The C Team

Townhouse For Sale in Cedar City

2009-12-15T02:25:00Z

Great Starter Home or Rental!

• 1,014 sq. ft., 2 bath, 3 bdrm townhouse - MLS® $100,000

Cedar City, Iron County - Townhome great for the investor or the first time home buyer. Flooring, light fixtures and counters replaced in the last three years. Easy to show. HOA is $90/month which includes water, sewer, garbage and structure insurance.

Property information

Single Story For Sale in Cedar City North

2009-12-15T02:08:00Z

• 1,180 sq. ft., 2 bath, 3 bdrm single story - MLS® $123,000

Cedar City North, Cedar City - Nice home near hospital. Great starter or investment house. Landcaped in front, fenced with sprinklers in front and back. Good deal.

Property information

Single Story For Sale in Parowan

2009-02-11T02:30:00Z

Potential, Potential, Potential

• 1 bath, 2 bdrm single story "Lovely Cottage " - MLS® $109,995 - HUGE PRICE REDUCTION!

Parowan, Iron County - Seller ready to sell! $30,000 reduction in price. Too good of a deal to pass up. This home has several possibilities - a second home - a place for your business - or an investment. Once financed a young coupld could by this home forwhat rent would be. Potential second floor in attic which could make this a 4 bed, 2 bath home. New main electrical panel and new auto sprinkler system.

Property information

2 Story For Sale in Cedar City

2009-01-26T15:23:00Z

Perfect for First Time Buyer or Investor

• 1,882 sq. ft., 3 bath, 3 bdrm 2 story "with unfinished walkout basement" - MLS® $139,500 - AMAZING DEAL!

Cedar City, Iron County - Great property for investment of first time buyer. Tenant has lease until May '09. Home warranty included. Please allow 24 hour notice to show.

Property information

Single Story For Sale in Cedar City

2009-01-26T15:20:00Z

Twin home on larger lot

• 1,260 sq. ft., 2 bath, 3 bdrm single story "All on One Level" - MLS® $137,900

Cedar City, Iron County - Nice view. Great for investor or first time buyer. Renter has lease until October '09. Larger lot. Home Warranty included. Please allow 24 hour notice to show.

Property information

Thoughts to live by..................

2009-01-15T16:50:00Z

I came across a thought that had some great advice to help each of be better, as people, and be better at our jobs or businesses.

It is called The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz:

Be Impeccable With Your Word: Speak With Integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourslef or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

Don't Take Anything Personally: Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

Don't Make Assumptions: Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama. With just this one agreement you can completely transform your life.

Always Do Your Best: Your best is giong to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgement, self-abuse and regret.

As I read this over, I thought just how much better each one of would be if we did this four things daily in our lives and our businesses. Make it a great Week!

Winter in Cedar City

2008-12-27T20:05:00Z

Well, there is no denying that Winter has arrived in Cedar City. Today was one of the few in the past few days that I haven't had to shovel snow the first thing in the morning. I had to run to the store. It was easily the coldest day this month. The thermometer in the car said that it was 7 degrees. After I got back in the car after shopping the same thermometer said that it was 2 degrees. I really didn't think that we could spare those 5 degrees that we seemed to have lost! We have had a really good storm system in place for over a week, I am not sure how much snow was dropped in the mountains, but the skiers should be happy for a little while.

It is foolish to think that it is enough snow, after a fairly dry years this past year, we need as much snow in the mountains as we can get! Snow and ice have made the roads an adventure many times in the past week and a half. The snow only adds to the beauty that is Cedar City and Iron County. It limits some of the roads that we can drive on, but it is becoming a snowmobile paradise! It is predicted to warm up over the next week, so that is a good time to get everything dug out and the roads cleaned up again.

Christmas has passed and the New Year is just a few days away. We hope that everyone had a safe Christmas Holiday! On the Real Estate front, Darcy just completed her brokers class, and is going to take the test next week. We have no intention of leaving ERA, it is such a great office. One thing is true, the people are what makes a business great, and there is no wonder why ERA Realty Center in Cedar City is a great office, they have great people working there! We invite all of to you contact us we would like to earn your business, and show you why ERA Realty Center is the Premier Real Estate Office in Iron County! Have a Happy New Year!

