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How Do You Price This Big Bear Home?

I am not sure what Zillow would say about this property but I am pretty sure they would think it tastes good. Even though it lacks the basic utilities and running water, this Big Bear gingerbread house has its own unique benefits. The roof is new and made of necco and chocolate which might be more fire resistant that wood shakes. The siding is made of gingerbread and almonds for that stone look. There are twix corbels, an oreo cookie pavered walkway, fencing made of pretzels, and a sugar pond stocked with cheese … [Read more...]

Why Relying On Zillow To Price Your Big Bear Home Could Cost You More Than $800,000!

I use Zillow all the time. Given that they have 3-4 million visitors per month, putting my listings on Zillow is smart thing to do. I also mouse around from time to time to see anything new like the Q&A's, Make Me Move's, and other listings for sale. I have been saying for a while that Zillow's Zestimates can be very inaccurate when it comes to valuing properties in the Big Bear Lake area. This is certainly nothing new as there are many articles out there about this. This fact has never been more true than … [Read more...]

2007 Big Bear Real Estate Market – Slowest Year For Sales In The Last 20 Years

The number of properties sold in Big Bear in 2007 will end up being the lowest amount in more that 20 years. We still have about 10 days left to go but I think it is safe to come out and claim this at this point. The previous low was in 1993 when we had 1,390 sales. As of December 1, 2007 there were 961 total sales in the Big Bear Lake area. I am expecting the final number for 2007 to be close to 1,050 total sales, off by nearly 24% from the 1993 number. Keep in mind that these numbers include all real estate … [Read more...]

6 Things That Every Big Bear Lakefront Buyer Should Know

It is that time of year again when the some Big Bear lakefronts owners start to consider selling their property. The next 4-5 months are historically the best selling months for the Big Bear market and it is no coincidence that the weather in Big Bear this time of year makes it a beautiful time to be looking for a nice lakefront home. Having a property in time for our very popular annual July 4th fireworks show is the target date for many lakefront buyers to be in their new home. There are approximately 550 … [Read more...]

Let’s Be Earnest When Talking About A Good Faith Deposit

One of the most overlooked items on the purchase contract is the earnest money or good faith deposit. Sellers and agents are so anxious to see what the offer price is, they miss a key component of the offer. What is a earnest money deposit? There is a good definition & article on the same subject here by Elizabeth Weintraub. My definition would be anything of value, mainly money, put forward by the buyer to show good faith to the seller that they are genuinely interested in buying the property. The deposit, … [Read more...]

Big Bear January 07′ sales numbers not so hot

The numbers for the Big Bear real estate market for January 2007 look pretty bad....for sellers, that is. According to the local First American Title Co., there was a total of 77 units that sold during this time frame (Download first_american_jan. 07.xls {Excel doc. 1.61 MB}). That number is down 45% from the January 2006 numbers of 139 total units closed. This makes January 2007 the slowest month in the last 10 years for sales numbers. To really understand the numbers though, this stat refers to the number of … [Read more...]

Note to real estate sellers: rejection should not be in your current vocabulary

One of the items that was recently added to the California Association of Realtors purchase contract was a "rejection of offer" box at the end of the contract. The box states that, "no counter offer is being made to the buyer but it was reviewed and rejected by the seller." My guess is the intention behind this was to give assurance to the buyer that their "low" offer was at least presented. One of my fellow associates just received the aforementioned "rejection of offer" checked on one of his offers yesterday. … [Read more...]