As usual, you should check out Looney Listing for similar content throughout the month from across the USA.

The idea for this series stems from the ongoing forum thread Detrimental Listing Photos. If you’ve got a nomination for a listing photo that should appear here, drop me a line.

No particular theme this month. Just enjoy a collection of odd listing photos submitted by readers and found by yours truly.

Enough explanation. Let’s get to the photos! Click the photo to view the Real Actual Listing.

“Nice Home in a great location & neighborhood”

Not that we’re going to show you any of that. All you get to see is this one blurry photo.

“Views of Mountain and Puget Sound possible if a second floor was added.”

I can’t believe they didn’t mention this awesome basement “bedroom” in the description.

“Enjoy sunny summer days on the deck.”

Enjoy dark winter days on the toilet.

“This would make a large owner occupant home with a business or a great investment.”

His and hers toilets? That’s an… interesting “feature.”

“Expansive and bright home”

Bonus “feature”: Kitchen doubles as the laundry room, apparently! Found by Peter.

“Great home for a first time home buyer or investment property. .!”

I just love it when the sellers can’t even be bothered to undertake the bare minimum amount of cleaning. Really? You couldn’t even clear the dining table?

Let me know if you have an idea for a future “Real Actual Listing Photos” theme, and be sure to check out Looney Listing for listing photo amusement throughout the month.

The post Real Actual Listing Photos: Interesting “Features” Edition appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

With two full years of home ownership/debtorship now behind me as of today, it’s time to share some more highlights, stats, and thoughts from year two.

First up, the financial highlights from the first two years:

• Initial Loan Amount: $179,950
• Current Loan Amount: $160,700
• Total Spent in Year One: $24,294
  • Principal Paid: $8,907
  • Interest Paid: $8,357
  • Insurance Paid: $596
  • Property Tax Paid: $3,022
  • Repairs: $308
  • Improvements: $636
  • Appliances: $2,468
• Total Spent in Year Two: $34,788
  • Principal Paid: $10,343
  • Interest Paid: $4,333
  • Insurance Paid: $638
  • Property Tax Paid: $2,638
  • Repairs: $8,820
  • Improvements: $8,016

Thanks to some major repair and improvement work, our monthly costs increased from $2,025 a month in year one to $2,899 in year two. If you back out the $10,343 we paid down on the mortgage, the monthly “down the drain” expense drops to $2,037.

You may notice that the balance between how much principal and interest was paid on our mortgage changed dramatically between year one and year two. That’s thanks to a refinance we did last June at the prompting of a number of readers in the comments on the the year one recap post. We refinanced from a 30-year fixed at 4.75% to a 15-year fixed at 3.125%. Our monthly PITI payment went from $1,253 to $1,478, but since we were paying $1,750 a month to put some extra toward principal every month, what we actually pay didn’t change.

Back to that repair and improvement work. Most of the repair expense was incurred replacing 38 feet of crumbling concrete sewer pipe with a new PVC sewer line. Thankfully, it was an expense we had planned for ahead of time since the sewer scope inspection we had done when we bought the house brought the impending failure to our attention before we even closed on the home.

On the improvements front, we spent about $2,000 to have a backflow prevention valve added when they replaced the sewer line (to prevent this from happening to us). We also had a heat pump installed along with some duct work and a new Nest thermostat, on which we’ve paid $5,500 so far (we financed a few thousand dollars of that work, which we’ll pay over the next year). Other improvements include some new exterior lighting and electronic locks.

As I’ve mentioned numerous times before, we plan to pay off this home and keep it indefinitely, so I still don’t care what it’s “worth” right now. That said, if you’re keeping score at home, Zillow’s current black-box computer-generated guess of my home’s value is $225,122 — about three percent more than what they said a year ago and almost exactly what we paid in 2011. On a related note, a home on our block was listed last month that is 35% smaller than ours and sits on a 20% smaller lot. The asking price was the same price we paid for our home, and it went pending within two days of hitting the market. The current market is officialy nuts.

I still receive instant Redfin listing alerts, and I still haven’t seen any homes come on the market in our price range that I wish I could have bought instead. At the rate that we’ve been paying down our 30-year mortgage, we’ll have it completely paid off by March 2024, a little less than 13 years after we purchased the home.

Is there anything else you would like to know about our second year? Let me know in the comments.

The post Knife-Catcher: Year Two Recap of Tim’s Home Purchase appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

The following is taken directly from their follow-up email.

Here are my notes from choosing a property management firm.

Notes from before conducting interviews:

• Windermere Property Management
  • Terrible reviews online
  • Bad review by Seattle Bubble reader
• Acer NW
  • Mentioned by Seattle Bubble reader as very bad
• Apple Property Management
  • Recommended by Seattle Bubble reader
  • Found some concerning reviews online.
• Larissa at North Pacific Properties
  • Recommended by Seattle Bubble reader
  • No response to my email inquiry
• Dave Poletti & Associates
  • Found by internet search
  • Discounted fee structure (8% vs industry standard 10%)
  • Extra liability insurance requirements
  • Good reviews online
  • Charges for advertising during vacancies, which strikes me as a very bad incentive structure. (It makes vacancies less painful for them)
  • Not invited for in-person interview due to the above concern
• Real Property Associates
  • Found by searching for rental properties to see who manages them
  • Impressively large portfolio on website
  • Excellent reviews from property owners
  • Terrible reviews from tenants
  • Somewhat disorganized in early emails, but very friendly and persistent
  • Invited for in-person interview
• Sterling Johnston Associates
  • Recommended by personal friend
  • Mixed reviews from property owners
  • Invited for in-person interview on account of friend’s recommendation
• Brink Property Management
  • Found by searching for rental properties to see who manages them
  • Excellent reviews from property owners
  • Mixed reviews from tenants
  • Higher fees (extra 3% of year’s rent collected at lease renewals), but this gives them an incentive to keep tenants in place
  • Invited for in-person interview

Notes from in-person interviews of Real Property Associates, Sterling Johnston Associates, and Brink Property Management:

• Representatives who came to our house:
  • RPA: Mike and Kathy
  • SJA: Millie
  • Brink: Marcia
  • All representatives were good, but Mike and Kathy made the best overall impression
• Rent estimates for our house:
  • RPA: $1,495, and drop from there as needed
  • SJA: $1,350 to $1,450
  • Brink: $1,350 to $1,400, maybe start at $1,450
• Screening of tenants:
  • All utilize 3rd party services to perform background checks, rental histories, etc.
  • RPA: “70% intuition”, some allowances for black marks on history.
  • SJA: Some allowances for black marks
  • Brink: Very strict. Follows recommendation of 3rd party with no allowances
• Walkthoughs:
  • RPA: Only one walkthrough(!) at 12 months after new tenant moves in. More by request.
  • SJA: Every six months
  • Brink: Every six months. More than that costs $50 each.
• Number of properties managed:
  • RPA: ~1,000
  • SJA: ~500
  • Brink: ~800
• Additional notes:
  • RPA: Possibly the least picky about tenants
  • SJA: “We don’t nickel-and-dime you with fees.”
  • Brink: Lots of additional fees noted. Of high concern was the 10% fee on repairs, which is NOT a good incentive to keep repair costs down
  • All had similar requirements to keep ~$300 on hand for minor repairs
  • All took half of first month’s rent
  • All had similar policies in regards to cleaning deposits, pet deposits, security deposits, etc, with some minor variations

We ended up choosing Real Property Associates. We eliminated Brink based on our concerns with the fee structure. Real Property Associates and Sterling Johnston Associates both made a very good impression in person, and that made the choice between them difficult. Finally, we did another survey of the online reviews and chose Real Property Associates based on their excellent reviews from property owners.

Note that our house has been zoned for 4-5 story apartments with shops on the bottom. We are within spitting distance of the Mountlake Terrace park-and-ride, so we are highly motivated to hold onto the land for when a developer comes along someday. Obviously we still want to keep the house in good shape, but the next owner will probably bulldoze it.

The post Follow-Up: Seattle Area Property Management Companies appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Please note: These posts should not be construed to be an advertisement or endorsement of any specific home for sale. We are merely taking a brief snapshot of the market at a given time. Also, just because a home makes it onto the “cheapest” list, that does not indicate that it is a good value.

Here are this month’s three cheapest single-family homes in the city limits of Seattle (according to Redfin):

Only one of last month’s homes has gone pending. The third-cheapest home from last month is still on the market but has been pushed off the list.

Stats snapshot for Seattle Single-Family Homes Under $200,000 (excluding short sales)
Total on market: 15
Average number of beds: 2.3
Average number of baths: 1.2
Average square footage: 1,282
Average days on market: 120

Couple more homes on the market than last month, and a huge spike in days on market. Apparently most of what’s left on the market after the big drop in inventory over the last few months is the stale homes that buyers just aren’t interested in even at rock-bottom prices.

Here are a couple of charts to give you a visual of the trend of these numbers since I adjusted the methodology in April 2010:

Here are cheapest homes in Seattle that actually sold in the last month, regardless of condition (since most off-market homes don’t have much info available on their condition).

The post Cheapest Homes: May 2013 Edition appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Don’t forget to check out Looney Listingthroughout the month for similar amusing listing photos from all around the country.

The idea for this series stems from the ongoing forum thread Detrimental Listing Photos, which is where you should post your nominations for next month’s Real Actual Listing Photos post.

No particular theme this month. Just enjoy a collection of odd listing photos submitted by readers and found by yours truly.

Enough explanation. Let’s get to the photos! Click the photo to view the Real Actual Listing.

“Property is located just far enough away from 145th and Lake City Way to make it a desirable project.”

