Discover North Seattle with Jay Silver

All you Soccer lovers out there may seize up when you read this. But I was really hoping to connect with people in Freetown through sports. Any sport, be it Football, Baseball, even Golf, but especially my all-time favorite Basketball. Anything but Soccer. It's just not my thing. I have an illness called S.A.D.D, Sports Attention Deficit Disorder. If I don't get to hit, shoot, dribble or pass a ball on a consistent basis while playing a sport I end up completely disinterested and laying down in the grass making grass angels while I pick out pictures of Jesus in the clouds. I could be on the Soccer field for an entire minute or two without ever touching a ball! It's just a relationship that I knew could never last.

Ultimately, I sucked it up and quit whining long enough to devise a plan to put some smiles on the faces of a few disadvantaged children in Freetown while we are there. I decided to start collecting Soccer balls from friends and co-workers so we could donate them to orphanages and schools in Freetown. I have to admit, I'm tempted to throw in a Basketball or two just to see if the sport catches on. A guy can dream, can't he?

Altogether, this endeavor has been successful. We have collected almost 40 Soccer balls and over $130.00 in donations since I started a cause on FaceBook! People like Steve and Trish Langford, Kris and Lisa Kapersky, and the friends at Blue Saucer Cafe, along with many others, have come through big time to help out. We're looking forward to passing out the fun and taking some pictures while we're at it. I'll post a follow up once we get it going.

"This brochure tells you all about Yellow Fever", said the nurse as she began thumbing through leaflets about potential illnesses we may encounter on our trip. "This one details Typhoid, the green one is Malaria, and purple is for Hepatitis A..." Each leaflet had its own color, as if, upon contracting Hepatitis A, I would hearken back to this day thinking, "Oh, right... this is the one described on the purple paper."

And so my first experience with world travel begins... My wife, Juliana, and I are about to take off on a trip to Freetown, Sierra Leone, in West Africa. We've been planning this trip for about two years now and we're both so excited to see this day finally arrive. So, "Why Freetown?" you may ask. Juliana is originally from this coastal capital of Sierra Leone and we will be spending time with her immediate and extended family.

We have planned to stay in Freetown for about 3 weeks, starting on December 11th, then we'll putz around London for eight days before coming back to Seattle on January 8th. I've only been to local retreats, close to the U.S. You know, Mexico, Canada, Florida and Hawaii. So this is a big leap for my untraveled soul.

I'm looking forward to experiencing the culture, music and family of a country half a world away. I feel special to have such a unique experience. Well, it's unique for me. I will be the first in my immediate family to have traveled so far away and I can't wait to bring back armfuls of experiences and stories! I'm going to try my best to journal as much as I can while we are away.

If you know me at all, you will clearly understand the enormous undertaking this will me for me. I enjoy writing. But journaling on a blog from halfway around the world? It seems to me I'd rather be out doing stuff than writing about it. Honestly, though, I want to take on the challenge. If nothing else, it will be an opportunity to bring another part of the world to friends and family that may never get to go there. So here goes nothin'. I hope you enjoy it and feel free to post comments (if this blog allows that) join in this international commiseration!

- Jay

Hello again world,

I have been out of site, but hopefully not out of mind. I have been blogging, but not here. You see my wife and I recently returned from a long trip to Africa and London. I have blogged about the Africa experience on a different blog site and will be transferring those blogs here. So if you start seeing a bunch of blog entries, no I'm not that fast of a typer!

I'll be copying those blog here so you can check them out.

Cheers!

- Jay

There seems to be a growing "changing of the guard" in our local area here in North Seattle. More homes are being sold through the owners' estate as their families try to deal with the assets left behind by a loved one's passing.

Just in the Northgate/Maple Leaf/Pinehurst areas there have been more than 10 homes sold through estate in the last 6 months, with more currently active on the market.

