Tag Archives: inventory

Why You Should Work with a Full Time Real Estate Agent

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With the advent of the internet and different broker and brokerage business models, there are a number of ways you can buy or sell a home in Tri-Cities these days. The key is to find a solution that works best for you and for the level of service you want and need.

Full service agents are generally those who work full-time in real estate, are connected with other agents and real estate professionals in the Richland, Kennewick and Pasco market, and we are professionals with a full set of buying and selling systems. Operating a real estate company is expensive and many of those full service agents do charge full commission to compensate for those expenses and to earn a living wage.

That is not to say you can’t get full service from a discount brokerage. However, you need to do your due diligence to make sure that what you want is what you will receive. With that in mind, below are some of the key elements we bring to the table as full service real estate professionals:

We have 25 years of combined experience with HUNDREDS of transactions under our belt – If you are a typical buyer or seller, you may participate in around five real estate transactions in your entire lifetime. Usually there are several years between those transactions. A lot can happen in the meantime. Just think about what that last several years has seen in terms of credit availability, market changes, law and process changes and even forms. However, a full-time real estate professional will tackle dozens of real estate transactions a year. Furthermore, since no two transactions are the same, a full-time real estate professional will be subjected to a number of different buyer and seller scenarios and needs to learn about each. Everything from Homeowner Association special assessments, view rights, easement issues, liens, and more – each provides a special learning opportunity for the full-time broker.

We have extensive process knowledge – Buying or selling a home is likely one of the most complex transactions of your life – one which requires lengthy contracts, multiple forms, disclosure statements, inspections, mortgage documents, title reports, insurance, deeds, and multiple professionals are needed to implement their part of the transaction seamlessly. Most people don’t have the knowledge to handle all their tax forms each year and rely either on an accountant or a step-by-step software program to make it through. There is no step-by-step software program for buying or selling a home due to all the complexities, local rules, and changes that must be adhered.

We are very familiar with local property professionals –a typical transaction can be touched by a number of different professionals:

  • Listing broker
  • Listing managing broker
  • Selling broker
  • Lender
  • Underwriter
  • Appraiser
  • Inspector
  • Title rep
  • Title examiner
  • Homeowner association
  • Local utilities
  • Escrow agent
  • County recording office

Understanding the role of each one, what will be needed from them and what you need to get into their hands and when is something that  brokers who complete dozens of transactions per year understand. This knowledge is critical for making sure the transaction is completed as planned and on schedule.

We get the lingo – Do you know what a CMA is? Do you need a POA if you are going out of town? Should you be concerned if you are buying a home where the HOA is MIA? We would be!  A full-time real estate professional who has been around the block understands this lingo and will interpret it for you.

We are the voice of reason – There have been many times when a buyer we have been working with falls in love with a home riddled with problems or substandard building materials or times when a seller wants to list their home for a price that will be detrimental to their listing. A broker who is strong and has research and market knowledge on their side will speak up. We research market trends each and every week, and can advise a seller when their asking price is too high (or low!) and what adjustments we should make. We can advise a buyer on what to ask for in an inspection response based on current demand and current market trends with the goal of keeping the transaction together while also looking out for our buyers’ best interests. Without being in the trenches every day, we wouldn’t have that understanding and our advice might not be as timely as it could be.

We have savvy negotiation skills – Because we know the current market trends and have our finger on the pulse of supply and demand, we are equipped to negotiate powerfully for our clients. There are many negotiating factors including, but not limited to price, financing, terms, date of possession, and inclusion or exclusion of repairs, furnishings, and even who cleans the house. We love to negotiate and find the win-win solutions that bring the deal together with both parties.

Ongoing training and education is important to us – Although each state dictates the educational licensing requirements of any licensed broker or agent in the state, a full-time real estate professional takes this a step further, participating in real estate association-sponsored education and/or coaching. We make a commitment to stay up-to-date on any legal, form, and market changes so we always have the newest information. Our designations include, Accredited Buyers Agent (ABR), Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES), Certified New Home Sales Professional (CSP) and Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS).

What Buyers Need to Know

We have local knowledge on so many levels. As real estate agents there is a lot we keep track of on a local level – zoning and development, information on rental rules, water and sewer changes, rules regarding wells and septic systems, schools and district lines, challenges with faulty building products and geological issues, and transportation issues and changes. Not staying up-to-date on this local information would be akin to a doctor not keeping up with the American Medical Association Journal! As your real estate broker, we need to be prepared to provide information on what you might expect from your property in terms of your long-term quality of life and resale value. We need all the tools available to us to provide you with the information to make an informed decision.

