Mark Wisterman's Paradise & Lake Oroville Real Estate Blog

Those of you who know me, whether you are a client, or another REALTOR®, or a friend, know that I take the business of negotiating and successfully completing real estate transactions very seriously. You also know that I do not believe for a moment, that just because someone may have a real estate license or calls themselves a REALTOR®, means that the particular someone is competent, or educated enough to properly represent their clients best interests. Let’s face it, it is way too easy to get a real estate license in this state.

It takes more than a license or the paying of dues to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR)  to acquire the proper level of competence to do the job. Above all else it takes education and the desire to stay informed of the latest trends, rules, laws, etc.

This is why I am very pleased to announce that each of my associates have thought it important enough to spend the time necessary to join me in completing the educational requirements set forth by NAR  in order to obtain our Short Sales & Foreclosure Resource Certification. This is the ONLY “distressed property” certification recognized by NAR. A certification that, at the time we received ours, had been attained by only 2,500 of the nearly 1 million REALTORS® nationwide.

Through the attainment of this certification we have gained valuable knowledge and have access to the resources necessary to counsel and better guide our clients through the foreclosure and short sale processes. In fact, (here comes the commercial), we are the only office in the Lake Oroville real estate market, and maybe the entire Butte County real estate market, where every associate in the office has earned the certification. Are we “experts” yet? Nope. But, knowing my associates as I do, we are going to be as close as you can possibly be as this market begins to move away from foreclosures and more into the short sale arena.

Oh, just a side note regarding “experts”  in this business. If someone calls themselves that, in most cases you should probably run away as fast as you can. Case in point-There is one REALTOR® in town that claimed in her advertising that she was a “Short Sale Expert” and yet had never, ever negotiated a short sale transaction of any kind.!!!!!!!!!!!

Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor Arizona trip, will keep me from providing you, my loyal Lake Oroville real estate market readers, with the weekly sales activity number for last week.

You heard right, I am actually taking a few days of southwest r& r. But fear not, I have not forgotten my duty to you.

I hope you all had a great and blessed Christmas day and that you are planning for a safe New Years celebration.

Sales numbers for the week were actually pretty good considering that it was a major holiday week.  I have highlighted what I believe to be the stats of the week. Average sold price has been climbing the past 4 weeks and last week was the highest it has been in the past 10 weeks. The other stat of note is, once again, the number of single family Oroville homes for sale. The is number represents the fewest number of homes on the market since I have been bringing you this particular statistic beginning June 8, 2009.

As a seller, or potential seller, this is THE number to watch going forward. Smaller inventory will eventually translate into higher prices.

Well, that is all for know. I’ve got another “busy” day scheduled tomorrow as I do more trailblazing through the Arizona  desert on my quad runner.

Click here for expanded chart

Ok, I’m back on schedule with my weekly Lake Oroville real estate market report.

Only nine Oroville area property sales this week, however I do expect the numbers to improve over the next two weeks as those escrows that were opened as the original tax credit window of November 30th was closing, should be completed toward the end of the month and into the first week in December.

Of particular note in these numbers is that the number of properties listed for sale continues to decline and has hit a new low since I began reporting Oroville sales to you.

On the foreclsoure and short sale front, we continue to these properties selling at a rate that is far larger than the percentage of these on the market, which will, if nothing changes, make them harder and harder to find.

Expanded Report

The explosion of online social networking has added a whole new dimension to the information age. It is easier than ever to reconnect with old friends, classmates, long lost relatives, etc. As a real estate professional who sees the value in these networks, I am continually looking for new online opportunities in the internet world of social networking  in order to enhance the services I provide to my clients.

One of these opportunities is a site named Yelp. Using this site allows you to write reviews and comment on your experiences on any number of businesses. These reviews and comments are placed online for anybody to read. You can use Yelp to tell everyone about your last dining experience, or you can let the world know how the service was at the local quick lube place, or you can comment on your customer service experience at your favorite coffee shop.

When done in a constructive manner, these comments and reviews not only provide valuable information to consumers, but also allow business owners, like myself, another opportunity to make sure that service levels are the best they can be.

At this point there are relatively few people in the Oroville real estate market aware of Yelp. I feel so strongly about the importance of knowing how our clients feel about the services we provide that I signed up our company with the service as soon as I heard about it 6 months ago.  I also have placed a link of each of my team members blog sites so you have easy access to the site.

Please take advantage of this FREE service and sign up to provide feedback to not only us but to any business of your choosing. You can either click on the logo in this posting or in the logo to the left.

Oroville real estate. Chico homes for sale, gridley listings, Paradise listings, Butte County property.