And also just far enough away to make the listing agent run out of time to actually get out of his car to take any photos of the home. Spotted by Aaron W.

“Legal duplex updated w/ new kitchens, plumbing, wiring.”

Neat! I’ve always wanted a glowing, radioactive dining room.

“Location ideal for: home care, students attending nearby schools, first time buyers or investors.”

It’s hard to tell on the small photo, but there appears to be a power cord running from beneath the bed to under the mattress. Um. What. Also: nice hat.

“Classical early 1900 Farm House with large level lot in the town of Silvana famous for “Silvana Meats” just up the road!”

The shot above is what the home looks like after you’ve eaten some famous “Silvana Meats” that have been sitting out way too long.

“Don’t miss this diamond in the rough.”

Guess who couldn’t figure out how to turn off the time/date stamp on their camera? No problem, just fix it in MS Paint!

“…custom tile bathroom and Playhouse’s signature modern kitchen tile backsplash & custom cabinetry.”

Okay this one is a dupe from Looney Listing, but it was too good not to share here. Can’t say I’ve ever seen a dinner table staged with rubber chickens before.

Let me know if you have an idea for a future “Real Actual Listing Photos” theme, and be sure to check out Looney Listing for listing photo amusement throughout the month.

The post Real Actual Listing Photos: Driveby, Radioactive, Timestamp appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Talk about the upside of the bubble in terms of neighbor quality

I really enjoyed one aspect of Seattle’s bubble. I loved the “rising tide” effect that seemed to be transforming my neighborhood. Hard to quantify. More of a qualitative discussion.

I really enjoyed newer buyers who invested in their homes and yards, doing long-overdue maintenance and painting, as well as some remodels and improvements, bumping out some long-term neighbors who were letting their paint peel off, let their yards go, parked jalopies on the street, burned trash in their fireplaces to save a buck, etc.

Not trying to be judgmental, but I do miss that dynamic, that feeling that the neighborhood was on the “up and up”.

It’s an interesting observation that is similar to my post from last week: Foreclosures Benefit a Neighborhood, Not Hurt It, only from the pre-bust perspective.

While many neighborhoods no doubt felt like they were improving during the bubble, the problem was that most of the “wealth” that was fueling these improvements was illusory. Rising equity was being immediately converted into debt and spent on things like “long-overdue maintenance and painting, as well as some remodels and improvements,” in addition to expensive cars, vacations, and other creature comforts.

I’m reminded of Douglas Adams’ flying party, which I posted about a few times before the bubble burst and the economy collapsed, taking with it all of that imaginary wealth.

The longest and most destructive party ever held is now into its fourth generation, and still no one shows any signs of leaving.
…
The problem of when the drink is going to run out is, however, going to have to be faced one day.

Sure, it would have been a blast if the party could have gone on forever. But it couldn’t, and it didn’t.

I’m interested to hear your take on this reader’s comment. Were there positive aspects of the housing bubble that could somehow be brought back without the all of the unsustainable economy-destroying side effects that came along for the ride last time?

The post Reader Question: What About the Upside of the Bubble? appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

’07 home prices not so bad after all

With all the dismal national news about home sales, wasn’t 2007 supposed to be the year the local real-estate market died?

Well, surprise. Although home sales indeed were down 14.5 percent in King County and the number of for-sale homes was up almost 9 percent, prices more than held their own.

Compared with 2006, the county’s single-family home prices climbed 7.1 percent last year, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service’s annual report released Tuesday.

Surprise. Prices continued to fall unabated for the next four years.

Except it wasn’t a surprise if you actually bothered to look at the 2007 data with a critical eye, as I pointed out in my post at the time:

Anyone who has actually been paying attention to the market knows that something is fishy about that 7.1% figure. To figure out what’s behind that number, take a look at page 19 of the report. Basically, they arrive at that figure by comparing the median price for all sales in 2007 with the same figure for 2006. In a market that is consistently and steadily headed in a single direction, that kind of comparison would make sense. However, in today’s volatile market, such a statistic is totally meaningless.

Thankfully today’s real estate reporting Seattle Times is a thousand times better than the cheerleading, PR-rehashing junk that they published during the bubble, but it’s a good reminder to take everything you read (including posts here on Seattle Bubble) with a grain of salt. Look at the data yourself and draw your own conclusions.

The post Friday Flashback: “Prices more than held their own.” appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Be sure to enter your real email address into the form when you leave your guess in the comments, because the winner gets a $25 gift card to the restaurant chain of their choosing. Don’t worry, I’m the only one that can see the emails that are entered. The winner is the person whose guess is closest to the final sale price, above or below. If there is a tie, whoever guessed closer to the correct closing date will be declared the winner.

Contest closes to entries at midnight the morning of April 22nd, or when the home goes pending, whichever comes first. Note that last time the home went pending just a few hours after the contest opened, so get your guesses in early!

Today’s “Guess the Price” guest star is 4214 Midvale Ave N in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood.

This round’s home hit the market yesterday with an asking price of $415,000. This is not the first time it has been for sale in the last few years—it was originally listed in September 2011, had a couple of price drops, and was delisted in December 2011. The market today is quite a bit different than it was in late 2011, so I suspect they’ll have better luck this time. There is an open house scheduled for this coming Sunday for those of you who would like to go check it out in person.

The home is neither bank-owned nor a short sale, and it’s not a flip. In fact, the last sale was long enough ago that it doesn’t even show up in King County’s online records (which go back through sometime in the early 1980s). It sits in the northeast corner of Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood, where the median price of single-family homes sold in March was $492,000. Here’s an excerpt from the listing agent’s description:

Sweet location and charm galore. Bring your paintbrushes and roll up your sleeves-this home is ready to shine.

Built in 1923, this 1-story home (with basement) sports 3 bedrooms, one full bathroom, and one three-quarter bathroom. The main floor has one bedroom, the other two are in the basement. The three-quarter bathroom is also in the basement. According to the King County Department of Assessments, 860 of the home’s square feet are above ground, with an additional 760 in the finished basement.

The exterior of the home appears to be in decent condition, though there appears to be some wear on the front porch steps. The yard is small, but well-kept. Off the rear of the home there is a good sized deck, but it’s not covered and the wood does look somewhat weathered. There’s also a small storage shed in the back yard. The listing claims there is “off-street parking,” but there is no garage, and no driveway is apparent in any of the photos or Google’s satellite view.

Inside, the paint job looks somewhat new. The wood trim that surrounds most of the windows and doors also appears to be painted. The hardwood floors appear to be in good condition, but the linoleum in the kitchen is a somewhat dated pattern. Heating appears to be provided by both a central forced-air system and supplemental baseboard heating evident in many of the rooms.

The kitchen is a simple, narrow, single-counter layout, with tiled countertops. Cabinet space appears to be somewhat limited, and there does not seem to be a dishwasher. The dining space is at one end of the kitchen, and is currently staged with a small two-person table. It looks like fitting a table much larger than that would be difficult.

The main floor sports a wood stove. The basement appears to have slightly short, but adequate ceilings. Windows throughout the basement let in a decent amount of light.

Overall, this home looks like it has been decently maintained throughout the years, although there are not many modern updates (e.g. appliances, kitchen cabinets, heating, etc.). The asking price is slightly lower than what other similar nearby homes have been selling for, so they may be looking for a quick sale. There are just 5 houses for sale in all of Fremont right now), so chances are they’ll get their wish.

Summary of 4214 Midvale Ave N

• Pros
  • desireable location
  • reasonably well-kept
  • nicely manicured lot
  • garden shed
  • large deck
  • not on a busy street
• Cons
  • no garage or driveway
  • kitchen and dining room are small
  • dated kitchen, no dishwasher
  • limited counter space
  • short ceilings in basement
  • baseboard heating throughout

So, what say you? How much will this home sell for, and when will it sell?

The post Guess the Price Round 6: “Ready to Shine” in Fremont appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Today’s “Guess the Price” guest star is 304 NW 74th Street in Seattle’s Phinney Ridge neighborhood.

This round’s home hit the market yesterday with an asking price of $439,950. This is not the first time it has been for sale recently—it was originally listed on October 2, went pending on October 9, but was delisted on October 12. It was relisted on October 29, had a price drop on November 12, went pending again on November 17, but was delisted again on November 28.

Just 11 people managed to get in guesses in the less than 5 hours between when the contest posted and when the home went pending. Guesses ranged from $418,000 to $495,000. The average price guessed was $452,177, and the median guess was $450,000. Here’s the plot of all the guesses, with the final close price & date marked in green:

According to the NWMLS, the home sold on March 29 (just four weeks after listing), with a closing price of $440,000—which was exactly what was guessed by commenter Beau. Congratulations! I’ve contacted Beau and we’re making arrangements for his prize.

The final sale price came in dead on the original asking price, and pretty much right at what it last sold for in March 2006.

Here’s the difference between the average guess and the final sale price our contests so far:

1. -2.2%
2. +5.5%
3. -10.5%
4. +10.0%
5. +2.8%

Stay tuned in the next few weeks, when we’ll kick off another round of Guess the Price.

The post Guess the Price Round 5: We Have a Winner! appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Please note: These posts should not be construed to be an advertisement or endorsement of any specific home for sale. We are merely taking a brief snapshot of the market at a given time. Also, just because a home makes it onto the “cheapest” list, that does not indicate that it is a good value.

Here are this month’s three cheapest single-family homes in the city limits of Seattle (according to Redfin):

Number two this month was number one last month. The other two homes from last month are both currently pending. This month’s number one cracks me up. Just 360 square feet. Zero bedrooms. From the listing description:

well i may be tres petite but i am very cute The Littlest Cottage in Seattle, promise you absolute peace & quiet, 100% privacy, blissful views of nothing.

