The Best place to live in Park City, Utah Part 2, TRAILSIDE PARK

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Trailside Park


Trailside Park is one of my favorite areas – I live there! I chose this area because of the proximity to everything . Trailside Elementary is within walking distance of most Trailside homes along with a fantastic park that includes 2 soccer fields, 2 play jungle gyms, 2 tennis courts, sand volleyball, a bike pump track and a skate park! Whew! That’s a lot of fun right here!

Trailside is mostly primary residents and the homes range from the $300’s to well above $2 Million. It is super popular with families because of all the recreation and fun listed above. No kids, or older kids? The Park City free bus runs right through the center of Trailside, so easy to send your teens off to the slopes on the bus.


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Park City Mountain is about 8-10 minutes from Trailside, Canyons about 6 minutes and Deer Valley about 10 minutes. Park City’s historic Main Street is only 10 minutes away as well. It's considered a little bit "out of town" compared to Old Town living, but works well for most locals. Salt Lake City is about 25 minutes from Trailside and both the I-80 fwy and the SR-40 are withing minutes making this a great commuter neighborhood. Doctors that need to be able to be down in SLC within 30 minutes when on call live in Trailside.

Redstone center is about 5 minutes away and you will find grocery shopping, movie theatres, stores like Bed Bath and Beyond, TJMaxx, WorldMarket and many others. My dentist is in that center too!




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So, let’s talk about the name…Trailside Park. There are tons of trails connecting through Trailside for biking , hiking or jogging. The trails connect with Round Valley, Mountain Ranch Trails, Glenwild Trails and Silver Creek Trails. Plenty of exercise and recreation for everyone.

TRAILSIDE HOMES AVAILABLE

For more information about living in Trailside, contact me at heather@parkcityhousehunters.com , or call me at 435-731-0803
Heather Feldman
Equity Real Estate Luxury Group Park City Utah

The Best Place to live in Park City Utah, Part 3, Old Town

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Old Town is the perfect place to live for many residents. They like the bustling energy, the closeness to all things Park City. Read on to see if Old Town sounds right for you:


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Park City’s Old Town has a colorful history and is full of character. Old Town reflects the rich mining history of Park City, which was incorporated as a city in 1884, eighteen years after silver was discovered in its mountains. Many of the original commercial and residential buildings still remain, reflecting the Victorian architecture of that era. Main Street in Old Town is known for its great shops, world class restaurants, art galleries and unique character.

You will see multi-million dollar mansions next to small miner’s cottages, homes that are maintained beautifully next to rental properties in need of some love. That’s the beauty of Park City’s Old Town. It’s not cookie cutter subdivision bland. The beauty is in the diversity, the diversity of homes and of residents. Approximately 50% of the homeowners are full-time, the other 50% are either second home owners or investment/rental properties.

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From Old Town you can walk to Historic Main Street for dining or shopping. The City has installed stairs at intervals to get you up to Lowell and down to Park Ave. You are in the middle of all the action. Many of the Old Town homes are within walking distance to Park City Mountain Resort for skiing or hiking and biking in the summer.

Prices range from the $200’s for a condo up to $8 Million dollars for a large home on a large lot. The average home right now is 3-4 bedrooms, 1 car garage, 2000 sq ft and runs between $799,000 and about $900,000.

Click below to see some Old Town properties available for purchase.

Search Park City's Old Town Homes   To see any Park City Real estate, contact me at heather@parkcityhousehunters.com

Park City Utah median sales price up

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Park City, Utah –The highlight for the first quarter of 2012, as reported by the Park City Board of REALTORS®, is that the median sales price for vacant land and condos, in all areas, has gone up. The median sold price for condos went from $335,000 in the first quarter of 2011 to $401,628 for quarter one in 2012.

This is great news for any Park City homeowner.

