Best Place to Raise Kids in Utah: Smithfield

via The Best Places to Raise Your Kids 2012: Best Place to Raise Kids in Utah: Smithfield – BusinessWeek.

If you want to raise your kids in one of the best places, use this link to search homes for sale in Smithfield Utah.

A few years ago I showed a vacant house in Providence; it was really cold, and we could actually see our breath inside the house. As we walked into the bathroom, we realized that the water in the toilet was FROZEN!  I called the listing agent, and notified them that their listing had a frozen toilet. I’m not sure if the heat was supposed to be on in the house, or if the place was improperly winterized or what went wrong. Because the toilet was frozen, I’m sure the pipes were as well. When water in pipes freeze they expand, and usually break. I am uncertain of what damage was actually done, but am sure glad I didn’t have to deal with it.

Winterization for Vacant Homes

If you own a house that is vacant you want to make sure that the utilities are still on, or that the house is properly and professionally winterized.

To help create a more inviting atmosphere for potential buyers, I recommend keeping your utilities on. A potential buyer wants to have that “warm feeling” about a home. It’s really hard to feel warm, when your teeth are chattering. In addition, if a potential buyer likes your house enough to make an offer on it, they will want to complete home inspections where they will need the water, gas, and electricity to be on so they can make sure the house works properly. You don’t have to have your heater on at comfortable temperatures, but you do need to make sure it is warm enough to prevent pipes from freezing.

If you want your house to sell during the winter you absolutely must keep the electricity on. Think about it, when our potential buyers going to look at homes? Usually after work, during the evenings. What time does it get dark during the winter months…..? It’s really hard to sufficiently look at homes for sale with a flashlight.

via Winter is Approaching: Be Prepared, Winterize It « Logan Real Estate Blog.

Some other good news is that inventory is also substantially down. At Decembers home sales pace the 716 active listings represent just over 11 months of active inventory. This inventory is higher than at this time a year ago when there were 687 Cache Valley Homes for Sale.

Real Estate prices in Cache County, Utah continue to decline. The current average list price of homes for sale is $216,103, with a median list price at $179,900. During January of last year the average list price was $238,338, and the median list price was $189,250.

via Logan Utah Real Estate Market Conditions: December Best Month for Logan Home Sales Since August.

6.54% of the total residential real estate listings on the MLS right now are short sales, the highest percentage of short sales Cache Valley has seen.

One of the main reasons we are seeing an increase in short sale listings, is because home prices are decreasing. There are less sellers that have equity, and so when borrowers get into financial trouble, short selling becomes one of their only choices.

Over the last three months the median sales price of homes in Cache County was $157,800, with an average of $168,711. In comparison, people that bought homes during the summer of 2007, the median sales price was $168,775 and the average sales price was 15.8% higher at $200,442.

Read more at Logan Real Estate Blog:

Because homes are of different ages, conditions, and locations, there is no standard $ per square footage that applies for all Cache Valley Homes. There are lots of variables that make $ per square foot more or less relevant. Unfinished basements also make calculating the average cost per square foot very difficult.

Here are a few classifications of different property types, and what their average $ per square footage has been over the last six months.

Older Starter Homes -$78 Square Foot

To figure out this square footage I took homes built before 1960, with less than 2000 square feet, on lots smaller than half an acre. There were 40 Cache Valley starter homes used to determine this number.

Older Family Homes -$64 Square Foot

These homes fit under the same criteria, as the starter homes, but just consist of the properties that were bigger than 2000 square feet. There were 28 properties in this sample. Most older homes aren’t big. Initially I ran the numbers for just homes over 2500 square feet, and there were only five of them that had sold in the last six months. So I moved my criteria down to allow for a bigger sample.

Middle Aged Starter Homes -$78 Square Foot

These homes were classified as properties with less than 2,000 square feet that were built between 1961-2000, on less than half an acre. As you can see, the age of these homes didn’t make much of a difference in terms of the price per square footage compared with the older homes.

Middle Aged Family Homes – $68 Square Foot

Homes with more than 2,500 square feet on less than half an acre. The average square footage of these homes was actually about 3100 square feet. There were 37 homes in this group.

New Starter Homes -$105 Per Square Foot

From a per square foot standpoint these are the most expensive properties. They consisted of single family homes with less than 2,000 square feet, built in the year 2000 or after.