Nice.

Stats snapshot for Seattle Single-Family Homes Under $200,000 (excluding short sales)
Total on market: 13
Average number of beds: 2.2
Average number of baths: 1.1
Average square footage: 1,083
Average days on market: 54

Huge drop in inventory, nearly cut in half. Beds, baths, and square footage all dropped as well. Days on market cut by nearly a month. The market for cheap homes in Seattle has suddenly gotten very tight.

Here are a couple of charts to give you a visual of the trend of these numbers since I adjusted the methodology in April 2010:

Here are cheapest homes in Seattle that actually sold in the last month, regardless of condition (since most off-market homes don’t have much info available on their condition).

The post Cheapest Homes: April 2013 Edition appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

After living in the Midwest for 40 years, it is time for a change. I have a close friend in Issaquah, and I’m selling all of my possessions – save my two loyal dogs – and fixin’ to load up Old Bessie sometime this summer to start over in Seattle. I imagine I’m hardly unique in this way, but I’m committed to moving on with my life and have chosen the Seattle area as my destination.

Seattle Neighborhoods poster by Ork Posters

I’m looking for any neighborhood guides and relocation information that I can find. I’m looking more for general Seattle neighborhood information than what units are available for immediate move-in.

Thank you in advance for any assistance you can throw my way!

We don’t tend to get much into individual neighborhoods here, although in the past I have published some local-level stats occasionally. I’d say that a good place to start if you’re looking to get a feel for the neighborhoods around Seattle would be the local news sites in the Seattle Times News Partner Network (of which Seattle Bubble is also a member).

The Seattle area has more active neighborhood blogs than almost any other area in the country. Spend a little time reading them and you’ll easily get a feel for what each neighborhood is like.

One thing I recommend not wasting your time with is asking people on generic Seattle-area internet forums for advice about which neighborhood is the “best.” Unless of course you’re just looking for a list of basically all Seattle neighborhoods.

The important thing is in addition to spending some time researching before you get here, to not rush into buying a home as soon as you arrive. Once you’ve located a neighborhood that sounds good, find a rental and try it on for a while. Get to know the area before diving into home ownership.

What’s your advice for learning about Seattle neighborhoods?

The post Reader Question: Finding info on Seattle neighborhoods? appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Here’s another reminder for those of you who enjoy this series to avail yourselves of the revelry over at Looney Listing, with similar content updated throughout the month, from all around the country.

The idea for this series stems from the ongoing forum thread Detrimental Listing Photos, which is where you should post your nominations for next month’s Real Actual Listing Photos post.

This month doesn’t have any particular theme. Just enjoy a collection of odd listing photos submitted by readers and found by yours truly.

Enough explanation. Let’s get to the photos! Click the photo to view the Real Actual Listing.

“non-conforming bedroom plus multi-use room in basement”

One of the multiple uses: stacking random luggage to the ceiling!

“This spacious condominium has a stellar view of the Space Needle, Lake Union, Olympics and downtown Seattle.”

Hmm. In my book a view that’s 50% freeway doesn’t quite count as a “stellar” view of anything other than the freeway…

“Bring your hammer & paintbrush…”

…and your fingers…

“…daylight basement also has kitchenette & Family Rm.”

“Kitchenette.” Ri-iiight.

“lush, private and quiet setting”

What I really like about this photo is how it conveys the feeling that you’re sneaking up on the residents inside during a nice quiet family dinner.

“Den/office or guest room on main floor. Butler’s plus walk-in pantry!”

So the decor suggests frequent now-legal activities taking place throughout this home. Then you notice the random kids’ toys scattered everywhere. Hmm.

Let me know if you have an idea for a future “Real Actual Listing Photos” theme, and be sure to check out Looney Listing for listing photo amusement throughout the month.

The post Real Actual Listing Photos: Best Kitchenette Ever appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Redfin released February housing market data last week, so let’s take a look at the rate at which new listings are going under contract in two weeks or less in the Seattle area, compared to San Francisco and the national rate:

I was concerned when this number shot up to over 36% back in October. 46% is just crazy. We’re just two months behind San Francisco.

Here’s a plot of this metric next to total inventory for the Seattle area:

In November I said:

If inventory doesn’t pick up early next year I could easily see the percentage of new listings that go pendong in two weeks or less moving up over 50% in Seattle, which would definitely not be a fun market for buyers.

Unfortunately it is looking more and more likely that I am going to be right.

The post Nearly Half of New Listings Pending in Two Weeks appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Please note: These posts should not be construed to be an advertisement or endorsement of any specific home for sale. We are merely taking a brief snapshot of the market at a given time. Also, just because a home makes it onto the “cheapest” list, that does not indicate that it is a good value.

Here are this month’s three cheapest single-family homes in the city limits of Seattle (according to Redfin):

These are some of the most expensive “cheapest homes” I’ve seen in Seattle since I started this series. Especially the price per square foot on those first two—yikes!

Stats snapshot for Seattle Single-Family Homes Under $200,000 (excluding short sales)
Total on market: 23
Average number of beds: 2.4
Average number of baths: 1.3
Average square footage: 1,260
Average days on market: 82

Inventory fell to a new low since I began tracking this data in April 2010. Beds, baths, and square footage are all relatively flat, while days on market was up from February but down from January.

Here are a couple of charts to give you a visual of the trend of these numbers since I adjusted the methodology in April 2010:

Here are cheapest homes in Seattle that actually sold in the last month, regardless of condition (since most off-market homes don’t have much info available on their condition).

The post Cheapest Homes: March 2013 Edition appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

I’ve been able to save up a sizeable down payment to buy a bigger home, and rather than selling my current home I plan to rent it out. Since I have no interest in being a landlord and will happily pay someone else to deal with those issues for me, that means I’m in the market for a good property management company.

Do you know anything about the reputations of local property management companies? My own research tells me that Windermere sucks, and all the others are mean to tenants but generally good for landlords.

Unfortunately I don’t have any experience yet with renting out a home, so I have no basis to make recommendations on property management companies. However, there’s a good chance that some of the readers here do, so I’d like to open the question to you: What property management companies have you had experiences with, good or bad? Is there one that you would particularly recommend?

The post Reader Question: Best Property Management Companies? appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Be sure to enter your real email address into the form when you leave your guess in the comments, because the winner gets a $25 gift card to the restaurant chain of their choosing. Don’t worry, I’m the only one that can see the emails that are entered. The winner is the person whose guess is closest to the final sale price, above or below. If there is a tie, whoever guessed closer to the correct closing date will be declared the winner. Contest closes to entries at midnight the morning of March 17th, or when the home goes pending, whichever comes first.

Today’s “Guess the Price” guest star is 304 NW 74th Street in Seattle’s Phinney Ridge neighborhood.

This round’s home hit the market yesterday with an asking price of $439,950. This is not the first time it has been for sale recently—it was originally listed on October 2, went pending on October 9, but was delisted on October 12. It was relisted on October 29, had a price drop on November 12, went pending again on November 17, but was delisted again on November 28.

The home is neither bank-owned nor a short sale. It is positioned in the northern portion of Seattle’s Phinney Ridge neighborhood, where the median price of single-family homes sold in January was $456,000.

Built in 1912, this 1.5-story home (with basement) sports 5 bedrooms, two full bathrooms, and one three-quarter bathroom. The main floor and the basement each have two bedrooms, while the upper floor has the master suite. The three-quarter bathroom is in the basement. 2,070 of the home’s square feet are above ground, with an additional 540 in the basement.

The exterior of the home looks to have been painted relatively recently. The yard seems reasonably well-manicured. Off the alley in the back there is a small “detached storage shed/small garage” that looks like it would fit one car.

Inside, the paint job looks somewhat new, with simple beige walls and white trim throughout most of the home. The hardwood floors on the main level appear to be in good condition, as does the carpet on the second level. According to a Redfin Tour Insight, the second story is a “converted attic space.” The listing describes it as a “top floor master with office and ensuite bath,” and from the photos you can see that the ceiling height is somewhat short.

The kitchen is relatively plain, with tiled countertops and somewhat dated cabinets. The appliances look decent, though not very fancy, and the dishwasher appears to be rather small. Counter space is also limited.

There’s little yard to speak of on the 3,000 square foot lot, with just a small patch of grass in the front and the back mostly taken up with paved parking for two or three cars.

The basement sports the home’s only fireplace and a second kitchen all in one open room. From the photograph at left, the three-quarter bathroom appears to be somewhat awkwardly located, up half a flight of stairs.

Overall, this home looks like it has been nicely maintained and updated throughout the years. It appears to be priced well for its location, size, and condition, although one does wonder why it has fallen out of pending twice recently. With the ongoing inventory shortage this year (there are just 8 houses for sale in all of Phinney Ridge right now), now may be the time for the sellers of this home to finally close the deal.

Summary of 304 NW 74th St.

• Pros
  • desireable location
  • nicely updated historic home
  • off-street parking
  • detached garage / shed
  • tall ceilings on main level
• Cons
  • dated kitchen, small dishwasher
  • limited counter space
  • short ceilings upstairs
  • basement is “non-conforming” (i.e. no egress)

So, what say you? How much will this home sell for, and when will it sell?

[Update - 2013/03/01 @ 4:00 PM]
This contest is already closed to entries, as the home went pending just 10 minutes ago!

The post Guess the Price Round 5: 101 Years Old in Phinney Ridge appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

It’s time for another installment of Real Actual Listing Photos. Once a month (or so) I round up some of the most bizarre listing photos from around the Seattle area and post them here, with brief excerpts from the real actual listing description, and probably a bit of snarky commentary.

