Queen Anne real estate market has always been a hot one due to the highly desirable location and charming properties but it has never been hotter!  The combination of the attractive values and historically low mortgage rates is bringing a lot of buyers that were sidelined during the boom and really propelling the Queen Anne real estate market.  Why now?  Queen Anne has always been a highly sought – after neighborhood to the fact that it’s a well – established “suburban” close to Downtown and home to some of most beautifully preserved homes full of charm, character, and history that you won’t find in other neighborhoods.  Queen Anne is also home to some of the most prestigious streets and zip codes in Seattle.  My clients are I are noticing that pretty much any properties that are priced well are receiving multiple offers thus reinforcing the popularity of the Queen Anne real estate market.  My favorite part of Queen Anne is of course soaking in the beautiful Seattle skyline and the Puget Sound at the Kerry Park.

Queen Anne Real Estate Market

What is the “prime” Queen Anne real estate parameter?

-         10^th Ave W/Olympic Way W/W Olympic Pl to the west.

-        Taylor Ave N/5^th Ave N to the east.

-        Valley St. to the south.

-        W McGraw St. to the north.

I did a general search for that parameter and here are some interesting statistics:

-        Total of only 22 active listing of single family homes.

-        Of the 22 active listings, only 8 were priced at or under 800k (competitive price range).

-        Total of only 19 active condo listings priced at or under 500k.

There has never been a more opportunistic time to get into Queen Anne real estate market and own a piece of history and be part of the most prestigious community in Seattle.  Don’t get sidelined again and contact me for a complimentary consultant and get in the game TODAY!

Queen Anne Real Estate Market

ABOUT CHRISTY KIM

It occurs to me that there are some definite differences between the big box real estate companies that you always see in the media and the smaller firms that are in the market.  The big firms make you fit into their box and some make you qualify with them before they will even take you out to see houses.  Oh and you have to sign an agreement to only use them.  They are great in the neighborhoods that they operate in as they are promoted as “neighborhood experts” but what happens if you don’t exactly know where you want to live and want to see other areas.  Hmmm, could be a problem.  The other issue is just because your friend, relative, neighbor is an excellent realtor for the big box real estate company where you are, does that mean that the person on the other side of the country is equally as good.  There are no guarantees as to the competence of realtors in a big box real estate company.  So it is imperative that buyers get a hold of “Buyers Realtors” in the community that they are looking, to find someone that is willing to work for you before you move.

What are “Buyers Realtors”?  These are agents/brokers, states like to mix these terms so I’ll call them realtors, who work mainly with people looking to buy a home.  Most of the big box real estate buyers realtors are again neighborhood experts that know everything within their neighborhoods.  But, cross over into another neighborhood or city and most won’t know as much as someone that works in that area.  The smaller company buyers realtors will go wherever they need to and may not know as much minutia about an area but will know about or be able to direct you to the website that can give you the information.  Ever wonder about schools, gyms, parks, in different areas?  All of this information is available and a good buyers realtor will get it to you.  There have been an occasions when someone doesn’t know the different communities and aren’t really sure where to live but they work in downtown Seattle, for instance.  What happens then?  Think a neighbor expert will know where you want to live?  Well certainly…in their area.  What if it’s not convenient or you want to use mass transit and it is not where you want to be?

Here are some things that buyers should consider: First, who’s going to know more about a variety of areas in the general vicinity of where they work?; Secondly, how soon is the relocation planned for; Thirdly, who is able to give you insights into the different areas that you are interested in; and Finally, who wants to assist you.  Many of the websites out there are good for looking up properties and most will have a realtor attached to them, that will contact you.  Don’t be afraid of talking to someone about what you want.  It is one of the biggest purchases that you make in life so get someone that can help you find the home that you really want.  As I said earlier, find someone to work with before you move.  In this way, you will find out how much they know and what their ability is to look outside their office area.  Depending on the realtor, you may even be able to eliminate some areas without even being there yet with the information that you get from them.  If you like to get paper resources, some firms will send you “relocation packs”  which are filled with some information about the areas that you might want to consider.

Good hunting!