Fire in Cedar City

2008-12-03T17:00:00Z

Cedar City suffered a little more this week. A fire destroyed two businesses just West of Historic Main Street. The building was a total loss and the businesses had most if not all of their equipment and inventory ruined. The good news is that no one was injured! That is always good news this time of year. Apparently an electrical problem is the cause of the fire. For the complete story here is the link: http://www.thespectrum.com/article/20081203/NEWS01/812030330&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL.

There is never a good time economically nor of the year for something like this to happen. Our hearts go out to those affected by this fire. We can only hope that insurance will compensate these business owners enough to continue with their endevours! The loss at this time of year, especially with the Christmas Shopping Season in full swing, is very difficult I am sure.

Changing directions, I recieved an email that applications for home mortgages across the country doubled last week. The low interest rates are at least fueling a refinancing upswing. Whether this will factor into the pricing and purchasing of new homes or not remains to be seen. One can only hope! Here in Cedar City, we still enjoy a good inventory of existing homes in the full range of prices. Now is a good time to get into a new home, and to get in by the Holidays! Have a Great Week! and Happy Holidays!

Our Community News

2008-11-08T01:36:00Z

Our Community is a little Poorer this week...................... (edit/delete)

Our community here in Iron County is a little poorer this week. We lost a couple of athletic coaches to cancer. One is a basketball coach that coached at both of the High Schools in Cedar City, winning State Championships with both the boys and the girls teams that he coached. I didn't grow up here in the Iron County area, so I didn't know him. However, everyone that I talked to absolutely loved and respected him as a builder of young people. His name is Coach Hodson, after taking the girls at Canyon View High School to a state championship he moved on to coach the women's basketball team at Southern Utah University.

The other coach, I have know my entire life. He coached wrestling at Parowan High School. He is my cousin, therefore, I have had the benefit of knowing him my whole life without having grown up in the area. Darcy and I spent the morning at Paul's funeral. Paul Williamson, my cousin worked for the State Road Department as well as coaching wrestling. I was saddened that there was so much about Paul that I didn't know.

I knew him to be a good man, fun to be around and the life of the party, a hardworking, salt of the earth type of person. Today I learned that he loved to dance and sing, that he liked Shakespeare, and that given the choice, he would have preferred to have just been a coach. I know that his dear wife, sons and their families will dearly miss him. I was glad to see the outpouring of the small community of Parowan and Paragonah come to pay their respects. It made me wish that I would have had the priviledge of growing up in either of these communities.

While it is sad to say goodbye, it was also good to spend time with family and friends. To renew and rekindle relationships that in this hectic world of no one having the time to spend with each other. My heart and prayers go out to my Uncle Lester, Pauls father and all of the family. I pray that they will remember and cherish the memories that they have. I pray that the incidious disease, known as cancer will be cured. I also pray that I remember to incorporate community service at an increased level, like my cousin did. I also hope that I remember to take time to spend with loved ones, and let them know how dear they are to me.

I will admit that I wept shamelessly in the cemetery when I looked and saw an entire wrestling team with tears streaming down their faces, and fists balled in a futile attempt to staunch the tears. I had to stop and say to myself, when I am done, I hope that someone will be that affected by my passing. Godspeed my friend!

What the Media is Missing...................

2008-11-03T20:33:00Z

What the Media Economists are missing in my opinion.

I have listened to and read many reports on the current housing market across the United States, and the one thing that I see they’re missing is they are treating housing like a stock certificate. I understand how mortgages are sold and the secondary market, which is in shambles. The one thing that the media experts fail to see is the need for housing.

Food, Clothing and Shelter are humans’ basic needs. Stock in companies while extremely important in helping to provide the three basic needs, do not quite measure up as a need. Shelter, i.e. housing is one of those needs. I read an article on MSN over a week ago about how bad the current rise in housing sales may actually be bad for the economy in the long run.

