Jason Hershey

If the value of your homes has fallen, that doesn't mean you can't sell it. You may be able to sell your home as a "Short Sale". We'll talk about what a Short Sale is, the work that you have to do as an owner when talking to your bank, tax issues to look out for, and we'll discuss the foreclosure process. We'll also provide information on contacting your bank to renegotiate your loan and keep your home instead of selling it. There will be plenty of time to ask questions, so be sure to bring yours!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009
6:30-8:30 at Park Place Middle School in Monroe
Room C-7

The registration fee for the class is donated to Sky Valley Community Schools

Instructors: Kathi Jackson, Jason Hershey, Jeff Nance

Learn the does and don'ts on credit issues and what you can do to build good credit and raise your credit score. Class includes instructions and sample letters to use for correcting incorrect credit information or providing explanations to creditors. There will be time at the end of the class to talk about specific issues and ask questions. This class is taught primarily by our co-instructor, Jeff Nance of Golf Savings Bank, and focusses on credit repair in preparation of financing a home.

Thursday march 19, 2009
6:30-8:30 at Park Place Middle School in Monroe
Room C-7

The registration fee for the class is donated to Sky Valley Community Schools

Instructors: Kathi Jackson, Jason Hershey, Jeff Nance

I've lived in Duvall for 10 years now. Most residents have come to expect the occasional road closure due to winter and spring flooding. Fortunately, very few homes are down 'in the valley'. I guess that is one of the reasons that the floods are not usually met with any sense of panic or worry, unlike some of our less fortunate neighbors up and down the valley.

Instead, as this photo of the Woodinville-Duvall bridge shows, its more a reason for curiosity and even a bit of community building as everyone comes down from the hills, parks downtown, and checks out just how high the water is.

This year has caused more curiosity and less frustration than usual because we just got rid of 2 foot of snow... which really did cause folks problems with getting around, getting to work, or even getting food. Rain has been a welcome site and the associated flooding was expected.

Of course, we don't normally expect for Duvall to become an island... usually flooding is limited to lower-level roads across the valley that make the W-D bridge the main crossing point and cause more traffic headaches than anything else. The last two years have had greater flooding than normal and in both years, this road and Hwy 203 going both north and south have been closed due to water over the roads.

The road closures are usually for short periods, not more than a day or so. It does looks like damage to W-D Road will mean it stays closed for a couple more days, but we are already able to go around the valley by heading south to Carnation and Fall City or north to Monroe. I'm sure the Monday traffic will be a mess, of course... but again, we've come to expect it.

Anyway, to all our friends around Duvall and the surrounding area, we hope the latest storms have not been too big a problem for you and yours. I know some folks have been pretty hard hit and our thoughts are with you. Be careful out there, everyone! Here are some more pictures of the valley, taken from one of the homes at Cherry Hill Vista:

Well, our company, CENTURY 21 North Homes, is closing its Monroe office, for the "season". In this case, its the 'slow real estate market' season. Most of the agents, including myself, will be joining the Snohomish office just up the road.

Joining the two offices makes good sense in the current market. Things are noticeably slower overall in the local market and the expenses of two offices is, well... twice as much... if we can take the same agents and the same business and run everything out of one office, it just makes sense.

Of course, everyone would be happier if we had so much going on, and so many agents working, that we needed two offices... but that just isn't the case at this time.

My partner, who happened to be the manageing broker for the office, and I are both confident than in the next year or so there werill be another Monroe office (or even better, a Duvall office... since that is where I live). And, in the end it will probably be a better facility than the one we currently have.

Until then, my focus won't change a huge amount... I still work a lot in Duvall, Monroe, Sultan, Index, Gold Bar, and yes... Snhomish (and all through western washington, in fact). Of course, the message will change some... I'll no longer be the commercial real estate agent with an actual office in Monroe. But, Snohomish is close and I still own property in Monroe... so I am motivated to keep a closer eye than normal on the local market.

And, more immediately... I'm updating business cards, letterhead, websites, and my blog profile.

If you are one of our fellow agents in Monroe... well, we'll still be around and working with you! And, for you Snohomish agents... stop by and say "Hi" to your new neighbors. For clients, both current and prospective... we are still your Monroe and east county experts.

I've gotten a few questions lately about how to appeal property taxes. Most inquiries were from folks in King County, so I did a little research specific to King county.... and since I work a lot in Snohomish county, I checked out what the county had to say there, too. As a real estate agent, I'm not an expert on taxes... but I can tell you if the evaluation syncs up to market values. Valuation is supposed to be based on market values. I think during the hot market, tax evaluations had trouble keeping up with property values. I think they've caught up.

In fact, with budgets hit hard by lack of development (and related fees) and lower sales tax revenue, some municipalities seem to be trying to make up money by pushing values. (They wouldn't do that would they? ... Sorry, I'm feeling a little sarcastic today.)

REALTOR.org just posted an article on the subject so I thought I'd post a link to it and some of the more useful info I found for folks around our area.

So, is it time to appeal that tax bill? Check out the article: http://www.realtor.org/rmolaw_and_ethics/articles/2008/0811_law_taxes

On that page you'll find a link to a 'do it yourself property tax appeal' application at http://www.propertytaxmagic.com/

King county provides some information on their website about disputing values, on these pages: http://www.metrokc.gov/Assessor/ValueDisputes.htm and http://www.metrokc.gov/appeals/. Their process is formal but straightforward.

In Snohomish county, the process seems a bit more informal... they ask you to call and talk to the county appraisers first http://www1.co.snohomish.wa.us/Departments/Assessor/Services/FAQ/assessed_values.htm. If you can't come to an agreement, then you appeal to the Board of Equalization: http://www1.co.snohomish.wa.us/Departments/Board_of_Equalization/

You can use Zillow or even county records to figure out recent sales values. I or another real estate agent can also help you find recent values. Or, you can hire a professional appraiser. And, there may be times that having a lawyer might help.