Please let me know if I can assist you.

2011 was actually a busy, brilliant year. I got a phone call recently telling me that in 2010 I was in the top 2% of realtors in King County according to the Multiple Listing Service. It made me think about what that might mean… business, lifestyle, how I’m working with my clients to achieve their goals.  And prompted this series of New Year’s resolutions which I hope to share with my clients, and all who are focusing on Seattle Area Real Estate for this year and the forseeable future.

I have a great team and am working with clients in all stages of the search.  In the beginning stages, some are just wondering if the time is right, then starting to ask in-depth questions on location qualities and statistics.  Others are at the point of having settled on which neighborhood offers the perfect fit for their family and lifestyle and starting to get an experiential sense of value, others are now searching high and low within their chosen parameters for the perfect home to satisfy both their family criteria and their dreams, and then comes the transition to the trials and tribulations of the escrow process and finally — at last — right in through the door of their home.  Last night I sat with a couple who had just closed on their dream home last Friday and helped them get their home warranty information in order, while our sons ran up and down the stairs in an exciting game of hide and seek.

New Year’s Resolutions are just tools, but this one I believe is essential to a successful home search.  Get your team in order.  You and your family are definitely part of that and I have a great process I offer to clients that helps get not only couples but even their extended family on the same page.  Your agent needs to be able to think out of your head and communicate in ways that enlighten, inspire and inform.  We have a great process for learning more about what you want, need, hope for, and even secretly dream.  Lastly, the other professionals that can make or break the process, including your mortgage broker (what to look for?  We have a check list), your home inspector, moving company, and even cleaning and garden services in those essential days when time is short and tempers are getting there.  In my next blog I’ll address the nuts and bolts of the list of professionals every aspiring homeowner needs to forward their search and purchase.

sought after Loyal Heights neighborhood in Ballard

It’s the time of year for beginnings, and one of those is doing the things you know will take you where you want to go.  On my list of New Year’s Resolutions for Real Estate this year is knowing the market inside and out in the neighborhoods that my clients are focusing in.  With the last two years seeing some neighborhoods with great bargains and the summer even showing some upturns in value in some neighborhoods, it’s really important to know what happened during the last three months!  This is like a mini portrait of value, something called a “comparative market analysis.”  So if you’re house hunting at the moment please make this your first resolution:  I WILL make sure my agent does extensive research on recent sales on the micro neighborhood I’m buying in, and I will compare my target property in detail to those recent sales, before I decide what I am going to offer!

If you’d like a comparative market analysis of a neighborhood you’re considering, email me (edy@seattlepowersearch.com) or give me a call (206-249-2914).  I’m happy to do it, and explain the effect of bank owned properties and short sales as well.

wonderful character homes line the streets in desirable Ballard

Seattle Condo

Fannie Mae HomePath Financing

The Fannie Mae HomePath program is an attraction solution for financing condos and townhouses.  Many people are familiar with HomePath’s attractive features for all types of properties: down payments as low as 3% of the purchase price, seller contributions up to 3.5% of the purchase price, no mortgage insurance required.  However, there is an added benefit for condos in that Fannie Mae waives the appraisal and guarantees financing without regard to the status of the condominium homeowner’s association (HOA).  Condos are increasingly difficult to finance as new rules from the FHA have cut off financing eligibility for the great majority of condominium associations.  As reported in the Washington Post (“FHA rules for condo purchases are causing major headaches for buyers and sellers“), less than 10% of condo HOAs whose FHA eligibility had expired have been recertified.

Accordingly, buyers of condominiums who aren’t paying all cash should either inquire about the FHA eligibility of a condo complex before making an offer or positively seek out only Fannie Mae owned condos to take advantage of these attractive financing features.

A client of mine recently got a HomePath loan approved at 4.5% interest for 30 years.  Fannie Mae contributed 3.5% towards his closing costs.  I believe he put down 7% in order to bring the loan amount down a bit to a level he could qualify at.

Seattle townhouse

Click here for a list of Fannie Mae owned condos.

