Jim Reppond discusses the vibrant, changing Seattle Real Estate Market. Whether your a seasoned investor or a first time home buyer, Jim\’s vast knowledge of the Seattle Real Estate Market will captivate and educate…
The NWMLS (Northwest Multiple Listing Service) reported the April statistics today. The jump in sales and pending sales was pretty dramatic. More importantly, the unsold inventory has decreased to more normal market levels, signalling a probable turn in the market. The increased activity can be felt throughout the market, with mortgage , title, and escrow businesses busy as well as real estate brokerages.
Pending sales of single-family homes in King County was over 2,000 in April, the first month it has been that high since August 2007. In percentage terms, pending sales in King county were up 25 percent from March, and up nearly 15 percent from April 2008.
And it wasn’t just Seattle. For the four-county Puget Sound area (King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish), there were 5,372 pending sales, the highest total since August 2007 and a jump of 26 percent from March.
To quote the press release:
Lower prices, record low mortgage interest rates, improving consumer confidence, the $8,000 first-time buyer tax credit and other incentives for buyers are credited with spurring activity. Industry officials, noting activity is quite strong in the lower, more affordable price ranges, hesitate to declare a housing recovery is under way.
I know a lot of buyers have been sitting on the sidelines waiting to see when the bottom of the market is reached before they jump in. I think these are strong indications that time has arrived.
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A new program is about to roll out to help first-time home buyers. So far it’s been reported about in a couple of places I could find, The Capitol Record in Olympia, and a short article in the Seattle Times. But I think this is going to be a big deal. I first heard about this from one of the representatives in our office to Washington Realtors. Now, those who know me well know that I am usually a major critic of both the National Realtor Association and the Washington Realtors. But if this program actually comes out in the format they are talking about, I may be converted to a fan after all. It not a done deal yet, but it’s getting close and if the minor IRS regulation in the way gets changed quickly, it looks likely.
Here’s how it would work: Those who qualify for the up to $8,000 Federal Tax Credit would could use the funds in advance as down payment and closing cost assistance at the time of purchase.
The State legislature would allocate $25 million of state funds into interest-earning accounts at an FDIC-insured bank. The bank would provide a revolving line of credit to the Washington State Housing Financing Commission to greatly expand its down payment bridge-loan efforts. The Washington Realtors have pledged $400,000 as a backstop to cover any unexpected losses to the state. Prospective borrowers need to take a First Time Homeowners class administered by the Washington State Housing Finance Commission and may be required to assign their IRS tax credit refund to the lender. A second mortgage may be attached to their home if they fail to pay it back.
This could be just the kick in the pants that the market needs to jump start it back to life. Up to now, none of the federal or state programs have made a huge difference. The $8,000 credit only works for lower and middle income participants, exactly the people who often don’t have enough savings to purchase a home.
Watch for more to come…
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It’s pretty clear that a lot of Real Estate Professionals are struggling with the new social media wave that has overtaken many forms of online communication. Many people check their Facebook pages more often than their email these days. And Twitter has become the most effective customer service interface for many companies. If agents and brokerages are going to appeal to and attract new clients they are going to have to embrace these technologies or learn to accept that they are part an increasingly limited sphere of humanity.
The panelists include some of the area’s better known social media maven’s and should be quite insightful.
Dan Mc Comb, co-founder of Biznik.com, named Seattle’s top 25 most innovative entrepreneurs by the Seattle Business Monthly, will speak on social and business networking, including Facebook and Twitter.
Denise Seavitt, CEO of Seavitt Real Estate, will discuss web marketing and database management.
Rich Jacobson, Community Manager of Activerain, will cover blogging, localism and community building.
This seminar is being moderated by Claudia Wicks of Real Estate Base Camp. Her background includes developing nationally acclaimed training programs for Coldwell Banker and John L. Scott and being the National Director of Training and Real Estate Content for HouseValues.
The price is dirt cheap at only $10 (and a can of food for Northwest Harvest) and will be a teaser for RE Base Camp’s more intensive courses for those who decide to dive in and want help. It’s being held at SKAR on April 29, 2009 from 9-10:30am. Surprisingly RE Base Camp does not have any online registration capabilities. So you’ll have to call to make your reservation: 425-974-1011.(click here for PDF flyer)
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Jim Gillespie, CEO of Coldwell Banker was interviewed on Fox Business News the other day and defended Realtors and the positive role they play in the current housing market, as the media attempts to blame real estate agents for part of the housing mess. He promoted Coldwell Banker and the importance of having a full service agent and company such as Coldwell Banker helping people through this current market. The interview is below.
I know Jim. I’ve met him several times and spoken with him on a personal level. I know he is a passionate person who has a strong ethical background. Despite what I think of the National Association of Realtors and their lack of true ethics, I think Jim is a stand-up guy. Where I think he misses the point in this interview, is in NOT pointing out that it is the Realtor’s JOB to help Seller get the best price for their property if they represent the Seller. And if they represent the Buyer it is their JOB to help them throughout negotiations as well as giving advice and representing them throughout the process.
