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![]() Bill Black CMP Loannetwork LLC, Vancouver 1001 Main Street Suite A Vancouver, WA 98660 bill@billcblack.com 360-326-8891 www.aofdowntown.com
Remember, your referrals are the lifeblood of my business. Thank you for remembering me. Hope you enjoy this newsletter.
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February 9, 2010
The job market lost 820,000 jobs last month. Well not exactly last month. This number included the "adjustment of statistics" for the past year. In this column we will not get into how the government miscounts so badly. However, we will point out that it just makes the deep recession we are coming out of even deeper. Eventually we must replace all of these jobs and we have dug ourselves quite a hole to climb out of. Certainly this makes the jobs programs proposed by the Administration more likely to become law as the next phase of stimulus kicks into gear. And certainly, the fact that there would be such a significant adjustment is one reason the stock market became so volatile this week. Thursday was particularly brutal, especially when we mixed in concerns about the debt of foreign governments. When you remove this big adjustment, the numbers for January were not all that bad. The loss of 20,000 jobs is not positive, but it still is much better than the hundreds of thousands of jobs we were losing just a few quarters ago. However, it is still a long way from recovering from seven million jobs lost. This does help by way of the fact that it takes some of the upward pressure off of rates, oil prices and other commodities, at least in the short-run.
Current Indices For Adjustable Rate Mortgages
Green market research firm SBI Energy forecasts that in the next five years, the market for energy-efficient home renovation products will grow 15 percent, 50 percent faster than the renovations market as a whole. According to the report, the energy-efficient market will reach $35 billion and claim 15 percent of all home renovation dollars spent. "The growth will come as a result of the tax credits, new incentives, and the reality that more agencies and utilities are promoting the fact that adding improved energy efficiency is the most cost-effective way to decrease home utility bills," says Norman Deschamps, author and SBI Energy analyst. Source: SBI Reports Falling prices for real estate and the declining value of the dollar are luring investors from all over the world to purchase properties for as little as half what they might have paid four years ago. "This could be a once-in-a-generation opportunity for real estate investment," says Arthur Wong, whose Calgary, Alberta-based U.S. Real Estate Fund has invested $5 million in properties in the U.S. Southwest and plans to buy millions more. Buyers from countries like Brazil, Canada, France, and the Netherlands, whose currencies are particularly strong against the dollar, are spending millions on luxury condos in New York City, Las Vegas, and Miami. Foreign buyers also find the warm climates of California, Texas, and Arizona attractive. Peter Zalewski, a principal with Miami-based Condo Vultures, says he has sold foreign condo buyers seven bulk deals in downtown Miami alone, with investors coming from Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Italy, Norway, and Venezuela. Source: MSNB
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It is like those extra pounds that seem to creep back every time you lose them. Slowly but surely.
Clutter. It seems to appear almost overnight, and when your house is on the market it can be deadly to a sale.
Here is the deal...buyers always tell me " they can look past it". But if the truth is known, it is the spic and span homes that sell first, I think even when buyers say they can look past it, subconsciously they can't. Once they go into house beautiful, they quickly pass on the cluttered home even if it is a better deal. I have seen this over and over again.
If your home is on the market- or you are thinking of selling in the near future, here is some advice.
GET A STORAGE UNIT AND PUT A LOT OF YOUR THINGS IN IT!
Store away EVERYTHING that you don't use on a regular basis. Store all of the smaller pieces of furniture that make your rooms look smaller.
Store ALL of you off season clothing, Christmas decor, and all the boxes you are tripping over. Once you get it out of the way you will have an easier time keeping up on the daily grind of papers, books, ect... that creep into our lives.
EMBRACE SIMPLICITY. Less is more when your home is for sale!
ASK FOR HELP! If you are like me...you have WAY TOO MANY THINGS. Ask a trusted friend to HELP YOU GET RID OF THINGS. If you need to- hire a professional. It will pay off!
HAVE A SYSTEM for the stuff and fluff that must remain in the home while it is up for sale.
THIS TOO SHALL PASS! Hang in there, once your home sells and you are in your new place, you can be as messy as you want to! :) It is only temporary.

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Bank Owned Homes in Seattle WA Some of the best deals in Real Estate are REO or Bank Owned Real Estate. Banks are in a hurry to sell a home and they intentionally price it 20% below the market. A Bank Owned home is property that goes back to the mortgage company after an unsuccessful foreclosure auction. You see, most foreclosure auctions do not even result in bids. After all, if there was enough equity in the property to satisfy the loan, the owner would have probably sold the property and paid off the bank. That is why the property ends up at a foreclosure or trustee sale. Since what is owed to the bank is almost always more than what the property is worth, very few foreclosure auctions result in a successful sale. Then the property "reverts" to the bank. It becomes an REO, or "real estate owned" property.
I have broken down Seattle's sales from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service in 3 sections, Bank Owned, Shortsales(Pre-foreclosures), and "Arms Length" Transactions. Some points of interest; the median home sales price is $266,500 $365,000 & $409,500 respectivly making Bank Owned Real Estate(REO) the best value/deal for home buyers. While short sales may seem attractive they take longer to close. Bank Owned Homes(REO's) are already approved and a buyer is negotiating directly with the bank.
