Al Lorenz

That's right, there is a type of home that is seeing much higher sales than last year. Those would be Lake Chelan waterfront homes! Through August, 10 have sold in 2009 as compared to 7 that sold last year.

Do you want to know why? While I don't know the thoughts of individual buyers, the bargain pricing this year probably has something to do with it. The average sale price of the Lake Chelan waterfront homes dropped from $1,728,071.00 in 2008 to $1,030,300.00 in 2009. That's right, waterfront homes this year, on average, are selling for 59.6% of last year's pricing! Wouldn't we like a tax revaluation now!

August 2009 saw fewer residential closings than 2008 with 15 in 09 compared to 18 in 08. By Dollar volume, August 2009 was 64% of 2008 and by transactions it was 83.3% of the 2008 number. With the strong July Lake Chelan home sales, July and August sales this year by transaction volume already match the entire third quarter of last year at 35. The average sale price through August is 91.9% of last years average sale price. To read all the details, have a look at the Lake Chelan Residential Real Estate Sales report!

Folks often ask about houseboats on Lake Chelan. There is at least one large, luxurious houseboat on the lake. There are pontoon boat and boat rentals from a few different companies, but no houseboat rentals I am aware of.

Often moored at the Manson marina, this Harbor Master appears to be a 52 footer. It is owned by Ken Blodgett of Blodgett construction out of Malaga. I took a picture of it in Manson yesterday. I've seen it going by my house this summer, but never had my camera handy when it went by. There were lots of smiles coming from the boat as it passed!

With the limited moorage we have on Lake Chelan, I don't expect to see many of this size boat on the lake. but, from what I've seen, they have a great time on this one! It does look like fun.

We have an extremely seasonal housing market at Lake Chelan. In my studies, only Alaska sees a greater variation in visitors higher than Lake Chelan. As fall approaches, our real estate market slows down, way down! We have lots of people, around 80% of those who listed their homes, wondering why their home did not sell. They begin to wonder since they're at the dance, why aren't they dancing? It can be enough to make them question whether their home can be sold and is attractive to buyers. So is your home attractive to buyers?

Well, maybe. Beauty is really something that is measured in the eyes of the buyer when your home is for sale. But a pristine beauty in a seller's eyes is too often a fixer upper to a buyer.

With another real estate season heading towards the slower winter months, lots of folks are wondering why their home did not sell. If your Lake Chelan home did not sell this year, I can tell you why your home did not sell. Rather than thinking in terms of beauty, think in terms of how a buyer might see your home.

Yes, a buyer will notice a beautiful flower bed, a new roof or a well decorated room. If I have any doubts, I use a professional stager to help "set the scene" on homes I sell for clients. But the thing to remember is buyers will also see every detail that someone who has lived someplace for years doesn't notice anymore. Fading paint with hand prints on a front door, a water stain in a ceiling (it doesn't matter if the leak was fixed years ago), dated appliances and more are noticed by buyers. Negative details tamp down the emotional buying impulse and start to add up to work that needs to be done for a potential buyer. It is simple for the buyer to rationalize not buying your home without a strong emotional attraction to it. Have you ever noticed that used car lots always have their cars detailed as perfectly as they possibly can? It costs money to detail a car to that degree. They touch up paint, clean and shine the engine, change tired wheels, replace worn looking tires and refurbish every visible item as best as they can. They want it looking like new. Many offer warranties for that used vehicle as well. All of that takes time and money to do in a business where they are trying to make a profit. Why do they do it? The same reason your home needs to be looking its best and have a warranty. It will make your home sell for more, usually much more, than it costs to do. It is worth doing and every item done takes away reasons a buyer might not want to buy that car, or that home!

Detailing and staging your home is just one aspect of truly marketing your home. If you are one of the hundreds of Lake Chelan home sellers whose home did not sell this year, call me to hear about how to attain a different outcome. We know what your get from other agents. Some Realtors do a little staging. Others mights spend a few bucks on advertising. Virtually all of them are pushovers on price. They figure they can get away with letting you set the price, then get you to reduce your price when the house doesn't sell. Meanwhile, they think hanging a sign in your yard for six long months will bring them buyer calls. Mostly what you end up getting is neglect.

We don't do that - not any of it. We simply will not list your home for sale if you won't price it to the market. It will not sell, and our business is selling houses. If we agree to list your home for sale, we're going to prepare a detailed Strategic Marketing Plan and then execute it like a military campaign. We know that sound marketing sells houses, and our business is selling houses. If you are ready to sell your home and not just list it, we would be very happy to hear from you.

I was by Benson Vineyards a couple of weeks ago with friends who were in town. As it turns out the Benson family had just completed their new, and spectacular, tasting room.

