In Utah Real Estate; It's Pointing Fingers and Stating the Obvious!
One thing I've noticed during the last couple of years is that if a Realtor, a Lender and a Home Buyer are having a discussion about Utah Real Estate they will more likely than not end up pointing fingers and stating the obvious.
These have been some tough times for those involved in any way with buying or selling a home in Utah.
So, I was glad to have had the opportunity to spend a couple of informative hours this week attending Governor Herbert's first Real Estate Lending Summit.
One of the great things about having a Governor that is a Realtor is that we don't have to convince him of the importance of the housing industry to the State of Utah. He Knows what the sale of just one Utah Home means to our economy in the way of jobs, fees, and taxes.
The Governor assembled a panel that included the top officials in the State from all of the "players" in the industry. Bankers, Realtors, Appraisers, Mortgage lenders, Commercial and Residential Builders and regulators all had the chance to have their say.
While there was very little "new" stuff revealed, it was the first time that we had all the players singing from the same sheet of music.
It started out with a lot of finger pointing and blame enough to go around.
But ultimately It was good for the builders and developers to be able to voice their frustration over development and construction lending, and for the bankers to explain their position.
Realtors got to talk to Appraisers about delays and low appraisals, and Appraisers got to talk to lenders about their issues with the changing models in their business.
So, what will this mean to us here in Tooele County?
Probably not much in the short term.
But, long term, a potential municiple component.
That component was in the form of zoning flexibility and impact fees.
Impact fees have become (after land aquisition costs) one of the major expenses making development and building so costly.
Realtors in Tooele County have spent the last several years building relationships with City and County officials in the hopes of being able to work together. We want to be able to develop and build in a smart way that benefits everyone, and the Cities and County want smart managed growth and a renewed revenue stream to provide service to it's citizens.
With a new Mayor and Councilmen in Grantsville, and improved communication with Tooele City and Tooele County, it's my hope that we can all work together to create a win for all. No one wins if we don't all work together through this tough time.
That was the best thing to come out of the Governor's Summit. Communication and cooperation will be the key to weathering this storm!
Actually the best thing to come out of the meeting was a commitment to do it again and again, bringing new solutions, and new concepts.............. I'll be there to report.!!
If you want to talk about buying or selling a home in Tooele County, give me or my partner (in more ways than one) Berna a call @ 435-840-5029.
If you just want to find out about homes for sale in Tooele City, Stansbury Park, or Grantsville Utah stop by our website @ Tooele Real Estate.
When you are ready to discuss Utah Real Estate it wont be pointing fingers and stating the obvious.