The idea for this series stems from the ongoing forum thread Detrimental Listing Photos, which is where you should post your nominations for next month’s Real Actual Listing Photos post.

This month doesn’t have any particular theme. Just enjoy a collection of odd listing photos submitted by readers and found by yours truly.

Enough explanation. Let’s get to the photos! Click the photo to view the Real Actual Listing.

“Easy means of transportation.”

So… the SUV that’s featured prominently in three of the first four listing photos is included, then? Thanks to Joe for submitting this one!

“…a nice solid home, barn, storage shed and all new equipment included even ladders!”

And in case you don’t believe them about the ladders, there’s a great photo of those, too.

“…this well cared for home is perfect for a single person or a growing family.”

It’s hard to read but this photo and two others in the series show little cards on the beds that read “Please do not sit on the bed. Thank you.” Makes perfect sense to leave those up for the photo shoot…

“As you can see by the photos, this Home needs work and it is a Short Sale Home.”

Nah. The garage is perfect. I especially love the leaning file cabinet that looks like it might be sinking into the floor.

“The house features include new carpet, nice view from living room…”

Who doesn’t love to pump a little iron next to the fire after a long hard day at work? They’re apparently really proud of this particular shot, given that they included it in the listing twice.

“Step into an inviting, spacious home that has been lovingly restored to a “Like New” condition.”

Okay if I stepped into a bedroom and saw a teddy bear just sitting there alone in the room on a rocking chair, with no other furniture, staring at me… I would be a little creeped out.

Let me know if you have an idea for a future “Real Actual Listing Photos” theme, and be sure to check out Looney Listing for listing photo amusement throughout the month.

The post Real Actual Listing Photos: Wheels, Weights, & Weird Bear appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Today’s “Guess the Price” guest star is likely to be familiar to many of you… because it was the star of our very first Guess the Price contest just a year and a half ago. That’s right, barely over a year after finally selling for $290,000, 3215 Kromer Ave in Everett is back on the market. According to an agent friend of mine (not a Redfin coworker), last year’s buyers are being “forced” to sell due to a job transfer.

This time around we’re starting with an asking price of $334,900.

We had 18 guesses in the contest before it closed, with prices ranging from $250,000 to $338,001. The average price guessed was $313,433, and the median guess was $316,500. Here’s the plot of all the guesses, with the final close price & date marked in green:

According to the NWMLS, the home sold yesterday (after a total of 216 days on market), with a closing price of $285,000—just $5,000 below the price guessed by commenter nize. Congratulations! I’ll be contacting nize privately to arrange receipt of his prize.

The final sale price came in 15% lower than the original asking price, and 1.7% lower than what this house sold for in May 2011.

Here’s the difference between the average guess and the final sale price our contests so far:

1. -2.2%
2. +5.5%
3. -10.5%
4. +10.0%

Stay tuned in the next few weeks, when we’ll kick off another round of Guess the Price.

The post Guess the Price Round 4: We Have a Winner! appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

To Whom It May Concern:

For Sale Sign?

I am writing to inquire simply about your home. My wife and children and I have been scouring area since last summer and trying to buy a home in the neighborhood to no avail. I’m at the point of trying to go direct now to homeowners and thought this less intrusive than literally knocking on your door, so I hope this isn’t too forward.

We recently lost an offer on a home nearby but aren’t deterred, just trying this approach directly now. We have cash to buy, I’m familiar with real estate transactions (I am in a related industry), and we can pay market value – we just want the chance to deal prior to agents getting involved with the hassles and costs associated with them and marketing etc. This saves everyone money and we aren’t worried about ones that are in need of repairs (in fact prefer those) so we can customize a bit to our family’s needs. We look at anything!

If you or anyone you know may be considering selling for whatever reasons please pass my name along or save this for if/when you are considering as we are patient. I’d love a chance to discuss options so please call me.

Thanks so much for your time and consideration and feel free to call or email me anytime!

Presumably every homeowner in his neighborhood received the same cold call letter in the mail.

With inventory at an all-time low and the number of new listings still down from a year ago, it’s not surprising to see buyers getting creative like this.

Has anyone here had experience with a “cold call” letter like this, on either the buying or selling side? Do they ever work? I’d love to hear your stories.

The post Seattle Buyer Attempts Cold Call Letter to Find a House appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Q: Given where the market is today compared with a couple of years ago, what would your advice be for sellers and buyers now that the market has slowed down a bit?

A: Right up front, this is a great time to buy. Interest rates are historically low; we have a great inventory of homes. As a buyer, what more can you ask for?

What more could you have asked for? Oh, I don’t know… How about way cheaper homes?

Say… people who waited four years after Bill Hutchinson’s “great time to buy” got not only homes that were around 25% cheaper but also interest rates that were two whole points lower!

Here’s how I responded to this drivel at the time.

The post Friday Flashback: “What more can you ask for?” appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

A reader wrote in with the following question about real estate agent commissions:

In the near future my wife and I are going to need to sell our respective homes and then buy a new home. This means a lot of money exchanging hands with these 3 upcoming home sales/purchase. This also means a nice piece of commission for whoever we choose as our real estate agent.

A friend recommended we ask our prospective agent to give us a break on their commission and only take 2% in stead of the customary 3%. This may amount up to $15k in savings for my wife and I, which is very appealing. My question then, is this common practice, for an agent to give a break on their commission to secure business?

While there are certainly agents out there who are willing to do that sort of thing, if you’re interested in saving money, why not just use a brokerage that offers a discounted price up front?

Here in the Seattle area there are lots of options:

• Redfin – up to 50% commission rebate on the sell side and the buy side
• WaLaw – Flat fee buy and sell side service, big rebates, plus legal council
• 500 Realty – Flat fee sell side, up to 75% commission rebate on the buy side
• Findwell – Up to 50% commission rebate on the sell side, up to 33% on the buy side.

If you already have an agent that you are comfortable working with and would just really like to stick with them, go ahead and ask, but be prepared for them to take offense. Some “traditional” agents are more than happy to negotiate the price of their services, but others find even the suggestion to be appalling. It’s really hit and miss.

The post Reader Question: Can I Negotiate a Commission Discount? appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

We just found a home we really like, but they accepted another offer literately hours before ours was submitted. We like this place enough that we’ve put in a backup offer. In the meantime, we’re still looking for another place.

My question is this, what kind of (low) odds are associated with non-short sale backup offers being accepted? I can’t find any statistics or even approximations on how often backup offers go though. I know the MLS data doesn’t keep track of backup offers. I though it might be possible to get at this by doing something like interviewing a number of agents to find out 1) How many backup offers they submitted 2) which ones were accepted. Then either apply this across the whole transaction base, or alternatively, try to develop a search which looked at what was common with the properties that were bough via a backup offer. Maybe something like non-standard pending times? I don’t know.

I haven’t had any personal experience with this, but I spent some time chatting about backup offers with my coworker Dave Billings, the Real Estate Operation Program Manager at Redfin. Dave is also a licenced broker and has done many deals himself. He estimates that “less than ten percent” of backup offers end up getting the home, but he did suggest a few things you could do that might have the potential to tilt the scales in your favor.

If you submit an offer that’s non-trivially higher than the offer that the seller has already accepted and you make it clear that you are serious about buying their house, that might give the seller an incentive not to make any concessions to the “primary” buyers (e.g. inspection issues, etc.), which might lead to those buyers choosing to back out of the deal.

If the seller is willing, you could even have your own inspection done while you are the backup offer. If you are willing to buy the home without any seller repairs, giving the seller that assurance on top of a higher price might make the seller even more interested in your offer, and less likely to play ball with the other buyers.

But in the end, it’s really in the primary buyer’s control at this point. If they really want the house, there’s nothing you’re going to be able to do. In this market, your best hope is probably just that the other buyer’s financing falls through, because they likely know as well as readers here do that there simply aren’t a lot of options out there to choose from today.

If you’re an agent or a buyer who has has some experience with submitting backup offers, we would love to hear from you in the comments.

The post Reader Question: Does my “backup offer” have any hope? appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

A while ago someone sent me a link to an interesting page over on the state’s Department of Licensing website: Disciplinary actions: Real estate brokers and managing brokers

Some of the tidbits contained within:

• Unprofessional conduct — Had judgments against him directly related to his real estate license and failed to report them to us within 20 days.
• Unprofessional conduct — Access to home given to buyers prior to closing of sale and some of seller’s personal property went missing.
• Unprofessional conduct — Forged designated broker’s signature and received commissions not paid through the firm.
• Unprofessional conduct — Convicted of Assault in the 2nd degree and didn’t report the conviction to us within 20 days.
• Unprofessional conduct —
  • Negligent in taking steps to determine true ownership of property listed for sale.
  • Acted outside of scope to remove person living in property.
  • Interfered with our investigation.
• Unprofessional conduct — Convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled Substances and Conspiracy to Engage in Money Laundering and Wire Fraud, and failed to report the indictment and verdict to us.
• Unprofessional conduct — Failed to notify us of 2 separate arrests and subsequent convictions for shoplifting, and false answers on application.

Before you make the decision to work with a real estate agent, it probably wouldn’t hurt to take a moment to look them up in the DOL’s license database to make sure they’re in good standing and that they haven’t had their license revoked in the past for shenanigans similar to those quoted above.

If you believe your agent has engaged in illegal “unprofessional conduct,” or you encounter someone acting as an agent without the proper licenses, be sure to report them to the DOL.

