I hope you dig me too.
This is my love letter to you and to the Seattle real estate market. It’s back baby! So, is it good time to buy? Sell? Simply peek around? Of course! Please read on.

2012: Armageddon Outta Here!

The past few years were rough.But you hung in there and now housing prices are perking up like my Lola’s ears when I near the fridge. For Sale inventories today are near all time lows.
Homeowners who were under water are making it back to the surface.
A seller’s market can be a great time to buy if you have a good negotiator on your side. Someone like me!
2013: Don’t Lose It, Lease It
This year, many homeowners are moving onward and upward while turning their current homes into rental properties.
Why?
There are more qualified renters than there are available homes. Rental income can offset mortgage payments while your home equity continues to rebuild.
Interested in buying without selling?
I’ll show you how!

Not Every House is a Winner

This house was like a date from hell. Looks like marriage material, but once you get to know it — total nightmare!
I recently helped a buyer score a beautiful house built in the 1980’s despite competing buyers.
Good thing Seattle Digs keeps the champagne on ice until the inspection is complete.
Reis Pearson of Inside Out Building Inspection discovered the siding trim was not properly installed,
causing 30 years of unseen water damage and infestation below the surface.

Estimated repair bill: $150,000.
My buyers were able to walk away without leaving their hearts — or their deposit — behind.

Like what you see? Dig This!

Seattle Digs is an easier, less stressful, more fun way to buy a home.
Learn more about Seattle Digs’ fresh approach to real estate at the

I’m looking for Ladies. Gents. Families too. If your friends, family and neighbors are thinking about transplanting this year — don’t send them to Google, send them to me!
I will help them get where they want to go.

In case you haven’t already been there, check out the…
All-New Seattle Digs Website!

Even though we’re in for grey skies and rainy days for much of the winter, here is a ray of sunshine to lift your spirits. The Seattle real estate market is picking up. I’ve seen it on the front lines: listings are selling quickly and hot properties are igniting bidding wars. Now we have some fresh data to back it up.

Windermere Real Estate is proud to partner with Gardner Economics to create a detailed analysis of the Western Washington real estate market.

This graph shows the price change year over year and it looks to me like we may just be scratching our way out of the depreciation we’ve seen in the last few years.  It’s only one year of growth but it’s certainly shift in the right direction.

Read the full report here: The Gardner Report

Numbers alone do not always give an accurate picture of local economic conditions; therefore the report’s goal is to provide an explanation of what the statistics mean and how they impact the Western Washington housing economy.

So how does this affect you? I would be happy to answer your questions and provide a detailed analysis of the home you want to sell or the area where you’re looking to buy.

Can you dig it? Let’s talk!

There are 3 pieces of information in the Supply & Demand chart. The first is the supply of homes for sale over a thirteen-month period.
This is shown with GREEN bars (SUPPLY). The second is the number of homes sold in BLUE bars (SOLD). The third is the number of
pending sales , shown as a RED line (UNDER CONTRACT). This chart allows us to compare the most recent 3-months activity with the
same period one-year ago.

The Supply & Demand chart is utilized to help determine who is in the driver’s seat: the buyer, the seller or neither party. This is commonly
referred to as a buyer’s, seller’s or balanced market.  The type of market is determined by the supply of homes -in months.  This is calculated
by dividing the # of homes for sale by the # of homes that are sold.

Graph 2: Days on Market
The BLUE line denotes the average percentage of the current listing price the Seller sold his or her home for.  We call this “sold to
list price percentage”.  In other words, IF IT WERE AT 99%, the average seller has only had to discount their listing price by 1% to
attract a buyer. The listing price refers only to those homes that are closed, not average list price for homes still for sale or in contrace (pending).

The YELLOW bars show how long the property has been on the market before it received an acceptable offer. We call this
“days on market”. Days on market is based on homes that have closed already, not homes that are still pending. We do not count
all previous listing periods because they did not result in a sale. Also we do not count the time in escrow.

Graph 3: Average Price
The GREEN line denotes the average price for all homes for sale in a given month and a given area. The RED line denotes the
average price for all homes that sold (closed) in the same month and area.

Graph 4: Months of Inventory
The BLACK graph line denotes the months of inventory that were available in a given month/year.
This is found by taking the number of homes that were for sale in a given month and comparing
it to the number of homes that accepted an offer in the same month.

Please don’t hesitate to give me a call if you would like to discuss these charts or if you would like more specific information for your neighborhood.  I’m always happy to share information when I can!
Cheers
Domenica

Thanks to all of you and the other support the Windermere Foundation has received so far this year, we have disbursed nearly $185,000 to qualifying social service organizations dedicated to serving low-income and homeless families throughout the Western U.S.  My fellow agents, staff and owners, along with public supporters like you, continue to contribute generously to the Foundation, making these disbursements possible.

Christina Wood at the Windermere Foundation would like to share a few stories of how your support is truly making a difference in the lives of those they serve…

Via: WINDERMERE FOUNDATION QUARTERLY REPORT

Cheers and Happy Spring (FINALLY!)…
Domenica

The index is based on asking prices for rental units and homes for sale on the company’s website between Dec. 1, 2011, and Feb. 29.

“As rents rise and prices stagnate, homeownership is becoming even more affordable, but rising rents create a dilemma for people who can’t afford to buy yet,” says Jed Kolko, Trulia’s chief economist. “Rising rents make it harder for people to save for a down payment, which is the biggest barrier to buying a home that aspiring homeowners face.”

Homeowners are choosing, or being forced, to rent rather than buy even though the latter is cheaper in key markets Trulia reviewed.

But as they turn to renting, the influx of demand squeezes the nation’s rental supply, pushing monthly rents higher.

The nation’s median rent stands at $712 per month — well above the average monthly mortgage cost of $647, Paul Dales, senior economist at Capital Economics, recently found. He estimated decreased vacancies in the home-rental market will push average rental rates up as much as 5% by early 2013, compared to 2.4% in January.

via Buying cheaper than renting in nearly 100 major U.S. markets: Trulia | HousingWire Click here to read full article.

Domenica

A real estate agent telling you to buy a house is like a car salesman telling you it’s time for a trade-in right?

If you know me at all you know that I work very hard to give people advice that fits their individual situation and best interest. This advice is often NOT to buy or sell depending on the conditions of the market and their objectives.

This remains the same despite market trends. However, when the people that predicted the
housing “bubble” begin telling us that it’s now time to buy, I start listening…

John R. Talbott is a bestselling author and economic consultant.
When housing prices started to skyrocket in 2003, he published The Coming Crash in the Housing Market, correctly warning us that a real estate bubble was forming. Then in January 2006, he called the absolute peak of home prices in the US by releasing a new book, Sell Now! The End of the Housing Bubble.

Well, in a recent article, Homes – Buy Now! , Talbott simply explains:

“I have been waiting for more than five years to offer this advice. It is now time in most cities across the country to buy a new home or refinance your existing home with thirty-year fixed rate mortgage debt.”

So if you have been curious about buying a home but not sure the timing is right I can tell you that the market says it is.  Whether it’s right for you, well that’s something I can help you determine.  Give me a call to discuss your options.

Domenica