Jan Skrentny

Starting a week before Christmas this last year and continuing steadily through Christmas Day, a series of winter storms rolled into the mountains that brought in over three feet of snow. A storm of this magnitude is called up here a 30 year storm because that’s about how frequently they occur.

When my wife and I first moved to the mountains and built our home, three days after the county inspectors had signed off on the construction, the March Miracle of 1991 occurred. After seven years of dought conditions, 20 plus inches of rain fell, filling lakes and resevoirs, nourishing trees and replenishing underground springs.

In 1991 the mountain communites were shut down for weeks. Power was disrupted for days. Residents were captitive of their mountain homes as work crews struggled to clear main roads and side roads.

By comparison the 2008 storm, almost as great in snow fall, was a testimate to how much better public services have become in the mountains. Power was barely interrupted in the week’s period. Plowing crews kept the main roads open and even the back roads were plowed within the first 24 hours.

The best advice in those situations I can offer to perspective new home owners in the mountains when a storm of such magnitude rolls in is — stay home, light the fire place and enjoy it. There is unparrelled beauty out every window as the world is transformed. With proper clothing and footwear a walk outside will be an event you will long remember.

And if your children and grandchildren can come up to enjoy the sledding and snowman-making… it is beyond comparison. A true delight. 

Their faces light up viewing the transformed surroundings. So does mine. Every time.

There is something significant to say about the change of seasons that so few Southern Californians know anything about.

Yesterday I went on a listing appointment for two homes; one near the the golf course the other in a very desirable area just off the lake called Shelter Cove.

It’s hard to tell owners who have beautiful homes that they have recently remodeled and taken excellent care of that their homes are worth less than they paid for them in 2005.

Fortunately for the Lake Arrowhead area the price decline has not been as great as in the Inland Empire or in Southern California in general. Our inventory is larger than normal but not glutted; our market is not riddled with bank owned properties or short-sales. 

Still, after all the fees are sorted out (commissions, inspections, cost of sale expenses) they will lose money. These two parties were aware of the market and knew that they had to price their houses well so as to not be “chasing the market” (i.e. pricing too high to begin with and only dropping price as the market drops – effectively always chasing the real value of the property).

My best advice to sellers in this market is “don’t sell.” But if you have to (to relocate, for health reasons, job transfer, etc.) tell your agent you want a price your house so that it will sell.

Too often agents will seduce sellers by telling them their houses are worth far more than they really are. The agent gets the listing and in a month asks for a price reduction. The next month or two there is another reduction. And then another. The seller is always chasing the market.The best way to know what your house  is really worth? Ask the agent to show you well priced houses in your price range. Then ask to see them. You compare. How do these houses stand up to yours? In curb appeal, location, size, quality of construction, maintenance. These houses are your competition. Have your agent evaluate these other houses with your house – the pros and cons or each and how it factors into the pricing.

Don’t get trapped in chasing the market, it’s a great waste of time and value.