Nicole Weidauer

Yes.. I have another article for you about the Seattle real estate market. I can't get enough of these. In the last few weeks there seems to be story after story about how Seattle is one of the top cities in the nation to rebound from these difficult financial and real estate times. Thank you, Michele, for the link!

According to SmartMoney Magazine, Seattle is holding strong through these tough economic times and is due for a nice rebound. Here in the Pacific Northwest we have some strong businesses, like Boeing, Amazon.com, and Microsoft, that are doing well and in turn, has kept median sales prices from falling far.

"The national unemployment rate for October was slightly higher than Washington's, at 6.5 percent. State officials said that indicates Washington's economy is 'in relatively better shape at the moment'." (http://www.kirotv.com/money/18007999/detail.html) The state gained about 800 jobs in October, and held steady year-over-year.

"Honestly, the near-term outlook is still grim, and nobody is forecasting a rapid nationwide rebound. But there are signs that the overbuilding and speculative pricing that inflated the bubble are working their way through the system. Nationally, the rate of decline in sales is slowing, and in some regions sales numbers have actually perked up. 'The indicators are starting to look better,' says Adam York, an economic analyst with Wachovia." (http://www.smartmoney.com/personal-finance/real-estate/Now-for-the-Good-News-on-Home-Prices/)

The article went on to mention that the national sales figures that get so much attention and remain depressing are brought down by boom-and-bust markets like Las Vegas, Miami and Phoenix. "If hard-hit states like California, Arizona, Nevada and Florida are taken out of the statistical mix, the picture is much more promising." But we all know that real estate is local, so let's look at a Seattle neighborhood for insight:

WEST SEATTLE-

There were around 123 pending & sold listings in November of '07 as compared to November of this year were we have only 54. The month is not over yet so that number will increase (hopefully) but the median home price of those homes has only dropped by $20,000. In other areas of the country, those prices have dropped by 100,000's of thousands of dollars.

"Dave and Alison Keith recently sold their two-bedroom townhome in West Seattle for $289,000, up more than 25 percent from their purchase price four years ago. They plowed that windfall into a home in the same neighborhood with twice the living space and a fenced-in yard, for $429,000. 'You're always nervous, but I feel like things are holding up well here,' Alison says."

"As long as people like great views of water, mountains and city skylines, "those homes will always maintain their value," says local broker Febe Cude."

If you are interested in finding out more about your neighborhood or about the real estate process, the Egerer & Weidauer Team is happy to help. Give us a call or shoot us an email from our website.

206.661.7256 www.jeremyandnicolesellhomes.com 360.990.4083

Seattle REO properties are easy to find here - there are a lot of foreclosure and short sale properties all over Seattle and the Seattle suburbs. Recently, I've noticed that there are still some out of date websites actually charging you for information that you can get for free! All the information can be accessed through the multiple listing service. You won't always be able to differentiate them as foreclosures because the MLS has no clear way of being able to search on this particular criteria at this time, but the Egerer & Weidauer Home Team keeps a regular list going and can cater it to whatever area or price range you are interested in. And, we won't charge you for the information!!

Just last week I met with a client looking for some investment property. Because of the volatility of the stock market as of late, she wanted to put some of her money into some property that she knows will profit over the long haul. We looked to bank owned properties because of the significant price reductions you can score as a result of the sheer volume of REO properties the banks have as well as all of the rest of the inventory on the market.

"Foreclosures can be risky, but are worth the extra effort if you can find a good one with a lot of upward potential. They can be a potentially profitable way to get started in real estate investing or flipping if you go into it armed with good information." (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/195000/foreclosure_purchasing_can_be_profitable.html?page=4&cat=54)Interested

THIS IS NOT A GET RICH QUICK SCHEME.