We have the tools and relationships to help you find the best property for your needs. Did you know that sometimes the property that best meets your needs is not on the market at all? Homes that had cancelled or expired may not be currently listed on the MLS but they might be viable candidates for your needs. If the right home isn’t on the market, we use our resources to dig deeper. That may be connecting with an agent who has a listing coming on the market that might be a good fit, taking the time to contact homeowners whose homes may have been on the market some time ago, or utilizing the services of a title company to get addresses to send letters to, indicating that we have an active buyer who is looking in their area, for their type of home. Sometimes it takes work and time to find the right place to call home and you need a full-time real estate professional utilizing their resources to find it.

We know the professionals to call. When you have an inspection, the inspector’s job is to locate potential problems with the home. But then what? Should you investigate the problem further with a specialist? Call in a structural engineer or a pest inspector? We have helped our clients buy and sell homes of many a vintage in many a neighborhood. We always advise that buyers do their due diligence and have a variety of professionals on call to meet your needs with the quick turnaround these situations usually warrant.

We know how to write an offer that will get noticed. Believe it or not, it is not always about the price that is offered. We build a relationship with the listing agent to learn what is important to the seller, and armed with that information, we can construct an offer that takes both sets of needs into account which is more likely to result in success for my buyers. You need an agent who has a large bag of tricks – something that a full-time real estate professional can deliver.

What Sellers Need to Know

We help you price your home at market. We cannot tell you how critical this is for selling your home. Although some may prefer to simply use a popular property website to determine the price, according to the National Association of REALTORS®, those estimates can be up to 35% off. This could result in a seller thinking their home is worth $500,000, but it should really be priced closer to $325,000 in order to get attention from buyers. Every day we review the available inventory of homes, what has just come on the market and what has gone under contract to get a feel for the ever-fluctuating supply and demand. If supply starts to exceed demand, sellers need to be ready to make an adjustment to meet the market. If demand is high, then let’s use that to our advantage and employ a different strategy. But an online website won’t give you that advice based on current demand. A website isn’t going to be able to evaluate your view against your neighbor’s home that might have sold last week or how the hardwood floors in your home compare to the hardwood floors in a home a half mile away that sold six months ago. But we can because we know the inventory. We have the tools. And we use them all to meet your goals and get your home sold.

We employ listing syndication on dozens of websites to get your home noticed.  We don’t just rely on the MLS to get your home in front of the largest potential buyer pool. We provide our sellers that extra visibility by way of listing syndication – having your property and photographs broadcast out to dozens of different property search sites. This way we can be sure that if a potential buyer is searching in Kalamazoo or Kentucky, your home will appear on their search results. You never know where the buyer for your home will come from!

Whether you are buying a home for the first time or selling your home to relocate or right-size, trust your most valuable asset to a full-time professional chock-full of expertise. We wouldn’t buy or sell a home with anyone but an expert and neither should you.

Call us anytime; we love to discuss Tri-Cities Real Estate Market!

Jessica Johnson, 509.947.2230                    Jennifer Cowgill 509.947.5670

Tri-Cities Real Estate Market Update, December

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The end-of-2013 Tri-Cities real estate market information has just been released. Comparing December 2012 with December 2013 note that although median sales price decreased just a bit, the number of homes under contract and sold have seen significant gains.

2013q4update1

The numbers as a whole represent a year of modest growth. Below is the number of homes available on the market for both 2012 and 2013. As you can see, in April 2013, the number of homes available in the Tri-Cities began to decline. A smaller supply of homes with steady demand will cause home prices to increase, in this case modestly.

2013q4update2

The below graph represents median home prices in the Tri-Cities over 2012 and 2013. Note that the 2013 line is almost consistently over the 2012 line, representing a small increase over 2012.

2013q4update3

If you are interested in hearing more about our market, please give us a call: Jessica at (509) 947-2230 or Jennifer at (509) 947-5670.

Finding a Diamond in the Rough – A Guide for Home Buyers

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The Tri-Cities real estate market is healthy with houses selling at a steady pace. The National Association of REALTORS® predicts that prices should rise about 6% next year nationally with interest rates rising to 5.8%. Those stats may have potential homebuyers who had planned on moving next year scratching their heads and wondering if the time is right to make a move now. But what if they can’t find exactly what they are looking for?

