Real Estate Information

Little Valley St. George homes can be classified as some of the finest, family-friendly Southern Utah homes - PERIOD!

Every time we have the opportunity to list a Little Valley St. George Home I just get psyched! (the best adjective I could come up with). It’s so much easier to stand behind the marketing of a piece of St. George Real Estate when you truly believe in both the home, AND the area it’s located in.

Conveniently located near churches, schools and what is arguably the finest public park and sports complex in Washington County, (“The Fields” Park), this Little Valley St. George home is no exception. BURSTING with curb appeal, it offers the ideal setup for large families or anyone looking to entertain friends and family. Neutral paint scheme, alder cabinets, granite countertops, and phenomenal cool storage space in the basement are tough to beat. The HUGE yard offers plenty of opportunity for a pool or other projects with large basketball pad and area for play-set are already installed.

One of the finest features about the area is the rural feel, but surprisingly convenient physical location. Elementary and Intermediate Schools are less than 2 minutes away, Middle & High Schools less than 5 minutes.

So go ahead  - don’t be shy about sharing this link with your Facebook, Twitter or other Social Networking buddies - they'll thank you!

View full details, Virtual Tour, and 16 photos here: Little Valley St. George Home For Sale

Foreclosure Auction. It’s tough to not click on the title like that, right?

This cute little Fannie Mae property will soon be sold via online Foreclosure Auction (www.Auction.com) in coming weeks. Located in popular and scenic Santa Clara Heights, it will be a phenomenal Investment opportunity with BRAND NEW Carpet & Paint! The hillside location is awkward for some, but just what the Doctor ordered for others as it offers great views and cul-de-sac setting - ideal for families looking for peace, quiet and little to no traffic!

Santa Clara Heights, affectionately known by locals as “the Heights”, is an incredibly popular and well-established area. Originally it was populated almost entirely by younger families, but over time has evolved into a location for all ages. Santa Clara Elementary is situation right in the heart of the heights, Lava Flow Intermediate to the Northwest, and Snow Canyon Middle / High Schools just East.

While in Santa Clara for the Foreclosure Auction, be sure to take a leisurely drive down good ol’ fashioned Santa Clara Drive, a tree-lined, idyllic strip winds through old Santa Clara City. And make sure to stop by Frei’s Fruit Market for some fresh peaches or even their home-made chips n’ salsa!

Flooring, foundation and flat work in this home show visible signs of cracking, settling or other structural issues. Buyer should be aware of these issues and do the proper research prior to submitting an online bid.

Pre Foreclosure Auction Public Open House Dates:

November 19^th: 11-4 PM

November 20^th: 11-4 PM

November 26^th: 11-4 PM

Auction Date: ​12/9/11. To register and bid, click here: ​Santa Clara Heights Foreclosure Auction Registration

Obviously Buyers can take a run at any Foreclosure Auction with, or without a licensed Real Estate Professional on their team. Of course I’m going to tell you “with” – I’m a Realtor, right? But from a logical perspective, I wouldn’t make wild investments in companies or industries I didn’t’ know anything about. Why would a Buyer want to put $50, $100k or MORE into a piece of property without the representation of someone who does this Professionally...FULL TIME!?!?

Here’s a piece we wrote last year about the “what, where, when, and how” of these auctions: St. George Bank Foreclosure Auctions

That said, contact Michelle Evans of the Larkin Group – michelle@gostgeorge.com / (435) 862-2320, for more details or information on Santa Clara Real Estate, or this Foreclosure Auction.

Keller Williams Realty ROCKS! Have you ever been involved with a job, organization, club, or sports team and woke up one day saying, "MAN I'm lucky to be a part of this!"??? I sure have, and that organization is Keller Williams Realty.

I know, I know. If you're a consumer, you're thinking, "why should I care?" Well you certainly don't have to! However, Larkin Group clients should care because they can rest easy knowing we're trained and supported (both legally and day-to-day business wise), by the greatest Real Estate company in the world - Keller Williams Realty

Realtor Magazine recently ran their annual "Franchise Report", detailing a bit about all of the major companies out there. # of agents, offices, etc, etc, etc. If you want to see the full report, here you go: 2011 Franchise Report. It's actually a short read.

If not, here's the punch line: Every single major brokerage in the United States has closed offices and lost agents in the past few years....EXCEPT Keller Williams Realty.

Unless you've been living in a cave or the Arctic, you'll realize that this is really saying something considering the economic conditions of late. It's not just one thing, but the sum of ALL THINGS about Keller Williams Realty that make it great. Here are just a few philosophies that you'll probably care about:

These beliefs are an integral part of the Keller Williams Realty company culture NATIONWIDE.

Glad to be a part of it! Want to learn more? Here's a link: Keller Williams Realty

This is the question of the day! We're updating the St. George Real Estate Blog as more of a matter of "Breaking News" than anything today. I'm not even going to spend 10 seconds talking about the politics here, but I WILL spend 2 seconds in saying this: TYPICAL.

I've been in communication with some of the best Mortgage Professionals in Washington County today to learn more. Scott Gibson and Chantry Abbott of SGI Mortgage provided me with these summary "sticky spots" where a mortgage loan could get stopped in its' tracks:

1. 4506T tax transcript verification - Would CEASE. (mandatory on all loans) If IRS is closed, no taxes can be verified, therefore no loans could get written.
2. RURAL funds - All Govt backed for Rural Housing Loans. These are very standard in Washington County, especially for Hurricane, Leeds and the list goes on.
3. VA / FHA loans and appraisals - Again, Govt supported institutions...would be closed.
4. Fannie/Freddie reviews of files - Do you see the consistent trend here?....GOVT....BACKED. And a HUGE portion of mortgage loans are backed by Freddie and Fannie.

