Washougal, WA

There is a second wave of foreclosures coming. The one we have just gone through with all the "financial meltdown" was just the first of up to three waves of foreclosures. The first one was the subprime mess, with lenders lending to people with subpar credit, that "surprise" did not or could not ultimately pay for the loans they signed up for.

The second wave is coming and will start hitting soon... these are the Alt-A loans. I am not a financing guru by any means, but I watch the news and am aware of what several top sources are discussing. According to wikipedia, these Alt-A loans are the loans which affect people somewhere between A+ credit and subprime. Several of these were the stated income loans, known in the mortgage industry as "liars loans" and enough people took advantage of them to make them a problem.

Option loans, the "pick a payment" type of loan will also be a part of the second wave of foreclosures. When the borrower chooses to pay less than the owed amount, negative amortization occurs (increasing the principal owed). When this happens again and again, and the buyer bought the home for $508,000 and now it's worth $320,000 (as the home across the street from me is), then they probably would choose to let it go to foreclosure.

There are more foreclosures coming. How bad will it get? What will the effects be? I honestly do not know.

I am concerned. People who have held on in the last couple of years and seen their home values plummet, will probably see the values go down a little more before they go back up. It is key to remember that those "losses" will only be realized if they sell in a down market.

The next wave of foreclosures is said to affect the "gated communities" of America. We have seen all types of neighborhood's values drop across America. How will the upper end stuff affect the economy? I do think that those home values will have been effected by the overall crisis.

Unless President Barack Obama requires a moratorium for foreclosures and requires banks modify loans, we are in for a bumpy ride.

To look at homes for sale in Washougal:

http://www.jmaproperties.com/idx/search.html?submit=true&search_city=Washougal&idx=residential&minimum_price=&maximum_price=&minimum_bedrooms=&minimum_bathrooms=

Has anyone else noticed this?

You find a "great deal" for your buyers...

You write an offer and submit it. You wait a day or so and find out there are 8 more offers just like yours in? Then it ends up selling over asking price. One we put an offer in, list price $119,000, sold price $135,000, with 12 offers, 6 of them ALL CASH.

This has been happening in Los Angeles County, California for over a year. Where a home may be listed for $400,000 (your standard 1,200 square foot 3 bedroom 1.5 bathroom home) and it ends up selling a month later for $454,000. Not because the house is so wonderful, but because people get caught up in the bidding war and want to have what everyone wants to have (even if there are 6 more sitting on the street priced around $435,000).

The trend in the Pacific Northwest (Oregon and Washington) is we get the trickle effect from California... i.e. the market here feels the effect of what's happening in California about a year after it happens there.

Sure, it's good for the banks, but Realtors need to educate their buyers that this is the tactic that the banks are going with. It is similar to a bargain priced short sale listing, when sellers price their home low enough to get attention i.e. offers so they can avoid foreclosure. This doesn't mean that they will sell it for the low price, or that price will even be legal, which in Washington states that the purchase price must be at least 80% of the home's appraised value, or it's ILLEGAL.

Recently I put an offer in for a $425,000 house for slightly above list price, but even then, the bank rejected the offer, because it didn't go with their plan, and the house sits on the market today, with a changed value range price of $425,000 to $465,000. It is a little frustrating, because my buyers would have been extremely happy with the home and the bank would have gotten the home off their books.

Banks seem to be pricing their properties aggressively, but it may backfire on them because they are undercutting themselves, and chasing the market down to new lows.

What a revelation! Work smart and make more money! Lately I have been doing what a friend, Derya Ruggles, calls "Day-Stacking," where I cram into one day what would normally be spread out over two or three days.

This translates into a morning showing, a mid-day open house and then another showing or listing presentation in the evening with previewing properties and paperwork for clients in between. This type of day can easily be 14 to 15 hours long. The great thing about Real Estate and Me is that I love it. I honestly love helping people find that needle in a haystack. It is a lot of work, but for me the intrinsic motivation is what keeps me going.

One thing I learned from an ex- is to always do my homework, so I do that, extensively for my clients. Whether that means doing a CMA until 3 a.m., staying late staging a home or practicing my listing presentation. That way, the next day, whatever I am doing, I am prepared for it. My clients benefit, because they are working with someone that bothered to take an interest in their home and their needs.

All of this Day Stacking adds up, but inspires me to do more and get more done. It makes life so much more exciting for everyone.

We have great neighbors in our Washougal River community! We help each other in all kinds of weather and circumstances. The harder times brings out the best in this community. I am grateful for my neighbors!!

This is a great place to live, especially in the summer. But floods do happen and we have had a lot of melting snow right now. Our house is right on the Washougal River and it is close to flood stage! This is a picture taken on Jan. 7th, 2009 at about 2:30 pm. It's raining so hard right now...I think it's going to be a long night watching out for the flood.

I'm sitting here at my office desk watching the rising waters. The river in summer is only about 20 feet wide but today the river looks angry and brown with some of the waves up to six feet high. I see limbs and trees rushing by in the water. O.K., there goes something that looked like a shark.

The flood water is two feet from cresting over the bottom of our property. Our house usually doesn't get flooded. It is built up on a ledge so it usually stays pretty safe. We're also in a wide spot in the river with an even wider spot downriver from us. Did I mention how gorgeous this place is in the summer??

I spent the morning sandbagging for neighbors. Some of my friends came out to help her too. Thanks Doug Alexander and Cindy Faulk!! We helped sandbag for our river friend, Barbara Shapel. Her beautiful river house always gets 6-7 inches of debrie and sometimes damage. She has a rock wall built but the waters flow over and around the wall.

Our next door neighbor's house (Mike and Sarah Brown) have the water engulf their house with flood waters flowing all around it sometimes. When the water starts rising, our neighbors gather together and help move items and sandbag as best we can to protect the homes along the river. My husband and I joined with about four other neighbors (Mike Brown, Greg Strohmeir and his son, Al Thompson) to try to keep the river at bay.

I am grateful for my neighbors. They don't have to come out and help but they always do.

P.S. Kayakers...where are you now??

Have you tried out the new little Ice Cream shoppe downtown Washougal?? The name is "Papa's" and the ice cream is delicious. The store offers hot dogs and a few other fun food items but the best part is that it has a candy store inside too. I also love that it has a WII game inside the store for anyone to try out.

My grandson had his birthday party there earlier this fall. It's VERY economical to have a party there. They brought out a huge bowl with ten scoops of ice cream all covered in wild toppings. The cost was only about $25!

Check it out! It's fun! It stays open until 9:00 pm too! They have Hot Chocolate for the cold evenings and faint of heart.

Hint: The Licorice ice cream is fabulous but your mouth and teeth turn dark blue!!