So we just started week 3 of “Survivor Real Estate”. This week 2 people got voted out. One said he wanted to play, but never really got involved. Well, he and his wife are expecting their 1^st baby on Valentines Day, so he’s got baby stuff on his mind. The other said he was too busy doing real estate to play any more. Which is a great problem to have.

I was not able to come to “tribal council” Wednesday because I was home with a sick child. But I completed my assignment and didn’t get voted out! Our assignment this week was to come up with an item to hand out and deliver it in person to 15 people. Catching people at home was the hard part. We couldn’t just leave it on their doorstep. I wish I could have come to see every one else’s great ideas.

For next week our assignment is to callor visit  20 Expireds or For Sale By Owners. No letters or postcards. It’s only Thursday and I’m halfway there!

     This time of year, Realtors go into hibernation and wait for buyers to come out in the spring like the groundhog waiting for his shadow. Not at Keller Williams Waco!

     One of our top agents, Annie Dollahon, came up with a game called “Survivor Real Estate”. Twenty people decided to participate. Each one had to contribute $10. Keller Williams is going to match that total and that pot will go to the winner of the game. The game lasts for 6 weeks. One person changed companies less than a week later, and one person just had their name put in. They never wanted to play.

     The premise is this: We divide into teams or “tribes”. Each tribe comes up with a name, logo and symbol. My team is the Fakawee’s and our logo is flame colored bandanas. The other tribes are the Maximixers (named after their leader Max Nolan) and another tribe whose name means Winning Tribe in a foreign language.

     Then, each week we are given a challenge activity. If we get it done great. If not we have to go before the tribal council and explain why we didn’t get it done. Everyone then votes whether we get to stay in or get voted out. If you get voted out, you can get back in by doing double the activity. Last week our challenge was to add 25 new contacts to out database and send them a handwritten thank you note. If you didn’t do it, this week you had to do 50, plus this weeks activity.

     Three people didn’t get it done. They did some, but not 25. We did not vote anyone out, except for the person who said he didn’t want to play.

     Next weeks activity is to come up with a hand-out item and drop it of to 15 people. They have to be at home. We can’t just leave it at their doorstep.

     This is turning out to be hard, but fun. I have enjoyed the creativity and being forced out of my comfort zone. It has really cranked up the energy level in the office. Stay tuned to see what happens!

I have given you monthly market reports for Waco and Mclennan county real estate, but since it is a shiny new year I thought I would give you a market snapshot for the last year.

In 2009 there were 3,507 residential properties listed and 2,109 or 60% of them sold. That means we have 8 months of inventory. If no more home were listed, it would take 8 months to sell all what is currently on the market. Anything above 6 months is considered a buyers market. Less than 5 months is a sellers market, and between 5 and 6 months is a balanced market ( balanced markets are very rare and short lived).

The average home listed in Waco in 2009 listed for $136.624. The average sold price was $130,382 or 95% of the sales price. 18% of listing expired with out being sold. The average list price of expired listings was $160,739. So there were a lot of listings out there that buyers perceived as overpriced.

In December of 2008, there were 152 residential properties sold in the Wace/McLennan County area. They had an average list price of $128,519 and a sold price of $123,002 with an average of 127 days on the market, a little over 4 months.

This year was slightly improved with 158 properties sold. The good news is the average list price went up to $145,000 even and the average sold price was $137,918. The bad news is the average time on the market increased to 165 days , about 5 and a half months. There are currently 208 sales pending, which is very low, but normal for this time of year. We have moved into the slowest time of the year for real estate.

Here is a breakdown by price:

0 to $50,000 = 22 properties sold

$50 to $75,000 = 16

$75 to $100,000 = 26

$100,000 to $125,000 = 22

$125,000 to $150,000 = 19

$150,000 to $175,000 = 21

$175,000 to $200,000 = 10

$200,000 to $250,000 = 10

$250,000 to $300,000 = 8

$300,000 to $400,000 = 8

$400,00 and up = 3

I think the last price range ($400,000 and up) is very significant because last month there were no homes sold in that price range. That means maybe the move up buyers are starting to, well, move up.

There were also 13 pieces of land, 4 multi-family units, 5 farm and ranch properties and 1 commercial property sold. There were probably more commercial than that actually sold, but commercial agents don’t usually put their listings on the MLS.