Localism: Spokane County, WA

Spokane's Real Estate Market

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:58:17 -0600

A couple months ago an article was in our local paper, the Spokesman Review, about a slump in our Real Estate Market. They focused around a couple who was trying to sell a home they had just bought less than a year before, new construction. The whole flaw to this article should not have been on how this reflected a slump in the housing market, but what crazy things people do when buying or selling Real Estate and then want to blame something or someone else for their dilemmas.

Before I go on to show the errors of their ways, let me first note that 'yes', we do have a slowdown in our market, and there are several instances out there to show or prove that, but for the most part, survey after survey over the past year has indicated that Spokane, Washington is one of the strongest, stable and most predictable Real Estate markets in the country.

Back to the homeowners who feel they are caught in a slump, let's discuss what they did wrong.

First, they bought a home without selling their previous home. This gets even better.

2nd, the home they needed to sell was originally listed just under $1,000,000, in a market where less than one home in that price range sells each month, with a 6 plus year supply of such homes. A home they had just built in 2001, recently assessed for 2/3 of what they were asking for it.

3rd, to top that off, they list as being 'shown by appointment with agent', they do not allow a lockbox, and to be even more ironic, they say very motivated sellers, bring all offers. A motivated seller does not insist on appointment with listing agent only, and not allow a lockbox, this is the epitome of not being motivated at all.

4th, over the past 14 plus months as they have slowly reduced the sales price down to $675,000 (which is probably about what it is worth) from the original $998,000, they had an epiphany last week, they raised the price. In the slowest real estate market we have had in my lifetime, going into the slowest month of the season, a few days before Thanksgiving as snow has just started to fall on the ground, they raise the price from $675,000 to $750,000! And, still have the same old obstacles:

VERY MOTIVATED SELLERS, BRING ALL OFFERS!! PLS CALL LISTING AGENT TO MAKE APPT - NO LBX. (taken from the listing)

When I see the term "motivated sellers", I usually explain to my clients that more often than not, that means motivated to get the most amount of money possible for the home, not motivated to get the home sold under any reasonable conditions. Sometimes it just reflects a motivated Realtor because he/she is about to lose the listing to another Realtor.

The scenario these folks are in is not a reflection of the market, this is a reflection of a seller either being poorly advised or making poor decisions....or both.

Now you are wondering about the home they were buying? The one they bought last October. Well that story is interesting too. They paid $330 for it in October of 2007, new construction as well. Buying a brand new home is like driving a car off the lot, it is worth less the day you take possession (maybe one or two out of every 10 years you get lucky and this is not the case, but let's not rely on luck). Our market was in it's first decline in almost 20 years as they bought, so they decide to list the new home as well in the coming spring, 2008. Paid $330, so someone might suggest $330 to try and get lucky, or how about $320 to recognize the market decline and competing with empty new homes all around you? Nope, $360.

This is when they went to the newspaper. While they have done everything possible to keep their original home from selling (appointment only, no lockbox, unrealistic price, raising the price as the market declines), they took some pro-active measures to get this home sold. They agree to reduce the price $1000 a day until it sells. This was August of 2008. It has been a little over 100 days since that pledge and they have shown only a little reluctance to keep up the promise, overall they are doing a pretty good job, they have come down $75,000. They are probably priced to sell now, but any buyer might be waiting for just another week or two to save another $5000 to $10,000, especially this time of year in this market and in this economy. I do concede this was a great strategy by them or their Realtor in contrast with the home they originally wanted to sell, but the only drawback was that they started at least $30,000 over any likely sales price so the first month was a waste of time and effort, and then when they finally get to a fair/realistic price, or today maybe even a great price, they are at the slowest time of the year in a slow market in a bad economy.

