Spanker Creek Farm Location (on County Road 40 in Bella Vista)October 15-19, 2008 Hours:Wednesday-Saturday 8am to 5pmSunday 9am to 4pmClarion Convention Center Location (on Rainbow Curve [Walton] in Bentonville)October 15-19, 2008 Hours:Wednesday-Saturday 9am to 8pmSunday 9am to 3pmGo to the Bentonville/Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce website to find out the full schedule and lineup across Northwest Arkansas.Everyone enjoy the fairs, don’t eat too many funnel cakes or turkey legs, and stay safe.

Over 100,000 bikes and bikers from all over the country are expected to show up this week to participate in some great events that are not only fun but benefit local Northwest Arkansas charities as well.  Just a few of the charities that BBB is affiliated with include:  Camp Sunshine, Pagnozzi Charities, Donald W. Reynolds Boys and Girls Club, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Walton Arts Center, and Seven Hills Homeless Center. 

Raising money for charity has never been so fun!  This year the Allman Brothers will perform at the Randall Tyson Track Center on Friday, September 26th at 8:00pm.  Tickets are $42.50 per person.  But that’s just the beginning of the festivities.  This year there is the Main Stage and Jagermeister Stage.  Check out the bands schedules here.

What else is going on?  A lot.  There’s a Poker Run, lots of raffles, and the BBQ cook-off just to name a few.  Everybody have a great time this weekend, stay safe, and remember that BBB is first and foremost, a local charity event.  See you on Dickson Street!

Oh yeah, check out the Bikes Blues and BBQ Blog.

All Roth Custom Homes come standard with full granite countertops, custom cabinets, seamless crown molding, upgraded stainless steel appliances, whirlpool tubs, dual vanities, along with other fine touches and range from around 1,700 – 2,600 square feet.  All of this for between $82 and $96 per foot!  These are brand new homes with fully sodded yards and most have 3-Car garages.  Even more exciting, Roth Custom Homes is offering a promotion for a limited time that allows the buyer to receive free gas for a year!  These fine Roth Homes are marketed exclusively by Exit Pinnacle Realty and it’s New Homes Team.  Call (479) 586-1525 or (479) 845-1234 to find out more about these homes today!

Exit Pinnacle Realty was founded in 2006 by Cameron Torabi, a truly remarkable person who thinks big and knows how to make things happen.  Cameron, together with Exit Realty International has created something special in Northwest Arkansas, a progressive, pro-active, highly trained force that is out to professionalize real estate.  Speaking from my experience at Exit Pinnacle Realty, you won’t find a more tech-savvy, highly trained real estate agency anywhere in Northwest Arkansas.  Some of the tools our Realtors use include Exit’s proprietary E-listings, Live-Interactive Training, and the Exit 50-G Program.  Realtors at Exit Pinnacle Realty invest heavily in today’s technology and have excellent web presence for both themselves and their clients.  Not only is Exit Pinnacle a great company to list your property with, it is a great company to work for.  I have been in the industry for four years and I can tell you that the culture within the office is always friendly and helpful.  Any question that I cannot answer myself can be answered by someone in the office that has experience with that situation.  So, the truth is, Exit Pinnacle Realty is just getting started.  I would venture to guess you’ll be seeing our signs for a long time to come.  If you have a real estate need, residential or commercial, we can help you meet it in Rogers, Bentonville, Springdale, Fayetteville, Bella Vista, and the surrounding areas.  If you have questions about any of the programs I mentioned above or want to see how Exit Pinnacle Realty can help you sell your home in the least amount of time and for the highest possible price contact me or call our office at (479) 845-1234.  You can also visit us on the web and search all of Northwest Arkansas area homes for sale at www.EXITpinnacle.com or www.BenSellsNWA.com.

Now is the time to sell your home, at least, here in Benton and Washington Counties.  Why do I say that?  Well, I’ll tell you.  Let’s first examine the typical buyer mentality in our market, then we will talk about why it’s a good time to sell your home.