A year ago, we continued to see downward pressure on prices which seems to have flattened.  “Prices throughout our market seem to have stabilized, and in certain segments prices have started to increase.  We saw this trend start in 2011 with single family homes, and we are now seeing it in condo and vacant land sales,” says Mark Seltenrich, statistician for the Park City Board of REALTORS®.  He adds, “In certain parts of the market, and in certain areas, some pent up demand is being demonstrated and even among buyers there is little talk of prices continuing to fall.”

Click here to read the entire article

For information on any Park City, Utah home, condo or investment property, contact me at
heather@parkcityhousehunters.com

Best Place to live in Park City, Ut part 4, Silver Springs

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Silver Springs Ranch Place
Southshore/Northshore
Willow Creek

Silver Springs is a diverse area comprised of several different neighborhoods all within minutes to the I-80 and all of the ski resorts here in Park City.

Ranch Place is a always hot area to buy or sell. Ranch Place consists of single family homes in a community backing to the Swaner Nature Preserve. The homes are typically from about 2500 sq ft up to over 4500 sq ft and most will feature a Mountain modern look with some open beam work and log accents. The age of the homes varies, most built in the mid 1990’s, and many have undergone a remodel.  The homes sit on lots between ¼ and ½ acre. This type of proximity lends itself to a cozy neighborhood feel.

Southshore/Northshore neighborhoods are both situated around lakes available for the residents use along with a lake-side park with playgrounds and picnic areas along with a covered pavilion for gatherings.
South Shore is the smallest single family home community within the Silver Springs area of Park City; containing 82 single family homes. South Shore has a small recreational lake accessible to all residents. South Shore homes tend to be owner-occupied, permanent residences. Most are three or four bedroom homes with three car garages and level lots. Some homes have ski area views and all have mountain views. Since most of these residences were built in the early 1990's, they also have mature landscaping.
Many of the homes in North Shore community have frontage on the larger lake. Most homes in the Northshore community are mountain-contemporary in style with four or more bedrooms, three-car garages, mountain views, mature trees, and curbside mail delivery. Lots in Northshore like most in the Silver Springs area are level allowing for easy winter driveway maintenance and range from one quarter to just over one half acre.
  
Willow Creek is the newest area in Silver Springs. This neighborhood consists of newer construction of larger high-end homes on minimum of ½ acre lots bordered by open space and the ever popular Willow Creek Park. Willow Creek Park has several soccer fields, tennis courts, playground areas and a local pond used for outdoor skating and hockey in the winter.

For more information about buying or selling in Silver Springs, contact me at heather@parkcityhousehunters.com , or call me at 435-731-0803
Heather Feldman
Equity Real Estate Luxury Group Park City Utah

Search for Park City Real Estate at ParkCityHouseHunters.com

Experiencing Mortgage Loan Hell?

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Mortgage Loan Hell. Means something different to each person you ask.
Renters respond with ignorant bliss and an innocent questioning look on their faces. Borrowers trying to obtain a loan show a face of rage and frustration. Those caught up in the hell of bank mistakes and mismanagement show a face hardly recognizable as human.


What is it going to take for the Mortgage loan industry to get it together?
Case in point - Borrower X, excellent credit history and scores, plenty of income, sounds like it should be a slam dunk, right? Give this borrower a loan! Not so fast. This borrower has some complications that underwriters can't seem to grasp. This borrower was divorced in the last year, and as divorces go property and assets were split. In this case, the couple owned two successful businesses, each party receiving one of the two businesses in the divorce.

As we start the loan process prior to offering on a property, the loan officer gathers all of the required and customary papers to document this borrowers information. It is sent off to underwriting, approval should take 10 days or so. The first bank decides there is no history of this borrower running the business - the same one the borrower has owned and run for the last 5 years!!!