Bottom line is this real estate market has enough obstacles for home sellers to deal with, let's focus on the real problems that this economy provides, not those brought about by people making poor decisions and more poor decisions to compound their problems. If you have a home to sell in the Spokane market, and have an experienced Realtor to counsel you, and you listen to them, your home will sell, maybe not in 30 days, and maybe not even 90, but we still have homes selling every day and yours may as well be one of them.

If you are buying a home in the Spokane area over the next 90 days between $100,000 and $400,000 and have excellent credit, you need a Realtor on your side. Call Mike Crowley at 509-951-9710 or e-mail to mike@spokanehomebuyers.com.

Spokane Home Buyers, Buyers Only since 1997!

Apliance Repair or buy new ones?

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 18:57:26 -0600

Now more than ever in this economy people need to save some cash. One way to do so is to get some more life out of your appliances. Rather that buy new ones it might be more cost effective to repair your old ones. Sometimes for as little $25 you can add a couple more years of life onto your current ones.

If you live in Spokane Washington and Need appliance help then visit appliance repair Spokane

The first snowfall on Thanksgiving!

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 21:03:43 -0600

It was as if it was planned. At 11:00 am on Thanksgiving day 2008 , a gentle snowfall begins. Setting the stage for a perfect holiday. Just enough snow to make you glad you are inside with people you love. Our relatives from California and Florida are giddy at the sight. The locals, still recovering from last winter -grin and bear it. The ski bums are hooting and hollering- Let it SNOW!

Whatever you think of snow and winter, the first snowfall is magical. It can put you almost in a trance when you watch the snow falling so silently, gracefully.

My daughter came home from our family rehearsal today (we are giving a benefit concert) and went straight for the snow pants and made a 5' tall snowman in 20 minutes!

A good book, some hot chocolate and I know why I am glad to be a native of the great northwest.

Winter...so beautiful...so cold, so magical. So long.

I am blessed to remember only one Christmas in my lifetime to my recollection, where there was no snow.

Snow forts, snowmen, sledding, snow angles...ready or not, IT'S WINTER IN SPOKANE!

Benefits of Home Staging

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 22:53:00 -0600

Home staging is the art of maximizing a home's best features to create an edge over the competition. That means cleaning, eliminating clutter, working with the "flow" of a home, neutralizing colors, creating the illusion of space, editing and arranging furniture, and enhancing curb-appeal. Other tricks of the trade include using design psychology to appeal to a buyer's emotions. The end goal is to make the home appeal to the largest number of buyers by transforming it into an appealing and attractive product for sale. For vacant homes, minimal staging furniture helps create an inviting space where buyers can envision themselves living.

In our current market, where listing inventory is high and market time can stretch into several months, staging can make a huge difference. Research has shown that properly staged homes sell for 5% more on average than non-staged homes. Survey results for average market time vary according to source and market, but most indicate that staged homes sell in half the time of non-staged homes.

I recently earned the Accredited Home-Staging Specialist (AHS) designation, joining a growing group of real estate agents who recognize the importance of providing value-added service to their clients. For general information on how staging can help sell your home, visit www.stagingspecialist.com, and for specific help, contact me for a free preliminary assessment.

No...It is NOT a Turkey!

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:03:24 -0600

OMG...I've received several e mails this morning from lenders indicating an impressive drop in mortgage rates today.

The Fed made a announcement this morning that is directly HELPING BUYERS! Interest Rates in the LOW 5's!! I'm sure you all are thinking about Thanksgiving Dinner...but if you are a home buyer or home seller this is the best news we've heard in weeks!

I certainly will digest my T Day dinner much easier knowing rates are in the low 5% range. What exactly does this mean? Well, if you were to purchase a $200,000 home your principal and interest on a 30 year fixed loan at 6% would be $1,199.10 - at 5.25% your principal and interest on a 30 year fixed loan would be $1,104.41... a difference of $94.69 per month! This is assuming no downpayment. CLICK HERE to calculate your payment by inputting your downpayment.

Ummm, I guess I'll say it again....the timing could not be better. Go Buy A Home.