There is no doubt, buyer’s are out for blood.  The media surrounding the industry has buyers thinking that we may not be bottomed out yet and buyers should make low offers and ask for lots of concessions.  As a real estate professional, I feel this is partially our fault because we need to educate home buyers as to the real situation.  The fact is, if you keep traipsing through the valley you may find yourself climbing the next hill before you know it.  Home prices are stable for conventional homes in good condition.  There is even some evidence that our market has begun it’s upward swing.  That means the bottom is gone.  Buyers are going to realize this sooner than later.

Now.  In cities around America and Northwest Arkansas there are now lots of these things we call foreclosed properties, short sales, and REO’s.  One of the top Google searches in our area is currently ‘foreclosed properties in (your city)’.  These properties are a completely different animal than conventional real estate.  Many of them have hidden title flaws, mechanics liens, outstanding mortgages, you name it; not to mention the fact that most of them are in need of major rehabilitation just to be livable.  On top of that, these properties are typically very difficult to finance.  So, if you are a conventional home seller, don’t worry about foreclosures as competition.  Any property, properly priced and well marketed, will sell.  The length of time it takes to sell really only depends on one thing, price.  If you want too much for your property, it will either not sell or take much longer to sell than if it were priced at market value.

So its really fairly simple, price your property with the market, make sure the home shows well (your realtor and stager can help with that), and expect your home to sell in a reasonable amount of time.  It isn’t rocket science, but if you don’t use a professional to market your home properly, you will find it is just another needle in the haystack.  An experienced professional can provide sound marketing, staging, and negotiating advice as well as emotional support in the sale of the single largest asset most people ever own.

As of September 12, 2008, Bella Vista has 723 homes listed for sale with an additional smattering of homes for sale by owner.  Of those 723 homes for sale, the average listing price is $199,113 and the average square footage is 2,169 feet.  Of the 396 homes sold in Bella Vista in the past six months, the average sale price is $156,802.  That price does not account for any incentives, closing costs, or repairs paid for by the seller either. 

It looks like Bella Vista, along with the other cities

of Northwest Arkansas and the River Valley (Ft. Smith was #1 on the list), is a good place to live and a great place to buy a home.

18 Checklists Every FSBO Needs.

To request one or all of these important checklists for free with absolutely no obligation please just email me the title of each Checklist you would like.

• 18 Service Providers Sellers Should Consider Using
• 12 Laws, Disclosures, Rules and Regulations
• 12 Clauses Buyers Include in an Offer to Purchase
• 6 Essentials of a Valid Sales Contract
• 17 Considerations Appraisers Use
• 12 Things You Need To Know About Appraisals
• 5 Critical Areas Lenders Scrutinize Qualifying Buyers
• 4 Characteristics of Value
• 10 Costs When Determining Seller’s Net
• Exterior Checklist When Selling
• General Interior Checklist When Selling
• Interior Living Area Checklist When Selling
• Kitchen and Bathroom Checklist
• Attic and Garage Checklist
• 8 Interior Items Buyers Really Notice
• Open House Checklist
• Getting Your House Ready for the Marketplace
• Creating a “Great Home Features Sheet”

The above checklists will go a long way in helping your sell your home for the price you want, in the time you need.  Contact me today to get any of these complementary lists.

Generally speaking, we’ve seen un uptrend in sales, showings, and offers in the last few months.  We’ve also seen an uptrend in for sale by owner properties which I think can be mostly attributed to the fact that people feel they have less money to spend marketing their property.  While I am not going to go into the many benefits of having a good Realtor, I will say that most of these properties end up listing anyway (something to think about if you are one of those people and don’t want to waste anymore time).

For all of Benton County there has been over 1765 sales in the past six month.  I do not guarantee that accuracy about such a number because this is MLS data (which is not perfect) and there may be sales that have not been recorded here.  Of those sales since February of this year, the average price is $189,430 with the average square footage being 2,023.  That gives us an average price per foot of $93.63.  Not too bad considering there are REO properties selling in the mid $50′s per foot.  Let’s also look at the SP/LP ratio (Sale Price to List Price) and see what you can expect to get after listing your home near market value.  Average list price was $196,647, average sale price was $189,430.  The SP/LP ratio comes out to about 96.3%.  This is expected with homes that have been on the market for a while as well as homes that are slightly overpriced.

