Our final method for determining whether or not a home is a good deal is to compare the current asking price to the historic sale prices of the same home during pre-bubble years. The simplest method is to find the oldest sale record available for the home and compare the total percentage gain from that…
Analyze a “Below-Market” Deal: Nearby Rents
Unfortunately when you’re looking at single-family homes, it can be difficult to get an accurate read on what people in the neighborhood are currently paying in rent. However, studying asking rents in the rental section of Craigslist is the next best thing, and it is definitely better than nothing. photo by The Tim Do a…
Analyze a “Below-Market” Deal: Comparable Sales
The art of analyzing a home’s “comps”—once the exclusive domain of real estate agents and appraisers—is now open to everyone thanks to sites like Zillow and Redfin that display detailed data on sold homes. The basic process is simple: Make a list of recently sold (within the last 3 months, ideally) homes similar to the…
How To: Analyze a “Below-Market” Deal
I personally believe that a reasonable analysis of the local economic fundamentals points to another ten to fifteen percent decline in Seattle-area home prices. However, I also believe that barring a major economic catastrophe that slashes wages and dramatically increases unemployment, buying in today’s market can be a good move if you can find a…
Seattle Home Prices Still Not Hitting Bottom
Here are a few charts of price per square foot for Seattle single-family homes… Redfin: Zillow (list price): Altos Research (list price): Draw your own conclusion about whether or not prices have hit bottom yet. Full disclosure: The Tim is employed by Redfin.