How Active was the Market for Real Estate in Washougal Washington for the month of August 2009?

On the first of September we logged into the MLS for Vancouver and Washougal to obtain a quick snap-shot view of what happened real estate wise within the confines of Washougal, in Clark County Washington. Here is what we have to report:

From this snap-shot view we see an almost 34% increase in the number of Pending transactions compared to the number of SOLDS, as well as less than one year's supply of inventory available at the end of the month. This month the 3rd Party + Pre-Forclosures + Foreclosures combined are about 36.5% of the Active homes listed, yet they represent about 60% of the homes going under contract.

Key items we are looking for in a market turnaround are not just an increase in the number of transactions but, an increase in the non-PreForeclosure / Foreclosure category. In our opinion Washougal has been one of the hardest hit areas however, we are starting to see a leveling in that ratio overall in Clark County.

If you are looking to sell your home in Washougal, Vancouver or another part of Clark County Washington in this challenging market time please call or e-mail us with the details of your situation and we'll customize a marketing plan to get your Clark County Home Sold!

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Definitions:
1) 3rd Party = the sales contract requires the approval of a third party; and includes Short-Sales, Trust Sales, Relocation Company sales, etc.
2) PreForeclosures = aka Short-Sales are homes where the lending bank(s) agrees to take less, allowing a sales transaction to take place.
3) Foreclosures = aka REO's and Bank Owned Homes, already Foreclosed by the Lender(s).
4) PENDING = listed homes that have been marked as under contract by the listing agent during the past 30 days.
5) SOLD = listed homes that have been marked as closed sales by the listing agent in the past 30 days. Note: some of these sold homes may have been "pending sales" for far more than 30 days!

Disclaimer: this information is drawn using custom search parameters from the predominant MLS system covering Vancouver Washington and is not guaranteed to be accurate.

For more information, including videos on real estate and living in Vancouver Washington and the rest of Clark County, please visit:

Real Estate in Vancouver Washington

Homes for Sale in Vancouver WA

Current MLS Market Report for Camas, Vancouver and Clark County

Vancouver and Washougal WA Home Cents: When it Makes More Sense to Rent a Tool than to Buy One

OK guys and gals too, we know it can be fun and cool to have an awesome set of tools to cover most every job under the sun however, many of us must admit that we own more tools than we can use on a practical, daily or regular enough basis to justify the investment. For me there are some days when the old wrecking bar or vise-grips just aren't and I really wish I had a jack-hammer to tear into some heavy duty demo work or, it would be fun to own a small Bobcat backhoe and dig some holes (remember to check for buried utility lines before digging)! For those times many of the frugal and smarter folks in east Vancouver, Camas and Washougal head over to Totem Rent-All in Washougal, where Wally and his knowledgeable crew will set them up.


Wally Grover has owned Totem Rent-All for over a dozen years, and his establishment may just be about every tool lovers dream! From specialty wrenches for auto mechanic work, to larger powered machines, he's got 'em. For the Vancouver and Clark County real estate community Totem Rent-All has been an essential provider for many of Vancouver Washington's new home builders. With the slowdown in new home construction, home remodeling and rehabbing activity is helping take up the slack in the tool rental business.


Whether your project requires a small tool, or a piece of heavy equipment, stop by Totem Rent-All in Washougal WA to get the right tool!


View Totem Rent-All in Washougal WA in a larger map

To view Homes For Sale near and around Washougal and Vancouver Washington - Click here. We know Washougal, Vancouver and Clark County Washington real estate and home sales and will help you get your home Sold if you need to Sell your home and help you buy your home in Vancouver and Clark County WA: Call or e-mail us today.

For more information, including videos on real estate and living in Vancouver Washington and the rest of Clark County, please visit:

Real Estate in Vancouver Washington

Homes for Sale in Vancouver WA

Current MLS Market Report for Camas, Vancouver and Clark County

Romping! Jumping! Fetching a tennis ball! Do you own a dog? Do you live near Washougal, WA?