There are buyers in the market right now who are still looking for a “deal” despite the health of the market. And other buyers who are out looking but just aren’t finding that house that feels “just right.” Should they be looking at homes that have been on the market for six months, nine months, a year or more with the hopes of getting a deal and doing an extensive renovation? Or if scores of other buyers have bypassed these homes, should you stay away too?

Home improvement shows have made the idea of purchasing something unappealing and retrofitting to the buyer’s unique tastes seems appealing – even easy! As you determine if a home that has languished on the market is really a diamond in the rough awaiting polishing, consider why the home may still be on the market. Unless these problems are solved that caused the home to be on the market so long are fixed, you could run into the same problem when it is time to sell unless you make the required changes.

Homes that are on the market for a long time usually have a common list of challenges:

Overpriced property. This is the easiest obstacle to overcome in terms of fixing the problem – if the seller is willing. Even the ugliest property will sell if it is priced right. The key is to widen the buyer pool as much as possible by lowering the price to what the pool of buyers – or at least one of them – will pay. Sellers may steadfastly hold to their price, but the bottom line is if the home has been on the market for months, generally the price needs to be reduced to meet the market.

As a potential buyer, before purchasing a property, it is important for the buyer’s agent to do a comparative market analysis (CMA) so the buyer will have an estimate of market value before purchasing to make sure they are making a sound investment.

Floorplan/Flow is awkward. Is the master bedroom two floors away from the other bedrooms? Is there only one bathroom for the whole house? Is the kitchen small in proportion to the rest of the house? Are the rooms small with little closet space? Floorplan/flow challenges such as these may be easy to overcome with a remodel. It is important to do your due diligence first and determine a remodel is possible – and within your budget. Also, features such as multiple flights of stairs will keep certain buyer pools from considering the property (such as seniors or perhaps parents of young children) and may not be easily remedied by a remodel. Furthermore, there may be zoning restrictions if altering the outside of the home is required and should be investigated before finalizing the purchase.

Location location location. Are there power lines nearby? Is the home located beneath the flight path to the airport? Is the home located on or nearby a very busy street? These types of challenges are not ones that can be altered. Therefore, if the home is located near something that others might find disturbing or a nuisance, this should be reflected in the price of the property to attract the largest buyer pool – both now and down the road when it comes time to sell.

Dated, but easily updated. If the home is in a good location and everything else looks favorable, but the rust-colored linoleum and pink sink and tub in the bathroom is giving you pause, then this may indeed be the diamond in the rough you have been looking for! If the rest of the “bones” of the house are desirable such as general house layout, roof, supports, etc and the updates are mostly cosmetic or involve moving just a few non-supporting walls, then you may have found your home.

If you are not afraid to expend a little elbow grease and have a renovation budget to get the home of your dreams, you may be richly rewarded! If you have been eyeing a listing that has been on the market awhile or would like to learn about potential diamonds in the rough in our area, give us a call! Jennifer Cowgill can be reached at (509) 947-5670 or Jessica Johnson at (509) 947-2230.

Tri-Cities Real Estate Market Update, October

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The September and October Tri-Cities real estate market information is hot off the presses! This has been another two months of modest growth over the previous year.

The below chart shows the data comparing September of 2012 and September of 2013.

sepmarketcomp01

The October data is also newly-available:

octmarketcomp01

According to the National Association of REALTORS®, the Kennewick-Richland-Pasco metro area is seeing a upward trend in new home construction with 1,661 current building permits through June 2013. This is 36.7% above the long-term average of 1,215 permits.

Did you know that the Tri-Cities is only behind Seattle and Portland for the number of building permits in Washington and Oregon? In August, 2013, Seattle issued 6300 permits, Portland issued 3970 permits and Kennewick-Richland-Pasco issued 1000 permits. New construction is strong in our area.

If you are interested in hearing more about our market, please give us a call: Jessica at (509) 947-2230 or Jennifer at (509) 947-5670.

Sources

Tri-Cities Real Estate Market Update

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The August numbers have been released from the MLS and we have seen modest growth. Median Home Sale prices have increased over 7% over August 2012 numbers. The number of homes under contract also increased slightly by .84%. Our inventory has seen an adjustment as well, with a 5.1% decline.

The below chart shows the data comparing August of 2012 and August of 2013.

2013 Q3 Market Update 1

One reason the real estate market is showing moderate growth is due to our steady employment. The below graph shows the unemployment rate for the Tri-Cities Metropolitan Area which includes Kennewick, Richland, and Pasco. As you can see, year over year, our employment rate has been steady. We do see a slight spike in the winter as part of our economy is agriculturally based.