The post Washington State’s Database of Unprofessional Agents appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

It’s time for another installment of Real Actual Listing Photos. Once a month (or so) I round up some of the most bizarre listing photos from around the Seattle area and post them here, with brief excerpts from the real actual listing description, and probably a bit of snarky commentary.

The idea for this series stems from the ongoing forum thread Detrimental Listing Photos, which is where you should post your nominations for next month’s Real Actual Listing Photos post.

This month’s theme is door clichés. As I flip through local listings, there are many common themes I come across in the composition of listing photos. This post focuses on a couple of overused door themes.

Enough explanation. Let’s get to the photos! Click the photo to view the Real Actual Listing.

“Ultra-luxe … Travertine lavish … Juliet balcny … Décor espresso … Den watches Seattle.”

The “looking through partially open double doors” shot seems to be especially popular on high-end listings. The same is apparently true for over-the-top listing descriptions.

“All the spaces you need: 5 ensuites, 5.5 baths, bonus, family room, den, formal spaces, media, wine room, & grand Top-Chef kitchen.”

While the “open door” shot is often a shot of the front door, sometimes it’s inside, to emphasize that this is a house fancy enough to have double doors on the inside.
P.S. – (“Ensuites” is what stuffy rich people call their bedrooms, apparently)

“Traditional sophistication is alive & well in this home. Magnificent, timeless design is felt throughout the house, creating endless options for new owners to make this classically built property a home.”

Even fancier more sophisticated: double doors into your bathroom.

“This adorable charmer with street presence to spare features gas forced air, two bedrooms and a bath on each floor…”

Get on the porch and shoot your photo at an angle of 45° or less with the front door, and you’ve got the other common door cliché: “the front door angle shot.” Here’s a classic example.

“A truly magical little oasis, that is peaceful, private, sensible and accessible.”

This is probably the most extreme example I’ve found. I guess the smaller your angle with the front door, the more edgy you are. Heh, “edgy.”

“Investment opportunity in primo location.”

This listing proves that you don’t even really need to have a porch to pull off the front door angle shot. Just angle yourself up and go.

Let me know if you have an idea for a future “Real Actual Listing Photos” theme, and be sure to check out Looney Listing for listing photo amusement throughout the month.

The post Real Actual Listing Photos: Door Clichés appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

• 11/1989 – Sold for $66,000
• 08/2002 – Took out a home equity loan for $210,000
• 10/2007 – Took out a home equity loan for $466,500
• 01/2011 – Foreclosed for $165,000 at courthouse steps auction
• 08/2012 – Sold by bank for $75,000
• 01/2013 – Listed by new owner for rent at $1,100

Who in their right minds would ever agree to lend $466,500 on a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1,280 square foot home on a tiny 1,742 square foot lot in Everett? As it turns out, a company called “Financial Freedom Senior Funding Corporation” is who (what a delightfully Orwellian name). And guess what, they just so happened to be a subsidiary of Lehman Brothers.

I’ve seen a lot of insane stuff from the housing bubble in the years I’ve been running this site, but I’m fairly certain that a $466,500 loan on a home that was really only worth about $75,000 takes the cake, at least here in the Seattle area.

The post $75K Home Was Mortgaged for Nearly Half a Million in 2007 appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Please note: These posts should not be construed to be an advertisement or endorsement of any specific home for sale. We are merely taking a brief snapshot of the market at a given time. Also, just because a home makes it onto the “cheapest” list, that does not indicate that it is a good value.

Here are this month’s three cheapest single-family homes in the city limits of Seattle (according to Redfin):

One of the homes from last month sold, another is pending, and the third carried over to this month.

Stats snapshot for Seattle Single-Family Homes Under $200,000 (excluding short sales)
Total on market: 28
Average number of beds: 2.4
Average number of baths: 1.4
Average square footage: 1,238
Average days on market: 98

Inventory fell, but beds, baths, and square footage all rose. Days on market shot up over 20 days.

Here are a couple of charts to give you a visual of the trend of these numbers since I adjusted the methodology in April 2010:

Here are cheapest homes in Seattle that actually sold in the last month, regardless of condition (since most off-market homes don’t have much info available on their condition).

All three of these look like they are probably extreme fixers. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them all end up back on the market in a few months, listed for at least twice the December price.

The post Cheapest Homes: January 2013 Edition appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

The Future of Seattle… According to 1962 – The Seattle Times graciously released their entire 1962 World’s Fair souvenir edition paper as a pdf for anyone to download, and in addition to the general entertainment value, there were a few enjoyable real estate tidbits contained therein.

Avondale Albatross Finally Unloaded at 52% of ’07 Price – I started following this spec home near Redmond way back in June 2006—less than a year after I started this blog. It’s had a long, winding path, but hopefully the current owner will fare better than the 2007 buyer.

Seattle Population, Kids, & Ownership vs. Top 100 Cities – This one took a while to put together all of the data, and the results were an interesting way to look at the size of Seattle in a variety of different contexts.

Knife-Catcher: Year One Recap of Tim’s Home Purchase – It was nice to look back over the first year and share what I have learned. The discussion on this post actually spurred me to look into refinancing barely a year after we bought our home, which actually ended up saving us quite a bit of money. Interest rates are insane right now.

Advice From an 11-Year Veteran Landlord – In response to an earlier reader question asking for recommended reading for landlords, a landlord wrote in with a wealth of advice based on over a decade of his own experience. This is a great example of the reason that I still keep Seattle Bubble going after all these years.

Friday Flashback: "You will never see a major housing price crash here." – The whole Friday Flashback series is enjoyable, but Steve Tytler’s classic was especially fun thanks to his May 2007 invitation: “You can save this email and throw it back in my face 5 years from now if I am wrong, but I’ll bet you a beer that I’m right.” Heh.

Pro Tip: LeakFrog to the Rescue – Speaking of first-hand experience, this little green gadget caught a few minor water issues in our house before they had a chance to become major issues. Highly recommended.

Real Actual Listing Photos: What. The. Heck. – I love the entire series of Real Actual Listing Photos posts, but this one is my favorite of 2012, hands down. Ghost jogger, creepy dolls… This home has it all. On a related note, after being on the market off and on since July 2007, this home finally sold on December 17. Honorable mention in Real Actual Listing Photos goes to The Lonely Pianos.

False Advertising: Home Builder Renderings vs. Reality – Speaking of photos, it was amusing to see just how different the new homes in home builder advertisements are from what they actually build. There’s nothing quite like a good old fashioned bait and switch.

Buy vs. Rent: A Real Life Pre-Peak Example – Theories and assumptions can only get you so far. Once in a while it’s instructive to look at a real life scenario to put some hard numbers to the kinds of scenarios we regularly talk about on these pages.

Well, that wraps things up for my 2012 Top 10 lists. What were your favorite posts?

The post The Tim’s Top Ten of Twenty-Twelve appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

10. 3,016 pageviews, 02/19: Agree or disagree: 2013 will be a better time to buy a home than 2012.
9. 3,300 pageviews, 03/22: Real Actual Listing Photos: Shipwrecked Edition
8. 3,489 pageviews, 02/10: 2012: The Year of Crappy Housing Selection
7. 3,524 pageviews, 03/30: You win the Mega Millions. What house do you buy?
6. 4,639 pageviews, 03/09: Real Actual Listing Photos: What. The. Heck.
5. 4,726 pageviews, 03/12: Has "Investor Psychology" Turned Against Home Buying?
4. 5,018 pageviews, 04/16: Surprise! You Owe Thousands of Dollars!
3. 5,667 pageviews, 03/16: KUOW on Low Inventory and Over-the-Top Anecdotes
2. 5,898 pageviews, 02/17: Reader Question: Sell Now, or Rent It & Wait?
1. 8,350 pageviews, 02/24: Buy vs. Rent: A Real Life Pre-Peak Example

Oddly, blowing all of the above posts out of the water was a post from 2010: Median Prices Still Crashing in Some Neighborhoods, which received 20,002 pageviews during 2012. I dug around in Google Analytics a bit but was unable to come up with any logical reason for why that post would have been viewed so many times last year.

The post Top 10 Most-Viewed Posts of 2012 appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

The people on this board have extensive experience in the real estate world, and while there may be differences of opinion among them, the fact is that their opinions deserve to carry more weight than those of the amateurs who blog as a hobby.
…
There are other sites and blogs, some staffed by experts, some by amateurs. If you think that the amateurs have somehow discovered the secrets that the Real Estate Cartel has been trying to keep from you, let me suggest to you that perhaps we’re just letting them think that those are the important secrets.
…
Since the world has become so Lewis Carrollish, I, typically a composer in the folk-rock tradition, decided to compose this little ditty, completely out of love for my fellow bloggers and, in keeping with hip-hop tradition, callin’ out those who cannot get paid to comment on real estate and are only a few hundred transactions and tens of millions in sales volume behind me. With a special shout-out to the people who make landlording worthwhile.

Let me hear ya say Ya-ay!

Mack be representin’
Seattle Shoreline Downtown Edmon’
Don wanna hear no blowin’ o’ no bubble
Don wanna be inna middle o’ no trubble

Think all the hobbyist
Need to get ‘emselves a life
Know they ain’t experts
But they preachin’ like dey right

It goes on for another five verses.

The post Friday Flashback: “I tease the bubble bloggers!” appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Redfin (my employer) just launched a fun new feature today: Redfin Collections.

With Collections you can curate publicly-visible galleries of listing photos from nearly all of Redfin’s markets across the country. Although I was not at all connected to the team that developed this feature, as an employee I’ve been in the private beta for the last few months, and let’s just say I may have gone a little overboard.

