Washington

What Will be the Demographic of the Post-Tax-Credit Era Home Buyer?

Thinking About the Future...

While Realtors, Mortgage Brokers, Home Inspectors and Appraisers may have different views on the politics of Government (i.e., tax-payer) tax credits (i.e., subsidies) for home purchases, most of us can agree on one thing: a lot of us have benefited and will continue to benefit from tax credits for home purchases. In the next 5.5 months, until the end of April, many offers will be made and accepted, many homes will be inspected, and many of us will pad our pockets—many will spend as the money comes in...

Then what?

For years I have seen how short sidedness on the part of real estate professionals (of all types) can lead to their own foreclosure and bankruptcy. Many of the most successful Realtors and Mortgage Brokers that we worked with in 2003-2006 no longer own a house, and couldn’t qualify for one if they wanted it. I know: I have inspected their former homes for new buyers. Most of us struggle when we are handed a wad of cash—we want to spend it immediately, and we don’t think about tomorrow.

But we need to.

In that frame of mind, then… thinking about tomorrow… what will be the demographic of a Home Buyer in July 2010? September 2010? What will be the Post-Tax-Credit Demographic of a Home Buyer? Who will be our client? What do they look like? Who is that person? Have you asked yourself these questions?

Let’s think about this for a minute…

The new tax-credit for first time buyers will be $8,000, but the amount that the individuals or couples can make has increased. The new tax-credit is also now extended to people who have lived in their present home for 5 years. They will get $6,500.

If that is the case, that pretty much covers the vast majority of home buyers. And if that is true, who is going to wait until after April 30, 2010. And if our answer is “few”, then you need to feel the pressure of the question again: what is the demographic of the home buyer in the post-tax-credit era?

If you fail to appreciate the importance of this question and you simply focus on the moment without preparing for “tomorrow”, you may wake up one day and be looking for a second job…

Your thoughts?

It certainly isn't dead for classic bungalows in Ballard under 500k. This is one I listed on my birthday, the 23rd of October. No I'm not going to tell you the year. It sold on the 27th for full price!

Classic houses like classic cars never go out of style. Of course staging, out of the box marketing and spot on pricing go a long way to getting any listing sold in any market.

A lesson learned from Old Butch the Rooster John was in the fertilized egg business. He had several hundred young layers (hens), called 'pullets,' and ten roosters to fertilize the eggs. He kept records, and any rooster not performing went into the soup pot and was replaced.

This took a lot of time, so he bought some tiny bells and attached them to his roosters. Each bell had a different tone so he could tell from a distance which rooster was performing. Now, he could sit on the porch and fill out an efficiency report by just listening to the bells.

John's favorite rooster, old Butch, was a very fine specimen, but this morning he noticed old Butch's bell hadn't rung at all! When he went to investigate, he saw the other roosters were busy chasing pullets, bells-a-ringing, but the pullets, hearing the roosters coming, would run for cover. To John's amazement, old Butch had his bell in his beak, so it couldn't ring. He'd sneak up on a pullet, do his job and walk on to the next one.

John was so proud of old Butch, he entered him in the Renfrew County Fair and he became an overnight sensation among the judges.The result was the judges not only awarded old Butch the No Bell Piece Prize but, they also awarded him the Pulletsurprise as well.Clearly old Butch was a politician in the making.

Who else but a politician could figure out how to win two of the most highly coveted awards on our planet by being the best at sneaking up on the populace and screwing them when they weren't paying attention. Vote carefully next time, the bells are not always audible.

I copied this post for your enjoyment. I found it quite funny and very creative!

The following is a quick analysis of the Residential Bellingham real estate market.

• Currently Active Listings: 468
• Price range of active listings - $124,900 - $4,500,000
• Average List Price $506,950 Days on the Market: 118
• Median List Price: $379,450 Days on the Market: 85
• Sold in October: 76
• Average List Price: $339,339
• Average Sales Price: $329,072 Days on the Market: 98
• Ratio of List to Price: 97.0%
• Median List Price: $273,450
• Median Sales Price: $273,750 Days on the Market: 50
• Ratio of List to Price: 100%
• Pending Sales Last Week: 19 Total pending sales: 169

• Average Sales Price October 2008: $305,045
• Median Sales Price October 2008: $292,000
• Number Sold in October 2008: 66

The Average Sales price is up 7.9% compared to October 08 and up 8.2% compared to the previous month September 09.

The Median Sales prices is down by 6.3% compared October 08 and up 5.3% compared to the previous September 09.

The number of sales is up by 10 compared to October 2008 and down by 6 compared to the previous month September 09.

Condo Analysis for Bellingham

• Currently Active Listings: 262
• Price range of active listings - $103,738 - $1,565,000
• Average List Price $228,986 Days on the Market: 143
• Median List Price $184,900 Days on the Market: 102
• Sold in October: 35
  
• Average List Price: $207,320
• Average Sales Price: $201,597 Days on the Market: 148
• Ratio of List to Price: 97.2%
• Median List Price: $185,000
• Median Sales Price: $179,300 Days on the Market: 93
• Ratio of List to Price: 96.9%
• Pending Sales Last Week: 3Total pending sales: 27

• Average Sales Price October, 2008: $237,257
• Median Sales Price October, 2008: $179,000
• Sold in October, 2008: 17

Average Condo sale price is down 15.0% from October 2008 and down 5.9% from the previous month - September 2009

Median Sales Price is $300 or .2 %up from October 2008 and down 6.8% from the previous month - September 2009.

The number of sales is up by 18 compared to October 2008 and up by 9 compared to the previous month September 09.

If you look at the graph you can see that prices the residential market has taken a bit of a rise. Where will the graph go next month is anybody's guess. Will the roller coaster ride of prices continue?........Tune in next month

Great news the First Time Home Buyer's Tax Credit of $8,000 available to anyone who hasn't owned a home in the past 3 years has been extended until April 2010. The new program will also expand the tax credit to include existing home owners who have owned a home for at least five of the last 8 years will be able to apply for tax credits of up to $6,500 when they purchase their next home.You might want to talk to your banker to see what you can afford.Meanwhile interest rates are still extremely low and there are some great values in the Bellingham market right now. You might want to take a look at what it would cost you to purchase one of these homes at today's rates. You might be surprised at what your monthly payments would be, maybe less than your paying for rent right now if you are renting a comparable sized house.

If you have any questions or want to see any Bellingham Property feel free to email me at or give me a call at 360-739-6981