This book explains, in great detail, how to invest in real estate and gives practical applications on how to:

FIND (How to find a deal)
ANALYZE (How to understand the numbers)
BUY (How to understand the purchase price)
FIX (How to fix in a budget and on time)
SELL (How to get it sold quickly to minimize the carrying cost)

Click on the book for more information about the philosophy and techniques that the Egerer & Weidauer Team use to help our buyers invest in real estate, the smart way!

Are you interested in foreclosures or short-sales? Email your request to nweidauer@kw.com. The E&W Home Team is available to talk to you about your home buying and investing needs!

206.661.7256 www.jeremyandnicolesellhomes.com 360.990.4083

According to Forbes.com, Seattle landed the No. 1 spot on the list of real estate markets most likely to rebound. Forbes asked top realtors around the country for the best cities in which to invest. What constitues one of the best cities is one that is considered a gateway to international investment, has vital downtowns where people can forgo cars, and don't have a glut of condos or office space.

"Seattle is a diversified market, has a good base of business and is becoming a 24-hour city," says Stephen Blank, senior resident fellow, finance, of the Urban Land Institute. "It's going to be in a good position to come back." (http://www.forbes.com/2008/10/29/foreclosure-recession-cities-forbeslife-cx_dp_1029realestate.html)

Although us Seattlites are suffering from the loss of Washington Mutual and the downsizing of Starbucks, Boeing and Microsoft are still strong.

"Apartment vacancies are low and there aren't too many new buildings going up, meaning the market won't be oversupplied. The same is true in the retail space."

As a real estate agent, I realize that you may not believe me when I say that, "now is a great time to buy," but it truly is! You may not be hearing this from your local news station or paper but that's because the media highlights and even exaggerates the fear causing negatives. It's about time we learned most news programming and most printed news is just an extension of Hollywood style entertainment. Now they are embattled for their very existence because the web has already eaten massive numbers of subscribers and advertisers. They calculate, with good experience, if they sensationalize the reports you will be more likely to buy and subscribe. Mainstream media has become more like The Enquirer every year because they discovered you don't have as much of an appetite for the truth as you do reading about and seeing photos of marrow sucking aliens who run the government.

Just this morning I ran across a P-I article stating that, "Area faces bleak real estate forecast." Upon reading, I found that their claim was just not true. According to the article itself, Leslie Williams, of Williams Marketing, presented results from a survey of people who are in the company's database or who had responded to survey ads.

"Among these respondents, 25 percent said they planned to buy a home in the next one to two years, and 35 percent said they might buy.

In September, 54 percent said it was a good time to buy. Reached again last week, after the recent nationwide financial upheaval, more than half still thought it was a good time."

Based on the results of the survey, nearly 60% of Seattle area residents are thinking about purchasing real estate within the next 2 years. I don't know about you but that is GREAT news for our local economy, home sellers, and Realtors alike. They also reported that the number of people who thought area prices would drop over the next 12 months rose from 41 percent in September to 59 percent last week. I'm okay with that news because that is helping the affordability for many would-be home owners in the area.

The moral of this story; be wary of the reports you hear on the news. Much of what you hear is sensationalized and doesn't paint a very good picture of a situation, even if in reality things are just fine. This real estate market IS tough, but the Seattle area is not facing half of what other areas of the nation are. We are in a pretty good position right now; home prices are affordable and people are still buying real estate. Turn off your TV and give me a call!

The Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) in Seattle has a new exhibit, "From the Home Front and the Front Lines", that started last week and runs through January 18, 2009.

Original materials such as correspondence, diaries, photos, maps, military papers and oral histories from WWI, WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Persian Gulf War are on display and made available by the Library of Congress.

The exhibit is here to honor and preserve the experiences of military personnel and those who supported them at home. The museum is offering free admission to veterans and active members of the Armed Forces on Veterans Day. Don't miss this chance to take a look at the real experiences of our men and women in uniform.

Seattle's Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI)
McCurdy Park
2700 24th Ave East
Seattle, WA 98112-2099
Voice: 206-324-1126