Eastside Deal of the Week

Each week I’m picking out the Deal of the Week out of my Eastside Value Buyer’s List.  I’m looking for a house that is already discounted to fair market value at the list price and is in good repair.  I visit the house, take 60+ photos, and record a video of my impressions.  Read on about my property analysis and bidding strategy:

Eastside Deal of the Week

Eastside Deal of the Week

What is a Short Sale?

Do you know what a short sale is?  You hear about it all the time in the news.  Your friend just scored a super deal on a short sale.  A stranger once suggested to you to never ever make an offer on a short sale.  I get asked about short sales a lot and as much as I despise providing generalized answers to some of the most pressing real estate questions, my answer often is “I can’t tell you concretely until we get into one.”  No, it is not a trick statement or sales strategy of a real estate broker; plain and simple, every short sale is different.  And even within the contract, there are obstacles, complications, disappointments, and pleasant surprises that come up in a short sale transaction.

According to Wikipedia, “A short sale is a sale of real estate in which the proceeds from selling the property will fall short of the balance of debts secured by liens against the property and the property owner cannot afford to repay the liens’ full amounts, whereby the lien holders agree to release their lien on the real estate and accept less than the amount owed on the debt.”  A homeowner for some reason is struggling and unable to continue their obligations will seek to do a short sale on their property.  This is a proactive option by the homeowner in which they are actively working with their lender to accomplish the sale of their home and is an alternative option to a foreclosure.

More on Short Sale

ABOUT CHRISTY KIM

Zillow reported that homes in Portland’s Hillside neighborhood were more frequently searched than homes in any other U.S. neighborhood tracked by Zillow during that month. Zillow has created a database of thousands of neighborhood boundaries for the largest U.S. cities.

Seattle area’s Laurelhurst, and Montlake were the two most sought after areas in the hottest neighborhoods in Seattle real estate.               

If you’re at a time in your life where it makes sense to invest some time and effort into optimizing your credit score, here are five common credit myths we’d like to help you bust without further ado:

Myth #1:  Having lots of cash, a great income, or tons of equity, makes your FICO score less relevant.

Fact:  No matter how much cash you have, if you want a mortgage, you must meet the lender’s FICO score guidelines.  Of course, if you’re flush with cash, it should be relatively easy to make your monthly payments on time.  But if you have come into cash relatively recently or you’re coming off a rough financial patch, lenders don’t not look at your credit score on the theory that your other assets diminish your credit riskiness. Most lenders want nothing more than to avoid having to foreclose on a home, even if the homeowner has other assets.

And the best predictor of whether you’ll default on a loan in the future is how you’ve handled your credit in the past, so your credit score will drive whether you qualify for a home loan and what interest rate you’re charged, no matter how much you make.

Two exceptions: if you buy a home with all cash, or take a hard money loan, which usually requires a much larger-than-average down payment and interest rate, you might be able to bypass credit score scrutiny, but you’ll pay for it.

Myth #2:  Having no debt or no late payments means you have great credit.

Fact:  Financial responsibility and good credit are two different things. Your FICO score is meant to be a measure of your responsibility when it comes to managing debt, as proven by the fact that you have credit accounts, use them regularly and don’t abuse them.

Having no credit accounts or debts doesn’t give you good credit – it gives you no credit.  And on the other end of the credit usage spectrum, being maxed out on various credit accounts all the time, submitting lots of credit applications and other credit moves that indicate you may abuse your credit can actually depress your score.  Best practice is to have several credit accounts (student and car loans count!) that you actively and responsibly use on a monthly basis.

Tip: FICO gives a top score to accounts with balances that are 30 percent of the credit limit, so if you can keep your credit card or loan account balances at or around that mark, even better.
Myth #3:  Checking your own credit score in advance prevents surprises when you apply for a mortgage.

Fact:  Your mortgage originator (broker or banker) must pull their own version of your report from their own provider, and it might have a very different score, rating scale or even different line items than the free or paid report you pulled online.  This is why it’s imperative to start working with a mortgage professional as early as possible – a year in advance is not overkill – so you can detect any errors or issues and get their recommended fix in the works with plenty of lead time.

