The Seattle Specialist

When Title Matters

Published November 20, 2009

I recently had a transaction close where the title company “forgot” to record the transaction on a Friday afternoon. I won’t name names, but it was not one of the companies I frequently use. It was a bit of a problem, because the Buyers were already on a plane to pick up their keys, take possession, and meet with construction people on Saturday to start remodeling.

The escrow agent, who is very pro-active and efficient, demanded that the title company issue a temporary letter of indemnity to cover the property until it was recorded. At first the title company balked, but then realized they had blundered in a big way and agreed. Fortunately, the Seller felt comfortable enough to allow the Buyer to take possession anyway.

I spoke with Title Representatives from a couple of other companies and they assured me this type of thing is rare, but it happens. But this experience has taught me that having a good title company that is careful and thorough matters and can be really critical to a smooth transaction.

Here a Comp, There a Camp, Everywhere a Camp Camp

Published October 11, 2009

Seems like Barcamps, REBarcamps, Wordcamps, RainCamps, and WhateverCamps are spouting up all over the place! Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great! Lots of information is being exchanged and given by the very people who create and use it, not the marketing talking-heads who are just trying to sell us stuff. It seems to be an information explosion of sorts. I never really expected to see many real estate agents chatting about widgets on their blogs or SEO strategies at cocktail parties. But that’s what’s happening.

I think we are witnessing a shift in how companies reach out to consumers to educate us on their products and services. There is definitely still a need for face-to-face meetups and get togethers. But in these days of downsizing and cost-cutting, traveling to Vegas or New York to attend an expo or convention is quickly being supplanted by local low-or-no cost xxxxCamps. I can learn as much or more by attending these local events and get to meet and network with the people who are at the heart of the process and technology at a fraction of the cost or time commitment.

Add to that the ability to view of many events live via video on LiveStream or UStream, and I feel like I’m not missing much and being much more efficient with my time and resources.

More power to the Campers!

Monopoly City Streets - A Great Real Estate Game

Published September 19, 2009

I don’t normally write blog posts about games or entertainment, but this is just too fun to pass up and I have to share it! The Monopoly City Streets is a free, online, worldwide game that went live on Wednesday September 9, 2009 and a mad land rush began to acquire properties. Within a few days all the major streets in major cities around the world were bought up, and clever and unscrupulous real estate tycoons had figured out ways to cheat the system through multiple accounts. It became clear to the developers that they had to clean up some of the issues and close the cheat loopholes or the game would never succeed in the long run.But that didn’t stop the hype, or the fun. I found a few smaller streets were still available to buy in Seattle, and discovered I had a much better chance of building my real estate wealth by branching out to lesser known cities and strategizing on maximizing rents.

Since the the whole game is built on Google Maps, you’re pretty much unlimited as to where you can become a real estate tycoon! There are even blogs, forums and a Wiki set up to help you figure out how to play.

So the decision to reset the game and have everyone start over. They announced via their official Twitter account and their blog that they would take down the site on September 17th at 15:00 GMT and re-launch it after the reset and testing was completed. For days the developers frantically patched, revamped, and updated the interface of the game getting it ready.But once they relaunched it still took less than a couple of days for most of the streets in the populated cities to be purchased. They did raise the prices of the more valuable streets and that means it will take longer for people to be able to afford them.

If you jump in quick and get some cheaper streets in remote locations you can still have a lot of fun, even if you don’t take over the world.

Getting Your Real Estate Transaction Recorded

Published September 15, 2009

The King County Recorder’s Office has been maintaining records of all real estate transactions, marriage records and other documents submitted for public record since 1853. The method of recording these documents has evolved from a system of manual transcription to digitally scanning and indexing the documents.

There are basic requirements dictated by the state legislature regarding formatting of documents. And if you try to record something that does not meet these requirements it will be rejected. The formatting requirements are quite stringent and there is no “close enough” allowances.

Two most commonly made errors are:

1. A top margin of at least three inches and a one-inch margin on the bottom and sides, except that an instrument may be recorded if a minor portion of a notary seal, incidental writing, or minor portion of a signature extends beyond the margins;
2. The top left-hand side of the page shall contain the name and address to whom the instrument will be returned;

People often get tripped up when they need to record something irregular, such as a second deed of trust, or a oil tank decommissioning certificate. Often these documents are old and created before the requirements, or sometimes they have been printed and faxed around and the margins or font size changes enough to get them rejected.

Note that even though the Recording Office is open till 4:30pm Mon-Fri, documents received after 3:30 p.m. will be recorded the next business day.

RE Barcamp Seattle - The Unconference

Published September 3, 2009

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

If you’ve been to a barcamp you know this already. Barcamps are are turning conferences and learning events from organized conferences into unreal unconferences, with amazing results! A long time ago I was an educator and learned that people’s peak learning ability happens when they engage themselves in a topic or subject that they themselves initiated. It’s that human trait called curiosity at it’s finest.

What better way to create that environment than to have a group of people with a common passion, such as real estate and technology, get together and have breakout sessions based on topics that the attendees are focused on at that moment? Common obstacles, frustrations, and solutions are all discussed and shared. People find the common ground of experiences that breaks down walls of competition and egos. And people walk away feeling they gained much more than just knowledge.

You may have heard people rave about these experiences and wondered if it some kind of cult. It’s not. But there is definitely a “fan boy” following of these events on Twitter and Facebook. And some of the superstars of REbarcamps will be visiting from out of town, including the keynote speaker Ian Watt.