I currently have 25 different collections. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Czech Sky: If the name isn’t self-evident, read this post.
• What does it mean?!?: Double rainbow all the way.
• Sweet Ride: A wide variety of vehicles featured in listing photos.
• Lonely Pianos: Not just a Seattle phenomenon.
• Mega Mountain: Okay this one is mostly just a thing in the Seattle area.
• Rawr: Lions, lions, and… more lions. Oh my.

The feature is still in “beta,” so there are a few minor kinks being worked out, but already it’s the most beautiful and most addictive feature I’ve used on a real estate search site. No one at work requested or even implied that I should write this post, and I didn’t run it past anyone for approval, I’m just a Collections addict. If you try it out you might become one too.

You can browse all of my collections here, and if you have a free Redfin account you can start making your own (step-by-step directions here). I’d love to see what kinds of collections my readers come up with, so if you try out the feature, share your profile link in the comments.

This concludes this test of the Shameless Plug Broadcast System.

The post Tim’s New Obsession: Redfin Collections appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

It’s time for another installment of Real Actual Listing Photos. Once a month (or so) I round up some of the most bizarre listing photos from around the Seattle area and post them here, with brief excerpts from the real actual listing description, and probably a bit of snarky commentary.

The idea for this series stems from the ongoing forum thread Detrimental Listing Photos, which is where you should post your nominations for next month’s Real Actual Listing Photos post.

There is no particular single theme this month, although I did group this month’s photos into similarly-themed pairs.

Enough explanation. Let’s get to the photos! Click the photo to view the Real Actual Listing.

“nestled & surrounded by nature, this urban retreat has many amenities…”

…but we’re not going to show you any of them. Just this one grainy photo of the moon.

“Home is currently uninhabitable.”

And creepy. Did we mention creepy? Because it’s definitely also creepy.

“It is move in ready but will need some TLC to make it shine.”

Buyer must supply their own Hazmat crew.

“…not a complete fixer but could use new paint and repair work to some areas of the home.”

Nothing gets me excited about a listing like the phrase “not a complete fixer.” Except for maybe piles and piles of random junk strewn throughout the house.

“250 sf rooftop VIEW deck! Only OVER THE WATER UNITS on Lake Union!”

Also… BALD EAGLE! And unlike the home in September’s installment, this eagle appears to be legit, not Photoshop (though the view at right is cropped from the original).

“The extraordinarily private & peaceful setting…”

When I think “private and peaceful,” the first thing I think of is military planes in formation buzzing my home every year.

Let me know if you have an idea for a future “Real Actual Listing Photos” theme, and be sure to check out Looney Listing for listing photo amusement throughout the month.

The post Real Actual Listing Photos: Foreboding, Filth, and Flying appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

• Leave it unfinished and use it as storage?
• Partially finish it and use it as a workshop?
• Finish it and use it as a rec room?
• Fully finish it with bedrooms and a bathroom?
• Something else?

I’m curious to hear your thoughts and opinions on what’s the best use for a basement? Let’s assume that the basement has no history of major leaks and has at least 7-foot tall ceilings.

In my opinion the most important factor in the decision is whether you can reasonably take steps to assure that everything stays dry. A moldy finished basement would be many times worse than an unfinished basement.

I would also consider light and safety access. I’ve seen finished basements with literally no windows at all, with zero natural light and only one escape route. Finished basements with those tiny short windows way up near the ceiling (like in the photo at right) aren’t much better.

So what about you? What would you do with your basement, assuming you had the time and money to do it right?

The post What’s the best use for a Seattle-area basement? appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Please note: These posts should not be construed to be an advertisement or endorsement of any specific home for sale. We are merely taking a brief snapshot of the market at a given time. Also, just because a home makes it onto the “cheapest” list, that does not indicate that it is a good value.

Here are this month’s three cheapest single-family homes in the city limits of Seattle (according to Redfin):

Two of the homes from last month carried over to this month. The third is now pending, but would have been pushed off the list by the new cheapest home even if it were still active.

Stats snapshot for Seattle Single-Family Homes Under $200,000 (excluding short sales)
Total on market: 34
Average number of beds: 2.3
Average number of baths: 1.2
Average square footage: 1,208
Average days on market: 77

Inventory inched up just slightly from last month, beds and baths both fell, but square footage increased a bit.

Here are a couple of charts to give you a visual of the trend of these numbers since I adjusted the methodology in April 2010:

Here are cheapest homes in Seattle that actually sold in the last month, regardless of condition (since most off-market homes don’t have much info available on their condition).

The post Cheapest Homes: December 2012 Edition appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Statistics and Data

• 11/02 – October Stats Preview: Late Sales Leap Edition
• 11/05 – NWMLS: Inventory Hit a Record Low in October
• 11/12 – Bank-Owned Sales Bounce Along Near Low
• 11/13 – Non-Distressed Median Price Up 6 Percent from 2011
• 11/14 – Market Heated Up in October as Inventory Collapsed
• 11/15 – Local Foreclosures Inched Up in October
• 11/19 – Seattle Area Unemployment Drops, More Jobs Added
• 11/20 – Bank-Owned Sales Now Almost Exclusively at the Low End
• 11/27 – Case-Shiller: Seattle HPI Bucked Seasonality in September
• 11/28 – Case-Shiller Tiers: All Three Tiers Gained in September
• 11/29 – September 2012 Case-Shiller Potporri

Reader Questions

• 11/08 – Reader Question: Home Prices in Gold?
• Send me your reader questions here!

Commentary, Etc.

• 11/07 – Cheapest Homes: November 2012 Edition
• 11/09 – Friday Flashback: "Quite frankly, it’s time to buy."
• 11/16 – Real Actual Listing Photos: Pretty Pretty Ponies Edition
• 11/21 – Pro Tip: Rainy Days are Best for Home Shopping
• 11/23 – Friday Flashback: Not a Recipe For Disaster
• 11/26 – The Rent Won’t Be Too Damn High For Long

The post November 2012 Seattle Bubble Recap appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Priced out: Home appreciation report

This past year’s broad-based price increase is one of the largest the U.S. has seen since at least 1970, economist Stanley Duobinis told a recent gathering of John L. Scott Real Estate agents and local homebuilders.

Is that a signal that home values are at risk?

“It really depends on where you live,” said Duobinis, president of Maryland-based Crystal Ball Economics. “Not since after World War II have house prices declined nationally, although I can give you instances of local downturns.”

Those declines usually were caused by local job loss or overbuilding, two factors that aren’t present here.

Rather, the Seattle area has several indicators that housing demand will continue strong, Duobinis said.

One is the lack of buildable land within the urban growth boundary.

Another is the strong job market, which attracts newcomers. Every 1.7 new jobs creates the need for another place to live, he said.

“Seattle is one area where you can start talking about restrictive growth — not just because of policy, but also because of geography,” Duobinis said. “You can’t create more land, and you’re having increasing numbers of people coming in.

“Is this a recipe for disaster? No. But you are going to get some pretty strong price increases in the future.”

There’s nothing like telling home salespeople what they want to hear in order to make a quick buck in speaking fees. The sad thing is that this guy appears to still be at it. Who would take someone like this seriously after they completely missed the biggest housing crash in history?

The post Friday Flashback: Not a Recipe For Disaster appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

It’s time for another installment of Real Actual Listing Photos. Once a month (or so) I round up some of the most bizarre listing photos from around the Seattle area and post them here, with brief excerpts from the real actual listing description, and probably a bit of snarky commentary.

The idea for this series stems from the ongoing forum thread Detrimental Listing Photos, which is where you should post your nominations for next month’s Real Actual Listing Photos post.

This month’s theme is Pretty Pretty Ponies. Because I’m not going to believe that the property you’re selling is really equestrian unless you include a photo of actual equines roaming the grounds.

Enough explanation. Let’s get to the photos! Click the photo to view the Real Actual Listing.

“Barn & 5 separate organic pastures on 25+ acres for the passionate equestrian.”

Can you feel the passion? I can feel it.

sold

Pony sneak attack!

“Equestrian Ranch/Farm on 45 acres! Private and quiet.”

Good, I require total privacy and complete silence to fully enjoy my ponies.

“…this sunny 20-acre equestrian property is bursting with custom features & expensive enhancements.”

Ever get the feeling you’re being… watched?

“This Estate offers unique features such as a detached cabana… barn for the equestrian person, but easily converted into a studio.”

Hipster pony doesn’t care if you convert his barn into a studio.

“This lovely home has a beautiful equestrian on a large lot.”

Um, what? Used as a noun, “equestrian” means “one who rides on horseback.” So… this home comes with a beautiful horseback rider? Interesting. Personally, I would have preferred to see a photo of that instead of the horse.

Let me know if you have an idea for a future “Real Actual Listing Photos” theme, and be sure to check out Looney Listing for listing photo amusement throughout the month.

The post Real Actual Listing Photos: Pretty Pretty Ponies Edition appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Redfin released October housing market data today, so let’s take a look at the rate at which new listings are going under contract in two weeks or less in the Seattle area, compared to San Francisco and the national rate:

Yikes! That’s a big spike in Seattle and another gain in San Francisco, bringing them each to a new high point. Although fall and winter are typically the slow season for home sales, it seems that this year the serious lack of inventory is leading to even more intense competition among buyers for the shrinking pool of desirable homes.

Here’s a plot of this metric next to total inventory for the Seattle area:

If inventory doesn’t pick up early next year I could easily see the percentage of new listings that go pendong in two weeks or less moving up over 50% in Seattle, which would definitely not be a fun market for buyers.

The post Market Heated Up in October as Inventory Collapsed appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

For those undeterred by the sales flier that warned a 96-year-old Columbia City house is “an extreme fixer, to be entered at your own risk” or by the “hazardous environment” sign on the door, Al Johnson left a flashlight just inside the entry.