I thought anything generating income was good for the economy. Maybe I am being overly simplistic in my thinking, but I could swear that was one of the key things in my Econ classes. The thing that caused me to have issue other than the doom and gloom tone of the entire article is that the housing bubble was directly compared to the dot com bubble of a few years ago.

While I don’t disagree that housing and the dot com bubble were helped along by investors. Housing is a need, not a want. Housing is something more than just an investment. Whether you are buying your own home or property to use as a rental, someone will need to have a place to live. Looking at the housing market solely as an investment is looking at just a portion of the market.

Cedar City Real Estate Market Data

2008-11-03T17:57:00Z

Interesting trends in the Real Estate Market in the Cedar City area. Six weeks ago I did a market analysis about days on market changes. It was interesting to note the changes. This morning I updated my market research, it was really telling.

Dates:	Average Days on Market	Median Days on Market
9/1/2007-9/27/2008	154	132
10/31/2007-10/31/2008	104	96

This is really interesting that it would drop that much in a relatively short time. With the credit crunch, I would have thought that this would have increased. I am sure the bargains found in some forclosure and short sale homes have greatly influenced the Days on Market in the Iron County Board of Realtors.

This month I decided that I needed to get more data, so I also calculated the average sales price vs. the average list price. I was a little surprized that board wide homes are selling at 94% of the listing price. That was a great surprize with all the media telling us how desparate homeowners are to sell. I would have thought that the numbers would have been worse.

Maybe the market here isn’t as bad as it has been made out to be. I will try to keep up with this information as the market adjusts and moves forward.

Playing to Win instead of Playing Not To Lose

2008-11-03T17:02:00Z

In Real Estate do we play to win, or do we play not to lose? There is an important distinction between the two philosophies. Whe we play to win we do all of the things that we need to do in order to win. We practice our scripts, market ourselves, find new business, and take care of existing clients. There are other things that we do to win. In this blog win=succeed.

When we play not to lose we pull back. We slash all of our marketing costs and efforts and not just the ineffective ones. We hold back and take on a wait and see attitude, we are not actively seeking new business. We become much more conservative especially with our resources.

This economy requires us to be conservative with our resources, and we should do just that, but cutting off all efforts is counter productive. We need to do a better job tracking our expenses and find out what is working and what isn’t. We then should focus on what is working, and eliminate what isn’t.

Now is the time that we need more leads not fewer. We need to be creative and figure out inexpensive ways to prospect effectively. The days of clients just coming to us may be over for good. That only means that it is time to go to the clients! We need to find them, and not wait for them to find us.

Many people, myself included, aren’t as excited to practice our scripts and make sure that they come out naturally. We have gotten a little lazy at the basic tools and skills that we need to succeed. Now more than ever it is time to get back to what works and add in some creativity to make it through.

Have a Great Week!

Being Polite in our endeavors............

2008-10-23T23:30:00Z

I had a most distasteful exchange with a lady on the phone today. I delivered some news that she didn't want to hear and she didn't like it. She accused me of having an overly cavalier attitude. I told her that I didn't realize that I was being overly cavalier and offered an apology, but that didn't change the facts. That really set her off. I am not going to single her, nor her profession or type of business out, that would be just as rude if not more so than her actions. She demanded to talk to anyone over me, I let her. She wasn't any happier or less rude to the other person.

How does this relate to Real Estate, I am not sure. I see a tremendous breakdown in common courtesy and civility in most people. It seems that we all wish to be universaly respected, yet are unwilling to show any respect in turn. I am sure that I can be quite rude, I may have been in this confrontation, but upon realizing that I was percieved as rude, I did sincerely apologize and that should have ended it. I was and still am apologetic that may attitude was percieved as rude or cavalier, I need to make the necessary changes to ensure that I am not percieved nor do I act cavalierly towards other people. In this age it is paramount that we act like professionals to other people. It is also imperative that we treat people with the courtesy that we wish to recieve.