A quarter of my sales in North Seattle have come about this year when someone has passed away and his/her family chose to put the home on the market. I've learned quite a bit through these experiences and thought I'd jot a few things down.

1.) Many people who purchased a home during the "boom" of the 50's and 60's in the Northgate/Maple Leaf/Pinehurst areas loved their neighborhood so much they never left! One factor I use to evaluate a neighborhood is to research what I call it's "turnover factor". Meaning how often people move in, then move out, of the neighborhood. Maple Leaf tends to have the lowest turnover in this area, which means people really love living here. As a fellow Maple Leafer, I can see their point!

2.) Many times you don't realize just how much stuff an elderly person has in their home until they pass away and you are now in charge of finding a new home for their books, furniture, tools, and knick-knacks. I've found second-hand stores and estate sales to be particularly helpful in this situation. Sometimes the second-hand store will bring a truck and pick up a lot of items that didn't sell at the estate sale. This can be helpful after relatives have already chosen remembrances from the home and you find there are still many belongings left that need a new home.

3.) If you are considering buying a home through estate, take a quick look at how the individual paid the property taxes. Most will have been paying a discounted senior tax rate and may have been paying this tax in advance for the whole year. If they pay their taxes one year in advance, then you may have to come to the table with a little more money than you thought. You may need to pay your taxes in advance for that first year. Somehow the state wants to keep its records in order, so if the previous person paid their taxes in advance, you may need to as well for that first year and that can be quite a surprise when you go to your final signing.

- Jay Silver

I recently posted a little powerpoint on my website (ABODEN.com) about this, but I thought I might go into a little more detail.

My latest research shows that the Maple Leaf neighborhood in North Seattle is fairing better in the housing market than some other areas.

Check out the diagrams and I'll explain:

• Long story short - over half the homes in Maple Leaf are selling in 30 days or less (orange area).

Here's another diagram showing how much homes actually sold for compared to how much they listed for:

• Long story short - Homes that sold in less than 30 days went for over 99% of their listed price (again, orange bar on right graph).
• After 30 days, though, sellers took a much bigger hit on the price (all other bars).

Here's my opinion on these stats:

Example: Seller A and Seller B have the exact same home for sale on the same street. Everything is the same except Seller A priced their home at $400,000 and Seller B priced their home at $412,000 (which was the top of the pricing scale their Realtor gave them).

Who's house will stay on the market longer? Seller B, right? Yep.

Seller A is part of that "30 days or less" category in the diagram. Seller B is part of the "more than 30 days" group.

Seller B, after 30 days has gone by, has to reduce the price of their home to be competitive.

What price do they reduce to? Seller A's price. Why? Because that price got the home sold while Seller B's home is still on the market collecting dust.

So Seller B reduces their price to $400,000 and their home gets sold for $395,000. All together, Seller B had to wait 3 months before their home sold because they didn't price it right to begin with. They were too greedy.

So, how much did it cost them to overprice their home? Let's take a look:

$412,000 (original price for Seller B)

- 12,000 (perceived loss. They didn't really lose this amount because it wouldn't have sold at this price)

- $6,000 (3 months of mortgage payments while the home was on the market)

- $5,000 (buyers took advantage of seller's desperation. Wouldn't offer more than $395k)

- $1,500 (cost for 3 months of professional home staging)

Total Loss (perceived and otherwise) = $24,500.00

Total Actual Loss = $12,500.00

Ultimately, Seller B sold their home for about 4% less of their original price. This is also what's indicated on the diagram. Homes taking longer than 30 days to sell are selling at around 2 -4% less.

How can you avoid this frustration as a home seller? Here's my advice:

If you know that the housing market in Seattle is on a mild downward turn, don't price your home at the current market price!

Price your home just ahead of the downward curve! You'll sell your home in 30 days or less and avoid the losses accumulated by Seller B.

This is only one aspect of selling your home quickly and making the most of your time and money. If you need more help with selling your home in North Seattle, let's talk.

- Jay Silver