New Family Homes -$79 Per Square Foot

These homes were properties with more than 2,000 square feet built from 2000-2010. Despite the “new” factor of these homes, the price per square foot isn’t much more expensive than the older homes. Many of these homes are brand new and have high end upgrades. One reason that the price per square footage of these properties was so low is because many of these homes actually have unfinished basements. The price per square foot of these homes is also low because, there is a huge surplus of these properties. Only the least expensive of these larger newer Logan homes are actually selling.

via Determining Home Prices by “Price Per Square Foot” « Logan Real Estate Blog.

With a “Lease Option”, or “Rent to Own home,” sellers rent their home out giving the renter the option to buy the home at a future date. Lease option contracts usually require a substantial down payment. The down payment will be subtracted from the purchase price in the event that the renter buys the house. Lease options also generally have a portion of the rent that goes towards the option as well.

Why is there an increase in Cache Valley Lease Option Homes?

There are too many homes for sale. Cache Valley has record high numbers of real estate listings right now. Because there are so many homes for sale, some homes will just plain not sell. For many sellers who need to move out of the valley, its better to have a renter pay to cover the mortgage payment than it is to have a vacant house. Offering a house as a lease option, opens the door to the number of potential buyers.

Here are a few reasons why right now might be a good time to offer your home as a lease option:

Cover your mortgage payment. Because your house may not be able to sell right now at the amount owed, a lease option gives you one way to pay the mortgage while you wait for the real estate market to improve. Lease options can net more monthly income than just “renting” your home out. In addition, someone who has ownership interest in your property is more likely to take better care of it.

It’s harder for buyers to get financing. Mortgage loan underwriting standards are still very strict. While some potential buyers may have large savings, good credit, and excellent income, they may be unable to buy a house just because they switched careers or are self employed. These people can make excellent renters, and don’t have an option to buy.

Home ownership isn’t as appealing as it once was. Some qualified buyers just don’t want to buy right now. They fear that home prices will go down further, or just don’t want to commit to a certain house. Some people moving to Logan from other areas want to get a better feel for the area before committing where they want to actually buy. For people like this, a lease option is an ideal solution.

Higher Purchase Price. Offering your house as a lease option, may help you to net a higher purchase price. Only 22 out of more than 900 Cache Valley real estate listings are offered as lease options. This is a small percentage of the total inventory. People that want to buy, but cant get mortgage financing have no other option. In addition, if prices do continue to drop over the next few years, your contract lease purchase price has already been set. You may be able to get today’s market value for the sell of your property when the future market value is actually lower.

via Number of “Lease Option” Homes in Logan Up « Logan Real Estate Blog.

Cache County is proposing a zoning change where 4 houses can be built on smaller lots but still only 4 per every 40 acres. The 40 acre parcel would be divided so that 70% of the land would be used for Greenbelt, and 30% for Residential. As incentive for rural land owners subdividing using this method, they are talking about allowing 5 property’s in the residential portion, as long as 70% remains the greenbelt, agricultural lot. The 70% agricultural percentage will have no rights for building homes. They are also talking about reducing the greenbelt back taxes currently required when agricultural land is converted to residential.

This appears to be a good way to preserve some of the rural Cache Valley Farm land, while also allowing the farmers to get more money from their land. Most people who want to live in rural areas, don’t necessarily want to take care of a full 10 acres of land. Two or three acres is usually enough land for the large gardens, and pasture areas they want. People that want to live in the country, usually want to for the open space and rural feel. This is a possible solution that can better the situation while helping Cache Valley land to maintain its rural identity.

Originally Posted at Logan Real Estate Blog

Close to the Idaho border, Cache County is far from the bright lights of Salt Lake City. Despite the distance from the state’s urban center, the county has a diverse economy comprising of education, manufacturing, medical services and high-tech research. Utah State University conducts extensive aerospace research for the Department of Defense and NASA.Medical personnel clock in at various medical services companies, including Logan Regional Hospital, Thermo-Fisher Laboratories and Campbell Scientific. With a young population and access to some of the most beautiful scenery in the country in protected areas like the Cache National Forest and the Caribou National Forest, local government and public school jobs are also thriving. — F.R. via Where the jobs are – Cache County, UT 10 – Money Magazine.

via Cache County Ranks 10th Nationally for Job Growth – CNN Money « Logan Real Estate Blog.