Seattle WA Bank Owned Market Statistics for January 2010
| Active: 84 | Pending: 62 | Sold: 33 | Other: 0 | Total: 179 |
| Bedrooms | Bath | Sqft | List Price | Selling Price | DOM | |
| Minimum | 1 | 1.00 | 0 | $89,900 | $97,500 | 0 |
| Average | 3 | 2.03 | 1,791 | $337,527 | $280,014 | 51 |
| Median | 3 | 2.00 | 1,460 | $279,000 | $266,500 | 42 |
| Maximum | 10 | 5.00 | 4,740 | $1,295,000 | $750,000 | 189 |
| Total Dollar Value | $9,240,450 |
| Average DOM Breakdown and Average % of List Price received on Solds by Market time: |
| 0-30 Days | 31-60 Days | 61-90 Days | 91-120 Days | 120+ Days | |
| No. of Listings | 13 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| Breakdown % | 39.39 | 36.36 | 12.12 | 3.03 | 9.09 |
| Avg SP % LP | 101.14 | 95.92 | 100.97 | 92.34 | 99.55 |
Seattle WA Shortsales(Preforeclosures) Market Statistics for January 2010
| Active: 258 | Pending: 228 | Sold: 35 | Other: 0 | Total: 521 |
| Bedrooms | Bath | Sqft | List Price | Selling Price | DOM | |
| Minimum | 0 | 0.00 | 430 | $104,000 | $145,000 | 0 |
| Average | 3 | 2.00 | 1,950 | $392,972 | $432,216 | 77 |
| Median | 3 | 2.00 | 1,720 | $319,000 | $365,000 | 58 |
| Maximum | 9 | 6.50 | 9,405 | $5,650,000 | $1,185,000 | 499 |
| Total Dollar Value | $15,127,568 |
| Average DOM Breakdown and Average % of List Price received on Solds by Market time: |
| 0-30 Days | 31-60 Days | 61-90 Days | 91-120 Days | 120+ Days | |
| No. of Listings | 11 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 9 |
| Breakdown % | 31.43 | 11.43 | 22.86 | 8.57 | 25.71 |
| Avg SP % LP | 96.88 | 96.46 | 98.52 | 87.23 | 97.90 |
Seattle WA Non-Bank Owned/Shortsale Market Statistics
| Active: 1711 | Pending: 512 | Sold: 255 | Other: 0 | Total: 2478 |
| Bedrooms | Bath | Sqft | List Price | Selling Price | DOM | |
| Minimum | 0 | 0.00 | 286 | $99,999 | $120,000 | 0 |
| Average | 3 | 2.23 | 2,195 | $646,736 | $495,622 | 83 |
| Median | 3 | 2.00 | 1,853 | $439,000 | $409,500 | 47 |
| Maximum | 13 | 8.50 | 11,022 | $14,950,000 | $1,925,000 | 997 |
| Total Dollar Value | $126,383,677 |
| Average DOM Breakdown and Average % of List Price received on Solds by Market time: |
| 0-30 Days | 31-60 Days | 61-90 Days | 91-120 Days | 120+ Days | |
| No. of Listings | 80 | 60 | 39 | 26 | 50 |
| Breakdown % | 31.37 | 23.53 | 15.29 | 10.20 | 19.61 |
| Avg SP % LP | 97.59 | 96.10 | 95.06 | 93.96 | 94.50 |
See more reports for Bank Owned homes.
Kirkland WA
Redmond WA
Sammamish WA
Issaquah WA
Bellevue WA
If you are looking for a detailed list of REO(Bank owned real estate)properties, or short sales, simply sign up to receive King County WA Bank Owned homes & property updates.
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Yes, while the East Coast is getting hammered by snow, we in the Pacific Northwest are enjoying a very mild winter. In fact, can you even call it a winter?
The Olympic Winter Games are being held in Vancouver, BC, which is just 162 miles north of us. This is the warmest January in Vancouver history - really bad timing, but what can you do? Bring the snow in by helicopter and they have: 5,000 cubic meters so far!
Last year, we were hammered with the biggest snowfall I remember having here - ever. I took this photo at lunch today. What you are looking at is the Redondo (Washington) pier and some beachfront. Behind me is a very long boardwalk that extends for quite a ways with people jogging or walking up and down it.
Who says it always rains here?
206-429-2696
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Income property can have very stable, respectful and reliable tenants. Seattle, WA
Yes, that’s correct! It all depends on product, location and good tenant screening. If you don’t have all three, your vacancy rate will be too high. Let’s discuss product first. We recommend to our students that they furnish their properties with clean functional items, new linens and art work on the walls. What you are creating is an environment that is very pleasing to the tenant, one that not only the tenant will look forward to coming home to, but also one, through pictures on flyers, web sites and word of mouth, will attract new inquires. We are all for building and establishing a pipeline.Many furnished rooms for rent are not clean and contain old, thread bear chairs, sofas, and soiled mattresses. Would you want to stay any longer than you had to in a place that does not support a good sense of self-esteem? Nicely furnished rooms engender good paying tenants, who stay for long periods.

Our favored tenant populations normally do not have their own transportation so proximity to public transportation is necessity.
Key to this equation within our system is good tenant screening, which strangely enough does not include credit or traditional background checks. Our tenants are referred to us, so we gain knowledge about them and their history though direct questioning of people who are familiar with each possible tenant individually. We discover personal background information and work experience. This type of screening done methodically will produce good paying tenants who stay for long periods creating a stable house.
To learn more about establishing transitional housing, please download our free Ebook from the side bar on our main blog site.
Don't hesitate to contact us with questions. Learn about us. Learn our system. Learn what others have to say about us and our system.
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