“I’m on my second battery,” said Johnson, an associate broker with Windermere Real Estate, during an open house earlier this month. He posted this listing on a Sunday evening and got calls about the house every half-hour the following day.

“One, it’s about the cheapest thing around,” Johnson said. “And two, people just get drooly about projects. … People get weak in the knees and say, ‘Oh, I can do this. I love this.’ ”

As Seattle houses get more and more expensive, homes in need of work have become more attractive to people who want to live in a city house with character or are looking for a fruitful investment.
…
The increased interest in fixers over the past few years drove up prices beyond where many projects pay off for those who want to fix a house, then sell it right away, according to agents and builders.

“Everybody and their uncle was in this business,” said Mark Johnson, who started renovating houses and building new ones in 2001, after five years as a contractor.
…
But despite the slowing market, [Mark] Johnson sees an upside.

“As far as flipping, it’s going to be a good thing, because there’s not as much competition,” he said. “Quite frankly, it’s time to buy.”

By this time sales volume had been dropping and inventory increasing in the Seattle area for about a year. The writing was on the wall—prices peaked just five months later. The following three to four years were a terrible time to flip homes.

I don’t even understand why this particular “investor” was still bullish on flipping at this point, considering his own recent experience:

Johnson, no relation to Al Johnson, recently paid $360,000 for an old West Seattle house and said he poured about the same amount into overhauling it before putting it on the market last year. When the offers that came in were lower than he wanted, he decided to move in himself.

He said he knew the market was slowing when he started the project, “but I was kind of a little cocky, I guess, and thought that I could beat it.”

http://www.redfin.com/WA/Seattle/6731-36th-Ave-SW-98126/home/469839I scoured some public records and found the home described here. Mark Johnson paid $358,000 for the home in February 2006, tried to list it for $799,000 in August 2006, but gave up a month later. He still owns the home, and nearby comps have been selling for an average of $383,000. Even worse, it looks like he continued to buy homes to flip in 2008 and 2009. Yikes.

Here’s what I had to say at the time this article was published:

I think maybe there is some kind of virus infecting the minds of potential homebuyers. The virus settles into the brain and causes the victim to lose the capacity for rational thought in matters of real estate.

Symptoms include the delusions that “I need to buy now or I’ll be priced out forever,” “I should use whatever kind of financing I can get my hands on,” and “owning any old dump is better than renting.”
…
Oh yeah. For sure now is a great time to buy an overpriced dump. When isn’t it a great time to buy one?

While anyone who decided that 2007 was a great time to start flipping homes probably ended up losing a lot of money, the eventual buyer of the “96-year-old Columbia City extreme fixer” did manage to pull off a decent little profit. They paid $315,000 in February 2007 and got out just in time, selling in November 2007 for $525,000. I hope for their sake that they were shrewd enough not to sink their profits into another attempt shortly afterward.

The post Friday Flashback: “Quite frankly, it’s time to buy.” appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Any easy way for you to compare Case-Shiller home prices to gold? I have a hunch prices have dropped much more dramatically than we realize, as our USD goes in the tank.

Maybe Goldman’s 22% drop prediction was closer if the nasty inflation wasn’t considered?

Since Case-Shiller is an index and doesn’t give us home prices in actual dollars, we can’t really compare Case-Shiller “home prices” to gold, but we can compare the median price. I went back to my spreadsheet of historic King County median prices and added a column for the price of an ounce of gold, and this was the result:

Indeed, if all of your assets were in gold instead of US dollars, home prices fell a whopping 45% between June 2010 and February 2012—double Goldman Sachs’ predicted drop.

Pricing homes in gold also dramatically shifts the home price peak. Seattle home prices peaked at just barely shy of 1,000 ounces of gold in Q2 2001, and fell to a low of 188.2 ounces of gold in Q1 2012—an 81% drop.

For comparison, here’s a chart with homes priced in gold alongside inflation-adjusted home prices:

Inflation-adjusted home prices (in USD) peaked in the third quarter of 2007 and fell 38% from the peak to the bottom (so far) in the first quarter of this year.

The post Reader Question: Home Prices in Gold? appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Please note: These posts should not be construed to be an advertisement or endorsement of any specific home for sale. We are merely taking a brief snapshot of the market at a given time. Also, just because a home makes it onto the “cheapest” list, that does not indicate that it is a good value.

Here are this month’s three cheapest single-family homes in the city limits of Seattle (according to Redfin):

Two of the homes from last month are now pending, while the third carried over to this month, taking the cheapest spot.

Stats snapshot for Seattle Single-Family Homes Under $200,000 (excluding short sales)
Total on market: 32
Average number of beds: 2.5
Average number of baths: 1.3
Average square footage: 1,159
Average days on market: 101

Inventory dipped from last month, but both beds and baths increased, as did days on market.

Here are a couple of charts to give you a visual of the trend of these numbers since I adjusted the methodology in April 2010:

Here are cheapest homes in Seattle that actually sold in the last month, regardless of condition (since most off-market homes don’t have much info available on their condition).

The post Cheapest Homes: November 2012 Edition appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

I’m going to try a different format this month since this is still a series I am experimenting with. Let me know what you think of the new format and the concept in general as a recurring monthly feature.

Statistics and Data

• 10/01 – September Stats Preview: Sales Cliff Edition
• 10/04 – NWMLS: Inventory, Sales, & Prices Head South For Winter
• 10/09 – Bank-Owned Sales Edged Up in September
• 10/11 – Foreclosures Dip Back Down in September
• 10/16 – Over a Third of New Listings Pending in Two Weeks
• 10/19 – Seattle Area Keeps Steadily Adding Jobs
• 10/23 – Sales in Pricey Eastside Neighborhoods Strengthening
• 10/29 – MLS-Powered Search Sites Hold Major Advantage Over Zillow & Trulia
• 10/30 – Case-Shiller: Seattle Home Prices Up 3% From 2011

Reader Questions

• 10/08 – Reader Question: "Do You Recommend Doing Flips?"
• 10/17 – Reader Question: Sudden Surge of Foreclosure Notices?
• 10/22 – Reader Question: What’s your listing agent’s job?
• 10/25 – Reader Question: Short Sale Buying Tips?

Commentary, Etc.

• 10/15 – Real Actual Listing Photos: The Lonely Pianos
• 10/24 – Are Obama & Romney Avoiding Housing to Avoid Talking About Killing the Mortgage Interest Deduction?
• 10/26 – Checking Up on Goldman’s Bearish 2010 Two-Year Forecast

I would also like to make another request that you consider donating some money to help the two young children of the family that I bought my home from, whose father died two months ago. Thank you.

The post October 2012 Seattle Bubble Recap appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Following their earlier collapse, house prices appear caught in a cross current. On the one hand, there are indications that prices may have bottomed. While alternative house price indices differ in details, they generally show that house prices have stabilized since early 2009.
…
We predict the largest house price declines for Las Vegas, Seattle and Portland (Exhibit 6). While high home vacancy rates and steeply rising delinquencies are expected to push down prices in all three areas, some interesting differences emerge. Price declines in Las Vegas are projected to be front loaded, as negative price momentum and excess supply lead to near-term price declines, before valuation undershoots sufficiently to push up prices. For Seattle and Portland, the model projects back-loaded price declines as house prices currently look overvalued.

Here was my response at the time:

I don’t have a PhD in finance, and I haven’t constructed a 6-variable model of home prices, but my estimates have been for only another 10-15% decline in Seattle area home prices, so I was a bit surprised to see such a dramatic call from Goldman.

Now that 2012 is nearing a close, let’s see who was more accurate.

At the time this prediction was made (June 2010), the Case-Shiller Home Price Index for Seattle stood at 146.83. At its lowest point this year (February) it was 128.99. That’s a drop of 12.2%—almost dead center of my 10%-15% prediction and nearly ten points less than Goldman’s call.

I don’t know how Goldman Sachs’ house price model managed to suggest such a large drop, but local economic fundamentals did not support another 22% drop between 2010 and 2012 any more than they suggested continued home price increases in 2007.

Sometimes there is such a thing as over analyzing a problem.

The post Checking Up on Goldman’s Bearish 2010 Two-Year Forecast appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

My husband and I are interested in buying a home in the Snoqualmie Ridge neighborhood. Many/most of the homes (In our price range) appear to be short sales.

Do you have any suggestions or tips when attempting to purchase a short sale?

First, let me point you to the write-up I posted of my own experience buying a short sale. It won’t be a road map of every challenge you might encounter, but hopefully you will find it at least somewhat interesting and informative.

Second, here are some tips that I would give to anyone thinking of buying a short sale:

Be patient! The process is likely to take quite a while. If you need to find a home quickly, you will probably want to avoid short sales.

Look for a proactive seller. There are many things that a seller can do to help the process move more smoothly and quickly. In my case, the sellers had spoken with their lender, received the lender’s short sale packet, and submitted the initial documents to the lender before even listing the home. This helped things move along quickly once they accepted our offer.

Find out if the seller is eligible for aid. Again, in my case, The sellers were eligible for the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program. This helped things move along quickly since there were specific time limits enforced by an outside agency.

Work with just one bank, if possible. Many (most?) sellers attempting a short sale of their home did not make a 20% down payment when they purchased, but instead used two loans, one for 80% of the purchase price and the other for up to the remaining 20%. In this situation, they seller’s loans may be with a single bank or they may be with two different banks. When there are two banks involved, your chance of successfully closing a short sale drops dramatically.

Those are all the tips I’ve got, but perhaps there are some agents or home buyers or sellers here who have been through the process that can offer additional insights. If so, let’s hear it in the comments.

