Edmonds, WA

The fact is, I've closed more short sales and REO (real estate owned -- by banks) this year than the traditional types of private party sales. Some statistics show that 40% of homes for sale now are indeed short sales.

Now I don't go looking for short sales necessarily. They are just so prevalent these days that my (buyer) clients seem to snag them faster than I snag dog fish while salmon or halibut fishing. Short sale response times so far this year are averaging about 4 months for me.

Here's a good article, if not a bit wordy, that gives prospective buyers of short sale homes five tips to help them endure the frustrating process. Meanwhile, my next short sale closes this Friday. I should note that I represent banks and list REO properties regularly. Bank-owned REO's tend to provide a much quicker response time than do short sales. That's a distinction worth making.

Casey

My wife and I are expecting our first son this summer which, naturally, prompted some questions about the schools in Edmonds, WA and how they rate. There are a plethora of websites and organizations out there that rate schools and school districts. Based on the ratings of one website (www.greatschools.org), I've compiled some very broad ratings. Not comprehensive at all, so forgive the brevity! It's just a website I happened upon that rates schools. Their criteria for rating schools is listed at the bottom of this blog post. I would love to hear your own thoughts and feedback of the schools in your own part of Edmonds. I'm sure other readers would benefit from this as well.

The average rating this website gave the eight public elementary schools in Edmonds, WA was a 7 out of 10, with the highest school receiving a 10 and the lowest school receiving a 2. Here's the breakdown with direct links (ranking in parentheses). I didn't include private schools schools.

Elementary schools:

• Maplewood Parenting Co-op (10)
• Madrona Non-graded (9)
• Picnic Point Elementary (7)
• Seaview Elementary (7)
• Westgate Elementary (7)
• Edmonds Elementary (6)
• Serene Lake Elementary (6)
• Chase Lake Elementary (5)
• Sherwood Elementary (5)
• Mountlake Terrace Elementary (3)
• Edmonds Heights K-12 (2)

Middle schools:

• Alderwood Middle School (7)
• Meadowdale Middle School (7)
  
• Brier Terrace Middle School (6)
• College Place Middle School (6)
• Terrace Park School (4)

High schools:

• Meadowdale HS (9)
• Edmonds-Woodway HS (8)
• Mountlake Terrace HS (8)
• Lynnwood HS (7)

GreatSchools Rating Criteria:
"GreatSchools Ratings for Washington In calculating these ratings, GreatSchools analyzed the 2009-2010 Measurements of Student Progress (MSP) and High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE) reading, writing, math and science results and compared them to the standardized scores of all Washington schools with the same grade levels. If there are no GreatSchools Ratings for a school, the school's test results were either not reported or incomplete. The different student groups are identified by the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction; if there are fewer than 10 students in a particular group in a school, data is not reported for that group. Keep in mind that when comparing schools using GreatSchools Ratings, it's important to factor in other information, including the quality of each school's teachers, the school culture, special programs, etc. GreatSchools Ratings cannot be compared across states, because of differences in the states' standardized testing programs." -- Taken directly from their website @ http://www.greatschools.org/issues/wa/ratings.html.

Another website you may be interested in is www.schooldigger.com.

Staging helps buyers visualize themselves living in a property and making it their home. When a home is vacant, especially if the layout feels a bit awkward and the rooms are small, potential buyers have difficulty envisioning how to use the space and where to place their furniture. Staging sells a lifestyle.

This condo in picturesque downtown Edmonds (a suburb of Seattle) was a perfect candidate for staging. Within walking distance of the Edmonds Center for the Arts, cafes, art galleries, public library, beach, ferry terminal, and shopping, this condo is in a great location.

Take a look at the dramatic transformation of this condo achieved through staging.

Living Room before:

Living Room after:

Dining Room before:

Dining Room after:

Kitchen after:

Master Bedroom before:

Master Bedroom after:

Master Bathroom before:

Master Bathroom after:

Guest room before:

Guest Room after:

Welcome Home!

Staging by SISTERS Interior Redesign, Edmonds, WA, 425.776.7890, sisters@sistersredesign.com

Photos: Rick Landreth, Windermere Real Estate, Edmonds

Give your listing the competitive advantage of professional staging & photography. Contact us today for a complimentary quote. We look forward to working with you!

Earlier this week I posted some new data that showed that 30% of home sellers lost money in March '11. The fine folks at NPR recently asked a Juliard opera performer to sing the home prices from 2001 through 2011. They charted national home prices from the well-known Case-Shiller Housing Price Index (see attached graph) into musical notes.

You can hear the NPR story here. Happy reading. Or listening.

Zillow just reported that one-third of all home sales in the greater Puget Sound region (Snohomish, King & Pierce Counties) lost money in the sale of their homes. That number was 22% in March '10. If it's any consolation, that's still less than the national average of 37%.

Zillow also reports that the median price of all homes (condos, townhouses, etc) was $259,200 in the same month.

My own analysis of MLS data shows that in Edmonds, 70 homes sold in March '11. The average sales price was $427,849 and the median price was $353,750 with an average of 115 days on market. These are very healthy numbers compared to either the country or greater Puget Sound. In fact, in an earlier post I indicated that the single family housing market for Edmonds is very healthy -- to the point of almost becoming a balance market (neither a buyer's nor a seller's market).