff is, living here is not right for everyone. If you or a friend needs to move, I can help with that also. I’ve been selling and studying real estate for over 10 years and, in the process, I have met a lot of agents from other parts of the country, and have a good database of them. Some of the best agents I’ve met and referred to over the years are trainers at Star Power conferences and universities, and I’ve talked with them personally and attended their meetings. As a Certified Residential Specialist and member of the RE/MAX International network, I also have lists of well-trained and hard-working agents everywhere. If I don’t know a good agent where you (or your friends) are going, I can find one and interview them on your behalf. Just give me a call if you need this service – it costs you nothing. (I get paid a small fee when you buy elsewhere.) Happy New Year! Whatever your real estate needs in 2009, I hope you’ll think of me. Most of all, I hope that everyone who needs a place to live has a home in 2009 and that our economy allows all who want to work to find a job. Cherish your friends, hold them close, and have hope! | 
Email to a Friend
