- Great comment by @jillayne: "We have to wean our economy off the real estate finance and building sectors." http://is.gd/aTicA #
- RT @KirstenGrind: Things get worse for #Frontier Financial: http://bit.ly/c7y0yt #
- Seattle: 47th-most expensive rentals in the nation, but 20th-most expensive houses for sale. Doubt that will last. http://is.gd/aURmx #
- SHOCKING! (not) RT @calculatedrisk: HAMP applicants tanned and juiced http://bit.ly/9R1aIH #
- Everett Herald on how "shaky real estate ventures" led to so many troubled local banks. http://is.gd/aWPGX #
- BofA: Stay current on your mortgage for 5 yrs and we'll reduce your principal to 100% of your house's value. http://is.gd/aWR1M #
- Speaking of BofA, a Seattle couple is suing them for "systematically" not providing loan mods. http://is.gd/aWRdC #
- Uh-oh… RT @KirstenGrind: Seattle's tallest office tower misses a payment; is closer to default: http://bit.ly/cjNHuB #
- Interesting map of alleged "housing + transportation" affordability for Seattle: http://is.gd/aZj0c #
- Riholtz: "We need more, not less foreclosures." I agree! http://is.gd/aZmad #
- Redfin expands into Phoenix, which seems like an odd move to me since they don't do short sales… http://is.gd/aZmjk #
- …scratch that, should have read to the end of the post. Redfin is now supporting short sales. That is bigger news than Phoenix, IMO. #
- WA Incomes declining. http://is.gd/aZxIq Doesn't bode well for Lennox's forecast that home prices "will be in direct proportion" to incomes. #
- Part 2 of Amy Rolph's story about local banks in the Herald: When banks won't lend, small businesses are stuck http://is.gd/b0x30 #
- A reader reports being blocked from Seattle Bubble by Internet Explorer 8's DEP. Is anyone else having similar problems? #
- Don't miss the funky breakout clone in this weekend's open thread. http://is.gd/b0HtM #
- Yow. Min. wage dog-poop-scooper job in Woodinville gets 260+ applicants… http://is.gd/b18eQ #
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Tim, read it again. Redfin is supporting short sales, but not doing them. They’re having short sale tours, but referring the buyer out if they want to make an offer. It’s too bad because I could see that a centralized corporate structure like Redfin could be setup rather well to handle short sales. But I can see why they don’t want to do them. The banks need to get their acts in order to make it worth anyone’s while.
It will be interesting to see if their current program on doing listings will make them more effective. What they’re doing now (viewing the property, making suggestions, professional photography, listing on Trulia, Zillow and Realtor.com) should be done by every agent. I purposefully didn’t mention Craigslist–it’s next to useless for sales but doesn’t hurt to be included.
Oh, and their email requests for feedback from previewing agents is going to flop unless their own previewing agents start responding to requests for feedback.
Here’s another that I mentioned in another thread. A major development in Snohomish County is in trouble. Silly fools. They missed the opportunity to turn beautiful wooded countryside into the Issaquah Highlands.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011454345_barnett27m.html
http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/where-homes-prices-are-rising
FYI. Tacoma, Bremerton and Kennewick are on the rise! Really? The same Tacoma that lost Russell Investments?
Red Fin and Short sales!!
“If our customers decide to write an offer on a short-sale property, we’ll still have to refer the deal to a partner, just because our agents in most markets still need to go through a bit more training on the ins and outs of working with different banks. The refund on a short-sale offer is the same as it is for all partners, 15%, and the partners go through the same vetting, surveying, interviewing process we put all partners through”
15% my butt. Virtually ANY agent will give you more then that to assist them with a purchase.
Come on Red Fin..Get this fixed!
Washigton State Incomes Down Per Tim’s WSJ Link
http://is.gd/aZxIq
Assuming per BLS, an average home buying income is approx 1.2 incomes in Seattle, how’s 1.2 x $18/hr gonna buy a doghouse around here, let alone a home? LOL
In fact, how does that home buying income even afford any type of rent and food in Seattle?
RE: ray pepper @ 4 – I’m surprised you didn’t comment on their new listing rates.
RE: Kary L. Krismer @ 6 –
WOW…Kary I missed that..
Rather than charging you 3% of the home price to sell your home, Redfin charges only 1.5%, with a minimum fee of $5,500.
and
In outlying areas, we offer you a choice of partner agents who will reduce their listing fee 15%, an amount usually worth between $1,000 and $2,000.**
Excuse me but………………………Ahh its late….I better not.
RE: ray pepper @ 7 – Redfin is becoming pretty insignificant on the listing side (based on volume), so it’s not really a big deal. But apparently they’re discovering that they can’t make much money listing for much less than 6%. The pot of gold they thought was there selling real estate simply wasn’t there.