The underwriters then begin to ask for a litany of additional documentation - they want 12 months of payment evidence on a vehicle only owned for 10 months  - really?!?  and can't understand why 12 months isn't available. Then unreasonable paperwork shuffling :After 2 months of document gathering, with each updated bank statement or piece of documentation requested they have a list of 5 more requests  to verify the same thing they already verified 2 weeks ago, but since it has taken them 2 months they need updated information and have to re verify all of the updated information. It is beyond ridiculous. This has now taken more than  2 months and they continue gathering information. Again, all from a borrower making plenty of documented income and great credit.

The underwriters seem to have a difficult time deciphering complicated tax returns and income scenarios. It's almost like they are fast food kids and retail workers given a crash course in paper pushing with no concept of anything more than a weekly paycheck and a W2 scenario, and are terrified to make a decision. 
The frustration is doubled as the Utah Housing Corp has started advertising programs for down payment assisted loans available. Loans for people that have not been able to save a down payment and only a 620 credit score is required. Seriously? And this qualified, well funded borrower is being put through 2 months of HELL to get a loan?

How about borrowers that are self employed and take full advantage of all legal tax write offs? Loans are calculated on the net income, so the choice for the self employed borrower is to not take legal, allowed write offs for at least 2 years, paying a sizable tax increase to show more net income, or simply buy only what they can mostly pay cash for. Case in point - borrower Z, husband and wife are self employed, have mid 700 credit scores, good income and want to refinance the loan they took out 5 years ago down to a current lower rate. They owe $400k, their home is worth $1M. No can do. Even though they have made every payment on time and have great credit history, no lender will touch them because their net income shown is not sufficient for their current loan. Yet, there are loans out there for people that have no down payment.


I suppose it could be worse. Click on the link I found below from The Fiscal Times about loan hell stories from those caught up in the mistakes and mismanagement of existing loans.


Article from The Fiscal times with Loan Hell examples

UPDATE - THE BUYER REFERENCED IN THE FIRST PART OF THIS POST GOT THEIR LOAN AND CLOSED ON THEIR HOME. TOO BAD IT HAD TO BE SUCH A DIFFICULT PROCESS FOR THEM!

When is a Short Sale a good deal ?

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When is a short sale a good deal?Short sales can snag a great property for a buyer at ascreaming deal…sometimes. Short sales can take months and months before the bankaccepts an offer, it can be one of the most frustrating purchases you can make,and it isn’t always your best deal. If you would like more detailed informationabout Short Sales, read on…
Buyers make the mistake of assuming because it is a shortsale it is automatically their best deal. Sometimes they’re right.  Many times the seller owes such large amounts to the bankand the bank(s) price the home based on what they are willing to take, not whatthe current market dictates.   
So, in a nutshell here is how the typical short sale works:

• Seller decides/needs to sell, they owe more onthe home than they can sell it for. Maybe they bought at the top, maybe theyborrowed against the home – either way their loan is too high. 
  
•  The seller goes through an arduous process to getthe bank to agree to allow a short sale
• Bank agrees to a short sale, home is placed onthe market.
•  Some sellers continue to maintain the home,others do not
• Short sale homes are sometimes not available toshow very easily, or are not listed with the local brokerage ( have to wonderabout their motives – to sell it or squat until they are booted out?)

Pricing:

• Most banks won’t tell the Seller or the Agentwhat they feel an acceptable price is, and it is left up to the agent to listand price the property to sell.  
•  Some agents price the property to reflect marketvalue, some go just below and some properties are priced like a K-Mart blue light special.
•  Banks will conduct a BPO – Broker Price Opinionof what the property pricing should be. This is based on closed sales within agiven area. This number can depend on which properties the broker uses forcomparison.  Did they use a good range ofsold properties or just the distressed ones?

