Penny Bolton and Rebecca Evans

I love seeing what people are jumping on quickly. It seems like things are moving but sometimes it is hard to know which ones will be the hot ones. When we show a buyer a house that we think is hot we tell them but sometimes we’re wrong and it’s still on the market a week later. Usually, we are right and, if they aren’t ready to move quickly, they don’t get a chance to make their offer. That’s why we want buyers to get out and look at a bunch of homes to get educated about what is available in their price range. Then when there is a good one they are ready.  Here’s the monthly tally. 164 listings that sold in under 10 days It’s a wide range, too. $99,000 to $1,998,000! Wow!

Our Sunset Hill Listing 2012

I have a daughter who went through the public schools for k-8 and the rules about enrollment in Seattle were Byzantine then. They continued to change over time. It used to be that you could choose any school in your cluster and it was a lottery who got in to what. Some schools were “orphans” that no one wanted and kids were bussed across town to balance the numbers.

Now you can automatically (unless they are totally overbooked in a school) apply and go to your neighborhood or reference school for elementary. They are trying to make things more predictable but of course that is causing its own problems. Many popular schools are really full now. The district in opening more schools and putting portables in.

It will be interesting to see what happens to neighborhoods and their schools as this develops. I am personally in favor of having people go to a school that is close to home because it means families have more connections within their neighborhoods and schools. But we also need to make sure that all schools have success and that all schools even in the neighborhoods without money get supported. It’s tricky.

This week is Open Enrollment. If you want to apply to a special program – APP, Spectrum or Montessori- you can apply to a school near you that has that program if there is room. Here’s the link to the Seattle Schools website for that info. Get on it if you want to do that.

I’ve spent many happy hours in Magnuson Park just off Sandpoint Way over the years with our now aging dog. First the energetic dog park, then more leisurely birding in the meadows and picnics on the beach as we all go older. And in the summer a ride up the Burke Gilman trail is always good in the hours just after dawn. Both of these wonderful amenities are located in View Ridge (map).

This neighborhood is close to the University of Washington and on Lake Washington. Even though it is in the city the winding streets and steep hillside makes for a quiet peaceful feel. The neighborhood is home to the in demand View Ridge Elementary School draw area. You can shop at  Puget Consumer Coop, Metropolitan Market, or drive a little further to U Village if you can find a place to park.  Walk up the hill to View Ridge Park for the great playground right next to the school.

View Ridge home looking out over the park

The neighborhood was orginally developed during the Depression by Al Balch and Ralph Jones who started out clearing land and platting lots with just $25 down. (from Historylink) They cut down trees to open up the views over the old Sandpoint Naval Air Station. Years later View Ridge benefitted from the City making the station into the huge Magnuson Park.

2011 was a busy year for rentals. We don’t manage rentals ourselves (except for our own) but we do help clients find and analyze them And we have been very pleased with Cassie Walker-Johnson of Windermere Property Management. She knows her stuff. She put together some good statistics for us recently. Last year rental rates went up 14% which is a big increase. The fact that former buyers are not buying because of credit problems, job insecurity and their unwillingness to dive into the market means there are more renters. People who have been foreclosed on or have done short sales are not buying but they need  a place to live. And, especially in Seattle, younger people are moving here for jobs and need a home but can’t or don’t want to buy yet. There are tenant’s galore!

Here are some sample rental rates in the City. Our experience is that the closer you are to Downtown and jobs the higher the rates.

If you are starting to look at homes you need to be realistic about what you can and want to pay in a monthly payment. Remember that you will have taxes, insurance and home upkeep to pay for so budget for that. Don’t use your last nickel to get into a house. You need reserves.

A lot of buyers are looking at homes with higher prices than they want to pay and assuming that they can buy a home for 20% off the asking price. That may be true for a house that needs a lot of work. But it is not true for homes that are clean, in good condition and priced well. Inventory right now is very low. We hope to see more listings in the next few months.

In a buyers’ market it is possible to make offers on houses for less than the asking price. We will coach you on how to be realistic and make an offer that the seller will at least take seriously. Sellers typically won’t entertain a really low offer until a house has been on the market several months or more. It is an art to make an offer that doesn’t insult the seller yet gets the negotiations going. We like to go to bat for our buyers and help them get what they want in a home. We will help our buyers look at all the comparable properties and discuss recent sales.

In the normal offer process, a buyer makes an offer on a home, the terms of the offer are negotiated between the buyer and seller and once there is “mutual acceptance” (the terms of the offer are agreed to by both sides), the buyer has their inspection. After the inspection, the buyer can either proceed with the contract, ask the seller for concessions or can walk away from the deal without risking their earnest money.

This is a question we hear in every transaction. Number one is that banks require it to fund a loan. They want to be sure that no one else has claim on the property. See this link for more about how title insurance covers the property.

Here’s a good summary of who pays for what when you buy or sell a house. Some fees are required by the bank, some by escrow and are typically spelled out in your purchase and sale contract.

Consider doing a pre-inspection

Even though the market has been a buyers market for a while, we are seeing multiple offers on nicely presented and well priced homes. How can you make the most competitive offer? If you think you’ve found “the one”, and there are other buyers making offers, an aggressive technique is to have your home inspection done before writing your offer. Then the seller knows that if they accept your offer, their home is really sold. It removes a big “what if” from the equation. We would discuss this in depth if we think it would help you get your house. You will decide what you are comfortable with. It can remove some of your negotiating power so it is not necessary unless you are competing for a particular house with other buyers.

Put together an offer packet that wins-

Writing an offer includes putting together a packet of information that the seller and the seller’s agent will review. Included in this packet will be a brief warm but not too effusive letter from you to the seller. During our meeting, we will talk more about the letter, but for now it’s important to know that we will ask you to write a one page letter. This letter will describe why you want to buy the seller’s home. It may seem hard to imagine writing such a letter when you haven’t yet found a house to buy, but when the time comes, you will have a good idea of the kinds of things you would like the seller to know. Writing a letter give you a chance to put a personal touch on your offer. We can share examples to help you.

Decide what you can afford and make that offer.

Buyers typically look at the listing price to decide what to offer on a house but that is not the only way to look at it. If you have been looking at properties that are in the $350K price range with 2 bedrooms and 1 bath and one comes on for $325K what should you do? If it is underpriced make the offer that makes sense in comparison to what other properties you have looked at. It may be $25K under priced. Other buyers will jump on it, too. We’ll talk about what works for you and make that offer.

Stay available while we are presenting your offer.

If you have an offer on the table this is not the time to go away for the weekend unless you can use a computer where you will be.
When we  present your offer to the seller and/or their agent, they may counter back to you right away on terms – price, possession, etc. We will not have a deal until it is ALL signed and agreed to by both parties. If another better offer comes in during this time period the seller can take it. So stay by your phone, cell phone or us until it is done. Getting a house, or not, may depend on it.

Banks are loosening the credit requirements to purchase a house. Here’s a link to an article about that. LTV ( Loan to Value) was 74% but now banks are lending up to 82% of a homes value. It is interesting to note, though, that transactions are failing at a rate of 8% now because borrowers can’t qualify. Most of these are failing on low appraisals. We make a point of meeting with the appraisers on our transactions and provide them with accurate up to date data so they can appraise our listings and our buyers’ purchases accurately. And the deals close.

Check out the stats in this Seattle Times article. They talk about “lots of inventory” in 2011 but we don’t see lots of inventory now in early 2012. At least not lots of “good” inventory.  Reports in our office that there are multiple offers on many houses now. When something good comes on the buyers are waiting. IF it’s a good value and looks nice.