I've been writing a series of blogs about how to take care of all those seemingly minor items that always seem to pop up on inspection reports. They've been spread out over the last couple months so I wanted to re-cap them here:

Tip #1-Vegetation

Tip #2-Light Bulbs

Tip #3-Caulk and Grout

Tip #4-Smoke Alarms

Tip #5-Cellulose Debris

Tip #6-Wallplates

We sold our house yesterday. What sold our house in this slow market? ME. Just kidding.

Paintings, updates and attention to every detail. We kept our house staged and extremelyclean from the very first day on the market. We put new furnace in, new tankless water heater, good appliances. We spend 25,000 on landscaping last spring. Well, we didn't know that we are going to get a job transfer. Sound view and some fantastic wall finishes completed the package.

And how important the photos of the listing? Our buyer is actually in New Orleans right now, her children came to see the house and loved it. But their mum said, yeas, let's buy it, after looking through photos of the house I took on Internet. How amazing is that?

Than we got a call from a different agent that was quite upset because his buyers were ready to put an offer on our house too. So, if you really like the house - do not wait, make an offer or you can loose it.

So, for me, my Real Estate career is almost over. It was an interesting experience even in a very slow market. Also, I got a second job - real estate photography, that I am enjoyng and exploring every day. I hope to continue working as a photographer in London. Thank you everyone who was reading my real estate blogs. I am going to post only Photo related blogs in the next couple of months.

Tacoma Real Estate stats for sold condos in the Downtown and North Tacoma are showing some interesting trends.

With 38 units sold in the last 6 months in my market sample, the Tacoma condo market can still be described as soft, although I do see signs of improvement for prospective sellers.

Median Tacoma Condo units that have sold are as follows:

2 bedrooms

1.5 baths

900 sq ft

Selling price of $237,000

84 Days on Market

With a median price of $237,000, plus incentives such as the 10 year Tax Abatement, $7,500. first time buyer tax credit, and Tacoma's down payment assistance program. It's truly a great time to be a buyer! But there is one figure that points to hope for the seller as well.

The median % of list price to sales price is 96.7%

This is a rather telling statistic for Tacoma real estate market as a whole. It shows not only that buyers are out making less than full price offers, but that sellers are accepting them. Over the past year I've seen a much wider gap between what a buyer and seller were valuing property at. The resulting value gap kept homes and condos on the market and buyers on the fence waiting for a deal.

We now see that many buyers are tired of waiting and are making offers on downtown and North Tacoma condos. And Sellers are pricing their homes more realistically as a result

How does selling for 3.3% less than list price help a seller?

By selling a condo in the median price range of $237,000, the seller frees up their frozen equity and becomes a highly sought after buyer in the high $200's to low $300's. Well qualified buyers in this price range are golden right now!

Those "golden buyers" that choose to hire an experienced buyer's agent, should expect to more than make up for any shortfall in their sales price.

3.3% of $244,925 = $237,000 or a discount of $7,925. 3.3% of $300,000 = $290,100 or a discount of $9,900

If you have Tacoma Real Estate to sell, it's important to look at both transactions. Your sales price is very important, but don't lose site of the potential for profit on your purchase.

If you would like more information on the Tacoma Real Estate market, please visit our website @ www.brettsellshouses.com

I was contacted by a reporter from the Boston Globe a couple weeks back she was working on an article about truth in advertising for getting a house sold. (pretty much that it is good to tell it like it is.)

She came across a blog I had written, "Personal Ads/Real Estate Ads, reading between the lines." She contacted me for quotes and had some questions. I just got an email today to let me know that the article just came out. A fellow KW agent was also quoted. I hope it helps get the much needed information to sellers and Realtors alike, in this market, and every market in fact, but especially THIS one, it is so important to tell it like it is.

That way when you say some thing is fantastic people will believe you. Also you don't waste the time of a buyer who really is not a fit, you just get the serious buyer that wants the propery even though you are brutally honest about it. Rarely do my properties fail inspection. Why? Is it because they are in great shape? No, I list some that are. ( My current listing @ 4608 North 22nd in North Tacoma is an example of a pretty much perfect property condition and style wise) I also list some that are what I call a "scraper" in otherwords, it would be better to just scrape it off the lot, might even improve the value to do so. Why do these pass inspection? We are honest and tell it like it is. The buyer knows what they are getting in to.

I actually recommend that my sellers get a Pre-Inspection so that they can SHOW OFF everything wrong with the property. This saves market time as it does not come off the market and back on when they find something unexpected. We avoid buyers who have issues with what ever issues the house has this way. It also helps me be able to better hold the line on the selling price. Why? Well when they say " this or that is wrong with the house" I can say "of course it is that is why we priced it like we did" Of course this too only works if you REALLY did price it accordingly and we do.

Anyway, if you get the chance, check out the article in Today's Boston Globe, you can just go to the Globe on line and type in my name, Anna Matsunaga in the search and it will bring it up. It would make a great email touch to your potential selling clients.

If you live in the Greater Tacoma WA area and are considering selling your home and would like a Real Estate Team that tells it like it is Team Momentum may be the team for you. If you live outside the Greater Tacoma area we would be glad to help you locate a true no nonsense Real Estate Pro in your area. Either way we look forward to talking with you soon.--Anna Matsunaga, Team Momentum, Keller Williams Tacoma. --anna_matsunaga@kw.com-- 253-212-1252