Patrick Johnson

The Bellingham Washington real estate market is seeing a fair amount of movement This month. Since the beginning of October 2009, the following stats are what I found on the MLS data base for homes priced between $250,000 and $350,000. I picked this price range as it reflects the "meat" of the market for 1st time home buyers and slight"move up" market prices.

Between October 1, 2009 and October 26th, 2009 there were 70 transactions:

1) 30 new listings priced between $250k-$350k

2) 16 "pending" transactions between $250k-$350k

3) 24 "Sold" transactions between $250k-$350k.

The same period in 2008 had 21 sold homes, so there was a slight increase in traffic. A few interesting facts about the two different sold groups are that the price per sq. ft. hasn't changed very much ($176 per last year and $175 this year) but the "Days on Market" went from a 172 day average last year to only 83 this year!

Lets see how this compares in the coming months as I will do more comparisons soon!

Patrick Johnson, ABR E-pro

Windermere RE, Bellingham Washington.

While I am not a lender, part of my job as your Real Estate agent is making the home buying process as easy and trouble free as possible.

Nothing is more important for a home buyer than finding out how much you can spend, and just as important, how much you WANT to spend when you start your search for your new home.

The local Real Estate market here in Bellingham Washington has leveled out in terms of buyer/seller leverage. It has been a buyers market for some time, and still seems to be at the high end of the market. But at the entry level price point, and the mid level price point, there is lots of activity and it is very important to make sure all your "ducks" are in a row when you find that house you love!

Here are a few tips:

1) Its very important to start with a reputable lender! Ask friends or co workers you trust who they recommend. Then do your own research!

2) Definitely shop around. After you have found a few lenders you feel you can work with, it will be simple to get their interest rates off web sites or a quick phone call. It will take just a short conversation to find out how much you will be qualified for. And they should be able to guarantee closing costs and closing dates also.

3) Be ready to provide paperwork the lender will need to qualify you after you have chosen who you want work with. This will usually include things like your last two W-2 forms, a couple recent pay stubs and bank statements. Remember that the bank will run a credit check on you, so ask them if it will hurt your rating when they do check.

4) Get pre-approved! The lender should be able to get you your pre approval amount within a day after they receive all your paperwork. Ask them how long the pre-approval will be good for too!

5) Remember to keep on top of them regarding deadlines like appraisals, loan documents etc.

Remember, this will help you stay ahead of the game if you are competing against another buyer for the same home! If you want to be THE buyer instead of the OTHER buyer, be prepared.

It is my job to help you be as prepared as possible. If it comes to financing or inspections or negotiation on price!

Patrick Johnson, ABR E-pro

Windermere RE

Bellingham Washington

Does this look like you or your seller customers??

This is the last look we want our sellers to display! And sellers definitely don't want to be frustrated as they go through one of the biggest financial transactions of their life!

My question to all of you is this. When you are listing a home, or if you are a home seller, what are your major concerns when it comes to selling your home? And what situations have you found yourself in?

Is it something along the normal lines of "what happens if the buyer backs out at the last minute"?.

Or how about "What do I do about my privacy/documents/medicine while my house is on the market?

If you are an agent, what scenarios have sellers asked you about during your listing presentation?

Are they frustrated at the time it takes to sell in this market?

I DO NOT want to see my sellers to look like this!

What are your stories, and more importantly, solutions to big problems you have encountered in your listings?

Now ^THIS^ is what we want our sellers to feel like during the selling process!

Share your stories and solutions to help others keep their full head of hair!

Patrick Johnson, ABR E-pro

Windermere RE, Bellingham Wa.

I have been doing some reading/researching on the issue of a proposed extension/increase of the current $8000 1st time home buyer tax credit bill issued by Sen. Isakson (R) Georgia.

After being first introduced earlier this summer, the bill seemed to to fade away as other bills took over importance. The bill also had co-sponsors from both political parties including Chris Dodd (D).

The bill sounds like it has been reintroduced with even more support from both sides of the isle and has several changes included that will help even more people their current home buying situation.

These changes include:

1. Removal of the income cap that had been limited to $75k ($150k jointly).

2. Opens up the program to include ALL buyers, not just first time home buyers.

3. Most importantly, changes the tax credit from $8000 to $15000!

4. Would be able to spread tax credit over a two year period.

While I did like the current tax credit program, it did not do as much as I had hoped it would. There were a couple of reasons for that. One reason was that our market the last four or five years was so active that most people had already got into the market for the first time. With the rule that you had to have not owned a home for the last three years, it didn't affect as many people as it could have in other markets. The other reason is that while the tax credit was great, you still had to have lenders actually lend you the money on homes that first time home buyers could afford. In our market, that included a large percentage of Condos. Lenders have been to reluctant to loan money on condos without large down payments, so that hurt a lot of people also.

I am hopefull that this new bill will be passed into law and open up opportunities for more people to get the market moving again as it is a giant part of our economic recovery!

I was wondering what people thought about giving free foreclosure lists to the public. I would love to get some feedback from agents and the public in general.

My office offers a packet to get basic information/instruction out to the general population, and I have noticed a lot of people really appreciate it.

I think we as agents, lose site of the fact that most people are not focusing on all the ins and outs of the real estate market. When I start to have conversations with people, I keep assuming that people know what a short sale is, or what a foreclosure is. But the truth is, most people are not aware of exactly what the term short sale is, and if it is different than a foreclosure.

In that respect, I can see how it would be helpful. But usually the homes are already listed, and you will no doubt have to go through some extra steps to purchase a home that is a "short sale". So is it something that you should just bring up if the customer wants to look at a specific home that happens to be a short sale, or should you market the short sale homes ahead of time?

My guess is it is a different scenario for each customer depending on their situation. What do you think? All feedback is appreciated!

Patrick Johnson, ABR E-pro

Windermere RE

Bellingham Wa.