Guess what! We're getting a new 7 acre dog park! This is a great move for Washougal town. It's going to be located right off of Highway 14 and west of Bi-Mart between Main and Addy streets.

Landowner D.M. Stevenson Ranch of Hood River, OR is giving a long-term lease agreement for the use of the property. The park construction should begin soon and be finished by late summer or early fall. It would be named for benefactors Donald and Angeline Stevenson. This will be a great addition to our community and way of life. We need a good off-leash dog park for our pets. Now...where are those tennis balls?

Don't forget the Southwest Humane Society is located nearby and you can volunteer to take the dogs for walks...you could bring them to the new dog park too!

There is a second wave of foreclosures coming. The one we have just gone through with all the "financial meltdown" was just the first of up to three waves of foreclosures. The first one was the subprime mess, with lenders lending to people with subpar credit, that "surprise" did not or could not ultimately pay for the loans they signed up for.

The second wave is coming and will start hitting soon... these are the Alt-A loans. I am not a financing guru by any means, but I watch the news and am aware of what several top sources are discussing. According to wikipedia, these Alt-A loans are the loans which affect people somewhere between A+ credit and subprime. Several of these were the stated income loans, known in the mortgage industry as "liars loans" and enough people took advantage of them to make them a problem.

Option loans, the "pick a payment" type of loan will also be a part of the second wave of foreclosures. When the borrower chooses to pay less than the owed amount, negative amortization occurs (increasing the principal owed). When this happens again and again, and the buyer bought the home for $508,000 and now it's worth $320,000 (as the home across the street from me is), then they probably would choose to let it go to foreclosure.

There are more foreclosures coming. How bad will it get? What will the effects be? I honestly do not know.

I am concerned. People who have held on in the last couple of years and seen their home values plummet, will probably see the values go down a little more before they go back up. It is key to remember that those "losses" will only be realized if they sell in a down market.

The next wave of foreclosures is said to affect the "gated communities" of America. We have seen all types of neighborhood's values drop across America. How will the upper end stuff affect the economy? I do think that those home values will have been effected by the overall crisis.

Unless President Barack Obama requires a moratorium for foreclosures and requires banks modify loans, we are in for a bumpy ride.

To look at homes for sale in Washougal:

http://www.jmaproperties.com/idx/search.html?submit=true&search_city=Washougal&idx=residential&minimum_price=&maximum_price=&minimum_bedrooms=&minimum_bathrooms=

Has anyone else noticed this?

You find a "great deal" for your buyers...

You write an offer and submit it. You wait a day or so and find out there are 8 more offers just like yours in? Then it ends up selling over asking price. One we put an offer in, list price $119,000, sold price $135,000, with 12 offers, 6 of them ALL CASH.

This has been happening in Los Angeles County, California for over a year. Where a home may be listed for $400,000 (your standard 1,200 square foot 3 bedroom 1.5 bathroom home) and it ends up selling a month later for $454,000. Not because the house is so wonderful, but because people get caught up in the bidding war and want to have what everyone wants to have (even if there are 6 more sitting on the street priced around $435,000).

The trend in the Pacific Northwest (Oregon and Washington) is we get the trickle effect from California... i.e. the market here feels the effect of what's happening in California about a year after it happens there.

Sure, it's good for the banks, but Realtors need to educate their buyers that this is the tactic that the banks are going with. It is similar to a bargain priced short sale listing, when sellers price their home low enough to get attention i.e. offers so they can avoid foreclosure. This doesn't mean that they will sell it for the low price, or that price will even be legal, which in Washington states that the purchase price must be at least 80% of the home's appraised value, or it's ILLEGAL.

Recently I put an offer in for a $425,000 house for slightly above list price, but even then, the bank rejected the offer, because it didn't go with their plan, and the house sits on the market today, with a changed value range price of $425,000 to $465,000. It is a little frustrating, because my buyers would have been extremely happy with the home and the bank would have gotten the home off their books.

Banks seem to be pricing their properties aggressively, but it may backfire on them because they are undercutting themselves, and chasing the market down to new lows.