As professionals, we cannot allow a bad day to affect our mood nor our interaction with the public. That was the most disturbing part of my confrontation with this lady earlier today, she is also in a position that works with the public. Whether she hates my profession, or someone has ruined her perception of us, none of that really matters, her job, like ours is to treat each person like they are the most important person that we will meet or talk to. We cannot condone this kind of behavior, we tolerate it, but we cannot stoop to that level. I am not sure what started the attitude that causes one to think that I will respect those whom I chose, but I must be respected.

My mother taught me that I need to give others respect until their actions cause me to no longer respect them. Along with that, she taught me that there was never an excuse to be rude towards others. So I was raised that I needed to respect others and to be polite, today these are almost thought of as weaknesses. I was also raised that it was up to me to have others continue to respect me.

Anyway, I have gone on and vented enough for one day. In summation, please treat others like you wish to be treated! Being rude and being disrespectful to others isn't cool, it is just boorish behavior that has no place in society, but especially in business! Have a Great Day!

What a wonderful Time to Visit Cedar City

2008-10-17T05:03:00Z

This is one of the best times of the year to visit Cedar City. The Shakespearean Festival is still ongoing, the weather is usually really nice, and the fall colors are still out. Another important thing is that Cedar Breaks National Monument is still open. This wonder of nature closes during the winter when the road becomes too difficult to maintain under (we hope) several feet of snow. Cedar City is also close to Zion National Park, which is absolutely gorgeous during this time of year. The temperatures are much more palatable now than they are during the summer months.

The nights at this altitude can be cool, so you may want a jacket if you're out after dark. The clean air and the brightness of the stars make up for the slight chill. As you may have been able to tell, this is my favorite time of the year, the days are still warm and comfortable, and yet not so hot that they feel oppresive, and the nights are crisp and cool. It only lasts for a few short weeks as we progress to the late fall and the temperatures get colder. For me, this is the best time to visit! We have much to offer, so come and visit us, whether it's for the weekend or a lifetime! If it is for a lifetime, be sure to give Darcy or I a call, we would love to help you find your dream house! Have a great weekend!

Cedar City Real Estate News

2008-10-09T07:59:00Z

With all that is going on the economic world right now, I was thinking back to another time that our country faced it's worst economic crisis, the Great Depression. I was reading another Real Estate Agent's blog talking about the need to not fear, http://activerain.com/blogsview/729684/We-can-t-afford to be scared and I immediately thought of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first inauguration speech. I googled the speech and found it to be very interesting. Here we as a nation faced unprecidented uncertanty and on March 4, 1933, this newly elected President spoke this with a reassuring voice:

I am certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our people impel. This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.

What great advice for us today, it is the fear itself that causes the panic. I also believe that in the Real Estate market here locally our biggest problem is that well qualified people are finding it difficult to use their good credit rating to be able to purchase a home. There is a great inventory, and with interest rates staying low, it is a great time to buy; especially if you have a large down payment. We have talked to several of the Mortgage people here in Cedar City, and they assure us that there is money to be loaned. The fear that grips the Nation shouldn't stop good people here locally from looking to buy a home. Our factories are still running and with the Iron Mines opening last month, they will be bringing more employees on as production requires them. So the economy in a small degree, much like Real Estate is a local issue as much or more as it is a Nationwide issue.

My father went to his grave believing that FDR was one of the greatest Presidents that ever lived. My father was a young man when FDR gave this paragraph in the first of four inauguration speeches. He grew to adulthood during the FDR administration as did many of that great generation. I share FDR's optimism some 75 years later, this is a great Nation, we have faced difficult times before and overcome them. We will overcome this challenge, but we won't do it by living scared. Regardless of what happens on Wall Street, the sun will come up tomorrow and we will have lives to live, families and friends to love and cherish. Let's not buy into the hysteria that the media is selling us. I am not saying don't pay attention to what is happening, that isn't the smart thing to do. What I am saying is living scared isn't a good way to live, knowledge and fear are seldom the same thing. Have a great what's left of the week!