Ian is a very successful agent from Vancouver who is well known for his short videos on real estate topics he records while he his driving. Many of you have seen the videos that I do like this. Well, even though I’ve been doing them longer, I think Ian does them much better. He is a master of marketing and technology and dominates his downtown Vancouver condo market.

The price of this event is perfect - FREE! But you need to RSVP or their may not be enough food for you. So head on over to the website and get yourself registered!

Seattle RE Barcamp website
Seattle RE barcamp Promotional Video

Seattle’s Employment Picture Improving

Published August 18, 2009

Yes, Seattle is having some employment improvements and it shows. Being 13th on this list by Indeed.com is pretty good, when you consider the alternatives. That means there is currently 1 job for every 3 unemployed people. We were one of the last cities to see improvement in our unemployment statistics in the last recession. So I would expect to see us to continue to climb up this list as the economy improves. Washington CD seems to be a boom town, though. With all the federal government spending I’m not really surprised.

Coldwell Banker Ranked Highest Among Sellers According to JD Power

Published July 31, 2009

The 2009 Home Buyer/Seller Study by J.D. Power surveyed 2,801 people who bought or sold a home between April 2007 and June 2008. JD Powers gauges customer satisfaction with seven of the largest real estate brokerage franchises across the US. While Keller Williams took the overall award with a score barely over Coldwell Banker’s, it was clear that the variety of value added services Coldwell Banker provided their clients put them way over the top with Sellers.

In these tough times and tight markets, one factor stood out: The importance of additional services has increased considerably. Agents expertise and recommendations in areas like inspections, appraisals, legal issues, home warranties, and moving companies have become increasingly important to home buyers and sellers.

“In a tight market, every aspect of service offered will be scrutinized very closely. For this reason, it is critical for real estate companies to promote the value that they bring to buyers and sellers, not only in any additional services they offer, but also in their agents and operations.” said Jim Howland, senior director of the real estate and construction practice at J.D. Power and Associates.

Agents who have these skills and resources, and know how to market them effectively are doing well.

Backyard Cottages Still Controversial

Published July 28, 2009

The City of Seattle has proposed a comprehensive “Backyard Cottage Solution” to an existing problem that has been ignored for too long: The existence and need for regulation of backyard cottages in single family neighborhoods. This would be in the form of a citywide backyard cottage ordinance to address a situation that has been going on for a long time anyway.

I just read a blog post on the Crosscut.com site (an excellent site for indepth local news and views) by Kent Kammerer titled “Backyard Cottages for Seattle? Not so fast.” In it he outlines carefully thought out reasons why he thinks cottages in Seattle are a bad idea.

He points out that it’s not fair to the neighbors who are affected by the increased density, siting they might loose their views or have the sunlight to their garden blocked. But these are not property rights that are guaranteed under current zoning or laws, unless you happen to live in one of the few areas of Seattle that have CC&Rs (covenants, conditions and restrictions)

Backyard cottages have been allowed in southeast Seattle since 2006. The city recently did a survey in south east Seattle neighborhoods in the immediate vicinity of 14 existing backyard cottages and found that the residents overwhelmingly supported of the rights of property owners to have this option in the right circumstances. And most agreed that backyard cottages would fit in with their current neighborhood and surrounding homes.

As a Realtor I often hear people bemoaning any development whatsoever. And many point to condo and townhome developments as examples of increased density solutions that they don’t like. But it’s rare to see alternatives that are attractive or practical. This backyard cottage solution is one. And with proposed limit of a maximum of 50 new cottages a year, this isn’t going to dramatically change the Seattle landscape.

We are looking at staggering growth projections in Seattle in the next 30 years. The City of Seattle is expected to DOUBLE in population by 2040*. We can’t just bury our heads in the sand. Without higher density planning we will see property values continue to skyrocket in the future, eroding the livability of one of the best places on the planet to live and work. It’s time to be creative and realistic about how to accommodate this.

Note: There will be a Backyard Cottage Neighborhood Meeting on Aug. 3, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. Presentation to the Lake Union District Council at Fremont Neighborhood Service Center, 908 N. 34th St. Check the City’s website for details.

* Source: Puget Sound Regional Council - Vision 2040 Report

NWMLS to Allow Multiple Data Feeds

Published July 21, 2009

I was tipped off on Facebook, by someone who heard it from someone who was told, that the 3 feed limit for brokerage rule is going to change soon. So I called the NWMLS and got confirmation that this is indeed one of the rule changes to be implemented in October.

What does this mean? It means agents with property search features on their websites (like me!) will no longer be restricted to just one or two providers. We can work with whoever our brokers will allow us to and provide the best search features that the marketplace has to offer.

The consumer will definitely be the winner in this as it will open the door to innovation and diversity and allow agents who have been tied to a vendor out of necessity the freedom of choice.

(Hat-tip to Jason Reese, the guy who puts together the EastsideCondoReport blog.)

John L Scott to Magnolia - Let them Eat Pie!

Published July 18, 2009

The Seattle Pie Company has opened their doors in Magnolia in the old John L Scott office location on McGraw. Situated near the center of The Village they are sure to become a popular hangout alternative to Starbucks. I first heard about this on the Magnolia Voice blog, a great resource for Magnolia residents. I’m not sure why John L Scott decided to abandon their Magnolia business location, but I’m guessing it was a financial decision. Anyway, I’m sure the local residents are quite happy with the new replacement.

The owners, Pat and Alyssa Lewis, are really nice folks and are going to do well, I can just tell. Stop by and welcome them and have some pie!

(for what it’s worth, Coldwell Banker Bain’s office down the street and above Starbucks is still open for business!)