Good things are happening in local real estate
Have you been noticing some big changes in the City of Spokane over a year ago?
Something very special is happening almost each and every day in the area. In the era of almost $3 a gallon of gasoline to run the many thousands of autos in the county, the traffic is beginning to look very much like that of California’s bumper-to-bumper commutes to and from work.
Where have all of these cars come from? All over the nation folks who had purchased a home years ago have seen prices climb. This climb has provided an opportunity to sell that home for a figure with a lot of zeros behind the first digit — and move to an area that will provide the same home they sold at a much lower, affordable price and pocket the surplus.
And what a wonderful thing this is. All over the area homes that were beginning to look a little sad have been spruced up, painted and provided siding, roof replacement, etc. In almost every neighborhood, gem-like homes are now where beaters once stood.
It is absolutely thrilling to see the renaissance happening. There is a lot of life left in many of these homes. One group of fixer-uppers pooled their talent and cash and purchased more than 70 homes that needed help. Most were fixed up and sold.
Two years ago, a buddy in the film industry in Los Angeles was offered $770,000 for his three-bedroom home. At the time, here in the Inland Northwest, the same home would be about $125,000. I encouraged him to sell the place, pocket the surplus, and come up this way.
He called this week to say that he had been offered more than $1 million for the place. Remember, this is a small three-bedroom that is very nice in Westwood Village. The lot is small by Northwest standards. We again suggested he sell the place, move up this way and pocket the rest. He could get to L.A. to his filming in a few hours via any number of airline flights. Along with Spokane, he is considering the Boise area. Amazing the geography that surplus cash opens up in one’s life!
The ‘Bubble Controversy’
We keep hearing about the “bubble” that is supposed to happen in real estate value after the history-making sales across the nation. The infamous bubble may never happen here because of where we live.
According to the National Association of REALTORS® Chief Economist David Lereah, “I see a healthy market with some growing pains, and they see a bubble about to burst,” Lereah said of recent newspaper and magazine reports.
“The good times are not turning bad,” Lereah said, predicting a healthy market through the remainder of the decade. “The goal is to show the public that the housing market is still going strong, despite the ‘irresponsible’ news coverage about housing bubbles.”