The market value of your home is not what your neighbor’s home sold for six months ago.  It is not your tax assessed valuation. Nor is it the value the appraiser placed on it when you refinanced it a year ago. The market value of your home is what a qualified buyer Continue Reading
Why Are Lots So Expensive?
Driving around Anchorage, you see lots of vacant, undeveloped parcels of land. I’m frequently asked the question ‘Why doesn’t somebody develop such and such a parcel? And although that seems like a good idea what you see out your windshield or side mirror is not Continue Reading
First Time Home Buyer Choices
If you’re a first time homebuyer looking to purchase your first residence under $250,000, you are in luck due to the lowest interest rates in over 50 years. For you, buying is cheaper than renting—something I do not usually say because not all renters are well-suited to Continue Reading
Title 21
The title 21 rewrite began during the real estate boom years of the early 2000’s. What better time to hire an outside consultant from Colorado and pay him hundreds of thousands of dollars  to tell us how they did it outside and how we should do it here, forgetting that Continue Reading
Is The Upper End Market Getting Soft?
There are currently 103 homes above $700,000 listed for sale in the Anchorage Multiple Listing Service which includes Anchorage, Eagle River and Girdwood. According to MLS, this amounts to over a two year supply based upon current absorption. The amount of inventory and the Continue Reading
Why Square Footage Is Not Important
Using the square footage of the home and dividing it into the asking price is a popular method of evaluating the comparative market value of a property. You’ll frequently hear buyers and realtors quoting a square footage price when showing property. Unfortunately, this is Continue Reading
What You Need to Know About Homeowner Associations
If you live in a condo, an attached zero lot line or even a single family dwelling on a fee simple lot, odds are you are a member of an HOA (Homeowner’s Association). Depending upon the bylaws, the articles of incorporation and the design criteria standards, a non-profit Continue Reading
Moving Up is Hard to Do
So you’ve decided to take advantage of today’s historic low interest rates and move-up to your dream home—only you can’t find it. You’ve looked at over 20 pre-owned homes with your realtor and nothing fulfills the dream you have in your mind about how you’d like Continue Reading
Who Are Anchorage’s Top Builders?
Hello, again. I’m Connie Yoshimura, a local residential real estate associate broker. It’s been 18 years since I’ve written publicly about what’s happening in the local real estate market and people still ask me about those real estate columns I wrote for ten years Continue Reading
What Are the Most Popular Price Points for New Home Construction?
The affordable home category ( $200,000 to $400,000) in Anchorage and Eagle River is doing a brisk business. However, the same can’t be said for the upper end market which is reflected in the latest new construction permits. Anchorage building permits and Eagle River land Continue Reading
Connie Yoshimura, Owner/Broker of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Alaska Realty.