All Forum Posts by: Jim Paulson

I am a real estate broker in Boise, Idaho and am seeing a huge shift in builder mentality.  They were making insane profits for a while when they couldn't build fast enough.  Several quit doing pre-sold/custom homes so they could control their materials during supply chain issues and so they could keep raising their prices along the way with our market.  They would list them at top dollar when they were 30 days from completion, sell them in days and create new comps at the higher values along the way.

Some are freaking out that their homes are not selling in a week or less and dropping prices (profit margins) but not to the point any are actually taking a loss (that I know of).

I track online showings and those numbers are still great for my listings here in Boise, but many buyer's are still sitting on the sidelines trying to figure out what to do next.  If they are on the sidelines, price reductions don't matter unless they are super drastic.

I am based in Boise, Idaho.  I am a Realtor and the owner and broker of my independent real estate brokerage, Progressive Realty Corporation.  I am always glad to pay for referrals on closed sales to other Realtors.  

@Kyle Schroeder I am an agent (Broker/Owner) in Boise, Idaho.  With the "Red Tide" (political conservatives) moving to Boise from places like California, I think our market will keep appreciating albeit not at the frenzied pace we have seen over the past years.   Our market has slowed down due to the jump in interest rates and all the gloom and doom forecasts from the national media keeping buyers on the sidelines.  However, I believe this to be a speedbump, not a detour.  I am here to help if you would like local data sent your way.

If your agent agent isn't from the area and doesn't even have a sign in the yard, the time to change agents was before you signed the listing agreement!

What is the average market time for similar properties in your area?

What is the average sales to list price ratio?

It appears you bought the property in March for only $330k and now are asking $500k more?  I know you remodeled it, but that is a huge red flag to me.

Best of luck!

I refuse to use data from Zillow because even though they have some of the most data in the nation about housing, they still managed to lose over $400 million when they exited the iBuying market!

I also find it ironic than in San Jose, their average price is nearly $1.5 million but they are only 19.81% overpriced.

I own a real estate brokerage in Boise, Idaho which they claim to be the #1 overpriced market in the country.  However, I have a lot of clients flocking here from more expensive areas and buying homes on acreage for so much less than in California, Seattle, etc., who then work remotely getting paid the salaries from those metro areas while enjoying their own private Idaho.

@Geri May as a Realtor in Boise, I would advise against writing up your own lease without consulting an attorney to at least review it before using it. There are so many legal stumbling blocks that can prove to be very expensive if you even just have to pay to defend yourself in court and win. Are you prepared to differentiate between comfort pets and therapy animals? Do you know what you can and can't do/say/restrict when it comes to protected classes for fair housing? The weirdest case I have ever heard of is a tenant was living in a standard subdivision with a lot less than 1/4 of an acre. The CCR's didn't allow livestock including horses or cows. However, the tenant claimed their horse was a therapy animal so it should be allowed. I never did hear the resolution. How would you handle it if they listed that on their application to start with - do you risk getting sued for discrimination if that is the reason you say no? Best of luck!

@Bryan Morris this is definitely a timely topic.  I have successfully challenged multiple tax assessments and will again this year.  You need to go in with statistics and facts, not emotions.  Keep in mind that the current assessment is for the value on January 1, 2021 not 2022.  In a raising market, that helps since homes were cheaper in 2021.

As much as I despise the "Z" company that does online estimates, they used to take Ada County tax assessment and multiply by 1.4 to come up with their valuation. Idaho is a non-disclosure state, so they had to figure out alternate ways to calculate their values. If you download their spreadsheet from their own website, they show how inaccurate they are on unlisted properties in Idaho! However, when a property is listed, they adjust their values from the MLS and amazingly their accuracy jumps from only 44% of homes sold were within 5% of their estimate to over doubled the accuracy to 82.6%. https://www.zillow.com/z/zesti...

Idaho's property taxes are based on a levy code not a rate based system.  The difference being that our levy codes change to reflect (Budget / total property values) x property value (adjusted for homeowners (homestead) exemption = Property Tax.  Just because your property values increases, doesn't mean your taxes will go up the same percentage!  

I used to tell people that Ada County Tax Assessor appeared to purposely assess below the market but raised the levy code to make up for it.  For example, If a home was worth $100,000 and their levy code was 1% to generate $1,000 in revenue; it appeared they would assess it for $90,000 and raise their levy code to 1.1111% they would still receive $999.90 in taxes but have a lot fewer phone calls and challenges to their assessments.

A few suggestions:  pull comps from January 2021; adjust for condition (if your tenant trashed the place or let the yard go, needs TLC, etc. point that out); adjust for location (is your home on the non-view side of the street or backing to the busy street or under the power lines; etc.  Do not just go on price per square foot unless all your comps are similar in size and quality.

Best of luck on your appeal.

Jason, I believe you heard correctly, I do believe they spoke incorrectly however. Being expensive is not synonymous with affordable. There are programs out there that help the low/moderate income earners buy a home using down payment assistance, tax credits, and sometimes below market interest rates. I have even used a clients Section 8 housing voucher to use toward their mortgage payment in the past. Admittingly, when the average house payment is more than the average homeowner can buy, you have to get creative. Buy a fourplex and rent three units to offset your payment, or get a co-borrower instead of just a roommate, etc. I just sold a home to my middle son who works in McCall and they have their roommate on their mortgage with them since that area is even more expensive than Boise! I did coin a new term lately, "Drive till you qualify". One of the major problems for entry level buyers is that builders are no longer building smaller homes. So far this year, there have only been 26 brand new homes built listed the MLS that were under 1,000 sq. ft.! When ever a project is proposed with higher density and smaller homes, the neighbors all complain with same old stanza "not in my backyard".

There are multiple options and each is a bit unique so no one loan is always the best for everyone.  Where are you located?  Do you already own the lot? How long is the construction period? How many draws do you need (monthly or more?), Is the builder giving you credit for working on your money and you paying interest instead of them? Sorry, I have more questions than answers to start.

Another option to consider for your parents if they are 62+ is look into a reverse mortgage for them on their current or next home.  I was talking to a lender that was doing classes on reverse mortgages and he asked me if I had any interest in buying a second home when I retired and how I intended to finance it.   I said I intended to pay cash.  He replied "If I could show you how to only pay about 65% of the amount and never make another payment wouldn't you be interested in that option?  I took his class.