As mentioned by Scott Gibson, these are just a few examples, and we do not want to panic anyone but it is important to be informed.

Is this a good reason to not get a mortgage or purchase a home? Not really. As my Mother always taught me, "This, too shall pass." It's just a situation that could cause some short term pain.

More to come! Email me your questions, thoughts, comments: larkin@gostgeorge.com

We are all likely growing a little tired of the cliché, “Now is the time to buy”.  I have personally been hearing that since 2006, when frankly, it wasn’t the time to buy. 

Those closest to me know that I am a numbers nerd, (amongst other nerd classifications I also fit into).  I might also need some work on my faith because I need to SEE the numbers to believe.  I just read this article on CNNmoney.com and it said the following.

“To determine whether it makes more sound financial sense to rent or buy, economists generally use a rule of thumb: They divide the purchase price of a home by the annual rent of a similar property. Anything over a 15, and you should rent because it will cost you less over a period of time. Below 15? Start looking for homes.”

Ok, so let's test this "rent or buy" equation right here in our own town shall we?

I ran some numbers on St. George using about 10 different properties.  I used some real life active listings (not short sales…homes you can actually buy) from my good friend and rock star realtor Jeremy Larkin and some similar rental properties from Jensen Property Management, Preferred Property Management, and Monarch Property Management’s websites. I compared rents and list prices of similar homes and I came up with a composite of 11.4.

According to this equation…….BUY!!!!!

Here's the full CNN "Rent or Buy" Article.

Blake Bench is a professional Mortgage Loan Officer with First Colony Mortgage in St. George, UT. He's also a "Real Estate Jedi" - you know, one of the GOOD GUYS. He can be reached at (435) 705-4128 or blakeb@firstcolonymortgage.com or check out his MORTGAGE BLOG.

Were you one of those THOUSANDS of nice people we saw caught in a 4-mile traffic jam outside the new St. George, Utah replacement airport? You certainly weren't alone!

Evidently the bumper to bumper traffic stretched 4 full miles from the new Airport back to the River Rd / SR-7 (new beltway) interchange - yikes! What this really means is that the community totally embraced what truly is remarkable news: The St. George Airport is now (really) capable of commerical JET SERVICE.

You've probably seen private jets in and out of there for years. The reason they can do it is that they're: a. small, and b. not loaded with 50 passengers.

It's overdue. The old airport from my childhood was described as landing an an "aircraft carrier" by airline industry people. I gotta tell you - this new place is fantastic, even if we DIDN'T get into the grand opening!

We managed to take a random dirt road on the Little Valley side of the airport, did some 4-wheeling and ended up with fantastic "tailgate party" seats to watch the F-16 flyover as well as the first 2 jets taking offer from the airport.

We also heard the full grand opening ceremony on 1450 AM. Mayor Dan McArthur and City Manager Gary Esplin shared fantastic history, and Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (lifetime commercial pilot) gave an incredible dedicatory prayer.

Since we did NOT get inside, here's a fantastic video the City of St. George produced of the full interior.

Take a drive out and give the new St. George airport a look - you'll be glad you did. Here are directions on how to get there: Driving Direcitions to St. George municipal airport.

Say it ain't so and hold onto your hats..(and homes, cars, kids, belongings, etc)...It's deja vu of the 2005 St. George, Utah floods. At the time of this video it's rained for 5 days straight and the last 3 days it has almost never stopped...and keeps coming.

The whole thing is NUTS as we live in the high and dry desert and have now seen 100-year flood conditions twice in 5 years! The last time we'd seen that prior was in 1862 when Jacob Hamblin (early Mormon Pioneer) almost drowned.

The good news? I'm 100% convinced that had they not "plated" the river beds and recently removed alot of the brush that this would be WORSE than 05'.

Your comments, photos, videos? Be sure to share them with us here: Larkin Group Facebook Page.

I mean it! Am I the only one who'd been "auto-deleting" the "heartfelt Holiday Wishes" emails that have been coming from all sorts of companies this week? (sorry if someone receiving this sent me one...I really DO like you!)

Anyway, this is my favorite time of year: Fall, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. Always has been, same for my Mother (who was aptly named "Dixie")- I guess I get it from her? It was kind of like growing up with Martha Stewart for a Mother. The Holidays were just always PERFECT around our home - I'm pretty lucky.

There's just something magical about the way the sun starts to come in the windows differently in late September, then the rest is history and before you know it we're in January!

There's no time or space to thank everyone who's helped us in our business and lives, but I want our clients, friends, prospects (those of you I don't know YET but are in our database) to know that we don't take our blessings for granted. We've been very blessed and alot of people have it a lot worse.

Carry on, don't eat too much stuffing, and enjoy the leftover turkey sandwiches...I know I do!

-Jeremy

PS - I'm inserting my all time favorite photo of St. George. I had this taken by photographer Danny Lee in November 2009 after a rainstorm. A similar shot was taken in Fall 2004 by Larry Gardner after a storm, but my file wasn't great quality so I had Danny RACE out there right after the clouds broke.   probably get a better copy/file of it at our Facebook page: Larkin Group Facebook Page