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In Big Bear, 2008 Was Not Great

But hey, who is living in the past, right? In Big Bear, 2008 will go down as the slowest year for sales (# of properties sold) in more than 20+ years. It could be the slowest year ever but I don't have the data to prove it. It is what it is. The fact is that we are in this position and have to go through the "reckoning" process. Some call it karma, ying & yang, or the boomerang of life, it is the natural way to correctly a wrong. Like Newton's law of reciprocal actions, "To every action there is always … [Read more...]

Big Bear Real Estate – Monday Market Update For 12/28/2008

Below is your weekly update for the Big Bear real estate market as of 12/28/2008, the last one for 2008! Property Type Listings for Sale Change from Last Week Pending Sales Change from Last Week Sales Year to Date Change from Last Week RESIDENTIAL 1033 -6 98 +3 652 +8 VACANT LAND 377 +3 7 -2 69 0 CONDOS 52 -1 3 0 22 +1 GOVERNMENT LEASE 11 0 0 0 11 0 COMMERCIAL & RES INVESTMENT 53 0 6 0 15 0 BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY 15 0 0 0 6 0 TOTAL 1541 -4 114 +1 775 +9 A few notes about the market - The … [Read more...]

Patience Is More Than A Virtue When Buying Real Estate

Patience is the key to getting a "great" deal when buying a property in Big Bear. In this real estate market, those who have the ability to wait, be patient, and let things draw out as they may are the ones who get the best buys when it is all said and done. Every buyer wants to get the best deal possible but very few have the patience necessary when it comes time to buying a house. In today's age of text & instant messaging, twitter, and the wealth of information at your fingertips, actually having to wait … [Read more...]

Big Bear Real Estate – Monday Market Update For 12/22/2008

Below is your weekly update for the Big Bear real estate market as of 12/22/2008. The number of residential properties listed for sale in Big Bear now stands at 1039, down 7 from the 1046 total for last week. This number should continue to drop as we head into the slower winter months and sellers take their properties off of the market. The number of houses in escrow now stands at 95 (9% of the total listings), down 5 from last week, while the number of closed sales stands at 644 year-to-date, up 6 from last … [Read more...]

More Evidence Of The Bank-Owned, REO Mentality

Home buyers today are of the "Bank-Owned/REO Mentality."  They want to buy something with that kind of price tag, regardless of who owns it. I came across an article from CNNMoney that really hits home on what is going on in the current housing market.  If you want to sell a home in this market, no matter how much it hurts, you need to price your home like a bank-owned or REO property. That is your competition. The tough part about this is that bank-owned or REO properties are priced 20-40% less than the non-REO … [Read more...]

Big Bear Real Estate – Monday Market Update For 12/15/2008

Below is your weekly update for the Big Bear real estate market as of 12/15/2008. The number of residential properties listed for sale in Big Bear now stands at 1046, up 13 from 1033 last week. Though it did go up over the past week, I still expect this number to dip under 1000 as we head into the first four months of 2009. The number of houses in escrow now stands at 100 (10.4% of the total listings), identical to last week, while the number of closed sales stands at 638 year-to-date, up 11 from last … [Read more...]

Absorption Rates For The Big Bear Real Estate Market – November 2008

If you are thinking of buying or selling a home in Big Bear, you may want to take a look at the absorption rate of homes that are currently for sale. Knowing the absorption rate is a good way to become more informed on the current real estate market conditions in a particular area. There is an easy to understand article here describing what the absorption rate is and what it means for the real estate market. In simplistic terms, it is a mathematical equation that tells the amount of time it will take for a … [Read more...]

Even Andy Rooney Knows How to Sell A Home In Big Bear

Selling a home in Big Bear should be easy, at least according to Andy Rooney. I remember seeing this video last year and laughing when he reviewed all the self help books he has received over the years.  When he gets to the "Tips on selling a House" book, around the 1:10 part of the video, he gives his simple, yet very true, advice, "you don't need 1001 tips on how to sell your home, just lower your price and your home will sell." Seems simple and easy enough, right? Now I understand that not everyone can lower … [Read more...]

Big Bear Real Estate – Monday Market Update For 12/8/2008

Below is your weekly update for the Big Bear real estate market as of 12/8/2008. The number of residential properties listed for sale in Big Bear now stands at 1033, down from 1049 last week. There was a large drop the past two weeks because many home listings expired from the market around the Dec. 1 time frame. The number of homes for sale in Big Bear will continue to go down in the winter months as the market slows down. Winter is not the best time to sell so many sellers will take their homes off of the … [Read more...]

Big Bear Home Sales – November 2008

Home sales in Big Bear for November 2008 (50 total) dropped 25% as compared to the same month last year, and fell 32% from the October 2008 home sales number of 73. This is a pretty big drop in sales activity, which is most likely a result of all the negative economic news over the past 60+ days.  Typically, November & December are the best two months of the year for closings. The median price for the homes sold was $240,287, down 6% from Oct. 2008 and also down 15% from Nov. 2007. The median price has been … [Read more...]