Myth #4:  If you’ve had a foreclosure or short sale, your credit report will be damaged for 7 years.

Fact: Derogatory credit items, like late mortgage payments, foreclosures and short sales, appear on your credit report for 7 years, but your credit score can be rehabilitated enough to buy a home or obtain other credit in less time, depending on your circumstances. Your post-short sale or foreclosure waiting period depends on a number of things, including what type of loan you’ll be seeking to buy your next home with, how much cash you’ll have to put down and whether there were any extenuating circumstances involved in losing your home in the first place; some loans allow for an immediate purchase, others require a waiting period of 2, 4 5 or even 7 years after the loss of a home.

Of course, your FICO score is also a key criteria in a post-home loss “buy,” but interestingly enough, the length of time it takes to get your FICO score back up depends on how high it was beforehand.  Earlier this year, the New York Times reported that it would take a consumer with a 680 FICO score three years after a foreclosure to bring their score back to that level, while it might take someone with a 780 FICO score (near-perfect) seven years for full score recovery.

And keep in mind that as your foreclosure or short sale ages, its impact on your score will decrease, too

Myth #5:  Short sales have much less impact on your credit score than foreclosures.

Fact: Hear ye, hear ye – short sales and foreclosures have the same impact on your credit score, according to the FICO folks themselves. (The only exceptions are for short sales or deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure where the property was not upside down, which are few and far between, if they’re not just a real estate urban legend!)

However, the number of missed payments you had before your home was lost to foreclosure or short sale might weigh on how gravely injured your FICO score is in the process. At the going rate at which banks are foreclosing on homes – clocking roughly 2 years of missed payments before a home is repossessed – your FICO score could take an even greater hit than if you were able to divest of it via a short sale in 1 year’s time.

In these times there are lots of folks experiencing credit issues and need a good source to help them restore their credit.  We have a reliable company that we use to assist in making that happen.  For information contact ^the Cobbin Group .com and leave your contact information and we will go over your credit with you.

Seattle Houseboats

Northlake Way Houseboats

This week I helped a new client tour a couple Seattle houseboats on Lake Union.  This young lady works at a clinic where she knows two doctors who live on big houseboats.  She would be a first time home buyer and was looking for something small and affordable.  She picked out two listings under $300,000 that were about the size of an apartment for a single person: 550 to 700 square feet.

We looked at two houseboat neighborhoods:

• Westlake Avenue: which extends from the new Lake Union Park north to within sight of the Aurora Bridge.  This home was on the northern end of the avenue.
• Northlake Way: sitting alongside Gas Works Park.

Our clear favorite was the houseboat off of Westlake Avenue.  It sat near the end of the dock – just one sailboat between it and the open water.  Its upper level, covered deck anyway looked out over this sailboat for a terrific view across Lake Union to the north with the Aurora Bridge and Gas Works Park in view and to the east where we would have seen the Cascade Mountains on a clear day.  The floor plan was well organized with a master bedroom, loft, and outdoor deck up top.  Below was a common room with seating, a small dining table, and kitchen with miniature appliances.  Nearby was the 3/4 bathroom with shower and even a tiny guest bedroom – about the size of a closet.  This houseboat was only 10 years old and appeared to be in excellent condition.

Westlake Avenue Houseboat Neighborhood

A few things surprised me about houseboats:

• Both neighborhoods had plenty of free parking!  Practically unheard of for Seattle.
• Some houseboats sit deep inside their neighborhoods and have little or no view.  I don’t see the point in living in such a location.  Your position on the dock is very important.
• There was no dishwasher and no laundry aboard the houseboat.  You won’t have all the amenities you take for granted on land.

My client was young and new to home buying, so she didn’t really know how to proceed.  I took the lead in researching considerations in houseboat ownership.  The listing agent was an expert in the topic.  From her I learned that the cost of moorage and utilities would run between $575 and $605 per month.  The boats needs maintenance done on their hulls every 5 years.  The City of Seattle is limiting development of new neighborhoods and construction of new houseboats, but the current houseboats are protected.

More Information on Seattle Houseboats

Click here for more photos and current houseboat listings