As the rest of the country is seeing huge declines in real estate prices and sales, the Northwest continues to be a bright spot both in Real Estate and the overall economy. Washington CEO states, “Compared to the rest of the nation, the King County economy is robust.”

While the Real Estate market has slowed, and houses are taking longer to sell, the current outlook is strong. Well qualified buyers may find the time is right to take advantage of historically low interest rates on 30-year fixed rate mortgages. But sellers shouldn’t worry too much, especially if they are selling a home in the lower-end price range (200 to 400k).

So yes the outlook is unclear, and no one has a crystal ball, but sticker shock in the Northwest is still not a thing of the past. And the outlying areas like Kitsap and Yakima counties are still showing pockets of strength.

http://www.yakima-herald.com/page/dis/290970606980460

While overall home prices are appreciating, Yakima’s real estate market has some pockets of weakness. Mid-range home prices and sales are slowing. Lower-priced homes, up to about $200,000, are selling rapidly.

And just as I’ve told many of my buyers and sellers, expect the market to pick up again around April, after everyone has finished their taxes:

http://www.yakima-herald.com/page/dis/290970606980460 

“With all the snow, there aren’t a lot of buyers out there looking at houses. We were expecting something to happen in September-November period,” Kerr said. “The Realtors say there should be a lot of movement in April. We are sitting tight here.”

So my advice to buyers: buy now! And to sellers…. take the next two months to get your house in order, and contact me about listing it in April.

This is a pretty good online mortgage calculator:

http://www.mortgagecalculator.org/

First time buyers should pay attention to how property tax, pmi, and homeowner’s insurance add into your payments. I like this calculator because it includes amortization schedules.

Thinking about buying… now’s a great time, with a buyer’s market in the Northwest and mortgage rates hitting historic lows:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a9WB2EDVStsc&refer=us

The average U.S. rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage declined to 5.31 percent today, the lowest since March 2004 when the Fed’s benchmark rate was 1 percent, according to Bankrate Inc., a research firm in North Palm Beach, Florida.

Seriously, Verity Credit Union of Washington State, is offering 6% interest on their checking accounts up to $40,000 deposited. So while the market may have you down, Verity could make you up to $200 a month just for opening a checking account with them. I did it!

And if you do, make sure you tell them Gentry Lange referred you to their bank, cause they’ll pay you $25 bucks for signing up, and they’ll pay me $25 for referring you. Sounds too good to be true…. but it isn’t!

As a real estate agent I often encourage my clients to read as much current news about northwest real estate as they can. So for those of you wanting to educate yourself about the current market here’s my top 10 recommendations:

1. The LA Times on Seattle’s Market
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-na-boom31dec31,1,2460412.story

SEATTLE — It’s the kind of house that a year or two ago would have been snapped up in days: a refurbished rambler in a woodsy residential neighborhood minutes from downtown.

The asking price: $559,000.But after seven weeks, Kristen and Al Dittmaier have not received a single offer on their Wedgwood home.

“I really believed there would be no problem selling,” Kristen Dittmaier said. “But the whole feel of the market has changed. We might have to drop the price.” 

2. The Seattle Times talks about the slowdown in the Seattle Market
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2004099309_reanxiety30.html

Until recently, Seattle-area homeowners could bask in the knowledge that their houses would appreciate handsomely. Median home prices rose 16 percent in 2005 and 21 percent in 2006, a Seattle Times analysis found.

When this year’s final numbers are tallied, the median annual increase will probably be more like 2 or 3 percent, Seattle real-estate economist Matthew Gardner says. That puts Seattle ahead of many cities; still, it’s the lowest appreciation rate in roughly a decade.

3.  Seattle Area foreclosesure rate, “Under Control” according to Default Research, Inc.
http://www.pr.com/press-release/66406

According to Default Research (www.defaultresearch.com), Pierce, Snohomish and King Counties had 1.11 percent, .70 percent and .49 percent of households enter some phase of the foreclosure process in the last 12 months. The Seattle averages for homes in foreclosure are far below other regions in the Default Research coverage area, such as Southern California and Phoenix, had approximately two or three percent of their households in foreclosure.

“Washington State foreclosures were under control in 2007,” said Serdar Bankaci, President/CEO of Default Research. “Seattle dodged the foreclosure bullet primarily because there was less speculative investing, a high median income rate compared with home prices, and not as much volatility in home prices.”

4. Seattle region’s economy poised to capitalize on weaker dollar, avoid recession.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/345513_regionaleconomy01.html?source=mypi

Among a handful of varying business leaders and economists, the consensus seems to be cautious optimism for now. Luckily for Seattle, the economy is different — more global and more diverse — this time around. Business leaders hope that the new economy, plus a weak dollar that makes airplanes and software more attractive to customers abroad, will save us from a three-year funk like the one that struck in 2001.

“We won’t see anything like the nation is seeing,” predicted Jim Warjone, chairman and chief executive of Port Blakely Cos. “Seattle is in a wonderful position because it is truly at the edge of the global market.”