Another encouraging sign regarding market strenth is the number of pending sales.  523 homes are pending at this time.  That means a sale should occur within the next 15-60 days and that the property has entered escrow.  That is about 30% of the sales for the past six months.

Average Days on Market for Benton County homes at this time is 154 for sold listings, and 146 for current listings.  Speaking of homes currently for sale, there are 3,697 of them.  That seems on the high side so make sure you are competitively priced when selling your home.  You should also carefully consider your marketing plan with your agent to differentiate your property from all those other listings.  Obviously price is a base consideration but you might consider agent incentives, web video, and viral marketing along with a serious internet presence.  It’s all about getting your property exposure after all.

Let’s just cut to the chase.  Foreclosures, repossessions, and short sale inventories are at an all time high in Northwest Arkansas and around the country.  While this is most definitely unfortunate for those homeowners going through these processes, the investor or home flipper in all of us perks up at the mention of a distressed property, hoping that there may be a way for us to benefit.

How do we find these diamonds in the rough and separate them from the truly atrocious properties that have so many liens and repairs that “money pit” doesn’t begin to describe them?  There is now a wealth of resources for those looking for foreclosed properties in and around Northwest Arkansas.  If you contact me directly, I’ll give you my secret stash, otherwise, you’ll have to hash it out with the rest of the dreamers out there.  I will tell you that websites like www.nwafiresale.com are popping up at a staggering rate.  While firesale is a local site, there are a host of pay sites that give you information on all types of distressed properties.  Just a few that come to mind are: www.RealtyTrac.com, www.homesales.gov, www.hud.gov, www.foreclosure.com, the list goes on.

 Working with foreclosed properties, short sales, and bank owned properties can be a harrowing experience.  I highly recommend using a realtor that at least has a few of these under his/her belt.  Preferably, you might even want to find a ‘specialist’ in the foreclosure field.  He/she will know the tricks of dealing with these properties as well as what you need to watch out for along the way.  A savvy buyer paired with a knowledgeable realtor can get some amazing deals in today’s market.  That being said, you had better do some homework before tackling any kind of distressed property.  If you don’t know what a short sale is or what REO stands for, you need to do some down and dirty research of your own.  Remember that every situation has a silver lining.  The mortgage crisis and stagnant home values have created a situation that may not be repeated for a very long time.  Why not take advantage as an educated buyer looking to make a deal.  If you have any questions you may feel free to contact me anytime.  If not me, talk to someone you trust because I cannot stress enough that these properties need to be researched, inspected, and understood thoroughly before making a move.

Why is a $5.00 cup of coffee so appealing to us anyway?  I like to think of myself as a bit of a coffee snob and can make a pretty decent cup of joe at home when the mood strikes.  Heck, I even have a french press!  So, while I can make a $0.25 cent cup of coffee (that is usually more than respectable) at home, I, like much of the rest of America, take to the streets and order up a cup from Starbucks or Seattle’s Best or whatever the corner coffee store happens to be when the mood strikes.  Is it better coffee?  Most of the time, absolutely not.  In fact, I won’t buy Starbucks Coffee to make at home because I don’t think it has much flavor.  As an old friend used to say, “Then what’s the dill pickle?” 

I think the “dill” is (among other things) — and this is just me — that I like the luxury of going out and getting a cup of coffee.  Will McDonald’s suffice?  Heh, right.  I’d rather bring my own percolator to work.  I like the routine, the atmosphere, the camaraderie of like minds gathering to feed their addiction.  I don’t think it’s one single thing that makes me (or anybody else for that matter) spend outrageous sums of money on coffee that is simply ‘Better than the alternative.’  Don’t get me wrong, I like the coffee.  But after drinking it for years, I’m not really sure if it’s really the coffee I like or just the act of buying coffee, then drinking it.  Who can say? 

Will the world go on? Oh, I think it will.  Will I miss the Starbucks across the street?  I will, for a while.  I’m sure my additions will take me down many paths, Starbucks just being a white mocha among a sea of Arabica beans.  Hmmm.  I’m going to have to make these last few days count.  I bet these 3 stores’ sales skyrocket while they remain open.  Maybe it’s all just a ploy by Starbucks corporate to increase sales.  Time will tell.