No detail is overlooked in this beautiful hilltop home! Enjoy sweeping views from nearly every window and an unobstructed view of Bogus Basin & the Owyhee Mountains in back. Inside you are treated to a great entertainer’s home with an open floor plan in the kitchen & family room, as well as formal dining, living room & office or den. Hardwood & travertine flooring, granite counters, crown molding on 10’ ceilings, fireplace, large master suite, private bath in guest room, huge laundry room & so much more! Call me for a private showing, you don't want to let this home slip away.

A brand new beautiful home waiting for your final touch, just pick your interior colors! All of the quality, craftsmanship & upgrades that you would expect in a much more expensive home, with a price to sell fast! Hardwood Floors, slab granite counters, hardwood cabinets & full tile backsplash in the kitchen, stainless steel Energy Star appliances, designer lighting, textured walls, insulated garage-nothing standard here. If that’s not enough, the seller is offering $3,400 towards closing costs or upgrades!

Please call me if you have any questions. All interior finishes are similar to finished models next door; interior photos are to represent the quality finishes.  Full sod, landscaping and fencing are included. The builder can complete the home in around 4 weeks, so no additional delays.

Add this beautiful new home to your shopping list! All of the quality, craftsmanship & upgrades that you would expect in a much more expensive home, with a price to sell fast! Hand scraped birch flooring, slab granite counters, hardwood cabinets & full tile backsplash in the kitchen, stainless steel Energy Star appliances, rubbed bronze hardware, designer lighting, textured walls, insulated garage - nothing standard here. If that’s not enough, the seller is offering $3,400 towards closing costs or upgrades!

You owe it to yourself to come see this beautiful new home! All of the quality, craftsmanship & upgrades that you would expect in a much more expensive home, with a price to sell fast! Porcelain tile flooring, slab granite counters, hardwood cabinets & full tile backsplash in the kitchen, stainless steel Energy Star appliances, brushed nickel hardware, designer lighting, textured walls, insulated garage  – nothing standard here. If that’s not enough, the seller is offering $3,400 towards closing costs or upgrades!

A ton of home for the money, this turn-key remodel is ready for you and your family to move right in! This home with over 2,400 square feet has a bright, open floor plan with large living, family & bonus rooms and all new paint inside & out. New carpet & vinyl and refinished hardwood floors, new lights & fixtures, fireplace & even a shop out back! The yard has all new landscaping with new sprinklers & drip lines. No long wait for a short sale, sellers can close fast. Come by and see why this home won’t last long!

Immaculate single level home on a corner lot with a 3-car garage! You will love this extremely well kept home with an open, well designed floor plan. Newer paint and newer carpet that looks like it was just installed, and the roof is 2 years new too. Vaulted ceilings throughout, hardwood in the entrance, and laminate floors in the kitchen & family room. Master has sliding doors to the patio, a walk-in closet & a separate tub and shower. 4^th bedroom could be an office. Definitely a must-see, don’t wait!

Is it true what they say?

With all of the information we are all bombarded with in the media, how are we really supposed to know what to believe?  I certainly don’t need to tell you this, but sensationalism sells newspapers… big surprise, right?  For the purpose of this writing, I will focus most of my attention on the Treasure Valley, but if you live outside of the greater Boise area, the rules still apply.

There’s no doubt that there is a lot of media attention on the current housing “crisis”; a word that alone strikes fear in many, as it is intended to do.  There’s also no question that we are going through one of the toughest times in our lives with the job market, the economy, and many other issues that affect our lives.  How we respond to this chapter in history will have a huge impact on our future, and the future of our families, and my hope is to separate the hype from the reality, encourage you to do your homework, and enable you to make a more informed assessment of your next home purchase.  If you haven’t heard by now, this is one of the best times in most of our lives to buy a home, even if the scare tactics that you hear and read about tell you otherwise.