The Pacific Northwest economy is increasingly tied to growth in Asia, including China, which has shown no signs of stopping, said Warjone, whose portfolio of businesses includes real estate, timber and international trade.

If anyone wins in the shakeout, it will be the companies that have embraced globalism — those whose health is least subject to domestic ups and downs, economists said.

So far, companies in this region are still hiring, and the average wage increases are outpacing inflation, said Steve Leahy, Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce president.

5. A Portland writer predicts 2008, and makes a great point.
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=47551

Third, homebuyers need to understand that real estate is MARKET driven. And the “market” is local . . . not National! While such things are averages, and stats love to be broadcast on the evening news, it’s not a phenom with foreclosures everywhere. In fact, the Metro Portland market hasn’t seen plummets as other markets have. Housing STILL costs less then other West Coast markets (Seattle, San Diego, LA, San Francisco) for example.

6. More from Oregon, only three Cities avoid the national housing crunch.
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=42175&sid=5&fid=1

Only three cities reported rising prices: Charlotte, N.C., Seattle and Portland. The Eugene-Springfield area’s market resembles those in the bigger Northwest cities — inventories of unsold houses are up, but prices have held steady.

7. Deals on the rise, outside of Seattle area.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2004097138_reyearender30.html

“There are deals to be had depending on where you are. If you’re in Seattle and Bellevue, there are not that many,” Anderson says. “But in the hinterlands, people are offloading inventory like crazy.”

8. Seattle Area will slow not Crash.
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2007/12/31/focus12.html

King County’s housing market will maintain its “return to earth” trajectory next year, but the region also will continue to sidestep the collapse that has stung many other areas of the country, experts say.

9.  A great blog primer on real estate agent commissions, and how agents work with brokers.
http://agentgenius.com/?p=706 

10. What’s the biggest news for 2008 in Commercial Real Estate around the Puget Sound, check out this forum in February. http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/event/4173

Even though prices in the Northwest are continuing to rise. The fact is that a buyers’ market is emerging here in the Northwest. It is easier to buy a home now than it has been, in the region, in at least 10 years.  No longer am I forced to crawl over 10 other buyers for my buyers for every ramshackle cabin with a flooded basement.

The beginning of 2008 is a good time to be thinking about buying in the Northwest.

Ok, so here’s a few things that I have observed over the years, they are both tried and true “rules of thumb” as well as my own words of wisdom.

1. Don’t fall in love with any one property.

Real Estate deals are all around. If you do your research, and find an undervalued or nicely priced property, it’s not the only deal around. If one house, condo, or other property gets away from you, go find another. Falling in love with a property usually leads to emotional decision making, emotional decision making is never a recommended strategy for striking a good deal on a purchase.

2. Don’t expect to buy your “dream home” as your “first home”.

The average person sells their first house in 5-7 years. Buy low sell high should be your motto, not “let’s go find our dream house”. As a first time buyer you probably will not be able to afford anything close to your dream house… especially around Seattle. Figure out your “must-have” features, figure out your price range, and then shop like crazy for the best deal. But the “best deal” is very unlikely to be your dream house.

3. Start interviewing professionals now who may help you later during or after your purchase.

Home Inspectors, Mortgage and Loan Officers, Architects, Real Estate Agents, there are literally dozens of people involved in most home purchases, a good relationship with this people is essential to making the purchase run smooth.

4. Location, Location, Location

What just went up in price might not be the next market that will pop. Location is not just about where you want to be, it’s also about where the market is going to go next. There’s not much to say other than to think long and hard about where you want to be, and where the market is going. No one can say for sure, but a good educated guess is better than shooting in the dark. I personally favor Everett for rentals and investment properties, because the rents are strong, the prices are lower than seattle, and the outlook for appreciated is good. And that’s just one example.

5. Condos, the good and the bad.

Condos can make huge gains in Seattle, and have outpaced on occasion stick built homes. However, the downside is the possibility of special assessments. Don’t know what a special assessment is? It’s the condo’s way of charging you to replace things like the siding or the roof. I’ve seen tragic problems with condos. But I’ve also seen people make 100k in a year in appreciation. Homework, homework, homework.

Summation:

So, I’ll keep updating this as possible. The fact is that many of my clients need the same advice time and time again… so I hope it helps strangers and friends alike in buying and selling property.

How many real estate blogs are there? Who knows? I have no intention of finding out.

Here’s a link to 500 or so to puruse by state:
http://tinyurl.com/y6enhr

This real estate blog is really just an experiment. I’m a real estate agent, and a blogger, so I thought I’d combine my two passions, and see what grows from there.

As my former website was fairly constrictive in size and scope, I hope that a blog will prove more useful to myself and my clients. Zillow, Direct MLS access, RedFin, Craigslist.org, and many other sites are very useful to anyone who is getting in the market, and within the pages of this real estate blog I aim to provide my customers with a useful introduction to the most useful tools on the Internet.

Regards,

Gentry Lange