If the NAR would do the right thing and stand up for federal legislation prohibiting dual-agency representation and acknowledge the ethical hypocrisy that this represents, it would go a long way to raising the public’s perception of the profession as one that is truly ethical.
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I will be attending the Seattle’s Green Festival at the Washington State Convention Center today. And will be gathering information for a future blog in Rain City Guide. For those who would like to attend visit the Seattle Green Festival website. It’s a two day event jam-packed with speakers and exhibits (see schedule).
Washington State Convention & Trade Center
800 Convention Place
Seattle, WA
There will be lots of people live-blogging and you can follow on Twitter with the hash marks: #greensea#greenfest or greenfestival or greengfestivals. There is also a framed stream of all Twitter activity on the Green Festival website at:
This is a quick vlog tutorial of how you can use the application JotNot for the iPhone. By using the iPhone camera, you can scan important documents out in the field, and then send them with “good enough” quality, almost as good as a fax!
Great for real estate agents or other professionals in the field who need to often send legal documents and don’t want to carry around a portable scanner. As a side note, they have a version for the Android (G1 from T-Mobile), if anyone has one of those.
JotNot for the iPhone
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Buying a home is a great investment, but trying to flip a home can be risky. Coldwell Banker President & CEO, Jim Gillespie, talks about the risks of flipping a home. This is some great advice from our top guy!
No Flipping Way
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Agents often have strong feelings about which escrow companies they prefer to use and not use. This usually comes from good and bad experiences they have had throughout their careers. The reality is that besides the Realtor and the Mortgage Broker, the Escrow Agent is the most important person in the transaction process. A good escrow person can head off all kinds of complications. Simply put: An Escrow Officer’s job is to follow the instructions of all parties to the contract to close the transaction.
Most Sellers and Buyers rely on their real estate agents to help them decide who to use. So the agent should have a lot of confidence that the escrow agent will do a good job and not make any mistakes, or the agents own reputation will suffer.
A good escrow agent has a natural attention to detail and organization that shows in their files and paperwork. They should have excellent people skills, should communicate clearly, quickly, and often with all parties, and should take pro-active approach to solving any potential problems that they know about. These seem obvious, but in fact this is a rare combination of skill sets.
When considering an escrow company it’s probably a good idea to ask the following questions:
Is the Escrow Officer an LPO? (Licensed Practicing Officer) This designation means they are licensed to practice limited legal functions that can be helpful during the transaction.
Do any of the parties to the transaction or real estate companies involved have a vested interest in the company? (they will have to disclose the affiliated business arrangement, if they do)
Do they do signing after hours and on weekends when Buyers and Sellers are usually most available?
Do they use the same “signing agent” for all transactions?
Do they do remote signings at no additional charge?
This last one (split escrows) are when the Seller and Buyer need or want separate escrow companies to handle the closing. They can be tricky and complicated. There are powerful legal reasons to avoid this scenario whenever possible. There is a risk that escrow will not be able to guarantee free and clear title.
Hopefully your Realtor will have a good working relationship with an Escrow Officer that they are confident in. They should be able to recommend someone that they have had numerous successful transactions with. That’s the best testimonial of all.
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The Washington State Department of Transportation is slammed with big projects this season. Everywhere you look you will be seeing major construction on our highways and roadways around the state. Many of these are located right there in the Seattle area, 58 in King County alone. There is a great detailed list on their website and a map that will allow you to drill down and see the projects that interest you.
Many of these projects were already budgeted for and planned before the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was passed by congress. And yesterday (March 3, 2009) marked the release of $26.6 billion specifically to states and local transportation authorities to repair an build highways, roads, and bridges.
Fannie Mae just announced a new policy regarding pre-foreclosure short sale transactions that is effective March 1, 2009. The policy provides that the closing of a pre-foreclosure short sale involving a Fannie Mae loan may not be conditioned upon reducing real estate brokerage commissions to a level below what the listing agent negotiated with the seller, unless the fee exceeds 6 percent of the sales price.
This new policy applies to those short sale transactions where the seller is delinquent in paying his or her mortgage and are in “pre-foreclosure.” The official announcement is available at the Fannie Mae website.
This is great news to agents who have been working with buyers who are interested in these properties. Agents do a good deal more work to make thee types of transactions work and deserve to get paid. Futhermore with the slower market most of us agents are having a difficult time, just like everyone else in this market.
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The NWMLS (Northwest Multiple Listing Service) reported the April statistics today. The jump in sales and pending sales was pretty dramatic. More importantly, the unsold inventory has decreased to more normal market levels, signalling a probable turn in the market. The increased activity can be felt throughout the market, with mortgage , title, and escrow businesses busy as well as real estate brokerages.
A new program is about to roll out to help first-time home buyers. So far it’s been reported about in a couple of places I could find, 
This is a quick vlog tutorial of how you can use the application 
Agents often have strong feelings about which escrow companies they prefer to use and not use. This usually comes from good and bad experiences they have had throughout their careers. The reality is that besides the Realtor and the Mortgage Broker, the Escrow Agent is the most important person in the transaction process. A good escrow person can head off all kinds of complications. Simply put: An Escrow Officer’s job is to follow the instructions of all parties to the contract to close the transaction.
The 