The post Reader Question: Short Sale Buying Tips? appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

The buyer asked for assistance in seeing his listing because his agent was elsewhere. He reminded the listing agent that he was getting paid 3% (he assumed) to sell the property and should do everything in their power to get it sold. Buyer even offered to show the listing agent his preapproval letter. The listing agent refused.

So my question to Bubble Readers is:

Would you hire an agent to sell your home that REFUSED to show YOUR HOME to EVERY POTENTIAL QUALIFIED CLIENT? Represented or not?

IF I WERE A SELLER, and I found this out, I would IMMEDIATELY terminate my listing agreement!

I think Ray makes a good point. Although it may not strictly be the listing agent’s “job” to show their listing to a buyer who is already represented by another agent, and it’s certainly somewhat of a failing on the part of the buyer’s agent that they aren’t available, but it just seems like something basic that you would do if you were really trying to sell the home.

What say you? If you were a seller, would you expect your agent to accommodate any and all requests from qualified potential buyers? I think I would.

The post Reader Question: What’s your listing agent’s job? appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

We live in a rental house which has been in various phases of the foreclosure process for over 5 years (landlord died in 2007 after taking max cash-out refi’s on all 10 of his properties). Trustee sale dates for the house we are in have been set, moved, and canceled several times over the last 4 years. But the notice parade started up again last month and the Notice of Default was posted today. That means a Notice of Trustee Sale (NTS) as soon as 30 days from today.

Is it just a coincidence that the election is now less than 30 days away? I suspect not since the number of REO properties coming on the market has been declining for several months. I’ve heard it postulated that the banks have been holding off on such notices so they could sell ASAP after the election if Obama wins (presumably no advantages to waiting longer) and have the option to delay the sale again if Romney wins (so they can see if his policies will result in an environment more friendly to banks and the foreclosure process).

I’d be interested to know if there is anecdotal evidence from your readers or data suggesting an up-tic in NTS or NoD this week.

I’m not particularly interested in getting into the political questions here, but I can certainly look at the local foreclosure notice data to see if there has been a noticeable uptick in foreclosure activity in the last week or two.

To answer this question, I pulled Notice of Trustee Sale counts by week over the last six months (Notices of Default are not recorded in King County). Here is the result:

The week-by-week trend doesn’t seem to be any different from the monthly trend of steady increases that we’ve seen since late last year. There was a slight uptick in notices the week of October 7 through October 13 (I received the email above on the 10th), but many other recent weeks have had more notices.

So has there been a sudden surge in foreclosures? It does’t look like it.

The post Reader Question: Sudden Surge of Foreclosure Notices? appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Last week Redfin released September housing market data, so let’s take a look at the rate at which homes are going under contract in two weeks or less in the Seattle area, compared to San Francisco and the national rate:

No big change in the relationship between Seattle, San Francisco, and the national rate. Although the percentage of homes selling within two weeks peaked in the Seattle area in May and began to head down, it bumped back up again in September, and has held fairly steady through the summer.

The last few years have seen a fairly flat summer followed by a big boost in the new year. Hopefully we don’t see the same thing this coming year. With over a third of homes currently going under contract within two weeks, the market was already extremely frustrating for buyers this year. If the number goes up even further next spring is not going to be a fun time at all to try to buy a home.

The post Over a Third of New Listings Pending in Two Weeks appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

It’s time for another installment of Real Actual Listing Photos. Once a month (or so) I round up some of the most bizarre listing photos from around the Seattle area and post them here, with brief excerpts from the real actual listing description, and probably a bit of snarky commentary.

The idea for this series stems from the ongoing forum thread Detrimental Listing Photos, which is where you should post your nominations for next month’s Real Actual Listing Photos post.

This month we share in the melancholy of the lonely piano. Because apparently putting grand pianos into rooms all by themselves is a thing.

Enough explanation. Let’s get to the photos! Click the photo to view the Real Actual Listing.

“Lavish use of natural stone, detailed woodwork & expansive light-filled spaces with bucolic views to the lake.”

At least this lonely piano can enjoy the “lavish use of natural stone” in the fireplace, even if they don’t get to take in the “bucolic views to the lake.”

“Quality built model home special in every way, from natural stone & high end finishes, to versatile floor plan that will fit your every need.”

And when we say every need, we mean it. You need to put your piano in time out? This versatile floor plan will accomodate that.

“One of the Northwest’s most gracious residences. … Stepped off the street, the promenade staircase makes any entraqnce grand.”

Not so gracious to the piano, of course. Also, I’ve got no idea what an “entraqnce” is, but it’s good to know that this home’s promenade staircase will make it grand.

sold

This one actually is a little sad, and easily the most lonely of the bunch. This piano is the only furniture of any kind in the house, and from the condition of the home it looks like it was probably left behind by its previous owners.

“This home has it all, 5 bedrooms, den, bonus, theater area, spacious rec. room and huge storage/shop.”

How could they forget to mention the piano detention room?

“A home of mathematical proportions creates a cheer when you see the high quality traditional constructions, mature landscaping, with wide stance…”

The above-pictured piano, a bed, and a pair of deck chairs are the only furniture shown in this home. But don’t feel bad for the lonely piano… mathematical proportions will create a cheer.

Let me know if you have an idea for a future “Real Actual Listing Photos” theme, and be sure to check out Looney Listing for listing photo amusement throughout the month.

The post Real Actual Listing Photos: The Lonely Pianos appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Larry gave us so many great nuggets back in the day…

• May 2006 – “Kendra Todd agrees with Lar – There is no bubble“
• September 2006 – It is a tiny bubble folks, in some places it is ending…“
• October 2006 – “Now we find regular news that supports the fact we are already seeing things settle down.“
• October 2006 – “The no bubble here ever or now report“
• October 2006 – “This sounds like normal people making decisions based on brains not greed. I like this kind of market.“
• November 2006 – “Even San Diego has bottomed out no bubble there.“
• May 2007 – “I wrote I noticed, The Apprentice, Kendra Todd agreed with my position on the bubble. I harped thereafter that it would be a correction not a bubble. Right was I Yoda?“

Larry has since quit real estate and moved to Salt Lake City, where he is “now serving a family history mission” for the Mormon church.

And nothing of value was lost.

The post Friday Flashback: “Kendra Todd agrees with Lar” appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Randy was not an anonymous seller in a hands-off, agent-run home sales transaction. As a contractor with a love for old homes, he restored and renewed his home during the five years that it belonged to his family, putting in many quality features including the fancy kitchen in which I’m standing in the photo on my announcement post.

Although our purchase was a short sale—no doubt a stressful and frustrating situation for a seller—Randy was exceedingly friendly, helpful, and gracious to us throughout the process of selling us the home in which he had hoped to raise his own family.

When our home inspector left the upstairs tub running unattended and water poured through the first floor ceiling into the living room, Randy kept his cool, came home and just got to work fixing it. When we left the house that day there was a hole at least six feet by six feet in the living room ceiling, but by the time the appraisal took place a week later he had completely fixed it, as good as new.

The night before closing, after moving the last of his family’s belongings out, he gave us a personal walk through, sharing the home’s little quirks and special features that he had learned in his time living here.

Randy leaves behind his wife Elene and two little boys, 3-year-old Landon and 2-year-old Parker. His brother is a local firefighter and is working with his association, IAFF Local 2781, to raise some money to help the family through this difficult time.

If you are able, please consider assisting the Stupeys. IAFF Local 2781 has set up three ways to donate:

• Donate at your local Opus Bank (Please reference JSL trust for Landon and Parker Stupey)
• Send donations by check to Landon and Parker P.O. Box 1887 Everett WA 98206
• Donate online via WePay

Thank you.

The post Randy Stupey appeared first on Seattle Bubble.

Do you recommend doing flips in the Seattle metropolitan area?

I did a flip in the San Francisco Bay Area (where I’m from) and made $59K profit.

I’m thinking Seattle may also be a good market as well given Boeing and Microsoft as main employers attracting new people to the area.

What are your thoughts?

Is it a good idea to “flip” homes in the Seattle area? It depends…

Photo by Flickr user Ffion Atkinson

First it depends on your definition of a “flip.” During the housing bubble people were buying homes with little to no money down, doing nothing but holding onto them for a few months, and selling them for tens of thousands of dollars in profit to the next sucker to come along. I believe (and hope) that this variety of flipping is dead. Don’t even think about it—you will lose money.

In a more traditional sense a “flip” is when you buy a home, fix it up, add some real value, and sell for some amount more than what you put into it. Even that version of flipping was a bust as the housing market peaked, but lately it seems to have been making a comeback.

I first noted the return of the fix-n-flip in the Seattle area in December 2010. Since then I have seen more and more of these kinds of flips, even including a pair of homes on my own street that were both successfully flipped earlier this year.

So would I “recommend” doing a fix-n-flip? It depends… If you’ve got the cash to buy a cheap, run-down home in a nice neighborhood, fix it up well, and properly market it, you can definitely make some money in today’s market.

However, don’t think it’s going to be easy money. Finding the right home (or homes) will be hard work. Fixing them up will be hard work. Dealing with listing agents and buyer’s agents to sell the home will be hard work. And if you don’t know the neighborhood where you’re trying to flip a home, you run the risk of creating a home that is too nice for the neighborhood, which will make selling your work for a decent profit difficult.

In short, flipping is possible and certainly more likely to be successful than it was between 2007 and 2010, but it’s not easy and there is still significant risk involved. Proceed with caution.

The post Reader Question: “Do You Recommend Doing Flips?” appeared first on Seattle Bubble.