The process:The short sale process can take months and months tocomplete. There is no standard processing time or procedure the banks follow.  Many times the bank will not even look at anyoffers for weeks and weeks. The Buyer’s agent has no ability to communicatewith the bank – the listing agent often has spotty communications with thebank.  You place the offer and wait, andwait and wait. 
Many Buyers get anxious and become tired of waiting. They walk awayand find another property. In Utah, earnest money is not required of the Buyeruntil acceptance by the bank, so it is easy to walk away.  The banks don’t always use logic when choosingthe offer they like.  You could give thema full priced cash offer closing in 3 weeks and they might choose a lowerfinanced offer closing in 5 weeks because it serves their purposes better – or maybethey are just too busy and approve the first one they grab off the pile ontheir desk! Plan on longer than you think it will take. Don’t give up yourrental until you have bank acceptance and loan approval.  
Things to ask:When you are working with an experienced buyer’s agent, theywill do the research to find out if this property is viable. Here are some ofthe questions your agent should get answered for you prior to gettingemotionally invested in a home:

•  Where is the bank in the short sale process
• Do they have any offers currently?
• Are they planning on submitting multiple offers
• Have they had past offers and how has the bankresponded?
•  Is this home priced in a reasonable range tomake it a good deal and worth the wait?

If the short sale process has just started, the bank is lesslikely to take a low ball offer and will be more likely to try and get thehighest price possible.  If there areoffers in currently that can make the possibility of your offer gettingaccepted lower. Sometimes the bank will work with the first offer until it diesor closes, then move on to the next.  Ifthe seller is planning on submitting multiple offers you know you will havesome competition to face and should offer accordingly. How the bank hasresponded to past offers can be an indicator of how long the process could take.  If the home is in a $700,000 neighborhood andis priced at $850,000, chances of getting a screaming deal price are slim andnone – at least not right away.
Things to avoid:·         Click the links below to see some of the Short Sale pitfalls to avoid:Nolo Legal - short sale fraud scams  AOL - Short Sale flopping 5 common buyer short sale mistakes 

I won't speak for free

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In March of 2008 I had a pair of 'firsts' that were both scary as hell for me at the time. First, I flew on an airplane for the first time in my life, and second, I spoke at SXSW. Actually I moderated a panel, but it was the first time since graduate school 5 years prior, that I spoke in front of an audience.

Now as an introvert, an introvert that had never spoken professionally at the time, my first thought when I was contacted about moderating a panel at SXSW was "There's no way I can do this!"

My second thought was "There's no way I can't do this!"

So although I was literally worried sick about speaking at SXSW, I went ahead with it. It ended up being one of the best decisions I've made in the last 2 years, and now I actually love speaking at social media conferences, something I would have never imagined this time two years ago. And I've gotten to be a pretty good speaker, I get good reviews every time I speak, and at every event I have had at least one attendee tell me afterward that my presentation alone justified the cost of the event for them.

For each event I speak at I spend on average 10 hours creating the slide deck, and about 20 hours rehearsing the presentation, unless it's an existing presentation/deck, then that time is much less. The end result is that I spend anywhere from 15-30 hours preparing/rehearsing the presentation, and lose a minimum of one day due to travel, usually two days.

So there's a pretty big time commitment necessary for me to speak at an event. And yet even with the time investment required, even though I have spoken at most of the biggest social media events and get rave reviews when I speak, I still have conference organizers that contact me expecting me to speak at their event for free.

And when I say 'free', I don't mean that they won't pay a speaking fee. I mean that they won't cover a speaking fee OR any of the speaker's travel costs TO the event.

About a year ago, I adopted a strict policy for speaking at events: I won't speak for free. If you want me to speak at your event, the bare minimum requirement is that you cover my travel. I'll probably require a speaking fee as well, but one certainty is that I won't be paying to come speak at your event so you can sell more tickets. I have turned down a lot of speaking requests in the last year because the event organizers wanted me to speak for free.

I won't. Period.

I'm sorry, but if you are an event organizer, my expertise and time are both worth money, and I'm going to ask for it. I've worked with event organizers before, so I understand that very few social media conferences are cash cows. But a lot more could be compensating their speakers, even if it's only their travel to the event.

Besides that, it's the right thing to do.