Much of today’s headlines focus on the foreclosure rates. I certainly don’t want to make light of the issue, it is the elephant in the room and there are a lot of people that are negatively affected by it.  With that said, pay close attention to the reports on the numbers – they are generally based on national figures to have more impact, and don’t necessarily reflect what is going on in the Treasure Valley.  Without going into specific numbers, you may read that a certain number of homes have gone into default.  What they fail to say is that a good percentage of those homes never go to foreclosure because the loan was caught up or modified; or the home was sold prior to foreclosure.  My research shows me that we are only slightly up in total distressed homes (Short sale & bank-owned) YTD, in fact – over 2,400 distressed Single Family (SF) homes have been sold in Ada County this year, and just over 1,800 in Canyon County.  To give you a little perspective, there are currently 3,200+/- SF homes on the market in Ada County, and only 1,800+/- in Canyon County – both of these inventory levels haven’t been this low in many years.  (This number does not reflect the nearly 1,100 SF homes that are currently under contract in Ada & Canyon County combined, or homes that are not in the MLS)

In August all of the headlines read that we had a HUGE drop in sold homes; by my calculations down 24% in Ada County from the previous July.  What they didn’t tell you was that we were up 26% in sold single family homes year to date (YTD) in Ada County as of the end of July.  Canyon County was up a staggering 40.5% YTD at the same time, even though it was down 14% from the previous July.  We are currently holding on to a 9% gain YTD in Ada and nearly 24% in Canyon – that’s impressive in any economy, and makes you wonder why they insist on focusing on the negative… oh, I remember – see paragraph one.   If you weren’t keeping track, June was the last month to close on your home purchase in order to take advantage of the last tax credit offered by the government – more on that later. (This closing date was extended until July 31, 2010, but you still had to have been in contract by April 30)  July’s drop didn’t surprise anyone in the industry, and the fact that we are still way ahead of last year doesn’t either, the real estate market is moving along nicely.

If you missed the tax credit, it’s nothing to lose any sleep over.  The interest rates are lower than they were in the beginning of the year when they were hovering around 5% give or take. Keep in mind that for every 1/4 point reduction, you save thousands of dollars over the life of the loan.  For example, a 5% interest rate on a $100,000 loan equates to a principal & Interest (P&I) payment of roughly $537.  At 4.25%, your P&I payment today would be $492 – a $45 dollar per month savings, and over $16,000 over the life of the loan.  That’s a significant amount of money, and something you can take to the bank.

You’re probably wondering where I’m going with all of this, so here’s my point.  Don’t always believe what you hear or read.  Verify any and all claims made by the media and do your homework – remember; they have ad space to sell.  Be sure to confirm that the news they are reporting is local.  Every market is different, and national news doesn’t tell the true story of what is going on in our own back yard.  Take what your peers tell you about the real estate market with a grain of salt and seek advice from an experienced Realtor®, lender or tax consultant.  Check with your accountant to see how the purchase of a home will affect your ability to write off portions of your home sale and monthly payments each year.  Don’t view your personal home as an investment; plan to live there for at least 5-10 years and enjoy the peace of mind & pride of ownership, not to mention creating a stable environment for your family and living the American Dream.   As we’ve discussed in the past, this is truly a great time to buy a home, and here are a few more reasons why:

• As of this writing, there are currently 350 homes, condos & townhomes in Ada County between $50,000 & $100,000, and 644 in Canyon County – 50 of which were built in 2010 or are “To Be Built”.
• From $100,000 to $150,000 – there are a combined total of 1,517 available homes, condos & townhomes; with over 20% of them built in 2010 or “To Be Built”.
• There are still plenty of loan programs out there, with historically low interest rates.
• Home inventories are dropping; you don’t want to wait too long.  When demand exceeds supply, home prices will go up - great for sellers, not so great for buyers.
• You really, really want to buy a home!

If you are in the market, or are still sitting on the fence, you need to consider talking to a Realtor® about your options, and how to get started with your search.  Please feel free to contact me with any questions that you may have, I am here to help.

Terry Ivins

208.870.5086