Traversing Northern Oregon Coast Real Estate: Great Value, or Overpriced?

You already know Tillamook County offers many wonderful beach and inland communities. You love what this stretch of the coastline has to offer; hiking, beachcombing, crabbing and brilliantly colored sunsets enhanced by deep blue waves crashing over monolith rock formations just off pristine sandy beaches. You’ve been visiting for years; Oceanside, Netarts, Cape Meares, trying out a number of different vacation rentals – some better than others. Every time you visit, you look around at what’s for sale, pull flyers to see if you can afford the prices and dream about what it would be like to have a home of your own at the beach.

PRICES ARE DOWN
When you visit this Spring, you will notice many homes are no longer on the market, and the prices of those remaining have come down since last Summer. Oceanside had over 40 homes for sale Summer 2008. As of March 1, 2009 there are 25. Average price per square foot of ocean view homes in Oceanside, Oregon in 2007 was approximately $363. In 2008 it dropped to nearly $252 per square foot! You can do the math to get an idea of what 2009 may bring about.


NAVIGATING THE SEA OF SELLERS
Thinking of investing in a home at the beach, but not sure which homes are priced competitively, and which haven’t quite adjusted to the current market? It can be tricky! Beyond price, to confuse matters further, there is a wide range of sellers – those that have to sell, those that want to sell, and those that will sell only if they can get what they want for their home. To make an informed decision, and not feel as though you have overpaid for a home, you’d better do your homework. My advice to those considering Real Estate at the Coast: Consult a Realtor that is not only knowledgeable of the current market conditions, but knows the history of the homes for sale in the area you are interested in.

TOOLS FOR SUCCESS

Complete your own MLS search http://www.iwantabeachhome.com, or request to receive links (sent to you by Tillamook County Realtors) and look closely at the "History" tab in the details section of property links. In this tab, you can see the history of the subject property – past sales prices for the home, days on the market for each listing, and price reductions on the current active listing. It is not uncommon in this market to see homes for sale at prices lower than they sold for in years as recent as 2005, or 2006. It is also interesting to look at the length of current listings and their original list prices. On all three Northern coast MLS’s today, Tillamook, Clatsop and Lincoln County, you can find many homes that have been listed for 300 days, or more. Thought you had to pay $1,000,000 to get an ocean, or bay front home? The very real reality is you may now pay several hundred thousand less in many areas. Who imagined the time would come again where you could potentially buy a home with some form of an ocean view for a price tag as low as $239K?

SHOW ME THE DEALS

To see some great examples of price reduced homes in Tillamook County, follow this link: http://www.iwantabeachhome.com/mls-search-f13138.html and type the following MLS list numbers separated by commas into the designated field: 08-743, 09-7, 08-796, 08-14, 07-1042. Note: MLS #07-1042 is a fabulous Netarts Bay Front home reduced from $990K to $685K. Be sure to check it out!

QUESTIONS TO ASK
In addition to knowing the history of a home, here are some questions to seek answers to in determining if it is priced appropriately and/or if there is room to make a significantly price reduced offer. First, determine whether or not the subject property is a "Commodity" - Something of significant use, advantage, or value. Some questions to ask yourself and a Real Estate professions may be: Are there few homes similar to it for sale? Does it offer a one-of-a-kind location, or view? Is it a style, or type of home that could not be rebuilt for the price it is listed at? If you answered "yes" to any, or all of these questions, you may have a "commodity" type property on your hands. In this case, it's price may not be entirely reflective of the downturn in the market, unless the seller (private party, bank owned, or foreclosure) is distressed in some way. Not all homes will undergo large price reductions in the near future. Some can be considered a commodity, and/or have sellers that consider it to be just that. At the present time, there seems to be a collection of exceptionally nice homes for sale that typically would have been snapped up in a matter of hours after hitting the market. Even without dramatic price reductions, these properties can still be considered great opportunities, as in this market you will likely have more time to make a decision without another party competing for the same home.

ENTER THE LOW BALL OFFER
Established thus far is the imperative nature in the current market of knowing the history, or situation of specific Real Estate you are interested in. One final tactic to mention that seems to be gaining in popularity, is the so-called "low ball offer." As a general rule, I do not advise buyers to make extremely low offers, especially on homes they are not certain are in a distressed situation. However, I witness and assist buyer's making low offers with the following justification, "I want to see how desperate this seller is." Enter low-ball offer. In times past, unjustifiably low offers were shunned by sellers, often not looked at and/or not responded to. An interesting turn of events has occurred. Sellers seem to look at most offers, and respond even when they are undesirable. I applaud seller's for their steadiness through these difficult times. It is admirable to swallow your pride and respond even to offers you feel are way outside of your comfort level. I attribute this willingness to participate to the simple fact of offers becoming fewer and farther between. Sellers may be compelled to respond to offers they would have in years passed been insulted by.

SOMETHING TO NOTE: A counter to any offer in this market is an opportunity for a seller to make their situation crystal clear to a buyer. If they are highly motivated to sell, they will consider the offer and make a suitable counter to meet their personal needs, likely with a price reduction of some sort -- perhaps meeting in the middle, or slightly above. The alternative for a seller at this juncture, if they are not in a hurry to sell, or that price will not meet their needs, is to counter back at, or near their current asking price. This says to the buyer, boldly and clear, "We are not interesting in selling our home much below our current asking price." The "low ball offer" once viewed as a foe, has become a seller's opportunity to entertain offers and make statements through counter offers.

Don't be deterred by complicating factors in the current marketplace! Instead, as a preventative measure find a Real Estate professional to help you traverse the current situation. The opportunities on the Northern Oregon Coast are certainly plentiful.

Visit www.iWantABeachHome.com to view homes and land in Tillamook County on the Northern Oregon Coastline. Use the valuable MLS Search feature, but don’t hesitate to ask for help at any stage of your home search.

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Sincerely,
Wendy Stevens