2013 Q3 Market Update 2

If you are interested in hearing more about our market and how it impacts your property, please give us a call: Jessica at (509) 947-2230 or Jennifer at (509) 947-5670.

Rising Interest Rates and Homeowners – What You Need To Know

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00014474According to Bankrate.com, 30 year mortgage interest rates were at 4.74% week before last from 4.57% the week before) and are up 1.5% since the lows hit in December of 2012. This is also higher than one year ago when mortgage rates were 3.91%.

While this may not seem like a significant increase, it can have an impact on buying power. For example, on a $200,000 loan, the change in interest rates from 3.91% to today’s 4.74% is $98 more per month or $35,280 over the life of the loan.

Interest rates are expected to continue to rise which has caused some buyers who were previously on the fence to get into the buyer pool now to the delight of sellers. If you have been considering selling your current home and moving to something larger, in a better location, or something with higher-quality finishes, this would classify you as a “move-up buyer” and rising interest rates may affect you more than other types of seller/buyers. Here’s why:

First-time homebuyers don’t have a home to sell. Their buying power certainly ties into interest rates, but the financial impact is less when the loan amount is lower. For example, on that $200,000 loan example above, the difference was $98 more per month. However, on a loan of $140,000, that difference is lessened to $68 per month.

Downsizing buyers may be saving per month after downsizing as they may be using the equity in the more-expensive home they are selling to put a larger down payment on the home they are downsizing to. For example, let’s say a retired couple is selling their home they have lived in for 15 years. They will be selling it for $300,000 and have $100,000 in equity in it. They plan on buying a home for $209,000 and they are putting their $100,000 as a down payment, leaving them with a loan amount of only $109,000. The difference between 3.91% and 4.74% for this loan amount is $53 per month.

However, the downsizing buyer still needs to sell their home. As interest rates rise, the number of buyers who can buy their home at that price will shrink. Therefore, downsizing buyers do still need to watch rates.

The move-up buyer needs to keep a close eye on interest rates as they are considering their move. For example, let’s say the move-up buyer has a home they are going to sell for $200,000 and they want to buy a home that is listed for $300,000. In this case they have about $50,000 in equity in the first home. This means they will take out a loan of about $250,000 for their move-up property.

If interest rates go up as in the 3.91% to 4.74% example, this can affect the move-up buyer two-fold. First, the buyer pool for their home they are trying to sell will shrink, making it more difficult for them to sell (although it can be argued that the same thing will happen with the home they wish to purchase) Second, the amount they would need to pay each month for their mortgage will increase (by $122 per month!)

The bottom line? If you are thinking about buying or selling, interest rates will definitely have an impact on the home you can purchase and how many buyers are available to purchase your home if you are trying to sell. Move-up buyers should consider the number of buyers who are in the market right now, wanting to buy, as this could be a great time to sell and find a great deal at a good interest rate. But time is of the essence. Please call us to learn your options and what moving now versus moving later could look like. Please call Jessica at (509) 947-2230 or Jennifer at (509) 947-5670.

All mortgage examples are for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage and payment amounts include principal and interest only. Downpayments, homeowners insurance, property taxes, private mortgage insurance, closing costs, etc have not been factored into these examples.

Tri-Cities Real Estate Market Update

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The fourth quarter numbers are out from the Washington State Center for Real Estate Research. Median resale prices are up 8.3% over the previous year as are the number of sold properties.

  Resales % change from
last quarter		 % change from
last year		 Median Resale Price % change from
last year
Benton County 3,100 +2.6% +.3% $189,300 +8.3%
Franklin County 640 +3.2% +1.6% $189,300 +8.3%

*Numbers are seasonally adjusted

The below lines represent the past year’s inventory and homes under contract. As the lines get closer together, this represents the housing inventory being consumed at a faster pace (in other words, demand for housing has increased). As the lines get further apart, this represents a surplus of inventory. As you can see, our inventory levels are lower than this summer, but are not quite as low as they were last January, but the number of homes under contract is a bit higher than the number of homes under contract last January.

Feb 2013 Tri City Market Update

Spring is right around the corner, and we are excited for things to come. If you have been thinking of buying or selling this spring, let’s set up some time to discuss your plans and create a strategy. Please call Jennifer at (509) 947-5670 or Jessica at (509) 947-2230.

Sources: http://wcrerdata.be.washington.edu/WSHM/2012Q4/Snapshot%204Q%202012%20v2.pdf and the Tri-City Association of REALTORS®.