Hello Friends,
We hope that this letter finds you and your loved ones well and thanks for taking a moment.
As you may have been tracking, our business continues to grow nicely. If you haven't made it in to see our new digs, please stop by. We now occupy 3,000 square feet at 1553 Oak (Map) and are really enjoying the comfort of our offices, conference rooms and the central downtown location.
Looking back at the statistics for last year we learned that our (Dave and Pam's) closed sales volume puts us about 6th out of over 1,000 Realtors in the Eugene area. We have never slowed down enough to look at these statistics before and were really surprised that there are just over a handful of fellow Realtors selling more Real Estate in our area. We see this as motivating and are excited to see if we can climb a few rungs North on the ladder during 2008.
We have surrounded ourselves with great friends to work with and are really enjoying this phase of our journey. We are thrilled to have watched Eric Skinner break solidly into the top 100 Realtors for closed sales in Eugene last year. Pat Stacey's career is taking off brightly with over a million dollars in closed sales for the month of January 08. John Baumann and Tawnya Madsen are well ahead of the curve with their production as well. There is little sweeter than sharing success with dearly loved friends. To come to work everyday with these folks is a blessing.
We are really excited about the success of alternativerealtor.com. We now have over 100 visitors a day and we have recently added a feature where folks can choose a "Live Help" button and "chat" with us in real time. We have worked hard to be well represented on the Internet. The web continues to develop and it is fun to be a part of it.
The last 6 months has been one of the most exciting times in Real Estate. Lots of scary headlines and market changes have torpedoed buyer confidence. In the last 24 months, we have seen Lane County's inventory of available homes move from 1.7 months of inventory to over 7. Prices have softened in the upper price ranges and held reasonably well in the more modest price ranges. Marketing times have doubled across the board.
The fun in this market is bargain properties like we have not seen in years. We have a strong belief in the long term strength of our area. Interest rates are hovering just above 5% for a 30 year mortgage. Just like when the Tech market crashed and folks were licking wounds, the smart and able are buying. This is a good time to buy for those willing to hold property. Pam and I have just added 2 new properties to our retirement portfolio in the last 2 months.
The quest of sellers at this moment is to find the nexus between exposure, condition and aggressive pricing for success. A significant number of listings in our MLS are simply not selling because they have missed in one of those critical areas. In general the closed volume on a monthly basis in Lane County is pacing at 2/3rds of last years momentum. A well priced property, in good condition, that is well-represented, will still sell in a reasonable amount of time.
We thank you for your contribution to the success of our business and the enrichment of our lives.
We hope to see more of you this year.
Thanks,
Dave and Pam
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