Nature has already given the Benson Winery one of the most incredible settings in the Pacific Northwest with sweeping Lake Chelan views projecting across their 28 acres of grape vines. For years, I had seen plans of the now complete tasting rooms and barrel rooms, but now, if you haven't been to Benson Vineyards lately, you really haven't been there at all!

The vision of all this started in the Benson family with their purchase of the property 11 years ago, and it has been taking form ever since. It is a family affair, where you will find Kathy (Mom), Paul (Dad), and son Jeff and Scott about tending to some aspect of the operation. Scott is the Winemaker as well! The family tradition at Benson Vineyards includes some adopted members, like employee Beth McGuffin who has also started making her first wines with the Benson family as well.

In their 28 acres of grapes, they have 11 varieties with 7 reds and 4 whites. Benson Vineyards is the only an all estate winery in the valley, meaning all of their grapes come from their own local production. Their red signature wine is their Sangiovese. Getting the agricultural and winemaking part right is a key part of making great wines. Great wines, charming new facilities and a beautiful location make a visit to Benson Winery a "must do" when in the Lake Chelan Valley.

Since May, besides the production buildings you may have visited in the past, there are additional buildings for barrel storage and a two story main tasting room with a commercial kitchen on the lower level all done with a Mediterranean flair.

But, before we get to the main tasting room, the barrel storage room just east of the main tasting room has its own tasting room that can be used for events or private tastings. It fronts the lower patios, gardens, lawns and stage that use Lake Chelan, Bear Mountain and Chelan Butte as their backdrop.

The grounds have several Cantera Fountains, including one near the tasting room entrance and one in the patio area. The patio area can be used for events. Kathy Benson told me that events up to about 150 people work very well on the grounds. There is a stage and restrooms as well as the commercial kitchen and private tasting room all of which can be used for a private event while the main tasting room can be kept open for regular business.

Once you enter the main tasting room, there are tasting bars on both sides of the room and a fireplace. The Bensons did much of the construction themselves but utilized Blodgett construction for finish work. The result may have taken awhile, but I think you will agree, it was worth the effort.

My group had a great time when we visited the new facilities at Benson Vineyards. We wandered, taking in the phenomenal views and fun atmosphere. Then we went in and sampled some wines, chatted with other folks having a great time and smiled at the sunshine sparkling off Lake Chelan from the deck. I can recommend the experience.

To schedule your event or learn more, you can contact the Benson Winery at 509-687-0313 or e-mail at info@bensonvineyards.com or visit the web site at www.bensonvineyards.com

In the first two or three minutes that the buyer enters your home, sensory organs feed data into the emotional centers of the brain. On the spot, the emotional networks vote up or down. The deal effectively starts or ends with the firing of a few billion neurons.

A book by Jonah Lehrer, a former neuroscience researcher, "How We Decide" explains how quickly our brains make their decision. Strong, positive visceral emotional responses make us want that house immediately. Experienced real estate agents watch carefully for that positive response from buyers during those first few minutes.

The human condition can work for you, or against you, when you try to sell your Lake Chelan home. Smells, sounds, and details can make a huge difference. The Lake Chelan market, like most resort area markets, are even more emotionally driven than typical. A home that is pristine and orderly feels relaxing, but a home with lots of little things undone feels like work. A home that smells like baking cookies is far preferable to a home that smells like it has a septic problem.

When you work with Criterion Properties to sell your home, we will leave little to chance when getting your home sold. That is why we insist that your home is clean, staged, spruced and primped to its very best. But that's just part of what it takes to actually get your home sold.

Sellers look at a house completely differently than buyers. They see the old rusty swing set as something that just needs to be moved. The house just needs some paint, picked up, some drawer pulls replaced, some faucet washers changed, new toilet seats and a couple of little things fixed. Most of those things the seller doesn't even notice anymore.

We help with all of that. We'll go through your home like your mother-in-law, seeing every issue as a buyer might see them. We'll make lists and help get it ready to wow that potential buyer so they simply can't go past your home. We will work with you to make your home feel good and right at the emotional level.

Of course, we can't control everything. The kitchen that is fine for many may just look small to others or the master bathroom colors might not be "right." Or, a rug may remind a buyer of the one their ex-wife got in their divorce.

But, when the buyer does come though that your home appeals to, we want them wowed. Because after that emotions have voiced their opinion to buy your home, they set to work on a different set of neurons in the frontal cortex that control the "executive function" of the brain. They generate the seemingly logical reasons for the buyer to buy your home.

The neural responses that make a person want the instant gratification of a particular home immediately are fairly short-lived. A home won't sell simply because it shows well, but it sure helps!